Ida
Next up in our ever-expanding line of science fiction books (we have more than that, honestly!), we present Ida by Tim Callahan:
Ida, one of the largest Asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter, has finally been colonized. A group of engineers lead by John McVey, Craig Osborn, Gail Trabor, Andrew Dee and Jennifer McGee, occupy the largest space station every built to plan the future of the tiny colony. Sent there by Kennedy Lacombe, the richest man in the world, their only task is to find ways to mine the asteroid as efficiently as possible. John, however, has grandiose plans including riding a comet around the sun to obtain enough water for the colony to one day survive independent from Earth. His ambition quickly shifts when he discovers an accident with the station’s birth control pills causes 20 women, including Jennifer, the woman he loves, to become pregnant. The rules on pregnancy are simple; a baby is a drain on resources and must be removed. John, his friends, and a large group of miners will do anything they can to prevent that, including declaring themselves the first independent colony outside of Earth.
September 3rd, 2006 at 8:14 am
I gave up on this. Its premise seemed great, but it very quickly turned into a kind of teen flick, in which the characters, who are supposed to be professional and carefully selected asteroid miners, act like insecure 14-year-olds with crushes out of control. It’s not so much science fiction as it is a romantic drama. If you’re looking for that, this may be for you.
September 4th, 2006 at 7:52 am
I’ve read this entire novel and have began now to listen to the audio version. Tim has put the last two years of his life getting this story to the point where he is now. I’m happy to see that he’s not allowed his passion to lighten the storyline here and I’d be very happy to read/purchase an entire saga of Ida.
The premise of this story is pretty aggressive and it’s taken a major bit of imagination on the author’s part in order to bring this theory and characters to life. Wrought with parts of distress, passion and mutiny I recommend this story to anybody with the time to invest in it. Don’t cheat the writer just because a single chapter doesn’t appease to you.
September 4th, 2006 at 11:09 am
Hey Tim!
I just wanted to say that I’ve been subscribed to your podio book since probably the first week, but I haven’t actually listened to it yet.
Well, until yesterday when I had to overhaul the house. I turned the volume on the speakers all the way up and with a broom in hand began attacking the dirt. Now I’ve read most of the story, but I think listening to it was the first time I actually “got” the story.
Not only was it totally enthralling (I didn’t get much cleaning done), but it made me laugh, feel ill-at-ease, sorry for poor Andrew, more sympathetic towards Craig, and so on and so on. A real kicker of a story.
My family, by the way, agrees. We spent most of yesterday sipping on various beverages, listening to the story of ida blaring from my laptops speakers.
Oh! and as a final thought, your auratory skills are much improved, comparing say chapter 1 to chapter 6. (the only bad thing to say really is that in chapter 2 the editing is a bit off and there are a few frases that are repeated twice.)
Keep up the good work!
~A now big-time fan
Dodge
September 7th, 2006 at 7:47 am
I’m impressed so far – glad I gave this one a chance. Keep the chapters coming, please!
September 14th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
I love listening to this scifi drama, I am also getting to enjoy your “accent”. Your ideas about putting normal human feelings and behaviors in an abnormal environment makes a good story.
In response to comments by Haakon: Hey, all people in love act like insecure 14-year-olds at one time or another, that ‘s hormones for ya!
I will listen for your next adventure.
October 6th, 2006 at 8:35 am
I wasn’t so sure for the first few episodes, the story is a bit of a slow burner, but after that…let me just say it’s well worth the wait. Tim Callahan has a really great storytelling style. Yes, there are a few clichés but they are well told. He manages to sound gentle and caring as he tells us about human details. This means that when the action starts we really care about the characters. And yes Mr Callahan I do like your action scenes – Episode 15 had me holding my breath till I went blue.
Looking forward to more from this author/podcaster in the future.
Thanks for a good story.
October 6th, 2006 at 10:06 am
I have listened to this story from the beginning and all I can say is “WHERE IS THE NEXT CHAPTER” I’m completely enthralled. Tim has put so much thought into each of the main characters that I feel like I literally know them. As for the “insecure 14 yr old” comment From Haakon Nilsen you should try being in such close proxinity to the opposite sex in such situations and I guarantee you will act the same.
October 6th, 2006 at 7:14 pm
Thanks all! I’m on a quick vacation now so hopefully I’ll have Chapter 21 out by October 10th or 11th. Sorry to leave you guys on such a tough cliffhanger at the end of chapter 20, I’m mean that way!
October 11th, 2006 at 1:35 pm
Hey everyone.
This is a great story that takes a few episodes to get the feel for and to develop the basis but then it takes off and leaves you wanting for the next episode.
It is not a romantic story as the first guy’s comment states. It is a sci-fi story that examines a problem that the human race could face. This is reminiscent of the old school Science Fiction like The Andromeda Strain, or the newer movie Gattaca. Tim takes a very human problem and the emotional responses that come along with that problem and puts it in a very non human setting.
The narration has come a long way and I have been pleased with the way the story is laid out. My only real problem is waiting for the next episode.
Tech note, the dates on podiobooks.com when chapters are released are wrong, maybe that can be fixed.
Great job Tim. Keep up the hard work.
Meldrak
Texas
October 11th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
I must take back the part about the dates, they were just the posting dates, my podcatcher software also had the wrong dates for awhile but they are fixed now too.
=)
November 8th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
This is a great story- I agree with Haakon about it not being as much science as fiction, but that’s fine. I’m about halfway through, and I’ll definitely finish this one.
One thing I would suggest for the next podiobook though- work on the audio quality. If it means bigger file sizes, so be it. It would be wll worth it.
-Tokey
November 8th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Hi Tokey – File size (at least in our case) has little to do with audio quality. It’s more a function of the microphone, setting and recording techniques. We have some specific technical requirements for file types and sizes, and all of them should allow for quite decent, if not great, audio quality.
November 8th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
Thanks for the nice comment Tokey! Not sure what chapter you’re on but at Chapter 13 I got a new microphone which I think helped a lot. Before that I was using one of those headphone microphones, which wasn’t very good.
November 14th, 2006 at 2:06 am
I really like this book. It had a few twists and turns and even if you don’t like SF novels the story is still worth to listen. Tim Callahan has written a novel that will appeal to a large audience.
-Terence
November 14th, 2006 at 10:01 am
I’ve just finished Chapter 31 and I’m not really ready for Ida to finish! I want to know what happens next. Tim, I hope you will rethink your decision not to write any more about Ida, it’s a wonderful story and you have written well rounded characters. I look forward to hearing “Balance” and will look forward to your upcoming story in the new year. I liked Ida from the first installment, I liked your accent and the recording quality wasn’t an issue for me – I just wanted to hear the ongoing story. Good job!
November 18th, 2006 at 10:59 am
I havent had chance to listen yet but Im having real problems getting chapter 29. Im using itunes and it just wont keep connected and download. I have the same problem with a chapter of sonic fiction too. Is it my computer?
December 1st, 2006 at 9:04 am
I’ve read a lot of sci-fi over the years and have really enjoyed this book so far, (I’m on chapter 29 and can’t wait to hear the climax!). At first, I didn’t really find any likeable characters, and was waiting for a plot. However, after the stage was set the plot moved forward naturally, and I began to care about the characters – even the ones I hadn’t liked. I love stories about normal people thrown into turmoil and forced to become heroes. The story is reminiscent of Heinlein’s early work like The Moon is a Harsh Mistress or Farmer in the Sky. If this is Tim’s first, I look forward to much more. By the way; Ida is a real astroid and it really has a small moon. After hearing this story, I felt compelled to know more. http://www.solarviews.com/eng/ida.htm had some cool pictures.
December 26th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
I’m on Chapter 16 and really enjoying it now. I must admit I had a very hard time getting into it in the beginning because 1) I disliked John and Jennifer, 2) your accent grated on my nerves (no offense meant), and 3) I didn’t like the focus on a silly affair that seemed to be purely about sex. However, you did a great job of developing the characters, and of course now I can admire John and tolerate Jennifer– maybe once motherhood was introduced I had a little more sympathy for her. And Andrew the psychopath, well, his actions speak for his likeability or lack thereof. I even like Craig now that he’s become a better leader. I appreciate that you’ve shortened or eliminated the intros and outros, too. Obviously I don’t know where the story goes from here but I wanted to give you encouragement and thanks.
December 26th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
Thank you Suzanne, I’m glad you stuck with it past the rough start. Before the story really kicked into high gear I felt I needed to establish who these people where and what thier relationships were going to be, I know it might not be the best way to start a story, but for Ida I felt it was neccessary, even though I knew some people wouldn’t like the slow approach, so thank you.
I comment about my accent made me laugh, not much I can do about it but I did try to control it more in later chapters. *GRIN*
February 15th, 2007 at 11:15 am
I’m totally diggin’ Ida. I’m on chapter 27 and cruising toward the end. The accent doesn’t bother me at all, but I did have to recheck the name of the book. When Tim says it is sounds like Oida.
One nitpick. You might want to read up on child development a bit. *smiling* Unless Ida babies are super advanced, at 6 months old the most babies can do is sit upright without rolling over. And their finger coordination is not very developed. And they don’t play interactively with other children til around the age of 2. So Steven wouldn’t be able to run across the room and grab the girl’s hair, nor would he be motivated to. Like I said, a nitpick. But I bet any mom’s listening just laughed about the super baby abilities.
All that said, I’m lovin’ Ida. Can’t wait to see what else you put out!
February 15th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Thanks Procrastinatrix (Whoh! Glad I don’t have to say that name, typing it out was hard enough!)
I did as much research as I could on child development but yes, I agree, I could have done more. Not having any children myself I did a lot of reading and I kept getting different answers from different sources, including some mothers! *GRIN* I promise my next Podiobook will have no children in it at all!!
I’m glad you’re diggin’ and lovin’ the story and thanks for the comment! A new story from me is in the works and I hope to have it out soon. Enjoy the ending!!
May 25th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
That was a good good book! I can’t wait for the next one to come out. I also liked the interloods breaking each section.
January 25th, 2008 at 7:54 am
just finished listening to Ida again. i can’t wait for the next one.
March 31st, 2008 at 9:09 am
I liked this story, let me just say that before I throw in my 50pence worth of criticism.
However, some parts of the story were so carelessly hinged on moments of stupidity by the characters, it almost seemed they were suffering from some kind of schizophrenic cretinism. Is Andrew a psychopath or a level headed leader with adolescent crush. The whole John is/isn’t alive thing seemed like a cheap shot at getting the story to adhere to a plot already outlined by the author. John sending the email to the person he had just had fisticuffs with in the zero gee tennis court was real a cop out. It would have been much better if say… Andrew had intercepted the email during a routine scan or something. Also some of the characters seemed over complicated and cumbersome, others well thought out and plausible, while others seemed shallow and unbelievable. Thankfully the inconsistencies in behaviour seemed to diminish as the book progressed, which was indeed a godsend.
All that said, and providing you are prepared to be a little forgiving in the first couple of chapters this doesn’t really detract from the enjoyment of this story. Tim Callahan really does have a talent for telling stories and there is no denying it. He puts this one together quite well and it is actually relatively easy to overlook the few flaws because the story is really quite compelling. I listened to ‘The Arwen’ before this one without realising it was Tim Callahan and now I really appreciate how much this author has improved and how well his style is developing. I would definitely like to see a lot more from Tim Calahan in the future.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
On chapter 14 and enjoying ever minute, Got to say it’s one of the best so far.
malcolm
August 20th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Great story!!! I’ll definitely read your other books, but I’m not likely to listen to them. The accent has a tendency to make me want to slap someone.
January 1st, 2009 at 6:18 am
My first and only [thus far] podbook. heard it all in 2 days. gotta agree with most of the negative feedback, but also reiterate the positves. Your accent had softened heaps by end chapters, pauses used well, None in the begining tho. Overall, A good Yarn. Thank you 4 sharing it Tim.
November 20th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Really like the audiobook so far. I kept wondering why the author was calling Ida Station “Oyda”. Are you from Baltimore? New York? Anyway, keep up the good story work. Perhaps you can name your next book “Oyda”.;)
November 24th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Jeff, I’ll name a character Oyda in honor of my accent. *GRIN*
June 21st, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Tim, I’m coming late to the party, but I stumbled across this on iTunes and gave it a try. I’m so glad I did! I stayed up late for 2 nights in a row to listen to the entire thing.
I have to admit I was freaked out by “Balance.” I know it really came first, and it’s a good story, but I just can’t believe Stephen would do it. Maybe I just don’t want to. Sigh.
Just had to say thanks and I’m downloading Arwen as we speak….
July 1st, 2010 at 2:36 pm
I wanted to like Ida… I really did. The plot had potential. I even *tried* to like it. Listened to the whole thing. But most of the characters were very one-dimensional, even to the point that when something horrible happened to one of the main characters (no spoilers on which one), I had no emotional reaction at all. I didn’t believe anyone’s motivations throughout the whole story — especially the bad ones. A regular guy doesn’t suddenly turn evil and power-mad just because he didn’t get his way. You’ve got to give me some way to identify with the bad guy and/or his motives, or I don’t believe in him. Villains are only *completely* evil in comic books.
The portrayal of the female lead (Jennifer), especially in the beginning, made me throw up in my mouth a little. She is unsure of herself professionally, but all aflutter sexually, in the presence of the big strong man John, who aspires to be the alpha male. I know she’s young, but really… Shouldn’t she be more interested to be working in SPACE than she is worried about how her breath smells because she’s next to a hot guy? I found myself rolling my eyes a lot. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she grew up a little throughout the story, even after becoming a mother, but she didn’t. She was immature and clingy to the end.
I just really despise weak female lead characters who go all feeble in the knees (and the head) because there’s a good-looking man in the room. I did like the characters of Gail and the reporter Robin, but I wish that ALL the main characters were fleshed out more, and seemed more human and less stereotypical. There were also some… not plot holes, exactly, but LOGIC holes, big enough to fly a shuttle through.
I’m sorry Mr. Callahan, to write a negative review. Ida wasn’t unreedemable, but I suspect you want honest critiques and not just “It was great!” Your writing has potential and I do hope that you continue with it! Just… please give your female lead some brains and a likable personality next time? And please tone down the Evil Deeds with more believable motivations.
July 2nd, 2010 at 6:31 am
No need to be sorry Erin, thank you writing such a comprehensive review of the story, even if you didn’t like I do appreciate you listening to it in it’s entirety, I know when I listen to a podcast I don’t like I stop listening so you’re a lot stronger than I am.
All your points are well taken and I even agree to a few. Jennifer is the most polarizing character in the story, some people like and understand her, some hate her for the reasons you gave. Gail and Robin seem to be the most liked characters and John, well, like Jennifer he’s either hated or loved. Go figure.
If you’re looking for a strong female character might I recommend you listen to my Arwen stories? Captain Cook is probably one of the strongest female characters I’ve ever written and I’d loved to know what you think of her. She does have a love interest later in the story but I made sure the were more equal partners than Jennifer and John.
July 9th, 2010 at 11:47 am
Just want to say, I am not done yet. On Chapter 19.
I listened to this for the past 2 days, and It is great so far. It is the very first audiobook I have ever listened to. I like the adventure and the tention in the book. And everyone believing that John was dead, Genius.
Great Job.
July 12th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Thanks Chasingu, hope you enjoy the rest of the story, come on back and let me know what you think or just send me an e-mail (tpcomputerman@yahoo.com)
July 15th, 2010 at 10:01 am
A couple hours after I posted that post, I worked on finishing the rest of the story. The story was great. I found the part when Josh Betrayed John was well written and the fight scene was even better. The way that the Crew aboard Ida Station fought off and won the battle for freedom was just brilliant. I was hoping that there would be a twist for Jennifer’s Death like it was someone else aboard the station and she came back, but people can dream can’t they.
Excellent book. Great Job.
July 16th, 2010 at 7:45 am
Chasingu, glad you’re first Podiobook was one you enjoyed. There are a lot of good ones out there, ones that are much better than Ida, so hopefully you’ll find and listen to them all. Although, I would recommend the Arwen series, only because those are mine as well! *GRIN*
August 23rd, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Tim, I have just finished Ida and have to struggle to not compare it with The Arwen which I liked much better. Loving sc-fi anything I looked forward to the space station adventure. The concept of the story and the battles that are in it are great. However some of the charactors and the reasons they do what they do all seemed a little shallow as though watching teenagers in school.
I really liked a few charactors like Gail, Robin, George & his mom and Craig. They seemed to work at making the space station a success while the rest seemed to have some crazy personality defects that would damage the mission as well as the lives and living environment on the station.
I had to get to the end as I really needed to know who would survive. This is what I enjoyed the most from the story. You did an excellent job of being totally unpredictable on if they would or would not survive. After a main charactor was bumped off and the person who did it was reveled I must say the survival of others was up for grabs. I loved that aspect as it made the story more intriguing.
I was really upset with alot of the language and I usually will stop listening as soon as I hear it. I still think there should be warning labels for language on these books. Believe it or not some people have never nor never will talk like that.
Lastly I am not sure if it was my IPod or what but the sound quality was muffled like there was something over the mic. I do like your narration style in this as well as the Arwen stories. I will listen to more hoping you continue. You have a good talent. Thankx
January 24th, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Tim, I’ve been following podiobooks for some time now, and listened to many authors, your work it’s really awesome. Ida is the first of your stories I’ve read, and so far it’s been great. I’m currently on chapter 13 now.
The sad thing is that I was reading through some of the comments, in order to copy-paste some for recommending to a friend, when I realized this Chasingu character had just posted some MAJOR SPOILERS, I’m so disappointed now, because I would have liked to find out eventually as I listened to the podcast.
He says it’s his first audio book, so I guess it’s a rookie mistake, but please I encourage you to keep a close eye on this sort of things, since it ruins the experience for other listener like yours truly.