Phil Rossi returns with his third free serialized audiobook. Today he starting his release of Eden:
The tree is beautiful and they call her Eden. Her branches reach for the stars. She is like all other trees on planet Earth save for her enormous size. Still, she has leaves and she has bark. She turns sunlight into life. But this tree does not sprout from the dirt. Eden fills the sky, high in orbit above the blue expanse of Uranus. There she changes humanity’s very concept of extraterrestrial life. Dr. Malcolm Green is sent to Eden to audit a science team studying this extraordinary tree from the dark confines of space station Lola. But with unexplainable accidents plaguing the team, tensions are mounting between scientists and custodial staff. Is there a future for this project and Lola? Only Malcolm Green can make that call. From the second he sets foot on Lola, Malcolm’s own future becomes at stake. He soon finds that love, friendship, and his own mortality tremble like a leaf at the sound of Eden’s call.
Now even though Phil has at least 5 episodes ready to roll, he’s going to make you wait a week to get each one. Yes, I know. But it matches what he’s releasing over on his website, so we’ll humor him. The default feed will get you the episode as soon as Phil releases. Or if you come in later in the game, a customized feed may be your best option, as then you get to pick how often you get currently-released episodes in your own feed.
For more-Phil less-waiting, try out his novel Crescent, or the set of short stories inspired by the book, Notes from the Vault. Both of these free serialized audiobooks are already complete.
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on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 7:52 am and is filed under New Books.
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February 11th, 2009 at 9:52 am
He’s back!!!!
February 16th, 2009 at 2:52 am
Crescent was brilliant. Looking forward to hearing this one.
February 20th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Oh boy… Crescent was astounding… this has started brilliantly… Mr Rossi – you’re the man!!!
February 24th, 2009 at 3:21 am
I wonder if it is a coincedence that it reminds me so much of Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris… I am looking very much forward to where this story goes.
Crescent was uniquely spooky.
April 13th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Riveting so far, just as fascinating as Crescent. Can we have more, and more often, please?!
April 16th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
just listend to the newest episode… crescent wasn’t a half as good. you get better… this is book is a epic hammer slamming my brain cells.
5/5 point
April 17th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
OK, I have just finished Eden and was satisfied with the novella. I really think it should have been a little longer but then again that is the definition of a novella so what can you say. In any event I must say that Phil rossi keeps me captivated. The short stories and the major event crescent are well worth listening to.I cant wait fo the movie. All the best Phil from robin in Australia.
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Superb!
April 27th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Moody and spooky and a little bittersweet. In other words, just perfect. Thanks!
April 28th, 2009 at 2:22 am
My review of Eden here:
http://freshly-ground.blogspot.com/2009/04/podcast-review-eden-by-phil-rossi.html
“Eden doesn’t drag you through the chapters with blood pumping in your ears and air rasping in your throat like Crescent. Rather, you find yourself being led, trying to turn away, your stomach a hollow pit, afraid of where the next turn is going to lead you, and cursing Malcolm for his crippling self-pity.”
Click the link above to read the rest of the review.
May 16th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Okay, that was pretty good. Dramatic, tragic, formidable. Not so much “There are some things Man is not Meant to Know,” as what Sir Arthur Eddingtion said: “Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.”
Running through my review in my head, for my next podcast, in fact. Thanks for a good book. Do I hear hints of a Series in the ending, in fact?
May 19th, 2009 at 8:20 am
This is a wonderfully well written and exciting book!
May 19th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Thanks for the feedback and love everybody.
-Phil Rossi
June 4th, 2009 at 9:24 am
This is a far more engaging novel than my first impression lent me to believe. Initially I was caught off guard by the strange vernacular of the orator and wasn’t certain I could brave the odd way he drew out is words while is voice whined like a singing snowmobile. Surprisingly I found myself slowly warming to his style of speech which after a couple of episodes seemed almost essential to the presentation, and certainly very effective for this medium in general.
I enjoyed this piece and quickly fell into step with the story. I had a steadily increasing appreciation for the powerful crisp writing style that perpetuated clarity and good depth of delivery. I found the pace, development, and exposition all well gauged, but there were moments when I had to unfortunately excercise some latitude and fill in a few flats-spots of information that were curiously absent. Fortunately these occurrences were infrequent and imposed little disruption in the continuity, but still, just a little unsettling. If I had to guess I would say this piece has been fairly heavily edited to keep it ‘short and sharp’ which it certainly is, or perhaps to meet the submission word count for some other prospective publication. I can only speculate. This is certainly one of the few occasions when I have thought, contrary to the much more frequent norm where wordiness rules and thick layers of self indulgence find their way into sections of prose they have no business being, quite conversely, this piece could have benefited from a slightly more robust body. A slick lick of fat on its supermodel-like body of paragraphs and passages could do it wonders.
Some of the symbolism escaped me, but I am not very perceptive; who knows, I may ‘get it’ on my second cycle. It is certainly good enough to warrant another listen, and having been thrown through a loop on my first encounter, I will be more attentive on my next pass.
The story itself is good, but not as intense and captivating as I would have hoped. It never quite reached the crescendo of excitement I believed it was capable of, but having said that, I was still locked into the story with some enthusiasm. I actually think this is more because of the expertise and talent of the author rather than the story itself, which though good is eclipsed quite considerably by the authors competence in imparting it.
It maybe a little unfair of me to be so critical of this story given its length. In all probability there is little leeway for the author to do much development without sacrificing some other aspect of the story, so I will leave it at that and simply say it is too short to completely fulfil its promise.
The sound and production quality are both very good.
Even though I would like to be more generous, I will simply give this a reserved thumbs up. Yes it is good. It is well written, engaging, original, and thought provoking, but it is reminiscent of so many report cards that read “Good work, can do better”
June 30th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
It’s been a while since I ran thru “Crescent”. I almost forgot how top notch a podcaster Phil Rossi is.
With “Eden” Phil R. cleaned my clock. The good news is I was able to walk home. “Crescent” being a longer tale was more of a cerebral ass-kicking. I had to call a cab to get home.
June 30th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
I did have one small issue of elemental incongruity: What was Eden rooted to? Did it have roots? Was it floating rootless as if cut of at the base?
July 20th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Eden is a wonderful story well-told. The plot grabs you early and then carefully unfolds in a restrained, seductive style that gives you many moments to savor. The exceptional music underscores (and in places defines) the mood of the piece perfectly. Then there’s Phil’s excellent narrative. Bravo! How Eden would have responded had Crescent station been orbiting Uranus instead of Lola?
January 2nd, 2010 at 2:22 pm
I really liked Eden. It was a quietly ambitious “read” that grew deeper and more engaging with every episode. It evoked memories of Solaris, not the least for the way Rossi pulls the entire story together with the very last line, like a man pulling his bootlaces tight. Very nice!
January 5th, 2010 at 9:56 am
I just listened to Eden for a second time. A lovely novella…as I listen to Rossi’s books, it strikes me that they are intended for those of us not afraid to think as we are being entertained. Rossi stimulates the imagination in a very unique sort of way, leaving bigger questions between the lines like Easter Eggs that keep us intrigued far after finishing the book. I really hope this becomes a series of novellas.
January 7th, 2010 at 12:46 am
Thanks, Was a great listen. You put great effort into the quality of the recording and sound effects. Thank you. … I did feel there should be a little more to the ending….. But Great!
July 20th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
I must say this is the first podiobook that I did not love. It felt like there was so much more that could have been added to the story. I also found some of the reading a bit annoying. I know this is a personal preference but when someone is talking using voices the whole “I said” or “She said” gets old really quickly. The core of the story seemed to have so much potential, but it just wasn’t developed enough IMO.
September 2nd, 2010 at 7:41 am
This is a good first draft. I am looking forward to the finished product.
December 28th, 2010 at 12:45 am
A Phil Rossi story? Let’s see.
Haunting strangeness? Yes.
Achingly broken and hungering humans? Yes.
Terrifying things that are not explained to bare bones? Yes.
Dry leaves on concrete sidewalk? Yes.
Tuning fork? Where is the tuning fork???
The author’s reading voice contributes to the atmosphere. Overall good, but not Crescent-good.