Comments on: Borrowed Time

By: Graham Pollard

Graham Pollard — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:32:42 +0000

I had downloaded all episodes and then listened to all over a couple of days.
I liked the plot and would listen to another story from this author.
I am not sure about the reading. The voice was deliberate but not very exciting.
I believe the most successful podcast novels will be that have a great story (well edited) and a great audio voice.
A plea for each episode of podcast novels to have a character index as I sometimes lose track of who is who.

By: Paul J. Joseph

Paul J. Joseph — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:05:47 +0000

Kieth,

I listened to Burrowed time and was quite impressed. Normally I don’t get into the cloke and daggar kind of writing, but in this case it was more than acceptable. I was particularly impressed with the consistency of the science. Time travel stories make you think. This one was quite enjoyable. About the only issues I saw was the whole idea of “touching” the time machine being dangerous. If it was deadly to touch, putting it in an envelope probably wouldn’t be much in terms of insolation. Remember that the unit itself is part plastic. Also, and more importantly, the memory chip that was left back in the 1980s. Wouldnt that have turned to mush after a few hours, too? Just a thought. In any case, I encourage you to write more!

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:58:40 +0000

Keith Hughes has done a pretty good job here. I liked this story, and as normal when gripped firmly within the grasp of a good tale, listened to it from start to finish in just a couple of days. It’s a reasonably straightforward plot of time travel involving goodies baddies (who carry .50 Desert Eagles no less) a hero and a range of unsavoury villains who are out to take over the world… sort of.

I would describe this as was a good ‘meat and potatoes’ short story. The author has done a good job of balancing character and storyline developments, setting, timeline and structure to produce a nice robust tale in which works very effectively.

Time travel stories in general give me a headache, and I’ve come across a few over the years that have left me with a sour taste in my mouth. The plot of this tale from the time travel perspective was sufficiently well planned that I was left pensive, but not confused or bewildered by temporal situations, though it did inevitably cause me to raise my eyebrows on occasion.

Sci-fi yes I suppose. After all it does have time travel, a professor, laboratories and molecular implosions, but it actually felt more like an adventure thriller. There is no real science to speak of and beyond the basic functions of the device and a ‘whatever you do don’t touch the red button’ type warning, there isn’t much else, but this is fine as again it works well with the story.

The story was possibly a little short on drama and could have benefited from a few more characters to mix things up a little as it deviated only briefly from the handful of characters who are featured. This may not be a fair criticism given the length of the story, but it did end up feeling a little flat and constricted because if this.

The recording quality is good, I had no trouble with the files and the narration is… interesting. Unfair, the narration is also good and Mr Hughes has done a fair job with the different characters.

Have a listen to this one, I think you’ll like it, gets the thumbs up from me anyway.

By: craig

craig — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:10:39 +0000

Congratulations are due Keith for this novel. The story is imaginative, entertaining, consistent, and holds the reader till the end. He deals well with the jumping around in time issues without getting too obsessive or tortured, as some time novels tend to. The characters are well developed and the protagonist is likable. Technically, the recording is excellent, and though his cadence is deliberate, Keith’s voice tells the story without detracting from the experience in any way. I can definitely recommend this novel for any scifi fan, or any fan of a well told tale.

By: Patrick Lewis

Patrick Lewis — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:07:51 +0000

This is a strong start (after six episodes) to an interesting book. Keith Hughes resists making time travel terribly powerful, making this more of a puzzle-thriller than a hard Sci Fi physics exercise. With interesting characters and a deepening mystery, this is well worth a look. I’m glad you got the feed jitters worked out and am looking forward to future episodes.

By: Keith

Keith — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:01:58 +0000

With Evo’s help we were able to fix the situation with the files and the book is now available. Thanks for your patience!

By: Evo

Evo — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:53:52 +0000

There’s an issue with the media files. We’re working with Keith to get them resolved. Fear not! It will soon return.

By: David

David — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:15:33 +0000

I was looking forward to starting this in the next week or so, any explanation as to why this was taken down after only a day?