Review – Obscurities by Mick Bordet (Podcast)

ObscuritiesEPT1600 I’ve been listening to the Every Photo Tells podcast for quite some time. I’ve even submitted a story or two. Occasionally they come out with a multi-part story. This week I’m reviewing one such story, written by Mick Bordet.

Synopsis: Del Fawmer is a solo musican with a blossoming career, but her life is turned upside down when her dying grandmother asks her to delve into the secrets of the past. Visiting the old woman’s house, Del comes across a box full of unusual musical instruments, each accompanied by a letter.
Join her as she learns about a homemade, pedal-powered organ, the different uses for a drainpipe and Bob Dylan’s unwanted harmonica. Each quirky instrument reveals a story from Del’s family history that lead her to a decision about her future.

This novella is accompanied by an album of music by Mick Bordet that includes all the instruments featured in the story as well as an illustrated colour booklet with photgraphs of everything used in creating the album.

Production: Mick’s an audio geek and as such the quality is good.

Grade: A

Cast: Mick gives all of the characters their own unique voices. I noticed one or two inconsistencies, but generally he does a great job.

Grade: B+

Story: A lot of the fiction I read these days is full of snark and sarcasm. There’s quite a bit of darkness as well. I’m not sure how much of that is self inflicted, given my reading choices, and how much of it is what’s on book shelves these days. This collection of short stories was a breath of fresh air. There’s a sweetness in them that’s rare. I recall at least one “Awwwww!!” moment and he pulls it off without being cloying or schmaltzy. These tales are also different from what I usually read in that they’re not “genre” tales. They’re straight literary fiction.

I really had a lot of fun listening to them.

As an aside, the synopsis says that you get a bonus. Mick produced music inspired by and using the instruments in the stories. Can I just say that I’m jealous of the level of talent on display here. Whether or not the music is your cup of tea (and I haven’t listened to the album yet), just the thought of the effort he put into them boggles my mind. He includes snippets of the songs in the stories and they add another layer of depth.

Grade: A+

Verdict:  You should really give these a listen. In case it’s not evident I’m a fan. For that matter you should subscribe to the Every Photo Tells podcast where you’ll get at least two or three stories a month. I can’t promise they’ll all be this good. It’s an anthology podcast with authors of varying skill level and experience. But the nice thing is that if you don’t like one of the stories there are more and different ones coming. If you’re a writer or even if you don’t consider yourself one, but have always wanted to try, consider submitting a story.

Grade: A

Podcast Link
Every Photo Tells

2 thoughts on “Review – Obscurities by Mick Bordet (Podcast)”

  1. Scott, thank you for the glowing review – I’m positively blushing here (and not just because I’m sat in a Parisian heatwave right now)!

    For the benefit of your readers, I would also add that the story is also available as free eBook on Smashwords too (and the album actually includes the eBook in a single downloadable file). Everything about the book/audio/album can be found at http://mickbordet.com/obscurities

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