I’ve been involved in podcasting since September of 2006 when my friend Fraser Ronald of Sword’s Edge Publishing approached myself and another friend, Chris Groff, about starting up a podcast dedicated to discussions about modern-themed tabletop roleplaying games. For a time I had been listening to other podcasts like The Dragon’s Landing Inn, GeeksOn, (the now defunct) Gamer: The Podcasting, and some others. At some point along the line I heard about a fantastic audio novel being released in podcast format (now coined a “podiobook”) called 7th Son, a novel written by JC Hutchins and read by the author. I added it to my iTunes podcast collection and began listening. After the first episode in which the main characters are all drawn together under mysterious circumstances, I was hooked.

If you haven’t listened to any of the 7th Son trilogy, I won’t spoil anything for you – but I will try to whet your whistle. The story starts with the murder of the US president at the hands of a four-year old boy. Taken into custody, the child dies of a strange brain affliction within a couple of weeks. In the mean time, who turns out to be one of the stories’ main protagonists is kidnapped in broad daylight on the streets of Miami and taken to an undisclosed location. There, he meets six other men – all of whom look terrifyingly familiar.

JC Hutchins masterfully crafts a tale of intrigue, fear, excitement and sorrow and there’s no better way to experience this story than by it being read by the author. The production of the podcasts is expertly done, and any audio effects used in the podcast are understated, and though not essential to the experience, certainly ramp up the fun.

The 7th Son trilogy was finished in 2007, but recently JC has partenered with a collection of authors (including Mike Stackpole, Scott Sigler and Mur Lafferty) on a new project called 7th Son: Obsidian, which is a collection of short stories following other, normal folk having to deal with the fallout from what happens in the climax leading up to the end of the third 7th Son book. I’ve listened to six of these shorts and they are as impressive as JC’s trilogy.

If you enjoy audio books and intriguing tales, don’t pass up an opportunity to listen to 7th Son, and the follow-up short stories in 7th Son: Obsidian. You will not be disappointed.