Listen to the Signal: Short Stories, Volume 1

By: Rob Dircks

Narrated by: Rob Dircks

Back when I started this project, I was thinking what the heck, writing a few short stories will keep me fresh, let me try things I might not try otherwise, act as a sketch book of my story ideas: the funny, the weird, the scary, the sappy, and sometimes all of that mashed up together.

Well, two years later, I had no idea how proud I would be of this body of work, and how genuinely psyched I am to be sharing these stories with you in this format. Going through these again for production, I felt like a proud papa, gathering up all my little babies, or like I was collecting a bag of gems.

Wow, I just wrote “bag of gems” in all seriousness, like it’s a totally everyday phrase, like I might find myself out on horseback in some medieval European country and have the need to reach into my little leather sack for a gem to purchase an entire village.

©2019 Rob Dircks (P)2019 Rob Dircks

If your a where the hell is Tesla fan, you’ll enjoy 😊

Definitely worth a nice story day, the where the hell is tesla feel is definitely here. At first hard to put past not a Tesla story but great creativity and great voice I’ll be looking for down the road

great book, authentic author

I love indi authors. the passion for the work shines through in this work. the stories are concise but thoughtful, and have a depth of feeling that is rare in today's world. out of my library of 1200 some odd books, it's in the top 5%. keep indi published work like this alive. it's not a typical journey, but a welcome one.

Philip K. Dick . . . with a Sense of Humor

This review is for the audiobook version of Listen To The Signal: Short Stories Volume 1 written and read by Rob Dircks. Let me start this by saying that I am a fan of short stories and even short story collections. I don't believe that everything written, especially in fantasy and/or science fiction circles, has to be part of a trilogy or longer series. I like stories that end, except for the Lord of the Rings. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Christopher Tolkien "unearths" something else JRR never got around to publishing in his day.

I've read and enjoyed all of Dircks work released to date and this collection of short stories will feel familiar to anyone who's already read (or listened to) his Telsa books, You're Going to Mars, or The Wrong Unit.

I find most short story collections to be . . . a little uneven. Usually, you get a mixed bag, in terms of quality, with only a couple of above average stories tossed in. Listen to the Signal is a minor exception. There are no stinkers here, but the stories do range in quality from good, to very good, to very very good.

The best way to describe this collection is to say that it's like Philip K. Dick, but with a sense of humor. You've got stories about aliens, robots and AI, time travel, the effects of living in space on human DNA, and even a yarn about a candy crush clone, all in one package. These stories are a reminder that even though life may be resembling a science fiction future, life is still precious. Also, life is funny. Unless you <spoiler>get bit on the rear by an evil tick</spoiler>. Then it's not funny, it's terrifying.

Given that these are literally short stories, I can't review too much without spoiling them individually. I'll settle for talking about my favorite story from Listen.

My favorite story in this collection centered a character who hates his job (relatable, right?). In a world where the singularity has already happened, he spends his workdays teaching AIs to be more human (not as relatable, but interesting). This story managed to be humorous, relevant (this is an actual job you can get now), and touching.

Before and in between stories, Dircks provides insight into his creative process and shares some of the experiences that resulted in each work. I enjoyed this peek behind the scenes.
Not every author should also handle narration chores for their books (except for Neil Gaiman -- he should always narrate his books). That said, Dircks does an admirable job reading his text. There was a distinction between his expository interludes and when he was actually performing that felt natural and I appreciated that as a listener.

***Full Disclosure: I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

SFF Short Stories

Rob Dircks is one of my favorite author finds of the last five years. He writes interesting SF with heart and usually narrates his own audiobooks. This specific book is a collection of short stories that came from his podcast, Listen to the Signal.

He dares suggest that you listen to the stories one at a time, and I took that to heart. Some of the stories were more interesting to me than others. I would say the one with the most staying power was about the unicorn video game. No, it's not sweet and cuddly. It's scary.

This is a good listen for those who want inventive short stories in modern SFF.

i love Rob Dircks

this guys writing will lighten your day your mood and make you say Hmmmm. he makes you laugh he makes you cry.

never want them to end.

man I just love Rob's writing and narration. so many great stories and ideas oh, I can't wait for the next full book.

Great series of listens for short trips.

Knowing how much I've enjoyed delving into Rob Dircks mind scratching and humorous novels, I was psyched to discover this collection of short stories - all less than a half hour. They're perfect for when I'm waiting at the doctor's office or on a shorter car ride. I was a big fan of the TV series, The Twilight Zone and these have that same feel, leaving me with something to chew on for a while. One of my favorite stories was Dako - a bit of a mind twister with a lot of heart. Totally worth the purchase!

Awesome, so much fun! I loved every story!!

Loved it, highly recommended to anyone who loves a good story. Audio was excellent and fun to listen to, completely kept my attention the entire book!

I need more Rob Dircks short stories!

This was a great collection of 16 short stories that are reminiscent of The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror. There is little commentary for each one which really helps set up each segment. I like Rob’s advice on reading these in between other books or in between whatever tasks you were doing.

I guess I’ll write little comments on each story to help me remember them all and help me try and figure out which one I like best.
1. Dakō – was interesting and had a fun twist at the end. Was nice and sensual (Japanese)
2. Today I Invented Time Travel – this one was fun. I watched his video of this
3. End Game – This story was a lot of fun. I got so looped into the story, mentally, that I kind of forgot what I was doing. I was sad that it ended the way it ended… I wanted more!
4. November 8, 2016 – This one was great. I felt like it could have been a partially true story and I wished it was a partially true story. But it was also sad and felt very realistic. I didn’t want this one to end either!
5. Quick Fix – I did not like this one as much as the previous ones. It was a little weird and just wasn’t as ‘catchy’ and fun as the other short stories.
6. Horatio Breathes His Last –Books-about-books is always kind of a fun topic, in my opinion. I imagine many authors like this as well (I am not an author, btw). This short story is also something I imagine from many authors – having their characters come to life and then having a really hard time ending their story. #booksaboutbooks
7. Purgatory – this was a nice and conclusive story. It was short and fun and had a bit of a feel-good touch at the end! (which should probably be in a spoiler tag… oh well).
8. Out of the Blue – this was good. The watcher becomes the watchee… Or is it the other way around…
9. Tick Tick Tick – Gross. Disturbing. Creepy. Awesome. Those are my thoughts on that short story.
10. Rose – this was like a Benjamin Button love story, but much better than the movie (and, of course, hours shorter). I liked it. (I suppose that could be a bit of a spoiler…. Oh well).
11. Red Parka – this one was cool. It was a nice story and just kind of fun to where I can see this one expanding to a larger story.
12. Bloop – fun sound effects, and fun playing off sci-fi conspiracies. This is another one that could go much further. Though, I didn’t like the ending. I needed more!
13. Their DNA Was No Longer the Same – this was a fun take on the Kelly astronaut twins. It went a little fast, but it could definitely have been turned into a novella with some dark deep mystery thrown in there.
14. The Last One – I did not like this one as much as the others. I like the ‘epilogue’ section at the back as it gave a good/short backstory on to why the story was written.
15. Mister Personality – when we reach singularity (a new word I learned today), I want Rob Dircks to be appointed as Mr. Personality. This was a fun story and I can see it being realistic (maybe in 50 years).
16. Christmas in Silver Peak – I felt like this one had huge potential, but it didn’t play out for me. Either I may have been a little confused or just didn’t fully enjoy it.

It’s hard to pick favorites. I guess I liked:
End Game
November 8, 2016
Tick Tick Tick
Red Parka
Mister Personality

Audiobook narrator Rob Dircks rating: 4.5 stars
The sound effects are nice, and I like the intro/outro music. Rob is great at reading his own stuff. The only thing that would make me move my rating from a 4.5 to a 5 would be just a little more variation between the voices (when voicing multiple characters).

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks Rob! And keep up the great work! I look forward to more and more stories.

Optimistic scifi - get yours here!

There is no one writing scifi as well as Rob Dircks right now, and this short story collection proves it.

I listened to all of these stories when they originally came out on his podcast, and was blown away every time by the quality of his writing and his mastery of the short story form. He knows the tropes and how to subvert them. He can build a world in a few paragraphs so that you understand it intuitively. He creates characters that are uniquely relatable and gosh darn it, he's funny to boot.

That is when he is not making me tear up. Add to all that the fact that he does a terrific job narrating his own stories and you have a very appealing package.

But now that I have been able to re-listen to all the stories again via this collection, hearing them all together rather than strung out over a series of months, I perceived something I had not noticed before. Something that unites not only these stories but also his novels. Something special that only Rob Dircks can deliver.

It's a sweetness, a love of life and humanity, that shines through all of his characters and all of his imaginary worlds. I feel instantly better when I finish something he has written, I feel uplifted and hopeful. What a wonderful gift Rob has to allow us to see the good in one another, and how lucky we are that he is sharing it with us through his art.

Can't wait for the next collection.