Audio dramas or fiction podcasts, whatever you want to call them, are a huge part of the podcast space now with some of the larger ones often being seen at the top of the most-listened to lists on any podcast streaming platform.
One that really took my eye recently was Ad Lucem by the prolific QCODE who do a great wealth of other fictional podcasts. Ad Lucem is their latest and features a couple of big names to help bring in the audience. But is a well-known cast enough to make this audio drama one worth listening to?
Ad Lucem is a science fiction audio drama set in the future where an incredibly smart AI called “Cara” has become a huge part of the way that people interact with one another. Cara offers a personality that people can speak to and interact with which can work as a childminder or just a life companion. But when a darker event happens that causes the company a huge problem, things start to go all wrong.
Ad Lucem plot – 4.25/5
Without giving away too much more of the plot itself, as I said above, the company that launched Cara is about to introduce a massive new feature that would allow people to actually feel their interactions with their Caras. However, when someone very close to the company ends up using the Caras for a purpose that isn’t ethical and it leaks, everything begins to spiral out of control.
In my opinion, the plot starts off slow and it felt like it didn’t really have any direction. It was around halfway through the series that things start to pick up, but it does feel like the first half was either building up very slowly to the point or didn’t really know where it was heading yet.
The plot focuses around what happens when one of the biggest companies in the world, a company who is on the brink of changing history forever has a disaster happen. It’s fascinating to see (or listen) about the behind-the-scenes thinking of the people in power at the company when situations like this happen. There’s an episode where the CEO of the company is speaking to the Board about the incident and it’s brilliant to hear their thoughts and views.
Ad Lucem characters – 4/5
Ad Lucem has some big names (Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, Patrick J. Adams) in it which may suggest that the voice acting is also going to be brilliant. However, a lot of the time there has to be some good writing for those characters and sometimes when you’re looking at those actors act, it’s different to hearing them voice act.
I think Chris Pine’s character Dominic who is our main male protagonist was particularly dull. He carried the story along with some great support characters but inevitably wasn’t that interesting himself. However, Miranda is a much more interesting character as well is Addison, Dominic’s daughter – both of whom bring far more personality to the drama.
Also Vincent, our main antagonist throughout the story really creates a character that you’ll despise. Not only does Clancy Brown’s voice make for the absolute perfect villain but he’s one of the best written characters too with a character arc that will leave you quite impressed with how much you dislike him by the end.
Ad Lucem final rating – 4.25/5
Ad Lucem is one of the most ambitious fictional podcasts I’ve listened to with one of the most impressive cast lists. Its story starts off slow but has a fantastic ending to it and its characters are mixed bag including some fun protagonists, a great antagonist but also some very forgettable cast members too.
Ad Lucem isn’t the best fictional podcast I’ve listened to but if this is your genre of podcast, you’ll definitely find something to enjoy here. Come for the big names, stay for the fascinating corporate story with mostly solid accompanying cast.
