Since Jon-Tom is high on hallucinogenic drugs at the time, he initially believes that he is dreaming. He is a student in law at UCLA who is pulled through to this world from Earth by the wizard Clothahump. Jonathan Thomas Meriweather, called 'Jon-Tom,' is the protagonist in most of the books. Many of the primary characters in each of the books only appear for that volume however, there are a number of characters who appear in the majority of the series. Spiders have their own society known as The Weavers, and are highly isolationist. Spiders are not included in the main society, which has centipedes and various insects like beetles. The threat to the Western areas are from the Plated Folk, larger versions of insects and other arthropods who live in other parts and periodically mount assaults on the Western areas. The inhabitants are highly varied-Jon-Tom's friends include the oversexed smooth talking foul-mouthed otter Mudge and his eventual wife Weegee, Caz the smartly dressed polite-spoken rabbit, the turtle Clothahump and his alcoholic assistant Sorbl, and enemies include a ruthless pirate parrot. The world is not portrayed as an idyllic place-slavery exists, many inhabitants are at times coarse and crudely spoken, and the intense smells at first assault the protagonist. Humans, far from being the dominant species, here are just one of many species and numerically form a small minority of inhabitants. The world of Spellsinger is largely inhabited by animals that are similar to those found on Earth, but are anthropomorphic: generally bipedal, they are intelligent, able to wear clothing and handle tools, generally closer to human-sized than their Earth counterparts, and are capable of speech. He soon finds out differently: he is in an unfamiliar world with little prospect of returning home anytime soon. Having been, at the moment of his transportation, high on cannabis, Jon-Tom initially thinks it is all a dream brought on by the drugs. David Gahan undersings about half the album, and Martin Gore's two numbers lack the distinctiveness of his later work, but Speak & Spell remains an undiluted joy.The story initially deals with the characters of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather, referred to by the locals as Jon-Tom, when he is unwillingly pulled into a fantasy world by the turtle wizard Clothahump. Credit for the album's success has to go to main songwriter Vince Clarke, who would extend and arguably perfect the synth pop formula with Yazoo and Erasure the classic early singles "New Life," "Dreaming of Me," and "Just Can't Get Enough," along with numbers ranging from the slyly homoerotic "Pretty Boy" to the moody thumper "Photographic," keep everything moving throughout. That such a sound would eventually become ubiquitous during the Reagan years, spawning lots of crud along the way, means the band should no more be held to blame for that than Motown and the Beatles for inspiring lots of bad stuff in the '60s. For all the claims about "dated" '80s sounds from rock purists, it should be noted that the basic guitar/bass/drums lineup of rock is almost 25 years older than the catchy keyboard lines and electronic drums making the music here. While various synth pioneers had come before - Gary Numan, early Human League, late-'70s Euro-disco, and above all Kraftwerk all had clear influence on Speak & Spell - Depeche became the undisputed founder of straight-up synth pop with the album's 11 songs, light, hooky, and danceable numbers about love, life, and clubs. Though probably nobody fully appreciated it at the time - perhaps least of all the band! - Depeche Mode's debut is at once both a conservative, functional pop record and a groundbreaking release.
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