S&L Podcast - #498 - Weird Things With Burritos

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We wrap up our thoughts on A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. Tom lays down some very obscure hints about the next pick. And why we’re glad Andy Weir got fired.

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WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?

Tom: Panko-crusted chicken sandwich
Veronica: Nikka Coffey Grain Japanese Whisky

QUICK BURNS

  • Tamahome: Harlan Ellison's Last Dangerous Visions released - a collection of short fiction
    Rolling Stone Article

  • Mark: And I thought the series was ended! Richard Kadrey announces on Instagram that he is working on a new Sandman Slim novel, lucky #13!
    Instagram Post

  • CountZeroOr: Turns out Andy Weir has a cameo appearance in the new book from Jason Schreier about the history of Blizzard. (Spoiler: he got fired from Blizzard after complaining about not getting paid for overtime.)
    Twitter Post

  • Sandra: Highly recommend this PBS doc on YouTube about Judy-Lynn del Rey (yes, that Del Rey) who shaped science fiction. Several S&L-read authors make an appearance (like Lois McMaster Bujold).
    YouTube Video

BARE YOUR SWORD

Feedback from the audience

crochetchrisie: "I don’t remember which thread we were talking about DNF due to narrators, but OMG I may have found one I will DNF. Assistant to the Villain is very, very annoying to me in the first minute. I don’t even know how to explain it, but it’s like she’s doing a weird inflection at the end of every sentence. Whhhhhyyyyy??
It’s giving Shatner vibes. Looking at the Audible reviews, I am not alone in thinking the pacing is weird.
LOL OMG this book is weird. This is not what I was expecting. I may keep on.
Lol he’s too hot for her to be scared of.
“You just can’t kill people and be pretty… It’s confusing.”
Girl... You gonna die or get really satisfied. Maybe both, hopefully not in that order."

Liqorice: "I like my murderers like I like my coffee. Hot and, er, not scary?"
crochetchrisie📚: "LOL dark, bitter, and hot enough to scald me?"

crochetchrisie📚: "I am now inappropriately angry with my family for forcing me to do things and taking me away from my book. Get your own food and whatnot, family!"


BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Tom Hints About Next Pick

WRAP UP

A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
Bookshop Link
Amazon Link

The various "Players" during the Game depicted in the book are archetypal characters from Victorian-era gothic fiction: Jack the Ripper (only ever referred to as "Jack"), Dracula ("The Count"), and the Wolf Man (known as "Larry Talbot," the film character’s name) all make appearances. In addition, there is a Witch ("Crazy Jill"), a Clergyman (Vicar Roberts), a Druid ("Owen"), Victor Frankenstein ("The Good Doctor"), Sherlock Holmes ("The Great Detective"), a "Mad Monk" ("Rastov" – apparently modeled after Rasputin), and grave robbers or Hermetic occultists ("Morris and McCab" – based either on real-life grave robbers Burke and Hare or a reference to a real hermetic of the time, MacGregor Mathers).
Wikipedia Article

eytanz: "So, I finished the book. Loved every minute of it. Obviously, I recognized some characters from elsewhere - Jack, the Count, the Good Doctor, the Great Detective, Larry Talbot. I assume the Vicar is a new character. So does anyone recognize the other players? Owen, Rastov, Morris and Maccab, Jill?"

ScottM: "Rastov’s appellation as the “mad monk” made me think of Rasputin. Owen seemed a generic druid. It’s mentioned Jill is a new player (stereotypical witch character), and I think Zelazny picked her name specifically so he could write the bit at the end."

JasonReads: "According to the book’s Wikipedia article, Morris and Maccab might be based on a pair of infamous murderers/grave robbers who killed a bunch of people in Scotland, then dug them up after burial to sell to some doctor who in turn used them for dissection."


Next Show

Next show will be November 13th because of Tom's travel schedule.


ADDENDUMS

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S&L Podcast - #497 - Some Desperate Sniffles

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We learn a lot about nunchucks and old best SciFi lists, but we spend the majority of our time mulling over Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh. We also kick off a cozy October horrorish read.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?

Tom: Chicken Alfredo lasagna
Veronica: Pumpkin spice crème cookies from Whole Foods

QUICK BURNS (Add Timestamp)

Any news or announcements.

A lot of people wanted us to talk about Marvel and DC losing joint trademark protection for the word superhero. I could not find a good explanation of what trademarks they held. Trademark law is so frequently misunderstood that until I do find that out, I can't intelligently comment on the withdrawal of that protection.
— Tom
https://www.law.com/therecorder/2024/09/30/joint-marvel-dc-trademark-of-super-hero-canceled-amid-challenge-by-creator-of-superbabies/?slreturn=20241002142830

Tamahome: Hot off the presses—Top 50 Sci-Fi novels voted on in 1998 at Locus. Words in Time on YouTube just did a video about it. I don’t think they’ve done a poll like this since? The Witches of Karres?
https://worldswithoutend.com/lists_locus_bestsf.asp

Seth: Mary Robinette Kowal, translator? She makes her debut as a translator with The Night Guest, a work of psychological horror by Hildur Knútsdóttir. A woman suffering from chronic fatigue gets a smartwatch, which finds she's been walking 40,000 steps in her sleep.
The book sounds neat, but mostly I'm just thinking there's basically nothing Kowal can't do.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127306444.The_Night_Guest

Trike: October’s new Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror releases are here to haunt your bookshelf.
https://gizmodo.com/octobers-new-sci-fi-fantasy-and-horror-releases-are-here-to-haunt-your-bookshelf-2000503585

Seth: Brandon Sanderson has plans to build a bookstore on the site of a closed city park. He’s calling it Dragonsteel Plaza.
https://www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2024/09/29/brandon-sanderson-has-bought-land/

BARE YOUR SWORD (Add Timestamp)

Feedback from the audience.

Ruth: I also remember the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles! (Not surprisingly, as Ruth Tilltab and I are the same age, and we both grew up in the UK). There was a period when the UK was very against anything to do with ninjas or nunchucks. I remember Bruce Lee movies were edited to remove the nunchucks, and so was the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles cartoon show. According to the Wikipedia article, the cartoon producers even changed Michelangelo’s signature weapon to a grappling hook because of the UK controversy over nunchucks.

Steve: While I agree the specificity of the UK rules is bizarre, one of the reasons why nunchucks were banned is that after the release of Enter the Dragon in 1973/4, there were several incidents of gang violence where the participants were found in possession of nunchucks. As a result, nunchucks and depictions of nunchucks were banned to avoid influencing "the youth." The main reasoning was that it is relatively simple to produce nunchucks, so the "barrier for entry" is very low, making it more likely that kids would be influenced to use them.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Kick Off
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
Bookshop Link
Amazon Link

Wrap Up
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Bookshop Link
Amazon Link

SDG: Dulce et Decorum Est
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22925185-sdg-dulce-et-decorum-est

SDG: Queer Identity
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22918852-sdg-queer-identity