Author name: Skiffy Fanty

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Book Review: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlepig by Tad Williams

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On Christmas Eve, certain classes of people have to work, whether they like it or not.  Gas Station Attendants. Grocery store stockers. Clerks at electronics stores for those last minute purchases. And angels. Specifically, angels whose job it is to deal with the souls of the recently departed. Angels like Bobby Dollar.  What looks like a relatively routine death soon becomes trickier, as the recently departed soul seems ready to consign himself to Bobby’s opposite number. You see, the late Petar Vesić was a werewolf, and he thinks that the things he did, the horrors he committed, are not forgivable. While Bobby’s opposite number in the Demon hierarchy is willing to call things a day and a win for his team, Bobby is not so easily swayed. A bargain is struck with the soul of Peter to see to the matter of the recently departed’s son. A bargain that is going to have Bobby call upon the help of a certain werepig friend of his…

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

247. On the Blogs — Bloggers Discuss Their Roles at LonCon3 w/ Foz Meadows, Patricia Ash, Liz de Jager, Shaun Duke, and Erin Underwood

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode247OnTheBlogsBloggersDiscussTheirRolesAtLonCon3/SandF%20–%20Episode%20247%20–%20On%20the%20Blogs%20–%20Bloggers%20Discuss%20Their%20Roles%20at%20LonCon3.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSBooks, blogs, and weird emails, oh my! This recording from LonCon3 features Foz Meadows, Patricia Ash, Liz de Jager, Shaun Duke, and Erin Underwood talking about book blogs, YA, book promotion, and much more.  Though the panel was originally meant to focus entirely on YA book blogging, we took things in a more general direction. Here’s the panel description: Bloggers have become an integral part of YA book promotion. How do authors find these bloggers? Why should readers trust their opinions? What are the best book blogs out there right now and what makes them so useful? We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 247 — Download (MP3) Show Notes:. The Panelists: Foz Meadows Foz’ Twitter Erin Underwood Erin’s Twitter Liz de Jager Liz’s Twitter Patricia Ash Patricia’s Twitter Shaun Duke Shaun’s Twitter Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

Blog Posts

Around the Podosphere #3: Podcasts of Note for 12/22/2014

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Here’s what we’ve been enjoying this week: On History: On Stuff You Missed in History Class, they talk about the “Great Henge,” which involved the British East India Company’s efforts to stop salt smuggling.  Yes.  SALT smuggling. On Books: The Sword & Laser crew discuss Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus. The second episode of Midnight in Karachi features an interview with Patrick Ness. The amazing folks at The Writer and the Critic discuss Nicola Griffith’s Hild and Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven. On Writing: Dan Wells discusses translating fiction to the stage in the latest episode of Writing Excuses. What are you enjoying?

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

246. Canadian SF at LonCon3 — #WorldSFTour

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode246CanadianSFAtLonCon3/SandF%20–%20Episode%20246%20–%20Canadian%20SF%20at%20LonCon3.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSSpace hockey, Martian curling, and Quebec, oh my!  Recorded at LonCon3 / Worldcon, this panel on Canadian SF features the voices of Eric Choi, Kate Heartfield, Ira Nayman, Hayden Trenholm, Caitlin Sweet, and Marjolaine Lafreniere.  They tackle Canadian publishing, the history of Canadian SF, thematic differences, and more. We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 246 — Download (MP3) Show Notes:

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Diversity in SF Film: Things to Come (1936)

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This is my third post on diversity in Science Fiction films. I started with Metropolis (1927), and then skipped two decades to The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Largely, my reason was that there weren’t any options for the 30s or 40s available on Netflix. Apparently, there aren’t very many SF films within that twenty year period.[1] I’ve decided to skip Frankenstein — although the novel is one of the first, if not the first, SF novels — because the classic film has more in common with horror than SF. I feel much the same about King Kong. Therefore, I settled on Things to Come (1936), which is based upon the H.G. Wells’ novel published in 1933 entitled The Shape of Things to Come. I know I’m risking a bit of confusion by going backward here, but I felt it was too important to skip. Also:  keep in mind that I don’t think I read the novel. At least, I don’t remember having read it.[2] So… Things to Come.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

245. The Philosophical Mecha Panel at LonCon3

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode245ThePhilosophicalMechaPanelAtLonCon3/SandF%20–%20Episode%20245%20–%20The%20Philosophical%20Mecha%20Panel%20at%20LonCon3.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSThe robot, the human, and the inhuman, oh my!  Recorded at LonCon3 / Worldcon, this panel features David G. Shaw, Madeline Ashby, and Shaun Duke discussing mecha, the self, and the other compelling philosophical questions raised by the very notion of mecha. Here’s the panel description: When is a giant robot more than just a giant robot? Many of the best and most famous anime — such as Evangelion, Gasaraki, or Flag — use the mecha as a tool to explore politics, philosophy, and the human condition. What is the conception of the human explored in such series, and how is it mediated by technological experience? We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 245 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: The Panelists: David G. Shaw Madeline Ashby Shaun Duke Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

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