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Book Review: All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

A SecUnit assigned to the exploratory group PreservationAux has a problem. Two in fact. As an android, it’s supposed to serve the small exploratory mission to which it has been assigned. The SecUnit’s entire function is to support the exploratory mission’s investigation of a local planetary environment that it has placed a bid on to look at. Androids like SecUnit are a safety precaution from the Company because, well, alien planets can be rather hostile. And of course, they are handy recording devices, too, for the Company that is. A mandatory helper and a spy for anyone looking to explore the wild frontier in space. Given that planets are not monolithic single-biome worlds, having multiple teams from competing groups spread out across a newly found world is a pretty regular thing. Who knows what you will find over in the next valley, down the river a bit, from another team. One team can’t find everything on a planet.  So when a neighboring team to SecUnit’s goes dark, that’s a bad sign for its team, a major concern.  What disaster befell them? Environmental? Natural? Something else? Given the proximity, is it a threat to PreservationAux, and to SecUnit itself?

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

Signal Boost #3: A Conversation about Marvel's Nazi Problem

http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFSignalBoost3MarvelsNaziProblem/Sandf–SignalBoost3–MarvelsNaziProblem.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSIn today’s episode of Signal Boost, Shaun and Jen introduce their whole new format: Conversations! Today, we discuss Marvel’s Nazi Problem: how Marvel has betrayed the character of Captain America, how upsetting this is in today’s political climate, and what we’re going to do about it. In addition, during our mini-boosts, we each share two things that we’re excited about. We hope you’ll enjoy them, too. 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):

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

323. Betsy Dornbusch (a.k.a. The God Sword) — Enemy (An Interview)

http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode323InterviewWBetsyDornbusch/Sandf–Episode323–InterviewWBetsyDornbusch–Corrected.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSMagnetic shoulders, god wars, and reminders, oh my! Betsy Dornbusch joins Jen and Trish to discuss the final book in her Seven Eyes trilogy, Enemy. We discuss how to keep track of all the threads in a trilogy, how powers come with a price, exploring the world of Enemy, and Betsy’s forays into other genres. 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):

Torture Cinema Polls

Torture Cinema Poll: Mayday!

Well, everyone, Babylon AD was pretty awful. More awful than some of us remembered. So good job on your April pick! This time around, there are no redeeming features to any of these movies. We swear. None. So pick away and be confident that whatever you do choose, it will be torturous for our participants!!

Blog Posts

Retro Childhood Review: Fog Magic

“It’s the things you were born to that give you satisfaction in this world, Greta. Leastwise, that’s what I think. And maybe the fog’s one of them. Not happiness, mind! Satisfaction isn’t always happiness by a long sight; then again, it isn’t sorrow either. But the rocks and the spruces and the fogs or your own land are things that nourish you. You can always have them, no matter what else you find or what else you lose.” Portal fantasy is a popular genre for middle children’s fiction, as evidenced by the fact that 3 out of my 4 Retro Childhood Reviews are about children finding their way to new worlds. In The Neverending Story, Bastian is escaping a grief-filled reality; in Firebrat, Molly is learning to appreciate her Grandmother; the reasons for traveling through portals are as varied as the stories themselves. But portal fantasy, at its core, allows a child reader to travel to new worlds along with the protagonists. Fog Magic, by Julia L. Sauer, a Newberry Honor Book, is an absolutely charming addition to the genre. Though this is not a book that captures my heart to the level of some of the others on my shelves, it is nonetheless one that I turn to from time to time, to escape to the simplicity of an earlier age.

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