Top 10 Posts and Episodes for July 2017
Another month has passed us by, and that means it’s time for another stats post. This round was full of a wide range of material spanning nearly the entire history of our blog and show. We blame Twitter… Here are the most popular posts and episodes from July 2017:
Book Review: Strange California (anthology)
California is a big state, and occupies an even bigger place in our imaginations, so it’s only to be expected that a collection of stories exploring what makes it so special — so strange — makes for a big book. Which is to say, a promise of value, of bang for one’s buck, is made right up front. As is outlined in what amounts to a manifesto in the book’s introduction, the stories in Strange California explore not only the state’s varied physical and cultural geography, but also what makes it so very different from the rest of the United States — what makes it strange. As editors Jaym Gates and Daniel Batt emphasize in the introduction, however, this collection is not merely an anthology of weird fiction. California is certainly weird, but it’s also strange — set apart, unknown, perhaps unknowable to those of us who don’t live there, who are strangers to the place.
Worldcon 75 (HELSINKI!): Our Schedules and Call for Interviewees!
We’re just a week away from Worldcon, and we are excited! Five of us will be there next week (Shaun, Paul, Alex, Julia, and Mike, who is last here because he’s wrong about comics :P), and we’ll all be up to no good while we’re there. Whether it’s paneling, exploring Helsinki, or recording guerilla interviews in the dark, you can be certain that we’ll be busy bees! With that in mind, this post aims to let you know where you can find us at Worldcon AND how to contact us if you’d like to be interviewed for the podcast! Here goes:
Book Review: Blackthorne by Stina Leicht
Eledore has fallen! In the wake of the near-genocidal attack on the already plague-ridden kingdom, the remnants and survivors of the attack by the Acrasian Empire have several pressing problems. First, the Acrasians, now that they have smashed the Kingdom, consider the flinders to be easy pickings. Kainen hunted for sport, territory conquered, a proud kingdom ruined. Worse, the remaining Kainen polities, like the Waterborne Nations, and Ytlain, have to deal with this new political reality, and Eledore’s fallen status means that its people must often go cap in hand to their brethren, and suffer and bargain for what they once could ask for freely. Even more of a problem is the problem that Eledore has stood athwart for centuries and no longer can: The otherdimensional, eldritch problem of the malorum. Now that the gates are opening and malorum are coming through, the survivors of Eledore are under literal siege from this threat. Not that the Acrasians are as well off as they might be. Yes, the great victory against the Eledorean menace has occurred. But in the wake of that victory, the local and resident nonhuman population, overt and covert, have been restive. Some have even been seeking escape from the Regnum, to get beyond the borders of a state slowly and inexorably tightening into Caesarism. Besides the high level political problems, seen only at a distance and remove, the street-level problems of life in the Regnum are multiplying. The malorum are now a looming threat on the streets of Novus Salernum itself.
Torture Cinema Poll: August Attack of the 80s!
We realize that you haven’t even heard our July pick, Night of the Comet, yet, but it will be up soon! PROMISE!! What you’ll find when you DO listen to that one though is that sometimes the team gets really lucky and ends up watching something really kind of enjoyable. SO PICK A REAL TORTURE THIS TIME!!! We know! We’ll make it easy! We’ll only pick movies from the official torture list that were made in the 80s. … Oh, gods, what have we done!? … These choices are SO, SO BAD! … save us.
#PollMondays: Which of these sf/f characters would win in a free-for-all fight?
It’s time for another poll! This week, we’ve decided to make your life hell by forcing you to choose the character you think would most likely win in a fight. Imagine, if you will, that we stuck all of these folks in a cage match. Who would win? Why? Take the poll, and leave a comment!
