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Movie Review: “Mickey 17” (2025), directed by Bong Joon Ho

Movie poster for Mickey 17, featuring numerous people wearing gray-green military-style gear, centering Mickey 17 (Robert Pattinson), in a floppy hat with goggles atop the brim.

Instead of the cliche of the female character who must be punished or killed for having sex, a la “Troopers”, “Mickey 17” gives us a couple for whom sex is an act centred in being a fun, shared exploration of joy for both people with the mature viewpoint that demonstrates talking and planning and listening to each other does not make things any less enjoyable. Heck, Mickey and Nasha’s joyful sex life is integral to everything not ending up very bad for everyone. I think that’s both pretty cool and wildly different from the kinds of choices so many movies make.

Book Review: Murder by Memory, by Olivia Waite

Cover of Murder by Memory, by Olivia Waite, featuring a woman sitting in an armchair with her back to us, with her hair in a bun, amid shelves and shelves of books, plus some books floating in space.

The novella starts when Dorothy Gentleman wakes up and discovers she’s been uploaded off schedule and into the wrong body, and she finds out soon that someone else is dead. As one of the ship’s detectives, she shelves her personal feelings (that’s my little in-joke) and immediately starts investigating.

797. K.B. Wagers (a.k.a. Le Conséquentialiste) — And the Mighty Will Fall

https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sand-f-797-kbwagers/SandF_797_KBWagers.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSFuturistic sports, interplanetary politics, and consequences, oh my! Shaun Duke and Trish Matson are joined by K.B. Wagers to discuss And the Mighty Will Fall. Together, they explore Wagers’ influences, tackle the messy world of pain and consequences, look at the worldbuilding and politics of the NeoG novels, and much more! Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode!

795. Suzan Palumbo (a.k.a. The Gothic Revolutionary) — Countess

https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sand-f-795-suzan-palumbo/SandF_795_SuzanPalumbo.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSAssimilations, immigrations, and revolutions, oh my! Shaun Duke and Brandon O’Brien are joined by Suzan Palumbo for a riveting discussion of Countess. Together, they explore Palumbo’s approach to space opera, the political underpinnings of Countess‘ narrative, The Count of Monte Cristo, and much more! Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode!

Book Review: ARDENT VIOLET AND THE INFINITE EYE by Alex White

Cover of Ardent Violet and the Infinite Eye, by Alex White. Features a reddish-purple mecha with a yellow-lit eyeslit, against a purple background.

Ardent Violet and the Infinite Eye exceeds expectations from the first novel because White so effectively maintains the tight plotting (with nice twists) and pacing while expanding a lot of the world building and filling in a lot of uncertainties from August Kitko and the Mechas from Space, particularly concerning the nature of the rogue AI Infinite and its Vanguard creations.

793. Cat Rambo (a.k.a. Ms. Furry) — Rumor Has It

https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sand-f-793-cat-rambo/SandF_793_CatRambo.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSBizarre physics, chef adventurers, and talking ships, oh my! Shaun Duke and Paul Weimer are joined by Cat Rambo for a riveting discussion about Rumor Has It. Together, they explore Cat’s approach to point of view and spectacle, the complexities of infodumps, writing space opera, and much more! Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode!