The Futility of War and Zelazny's Creatures of Light and Darkness
Langdon and Eden kick things off by asking the important questions: which member of the Friends cast would you follow into battle? They also discuss the inherent futility and horror of war.
Then, they tackle Roger Zelazny's weird and feverish Creatures of Light and Darkness, touching on elements of myth, explosive prose, attention to detail, and Zelazny's unfortunate misogyny.
Music played:
Mathilde - Kepler- 186f https://mathilde-blackmetal.bandcamp.com/track/kepler-186-f
Imipolex - Martian Blood Mother https://imipolex.bandcamp.com/track/martian-blood-mother
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1:44:07
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1:44:07
Kazuo Ishiguru - The Buried Giant
We made it - the podcast's personal favourite Kazuo Ishiguro book, The Buried Giant. It turns out a book about memory and genocide is kind of relevant to the world today, but we set it as part of Ishiguro's grand project of showing how Britain is bad and should sink below the waves.
Music by Planning for Burial
Theme tune by Caina
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1:42:16
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1:42:16
Everfair, Colonialism, and Better History Fiction
Gareth and Eden explore Nisi Shawl's Everfair, a mostly successful attempt at writing better, less racist, and more "complete" historical fiction. Nuclear dirigibles, proto-socialist societies, cool knife-hands, and lots and lots (and lots) of character PoVs mix and mingle with geopolitics and complex racial identities!
Music played:
Knives - PHD https://knivesnoise.bandcamp.com/track/phd
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1:13:03
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1:13:03
Growing Up Weightless and the John M. Ford Revival
Eden flies solo on this episode, diving deep into the masterful, subtle, and rich Growing Up Weightless by the criminally under-read and under-recognized John M. Ford. Lunar politics, coming of age, and weird interstellar drives clash in this unique, hard sci-fi bildungsroman!
Music played:
Changeling - Changeling https://changelingofficial.bandcamp.com/track/changeling
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58:48
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58:48
Calypso and Topographical Verse
Langdon and Eden kick things off by discussing their favorite Metallica tracks and also how good Metallica really are.
Then, they dive into Oliver K. Langmead's "Calypso", a beautiful, if limited, verse novel about terraforming, memory, personhood, and endings.
Music played:
Slave Agent - Forced to Suffer https://slaveagent.bandcamp.com/track/forced-to-suffer
Grails - Silver Bells https://grails.bandcamp.com/track/silver-bells
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