This isn’t the first book we’ve covered about an attractive young woman who gets implanted with a dark matter / alien / ancient lifeform by a visiting fox, survives an assassination attempt (via atomic bomb) by the president of the United States, is rescued by UK sailors, befriends Prime Minster Blair, goes hat shopping with her lady in waiting, becomes a global celebrity, and vacations with her young, clock-building husband in Paris (which she hates) and Dublin (which she loves), and we’re certain it won’t be the last. Still, parts of it are unique and worth talking about.

ASSIGNMENT: Read through chapter 18 (a longer read, but there’ll be a bit more time)

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This one’s an E. Brown mystery kindly sent in by listener John: is Mike smarter than a 10 year-old?

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Get the book here

It’s finally here: a book that’s not Mayor of Noobtown! This is the inaugural episode of our new book Empress Theresa by Norman Boutin, and as such, Mike is required to be tested by the crucible of Real or Fanfic. It’s… well… you’ll have to listen. If, for some insane reason, medical or otherwise, you weren’t able to read Super Constitution, this is probably going to get you 90% of the “manifesto” nature of that with roughly twice the entertainment value (just back of the envelope calculations.)

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ASSIGNMENT: Read thru Chapter 10

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Before we get to the meat and potatoes of it, Conor is challenged with a quiz from Mike. It’s quite a turnaround and is utterly un-skippable!

READING ASSIGNMENT: Read through chapter 5.

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As any hero would say, without looking back at the smoking ruins / nearly dead enemy / exploding spaceship, “It’s over. It’s finally over.” It’s true: you can remove your hands from in front of your eyes and take out your earplugs: The Mayor of Noobtown is no more. It’s in distinguished publisher HarperCollins’ hands now.*

BUT, before we leave, we spend an inordinate amount of time dissecting the humor, the pathos, the… sharts that have made this such a poignant read. There are Dumb Sentences as well.

*Other authors they have published: Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Richard Wright, Mark Twain, the Brontë sisters, Margaret Wise Brown, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, E.B. White, Herman Melville…

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Just one more reading of distinguished publisher Harper Collins’ soon-to-be runaway smash best seller The Mayor of Noobtown (featuring, so far, Jim, Shart, AltaVista, JoeBob, Ted Goblin and Jerry Wolf)! If you have been reading along (and if so, in the words of Jim Downey, “May God have mercy on your soul.”) then you’re already aware of the tack sharp humor of the author. But on the very remote chance that you aren’t reading along, Conor and Mike really drill down and circle back on the whole humor aspect. Also, Mike’s last stab at Real or Fanfic (it’s a doozy!) plus Dumb Sentences of the Week.

Reading Assignment: Finish the book!

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Conor v. Donald J. Sobol. Two men enter. Only one will leave.

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If you are reading along – and we’re gonna go ahead and assume you’re reading along – you’ll know that Conor and Mike are going discuss character sheets at great length. You could listen to an entire series of podcasts about character sheets and still not hear as much discussion of character sheets as you’ll get in this episode. Also lots of talk about doo-doo and wee-wee. Plus an EXTREMELY controversial episode of Real or Fanfic!

READING ASSIGNMENT: Read through chapter 17, won’t you?

Read Jacob’s Chronotrigger paper here

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Can Conor crack the case of The Dwarf’s Beard? If you don’t say yes Sally is gonna sock you one real good!!

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Ah, literature. Set your mind on higher things. Assuming that doo-doo and wee-wee are higher things. ‘Cause there’s a lot of it in a scant few chapters. And speaking of scant few chapters, Mike and Conor found enough in them to talk for nearly three hours!

However, in that time they managed to cram in your Dumb Sentences and Mike had time to consider your Real or FanFic submissions.

Assignment: Read thru Chapter 14