How does a story drive forward?  How do the connections between the characters, the setting, the author, and the reader all work in concert to weave a tale that people want to read or tell or listen?  We're waxing philosophical on tonight's episode, and appropriately enough, we're sampling some West Cork Irish Whiskey to put us in the right mood.

It's another 15 minute dumpster fire, brought to you by Stephen and Mark and Starward Two Fold.

Stephen and Mark spend some time stranded on Mars with "The Martian" by Andy Weir.  Surviving on a planet that is literally trying to kill you at every moment of the day can be stressful.  Good thing they have their custom made bottle of Oak & Eden to help take off the edge.

As Stephen and Mark lose their minds over whales, they will spend some time sipping on St. George Absinte and Basil Hayden Toast!

What if you could live 10,000 lifetimes, and the only requirement would be to find perfection before using them all up.  Do you think you could do it?  Stephen and Mark are pretty sure they wouldn't make it, getting distracted by loud thoughts, like Stephen's gout toe, or France.  This is the simple premise of a deceptively complex book about life, love, the self, and reaching for something perfect in "Reincarnation Blues" by Michael Poore. But one thing that is close to perfection, is a bottle of Widow Jane 10 Year Bourbon.

Tonight as the guys talk about what they forgot from All Systems Red by Martha Wells, they return to a previous bottle, Legent.  This time they try it as a cocktail with an experimental mixer purchased for a magical place called the internet.

On this episode, the guys discuss the starting tale of a Scifi series with an interesting twist and viewpoint.  Speaking of interesting twists, they will be sampling Jack Daniels Triple Mash.

Join us for another 15 minutes...or less...of the boys talking about what they forgot to talk about in Valley of Shadows by Rudy Ruiz.

This week, "Valley of Shadows" by Rudy Ruiz. The guys explore a new twist (for them) on an old genre.  A Western from a different perspective, both culturally and geographically.  This haunting and action packed western tale takes them on a journey through a world that seems both familiar and unexplored.  Bad guys.  A lone sheriff. A serial killing cult.  Magic, curses, and a sense of justice that will stop at nothing to win the day, even if it costs everything to do it. To keep the curses at bay, the guys will revisit Willett Kentucky Bourbon, a bottle they haven't tasted since season 1.

Nothing's more terrifying than unionized dolphins.  Come listen and find out why.