This month we read Philip José Farmer's extended fart joke The Wind Whales of Ishmael. This episode is kinda ridiculous, which is fitting for a book which is also kinda ridiculous. We chatted for 15 minutes before we got into the book, as follows:

0:00-7:00ish - general chat and update on Haley's fava beans, as requested by listener Amber 7:00ish-14:30 - tasting and discussion of Coca-Cola Spiced, which is not very good 14:30-15:30 - an anecdote from Haley's college radio days 15:30-end - an actual episode of Hugo, Girl! the podcast

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This month we read Mary Doria Russell's divisive novel The Sparrow. It's got a bit of everything - Jesuits, space travel, food, friendship, sexual assault, victim-blaming, and child murder. Amy is DM.

Did we mention trigger warning? Yikes!

CW/TW: see description above, and it's really serious so skip this one if you need to! We like you!

By the way, we did a LOT of chatting at the top of this one, so skip to about the 12 minute mark if you want to get straight into the book discussion.

Friend of the pod Anne joined us and quizzed us on past episodes! We also discussed our favorite reads of 2023 and what we're looking forward to reading in 2024.

Happy New Year, and thanks for listening!

Jason is a genius, Diane is a diamond, ED is a Lawton, and Carol is drunk. Our narrator - He's just Tyler.

This month we read Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. We liked it! Lori is DM.

Note: There is no actual discussion of eating disorders in this episode or in the book. One character is named ED, and his name is repeated one million times.

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Links:

Speculition's Review of Spin

This month we read Roger Zelazny's classic Lord of Light. We did not like it, and we are sorry. 

DM: Haley

References: The Nerantel Gem Episode Read the Nerantel Gem Jo Walton's Review

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This month we discussed Blood of the Dragon, which won George RR Martin the Hugo Award for best novella in 1997. Blood of the Dragon consists of the Daenerys chapters from Game of Thrones. You can read it here or here.

DM: Amy

CW/TW: It's Game of Thrones, so you know the deal: SA, SA, and more SA.

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WE WON A HUGO AWARD!

Hold on to your dirtypillows and don't forget to plug it up - spooky season is here! We read Carrie, Stephen King's 1974 debut novel.

Lori is DM.

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Links:

Tor.com review 

Carrie on stephenking.com

This month we read The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge. We liked it. No further analysis!

DM: Haley

NOTE: Sound quality is bad. Amy was sick so we recorded remotely, and your friend Lori did a bad job adjusting the gain. For best results, use your crummiest headphones.

Also, it's come to our attention that Joan's last name might be pronounced Ving-ee, or maybe Vinjee. If we said it wrong, we're sorry!

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This month we read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein, and boy howdy is it ever a Mojo Dojo Casa House up there on Luna. We'll stay here on Earth, thanks.

DM: Amy

CW/TW: every expression of misogyny!

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LINKS:

7 Fictional Characters that Changed the World

Cronkite Interview with Heinlein and Clarke

Jo Walton's Review