The Functional Nerds Podcast

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Madeleine Roux, author of What If…Loki Was Worthy?.

About What If…Loki Was Worthy?: Thor—Son of Odin, God of Thunder, Wielder of Mjolnir—is dead. And Loki is responsible.

It was meant to be only a joke—tampering with the Destroyer, changing Thor’s course to Midgard—a bit of mischief with a chance of maiming. But Loki’s harmless prank spiraled out of control, unleashing death and destruction on New York City and the heroes sworn to protect it. The city was saved, at the cost of Thor’s life.

Furious and heartbroken, the All-Father banishes Loki to Earth for his crime. Loki finds himself in a realm of boxed wine, instant noodles, and some sort of regional performance troupe known as the “Buffalo Bills.” It’s a meager existence, far from Asgard’s grand courts, but he finds his new friend, Brian the Gecko, a much more engaging companion than the sycophants back home. It’s a true meeting of the minds.

Loki is the God of Mischief—but he knows, deep down, that he never truly deserved to stand next to their father’s golden child, Thor, as two true sons of Odin. Yet he cannot endure his exile in peaceful isolation. A Valkyrie—Hel-bent on carrying out her oath to Thor—barges into Loki’s trailer home with his brother’s final words from the beyond: a plea to find a certain Dr. Jane Foster and pass the hammer Mjolnir on to its rightful heir.

While Loki struggles to fulfil his brother’s last request, the far-reaching consequences of his fatal prank return to haunt him. Blinded by grief over those he lost in the chaos wrought by Asgard, Iron Man vows revenge on those who consider themselves gods. Determined to protect Earth from the might of this unpredictable alien power, Stark forges Asgard’s own weaponry into a lethal suit of armor, set on eradicating any tether between their worlds—consequences be damned. When Asgard looks to Loki for salvation, he must answer the question: Am I truly worthy?

About Madeleine Roux: MADELEINE ROUX is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Asylum series, which has sold over a million copies worldwide. She is also the author of the House of Furies series, and several titles for adults, including Salvaged and Reclaimed. She has made contributions to Star Wars, World of Warcraft, and Dungeons & Dragons. Madeleine lives in Seattle, Washington with her partner and beloved pups.

This week’s picks:

SPECIAL NOTE AND LINK:

Locus – The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field – is holding their annual fundraising drive to keep their doors open, lights on, and future bright. Please consider supporting Locus through their annual fundraiser. It runs March 5th through April 5th. Explore the campaign and wonderful reward tiers at: igg.me/at/locusmag2024

Links:

© 2024 Patrick Hester

The post Episode 620-With Madeleine Roux appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Chris Radcliff, who backed the Uncanny Magazine Year 10: A Decade of Delightful Defiance Kickstarter at the THIRD NERD level!

About Chris Radcliff: Software engineer, space nerd, citizen scientist, geek dad, weird kid, and Uncanny Magazine Kickstarter backer!

Mentioned in this episode:

About Uncanny Magazine Year 10: A Decade of Delightful Defiance Kickstarter: Funding to support Year 10 of Hugo Award winning Uncanny Magazine!

This week’s picks:

SPECIAL NOTE AND LINK:

Locus – The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field – is holding their annual fundraising drive to keep their doors open, lights on, and future bright. Please consider supporting Locus through their annual fundraiser. It runs March 5th through April 5th. Explore the campaign and wonderful reward tiers at: igg.me/at/locusmag2024

Links:

© 2024 Patrick Hester

The post Episode 619-With Chris Radcliff appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

This week, Patrick and Tracy are chatting about a Publisher’s Weekly article on Brandon Sanderson’s Audible announcement. This leads us down the path of talking royalty splits, agents and the publishing ecosystem, as well as the difference between a guild and a union, SFWA, RWA and more.

This week’s picks:

SPECIAL NOTE AND LINK:

Locus – The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field – is holding their annual fundraising drive to keep their doors open, lights on, and future bright. Please consider supporting Locus through their annual fundraiser. It runs March 5th through April 5th. Explore the campaign and wonderful reward tiers at: igg.me/at/locusmag2024

Links:

© 2024 Patrick Hester

The post Episode 618-Just Us and Brandon Sanderson’s Audible Announcement appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome James Goodhand, author of The Day Tripper.

About The Day Tripper: The right guy, the right place, the wrong time.

It’s 1995, and Alex Dean has it all: a spot at Cambridge University next year, the love of an amazing woman named Holly and all the time in the world ahead of him. That is until a brutal encounter with a ghost from his past sees him beaten, battered and almost drowning in the Thames.

He wakes the next day to find he’s in a messy, derelict room he’s never seen before, in grimy clothes he doesn’t recognize, with no idea of how he got there. A glimpse in the mirror tells him he’s older—much older—and has been living a hard life, his features ravaged by time and poor decisions. He snatches a newspaper and finds it’s 2010—fifteen years since the fight.

After finally drifting off to sleep, Alex wakes the following morning to find it’s now 2019, another nine years later. But the next day, it’s 1999. Never knowing which day is coming, he begins to piece together what happens in his life after that fateful night by the river.

But what exactly is going on? Why does his life look nothing like he thought it would? What about Cambridge, and Holly? In this page-turning adventure, Alex must navigate his way through the years to learn that small actions have untold impact. And that might be all he needs to save the people he loves and, equally importantly, himself.

About James Goodhand: James Goodhand has written two YA novels. His YA debut, Last Lesson, was called “a powerfully charged study in empathy,” by the Financial Times. The Day Tripper is his adult debut. He lives in Englad with his wife and young son.

This week’s picks:

SPECIAL NOTE AND LINK:

Locus – The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field – is holding their annual fundraising drive to keep their doors open, lights on, and future bright. Please consider supporting Locus through their annual fundraiser. It runs March 5th through April 5th. Explore the campaign and wonderful reward tiers at: igg.me/at/locusmag2024

Links:

© 2024 Patrick Hester

The post Episode 617-With James Goodhand appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Moses Ose Utomi, author of The Truth of the Aleke.

About The Truth of the Aleke: The Aleke is cruel. The Aleke is clever. The Aleke is coming.

500 years after the events of The Lies of the Ajungo, the City of Truth stands as the last remaining free city of the Forever Desert. A bastion of freedom and peace, the city has successfully weathered near-constant attacks from the Cult of Tutu, who have besieged it for three centuries, attempting to destroy its warriors and subjugate its people.

Seventeen-year-old Osi is a Junior Peacekeeper in the City. When the mysterious leader of the Cult, known only as the Aleke, commits a massacre in the capitol and steals the sacred God’s Eyes, Osi steps forward to valiantly defend his home. For his bravery he is tasked with a tremendous responsibility?destroy the Cult of Tutu, bring back the God’s Eyes, and discover the truth of the Aleke.

About Moses Ose Utomi: Moses Ose Utomi wrote his first book when he was 5. It was a book about warrior bunnies from Mars, and the only copy is owned by his mother.

Since then, he has gone on to write many more, slightly better stories. He primarily writes fantasy “but with the plot and pacing of a psychological thriller” and his fiction often grows out of the West African culture and mythology he was raised in as a Nigerian American.

He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction writing as well as a Certificate in Book Publishing, and he has short fiction in various publications. Most notably, he is the author of the young adult fantasy novel Daughters of Oduma and The Forever Desert, a trilogy of adult fantasy novellas that begins with The Lies of the Ajungo.

He is also a martial arts, karaoke, and obscure sports addict.

This week’s picks:

SPECIAL NOTE AND LINK:

Locus – The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field – is holding their annual fundraising drive to keep their doors open, lights on, and future bright. Please consider supporting Locus through their annual fundraiser. It runs March 5th through April 5th. Explore the campaign and wonderful reward tiers at: igg.me/at/locusmag2024

Links:

© 2024 Patrick Hester

The post Episode 616-Moses Ose Utomi appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome James Enge, author of EVIL HONEY, a new Morlock Ambrosius short story.

About Old Moon Quarterly: Issue 3, Winter 2023: Old Moon Quarterly is a small, independent online magazine devoted to publishing weird sword-and-sorcery fiction set in a historical paranormal setting or a secondary-world, with a focus on well-rounded characters driving strange action.

About EVIL HONEY: Morlock runs afoul of the god of bees and is forced to enter a society stained by evil and madness.

About James Enge: James Enge, lives in northwest Ohio with his wife and a relentless canine researcher. He’s written Blood of Ambrose (shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award in 2010 and the Prix Imaginales in 2011), This Crooked Way, The Wolf Age, and A Tournament of Shadows, a trilogy comprising Morlock’s origin story. He’s also written a fair amount of short fiction, which has appeared in Black Gate, in the Stabby-Award-winning Blackguards, in ZNB anthologies such as Guilds & Glaives, in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and elsewhere.

In his day job, he teaches Latin and various kinds of mythology (classical myth, Norse myth, medieval legend, etc) at a medium-sized public university in Ohio.

This week’s picks:

Links:

© 2024 Patrick Hester

The post Episode 615-With James Enge appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome T.R. Napper, author of Aliens: Bishop.

About Aliens: Bishop: The USCSS Patna has been found.

Although the synthetic Bishop asked to be shut down forever, his creator has other plans. Michael Bishop seeks the Xenomorph knowledge stored in the android’s mind, and brings Bishop back to life—but for what reason? No longer an employee of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Michael tells his creation that he seeks to advance medical research for the benefit of humanity. Yet where does he get the resources needed to advance his work, and with whom do his new allegiances lie?

The USCSS Patna is pursued by Colonial Marines Captain Marcel Apone, commander of the Il

There are many who would profit from Lance Bishop’s intimate knowledge of the deadliest

About T.R. Napper: T. R. Napper is a multi-award-winning science fiction author. His short stories have appeared in Asimov’s, Interzone, the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and numerous others, and been translated into Hebrew, German, French, and Vietnamese. He received a creative writing doctorate for his thesis: Noir, Cyberpunk, and Asian Modernity.

His debut short story collection, Neon Leviathan, came out to stellar reviews in 2020. His debut novel, Thirty-Six Streets, was published by Titan Books in 2022 (also to stellar reviews), and won both the prestigious Aurealis and Ditmar awards for best novel.

Before turning to writing, T. R. Napper was a diplomat and aid worker, delivering humanitarian programs in Southeast Asia for a decade. During this period, he received a commendation from the Government of Laos for his work with the poor.

Napper was a resident of the Old Quarter in Ha Noi for several years, the setting for his debut novel, 36 Streets. These days he has returned to his home country of Australia, where he works as a Dungeon Master, running campaigns for young people with autism for a local charity.

This week’s picks:

Links:

© 2024 Patrick Hester

The post Episode 614-With T.R. Napper appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Amanda Jayatissa, author of ISLAND WITCH.

About ISLAND WITCH: Set in 19th century Sri Lanka and inspired by local folklore, the daughter of a traditional demon-priest—relentlessly bullied by peers and accused of witchcraft herself—tries to solve the mysterious attacks that have been terrorizing her coastal village.

Being the daughter of the village Capuwa, or demon-priest, Amara is used to keeping mostly to herself. Influenced by the new religious practices brought in by the British Colonizers, the villagers who once respected her father’s craft have turned on the family. Yet, they all still seem to call on him whenever supernatural disturbances arise.

Now someone—or something—is viciously seizing upon men in the jungle. But instead of enlisting Amara’s father’s help, the villages have accused him of carrying out the attacks himself.

As she tries to clear her father’s name, Amara finds herself haunted by dreams that eerily predict the dark forces on her island. And she can’t shake the feeling that it’s all connected to the night she was recovering from a strange illness, and woke up, scared and confused, to hear her mother’s frantic cries: No one can find out what happened.

About Amanda Jayatissa: Amanda Jayatissa loves to read disturbing books with shocking plot twists, so it seemed logical to her that she should attempt to write disturbing books with shocking plot twists.

She is one of the first Sri Lankan women to secure an international book contract.

Her first traditionally published novel, MY SWEET GIRL, won Best Debut Novel at the International Thriller Writers Awards in 2022.

Her second novel, YOU’RE INVITED, was selected as a Book of The Month pick in July 2022 and was featured on The Today Show.

She grew up in Sri Lanka and has lived in the California bay area and British countryside, before relocating back to her sunny island, where she lives with her husband and two Tasmanian-devil-reincarnate huskies.

This week’s picks:

Links:

© 2024 Patrick Hester

The post Episode 613-With Amanda Jayatissa appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Ray Nayler, author of The Tusks of Extinction.

About The Tusks of Extinction: Moscow has resurrected the mammoth. But someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out again.

Dr. Damira Khismatullina, an expert in elephant behavior, was brutally murdered trying to defend the world’s last elephants from the brutal ivory trade. Now, her digitized consciousness has been downloaded into the mind of a mammoth.

As the herd’s new matriarch, can Damira help fend off poachers long enough for the species to take hold? Or will her own ghosts, and Moscow’s real reason for bringing the mammoth back, doom them to a new extinction?

About Ray Nayler: Ray Nayler is the author of the critically acclaimed, Locus Award winning novel The Mountain in the Sea, published in the US by MCDxFSG and in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. The Washington Post called Mountain “(a) poignant, mind-expanding debut” and Slate called it “(a) wondrous novel.” David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas, said: “I loved this novel’s brain and heart, its hidden traps, sheer propulsion, ingenious world-building and the purity of its commitment to luminous ideas.” Positively reviewed in the New York Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Publisher’s Weekly (starred review) and many others, The Mountain in the Sea was a best book of the year at The Times as well as Amazon and Slate. The Mountain in the Sea was a finalist for the Nebula Award and for the LA Times Book Awards’ Ray Bradbury Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction.

Ray’s second book, the novella The Tusks of Extinction was published in January 2024 by Tordotcom. The Washington Post has called it “both breathtaking and heartbreaking” and Publishers Weekly said Tusks is “impassioned and impressive . . . an uncompromising climate fiction that strikes like a spear to the gut.”

Ray has published work in many genres, from mainstream “literary” fiction to comics. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen, Crimewave, Hardboiled, Cemetery Dance, Deathrealm, Queen’s Quarterly, and the Berkeley Fiction Review, among other journals. His opinion pieces have appeared in New Scientist and at LitHub. He is a widely published poet, with work in the Atlanta Review, the Beloit Poetry Journal, Weave, Juked, Able Muse, Sentence, and many more.

Ray currently lives in Washington, DC with his wife Anna, their daughter Lydia, and two rescued cats – one Tajik, one American. ?Ray is represented by Seth Fishman at the Gernert Company.

This week’s picks:

Links:

© 2024 Patrick Hester

The post Episode 612-With Ray Nayler appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Wole Talabi, author of Convergence Problems.

About Convergence Problems: From the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Nommo award nominated author of Shigidi and The Brass Head Of Obalufon comes a stunning new collection of stories that investigate the rapidly changing role of technology and belief in our lives as we search for meaning, for knowledge, for justice; constantly converging on our future selves.

In “An Arc of Electric Skin,” a roadside mechanic seeking justice volunteers to undergo a procedure that will increase the electrical conductivity of his skin by orders of magnitude. In “Blowout,” a woman races against time and a previously undocumented geological phenomenon to save her brother on the surface of Mars. In “Ganger,” a young woman trapped in a city run by machines must transfer her consciousness into an artificial body and find a way to give her life purpose. In “Debut,” Nairobi-based technical support engineer tries to understand what is happening when an AI art system begins malfunctioning in ways that could change the world.

The sixteen stories of Convergence Problems, which include work published for the first time in this collection, rare stories, and recently acclaimed work, showcase Talabi at his creative best: playful and profound, exciting and experimental, always interesting.

About Wole Talabi: Wole is an engineer, writer, and editor from Nigeria. Author of the critically acclaimed Shigidi And The Brass Head Of Obalufon which was named one of the best books of 2023 by The Washington Post. He’s hopped around the planet quite a bit but right now, lives in Australia. He’s been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards, the Caine Prize, and won the Sidewise award for alternate history. Wole’s work has also been translated into 7 languages. His fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, F&SF, Clarkesworld, and is collected in the books Incomplete Solutions (2019, Luna Press) and Convergence Problems (2024, DAW Books)

This week’s picks:

Links:

© 2024 Patrick Hester

The post Episode 611-With Wole Talabi appeared first on The Functional Nerds.