Three Hoarsemen

As December descends and the Holidays loom, John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson saddle up after FAR too long an absence for a guestless catch-up episode.

Jeff recounts his adventures at the World Fantasy Convention (sporting his homemade Three Hoarsemen t-shirt), and then the gentlemen discuss the books, comics, and shows that have been vying for their hard-fought entertainment time (and funds).

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson.

Show Notes!

The Real and the Unreal: What on Earth, by Ursula K. Le Guin

Vacuum Diagrams, by Stephen Baxter

Beautiful Blood, by Lucius Shepard

Bridge: Long Poems of the Extraordinary, by Matt Bialer

We3, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

The Wide Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies, by John Langan

Batgirl Volume 1, by Gail Simone

The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu

Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, by David Petersen

Schlock Mercenary 01: The Tub of Happiness, by Howard Tayler

Letter 44: Escape Velocity, by Charles Soule, Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque and Guy Major

Rat Queens Volume 1, by Kurtis J. Wiebe, Roc Upchurch and Ed Brisson

Supplemental Notes:

2014: The Year in Books

2014: The Year in Shorts

Samsung Galaxy Tablet (Tab 3)

Comixology

Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle, annotated by Leslie Klinger

ODY-C 1, by Matt Fraction and Christian Ward

Schlock Mercenary, by Howard Tayler (ongoing strip)

Feeling their sap slow down with the onset of Fall, John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson stumble northwards in search of maple syrup, strangely-shaped bacon and cheese curds. In their journey they stumble across David Annandale, professor of strange films, author of strange books, and lover of strange games. Join in the conversation with the latest Fourth Hoarseman as the boys discuss the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the legacy of splatterpunk, the horror implosion of the 90s, the scarier aspects of the New Weird, and old cheap movies.

After that…hold on to your wallet…the discussion turns to books, movies, comics, television, conventions, and other culture consumed!

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson with David Annandale.

Show Notes:

The Damnation of Pythos (The Horus Heresy), by David Annandale

Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents, by Stephen Thrower

The Children of Old Leech: A Tribute to the Carnivorous Cosmos of Laird Barron, edited by Ross E. Lockhart

The Montauk Monster, by Hunter Shea

The Broken Road, by T. Frohock

The WOman in Black: A Ghost Story, by Susan Hill

Global Frequency, by Warren Ellis

Conservation of Shadows, by Yoon Ha Lee

Upgraded, edited by Neil Clarke

Fantasy Film: A Critical Introduction, by James Walters

Thor: The God Butcher, by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic

Changer of Worlds (Worlds of Honor, Book 3), edited by David Weber

Additional Show Notes:

2014: The Year in Books

2014: The Year in Shorts

The Skiffy and Fanty Show

Ngaio Marsh, Artists in Crime

As Above So Below

Jason and the Argonauts

Orpheus

Nature’s Futures 2

Birthright

God Hates Astronauts

Avengers Assemble

The Marvels Project

Deadpool Volume 1

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Arrow

The Flash

Honorcon 2014

Flying so close to the Sun their duct tape and bailing wire melts and their headphones explode, John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson return this month for our lucky thirteenth episode! Not only have we seamlessly spliced together two different recording sessions (thanks to said duct tape and bailing wire), but we are joined by one of SF Signal’s most prolific irregulars Sarah Chorn as we spelunk the depths of the genre to discuss overlooked works of fantasy and science fiction that deserve more attention.

If your wallet survives that list, we once again bring you a list of books (and other things) that we’ve consumed since last month that may finally tumble Mount ToBeRead down upon your heads!

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson with Sarah Chorn.

Show Notes:

The Hum and the Shiver, by Alex Bledsoe

Tea with the Black Dragon, by R.A. MacAvoy

Curse of the Mistwraith, by Janny Wurts

Radix, by A.A. Attanasio

Wizard of the Pigeons, by Megan Lindholm

Age of Ultron, by Brian Michael Bendis, Bryan Hitch, Brandon Peterson, Carlos Pacheco

Watchstar, by Pamela Sargent

Of Blood and Honey, by Stina Leicht

Lud-in-the-Mist, by Hope Mirrlees

Additional Show Notes:

2014: The Year in Books

2014: The Year in Shorts

Blind Voices, by Tom Reamy

Jo Walton on R.A. MacAvoy’s Book of Kells

Talking Man, by Terry Bisson

The Broken God, by David Zindell

Modern Masters of Science Fiction (University of Illinois Press)

Morning Computer, posted by Warren Ellis

Ambiente Hotel, posted by M. John Harrison

Uncanny Avengers, Volume 1

Faceless Defenders, Volume 1, by Cullen Bunn and WIll Sliney

Dave Langford on R.A. MacAvoy

As epic terrors imperil the cosmos, Fred Kiesche, Jeff Patterson, and the newly cyberneticized John E. O. Stevens blaze across the heavens wielding wit, fortitude, and implausibly potent weapons of dubious origin to discuss the Guardians of the Galaxy.

The Hoarsemen share their opinions on the movie (SPOILER ALERT), then turn their attentions to the comics which spawned it. Fred wrestles with the convoluted continuity of Marvel’s cosmic playground, while life-long readers John and Jeff endure the dual threats of retcon and reboot. Why was the first iteration of Jason Quill such a jackass? Will we ever see Mantis on the big screen? And can anyone defeat Taserface!

As usual, the chaotic cosmic conversation concludes with the customary captivating chronicles of Culture Consumed. (Long-time Marvel fans, see what I did there?)

The celestial vastness awaits! Quickly! Before the spacetime continuum is torn asunder!

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 1: Legacy

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 1: Cosmic Avengers

Rocket Raccoon & Groot: The Complete Collection

Annihilation Omnibus

War of Kings

The Thanos Imperative

Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2: Angela

Annihilation: Conquest (Book 1)

The Movement Volume 1: Class Warfare

Tour de Lovecraft: The Tales, by Kenneth Hite

The House on the Borderland and Other Mysterious Places, by William Hope Hodgson

The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies, by Clark Ashton Smith

False Dawn, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

We Leave Together, by J.M. McDermott

Magnus Ridolph, by Jack Vance

Prelude to Space, by Arthur C. Clarke

The Black Company, by Glen Cook

Some Golden Harbor, by David Drake

Lost Horizons, by James Hilton

The Dedalus Book of British Fantasy: 19th Century, edited by Brian Stableford

Additional Show Notes:

2014: The Year in Books

2014: The Year in Shorts

The Many Origins of Star Lord

Craig Laurence Gidney’s Website

Pax Arena: Thrillbent

DC’s Space Ghost

Simone and Williams: The Movement

Marvel Universe Wiki: Wraith

Marvel Universe Wiki: Taserface)

As John E. O. Stevens endures the recovery phase of his surgery, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson leave the comfort of their domains to traverse wild and unknown lands for the first meeting of the Three Hoarsemen in meatspace! The heavens tremble as they sit in the lobby of the rehabilitation facility to update listeners on culture consumed and plans for the future.

This update also acts a thinly veiled excuse to decant their new THEME SONG, provided by the esteemed John Anealio, clearly the more talented half of The Functional Nerds.

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson.

2014: The Year in Books

2014: The Year in Shorts

As the blazing eye of summer fixates on the Northern Hemisphere, John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson call upon a special guest FROM THE FUTURE! From the wintry land of Australia, Locus Award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan rides over from the Coode Street podcast to discuss SFF anthology creation, “peak short story,” and the publishing environment for short fiction past, present, and future!

Also: Can you really can claim to have “nothing to read” given the several dozen sources of periodical fiction (and hundreds of anthologies) that we have access to these days? Unlike the Dawn of Time when the Hoarsemen were young and had to walk twelve miles, uphill, both ways, in the snow, to buy magazine fiction…

Finally, we once again attempt to separate money from your wallet with all of the titles that we’ve read since the last show. Comics! Books! Roleplaying games! Heavens, we’re even spreading it out to our families.

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson with Jonathan Strahan.

Reach for Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 8, edited by Jonathan Strahan

The Starry Rift, edited by Jonathan Strahan

Greg Egan (Modern Masters of Science Fiction), by Karen Burnham

Lightspeed Magazine: Women Destroy Science Fiction, edited by Christie Yant

Space Opera, edited by Rich Horton

The Children of Old Leech: A Tribute to Laird Barron, edited by Ross E. Lockhart and Justin Steel

The Future is Japanese, edited by Nick Mamatas and Masumi Washington

Twelve Tomorrows, edited by David Rotman

Echopraxia, by Peter Watts

ARC: Volume 1

The Mirror Empire: Worldbreaker Saga 1, by Kameron Hurley

Additional Show Notes:

2014: The Year in Books

2014: The Year in Shorts

Engineering Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan

Life on Mars, edited by Jonathan Strahan

John Stevens’ Hip Replacement Recovery Fundraiser

Terry Carr’s Universe

Damon Knight’s Orbit

The Omni Books of Science Ficiton

Empire Volume 2, by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson

Kit Reed

Ripper!, edited by Gardner Dozois

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, edited by Robert Silverberg

Tigerman, by Nick Harkaway

Ms. Marvel, by G. Wikllow Wilson

The Wicked + The Divine, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

Wonderbook, by Jeff VanderMeer

City on the Edge of Forever, by Harlan Ellison and this

Shaking their sullen heads at the fact that June marks the first anniversary of the Three Hoarsemen Podcast, John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson LAUGH at the cruel passage of time and ride out for another adventure. This time around they ask the intrepid Kate Sherrod to take a break from enduring the floods in Wyoming and saddle up with them for a discussion on the works of Octavia Butler.

After that, they give their thoughts on Andy Weir’s The Martian, and scrutinize the truly staggering number of books and comics that have passed their eyes since last they met.

Also, because it’s a cruel summer, the Hoarsemen remember Jay Lake, and discuss Sarah Chorn’s stunning (and heartbreaking) column about what is important when faced with cancer.

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson with Kate Sherrod.

Kindred, by Octavia Butler

Lilith’s Brood, by Octavia Butler

The Martian, by Andy Weir

The Adjacent, by Christopher Priest

The N-Body Problem, by Tony Burgess

The Land Across, by Gene Wolfe

City of Stairs, by Robert Jackson Bennett

Leviathan Wakes, by James S.A. Corey

Heaven’s Shadow, by David S. Goyer and Michael Cassutt

Open Road Integrated Media Remembers Octavia Butler:

Additional Show Notes:

2014: The Year in Books

2014: The Year in Shorts

Jay Lake

Jay Lake: Locus Obituary

Fred Kiesche discusses the Nebulas on The Incomparable Podcast

Octavia Butler at Open Road Media

Octavia Butler’s Biography

Erika Nelson on Lilith’s Brood at Tor Dot Com

Kate Sherrod on Gene Wolfe’s The Land Across

Kate Sherrod’s Suppertime Sonnets

The Mighty Thor/Journey into Mystery: Everything Burns

Thor Omnibus, by Walt Simonson

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

On the Steel Breeze, by Alastair Reynolds

Venturing out of the soaking rain and bitter cold of March in which they spent more time hibernating than podcasting, John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson add a fourth saddle to their April episode. Paul Weimer, who has commented at every genre blog possible and who has appeared in more podcasts than you can listen to comfortably in one sitting, joins the Three Hoarsemen for this episode.

While hibernating, we spent much time reading, and now gather around the communal fire pit to discuss the works of the late Charles Sheffield, their reactions to Ann Leckie’s Nebula-nominated novel Ancillary Justice, as well as the bits and pieces of the genre that we consumed since last time.

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson with Paul Weimer.

The Compleat McAndrew, by Charles Sheffield

Between the Strokes of Night, by Charles Sheffield

Ancillary Justice

Additional Show Notes:

2014: The Year in Books

2014: The Year in Shorts

Charles Sheffield (Wikipedia)

Charles Sheffield at Baen Books

The Amazing Dr. Darwin, by Charles Sheffield

The Heritage Universe

Burning Dark, by Adam Christopher

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Eight, edited by Jonathan Strahan

Last God Standing, by Michael Boatman

A Stranger in Olondria, by Sofia Samatar

Red Sonja & Cub, by Jim Zub and Jonathan Lau

The Galactic Center Companion, by Gregory Benford

As Winter once again brings snowy doom of the East Coast, John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson huddle within a makeshift shelter made of long boxes to discuss the Science Fiction works of comic book writer Warren Ellis.

Since the 90s Ellis has been producing singularly recognizable work, including superhero titles for DC, Marvel, and Image. He has dabbled in horror, crime fiction, and dark comedy. But he has also written many standalone Science Fiction tales encompassing pulp, cyberpunk, space opera, and alternate history. Some are speculative ruminations on the future or technology, some are absurdist eye-candy, others are adventurous romps. His significant body of SF work delivers modern genre sensibilities to the sometimes myopic landscape of comics.

The Hoarsemen also discuss reading comics digitally, their opinions on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as what they have read recently.

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson.

Anna Mercury Volume 1: The Cutter, by Warren Ellis

Ignition City, Volume 1, by Warren Ellis

Ocean, by Warren Ellis

Ministry of Space, by Warren Ellis

Red: Tokyo Storm Warning, by Warren Ellis

Orbiter, by Warren Ellis

Global Frequency, by Warren Ellis

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. Ultimate Collection, by Warren Ellis

Transmetropolitan: Volume 1: Back on the Street, by Warren Ellis

Black Summer, by Warren Ellis

Warren Ellis’ Apparat Volume 1, by Warren Ellis

Warren Ellis’ Frankenstein’s Womb, by Warren Ellis

Additional Show Notes:

2014: The Year in Books

2014: The Year in Shorts

Bibliography for Warren Ellis

Warren Ellis Dot Com

Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts

Everything You Need to Know About Digital comics

The Top Ways to Read Digital Comic Books

The Elivs M.O.D.O.K.s!

Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem (the 2011 translation)

Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists to America, by Annie Jacobsen

The Complete Father Brown Stories, by G.K. Chesterton

Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, by Arthur Conan Doyle

Total Party Kill (The Incomparable)

The Naruto Books

Top Ten Book 1, by Alan Moore

Top Ten Book 2, by Alan Moore

Skirmishes, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

The Carrion Anthem, by David Annandale

Rising from their nightmare-ridden winter slumber, John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson convene around the fire to discuss the works of Catherine Lucille Moore.

Moore penned the Northwest of Earth and Jirel of Joiry series, as well as many collaborations with husband Henry Kuttner, who first wrote her a fan letter thinking that “C.L. Moore” was a man. She propelled the still-fledgling genre of “sword and sorcery” into strange new territories full of horrors and wonders, building on the foundations laid by Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith, and lighting the way for Vance, Brackett, Bradbury and Zelazny.

The Hoarsemen also discuss the fiction, non-fiction, dreary Russian movies (and their remakes), and comics they have consumed since the start of the year. Hold on to your wallets.

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson.

Northwest of Earth: The Complete Northwest Smith, by C.L. Moore

Jirel of Joiry, by C.L. Moore

Black God’s Kiss, by C.L. Moore

Sci-Fi: The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Digital Painting Techniques, by ImagineFX

How to Draw: Drawing and Sketching Objects and Environments From Your Imagination, by Scott Robertson

Soulless: The Manga, Volume 1 (The Parosol Protectorate), by Gail Carriger and Rem

FF Volume 1: Fantastic Faux, by Matt Fraction, Mike Allred and Joe Quinones

Magic Words: The Extraordinary Life of Alan Moore, by Lance Parkin

Additional Show Notes:

2014: The Year in Books

2014: The Year in Shorts

C.L. Moore (SF Encyclopedia)

Shambleau and Others

Jirel of Joiry

Northwest of Earth

The Many Names of Catherine Lucille Moore, by Andrew Liptak

Mining the Genre Asteroid: Jirel of Joiry, by Paul Weimer

Judgment Night (at SF Mistressworks)

Battered, Tattered, Yellowed & Creased: Doomsday Morning

Origin Stories: Feminist Science Fiction and C.L. Moore’s “Shambleau”, by Thomas A. Bredehoft

Comic Cartography

Legenderry, by Bil Willingham, Sergio Fernandez Davila and Joe Benitez

The Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers (Centipede Press Edition)

Reign of the Robots, Edmond Hamilton

Captain Future: Volume 3, by Edmond Hamilton

Fantasy & Science Fiction, January/February 2014