Thumbing Through Yesterday

Conan the Barbarian is Robert E. Howard’s iconic swordslinger, the gold standard of sword-and-sorcery heroes. It’s hard to imagine a more quintessentially pulpy world than the one where Conan makes his living with steely thews, panther-like reflexes, and a well-documented appreciation for fair-skinned women in diaphanous gowns.
Young Tom kept these books on his shelf—dog-eared, tattered, and worn thin from countless rereadings. But will the tales still enchant young-at-heart Tom the same way today? Let’s find out.
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Among Others by Jo Walton is Tony's pick for this episode. This is the first Walton we've featured, which seems like a terrible oversight. What happens when you're a 15-year-old who lost your twin sister while stopping your insane witch mother from taking over the world? You run away, end up in a boarding school, and lose yourself in science fiction novels. At least, while the fairies don't need you.

In Conquest Born is the first novel by C.S.Friedman, one of Tom's favorite authors, and marks her fantastic appearance in the realm of published sci-fi. There are so many Big Ideas crammed into this book that it's hard to give a meaningful summary, but suffice to say it's mighty fine space opera.

Marooned in Realtime is Tony's pick, and wraps up our Vinge Binge for now. A first read for Tom, this is a direct sequel to The Peace War, set a mere 50 million years after those events.

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At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft is Tom's choice this time. Mountains is perhaps the most objective look into Lovecraft's universe of cosmic horror. When an Antarctic expedition from Miskatonic University discovers the remains of a sprawling alien civilization from pre-Cambrian times, what horrors will be unearthed? It's best we hope never to find out!

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A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge is the (pre) sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep, which we visited in episode 91. Although a first read, Tom chose this because he couldn't bear to abandon Vinge's Qeng Ho series. And what a worthy prequel! Typical Vinge, with lots of Big Ideas, compelling plots, and characters he clearly wants you to like.

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Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg is Tony's pick this time. A lengthy science fantasy tome, it follows the adventures of Valentine, an amnesiac juggler, as he uncovers the mystery of his identity and his destiny. The first novel in the Majipoor series, this was quite a read!

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The Peace War, by Vernor Vinge, is a favorite that Tom hasn't revisited in decades. Talk about dusting off a long-forgotten classic! Turns out that "forgotten" really applies in this case. Other than bobbles, neither of us remembered much about this book. But what a fun read!

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Podkayne of Mars is one of Robert Heinlein's juvenile series and Tony's pick for this episode. Join us as we explore Heinlein’s take on growing up in the stars, the clash between idealism and cynicism, and whether this “juvenile” novel has more bite than expected. Is Podkayne a proto-feminist hero or a relic of her author’s era? And what’s up with that ending?

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Lord of the Flies, the debut novel of William Golding, is something you probably encoutered in grade school. Tom did, and it stuck with him over the decades. Join us as we visit this iconic vision of youth gone wild!

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