Hitchhiker's Guide Final Thoughts

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We bring you author interviews, news from the world of science fiction and fantasy, and awesome discussions from fans just like you Happy five episode hundred five hundred five So of course, because it's our five hundredth episode, we've brought in guests from all five hundred episodes. There's a highlight reel. There's nothing. We've got. We brought wine. You get nothing, absolutely nothing. U No, you get us, you get us. We have. We have chat room. you get as always Halfway into a glass of nineteen crimes Ooh wine. That's nineteen crimes. It's like nineteen crimes. It's a solid wine. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. ye. I'm a fan. I'm drinking prophecy As we're told California. Yes, as we're told I decided I had to go with an American an American wine this this time around for because we're celebrating things American Thanksgiving tomorrow Do you have to work tomorrow So Oh, that was such a Canadian so So It's good. I don't have any meetings. Okay. I do actually have a document I need to produce that I' very looking forward to having no meetings for so I can just how did this go from a happy five hundredth episode to be conn about my work myult. Yeah So I do I do have work I need to accomplish before next week. Okay don't have for the next two days. But No. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's pretty chill. I am gonna spend part of the day cooking. No one else is really working or has any meetings So yeah, it should be it should be I will be happy to have focus time. L forward to that. Julian is still in school because there is Not a holiday here. so I could have the house to myself. So that's awesome. Now when we that journey for Nhing for the five hundredth episode. That's not exactly true. Veronica, you have assembled a list of statistics, an extensive list of Sord and Laser statistics across our past five hundred episodes And when I say I have assembled, it's me and I outsource that to Chad Gibe. Chad did this for you, didid he? Chad, good old Chad Gibe U So take that with a grain of salt. I have verified some of the numbers, not all of the numbers, but I think generally it's on the right track. There's probably minimal hallucinations Minimal. I asked it to double check a few times. I gave it proper sources, but you did were' using four z or one or the four one Is there an O one? Yeah, because the O one will do like the double checking on its own. Like it's it thinks more. I don't use that for copy editing though because it thinks too much Is that er one preview? Yeah. one preview. Oh snap. should I like Oh, it doesn't support web search. So I didn't do that. Yeahah, whichsess for this. nevermind Okay, let's get to the numbers here. So we have had a total number of listed picks are one hundred and eighty six. We had some alternates, some official alts, and one miscellaneous pick, which was denoted by M. That was for Jenny. Yeah when we had the Jenny Memorial episode So Chad says congratulations on reaching the five hundredth episode of Sword and Laser. Thanks Jad. There are some intriguing statistics and highlights from the podcast's history So we launched in October of two thousand seven So that was a long time ago. We've had a total of five hundred episodes as you know. We've had hundred, let's see so gender of authors, one hundred and two books by male authors, eighty one books by female authors, two books by non binary authors. Two books by male collollaborations. I'm not sure what that means. It like authors. That's gotta be James S.A. Corey and probably Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Okay. Wow, I love how I just called that up. One book by a male and female collaboration, which is Time War.. This is how you lose a Time W. And authors of color, thirty one books were authored by persons of color and six books were authored by transgender individuals. Series were standalone. one hundred fourteen books are part of a series. Wow. seventy books are standalone aren't part of a series these days, so yeah That's actually pretty incredible. Yeah Like that' that's surprising to me. It makes sense when you think back on it, when you think about the picks we've done, but I didn't realize it would be that heavily it doesn't it actually doesn't surprise me because Whenever I look at picks, I'm like, oh, that's part of a series, that's part of a series. And everyce a while, someone will be like, Don't pook books that are part of a series. I'm like, then we won't pick books because right Everything is part of a series these days So I can already tell that this math is off because one hundred and fourteen plus seventy does not equal one hundred eighty six. Is? It originally thought it was one hundred eighty four. I think it was not counting a list That's fine. So those numbers are slightly skewed, but I think generally correct So this is an interesting one, publication dates The oldest book discussed was Frankenstein, or The mododern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. published in eighteen eighteen and The newest so this is a confusing sket. Yeah, ye, know, I get I think I get what it's going on. Yeah, yeah The newest book that we discussed after its official published date. When we discussed it, it was new. When we discussed it, it was the newest book that had come out for us was Anathem by Neil Stevenson with the reading period starting on its release day Yeah almost that's aress ever pick a book that has been out within the last couple of months. A lot of times because it's hard to get Yeah, but also because we kind of want to see you know buzz is around it. We have been picking books within the current year more often recently, but in the early days, we rarely did. So Yeah, Anathem is unique U Decade distribution. I think Tazzie Dave or maybe Robber Reader, someone recently has done this as well. So I'm not sure how well this list aligns with their actual human human calculations. The eighteen tenens, one book, the nineteen thirties, one book, nineteen forties, two books, nineteen fifties, seven books, nineteen sixties T books, nineteen seventies, nine books nineteen eighties, seventeen books, nineteen nineties, seventeen books, two thousands twenty six books, two thousand ten s, seventy one books, and twenty twies, twenty three books I feel like we overdid it. in the twenty tenens. because The twenty I well no, because the twenty twentyies are only four years in So ye we're on p wor' the same. but yeah, you can tell probablyably on pace that We started in two thousand seven because the majority of our books are in the teens in the twenties Mhm And I think that aligns with interest le. I mean we we're not a You feel it when you're like att least half the books picks every year are going to want to be from the recent year, right? So that's going to place in in the same decade And then the rest of that distribution back in two thousand and before is It's pretty good. It's pretty decent. You're obviously not gonna have as many books prior to the fifties when the genre really was not a thing yet you know, and and it grows and grows and grows into the nineties when it becomes a full throated industry, so yeah, I'm cool with those numbers I think it's funny that we picked the same number of books in the eighties and nineties Yeah, exactly the same. even balance. Yeah that's super interesting. Oh, don't worry crochet Chrissie, we'll get to awwards. She says otherwise, how would things get these certainly Yeah or beond fair not to pick those. Exactly. Exactly So decision makers, this was a fun one that it picked out as a category Combined toast picks, twenty one books, Veronica's picks, fifty seven books, Tom's picks, fifty seven books I love combined h is twenty one times I wonder what that means. That's weird. I wonder I don't know what Chad thinks that means. Yeah Community polls, forty two books Guest selections Five books. That was when yourickstarter leave. Oh, Kickstarter contributor, one book. right. Goodreads member, one book Yeah Let's begin I don't know why I'm proud of us for having an equal number of book picks. Well, I mean we're pretty this the point. Yeah, we're pretty solid we're alternating so it just means we're good at math. We're good at taking turns. I don't know what that means Author nationalities, so top countries, USA, which makes sense, one hundred and twenty seven books. UK I'm sorry, one hundred and twenty seven authors. Authors. UK, thirty one authors. Canada, eighteen authors represent. Poland two authors and Australia two authors. Now those doesn't just have top. that's just the top five for top. Yeah, ye ye ye By continent, North America, one hundred and forty six authors, Europe, thirty three authors, Asia. authors. I find that sus. Yeah. I find that sus. Although we've re read a lot of like Asian American authors as well. So I that maybe that's where the discrepancy lay So the the the Bunny And one Q eight four. defefinitely Asia authors from Asia. Maybe the restor Asian American Did we read three body problems deead u. Yeah. Yeahah. So all right. So that's off And have we read Ken just have we read anything just by Ken there the c hes Ameran's As American.' Asian Never mind U Okay, Oceana, three authors, Africa, one author Antctic not ofo The herero Terry Pratchet, oh, I'm sorry, that was a random non secquitter. Terry Pratchett. In books by Terry Pratchett, Notable authors with multiple features, Terry Pratchett, three books, including coauthoring Good Omens. Be we did the Christmas one, we did another Disc World and Good Omens. so yeah. ye Neil gave in two books, including Good Omens. So it's American Gods and Good Omens George R. Martin two books because we did Game of Thrones and we did U the most recent one Did we? Yeah As a bookpick? Yeah Be wery. Really? Yeah, yeah. Oh wow. The most recent one being book four, which was like twelve years ago. Okay Okay. Winds of Winter. Ursilla Caleg Gwuinn, two books Really What that I want to yeah, let's I can check one out real fast Left handand of darkness And the wizard a wizard of Earthsea. Oh, right, right did de two. I didn't realize that. It's because we did one One of those was picked by Um, Gust when you gotot it. Okay, okay. That's fair. That makes sense U All right, And then we had Octavia Butler, two books. Terrible of the Ser ander Sower And Dwn. That was also a guest pick, right? Yeah. O yeah, because you was the first month I was out and Lois McMaster Bougeold two books Really Yeah, right Interesting. We did more Salszy ones too. Cordelia is if theystand the curse of Chalon alian Wow in real time And it was real Red shirts and old man's Wore, but red shirts was an alternate pick So fuzzy and Fuzzy Nation was an alternate pick Oh wow. So technically we've actually read If we if we picked alt picks as well, we would be tied. he would be Sely would be tied with with Pratchett. Well, I was going to say and there's also Stevenson We read Anathem Remi was an alternate pick that was it Awards and recognitions Award winners and nominees, Hugo awwards thirty five winners, twenty seven nominees. Just saying I think that's not counting the total so I would assume that There would be more nominees than winners Yeah. So I think it's counting Oh the winner not counting the total just nominees. Yeah, the nominees number does not include people who won All right people who were nominated and did not win. Okay Nebula awwards, twenty two winners, thirty five nominees Loccus Awards, thirty six winners, sixty seven nominees, and World Fantasy Awards five winners, twenty seven nominees All're it You win even retroactively if we pick your book There you go. There you go So I just thought that was a fun look back on everything we've done. Do you have a favorite I'm kind of dropping this on you right now, but do you have a favorite certain laser memory or something your memory? I thought you were gonna ask me if I had a favorite sword and laser host Oh okay, well that's fair And obviously, yes, I do Um It's Rob Dunwood. No, I'm just kidding. Do I have a favorite sword and laser memory You know, probably the first thing that pops to mind when you say that is the video show that we did and the set and flying up from LA when I after after I moved and goingo in doing those shows and interviewing George R. Martin and James SA. Corey and It was that was fun. That was a fun time That was a wild time. That was a fun time. Yeah I'll never forget, I'll never forget getting the call from Felicia about that about asking us to do the do the show for Geek and suundry I remember I was in a hotel room in New York And I can't remember what I was in New York for if I was there. it might have been when I was shooting that pilot actually. Oh yeah with Stacy London and I got a call from Felicia. quuite late at night because she was in LA and she didn't realize I was traveling and She was like, I want you to do a sword and Laser show. Like will you will you do this? And I was like Yes, absolutely. I have to talk to Tom, but we are we are so on board. Yeah. And Yeah, I think it was it was tough because it's very we're still very niche. like even in the podcast world, like it it's always just been a labor of love for us and something we do because we're passionate about it and we love it and we love the audience and we love reading and we love hanging out Um, And so taking it to that next level and really having suddenly production company working with us and having to be the producers and wrriting video I mean, we had both written obviously video scripts before, but it was a little bit different. Yeah Well and doing this show as a video show and trying to adapt it and all of that. Yeah For sure, for sure. And so many people came together and put a lot of hard work and creativity into it. was. Felicia was always so supportive Yeah, the the um The crew was incredible. and yeah, it was just it was a really fun time. It was a lot of fun. and I think back on that very fondly and I you know, just being able to interview George R. Martin. I mean, we interviewed so many incredible authors, but like, Oh, by the way, Chan Chad Chad JibBe, Chad Jibe. was convinced we had interviewed Neil Gaiman. and I had to tell it like four different times. L that's wrong. No, We have not interviewed Neil Gaiman rob are never going to now, but that's fine. Like you never know. It's probably not gonna to happen. but that was Yeah, that was hilarious. I was like, reallyally you're just gonna stick that knife in, huh? All right. All right, I see you. Um, That was one of my favorite memories for sure. I think doing Dragon Kon live episodes was one of my favorite An another great memory. Absolutely. those live shows. M, I'd like to do that again. That was super fun. and we'd always fill the room. like You guys are amazing. ye I always just couldn't believe that people were coming to see us in person Like it was such an honor and such a joy to have like a full room of people there to watch us do the show. And that feeling has never left me. Like I love the online audience, of course, but getting to actually meet people in person, seeing strangers wearing sword and laser t shirts, And like having copies of the anthology was just like unreal, like super, super cool So that remember Pter hard Pinter Stad to our Dragon Kun recording Vaguely, yes Only at Dragon God Buck Rogers was he bust in and interrupt you All right Who was There was a we won't mention him, but there was an author that like really pissed me off during during the recordings. I actually I'm having trouble remembering who it was. I wonder if the audience remembers That will prevent you from outing them Yeah, that does that does help for sure Park is like Buck Rogers? Yeah, Gilderard. Buck Rogers Buck Roger is in costume, but I don't think as in costume as Buck Rogers Mhm But just to be clear, Buck Rogers was not the one to piss me off. No, no, no. That was two different two different epises. Wen't even recording either. Like he just burst in while we were getting ready or something and everybody's like, whoa, that's Gild Gerard. Oh, this is gonna drive me crazy. He was so rude to me. He was so rude to me. Um U And I think I outed him on the show after the fact and just talked about how No, it wasn't John Skulzy, J. It was no, no no, it was not John Skullzy. He's always been really nice to us No, honestly, John has been one of my favorite people to interact with at conventions. He's always been J incredibly him and Rothfus you know, are just, o, and and Daniel Abraham. and Ty Frank from James to say Corey Those Guys like consistently throughout the years have just been So generous with their time and so kind to us and just really made us feel like part of the community and Yeah, that those are Those are good good folks for sure. I have always really enjoyed not only just having them on the show, but meeting them in person and getting to hang out with them, just solid folks, like really, really good folks Yeah Dragon Con. I miss Dragon Con. Maybe maybe sometime'll we'll go to another worldorld con and as John Nevittt said in chat, we can do a do another live episode. We'll see Anything else you want to add U Well, I still have a vague memory of being in my office at CNet and talking about like, we should do like a book club you know, online where where, you know, we we pick sci fi and fantasy books and expose each other to to our picks And then that happened. And that we are. And it wasn't even a podcast. I think I immediately was like, ooh, and it could be a podcast, of course, because that's now I thought I thought everything should be a podcast. Yeah, still do Um But yeah, it was it was just us. it was Veronica, I think I remember it as being your brain Child you were the one who's like, you know what we should do And then it just snowblled from there I don't remember. Yeahah, that's I mean it's totally possible I did love producing podcasts back in those days. But yeah, Tom and I just wanted to do something outside of CNEet, especially because I was We weren't doing it. We did it after I left, right? Like we didid we have overlap between Buzz Out Loud and Sword and Laser? I can't remember I think I think we may have started the Ning forum before you left, but not the podcast until after Yeah, That' pretty because I think. Pretty ca I know because I started working there in two thousand four, five And I was only there for about three years. So there was there might have been some overlap It's so funny to think that I was only at CNet for three years years? It like such a huge outsized part of my life And yet, yeah. No, I know. All right Well, that's Sord and Laser by some of the numbers. If you have any favorite I would love to hear like for you listeners out there who have been with us for so long. I would love to hear more about like like what you remember from the early days or fun memories that you've had or live events or meeting us or anything cool like that Um be would be super fun to hear about probablybably should have gathered those ahead of time. Feedback at swordenlazer. com for our big episode five hundred one celebration You guys know how we roll. We're going doing our best here All right, well let's move on to the real show and jump right into the quick burns Chris Kay notes that the science fiction Fantasy Writers Association has announced the addition of poetry And comics to the Nebula Awards which is great. Comics has been part of the Hugoos for a while, but the Nebulas didn't have it. So yeah, starting for january twenty twenty five, eligibility The first awards in the new categories will be presented in the twenty twenty six Nebula awwards ceremony I don't want to sound like I don't like the Hugoos I do. I think the Hugoos are wonderful. I know they've had a lot of struggles, but I think they're great. and I think, you know, they do a really good job of picking deserving people. There's something about the Nebula Awards I like though. like the Nebula Aards they feel scrappier and maybe it's because it's the writers Association You know, the Hugoos are like Oscars and the Nebula Awards are kindind of I don't want to say they're the Glden Globes, the Golden Globes have their own issues too, but you know, they're they're like the I don't know.'s they have a special place in my heart I really like the neibulo I also like the Nebula words. and I always give it to very deserving people Most of the Yeah Most of the awards do that I mean, ye, I mean I think the Hugos do too. They They do their They lots of awards. Yes, Yes, Yes. Seth writes that Charlie Janne Anders has picked her favorites from the last year for the Washington Post I can't read the Washington Post So like literally like I can't open the link. So I assume they're probably great picks. Can you see them, Tom or can anyone else Let's see. if I create an account I can see them, but I have not done that. Oh well, I'm sure they're great picks The eleven Best science fiction and fantasy books of twenty twenty four is all I see Okay Fair. It have to pay. I just have to create an account. Do I not have an account at the Washington Post? I guess I don't Oh well. All right, well u Chaminade, Chaminade is going to check to see if she posted them on Blue Sky. so maybe we'll be able to see them there. We'll come back to that one if we get more info Mark points out a variety article that James SA Corey and MGM, Amazon's MGM studios are working on a TV adaptation of the book series The Captives War, which launched in August. So it's a trilogy and the first one is out and they're already working on a TV adaptation of it This is part of a deal between MGM Studios and expxpanding Universe, which is James S.A. Corey's multip platform media company Very very cool Al a fan, always a fan of what they do and a fan of the expxanse as a show and a series. So excited to see what this next one brings. I haven't read The Captiv's War yet Have haveave you picked it up? No, I have not picked it up either, but I int Im surprised Yeah, I have not read anything that isn't our book pick Ecept for something that I will reveal when we do our book discussion later. All right Briana says a title new of the new Witcher book has been announced today. Oh, it's called Crossroads of Ravens. What's it what's it called in Polish though? notot gonna to do that. Not even going to try No, thank you. you you can give it a shot if you would like to. I don't think I will either Okay Crossroads are works for me Cross Rows of Ravens, the December issue of m Noafadust ga I think that' fantastantastica Magazine, which premires tomorrow, contains sample chapters of the book And they go And Tamah Home says the Fantasy, science fiction, and romantasy nominees for the Good Reads favorite books of twenty twenty four have been announced. You can go vote on them. The science fiction section includes Moon of the Turning leaves. by Wub Ia shig rice Ministry of Tim Anot orrbital The Stardust Grail, Mercy of the gods. Douglas Preston Extinction, The otherther Valley by Scott Alexander Howard. I cheerfully refuse. Uh, didid I miss any I started reading out oford of Stardos Grail. I cheerfully refused the Family experiment by John Mars. Very cool All right, we've got incoming breaking news from Shaminad and Jason B. So we've got the list coming in here. from Charlie J Andanders's Wapa post. So Annieibot by Sierra Greer, the Butcher of the Forest by Primi Mohammed. The Fox Wife by Yang i Chu, The Mars House by Natasha Pully, Metal fromrom Heaven by August Clark, Nine Tales by Sally Wen Mao Hours by Philip B. Williams, The Practice The Horizon in the Chain by Sophia Sumitar And someone you can build a nest in by John Wiswell The tusk of extinction by Ray Nyer and The Wings Upon her Back by Samantha Mills Nine those are picks Nine tails is the T acclaimed poet Sally Wne Mau reimagines the Fx spirit from Asian folklore as a shapeshifter. Ah, it's fantasy. I like I like nine tail Fx u es. they're fun. They are fun So thank you, thank you folks for grabbing those for us. I appreciate you And Roberator pointed out that the spacy book, Orbital by Samantha Harvey, won the booker prize Very cool. Congrats, Samantha Harvey. That's great Nice, I'm trying to read more about this too. They want me to talk about cookies as I click on the link Compact, yet beautifully expansive, Obital invites us to observe Earth's splendor, while whilst reflecting on the individual and collective value of every human life. Beautiful All right Popping back over here, Mark says three hundred and fifty six issues of galaxy science fiction are online now at archive dot org dot Oh that's nice And archive. org is also back up. That's also nice. What it went down? Oh yeah, it was under a big DidOS attack from some hackivists or something From Hactivists. Yeah at ar against archivive. org. Yeah, because it's American I see Okay. Along with astounding science fiction and the fantasy the magazine of Fantasy and science fiction, Galaxy Magazine was one of the most important science fiction digests in nineteen fifties America Ray Bradbury wrote for it, including an early version of his masterpiece Fahrenheit four fifty one As did Robert Heinlin, Isaac Asimov, Fredrick Poh, Theodore Sturgen, a surgeon Cord Wayer Smith, Jack Vance, and numerous others Now a fairly recent collection, decent collection rather of issues, three hundred and fifty six in total is available for your perusal at archives. org for absolutely free. So it's not a complete collection, but it's getting Getting pretty close Very cool. Beacause you know what I need more things to read. Well, it's good for preservation though, too. So even if you don't read it, it's good to know it's there Absolutely All right, well, thank you everyone for submittiting stories. and now we are going to jump into Barri your Sword, which is our feedback from the audience. Ryan writes loved this. H time In regards to the last episode. Oh yeah, good point. High T, you know me from other places. Ryan is a supporter of many of the shows that I do. Good to see you, Ryan. I would like to point out that HHGTTG, the two thousand five movie, was written by Adams before he died in nineteen ninety nine All the changes and adjustments were supposedly his. And while he did not like the opening scene from Restaurant being near the beginning of the movie, it was his choice. And I had a hard cover copy green woven cover as a high schooler and read it through at least five times. Unfortunately it was lost in copious moves in the two thousands. I've got my towel, nearly always within reach, the hoopiest of Fuoods, Ryan in Minneapolis Nice. And yeah, it's a good point that Adams wrote the original draft Originally Hugh Laorie was going to play Arthur Dent That tracks Yeah, I see that Jim Carey It was going to be Zhod Bbel Brox I see that. And then when Adams died. The whole project was was threatened and a lot of the personnel got shifted around and a lot of things changed. They brought in Kirk Patrick to finish the script and he used Adam's draft He used Adams' notes and said he considered the screenplay in the spirit that Adams had set out So there's been a lot of talk about like what what parts were actually what Adams did and what parts were what Patrick did, But but there was definitely and there's still a lot of questions about You know, it definitely was going to change from the book if Adams had lived. so u s good point. Thank you right. This is awesome. So I had forgotten some of this casting from the two thousand five movie. So as we mentioned, Martin Freeman was Arthur Dent Um, Yeah, I can see that that previous casting. Yeah I like that. That could go but I feel like Martin Freeman's a little more blundery, which feels more in line. I was picturing him while I was reading the book again. Oh yeah. So that was yeah. He did a great job as Arthur Dett. Yeah. And there are a lot of things I like about the movie. think It's a little spoilery, but the I'll just say the Vogon changes to the Vogon storyline were the ones that I didn't love as much Mm. Okaykay. Um Sam Rockwell was Zod Beino Bx, Zod Beo Brox? In in the actualv In the movie. Yeah. I don't remember that at all. I don't remember Nel was Trillian That I remembered, that part I remembered. Most Def is forord prefect, I did not remember. I remember him being in the movie, but I did not remember him being playing that specific character. and I love him. So that's hilarious And Bill Bailey played the whale I think you remember that. That's funny It's the patunias that say not again though, not the way The whale just thinks about like, w, who am I What do I? Oh this is o. I have an interesting sensation Seth says took me a while to get to this episode, but I wanted to say that I appreciated the format change. I've been trying to find a balance between finding some escapism with staying engaged. I think you struck the balance pretty well with this episode. Thank you Thank you for that I feel very much the same Seth. my sense, he goes on, or at least my fear is that reading freely is going to be an activity that will be under increased scrutiny and pressure here in the US for the next few years. It's nice to be part of a group that strives to read diversely Oh thank you. That's nice of you to say. and u We will continue our efforts to do our best Indeed, indeed U And I guess with thought we should talk about our book of the mononth discussion or jump into that. And so we'll be kicking not kicking off but discussing our next book pick. that we will kick off in oh my God, December. It's already December Yeah. and that the hitchhier's guide to the galaxy You're picking a cota Witch by Neti Okoraor for December U whyy Well, actually when we did the last episode, I was I was like, oh yeah, we've read, we've read a lot of these authors. I loved I loved Binte and I was like, book surely we've read Neti or Coror for the show. and I realized we had not And so that just like sent me into a into like a research deep dive into what I thought would be a good pick for us. And I picked a cot of witch because though it is, it is YA technically. We have read YA picks before. I think it's gotten so many acccolades Crochet Chrissie says, I could have sworn y'all did Binty. I know. I could have I could have sworn we did too until I looked. A I Did you talked about it? Yeah, I did I read it and I loved it. And so maybe that's just what you're remembering is that I talked about it on the show. Yeah We talked about it did We did talk about it a lot. and I just felt like like Binti would have been a great pick. It's quite short So I think that was my my only issue. like we've not We've not You know? ve chosen not to read short picks before and December is usually a good time for a short pick. I think I think Akata witch is going to be a good, it's still it's around three hundred something pages. It's pretty manageable audio books so it's not extre U But I'm excited to read this one. Yeah, do you want to did you do your book briefing? Do you want to talk about it? How can you not know? A Are you not a patron? No. I'm not a patron weirdly I liked it so much. I became the patreon. So yeah, Oato Wich came out in twenty eleven, first book in the three parts series, won the inaugural Lodestar Award in twenty eighteen, as well as the Loccus Award. Interestingly, the sequels have won Hugos, have won more awards The Hugo and Nebula for Best Novella went to Binty, of course, and the Lodestar Award for Acada Warrior and Acada womoman in twenty eighteen and twenty twenty three respectively. Nominated for the Andrey Norton Award, which is a Nebula award for middle grade and young adult fiction High Magazine recognized it as one of the hundred best fantasy books of all time. And it tells the story of Sunny, a Nigerian American black albino girl who lives in Aba, Nigeria and discovers she has magical abilities that make her a free agent amongst the leopard people of West Africa Yeah, so I think this will be really cool. So yeah, as noted by Tom, this is a trilogy So it is the first book in a broader series, which you know, apparently keeps in line with the majority of our book picks. I no more books that aren't in series anymore I don't think that exists anymore, right? Um, So yeah, I'm excited about this one. Oh oh, Mark makes a really good point. So we actually read Vinty right after the Neil Gaiman interview episode All right in twenty thirty seven Yes, yes So that makes sense why we had a heart yet. Right That was a big one. That was a big one. A great interview. What a great interview that was And we want all those awds for it too We won the Wb go The Nebugo after they merged A universe con. Yeah Universe con. Isn't there a universe con? I feel like there is. Is there a universe con Did we just will that into being in this timeline, and we won an award at it Amazing. Amazing U So yeah, I'm excited to pick this one up. So that will be our December book pick. Get it wherever you find your books I believe if you're an audible subscriber, it's no additional charge to download it because I just added it to my library So wheat Sweet, sweet Audible. Fantastic Let's wrap up Hitchhiker's Gide. Absolute This will be a spoiler a spoilery wrap up. Spoiler alert. Yes, we will be spoiling this forty year old book that has permeated all of culture with its sayings, but yes, we will be spoiler Jan wrote a post comparing Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. Good to see you, Jan. I loved revisiting Hitchhikers this month. The real nostalgia trip with lots of fond memories, even though I forgot the book just kind of ends. It totally just kind of ends. Yeah The radio scripts continue with restaurant at the end of the universe And so restaurant at the end of the universe picks up the story The humor was still great and I had to laugh out loud a couple of times, but as I have read lots of Disc World since the last time I read Adam's book, it really became clear to me what the differences are between the biggest humoristic genre authors. and I feel it's the author's view of humanity. Pratchet was has a way more hopeful and kind view of humanity and the universe we inhabit. Sure, we do the wrong stuff because we are lazy or set in our ways or just human, but ultimately we are good and we can make some sense of it all. While Adams sees his characters and us by extension in a meaner light, we are ultimately silly, and life is maybe not meaningless, but entirely out of our control for the most part We are ultimately a bit silly in our attempts to navigate the world the universe doesn't care, and in the end, we probably will be punished by it. That sounds maybe a little bit more negative than I mean, but I do think that Pratchet's humor is a bit more warm and understanding, while Adams is a bit more cold and deconstructing Adam's a little more cold and deconstructing. Yeah. I would I would say that hitchhikers Ad spot on. I have gone on to continue to read Restaurant at the End of the Universe again and Life the Universe and everything again. and I'm going to read so long and thanks for all the fish and mostly Harmless again as well. And it is interesting because Restaurant and Hitchhikers are the radio scripts and they're from seventy nine and eighty, is more harsh The seventies were more harsh And so I think it's reflective of him being younger and more brash Tes being harder as well And then when you get to life, the universe and everything, it really ch the tone really changes. And he starts to be a little more understanding and giving Arthur, you know, a little more humanity, a little more benefit of the doubt. So long and thanks for all the fish U I haven't restarted the read yet, but I know it becomes almost writerly You know, and we'll get to some of the criticisms of hitchhikers, but hitchhikers is basically a joke factory whereereas by the time he does so long and thanks for all the fish, he's writing novels.. So ye so it it it's not that Adams is meaner, but definitely hitchhikers is. I totally get you there, Jan And Steve and also Ian kind of say actually that They feel that Pratchett's work stems from a deep sense of anger as well. And according to Steve, he says to me, it often seems like he's railing against incompetence and inequity, yet skillfully wrapping that rage in the warmth and insight that makes his writing so well loved As you say, Adams takes a more detached approach, highlighting the absurdities of the world or universe without appearing to push any particular agenda No I don't know. I definitely see Adams, I'm sorry, I definitely see Adams as not really taking that detached approach particularly in the context of this novel Like I To me, he's really railing against bureaucracy and group think and a lot of, you know, the frustration that the average person has in railing against the civilization or the civilization around them, I guess, the world in which they are thrust and feeling very helpless and lost within that mechanism I think the the issue though with hitchhikers is Arthur Den is clearly you He's the human character other than Trillion who is given much to do You know, doesn't have that much agency Yeah And so Arthur is you and you are constantly being told by the book how dumb you are, right? How incompetent, how little you know. And I think what Adams was intending to do is say, we humans think we're so great. And we, you know, and we're so small in the universe. And I think the point is well made, but it does end up leaving you as the as the reader going like Um where's my sympathetic character? The most sympathetic character in there is probably Ford or Trillian Um Trillian is the one who knows what's going on and isn't always going what, what, what and being made fun of for being a dumb ape human. Like you say, she isn't given much agency in this book anyway and doesn't have lot to do. Ford is the only one who seems to kind of know what's, you know, where his tal is, so to speak Um, because Zfud's, you know, obviously the conceited, super conceited person I did really like the moment where they're being held captive in the ship And are server. basically is the one to kind of crack the code at least initially Yeah to responding to the poetry, the torturous poetry And that's true you do get that moment, which is yeah. yeah, yeah But it's almost like you're just stupid to be tortured. Well, you wonder if that's the case, but then then I honestly think he just he had some he understood empathy in a way I Ford never really grocked. Okay. And it was he was trying to save his own life and he didn't actually like it or like, I forget what the what are those guys called? Buns. Vogons, thank you He it's not like he was like I want to make this guy feel good. It was like, what can I say now to make him not murder us in the depth of space But he did have that humanness to understand what that what the Vogon was looking for. And so he was able to at least delay their inevitable murder. Yeah. I suppose It's almost like he had enough ignorance that he was able to decode it Whereas Ford was like, I know what this is. and so I have to prepare. Whereas Arthur didn't know what it was.ike so he was able to go, oh, was it wrong for me to just like and say I liked it Totally, totally. But that was a good that's a good Good comparison, Jan. thank you. And we miss you. We miss you in the last. Yeah, yeah, it's good to see you Ruth has a longish post, but it's very good. I'm not going to read the whole thing here, but talking about the anachronisms in part, you know, forty two years later. too be honest, there are some parts that haven't aged that well. The particular kind of datedness, which afflicts things that were originally designed to look futuristic is called Zust a concept from Douglas Adams book The meaning of Lif, which he co wrote with John Lloyd The things that struck Ruth as dated were Adam's irrational hatred of digital watches. That's convert to Apple watchatches and you're going to be fine. Yeah, yeah, that's a period piece. The thing that struck Ruth most forcibly was when Ford Prefect goes into a pub, orders six pointints of beer and pays with a five pound note and tells the bartender to keep the change and the bartender's reaction keep the change From a fiver indicates that there would be quite a lot of change. These days, you'd be lucky to get one pint of beer with a fiver. Never mind six Um, and then, uh Of course, what we touched on just a minute ago, the almost complete absence of female characters in hitchhikers. There's Trillian, of course, but apart from her, I think basically every named character is identified as male and even Marvin, the artificial lifeform is referred to as he Mhm Mhm. Um so that's that's yeah. I mean, that's typical of of I was gonna I was gonna, you know, quantify that a little more, but I'm just gonna say typical of works You lookook at Mony Python. Monty Python's made up of entirely men and then women characters are either one woman or the men dressing as women. It is this is not me excusing it, but I think you have to look deeper than just that U the industry of the time did not make it easy to include women And yes, when you're writing a book, you can do whatever you want that's the inertia in the world around you, you know? And if you keep reading the sequels, you notice that Trillian gets more well defined. And especially after so long and thanks for all the fish, you start to have actual important, well rounded characters with agency like Fenchurch that show up sort It's sort of point out Adam starts to point out to himself that he's like, yeah, why wasn't I not including any female characters in here? So Ag, not trying to excuse things, but but pointing out that At the time, it was just not something that occurred to some men because the industry they were in didn't have things that would make them think about it Yeah Stephven makes a funny point where he says, I didn't find any cringe worthy paragraphs that took me away from the overall fun. The part that stuck with me for forty two years was that two days after the Earth was destroyed for an expressway, a new discovery made expressways obsolete taught me the most important aspect of life is timing And I thought that was funny. Also notice that the last two books we read both dealt with the destruction of the Eth. so that feels Important somehow I mean, maybe they're trying to tell us something Are they trying to tell us something? Yeahah, perhaps pererhaps But thank you. And we had aple a bunch of really great comments over on Discord. Calvy says started the book and found it oddly comforting and oddly sad with this early quote referencing readers' digest Arthur suggests Ford submit his comments to the magazine that they have page pages for people like you It sent me, Calvy, down a rabbit hole of magazines Lost to Te. Do kids even know what RD is today and what that quote meant Old pop culture smacked me in the face from the dried up dust bin of tattered pages. Thankfully I had my towel towel whilst reading Are you looking for a reader's digest right now? I bought a reader's digest u last year because it was all about hacking Oh. L this's still plastic. It's still there at the grocery store It's definitely not Nice. But I bought it because I was like, Reader's Digest still exists and it's got an issue about hacking and it wasn't bad pull in some people kn what they were talking about So I used to love readers' Digest as a kid. Like my grandma my granda and grandma alwaysbscrib to it that had it. Yeah. Yeah. And so I would go to their house and I would just for some reason I loved reading Readers's Digest. So that that reference actually made me feel really like kind of like the warm and fuzzies Jason Reed says gave it three stars on goodood Read and I would mark it as a type two read. The characters just fell flat to me, Arthur had no personality, Ford just got on my nerves, and Trillian seemed to exist only when Douglas Adams remembered her. Zefod became interesting when he revealed all that stuff about his brains, but even then, he still fell flat. I don't know I feel like the Hitchecker's guide to the Galaxy's overhyped status as a touchstone in the geek nerd subculture outstrips the actual quality of the book dislike reading it, but I'm probably not going to continue the series. Fair U Fair First of all, don't feel like you should continue the series if you didn't enjoy it. but no. If you were to continue the series, I would tell you, restaurant at the end of the universe is not going to change your opinion, but life, the universe and everything will start to change that opinion. And so long and thanks for all the fish and mostly Harmless definitely will be different Now your opinion may still be bad, but it would change your opinion because the writing style changes. The other thing I would say is This isn't your doorway because this book is just a joke factory. It is meant to be funny. It's a parody of an actual Hitchhiker's guide to Europe right down to the thumb on the cover. And it's just it's just silly. The characters are Jason says I'm I'm going into witness protection after post'try, Jason don'try'tally it's totally relevant It's if if you want character, you're going to be disappointed If you're a story person, you might be disappointed. The story is a little better, but it's still just there really to deliver the jokes. If you want to laugh There's good stuff in there, I think. And granted, comedy is very subjective, so not everybody's going to find it as funny. so that may be part of it too Sean actually had a response that I really like over on Discord. He said, I listened to the radio playay version for the first time. I've read the novel before. And I think that origin might be part of the reason why the characters feel the way they do. And this is very along the lines of what Tom just said. They aren't intended to have character arcs, They're intended to be funny Arthur is supposed to be generic every man. His job is mostly to be confuseed, say, do the obvious thing and have things explained to him. Yeahah, he's an exposition machine, basically that's my perspective Ford is also fairly generic being the one to give that exposition to explain things to Arthur. Trillian is probably supposed to be the smart one, but she doesn't get much chance to show that off in this book. and Zfod, well, he's the wacky one. But again, the point is to be funny, not to be this great moving story. Specious Reasons wrote If the Hitchhier's Guide to the Galaxy is anything, it's a funny book filled with clever jokes, I just ran into my personal favorite. It's unpleasantly like being drunk What's so unpleasant about being drunk? You ask a glass of water Mm M. We could do a whole whole episode on best Qotes from this book. so that And there were parts when I went on to read the sequels, there were parts of the sequels that I just forgot even existed. So there's even more in there than gets quoted constantly Yeah, Sean, again, who was just just bur blowing up on discord. Good job, Sean. says so many early on. the description of where the plans for the bypass are located is a standout Also, the ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't, which I believe we may have referenced in the last. Yeah. I know, we were talking about the gold ship. Oh, you did. okay. Yeah see if I could find another one S, you're not pulling this on the dock, huh Dark are sword and Laser dot. Oh no, I'm reading I'm going into the discord threads and reading. Yeah. okay, because I'm like I'm clicking on the link and going into the discord.. And then Ruth Tiltab says, I didn't laugh at any of the jokes while reading, my reading brain work with this kind of humor and haven't done a rerad this time too many other books on the go, but I do have a collection of funny lines from the series that makes me chuckle when I think of them I think my fave is probably It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused labavoratory with a sign on the door saying, Beware of the leopard And then Lauren wrote, I'm not sure that I was prepared to encounter Zephod Biebelbros again in our modern political climate. I don't want to get too political here, but has anyone else had these moments of Was this a quote from or about Zefod Bieelbrockx or Inert name of politician you don't like? I just got to the main reason he had such a wild and successful life was that he never really understood the significance of anything he did. I'm sure Douglas Addams was inspired by a whole different set of politicians, but this humor is a balm I didn't know I needed in twenty twenty four Yes. snapping my fingers. Yeah. Absolutely Well, Lauren, think it's a good it's a good perspective calibrator I agree with you. Yeah. For sure Yeah. this was fun. I did really enjoy listening to the audiobook of this and getting a reread under my belt again for Hitchhiker Guide. I feel I've got too much other books going on myself right now to continue on with the series at this point, but it's nice to know that it's always there You know, I think it was But for me, I continued because it was such a comforting read Right And for all the reasons that many people have said they didn't like it, I found it comforting. It didn't have a plot It didn't have deep characters. It was just funny jokes And grant, if you don't find them funny, then this doesn't work for you at all. but I find them funny. And so to me it was like, o, I can just relax and hear funny jokes from Douglas Adams. it's great. As someone who grew up on Mony Python and things like that, for me, like it was it's like a warm blanket in many ways going back to that style of humor Yes, it is not very inclusive, granted. Yeah, let's, you know, looking at it from a modern perspective Um, but it's still it's comforting and it's what I grew up with and dry dll kind of British humor like is is always going Tickle my funny bones in a certain way. Yeah, me too I'm glad we finally, you know, put it down in the list too It deserves to be there Thank you for reading it with us. and thank you for all of you who have been here for five hundred episodes or for five episodes or if this is your first episode, Thank you and welcome. And we're just so honored and privileged to get to get to do this show and to share it with so many people and it's a blast and here's to the next five hundred We're gonna be real old Rerilled byy the time we get there. Ik one timeventeen years to do five hundred episodes. I don't know if I'll be alive if for episode one thousand, but we'll see. Don't say that. Geez. But like what will podcasting look like in another seventeen years? That's a whole separate like we could do a whole DTNS episode about history of podcasting and like what has changed across the years for sure Definitely hit the hit the mainstream, but yeah,'ll be in three D in the whatever the next metaverse is going be. disisembodied voices floating through your brain waves. I don't know. I' be actually different from hosting this show. guys are the best. Thank you also to our patrons who have been with us for so long and to the new ones as well. 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