Infinite TBR

You can listen to episode seven on any major podcast provider HERE and on Apple Podcasts HERE.

There's only one section of spoilers in this episode, from 34:10 to 40:45, where Gabi talks about Emily St. John Mendel's novel Last Night in Montreal.

At the end of October 2021 (yes, it's been a while), Smack and Gabi attended the Sirens Conference in Denver, Colorado. The con dedicates itself to examining gender and fantasy literature, and it's very much a safe space in every sense of the word: it's a place to share academic analyses, creative works, and a shared love of fantasy and other speculative literature, but the people in charge also worked hard to make it a physically safe space to be during the pandemic. Everyone had to wear a mask at all times, prove we were fully vaccinated, and also provide a negative covid test upon arrival and check in.

Onto the meat of the episode!

On the last morning of the con, there's an auction that offers the coolest fantasy-themed stuff: intricate cross stitched castles scenes, massive handmade banners with dragons on them, and merch for popular book series (among maaaaany other items). The auction is where Sirens makes most of the money that it puts toward scholarships for the following year.

Gabi won a coat that makes her look like an assassin and it would never in a million years fit Smack but she’s still so jealous.

But Smack did talk Gabi into bidding (and winning!) and an entire tote bag of hardcover books. (The tote reads, “It’s not hoarding if it’s books,” which we all need in our lives anyway.) Smack’s a bad influence during auctions. There’s really nothing else to add to that. She’s a bad influence.

The chonker books in this auction item that Gabi won included: 

Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk

Feminist fantasy where women have to give up their magic for shitty reasons but then figure out how to get around it! 

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst

Basically like The Amazing Race but in a fantasy desert with mythological creatures. 

The Heroine’s Journey: For Writers, Readers, and Fans of Pop Culture by Gail Carriger (The original hero’s journey, developed by Joseph A. Campbell, is a million times overdone, so this is a response to the oversaturation of the hero’s journey in Western literature.)

Smack talks about Gail Carriger’s young adult books here, but Carriger was originally known for her steampunk romance books called the Parasol Protectorate series. The first one is called Soulless. 

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

Okay, so here Smack goes off about a wonderful short story called “Like a River Loves the Sky” but she has mixed up the author! “Like a River Loves the Sky” is NOT by Alix. E. Harrow, it is by Emma Törzs. WHOOPS. 

The correct short story by Alix E. Harrow is called “A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies” and can be read for free here: https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/a-witchs-guide-to-escape-a-practical-compendium-of-portal-fantasies/ 

The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso 

The main character loses control of her powers, accidentally kills a visiting dignitary, runs away, and then has to save the world. 

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis 

Remember that Firefly episode where they rescue a bunch of prostitutes from a brothel in the desert? The Good Luck Girls is like that, but better. It’s Westworld meets The Handmaid’s Tale. (Oof. But worth it.) 

Black lesbian romantic and platonic love! 

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Top of all the GoodReads lists when it came out; Smack had a friend specifically tag her on Twitter to gush about how much Smack will love this one. 

Secret societies, flying demons, messing with memories (Smack: Oh, that’s messed up. But so good, though.), and descendents of King Arthur’s knights

The Tangleroot Palace by Marjorie Liu 

Short story collection with a faaaancy cover! 

The Councillor by E.J. Beaton

Machiavellian fantasy that follows a scholar’s quest to choose the next ruler of her kingdom amidst lies, conspiracy, and assassination

Shades of The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, which is Gabi’s #1 favorite book ever 

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

First of a super famous young adult quartet. 

Inspired by ancient Rome, yessssss 

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray

Beautiful map in the front makes Gabi drool 

Outside of the end-of-con auction, Sirens also operates a bookstore that offers both new and used books. Gabi got a couple more books from there, including: 

The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett

Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear

The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

Smack didn’t get any auction books, but she did get a few titles from the bookstore, including: 

The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke

Teenage witches and mean girls who aren’t actually mean girls.

Another awesome cover! 

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

Retelling of The Great Gatsby with lesbians of color and magic

(Gabi hated The Great Gatsby in school,  but she’ll like this one.) 

Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper 

Prodigal daughter returns to her hometown and falls in love with the local bad girl. 

Excellent fall/Halloween vibes 

Blackwater Sister by Zen Cho 

HOLY SHIT it’s so good!!

Main character is possessed by her mafiosa grandmother after returning to Malaysia 

There were a couple of other titles (Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor and These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong), but we didn’t really go over them. (We will when we read them.) 

One of our favorite panels at Sirens was actually more of a lecture–Marie Brennan gave the rundown on what kinds of ideas should be considered when building a fantasy world, including the world’s shape and geography, natural disasters, dining- and food-related customs, gestures of both respect and contempt, etc. etc. etc. She's so smart and trained in multiple disciplines, including anthropology, which makes her an excellent worldbuilder.

Another favorite was a workshop (we called it a panel in the recording, oops) on writing speculative poetry run by Bethany Powell. (You can track her down at bethanypowell.com or on Twitter at @EverBethany. [Note, though, that at the time of writing, her website is under construction.])

It was a safe space, just like the rest of Sirens. That doesn't mean it wasn't scary af to share our poetry to a small group who weren't allowed to say anything critical! (Gabi was very brave <3)

The 2021 Sirens Guests of Honor included Kinetra D. Brooks (an academic author), Rin Chupeco (who couldn’t make it due to visa issues), Sarah Gailey, and Fonda Lee. All very different people, but all super, super smart. 

Kinetra D. Brooks is the author of Searching for Sycorax: Black Women's Hauntings of Contemporary Horror, which covers “black women’s hauntings of contemporary horror: a critical treatment of black women in science fiction, fantasy, and horror.” It was suuuper dense–Gabi read it, Smack did not.

Sarah Gailey’s books include the River of Teeth duology (hippos loose in the American South!), and Upright Women Wanted (outlaw librarians in the wild West!), among a number of others. 

Her keynote speech was about queer coding villains in movies and the censoring of nonwhite heroes in movies by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA, which to this day rates movies), which neither of us knew anything about. Fascinating stuff. 

Rin Chupeco’s books include The Bone Witch trilogy, The Girl from the Well, and The Never Tilting World duology, among others. Lots of spooky vibes. 

Smack had some high expectations for The Bone Witch. Her expectations weren’t met, unfortunately, so she quit reading but actually really regrets not finishing the trilogy. Books two and three (The Heart Forger and The Shadowglass) are supposed to be better than the first.

Gabi was less than impressed with the OTP and doesn’t understand the hype. 

Rin Chupeco’s keynote (prerecorded, since she wasn’t actually there) was about women (Asian women in particular) who are denied vengeance. (So good!!!) 

Fonda Lee is a corporate shark turned fiction author of razor sharp characters and stories. Her keynote talked about the drive to be the best, and to attain a position in the upper echelons of a corporate environment, and how that same drive applied to her female characters who are in charge of their families, mafiosa-style. 

Smack: "There’s this joke within the romance community about how many attorneys quit their jobs to become romance writers, but you don’t hear a whole lot about presidents of major corporations quitting their job to become a speculative fiction author."

In the keynote, though, Fonda Lee was very specific in the way she outlined how her experiences in the corporate world informed her character building. 

Gabi started reading Jade City at the beginning of the pandemic–like, March 2020–got halfway through, and then set it aside when her favorite member of the cast died. (For more on the Jade City trilogy, see episode 14.)

In the middle of our Sirens chat, we ended up digressing to Emily St. John Mendel's catalog of books. Smack is probably never ever ever going to read her pandemic book, Station Eleven, even though Gabi looooved it. (She’s lukewarm on the rest of Mendel’s books.)

The Glass Hotel: modern day ponzi scheme that is a biiiiig bummer.

Last Night in Montreal: weird af, but not necessarily in a good way. Boy loses girl, girl turns out to have a super traumatizing background, and there's another girl who sort of wants revenge? Spoilers for Last Night in Montreal run from 34:10 to 40:45.

On the last evening of the con, Sirens hosts a ball where everyone dresses up and the people with cosplay experience really just blow the rest of us away. (This year Smack spent weeks learning how to do mermaid makeup so it looks like she has sparkly scales on her face.)

There's also dancing, a silent auction, and a murder mystery. The murder mystery is basically a big logic puzzle. Smack is allergic to those, but Gabi looooves them. The first year she attended, the only reason she didn't win was because she took too long to check her work. THIS year, though, she threw caution to the wind and won! (We're very proud.)

While Gabi was busy with the murder mystery, Smack hovered over the silent auction items. She disregarded all the good advice she got (bid at the end, not the whole time!) and discovered that the advice she received was, in fact, quite good. 

On the last morning of the con after the regular auction, the con committee usually announces the theme for the following year. This year, though, they announced there will be no Sirens 2022, and the theme for Sirens 2023 would be announced in October 2022. (Everybody’s burned out, for some reason?? No idea why) 

BUT, silver lining: a year off Sirens means there’s no Sirens reading list, which means we can get through our backlog!! 

Gabi’s reading goal for 2022 is to get through her Smack shelf. (All the books that Smack has loaned her.) That’s thirty-six books! 

Smack is concerned about storing them at her place after Gabi returns them. It’ll probably take a year of creative rearranging just to handle the books Gabi returns. 

You can listen to episode six on any major podcast provider HERE and on Apple Podcasts HERE.

We made the rookie mistake of recording in front of an open because it was a beautiful day and who closes their windows on a beautiful day?

A: people recording podcasts, because that “gentle breeze” causes some weird vibrations.

(Sorry, everyone. Our bad.)

Also, note that spoiler alerts appear at the following times throughout the episode:

Trouble the Saints, 13:05 to 18:50

Soul of the Sword, 22:55 to 23:15

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, 54:50 to 56:10

This is the LONGEST post ever, you guys, omg.

Book Tournament/Competition

To review our summer bingo reads, Gabi and Smack wrote all the titles they read on little pieces of paper and put them in bowls. They swapped the bowls (so they’re pulling titles that the other person has read) and then have to convince each other that the title they read was better than the title the other person read.

This is round two of that competition! You can find the show notes for part one here.

Fierce Fairytales: Poems to Stir Your Soul by Nikita Gill vs. Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa

Fierce Fairytales:

Fierce Fairytales is good, but it’s no Shadow of the Fox. ‘Nuff said.

Gabi won this round!

Lycanthropy & Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O'Neal vs. Galactic Hellcats by Marie Vibbert

Galactic Hellcats:

A queer space motorcycle found family with a heist! 

It’s AIDS, guys. Ki’s friend died of AIDS. 

But that’s only the inciting incident! The rest of the adventure is madcap and pretty great.

Lycanthropy & Other Chronic Illnesses:

Galactic Hellcats was good, but Lycanthropy & Other Chronic Illnesses really hits all the right notes. Also it’s hilarious. <3 

Also at the very end of this round, we messed up and compared Galactic Hellcats to Shadow of the Fox. Oops! Shadow of the Fox was just that memorable/traumatizing.

Smack won this round!

Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson vs. Burning Roses by S.L. Huang

Trouble the Saints:

Smack just about lost her mind when she realized Gabi had DNF’d it–not because she’d DNF’d it, but because THAT ENDING just about destroyed Smack. (Just like white supremacy destroyed the characters.) 

Gabi's issues: too much angst, nobody would just accept that they were morally gray, etc. 

Gabi: It was very good, do not get me wrong. The writing was beautiful. It was not for me, that was my thing.  

Smack: (laughs) Yeah, no kidding.

And then later: 

Smack: It’s really depressing at the end. 

Gabi: There it is!

There’s no summary on the back or the inside fold?? Possibly because it’s so difficult to summarize.

Despite what Smack says, the magic powers that POC get in this book are actually called “Saint’s hands,” not just “hands.” 

Also worth mentioning that Phyllis was not only a black woman working as an assassin for a white mobster, but she’d also spent most of her life since leaving home as a teenager passing as white. (“Future Smack heeeere…”) 

The other woman whose name Smack couldn’t remember is Tamara. The main characters are Phyllis, Dev, and Tamara. 

Don’t read this one as an audiobook if you can avoid it! (Like Gabi did. Silly Gabi.)

Also, don’t forget that we noted spoilers for Trouble the Saints from 13:05 to 18:50.

Burning Roses:

We didn't really get into this one because we talked about it in detail during episode one.

This round was a TRUE battle that resulted in a tie.

Pocket Workshop: Essays on Living as a Writer ed. by Tod McCoy and M. Huw Evans vs. Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

Pocket Workshop:

Pocket Workshop is a series of short nonfiction essays by speculative writers on writing. It’s got every big name SFF writer ever (Octavia Butler, Ursula K. LeGuin, etc.).

Fireheart Tiger:

Again, we didn't really get into this one because we talked about it in detail during episode one.

Smack has read both so she got to pick the winner in this round. (Muahaha!)

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker vs. Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa

Soul of the Sword was the weakest of the trilogy, BUT. 

Mooncakes was cute, though. 

Reminder of a spoiler alert here, though! Gabi just sort of blurts out the entire ending for the Soul of the Sword trilogy from 22:55 to 23:15.

Gabi won this round!

Galactic Hellcats by Marie Vibbert vs. The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected on Water by Zen Cho

Smack hasn't read the Zen Cho novella, so Gabi got to call it this round and send Smack to the loser pile!

Smack: Aw, thanks.

Lobizona by Romina Garber vs. The Shell Game by Janet Evanovitch

The Shell Game:

The Shell Game is a short prequel to The Heist, which we discussed in the previous episode.

It’s cute! It shows how the main characters of The Heist first met.

Lobizona

LOBIZONA, THOUGH: Argentinian immigrant werewolves running from ICE! With a magic school! (ICE: immigration and customs enforcement, boooooooooo, never open the door to them.) 

Smack hasn’t gotten her hands on the sequel because she’s being precious about paperback vs. hardback–she owns a paperback of Lobizona but can only get a hardcover copy of the sequel, Cazadora. So now she’s on the local library wait list for the next forever and a half.

Edited on August 9, 2022 to add: Gabi doesn't know it yet, but the sequel, Cazadora, is going to deeestroooooy her. :)

Smack won this round hands down.

Trans Wizard Harriet Porber and the Bad Boy Parasaurolophus by Chuck Tingle vs. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Trans Wizard Harriet Porber and the Bad Boy Parasaurolophus:

Phew, this one requires some explanation. Basically, Chuck Tingle is a satirist who self-publishes extremely topical books that poke fun at whoever's most recently shown their ass in public (usually within the writing world, but many times in the real world as well).

Repeated response that Smack has heard from people reading Chuck Tingle books: *weird-ass descriptions of weird-ass books* …but actually it was really good??

Trans Wizard Harriet Porber etc. was released after J.K. Rowling came out as a TERF. (It stands for "trans-exclusionary radical feminist," they're the assholes who want to send transgender people back into the closet. [This is an oversimplification, but not by much.])

Chuck Tingle might be anti-TERF, but it's important to support actual trans authors! There are SO many out there, so we're going to link a few lists encompassing a few different criteria rather than listing specific authors. We strong urge you to take a look and pick a few titles!

Here are some lists you can trust:

Trans SFF by Trans Authors – #ownvoices

Enby/Trans – Spec Authors

Novels By Trans Authors With Trans Protagonists

Booklist for Trans Teens

Trans Books by Trans Authors

Transgender Memoirs and Biographies

Yes, the world of SFF had a nazi problem shortly before the rest of America did.

Smack: Chuck Tingle has actually been nominated for a Hugo [award] twice.

Gabi: Dang!

Smack: Yeah, by the sad/rabid puppies… did you hear about that?

Gabi: ...by the what?

Sooooo here's an overview of the whole debacle: Vox wrote a fairly good overview of what happened titled "How conservatives took over sci-fi's most prestigious award" (although you should replace "conservatives" in the title with "alt-right," because this dates back to the days that journalists weren't comfortable using the term).

Also worth noting the irony of the fact that the rabid puppies were led by a nazi who goes by Vox Day. (Get it? Vox, writing about Vox?)

And if you were REALLY unplugged during 2014–2015, here's an overview of Gamergate. This part is really only relevant because one of the women originally targeted by Gamergate, Zoe Quinn, attended the Hugos ceremony for Chuck Tingle. Chuck invited her to give the speech in his stead if he won (he didn't).

One Last Stop:

By the same woman who wrote Red, White, and Royal Blue, except this one is lesbians.

Time travel! Sweet lesbian romance with a meet-cute! The main character has awesome investigative skills! 

Everyone is queer and broke and awesome, including awesomely-weird. 

It’s SO CUTE!

Smack also won this round.

Blood in the Thread by Cheri Kamei vs. Gifting Fire by Alina Boyden

Blood in the Thread:

One of the bingo squares was for “A fairy tale retelling published in 2021.” Blood in the Thread might have been a cheater entry for the bingo sheet (because it’s so short), but it’s still really good!

Read it here: https://www.tor.com/2021/05/12/blood-in-the-thread-cheri-kamei/ (Content warning for domestic abuse)

It's a retelling of The Crane Wife, which is a story from Japanese folklore.

In the retelling, the ending could be read multiple ways–Gabi found the comments at the end of the text fascinating.

Gifting Fire:

Gifting Fire is the sequel to Stealing Thunder, though, so Gabi cried uncle and Smack auto-won.

Smack: It's darker than Stealing Thunder but still turns out okay.

Smack won another round!

I Really Am A Slag Shou (我真的是渣受) by Your Glory (你的荣光) vs. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

I Really Am A Slag Shou:

Pronounced "slag show," which Smack took to mean something completely different. (Porn, she thought it was porn.)

(To which Gabi replied "it's not exactly.......NOT porn")

The story is here: https://www.novelupdates.com/series/i-really-am-a-slag-shou/

It's a foreign translated novel (FTN)

Translated gay lit with issues around women writers fetishizing gay romances. But the genre is also heavily denigrated because most readers and writers are women. This results in a twisty problem.

Discourse re: slash fics can be found here: https://fanofacertainage.blog/2019/07/17/the-problem-with-bl/

Smack noted that this issue appears a lot in Western fanfiction as well.

Slag shou: a trope where the main character has a relationship at the beginning of the story with a guy who is just, for whatever reason, Bad News before ending up with their one true luv.

In the one Gabi read for summer bingo, the main character is forced into the slag shou role, where he has to fulfill the role of a villain in order to avoid a true death and be resurrected.

He’s a nice guy, though, and is just completely unable to make the role work.

All the characters are lil’ dumdums, just doin’ their best. (aka Gabi’s favorite)

The Girl of Fire and Thorns:

If we were talking about the entire Girl of Fire/Thorns trilogy + novellas, that would immediately win all the tournament rounds BUT the main character for the whole series is still the main character for the first book, so Smack still eked out a win.

Smack won this round.

Among the Silvering Herd by A.M. Dellamonica vs. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Among the Silvering Herd:

Among the Silvering Herd is a prequel short story to Daughter of No Nation, which includes: biology! Iguanas! Ecological stuff! Pirates! A portal world!

Very much #agabibook, she’ll get her hot little hands on it at some point.

Ruin and Rising:

Third book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy

Better than the other two (probably), since Bardugo starts to lean in on her writing strengths (particularly a large cast)

Although as Gabi put it: "But... good lord."

We're not big fans of the Shadow and Bone trilogy lol

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown vs. The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin:

Smack has an outsized reaction to Malik’s Big Mistake up at the beginning of the novel. (“Oh no! Oh no!”) Poor Malik, man.

Malik’s little sister gets a wish granted and it causes all sorts of problems. The inciting incident basically turns the whole book into The Gift of the Magi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gift_of_the_Magi) but with assassinations.

Don’t forget that we’ve got a spoiler alert for A Song of Wraiths and Ruin from 54:50 to 56:10!

(Smack got pretty excited about the spoilers.)

Turns out A Song of Wraiths and Ruin is the first of a duology and is not a standalone, as Gabi originally thought.

The Wolf and the Woodsman:

You know what is a standalone? The Wolf and the Woodsman. It’s 400+ pages, but it is a standalone.

This is somehow Ava Reid's first book??

But it’s SO smart and well written.

Religion! Politics! WOLF GIRLS!

FINAL SCORE

Gabi: 9 rounds

Smack: 13 rounds (As she said, “what? How did that happen?”)

You can listen to episode five on any major podcast provider HERE and on Apple Podcasts HERE.

We made the rookie mistake of recording in front of an open because it was a beautiful day and who closes their windows on a beautiful day?

A: people recording podcasts, because that “gentle breeze” causes some weird vibrations.

(Sorry, everyone. Our bad.)

Book Tournament/Competition

To review our summer bingo reads, Gabi and Smack wrote all the titles they read on little pieces of paper and put them in bowls. They swapped the bowls (so they’re pulling titles that the other person has read) and then have to convince each other that the title they read was better than the title the other person read.

The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett vs. Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Spoiler Alert:

Read it when you’re sick of our real world *coughpolitics*

Good fat rep

Golden retriever of a love interest with a secret online identity

Gabi’s favorite part: at what point is it okay to tell the person you’re dating a giant secret? A: by the time you know for sure that you can tell them, it’s too late.

Legitimate misunderstandings and adult responses

The Winter Duke:

Magic marine biology

Sleeping curse!

Main character is so shit at being in charge and would very much prefer to not being in charge

An Important YA read for our current political climate

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara vs. Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark:

True crime (a genre that Smack has never before in her entire life read) but also part memoir

Don’t read true crime at night before bed!

Author got to give the Golden State Killer his moniker

Serial killer terrorized Sacramento who moved south

Smack’s favorite part was when the author outlines a bunch of petty crimes committed by some unknown guy and argues that the unknown peeping tom was the Golden State Killer before he started murdering people

The book was fine

Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses was better

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison vs. Legendary Cracow by Ewa Basiura

The Angel of the Crows:

Same author of one of Gabi’s favorite books (The Goblin Emperor)

Started as Sherlock Holmes wingfic

Fantasy retelling of all the best Sherlock Holmes stories without all the racism or boring parts

Incredibly well written

Not a weird parallel world like Smack suspected; it really, honestly is NOT Sherlock or Watson.

Fun and lovely and progressive

Legendary Cracow:

Collection of Polish folk tales

It’s fine, but it’s also not Katherine Addison <3

Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden vs Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction by Sami Schalk

Stealing Thunder:

Trans girl who is born the crown prince of an India-inspired empire

Her dad sucks, so she runs away, transitions, and lives as a hijira (Here’s briefly what that is)

Falls in love with the local prince

Feathered dragons!

Bodyminds Reimagined:

Intro was the densest part, keep going, we believe in you!

Academically critiques the intersection of disability, race, and gender in black women’s speculative fiction.

Pretty short but also very powerful

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman vs The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill:

An introvert with a rich social life (???)

A structured life thrown into disarray by the discovery of an entire extended family!

Nina’s dad got around a lot, there’s a lot of extended family

Trivia rivals to lovers, but more about the family

The Winter Queen:

An hour long audiobook! (It’s not cheating, it’s still an audiobook)

Completely different from the Disney movie

It’s Gerta, not Greta

Christian overtones–everything works out for the MC because she is good, kind, innocent, etc.

Still worth reading if you like fairy tales

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin vs. The Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa

The Nature of Witches:

Magical academy

Witches control all the weather and stuff; the MC has powers for all four seasons and her personality shifts as the seasons do

Second half if better than the first one

The Night of the Dragon:

We’ve talked about this trilogy at length; Gabi automatically won this round

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor vs. The Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo

Remote Control:

SUPER weird

Ending was intense.

The MC has this intrinsic radioactive glow that kills people and machines

She accidentally killed her entire town

“The Daughter of Death”

The Demon in the Wood:

Darkling prequel to the Shadow and Bone trilogy

Gabi wants it to have been the prologue instead of a side story

The darkling is a magical amplifier?? Go figure.

Spoilers last from 49:20 to 51:15

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo vs Shuri: The Search for Black Panther by Nnedi Okorafor

Six of Crows:

We’ve also talked about this one at length, Gabi automatically wins this round

Shuri: The Search for Black Panther:

Technically volume I but Smack felt a little lost; she’s more familiar with the MCU than the comics

Gods and Monsters by Shelby Mahurin vs. Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi

Gods and Monsters:

Really good trilogy ending

Smack is embarrassed but also shameless about how much she enjoyed it

Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes:

Middle of a five book series

Same qualms as Gabi has about the rest of the series

The Resurrectionist of Caligo by Alicia Zaloga and Wendy Trimboli vs The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

The Heist:

Sort of like the TV show White Collar if the FBI agent was a woman and it was a typical hetero romance.

Breasts come up an annoying amount??

But it’s fun overall; cute dynamic between the two mains. Also the FBI agent’s dad is awesome.

The Resurrectionist of Caligo:

A ressurectionist is someone who digs up dead bodies and sells them to medical schools

Subplot: second chance romance

Got a string of gruesome murders to solve!!

Terrifying magic mushrooms

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison vs. Shuri: The Search for Black Panther by Nnedi Okorafor

Well this was an easy pick. (See episode 2, “When In Doubt, DNF,” for Smack’s reactions to The Book of the Unnamed Midwife)

The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi translated by Cathy Hirano vs. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom won, obviously.

You can listen to episode four on any major podcast provider HERE and on Apple Podcasts HERE.

This is a long one--we covered a lot of ground in episode four! And as Gabi mentioned at the beginning, we did a silly thing and recorded it in front of an open window. That resulted in about four brief moments where there's a weird, unpleasant reverb sound and we're awfully sorry about that. (We learned our lesson, though! It won't happen again.)

Books Discussed:

The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi, translated by Cathy Hirano

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, translated by Neil Smith

Simon Snow trilogy by Rainbow Rowell (Carry On, Wayward Son, and Any Way the Wind Blows)

Arsène Lupin Gentleman Thief by Maurice LeBlanc, translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos

Whipping Girl by Julia Serano

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline

The 2021 Rhysling Anthology edited by Alessandro Manzetti

They Made My Face by Sara Backer (https://www.silverblade.net/2020/08/they-made-my-face/)

Sealskin Reclaimed by Alison Bainbridge (link unfortunately unavailable; it was probably originally published in a print journal)

Kings and Queens of Narnia by Meep Matsushima (https://microverses.net/archives/285)

The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

Other Books Mentioned:

Cherie Priest (title unmentioned, but the book Smack referred to is called Grave Reservations)

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

The Wood Wife by Terri Windling

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

Among Others by Jo Walton

Dog Songs by Mary Oliver

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver

Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy D. Snyder

The Robber Girl by Franny Billingsley

Chime by Franny Billingsley

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen

Chime by Franny Billingsley

Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman in the Roman World by Emma Southon

The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World by Adrienne Mayor (cover below, since we mentioned how pretty it was during the unboxing)

The Beast Warrior by Nahoko Uehashi translated by Cathy Hirano

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones

The Devourers by Indra Das

The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and How to Build a Better Economy by Stephanie Kelton

Unnatural Magic by C.M. Waggoner

The Corpse Queen by Heather Herrman

Lumberjanes Vol 7: A Bird’s Eye View by Shannon Watters (Author), Kat Leyh (Author), Noelle Stevenson (Creator), Grace Ellis (Creator), Brooke Allen (Creator), Maarta Laiho Carey Pietsch (Illustrator), Ayme Sotuyo (Illustrator)

Snapdragon by Kat Leyh

Giant Days by John Allison and Lissa Treiman

And finally, this is a gyarados:

As we mentioned in one or two earlier episodes, Smack has a story in the newly-published Villains & Vengeance anthology! It's a benefit anthology, which means that all proceeds will benefit the Sirens Conference. The book is full of great short stories and poems. Smack's is called "A Dragon Walks Into A Bookstore." (She publishes under the name S.M. Mack.)

You can listen to episode three on any major podcast provider HERE and on Apple Podcasts HERE.

Spoilers for Shadow of the Fox appear from 11m 15s to 32m.

Spoilers for The Girl of Fire and Thorns appear from 34m 20s to 38m 15s.

Books Discussed:

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa (first in trilogy)

Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa (second)

Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa (third)

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (first in trilogy; the second book is The Crown of Embers and the third is called The Bitter Kingdom)

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin (first in trilogy; the second book is called Blood & Honey, and the third book is called Gods & Monsters)

Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O'Neal

Other Books Mentioned:

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Trans Wizard Harriet Porber and the Bad Boy Parasaurolophus by Chuck Tingle

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

Legendary Cracow by Ewa Basiura

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Galactic Hellcats by Marie Vibbert

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

You can listen to episode two on any major podcast provider HERE and on Apple Podcasts HERE.

It's a short list of books this go-round! We were pretty concise.

Books Discussed:

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

Burning Roses by S.L. Huang

Other Books Mentioned:

The Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

The Book of Etta by Meg Elison (not mentioned by name)

You can listen to episode one on any major podcast provider HERE and on Apple Podcasts HERE.

Books Discussed:

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Burning Roses by SL Huang

Simon Snow trilogy by Rainbow Rowell

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (Pandava Quintet #3) by Roshani Chokshi

Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

Other Books Mentioned:

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link

Shadow of the Fox trilogy by Julie Kagawa

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden

Gifting Fire by Alina Boyden

Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap

Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women's Speculative Fiction by Sami Schalk

Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Amelia and Emily Nagoski

Whipping Girl by Julia Serano

Other notes:

You can find more information on the annual Sirens Conference in Denver, CO HERE.

You can listen to our opening HERE and HERE!

Books Mentioned:

Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi, translated by Cathy Hirano

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

Burning Roses by S.L. Huang

Shadow of the Fox series by Julie Kagawa

Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead

Other notes: