Episodes
Monday Feb 05, 2024
Monday Feb 05, 2024
Greetings! Welcome to Books That Burn. I'm Robin, and this is the first essay I've specifically written for the podcast, to be made available first to Patrons, then to the main feed and on Reviews That Burn. Please feel free to send us suggestions for future essays. Before I get started, I'd like to thank our Patron who gets a monthly shoutout, Case Aiken. The support of our Patrons makes this podcast (and blog) possible, and we're grateful to all of you.
*This essay spoils major elements of NIGHT SHINE and MOON DARK SMILE by Tessa Gratton.
Monday Jan 22, 2024
Sleep No More, The Innocent Sleep, and the Death of Personality
Monday Jan 22, 2024
Monday Jan 22, 2024
*This essay contains moderate spoilers for the first sixteen October Daye books, major spoilers for SLEEP NO MORE and THE INNOCENT SLEEP, and minor spoilers for Babylon 5 (S3 E4 "Passing Through Gethsemane").
INTRO (00:36)
When reading SLEEP NO MORE and THE INNOCENT SLEEP by Seanan McGuire (the newest October Daye books), I was struck by similarities in the ethical framework of these two books and certain aspects of the 1990's sci-fi show Babylon 5, particularly the way that changes in personality or memories are treated with relation to assumptions of personhood. I am certain that Seanan McGuire is also very familiar with Babylon 5 because one of her telepathic characters in the Incryptid series uses specific aspects of Babylon 5 as a framework for ethical telepathy.
THE DEATH OF PERSONALITY IN BABYLON 5 (01:12)
UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS (04:46)
MAJOR CHARACTERS (06:45)
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Toby - Nickname for Sir October Daye, titular character of the series, changeling (fae mother, human father)
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October - Toby’s current personality in SLEEP NO MORE and THE INNOCENT SLEEP, remembers a different history from Toby of the first sixteen books
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Tybalt - Cait Sidhe (cat fae), Toby’s husband (October doesn’t remember him)
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Amandine - October’s mother
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Simon Torquill - Daoine Sidhe, Amandine’s husband, October’s father (not by blood)
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Titania - One of the queens of Faerie, cast the illusion which created October from Toby and distorted many people’s memories
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Quentin - Daoine Sidhe, Toby’s squire in the previous books, currently squire to someone else
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August - October’s sister, daughter of Amandine and Simon
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Stacy - Toby’s friend from childhood, recently removed by Titania
PLOT HIGHLIGHTS (07:47)
TOBY VS. OCTOBER (09:57)
WHY TITANIA DOESN'T THINK THIS IS HARM (11:17)
WHY OCTOBER WANTS TO REMAIN (13:06)
THE RIDE AND TITANIA’S ALTERATIONS (14:04)
TITANIA'S TRAP ON THE RIDE (16:19)
ETHICAL PARADOXES - PERHAPS UNSOLVABLE (17:42)
THE RESOLUTION (22:00)
A MASSACRE OF MINDS (25:00)
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Additional Reflections on ”Feed Them Silence” by Lee Mandelo
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Monday Dec 18, 2023
To tide you over between regular episodes, Robin reads their blog post from April 2023.
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This is a follow-up to my review of "Feed Them Silence" by Lee Mandelo, involving some thoughts that are too personal to make sense in the review as they swiftly veer away from the text specifically and instead into a broader meta-conversation of books like this which I have read previously, assumed correlations between emotional complexity and humanity, and how processing these thoughts has prompted me to make a change in my own life.
CW for discussion of ableism, dehumanization, animal cruelty/death, body-horror-adjacent concepts, and brief mentions of racism and genocide
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Wikipedia - Philosophical Zombie
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Reflections on ”Singularity” by William Sleator
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Monday Nov 20, 2023
To tide you over between regular episodes, Robin reads their blog post from July 2022 with thoughts on the book "Singularity". You can find the original post here. The spoiler-free book review is here.
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Ensemble Heist Stories in Fiction
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Please enjoy Robin reading their blog post with some thoughts on ensemble heist stories in fiction. If you'd prefer to read it instead, you can find it here. Refer below for books of the types discussed.
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Unplanned:
- THE ART OF SAVING THE WORLD by Corinne Duyvis - Parallel worlds subversion of the "big damn hero"
Technically this group is unplanned and they don't already know each other, but on the other hand the group is the same person over and over from different parallel worlds. This leads to a feeling closest to the "unplanned" type.
Mastermind:
- RIVER OF TEETH by Sarah Gailey (its sequel is TASTE OF MARROW)Alternate history with hippo farming in the American South.
I recommend getting the duology in the collected volume AMERICAN HIPPO
Pre-Assembled:
- JADE CITY by Fonda Lee (also its sequel JADE WAR, I'll be shocked if this is totally absent from the forthcoming conclusion JADE LEGACY)Lots of people have their own great reasons to steal lots of things in this epic clash between two powerful warring families. If I remember most of them knew each other before they their various thieving escapades, but it's possible that you could argue individual scenes fit "unplanned" or "mastermind" better.
- FEED, DEADLINE, BLACKOUT, and FEEDBACK by Mira GrantZombies, Politics, and Blogging. DEADLINE is the most thoroughly a heist story but the whole series is worth reading.
- BENEATH THE CITADEL by Destiny SoriaFantasy story about revolution, loss, and memory.
- TASTE OF MARROW by Sarah Gailey (sequel to RIVER OF TEETH)Alternate history with hippo farming in the American South.
I recommend getting the duology in the collected volume AMERICAN HIPPO - CONFESSIONS OF THE FOX by Jordy RosenbergTrans retelling of notorious thieves Jack and Bess. I'm unsure whether this is just the framing or if it's actually retelling an existing story, but either way I loved it.
Hero Needs A Crew:
- THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS by Micaiah JohnsonDimensional time travel story following an initially-lone hero who ends up assembling a group around her in order to pull off the big event.
A mix of solo and group heists. - TIMEKEEPER by Tara SimA clocktower mechanic is trying to get his father back by fixing time.
Cool heists in otherwise non-heist books/anthologies:
- "The Takeback Tango" by Rebecca Roanhorse in the anthology A UNIVERSE OF WISHES edited by Dhonielle ClaytonThe story itself is a fantastic single-person heist in the midst of an otherwise non-heist anthology.
- "A Drop of Stolen Ink" by Emily Lloyd-Jones (retelling of "The Purloined Letter" by Edgar Allan Poe) in the anthology HIS HIDEOUS HEART, edited by Dahlia Adler
- LEGENDBORN by Tracy DeonnModern-day Arthurian retelling.
Contains a two-person heist partway through. - THE WEIGHT OF THE STARS by K. AncrumSapphic romance: A girl yearns to travel the stars but thinks she must be content with her responsibilities on Earth.
- THE WOLF OF OREN-YARO by K.S. VillosoA queen journeys to meet her estranged husband and then has to flee from assassins in a strange land.
Thursday Apr 01, 2021
Stand-Alone 8: The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
Thursday Apr 01, 2021
Thursday Apr 01, 2021
We have a fun episode for you this time! We're joined by Andrea for a special discussion of one of our favorite kidlit books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Episode TW for possible derealization, please refer to additional details below the topic list if this is a concern for you.
This book has a film adaptation which you can find here.
Link to monkey study discussed in the episode.
Topic 1: Absent Parents. Begins at (0:00), CW for abandonment, neglect. This topic had a small recording issue and is a highlight reel from our discussion. The episode starts properly with Topic 2.
Topic 2: Food Insecurity. Begins at (5:50), CW for food insecurity, food deserts, hunger, eating disorders, body horror.
Topic 3: Illness. Begins at (16:20), CW for death, illness, body horror.
Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (28:18).
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This is an April Fool's Day episode. While we love a good joke, we don't want to distress our audience. This episode may invoke feelings of derealization (unreality and disorientation) as we take very seriously a book which perhaps on its own might not warrant the level of scrutiny we grant it in this episode.
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You can find Andrea on Twitter, TikTok, and on Good Idea.
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If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon.
Find all our links on our Carrd.
Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Bonus; Patron Series A, Episode 1: The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Hello Patrons and welcome to the first ever Patron-only bonus episode! Well, that was the plan, anyway. This will actually go out to everyone because it's debuting in place of a regularly scheduled episode. In this episode we are discussing "The Lightning Thief", book one of the series "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" by Rick Riordan. Our special guest for this episode (and this series, over on Patreon) is David from almost a year ago, so he sounds quite a bit younger than you may have heard on the monthly Q&A livestreams.
Topic 1: Sally Jackson and partner abuse. Begins at (0:50), CW for physical abuse, emotional abuse, child kicked out of home, financial abuse.
Topic 2: Percy Jackson and separation from peers. Begins at (13:15), CW for loss of friendship, parental death, attempted murder, discussion of parental pressure.
Topic 3: Percy Jackson and false accusation. Begins at (25:30), CW for mention of police, betrayal, hunting, mention of sex.
Spoiler-free recap and ratings: Begins at (37:30).
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You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn.
If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon.
Find all our links on our Carrd.
Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Bonus: One Year Anniversary
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Hello everyone! We've been doing this podcast thing for a year, so we sat down with a special guest, our brother David, to talk about how our first year as podcasters has gone.
CW for occasional reference to Covid-19.
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You can find more of David on Twitch.
If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon.
You can check out Robin's written reviews at Reviews That Burn.
Transcripts for our episodes are on Transcripts That Burn.
Find all our links on our Carrd.