Books That Burn

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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Read the transcript here. 

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. 

• Intro (0:00)

• Can you tell us a little about your book? (0:35)

• Can you talk a little bit about the way trauma works in your writing? (1:08)

• Do you feel that trauma for the sake of trauma is valid for characters to go through or be put in stories or does it always need to be plot related? (2:24)

• Has a traumatic event in your books ever changed your perception of a character? (4:10)

• How do you decide what a character's reaction to traumatic events is going to be while writing them? (5:48)

• When depicting types of queerness that you do not share, do you check them with members of those communities? What do you use to guide those depictions? (9:03)

• How do you approach incorporating “visible” queerness in your work? (10:45)

• Do you have a thought process on approaching ace or [aro] characters? (12:20)

• What is your approach to incorporating visible characters of color in your work? What do you do to make it go beyond social coding (or not)? (17:20)

• Have you ever had a character surprise you with their appearance/identity after you started writing? (18:38)

• What is your approach to incorporating characters with disabilities in your work? What do you do to make it go beyond social coding (or not)? (21:20)

• Do you consider your character’s body image and/or physical description when depicting them and their traumas and how others treat them? (23:45)

--- Wrap-Up and Outro: Included in Part 1 and Part 2 ---

• Do you have a favorite book written by someone else, and if so what makes it your favorite? (27:48)

• Do you have any queer authors and/or authors of color whose work you’d like to shout-out? (29:54)

• What is your favorite non-traumatic thing in any of your books? (30:06)

• Where can people find your work? (31:46)

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Check out Hannah Abigail Clarke's website for more info about his writing, You can follow them on Twitter and Instagram, or check out her Goodreads profile.

The major work discussed in this interview is Hannah Abigail Clarke's debut novel, "The Scapegracers".

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If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive part two of this two-part interview. 

You can find Robin's written review of The Scapegracers at Reviews that Burn. 

Find all our links on our Carrd. 

Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.

This fortnight we’re discussing “Virtual Vandals” by Diane Duane. This is book one of the series "Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers". 

Topic 1: Stunted emotional growth. Begins at (1:30), CW for discussion of classism and classist perspectives. 

Topic 2: Threat of physical harm. Begins at (16:44), CW for vehicular manslaughter, threats of murder. 

Topic 3: Neurological damage. Begins at (25:32), CW for physical danger, shock, and brain damage. 

Promo for Garrett Talks to Himself; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (36:06). 

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Read the transcript here.

If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive the bonus Epilogue episode for this book.

You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn. 

Find all our links on our Carrd. 

Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission. 

This fortnight we’re discussing “Long Way Down” by Jason Reynolds. Robin has been looking forward to this episode all year, ever since it was recommended to them by a very helpful librarian when they went home for Christmas 2019. We're pleased to report that the book was as good as they were told, and we're excited to share our discussion with you. 

Topic 1: Mom - Death of family members. Begins at (1:30), CW for self-harm, gun violence, murder, revenge killings, death of family members. 

Topic 2: Will - Premeditation of murder. Begins at (11:30), CW for ideation about death and violence. 

Topic 3: Will - Cycle of violence: Revenge edition. Begins at (22:00), CW for gun violence, revenge killing, trauma on readers. 

Promo for Infectious Groove; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (32:10). 

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Read the transcript here.

If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive the bonus Epilogue episode for this book.

You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn. 

Find all our links on our Carrd. 

Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission. 

This fortnight we bring you our discussion of "Salamandastron", our highlight episode from the "Redwall" series by Brian Jacques. 

*Book TW for viral outbreak and quarantine, with fever. 

Topic 1: Epidemic - Dryditch Fever. Begins at (1:30), CW for plague, fear of death, child in danger, sickness, death. 

Topic 2: False accusation. Begins at (14:45), CW for child punishment, false accusation, murder, terrorizing others, threat of physical violence, weapons. 

Topic 3: Parent/child relationships. Begins at (24:30), CW for threats of murder, child abuse, verbal abuse, rage, descriptions of violence. 

Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (38:45). 

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Read the transcript here. 

If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive the bonus Epilogue episode for this book.

You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn. 

Find all our links on our Carrd. 

Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission. 

This fortnight we bring you our discussion of "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", a stand-alone book by Robert A. Heinlein. 

*A brief vocabulary note: The term "Loonies" is used throughout the book (and our discussion) as a term for residents of the moon. This term has a historically ableist context in modern English but is not used derogatorily in the book. 

Topic 1: Marie Lyons - Rape and murder. Begins at (1:30), CW for rape, gang-rape, murder, police mention, mention of sex slavery. *Discussion contains an explicit quote from the text. 

Topic 2:  Mannie - Racism. Begins at (20:35), CW for racism, police/jail mention, discussion of deportation, mention of assault. 

Topic 3: Mannie - Ableism. Begins at (32:30), CW for ableism, description of missing limb, loss of autonomy. 

Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (53:35). 

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Read the transcript here.

If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive the bonus Epilogue episode for this book.

You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn. 

Find all our links on our Carrd. 

Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission. 

This fortnight we bring you “Divided Allegiance”, book two of "The Deed Of Paksenarrion" trilogy by Elizabeth Moon. 

Topic 1: Socks - Physical abuse. Begins at (0:50), CW for animal abuse, magical compulsion, description of scars. 

Topic 2: Paksenarrion - Gaslighting and forced combat. Begins at (16:52), CW for graphic violence, religious mentions, magical coercion via food/drink. 

Topic 3: Paksenarrion - Dismissal of autonomy. Begins at (29:20), CW for magical surgery, loss of control, dismissal of autonomy, violation of trust, description of loss of limb, descriptions of lack of supportive care. 

Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (38:35). 

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Read the transcript here.

If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/booksthatburn). 

Find all our links on our Carrd. 

Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission. 

This fortnight we bring you “The Sheepfarmer's Daughter”, book one of "The Deed Of Paksenarrion" trilogy by Elizabeth Moon. 

Topic 1: Cal - Torture and Castration. Begins at (1:30), CW for castration, torture, description of genitals. 

Topic 2: Paksenarrion - Survivor's Guilt. Begins at (14:15), CW for loss, helplessness, death, guilt, abandonment, survivor's guilt, discussion of sex. 

Topic 3: Paksenarrion - Sexual Assault/Physical Assault. Begins at (26:00), CW for physical assault, attempted sexual assault, descriptions of physical and sexual injuries, drugging. TW for discussion of rape and sexual assault, physical injuries. 

Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (43:00). 

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Read the transcript here. 

If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/booksthatburn). 

Find all our links on our Carrd. 

Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission. 

This fortnight we bring you our discussion of "Hork Bajir Chronicles", our highlight episode from the "Animorphs" series by K. A. Applegate. 

(This episode has been updated to fix a compiling error in the wrap-up.)

*Book TW for viral outbreak and quarantine. 

Topic 1: Sensory Overload. Begins at (1:30), CW for discussion of narcissism. 

Topic 2: Massacre. Begins at (20:00), CW for loss of family members, death. 

Topic 3: Betrayal. Begins at (34:30), CW for betrayal, lying, gaslighting, controlling behavior. 

Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (49:15). 

--- 

Read the transcript here.

If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/booksthatburn). 

You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn. 

Find all our links on our Carrd. 

Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission. 

This fortnight we bring you our discussion of "In Fury Born", a stand-alone book by David Weber. You may know the second half of this book as "Path of the Fury". "In Fury Born" adds a book-length prequel and edits some sections of the original text. Our discussion covers the expanded and edited book. 

Entire book: TW for descriptions of combat and violence. 

Topic 1: Character Descriptions. Begins at (1:30), CW for character death, explicit wounds mentioned, mention of funerals, military life descriptions. 

Topic 2: Massacre. Begins at (13:30), CW for character death, slaughter, massacre, loss of close friends, physical combat, military life descriptions, loss of family members. 

Topic 3: Betrayal. Begins at (25:15), CW for death, betrayal, PTSD. 

Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (36:40). 

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Read the transcript here. 

If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/booksthatburn). 

Find all our links on our Carrd. 

Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.