Stars and Swords: Footnoting Genre Fiction

This week, we return to Narnia with the first five chapters of C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian and discuss politics and persecution, fairytale and fantasy, and Edmund’s 2024 slang. How has Narnia changed, both as a place and as a story? What is the turning point between fairy tale and fantasy? Where did Peter’s sword get its name? To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here ; to see the slid...

This week, we conclude our horror unit and our discussion of Bram Stoker’s Dracula with logical fallacies and the limits of rationality, Dracula as a feminist text and Bram Stoker’s Best Joke. How does the tone change in the last act of the novel? How do we contrast Lucy and Mina? What does Van Helsing have to say to the Author’s Note? To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here ; to se...

This week, we continue our unit on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula and discuss the overlooked Van Helsing, the second death of Lucy Westenra, and the compilation of the novel by the characters in the novel. What is the significance of the gold crucifix on Lucy’s lips? What restores Jonathan Harker’s sanity? How did the reporter for the Gazette get to the word “ Bloofer “? To see the video broadca...

This week, we continue our unit on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula and discuss Dracula’s character sheet, how much wolves are better than dogs, and the fate of Lucy Westenra. What will it take for Seward to connect the dots? What is the spectrum from the noble-man to the commoner? Who really poisons the sherry?  To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here ; to see the slides, click her...

This week, we continue our unit on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula and discuss the wreck of the Demeter, the limits of Dracula’s power, and the insidious assault on Lucy Westenra. What really happens aboard the ship from Varna? How is mysticism seeping into our rational view of the world? Has our attention to the timeline finally paid off? To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here ;...

This week, we overcome ill fortune to continue our unit on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula . How do we listen to intuition in an age of rationality? Does the supporting cast describe the boundaries of (acceptable) Victorian society? Is work the universal cure? To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here ; to see the slides, click here ! Next week, we cover chapters seven through twelve...

This week, we continue our unit on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula . What are we to make of a man who lays his own table? How does the Count turn the tools of the Victorian world against English society? Does a queer reading of Dracula falter on the threshold of the gender binary?  To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here ; to see the slides, click here ! Next week, we cover the fir...

This week, we finally resume our seasonal horror unit with the beginning of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula . How are we to understand Stoker’s introduction to the novel? Is Harker too stupid to live? What’s worse: dragons or devils? To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here ; to see the slides, click here ! Next week, we cover the first seven chapters of the book, live on YouTube on...

This week, we begin our super-spooky horror unit with an all-time classic: Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula . Is it possible for a book as well-known and influential as this one to be under-appreciated? How did Dracula enter the public domain? Do we prefer Transylvania or Ultrasylvania?  To see the live video broadcast of this episode, click here ; to see the slides, click here ! Next week, we cov...

This week, we conclude our discussion of Ultimate Spider-Man , and discuss the second volume, Learning Curve . How does Peter Parker navigate the boundaries of society? How can a book stay continuity-light but bind itself to the original comic text? Is MJ or JJJ the best character in Spider-Man’s supporting cast? To see the slides for this week’s episode, click here ! Next week: something spooky!...

This week, we begin our discussion of Ultimate Spider-Man , and discuss the first volume, Power And Responsibility . How 2000s can a book possibly be? How does decompression change the way we interact with the text? Is Peter Parker the single best character of the last fifty years? To see the slides for this week’s episode, click here ! Next week: we continue our live-show format and discuss the s...

This week, we conclude our discussion of Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti: The Complete Trilogy , and discuss the short story Sacred Fire . Why is it important to read according to the chronology of production? What’s the deal with the Saturnian aliens? What, in the end, is harmony? Next week: in a new live-show format, we’re going to discuss the first volume of Brian Michael Bendis’ Ultimate Spider-Man : P...

This week, we continue Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti: The Complete Trilogy , and discuss the third novella, The Night Masquerade . What is the dividing line between science fiction and fantasy? Is identity reducible? Is Mwinyi an Edward or a Jacob? Next week: a wrap-up episode on Binti, including discussion of the short story Sacred Fire .  Footnotes: Binti: The Complete Trilogy Nnedi Okorafor Firefly St...

This week, we continue Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti: The Complete Trilogy , and discuss the second novella. What is philosophical dualism? Is Binti a Frodo or a Sam? How are universities exactly like Survivor ? Next week: Binti: The Night Masquerade , the third novella in Binti: The Complete Trilogy ! Footnotes: Binti: The Complete Trilogy Nnedi Okorafor List of Films Produced Back-To-Back (Wikipedia) T...

This week, we begin Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti: The Complete Trilogy , and discuss the first novella. What is africanfuturism? How do books teach you to read them? Sure, drugs are cool, but have you ever gotten high on math ? Next week: Binti: Home , the second novella in Binti: The Complete Trilogy ! Footnotes: Binti: The Complete Trilogy Nnedi Okorafor “Africanfuturism Defined “ “Sci-fi stories that...

This week, we finally conclude Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations . How is the world restored to order? How are the good rewarded and the evil punished? What does it mean to be a good person in Dickens’ world, and who gets to live happily ever after? Next week: Binti , the first novella in Binti: The Complete Trilogy ! Footnotes: Great Expectations Charles Dickens Utilitarianism (John Stuart Mill...

This week, we discuss chapters thirty-six to fifty of Great Expectations with twists! So many twists! Which is the least plausible? How is Dickens handling the pathetic fallacy? Is Pip redeemed? Next week, chapter 51 to the end of Great Expectations ! Footnotes: Great Expectations Charles Dickens Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) Frankenstein (Mary Shelley) Of The Pathetic Fallacy (John Ruskin) Twin Peaks...

This week, we continue our discussion of Great Expectations by looking at different kinds of life in London, the death of Pip’s sister, and the ease of making choices when you have no choice at all. Next week, chapters 36 to 50 of Great Expectations ! Footnotes: Great Expectations Charles Dickens The Dying Gaul Semayne’s Case Castle Doctrine Severance The Factory Acts The Life Of Charles Dickens  ...

Andy Serkis is directing a new movie based on The Lord of the Rings ! In this excerpt from the recent live Patreon Q&A, I discuss my thoughts on the announcement, what the story could be, and why now might be the time. To hear the rest of the show, and to help support Next Word and Stars and Swords, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord ! Footnotes: Warner Bros. to Release New ‘Lord of the Rings’...

This week, we continue our discussion of Great Expectations by discussing goblin mode, Pip’s increasing awfulness, and the transition to London. Next week, chapters 23 to 35 of Great Expectations ! Footnotes: Great Expectations Charles Dickens Oliver! “When I went to Lunnon town sirs”: Transformation and the Threshold in the Dickensian City  (Ben Moore) Paradise Lost Astrophel and Stella  The Lond...

This week, we begin our discussion of Great Expectations by discussing the gothic, coming of age, and the traumas of childhood.  Next week, chapters 11 to 22 of Great Expectations ! Footnotes: Great Expectations Charles Dickens The Castle Of Otranto (Horace Wallpole) The Philosophy Of Composition (Edgar Allen Poe) Bildungsroman End-Weight Great Expectations (1998) Great Expectations (2012) To supp...

This week, a brief introduction to Dickens, the Victorian Era, what makes Great Expectations the perfect book for this series, and Dickens’ most notorious peer.  Next week, chapters 1 to 10 of Great Expectations ! Footnotes: Great Expectations Charles Dickens Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Expectations (1998) Great Expectations (2012) To support the podcast, join the conversation on Discord an...

This week, we conclude Katharine Kerr’s Daggerspell , learn the secret of Rhodry’s parentage, unpick (some of) the ties that bind, and ride off on the long road! Next week, an introduction to Charles Dickens! Content Warnings: incest, suicidal ideation, violence, misogyny Footnotes: Daggerspell Katharine Kerr Ruth Urquhart Mallorn: The Journal of the Tolkien Society “ Where do Elves go to? Tolkien...

In the second part of our adventure through Katharine Kerr’s Daggerspell , we read to the middle of Chapter Five, meet our main cast (again), tie tight the knots of destiny, and move into our oddly independent main plot. Next week, we finish the book! Content Warnings: incest, rape, suicide, suicidal ideation, violence, sexual violence, misogyny, racism, discussion of homophobia Footnotes: Daggers...

In our first real episode studying Katharine Kerr’s Daggerspell , we cover the first two chapters, meet our main cast, meet our main cast again under very different circumstances, and begin to unpick the knots of fate and destiny that bind them together. Next week, we cover chapters three, four and the first half of chapter five; stop when Nevyn and Jill meet for the first time! Content Warnings:...