Everett Book Club

048- Venus is a Man's World, by William Tenn, 1951Wherein a man named Butt wants to get married.Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in the New Bahamas, and this week discussing the 1951 short story, "Venus is a Man's World", by William Tenn. This one's kinda sexist AF, but mostly it's just 1950's playful sexism- you know, the kind that's terrible, just like all the others. We don't spend much time ranting about it though. Mostly I (Ruiz) tell the story and Marguerite reacts- you know, just like every episode.Also, DOWN WITH BOWL CUTS!

047 - Basic Right, by Eric Frank Russell, 1958Wherein the Earth is taken over by fluffy green aliens!Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in Herpes Beach, Florida, discussing the 1958 short story, "Basic Right" by Eric Frank Russell. You know, there's an ancient Raidan idiom (back on Raidan Homeworld that is, (which definitely isn't located in Sigma Octantis), that says, "Go thou and paint the long fence, Jayfat, for I am reclining within the hammock and I am very comfortable." And with these words, Ruiz Tremello fell in love with this short story, which definitely deserved an extra hundred pages at least- honestly, the 6-year span could spin off dozens of sub-plots full of intrigue and... Whoops, spoilers.Ruiz & Marguerite have been fairing alright during These Current Troubles, and they apologize for the lack of podcasts. Summer is to blame, along with extra time outdoors, and extra time reading that could have instead been spent podcasting. Whoops.

046- The Night of the Storm, by Dean R. Koontz, 1974Wherein 4 robot best friends go on an adventure!Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are still being topical by social distancing from inside Fidel Castro's Panic Palace in Kyoto, Cuba- and this episode they're discussing Dean R. Koontz's 1974 short story, "The Night of the Storm". To avoid spoilers, I'll just say that this story takes place in the same universe as another story we've covered in the past, so astute listeners may pick up on the fact much sooner than Marguerite does.Also, special thanks to Dean R. Koontz for his writing, voluminous and entertaining as it is! Extra special thanks to Fair Use for allowing us to make this podcast. <3

045- The Best Policy, by Randall Garrett, 1957Wherein Thagobar Verf meets first contact with HumanityRuiz Tremello & Marguerite are in Kyoto, Cuba, staying safe inside Fidel Castro's old Panic Palace. Between the Relics on the shelves and the episodes of Coronation Street on VHS, they also find time to discuss Randall Garrett's 1957 short story, "The Best Policy". Featuring one human and a diverse cast of Prawn-like Aliens, this short story has humor, action, intrigue, and adventure! Also, it's based on a true story that hasn't happened yet, according to a blog I found on the internet.Stay safe out there.

044- The Wall Around The World, by Theodore Cogswell, 1953Wherein a boy attends a school of magic and yearns to fly over a wall...Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in Consternation, Venezuela, and are discussing the 1953 short story, "The Wall Around the World" by Theodore Cogswell.This is a story that stuck with Ruiz for a few years now- there was something charming about the [REDACTED] at the final reveal at the end. Also, he likes Pocket Universe stories. <3

043- The Gualcophone, by Alan Nelson, 1952Wherein a mutant creates a new musical instrument!Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in Vancouver, Columbia, at a 9-star restort in the Andes Mountains, following a misadventure where they definitely didn't locate the Oak Island Treasure! Back for the Season 3 Premiere, Ruiz & Marguerite are discussing Alan Nelson's 1952 short story, "The Gualcophone", about a mutant who creates a new musical instrument. Alan Nelson has been featured on the podcast before, for Episode 35, "Soap Opera"- and Ruiz loves the personality of his stories, of which he's (apparently) only ever written 8. We'll work on collecting his remaining 6 stories in future episodes, to bring some attention to this unknown but talented author.

042- Part 2- Chateau d'If, by Jack Vance, 1950Wherein Roland Mario learns how to live an adventure: Of Revenge!Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in Zejuatenejo (sp?), California- and concluding their discussion of Jack Vance's 1950 novella, "Chateau d'If". In part one, [SPOILERS] so now Roland Mario has to embrace his adventure! And he does so, with a single goal: REVENGE!This one's fun: I especially enjoyed the revenge.Everett Book Club is on our post-season hiatus, returning with Season 3 on March 1st!BUY OUR MERCH! IT DOESN'T EXIST YET! BOOTLEG IT AND THEN SEND US A PITTANCE!

041- Part 1- Chateau d'If, by Jack Vance, 1950Wherein Roland Mario seeks adventure!Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in [REDACTED], California, on a mission to destroy The Bezos Robot Army! Oh, and it's also the Season Finale PART ONE, so they're also discussing PART ONE of Jack Vance's 1950 novella, "Chateau d'If".This one's a lot of fun- a protagonist with the implausible name of Roland Mario lives in a future Earth in a era of plenty, and since there's apparently no adventure left, he's listless and seeking the solution to a mystery! ...A mystery that will basically get resolved at the end of Part 1.I forgot to have Marguerite describe the cover, whoops. This one's taken from "The Narrow Land", a short story collection very much worth reading. I'll have Marguerite describe this cover for PART TWO.

040- The Bright Illusion, by C.L. Moore, 1934Wherein a man falls in love with an alien babe?This week on the podcast, Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in the middle of British Columbia, Canada, discussing "The Bright Illusion" by C.L. Moore, from 1934. This one is something special, because C.L. Moore is an amazing author who's very ahead of her time. Honestly, this one surprised us both with its themes and surprise plot-points.For a picture of the cover, please consult episode 36, "The New Accelerator". I was going to re-upload it, but decided to turn it into the world’s worst scavenger hunt.C.L. Moore was famously married author Henry Kuttner, who you can hear about in Episode 003, "Time Locker"- and next season, we're going to do a story that they wrote together! <3

039- Nine-Finger Jack, by Anthony Boucher, 1952Wherein a Man marries his ninth Wife and nobody is suspicious.Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in Acapulco, Yukon Territories, discussing the 1952 short story, "Nine-Finger Jack", by Anthony Boucher!This one is something special: and not just because it's short enough that Ruiz can read the whole thing verbatim. No, it's special because of reasons that shouldn't be revealed here, because of spoilers.Honestly though, I'm very interested in reading more of Anthony Boucher's works, even if he did mostly write mysteries- and I'm not much of a fan of mysteries. I don't know why, but I never guess Who Did The Crime, even when I'm watching Law & Order, or NCIS or whatever- if we're ten minutes from the end of the episode and you ask me, "who's the killer?" I'll probably just name all the suspects and not provide any salient insight whatsoever.Maybe it's something awry with my brain, kind of like how I'm terrible at remembering jokes?

038- The Machine, by Richard German, 1946Wherein a stable individual constructs a machine that runs.Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in Kamehameha, Quebec, discussing Richard German's 1946 short story, "The Machine"! Where do I begin on this one?Okay, first off, I still haven't been able to find any good information about Richard German, who he is, what book / stories he wrote; nothing. Perhaps my Google Fu is lacking, but I went through ten pages of results and haven't found anything useful. If anyone has any useful information, let us know!Also, I forgot to ask Marguerite to describe the cover for our listeners: but that's mostly because we've already done it. Today's story was pulled from "13 Great Stories of Science-Fiction"; if you want to see the cover, check the show notes for Episode 33, "Volpla's". And if you want to see the back cover, check the show notes for Episode 35, "Soap Opera" .The image in today’s show notes is the front inside-cover of that wonderful collection.Seriously tho, Who Is Richard German?

037- Fondly Fahrenheit, by Alfred Bester, 1954Wherein a smart Android and a dumb Man team up, for crime!Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in Bilbo, Morocco, where they've been imprisoned for various reasons, and are discussing Alfred Bester's 1954 short story, "Fondly Fahrenheit". Marguerite thinks that this is one of the darkest stories we've done so far on the podcast, but Ruiz isn't sure; all he knows is that Alfred Bester has spun a tale so shocking that it has inspired (or informed) countless tropes that we all each of us encounter (no doubt) on a daily basis.Also, what an interesting economy he's come up with: someone should write some kind of paper.

036- The New Accelerator, by H.G. Wells, 1901Wherein two foppish gentlemen lark about the LeasRuiz Tremello & Marguerite are in New Bombay, Iceland, to enjoy a few days at a local spa! Also, they're discussing H.G. Wells' 1901 short story, "The New Accelerator". What a preposterous tale, honestly HG, we're disappointed in you. For one of the so-called "progenitors" of science fiction, this particular tale of yours is about the laziest, most inconsequential, simplistic story that We Of This Book Club have had the misfortune of reading.Seriously HG, we've covered some poor tales in the past on this podcast, but "The New Accelerator" is a let-down- this podcast isn't a let down, but the source material? Jeez. HG Wells, we expected better.

035- Soap Opera, by Alan Nelson, 1953"Wherein a man causes mayhem across San Francisco, just because"Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in Neo Tokyo, Siberia, discussing Alan Nelson's 1953 short story, "Soap Opera". Marguerite LOVED this one, in a certain way, kind of.Alan Nelson is the author of only 8 short stories in his entire career, and after enjoying this one, we want to read the other 7. We haven't been able to find out much about him, other than the fact that he was born in New Mexico in 1911, lived in Oakland during the 40's and worked for the "state employment agency" as an "interviewer".If you know anything more about him, or would like to send us books containing his stories, we are the proud owners of an email address, and we can't email you first, because we don't know who you are.

034- Alien Night, by Thomas N. Scortia, 1957Wherein every single trope rears its head in the space of about 12 hours...Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are lost somewhere on the Mongolian Steppe, near Buckinghamshire, and discussing Thomas N. Scortia's 1957 novella, "Alien Night".This one is a personal fave of Ruiz, who considers it probably the most inconsistent (or surprising?) narrative he's read in years, though it's also a lot of fun.Ruiz & Marguerite have been absent for over a month, due to circumstances. They apologize for the delay in getting new episodes out, but are also secure in the knowledge that their fans will be patient, unless they're not.Developed and broadcast under the benevolent auspices of Fair Use. :)

033- Volpla's, by Wyman Guin, 1952Wherein a mad scientist tries to pull a prank.Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in [REDACTED], Bhutan, a lovely place they can say nothing about; and discussing the madcap 1952 short story, "Volpla's", by Wyman Guin.This story is a bizarre mix of the tangible with the vague, featuring a cast of characters who remain mostly nameless, and a cast of mutants who seek a happy ending for their story in a way that can only be happy in the optimism of the early 1950's.This is Everett Book Club's first meeting with the works of Wyman Guin, and we hope to meet his stories again someday.Produced under the benevolent auspices of Fair Use.

032- Part 2- The Unteleported Man, by Philip K. Dick, 1964Wherein we finally learn The Truth of Whale's Mouth! Or do we...? No, we do.Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are visiting Belarus, Nepal, and completing their discussion about the 1964 Philip K. Dick novel, "The Unteleported Man"!Will Rachmael Ben Applebaum complete his 18 year voyage to Whale's Mouth without going mad? Will Al Dosker continue being Lies Inc.'s greatest pilot? Will Matson Glazer-Holliday succeed in his coup d'tat? And will Freya Holm take over Lies Inc.?"The Unteleported Man" is the novel that eventually became "Lies Inc.", which we'll probably have to do in Season 3, since I just read the Wiki page about it and it sounds insane.Everett Book Club operates under the benevolent auspices of Fair Use.

031- Part 1- The Unteleported Man, by Philip K. Dick, 1964Wherein the heir to a bankrupt spaceship company decides to go on an interstellar voyage!Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in Indiana, India, where they're discussing the 1964 novella, "The Unteleported Man" by Philip K. Dick. This story is pulled from an Ace Double-Book, and is the originally-published version of what would eventually be called "Lies Inc.", which has a few extra chapters.Philip K. Dick is one of science fiction's most illustrious authors, and Ruiz Tremello's favourite story by him is "The Penultimate Truth", though "Radio Free Albemuth" was also delightful. Honestly though, just keep reading his books; and other people's books, and lots of all the books!Excerpted under the auspices of Fair Use.

030- Lonely Road, by Richard Wilson, 1956Wherein literature's most boring protagonist becomes a metaphorical snail.Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are back from a brief summer hiatus, and they're visiting India's French Coast to discuss the 1956 Richard Wilson short story, "Lonely Road", from his short story collection, "Those Idiots from Earth".Richard Wilson (1920-1987) was the author of three novels and a surprising number of short story collections, and "Those Idiots from Earth" was Ruiz's first introduction to this fellow's writing, which is better than Theodore Sturgeon's, and also less offensive.Rate and Review the Everett Book Club Podcast, via your local Podcatching software!We are selling stickers! You can buy them from us, in person, at places where we exist!

029- The Golden Egg, by Theodore Sturgeon, 1941Wherein a Cosmic Egg decides to become a human, and immediately falls in love.Ruiz Tremello & Marguerite are in Los Angeles, Thailand, and discussing the 1941 short story, "The Golden Egg" by Theodore Sturgeon.This episode contains more casual and blatant sexism than any episode we've done yet (thanks, 1941) so be aware.Theodore Sturgeon (1918-1985) was the author of over 200 stories, including Ruiz Tremello's fave (of his) "Killdozer!" He is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.