This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Wole Talabi , author of Convergence Problems . About Convergence Problems : From the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Nommo award nominated author of Shigidi and The Brass Head Of Obalufon comes a stunning new collection of stories that investigate the rapidly changing role of technology and belief in our lives as we search for meaning, for knowledge, for justice; constantly converging on our future selves. In “An Arc of Electric Skin,” a roadside mechanic seeking jus...
Jan 30, 2024•49 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Shannon Lawrence , author of Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights . About Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights : When Selina Moonstone, a Myth Stalker, gets a late night call from her mentor about a Wendigo problem, she arms up and heads to Canada, only to find out the Wendigo is someone close to her. Accustomed to facing off with the all too real creatures of Native American mythology, Selina changes gears from destruction to frantic search for a cure. Working against her i...
Jan 16, 2024•1 hr 3 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy ring in the new year by chatting with J.T. Evans , author of HIVE DREAMS . About HIVE DREAMS : Aell the bladesinger is a former gladiatorial slave. Stiles the lockwhisperer is a streetwise cat burglar. Trying their best to get by but always embroiled in trouble and chaos, they form a formidable duo with a strong bond of friendship and a sense of duty to the run-down neighborhood they live in. Aell and Stiles are offered a generous sum of coin to enter the Hive, Stile...
Jan 09, 2024•50 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome GennaRose Nethercott , author of Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart (and other stories) . About Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart (and other stories) : The stories in Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart are about the abomination that resides within us all. That churning, clawing, ravenous yearning: the hunger to be held, and seen, and known. And the terror, too: to be loved too well, or not enough, or for long enough. To be laid bare before your sweetheart, to thei...
Dec 26, 2023•49 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Mur Lafferty , author of CHAOS TERMINAL . About CHAOS TERMINAL : Mallory Viridian would rather not be an amateur detective, thank you very much. But no matter what she does, people persist in dying around her—and only she seems to be able to solve the crime. After fleeing to an alien space station in hopes that the lack of humans would stop the murders, a serial killer had the nerve to follow her to Station Eternity. (Mallory deduced who the true culprit was ...
Dec 19, 2023•53 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy are sharing a list of holiday gifts the nerd – functional or otherwise – in your life might enjoy! And some they might not… The Great Holiday Gift List (2023 Edition): Tracy: Otamatone (Evil Santa gift) Tracy: Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker Tracy: Weighted Blanket Tracy: G-Shaft candy (Evil Santa Gift) Patrick: Comic Book Mystery Box (Crate Joe) Patrick: Comic Book Mystery Box (The Comic Mystery Box) Patrick: Comic Book Mystery Box (MileHighComics Mystery Bo...
Dec 12, 2023•35 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Michael Sims , editor of The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries . About The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries : For The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries, writer and anthologist Michael Sims did not summon the usual suspects. He sought the unfamiliar, the unjustly forgotten, and little-known gems by writers from outside the genre. This historical tour of one of our most popular literary categories includes stories never before reprinted, features rebellious early...
Dec 05, 2023•1 hr 2 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Alex Bledsoe , author of Give the People What They Want and Other Stories of Sharp Wit, Cunning Women, and Wild Magic . About Give the People What They Want and Other Stories of Sharp Wit, Cunning Women, and Wild Magic : Skyboat Media presents Give the People What They Want and Other Stories of Sharp Wit, Cunning Women, and Wild Magic,an original collection of short stories from Alex Bledsoe. First, you’ll return to the noir fantasy world of Eddie LaCrosse, a...
Nov 28, 2023•59 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Kevin Hearne , author of A CURSE OF KRAKENS . About A CURSE OF KRAKENS : Seeker and Sower Pen Yas ben Min’s cousin was one of the legendary heroes of the wars against the giants until her untimely death. Pen has grown up in her famous cousin’s shadow, but when she’s given a quest to plant the seed of the magical Fourth Tree, she has a chance to step into the light—and usher in a new age for her country. Fighter and Friend Abhi’s life—and the world—changed whe...
Nov 21, 2023•48 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Stephen Aryan , author of THE JUDAS BLOSSOM . About THE JUDAS BLOSSOM : 1260, Persia: Due to the efforts of the great Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire covers a vast portion of the known world. In the shadow of his grandfather, Hulagu Khan, ruler of the Ilkhanate, is determined to create a single empire that covers the entire world. His method? Violence. His youngest son, Temujin Khan, struggles to find his place in his father’s bloody rule. After another failu...
Nov 07, 2023•1 hr
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Alice Bell , author of GRAVE EXPECTATIONS . About GRAVE EXPECTATIONS : Almost-authentic medium Claire and her best friend, Sophie, agree to take on a seemingly simple job at a crumbling old manor in the English countryside: performing a seance for the family matriarch’s 80th birthday. The pair have been friends since before Sophie went missing when they were seventeen. Everyone else is convinced Sophie simply ran away, but Claire knows the truth. Claire knows...
Oct 31, 2023•53 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Max Bennett , author of A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains . About A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains : In the last decade, capabilities of artificial intelligence that had long been the realm of science fiction have, for the first time, become our reality. AI is now able to produce original art, identify tumors in pictures, and even steer...
Oct 24, 2023•52 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy are talking about many things, including but not limited to: the rise of AI, students believing AI helps them, protecting creators, elastic principles, the excuses we make to support the bad thing that makes our lives easier, the convenience of the big box seller versus the mom and pop shop, moral justifications, game and hobby shops versus Amazon, The Office, the almighty AI-driven algorithms, social media and the great migration away from the channel formerly known...
Oct 17, 2023•50 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Dan Moren , author of ALL SOULS LOST . About ALL SOULS LOST : After two years trying to run away from his past, Mike Lucifer’s back in his office less than ten minutes when a persistent young woman shows up asking for help: her boyfriend’s been possessed by a demon. That’s exactly the kind of mess that drove him from his hometown of Boston to a sunny beach—and the bottom of a bottle—in the first place. But there are some problems that even booze can’t drown, ...
Oct 10, 2023•45 min
On a very special Just Us episode, we’re talking about all sorts of things, including Catholic guilt, Santiago’s breakfast burritos, television, Star Wars, video games, Ahsoka, teenagers and wet towels, the care and maintenance of still gestating microhumans, old school network tv, episodic vs serial television, streaming, connective tissue between shows, series and movies, fan service, Dave Filoni, animation vs live action, canon, Rebels, The Clone Wars, Grand Admiral Thrawn, The Mandalorian, A...
Sep 26, 2023•40 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Howard Andrew Jones , author of Lord of a Shattered Land . About Lord of a Shattered Land : The Dervan Empire has at last triumphed over Volanus, putting the great city to the torch, its treasures looted, temples defiled, and fields sown with salt. What little remains of Volanus is scattered across the empire, its treasures plundered and its survivors sold into slavery. It is an absolute victory for the Dervans in every way but one. Hanuvar, last and greatest...
Sep 19, 2023•53 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Jacqueline Carey , author of CASSIEL’S SERVANT . About CASSIEL’S SERVANT : Cassiel’s Servant is a retelling of cult favorite Kushiel’s Dart from the point of view of Joscelin, Cassiline warrior-priest and protector of Phèdre nó Delaunay. He’s sworn to celibacy and the blade as surely as she’s pledged to pleasure, but the gods they serve have bound them together. When both are betrayed, they must rely on each other to survive. From his earliest training to cap...
Sep 05, 2023•43 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome James L. Sutter , author of DARKHEARTS . About DARKHEARTS : When David quit his band, he missed his shot at fame, trapped in an ordinary high school life while his ex–best friend, Chance, became the hottest teen pop star in America. Then tragedy throws David and Chance back into contact. As old wounds break open, the boys find themselves trading frenemy status for a confusing, secret romance?one that could be David’s ticket back into the band and the spotligh...
Aug 29, 2023•1 hr 3 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Isabel Cañas , author of Vampires of El Norte . About Vampires of El Norte : As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead. Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago. Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on t...
Aug 22, 2023•53 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome John Wiswell , author of BAD DOORS and the upcoming, SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN (DAW, 2024). About BAD DOORS : Kosmo is a simple English teacher with no interest in evil magic doors. However one day they take an interest in him. A burgundy door with a shiny black knob appears in his hallway, where no door has ever been. Kosmo does what he thinks anybody would do: he grabs his dog, runs out of his house, and never goes back in. He thinks it’s over, but th...
Aug 08, 2023•1 hr 8 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Temi Oh , author of MORE PERFECT . About MORE PERFECT : When Moremi connects her brain to the Panopticon, a network which allows you to see inside the minds and dreams of others, she believes that it will save her from depression, loneliness and, eventually, death. That is until she meets Orpheus. Orpheus was brought up in isolation by a Neo-luddite father. He was raised to question everything, including the government who plan to make the connection procedur...
Jul 25, 2023•48 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Genevieve Gornichec , author of THE WEAVER AND THE WITCH QUEEN . About THE WEAVER AND THE WITCH QUEEN : Oddny and Gunnhild meet as children in tenth century Norway, and they could not be more different: Oddny hopes for a quiet life, while Gunnhild burns for power and longs to escape her cruel mother. But after a visiting wise woman makes an ominous prophecy that involves Oddny, her sister Signy, and Gunnhild, the three girls take a blood oath to help each oth...
Jul 18, 2023•50 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome L.R. Lam , author of DRAGONFALL . About DRAGONFALL : Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the “gods” remember, and they do not forgive. Thief Arcady scrapes a living on the streets of Vatra. Desperate, Arcady steals a powerful artifact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history. Only Arcady knows the artifact...
Jul 11, 2023•42 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Rebecca Fraimow , author of THE IRON CHILDREN . About THE IRON CHILDREN : Asher has been training her entire life to become a Sor-Commander. One day, she’ll give her soul to the gilded, mechanical body of the Sor and become a commander to a battalion of Dedicates. These soldiers, encased in exoskeletons, with extra arms, and telepathic subordination to the Sor-Commanders, are the only thing that’s kept the much larger Levastani army of conquest at bay for dec...
Jun 27, 2023•43 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Fonda Lee , author of UNTETHERED SKY . About UNTETHERED SKY : Ester’s family was torn apart when a manticore killed her mother and baby brother, leaving her with nothing but her father’s painful silence and a single, overwhelming need to kill the monsters that took her family. Ester’s path leads her to the King’s Royal Mews, where the giant rocs of legend are flown to hunt manticores by their brave and dedicated ruhkers. Paired with a fledgling roc named Zahr...
Jun 20, 2023•53 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome K.B. Wagers , author of THE GHOSTS OF TRAPPIST . About THE GHOSTS OF TRAPPIST : NeoG—the Near-Earth Orbital Guard, a diverse military force that patrols and protects the solar system, inspired by the real-life mission of the Coast Guard—and the crew of Zuma’s Ghost are under attack, and shocking truths are about to be exposed. What the black takes should stay in the black. Ensign Nell “Sapphi” Zika has been working hard to get past her trauma, but the unnervi...
Jun 13, 2023•56 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Emma Mieko Candon , author of THE ARCHIVE UNDYING . About THE ARCHIVE UNDYING : When the robotic god of Khuon Mo went mad, it destroyed everything it touched. It killed its priests, its city, and all its wondrous works. But in its final death throes, the god brought one thing back to life: its favorite child, Sunai. For the seventeen years since, Sunai has walked the land like a ghost, unable to die, unable to age, and unable to forget the horrors he’s seen. ...
May 30, 2023•52 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Nathan Ballingrud , author of THE STRANGE . About THE STRANGE : Since Anabelle’s mother left for Earth to care for her own ailing mother, her days in New Galveston have been spent at school and her nights at her laconic father’s diner with Watson, the family Kitchen Engine and dishwasher as her only companion. When the Silence came, and communication and shipments from Earth to its colonies on Mars stopped, life seemed stuck in foreboding stasis until the nig...
May 23, 2023•44 min
This week, it’s a very special Just Us clip episode from Patrick and Tracy! What’s a Just Us episode? Well, I’m glad you asked. As you know Bob, we have a Patreon over at patreon.com/functionalnerds . And one of the reward tiers is a special, patrons-only episode of the show each month. When something comes up and we don’t have a regular episode to drop into this public feed, Patrick sometimes grab one of the Just Us episodes – but that hasn’t happened in a while, so we thought we’d do a clip sh...
May 16, 2023•42 min
This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Beth Cato , author of A Thousand Recipes for Revenge . About A Thousand Recipes for Revenge : Adamantine “Ada” Garland has an empathic connection to food and wine, a magical perception of aromas, flavors, and ingredients. Invaluable property of the royal court, Ada was in service to the Five Gods and to the Gods-ordained rulers of Verdania?until she had enough of injustice and bloodshed and deserted, seeking to chart her own destiny. When mysterious assassins...
May 09, 2023•55 min
