Weekly Roundup: August 7th - August 12th
I’m e rathke, the author of a number of books. Learn more about what you signed up for here. Go here to manage your email notifications.
This Week’s Posts
Tuesday: I reviewed Super Mario 3 from the perspective of Cormac McCarthy. Wrote it several months before he died but I still think it’s pretty fun. Last week, I made a somewhat controversial guide on where to begin with the oeuvre of the late, great Cormac McCarthy so you could check that out if you want more McCarthy.
Wednesday: Paying subscribers received Chapter Fourteen of Emrys the Fool and free subscribers received Chapter Twelve. If you received neither, there are instructions here on how to get these in your email.
Thursday: New episode of the Dadpod Gamescast this week about Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which I hate!
I describe it as a kitchen sink full of kitchen sinks and also as a 70 hour harem anime.
While I meant those as insults, you maybe just found your new favorite games? Who knows!
I hope you give us a listen. Like and subscribe and review and all that. You can subscribe here at substack or at wherever you like to listen to podcasts, like Spotify and Apple.
Friday: Not posted at this here substack, but my children’s storytime podcast continues with Chapter Six of A Pirate’s Life. This is the story I’ve been telling my son for a few months and began recording for him on his Yoto Player. With that in mind, this is a story meant for children and so share it with a child.
A young boy named Carrot who wants to become a pirate. Chapter Six involves a giant sea monster.
Music by my good friend Bart Larsen.
From the Archives
This book that won one of the most prestigious awards sucks ass.
Listening
Hearing the way the crowd shouts the lyrics over him reminded me of my favorite concert experiences.
Reading
Fascinating history of Pokemon by
is one of my favorite accounts on here because I guess I just like reading about niche shit all the time.
Read Ulysses this week, which is, I think, best understood as the Moby Dick of Ireland. I’ll have a whole lot more to say about this after I reread Moby Dick and The Odyssey. But Ulysses is one of the most exhausting books I’ve ever read.
Didn’t remember feeling that way about it when I read it 15 years ago.
Read a handful of Japanese novels in translation this week, too. Ask me anything about them.
Watching
We’re still rewatching VEEP, which is, maybe, one of the funniest shows of the last decade.
I love Tim Rogers and this is arguably his best video.
What Else?
Iron Wolf is still newly out and could use its first review!
I’m doing a lot of research on Tabletop RPGs for totally normal reasons and will hopefully have something to announce about this in the future.
We’ll see.
But if you know a lot about TTRPGs, send me an email because I have some questions and ideas.
Also, possibly getting into Japanese Noise music because of the gosh darn Agitator boys.
That’s it from me.
Anyway, read my books that are currently out. Then review them.
Thank you.
My novels:
Glossolalia - A Le Guinian fantasy novel about an anarchic community dealing with a disaster
Sing, Behemoth, Sing - Deadwood meets Neon Genesis Evangelion
Howl - Vampire Hunter D meets The Book of the New Sun in this lofi cyberpunk/solarpunk monster hunting adventure
Colony Collapse - Star Trek meets Firefly in the opening episode of this space opera
The Blood Dancers - The standalone sequel to Colony Collapse.
Iron Wolf - Sequel to Howl.
Some free books for your trouble:
Wolf.
Howl.
Really appreciate the shout-out! There's more niche stuff coming soon, haha.
We're still creeping through Veep as well. For us, it's kind of an "in between" or "default" show- if we have nothing else to watch, we can always throw Veep on.