Podcast Episode Details

The SFFaudio Podcast #855 - AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: Mr. Spaceship by Philip K. Dick and Mercenary by Mack Reynolds

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Episode 855

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The SFFaudio Podcast #855 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: Mr. Spaceship by Philip K. Dick, read by Phil Chenevert for LibriVox (1 hour 11 mins) and Mercenary by Mack Reynolds, read by Mark Nelson (2 hours 31 minutes) followed by a discussion of both. The discussion, with Jesse, Will Emmons, and Tommy Patrick Ryan, begins at 3 hours 43 minutes.

Talked about on today’s show:
2 stories, Mr. Spaceship, Mercenary, rankings on Goodreads, .1 higher, 3.6 and 3.7 out of 5, Eric S. Rabkin, who liked the book?, very meh about both, better than Prize Ship, in retrospect, one is way better than the other, thematically they’re very similar, so much time in the setup to get to a gimmick, weird set of rules, pre-1900, a glider to scout out the thing, both stories have gimmicks, a ton of time to setup that doesn’t pay off justified by the length, what the ship does, let’s go visit him in his sick bed, let’s have a cigarette, not his best story, Will weigh in, more generous to Mr. Spaceship, socialist labour party, the United States and the Soviet Union are converging, welfare capitalism, the worldbuilding, the sociology, almost like a gadget story, why are we doing this, he kept that part really short, 2 and a half pages, the ethics of the mercenaries, poor people, complete utter misery, they have their tranqs, Philip K. Dick had the better of Mack Reynolds, half the length, aspects appreciated, social commentary, felt relevant, top 1%, feels relevant today, it took 2 pages, so corny, he’s wrong, pretty richa and a little bit enlightened, romances, listen let’s go, he’s Mario, the audiobook was good, the PKD story, he understands the world in some kinda way Mack Reynolds is struggling with, conflicts between companies and unions, war is a thing of the past, in the thrall of it, Professor Thomas, Rick is a name he uses a lot, both synonyms for penis, your Martha, I’m draining my Jesse, institution, talented people, this is all we’re doing, Cold War America, they’re both about war, so petty, reality TV, more like sports, Rollerball (1975), a hostile takeover, it makes no sense, trial by combat, a really good movie, a short story (not public domain), a really good sportsman at this sport, the point of the sport is to bread and circuses the masses, a glimpse behind the curtain, these guys are all fucking us, even less than that, the very very top of society, wow!, an international group, our oligarchs vs.their oligarchs, continental hovercraft vs. vacuum tube transport, the big game, athletes between teams, when is this battle gonna start?, if you’re a military SF fan, all fluffing before the penetration, no battle at all, no deaths, a promotion, riots, batmen watching this show, cancelling the superbowl would not go well, too much money involved, reviled!, common stock vs. actual stock, a personal victory for our hero Joe Mauser, gonna probably get the girl, for everyone else it is a loss, military shit, supposed to be about tv, the exact same world setup, no waiters or waitresses, everything is automated, the real problem in society is meaning and work, why John W. Campbell would have dug this, this communist, in terms of sales, the world building is really good, meh, all aborted at the end, this same setup, Jesse wants to read a series, just messing with you, Utopia: 2000?, Commune: 2000?, Looking Backward From The Year 2000, William Morris?, Edward Bellamy, scarcity of food vs. scarcity of meaningful work, an Adam and Eve story as usual, a little bit psycho, the solution to war is starting over, born in 1928, 10 years old in 1938, rumours of war, actual war starts, 1940, 1941, 1945, he’s a teenager, an endless thing, all war news all the time, war related, victory gardens, Japanese tanks getting piggy back

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Published on 1 week ago