Thumbing Through Yesterday

John Scalzi's first novel, Agent to the Stars, is a fun story about Tom Stein, a moderately-successful talent agent, who finds himself with a race of aliens as clients. His job? Find a way to reveal their presence to humanity without causing a fuss. A favorite of Tony's and a first-read for Tom, this is a genuinely delightful tale.

Heavy Time by CJ Cherryh is one part her Company Wars series. Filled with political intrigue and hard sci-fi, we follow a small cast of asteroid miners who get caught up in sweeping events. A favorite of Tom's, Tony found it lacking in sympathetic characters. What do you think?

Masters of Doom by David Kishner is our first non-fiction choice, and one of Tony's favorites. This tale focuses on John Carmack and John Romero, two programmers who shaped both video games and pop culture for a generation.

Before it became an iconic film, Logans Run was a novel by William F. Nolan. Tony didn't realize that the novel existed, while Tom read this many times in grade school and high school. Does it hold up after all this time? Let's find out!

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle is a young adult scifi that both Tony and Tom read in their youth. It's a very accessible story about a conflict between dark and light, evil and good. It turns out that Tom scarcely remembered anything about it!

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is one of Tom's favorite dystopian novels, although it's arguable whether the world is a dystopia or a utopia. Tom finds this book delightfully quirky and profoundly vague. Tony questions whether Huxley was a genius or a hack. What's your take?
TTYpodcast.com
Thumbingthroughyesterday.com

The Great Brain by John Dennis Fitzgerald is the first of a series of childrens books that Tony fell in love with during his youth. The stories center around Tom, the middle of three boys, and the shenanigans that ensue as he applies his great brain to the problems at hand, usually involving the acquisition of pennies. JD, the younger brother, is the naive lens through which we see Tom's machinations.
TTYpodcast.com
Thumbingthroughyesterday.com

This epsiode marks the first time we've had a guest on the show! Dr. Eva Rose Washburn-Repollo joins us in discussing one of her favorite books, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, sometimes called "The Great American Novel." Join us as we talk about one of the best-known, and somewhat controversial, pieces of American literature.
TTYpodcast.com
Thumbingthroughyesterday.com

Winnie the Pooh, along with The House at Pooh Corner, document the stories that author A.A. Milne told to his son, Christopher Robin. Two delightful collections of amazing stories and delightful language, well-suited for adults to share with children. What a joy it was to revisit these gems!
TTYpodcast.com
Thumbingthroughyesterday.com

In Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman set out to write a book that would do for adults what the books he had loved when he was younger had done for him as a kid. A favorite of Tony's, and a first-read for Tom, Neverwhere threads the line between dark fantasy and action/adventure, with a liberal sprinkling of dry wit.
TTYpodcast.com
Thumbingthroughyesterday.com

You probably know Dave Barry as a Pulitzer prize winning humorour columnist. Did you know he is also a novelist? Tony's pick this time is Big Trouble, a fun-filled crime story that shows Barry at his comedic best.
TTYpodcast.com
Thumbingthroughyesterday.com

A Fine and Pleasant Misery by Patrick McManus is a favorite from Tom's youth. Together with his best friends at the time, Tom lived many of the adventures that McManus so comedically recounts. Meet such memorable characters as old man and professional idler Rancid Crabtree; visit Grogan's military surplus store, where items with genuine jungle rot and bullet holes cost extra; learn the difference between a crick and a creek, and the proper techniques for fishing in each; and above all, get insights on how to proceed when a mean-tempered cow stands between you and the best fishing spots.
TTYpodcast.com
Thumbingthroughyesterday.com

Glory Road is one of Tony's all-time favorite books, and his Robert Heinlein selection for our 2nd year. This is an atypical Heinlein in that, in Tony's words, it is "a deconstruction of a fantasy adventure."
TTYpodcast.com
Thumbingthroughyesterday.com"

Titan by John Varley is the beginning of a trilogy about Gaea, a sentient alien megastructure in orbit around Saturn, and the loves of the human crew who first discover her. Initially pooh-poohed by Tom, listen to how one of Tony's favorite books makes a new impression on him!

TTYpodcast.com

Thumbingthroughyesterday.com

Jhereg by Steven Brust is a favortie of Tony's and the springboard to a series which currently contains 15 novels. Part scifi, part fantasy, and all fun, this was a delightful first read for Tom.

Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat is an old favorite of Tony's, and a forgotten pleasure of Tom's as well. The adventures of "Slippery Jim" deGriz make for wonderfully fun reading! We were both glad to have revisited this old friend.

Thieves World is a shared-world anthology edited by Robert Lynn Asprin. This book is a collection of short stories by assorted authors, each exploring their own interpretations of the same world and same characters. Does it work? Join us to find out!

The Girl of the Sea of Cortez by Peter Benchley is a favorite of Tony's and a first-read for Tom. This is a wonderful adventure that manages to bring together threads about a young woman's coming of age, life in a broken family, and ecologically sound stewardship of the ocean. 

Jack London's White Fang has long been a favorite of Tom's, and a fondly-remembered story of Tony's as well. We revisit this childhood classic. Will it hold up? Have the years been kind or harsh to the story? What does White Fang have to say to us today? Tune in and find out!

Midnight at the Well of Souls by Jack Chalker holds a fond place in Tony's memories. A first read for Tom, this is one of those books that proves a book doesn't have to be good to be a favorite!

Marking the start of our second year, we return to Robert E. Henlein, a grand master of science fiction and favorite of us both. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is Tom's pick this time. Join Mike, the first sentient AI, and his best friend Mann, as they discuss jokes, solve problems, start a revolution, and ultimately lead the lunar colonies to independence from Earth.

TTYpodcast.com
Thumbingthroughyesterday.com

It's been almost a year since we visited the works of Douglas Adams, and now we return with one of Tony's favorites: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Ghosts, aliens, time travel, mischevious professors, and a very patient horse are woven together as only Adams can. It's a comedy mystery scifi smorgasdbord! 

If you've only seen the movie, you have no idea how much of a treat awaits you in the book! The Princess Bride by William Goldman does tell the story of Buttercup, Westley, and all your favorite characters, but it also tells of the struggles that Goldman went through to translate S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure from the original Florinese. The meta framework is possibly more entertaining than the story as you've seen it!

I Am Legend is a fantasticly fun read about the sole human survivor in a world overrun by vampires. Sort of. A longtime favorite of Tom's, and much appreciated by Tony, listen as we explore the life and evolution of Robert Neville, the last human on Earth.

https://anchor.fm/thumbingthroughyesterday

Confess, Fletch is the 2nd in Gregory McDonald's series of comic mysteries. Fletch finds himself accused of a murder he didn't commit, which seriously inconveniences his actual investigation. There are several interlocking mysteries here, and some amazing dialogue between Fletch and Reluctant FLynn, the police detective pursuing both Fletch and the truth. A first time for Tom and a favorite for Tony, Confess, Fletch is a joy to read.

A Scanner Darkly is arguably Phillip K Dick's best-know novel, and certainly is one of his finest. This has been a favorite of Tom's for decades. Its exploration of the drug culture and the nature of identity, set in a near-future dystopia where shopping malls have armed guards, resonate's with Tom's love of broken characters.

The Madness Season is one of the few stand-alone novels by by C.S.Friedman, one of Tom's favorite authors. Both the novel and the author are firsts for Tony; listen to see how he reacts!

https://anchor.fm/thumbingthroughyesterday

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess may be one of the most disturbing dystopian visions ever penned. See how Tom & Tony react to revisiting Alex and his droogs.

Big Brother is watching. And listening. George Orwells's 1984 is a powerful book with some big ideas, and one that Tom keeps revisiting. Enjoy our doubleplusgood review of this iconic novel.

The Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton's first novel published under his own name, is a techno-thriller set in the earliest days of space exploration about an extra-terrestrial microorganism coming to Earth. It's a trope today, but this is the book that defined it, and it's one of Tony's favorites.

John Steakley's Armor is the definitive book about smashing hordes of bug-eyed aliens while wearing powered combat armor... and so much more! Join us as we revisit a classic much-beloved by both of us. Also, language warning for this episode.

Gateway by Frederick Pohl is a favorite from Tony's youth, and a first-read for Tom. A little book with a lot of big ideas, Gateway was written as a stand-alone novel, but went on to become the opening to an epic saga. 

The Star Trek Logs are a series of novelizations of the animated Star Trek series, written by Alan Dean Foster. Tom grew up with a collection of these on his shelf, reading them over and over as a child. How well has the book held up? Does it match those precious childhood memories? Join us and find out!