Stars and Swords: Footnoting Genre Fiction – Details, episodes & analysis

This week, we conclude our discussion of Terry Pratchett's Mort with thoughts on Pratchett's precision as a stylist, tick-tock structure, and how much of the theme is on the page. Is sentimentality a good thing? Is Mort effectively sidelined in the final conflict? How do we embrace subjectivity over objectivity?

To see the video version of this week's show, click here; to see the slides, click here!

Footnotes:

• Mort
• Terry Pratchett
• Audiobooks (including the footnotes!)

Follow Stars And Swords on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

To join me for the live broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support! 

This week, we return to Terry Pratchett's Mort to discuss perspective, the dualities of life on the Disc, and what is really going on with Death. Do we believe that everything is predestined? Who gets to tell the story? Does Ysabelle sparkle in the sunlight?

To see the video version of this week's show, click here; to see the slides, click here!

Footnotes:

• Mort
• Terry Pratchett
• Audiobooks (including the footnotes!)

Follow Stars And Swords on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

To join me for the live broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support! 

This week, we continue our spookily-seasonal unit on David Sodergren's The Haar. What is the role of memory in a story preoccupied with bodies? How is identity constructed? Is this book the first recorded instance of Cosy Gore?

To see the video version of this week's show, click here; to see the slides, click here!

Next week, we conclude David Sodergren's The Haar, live on Patreon on Thursday, October 9th at 9PM Central Time. 

Footnotes:

• The Haar
• You've Been Trumped (2011)
• Trump International Golf Links, Scotland
• Haggis Wildlife Foundation

Follow Stars And Swords on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

To join me for the live broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support! 

Welcome to spooky season, and our Modern Horror unit on David Sodergren's The Haar. What is the necessary context for this novel? How does the possibility space of a horror novel work in practice? Is Muriel Margaret McAuley the best protagonist we've studied?

To see the video version of this week's show, click here; to see the slides, click here!

Next week, we continue David Sodergren's The Haar, live on Patreon on Thursday, October 2nd at 9PM Central Time. 

Footnotes:

• The Haar
• You've Been Trumped (2011)
• Trump International Golf Links, Scotland
• "Protected sand dunes to lose special status after environmental damage by Trump golf course." (London School of Economics)
• "‘People have seen through him and he’s not welcome’: Scotland tees up for Trump visit." (The Guardian)

Follow Stars And Swords on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

To join me for the live broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support! 

This week, we conclude our discussion of Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility. How does the text position WIlloughby as an interesting villain? Is there a moral lesson to be found in Marianne's last transformation? Is Edward enough for Elinor?

To see the slides, click here! 

Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!

Next week, we begin David Sodergren's The Haar, live on Patreon on Thursday, September 25th at 9PM Central. 

Footnotes:

• Sense And Sensibility
• A Calendar for Sense and Sensibility
• Sense And Sensibility (1995)
• Stars And Swords on Bookshop.org
• The Haar

 To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support! 

 This week, we continue our discussion of Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility. How are the Miss Steeles revealed to be undesirable types? Why does Mrs. Jennings set up a great conflict, then immediately resolve it? Just how feminist is Austen anyway?

To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here! 

Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!

Next week, we finish Sense and Sensibility, live on Patreon on Thursday, September 18th at 9PM Central. 

Footnotes:

• Sense And Sensibility
• A Calendar for Sense and Sensibility
• Sense And Sensibility (1995)
• Stars And Swords on Bookshop.org

 To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support! 

This week, we continue our discussion of Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility. How does Colonel Brandon's awkwardness communicate his honesty? How do we understand the backstory of Willoughby and Eliza? Is John Dashwood or Robert Ferrers worse?

To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!

Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!

Next week, Volume 3, Chapter I (37) to VII (43) of Sense and Sensibility, live on Patreon on Thursday, September 11th at 9PM Central.

Footnotes:

• Sense And Sensibility
• A Calendar for Sense and Sensibility
• Sense And Sensibility (1995)
• Stars And Swords on Bookshop.org

 To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support! 

This week, we continue our discussion of Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility. How does Marianne embody the modernity of Austen's age? What are the social expectations surrounding courtship and engagement? Is Edward maybe sometimes kind of a loser?

To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!

Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!

Next week, Volume 2, Chapter VI (28) to XIV (36) of Sense and Sensibility, live on Patreon on Thursday, September 4th at 9PM Central.

Footnotes:

• Sense And Sensibility
• A Calendar for Sense and Sensibility
• Sense And Sensibility (1995)
• Stars And Swords on Bookshop.org

 To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support! 

This week, we continue our discussion of Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility. Does Willoughby make the perfect heroic entrance into the story? What draws Elinor and Colonel Brandon together? Is Barton Cottage secretly a metaphor for Marianne?

To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!

Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!

Next week, Volume 1, Chapter XV (15) to Volume 2, Chapter V (27) of Sense and Sensibility, live on YouTube on Thursday, August 21st at 9PM Central.

Footnotes:

• Sense And Sensibility
• Sense And Sensibility (The Norton Library)
• Sense And Sensibility (1995)
• Stars And Swords on Bookshop.org

 To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support! 

This week, we begin our eleventh unit and our discussion of Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense And Sensibility. How are Elinor and Marianne Dashwood compared and contrasted? How sharp is Austen's satire? What exactly makes a flannel waistcoat so unattractive?

To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!

Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!

Next week, we finish the first volume of Sense and Sensibility, live on YouTube on Thursday, August 14th at 9PM Central.

Footnotes:

• Sense And Sensibility
• Sense And Sensibility (The Norton Library)
• Sense And Sensibility (1995)
• 'Leaving the Herd': How Queer Was Cowper? (Conrad Brunstrom)
• Stars And Swords on Bookshop.org

 To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!