Episode 13 - Make Like A Wench And Peach And Resign

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This week your two bookends read chapter 5 and 6 of the Eye of Argon by Jim Theis, in what frankly ended up as a far too long episode. The chapter is full of shivs, vomit, testicular punishment, Mrifk and epilepsy, to name but a few of the many ingredients.

More than ever, the contents of these chapters make us have to seriously question our 16 year old Jim Theis, but in this case he got around this close examination by making these chapters so long your bookends Peter and Louis lose the will to live long before reaching the chapter summary. Don’t worry, we’ll be finishing the story next week, and we’ll remember all these wrongs perpetrated against us. Probably.

There’s nobody to support if you want to read the Eye Of Argon, but you can give an online copy a read here:
https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/sf/eyeargon/eyeargon.htm

Episode 12 - Chekhov's Rat

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This week your two bookends read chapter 3, 3.5 and 4 of the Eye of Argon by Jim Theis, where Grignr sits in the dark, considering how much less he eats when he does nothing, we get a completely unexplained cutaway to some pimpin shamen (sic) hanging about where we get a glimpse of the titular Eye of Argon, before going back to possibly the longest chapter so far, where Grignr fights with a rat, and nothing else of note occurs. However, to our delight this life or death tussle with a rodent does provide Grignr with his first workable escape plan.

As ever, this description does no justice to the baffling prose employed by the dearly departed Theis.

There’s nobody to support if you want to read the Eye Of Argon, but you can give an online copy a read here:
https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/sf/eyeargon/eyeargon.htm

Episode 11 - Surly Beard Of Mrifk

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After a long Christmas break, your two bookends decide to mix things up to celebrate crossing the 1/3 hurdle of The Way The Stars Fall by reading a different short story, infamous in its awfulness – The Eye Of Argon by Jim Theis. A slight shake up also in that, due to both the shortness and the lack of copyright concerns, we have decided to read through the story in its entirety and makes comments as we go. To be honest, for the most part we just read the book while Peter tries to stop himself from fainting from laughter induced giddiness. It galls me to say that the Eye Of Argon is such an entity there isn’t too much your bookends can add that the book doesn’t say for itself.

But my god is it funny.

We only read the first two chapters here; we expect it will only take another 2 or 3 episodes to finish the rest.

There’s nobody to support if you want to read the Eye Of Argon, but you can give an online copy a read here:
https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/sf/eyeargon/eyeargon.htm

Episode 10 - Butter Over Too Much Bread

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Things are very different in the novel this week. We leave the comfort of the Tranquility and DSCOS-58 to find Captain Tiberius Hunter and his ex-wife Amelia on the battle cruiser the Turmoil, themselves natives of the universe Jack and his crew have found themselves in and on their way to a dinner with the Imperator of the Evil Illmarian Imperium. It’s far less interesting than it sounds. This episode we discuss who we think these people are, with their very odd relationship, discuss the logistical problems of the grand dining hall in the Imperialis Basilica that the Imperator makes his home and speculate on the links the galaxy spanning Illmarian Imperium may have with a certain fast food chain, from way over extrapolating two words in the chapter to start telling a story we’d rather be reading than this one.

Support the author and buy the book we're reading at the link below:
http://lewisstockton.com/publishing/

Episode 9 - Gleeful Gulps and Simmering Chuckles

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A long episode this week, as this chapter is almost as long as the last two combined (still pretty short all told) the Evil!Fargas arc is closed off for good as the Tranquillity wrecks the fleet chasing them out of the system and decide that having already made enemies out of the empire, they should try to hit up the Insurrectionists. The journey is eventful, as Jack and Tona admit their feelings for each other, they try and work out how they can leave this dimension and we learn that Hollister is a terrifying force after he has a few Katarina Ales. Your two bookends are not without comment on these topics, in particular going on a diatribe over why the Jack and Tona relationship paints Jack as definitely an awful Captain, and possibly an awful person in general.
Support the author and buy the book we're reading at the link below:
http://lewisstockton.com/publishing/

Episode 8 - Similar Slack Jaws

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This week your bookends Peter and Louis yet again talk about a chapter only a few pages long for 50 minutes, wherein we discus Jack Hunter’s prisoner management skills, Tona Shrike with her sexy sexy head and skewed priorities when it comes to choosing between trousers and being able to fire her gun safely. In particular we realise that we have no idea what kind of a person Tona is supposed to be from her characterisation before being utterly dumfounded both by the laughably poor siege of the tranquillity by Evil!Fargas and the overwhelming OP-ness of the APAGs kinetic barriers.

Support the author and buy the book we're reading at the link below:
http://lewisstockton.com/publishing/

Episode 7 - Pants Guard

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This episode, the pair of absolute Bookends Peter and Louis read a short chapter they accuse of imbuing an attempted rape with comedy, seemingly unaware of the fact they are in fact themselves are making light of rape for comedy. It is pretty funny though, at least when Lewis is the one at the helm writing the rape scenario. Also, they speculate on just how capable Tona should be after an arn unconscious, a rifle butt to the head and being held aloft by the neck. I don’t think I’d be in a fit state to take on 4 men and win in this state, but I guess Tona is just that good.

Support the author and buy the book we're reading at the link below:
http://lewisstockton.com/publishing/