Gabbing Geek 56: Fangirl, Finally

Gabbing Geek 56: Fangirl, Finally

Our latest episode of the Gabbing Geek podcast has MCU movie news, Ready Player One movie news, the Fangirl Geek Book Club, and a riveting discussion on what makes geek content in the first place.  And Watson introduces what might be the world’s worst convention ever.  You can give the episode a listen right now or jump after the break to read more!

Podcast Reaction: Vindication Edition

Hellboy is just a guy with a gun, Jenny? Do you know anything about Hellboy? For starters, he’s a lousy shot. For another, he’s a freakin’ prince of Hell!

This week on the podcast, the guys and Jenny did battle over various things, but I don’t want to cover that.

No, I want to cover their reaction to Armada, a book Jenny didn’t finish and Watson hated.  Now, I reviewed the book myself, and while I didn’t hate it, I likewise didn’t really enjoy it either.  It was perfectly meh, neither here nor there.  I’ve read bad books. Armada was not a bad book.

But I probably took a little heat for not enjoying Ernie Cline’s first novel, Ready Player One, as much as the others did, in part due to my nostalgia distaste.  Now, I want to expand on some points that Watson made in the podcast and a minor one I made on my review after the cut.

Gabbing Geek 51: Battle Lines

Gabbing Geek 51: Battle Lines

Gabbing Geek 51, Battle Lines, is so contentious you’ll think it was a presidential debate where every single candidate is Donald Trump.  We talk about corporate wars at Marvel, the latest salvo in the battle of the video streaming giants, our epic Geek Book Club discussion of Armada, and our latest game: Battle Royale.  You can start listening to this amazing, ferocious episode right now or jump after the break to find out more!

Podcast Reaction: Yippee Ki-Yay Mister Falcon Edition

On this week’s podcast, listener Wachnroll asked via Geek Mail an innocent enough question.  When the podcast bleeps out bad language, is it just for comedic effect or did one of our beloved podcasters turn a blue phrase?

Watson had the answer which I will reveal after the break…

Ernest Cline Talks Ready Player One Sequels, Driving With George R R Martin, And More

Plus find out what happens when Mr Cline parks his beloved time traveling DeLorean in TWO spaces at BookPeople.

Last night in Austin’s own best bookstore ever, BookPeople, beloved geek author Ernest “Ernie” Cline, gave a presentation on his geek roots, answered the audience’s questions about Ready Player One and his new book, Armada, and generally gave the crowd the night of their lives.  While the core Gabbing Geek crew couldn’t make the event, we did have multiple agents in the store. Agent Schnerk, who probably now wants a promotion to super agent, got it all on two videos which are posted after the break.  Head over to see the full clips and a summary of our favorite moments from the event!

[Update: Our favorite Austin bookstore, BookPeople, not only hosted this event but wanted to let all Gabbing Geek readers know that you can still order a signed copy of Armada!  Just follow this link to see if they still have any in stock, they have around 200 left as of this edit!]

Geek Lit: Ernest Cline’s Armada (With SPOILERS)

Last week, Ryan posted a spoiler-free review of Ernest Cline’s second novel, Armada.  Now, Ryan is on-record of being a big fan of Cline’s first novel, Ready Player One.  Seriously, you don’t have to go beyond the first paragraph of that linked review to see it’s either his favorite or second favorite book depending on his mood.  Now me, I enjoyed Ready Player One for the most part, but not being as enamored with the 80s as the author appeared to be, it didn’t do as much for me as it did for Ryan and the other podcaster types.  Besides, I hate nostalgia.

I have since finished Armada myself and we here at Gabbing Geek are not above having multiple reviews of the same thing by different writers.

So, here’s my review for Armada.  SPOILERS after the cut.

Armada: The Spoiler-Free Review

Armada is one of my most-anticipated books of the year.  My love for Ernie Cline’s first book, Ready Player One, has been mentioned many times on this site and in the podcast.  Ready Player One is not only in my top five books of all time (and it actually flip flops between the first and second spot depending on my mood that day) but it’s also the only book that I’ve read in less than 24 hours (not counting a few books in college that involved some skimming).  When I was able to obtain an advance copy of the book, I was thrilled.  Now that the book is available to everyone, I’m free to tell you my spoiler-free thoughts and feels on this new book.  Jump after the break to read all about it!

Podcast Reaction: The Ryan Edition

Ryan likes this movie.

I’ve been doing podcast reactions for a while now, even before I got tapped to write for this site.  In that time, I have picked on Jenny and Watson quite a bit.  Why not?  Jenny is three ducks in a woman suit who doesn’t know who Max von Sydow is despite his memorable roles in both The Exorcist and Flash Gordon–leading to my theory that someone is finally continuing Flash Gordon‘s “To be continued” tag when Ming the Merciless is revealed to be the bad guy in Star Wars Episode VII.  Watson just has that one picture that makes it rather easy.  Heck, it doesn’t matter what other pictures I use, that picture will be the one that appears on Facebook for any article I write and use it for.

But aside from pointing out just how much Ryan likes the awful, awful Krull, I don’t pick on him that much.

I’m not going to pick on him now, because this post is an intervention.

Podcast Reaction: I (Don’t Really) Love The 80s Edition

Let’s try not to read too much into Ronald Reagan sharing a drink with Cobra Commander in this image.

This week on the podcast, the guys and Jenny discussed the 80s.

Now, if I have a reputation around here, and I might, it may include how I am not much into nostalgia.  That was, like, my biggest barrier to really enjoying Ready Player One.  The big problem with nostalgia, I feel, is that it elevates stuff that maybe doesn’t deserve it.  I have no problem loving things from my childhood that hold up, but these things should be good in their own right, not good because I thought they were awesome when I was 8.

ICYMI-Mystery Geek Box Monthly Subscriptions: The Good, The Bad, and The Geeky

Mystery box subscriptions are all the craze these days. You know what I’m talking about, right? Mystery subscription boxes are mail order boxes filled with stuff that you pay for on a monthly basis. The catch is that you have no idea what is going to be in the box month-to-month. You have to go on faith that what is being delivered, will match the value of what you’re paying for the monthly subscription. And depending on what you subscribe to, you can open your mystery box and it may be filled beyond the value of your monthly fee, or you may come up short. It’s a gamble. And with a million different subscription themes out there; boxes for dogs, for foodies, for grooming, for geeks, etc, etc. You have to be sure you know what you’re getting into. Curious? Read on.