The Functional Nerds Podcast

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Doug Engstrom whose debut novel, CORPORATE GUNSLINGER is available from Harper Collins. About CORPORATE GUNSLINGER: Like many Americans in the middle of the 21st century, aspiring actress Kira Clark is in debt. She financed her drama education with loans secured by a “lifetime services contract.” If she defaults, her creditors will control every aspect of her life. Behind on her payments and facing foreclosure, Kira reluctantly accepts a large signing bonus to become a corporate gunfighter for TKC Insurance. After a year of training, she will take her place on the dueling fields that have become the final, lethal stop in the American legal system. Putting her MFA in acting to work, Kira takes on the persona of a cold, intimidating gunslinger known as “Death’s Angel.” But just as she becomes the most feared gunfighter in TKC’s stable, she’s severely wounded during a duel on live video, shattering her aura of invincibility. A series of devastating setbacks follow, forcing Kira to face the truth about her life and what she’s become. When the opportunity to fight another professional for a huge purse arises, Kira sees it as a chance to buy a new life . . . or die trying. Structured around a chilling duel, Corporate Gunslinger is a modern satire that forces us to confront the growing inequalities in our society and our penchant for guns and bloodshed, as well as offering a visceral look at where we may be heading?far sooner than we know. About Doug Engstrom: Doug Engstrom has been a farmer’s son, a US Air Force officer, a technical writer, a computer support specialist, and a business analyst, as well as being a writer of speculative fiction. He lives near Des Moines, Iowa with his wife, Catherine Engstrom. This week’s picks: * Doug: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells * Tracy: Poetry for Neanderthals: a word game by Exploding Kittens (Tabletop Game) * Patrick: Paprika Recipe Manager for iOS, Mac, Android, and Windows (App) Links: * Doug Engstrom on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome NYTimes bestselling and Nebula, Hugo and Locus Award-winning speculative fiction writer Rebecca Roanhorse whose latest book, BLACK SUN is out now! About BLACK SUN: In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain. Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse has created an epic adventure exploring the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in the most original series debut of the decade. About Rebecca Roanhorse: Rebecca Roanhorse is a NYTimes bestselling and Nebula, Hugo and Locus Award-winning speculative fiction writer and the recipient of the 2018 Astounding (Campbell) Award for Best New Writer. Her novel Trail of Lightning (Book 1 in the Sixth World Series) won the Locus Award for Best First Novel and was a Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy Finalist. It was also selected as an Amazon, B&N, Library Journal, and NPR Best Books of 2018, among others. Storm of Locusts (Book 2 in the Sixth World Series) was a Locus Award Finalist and was longlisted for the Hugo Award. It also received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist, and was named an Amazon, Powell’s, and Audible Best of 2019. Her novel, Resistance Reborn, is part of Star Wars: Journey to The Rise of Skywalker and a USA Today and NYTimes bestseller. Her middle grade novel Race to the Sun for the Rick Riordan Present’s imprint was a NYTimes Bestseller and received a starred review from Kirkus. Her next novel, Black Sun, has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and Library Journal. She lives in Northern New Mexico with her husband, daughter, and pup. She drinks a lot of black coffee. This week’s picks: * Rebecca #1: Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by Adrienne Maree Brown * Rebecca #2: Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark * Tracy: Adagio Teas * Patrick: Our Patrons Links: * Rebecca Roanhorse on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twi...

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Hugo, Sequoyah, and Ursa Major award winning author and illustrator T Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) whose latest book, The Hollow Places: A Novel is available now. About The Hollow Places: A Novel: Pray they are hungry. Kara finds the words in the mysterious bunker that she’s discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle’s house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring this peculiar area—only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts…and the more one fears them, the stronger they become. With her distinctive “delightfully fresh and subversive” (SF Bluestocking) prose and the strange, sinister wonder found in Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, The Hollow Places is another compelling and white-knuckled horror novel that you won’t be able to put down. About T Kingfisher: T. Kingfisher is the vaguely absurd pen-name of Ursula Vernon. In another life, she writes children’s books and weird comics, and has won the Hugo, Sequoyah, and Ursa Major awards, as well as a half-dozen Junior Library Guild selections. Ursula Vernon is the author and illustrator of far more projects than is probably healthy. She has written over fifteen books for children, several novels for adults, an epic webcomic called “Digger” and various short stories and other odds and ends. Her work has been nominated for the Eisner, World Fantasy, and longlisted for the British Science Fiction Awards. It has garnered a number of Webcomics Choice Awards, enough Junior Library Guild Selections to allow her to cosplay as a six-star general, and a mention in the New York Times, which she did not get tattooed to her forehead, despite her mother’s insistence. In addition to writing and making art, Ms. Vernon gardens, feeds the birds, and has an unhealthy obsession with mulch. This week’s picks: * T Kingfisher: A Bean Collector’s Window * Tracy: The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travel (audiobook) * Patrick: Star Trek: Discovery (Season 3) Links: * T Kingfisher on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Hugo, Sturgeon, Locus, and Campbell Award winning author Elizabeth Bear whose latest book, Machine: A White Space Novel will be available on October 20th, 2020 everywhere fine books are sold. About Machine: A White Space Novel: Meet Doctor Jens. She hasn’t had a decent cup of coffee in fifteen years. Her workday begins when she jumps out of perfectly good space ships and continues with developing treatments for sick alien species she’s never seen before. She loves her life. Even without the coffee. But Dr. Jens is about to discover an astonishing mystery: two ships, one ancient and one new, locked in a deadly embrace. The crew is suffering from an unknown ailment and the shipmind is trapped in an inadequate body, much of her memory pared away. Unfortunately, Dr. Jens can’t resist a mystery and she begins doing some digging. She has no idea that she’s about to discover horrifying and life-changing truths. Written in Elizabeth Bear’s signature “rollicking, suspenseful, and sentimental” (Publishers Weekly) style, Machine is a fresh and electrifying space opera that you won’t be able to put down.. About Elizabeth Bear: Elizabeth Bear was born on the same day as Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, but in a different year. She is the Hugo, Sturgeon, Locus, and Campbell Award winning author of dozens of novels; over a hundred short stories; and a number of essays, nonfiction, and opinion pieces for markets as diverse as Popular Mechanics and The Washington Post. She lives in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts with her spouse, writer Scott Lynch. This week’s picks: * Bear Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez * Tracy: A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny * Patrick: THE 7th CITADEL (Game) Links: * Elizabeth Bear on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Rob Cameron whose latest non-fiction article, The Case for Black American Self-Defense is available at foreignpolicy.com. About Rob Cameron: Rob is a linguist, a pie addict with neither regrets nor inclinations towards rehab, and a public school ENL teacher in Brooklyn. When not finishing rewrites for his very patient agent, Barry Goldblatt, he is teaching his daughter the fine art that is hide-and-seek. He is the lead organizer for the Brooklyn Speculative Fiction Writers, guest host & curator for the New York Review of Science Fiction Reading Series, managing editor of the Kaleidocast.nyc, frequent guest and curator for the Surreal Symphony of Zak Zyz. Rob Cameron’s essay “Promised Land: Religous Ideology and Solarpunk Science Fiction” is featured in The New Modality. Before that was his essay on Afrofuturism and Solarpunk, “In Search of Afro-Solarpunk, Parts I & II,” in Tor.com. His short story “Squeeze” (3 star reviewed on Tangent!) can be found in Mike Allen’s Clockwork Phoenix 5,(Mythic Delirium, 2016). His story “Tatterdemallion at the End of the Universe” is being used as curriculum material for the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. This week’s picks: * Rob Liquified Nutella w/rum * Tracy: Crockpot * Patrick: Chopped (Food Network) Links: * Rob Cameron on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Stephen Graham Jones whose novel, THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS is available now! So go buy it already… sheesh. ABOUT THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS: Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way. About Stephen Graham Jones: Stephen Graham Jones is the author of twenty-five or so novels and collections, and there’s some novellas and comic books in there as well. Stephen’s been an NEA recipient, has won the Texas Institute of Letters Award for Fiction, the Independent Publishers Award for Multicultural Fiction, a Bram Stoker Award, four This is Horror Awards, and he’s been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and the World Fantasy Award. He’s also made Bloody Disgusting’s Top Ten Horror Novels, and is the guy who wrote Mongrels and The Only Good Indians. Stephen lives in Boulder, Colorado. This week’s picks: * Stephen The Low Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado (Comic) * Tracy: Among Us (App Game) * Patrick: The Boys Season 2 (Prime) Links: * Stephen Graham Jones on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Jeremy Robert Johnson whose novel, THE LOOP – available today for preorders, shipping on Sept 29th. ABOUT THE LOOP: A small town nestled in the hills of central Oregon becomes the epicenter of an epidemic of violence when the teenaged children of several executives from the local biotech firm become ill and aggressively murderous. Suddenly the town is on edge, and everyone must do everything it takes just to survive… About Jeremy Robert Johnson: Jeremy Robert Johnson is the author of the critically-acclaimed collection ENTROPY IN BLOOM as well as the breakthrough cult novel SKULLCRACK CITY. His fiction has been praised by The Washington Post and Publishers Weekly, authors such as David Wong, Chuck Palahniuk, and Jack Ketchum, and has appeared internationally in numerous anthologies and magazines. In 2008 he worked with The Mars Volta to tell the story behind their Grammy Winning album The Bedlam in Goliath. In 2010 he spoke about weirdness and metaphor as a survival tool at the Fractal 10 conference in Medellin, Colombia. In 2017 his short story “When Susurrus Stirs” was adapted for film and won numerous awards including the Final Frame Grand Prize and Best Short Film at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. This week’s picks: * Jeremy #1: Fresh Air * Jeremy #2: The Boatman’s Daughter by Andy Davidson * Tracy: Mildly Horror Comfort Food – Mississippi Roast * Patrick: Staged (Hulu) Links: * Jeremy Robert Johnson on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Andrew Pyper whose novel, THE RESIDENCE is out NOW! About THE RESIDENCE: The year is 1853. President-elect Franklin Pierce is traveling with his family to Washington, DC, when tragedy strikes. In an instant, their train runs off the rails, violently flinging passengers about the cabin. But when the great iron machine finally comes to rest, the only casualty is the President-elect’s beloved son, Bennie, which casts Franklin’s presidency in a pall of sorrow and grief. As Franklin moves into the White House, he begins to notice that something bizarre is happening. Strange sounds coming from the walls and ceiling, creepy voices that seem to echo out of time itself, and visions of spirits crushed under the weight of American history. But when First Lady Jane Pierce brings in the most noted Spiritualists of the day, the Fox sisters, for a séance, the barrier between this world and the next is torn asunder. Something horrible comes through and takes up residence alongside Franklin and Jane in the walls of the very mansion itself. Only by overcoming their grief and confronting their darkest secrets can Jane and Franklin hope to rid themselves—and America—from the entity that seeks to make the White House its permanent home. ABOUT Andrew Pyper: Andrew Pyper was born in Stratford, Ontario, in 1968. He received a B.A. and M.A. in English Literature from McGill University, as well as a law degree from the University of Toronto. Although called to the bar in 1996, he has never practiced. His most recent novels include The Homecoming (2019), The Only Child (2017), and The Damned (2015). His 2013 novel, The Demonologist, won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Hardcover Novel, and was a #1 bestseller in Canada and Brazil. This week’s picks: * Andrew: I’m Thinking Of Ending Things (Netflix) * Tracy: Hamilton (Disney+) * Patrick: DCs Harley Quinn Season 2 (Prime) Links: * Andrew Pyper on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Samantha Cohoe whose debut novel, A GOLDEN FURY is available for pre-orders today, and will arrive on October 13, 2020! About A GOLDEN FURY: Thea Hope longs to be an alchemist out of the shadow of her famous mother. The two of them are close to creating the legendary Philosopher’s Stone?whose properties include immortality and can turn any metal into gold?but just when the promise of the Stone’s riches is in their grasp, Thea’s mother destroys the Stone in a sudden fit of violent madness. While combing through her mother’s notes, Thea learns that there’s a curse on the Stone that causes anyone who tries to make it to lose their sanity. With the threat of a revolution looming, Thea is sent to live with the father who doesn’t know she exists. But there are alchemists after the Stone who don’t believe Thea’s warning about the curse?instead, they’ll stop at nothing to steal Thea’s knowledge of how to create the Stone. But Thea can only run for so long, and soon she will have to choose: create the Stone and sacrifice her sanity, or let the people she loves die. ABOUT Samantha Cohoe: Samantha Cohoe was raised in San Luis Obispo, California, where she enjoyed an idyllic childhood of beach trips, omnivorous reading, and writing stories brimming with adverbs. She attended Thomas Aquinas College, a Great Books college in California, and graduated with a BA in liberal arts. After studying Philosophical Theology at Yale Divinity School, she decided academia wasn’t for her. In the midst of marriage, child-bearing, and the identity crisis that followed, she rediscovered her early love of writing and adverbs. In 2011, she moved with her family to Denver, where she currently divides her time between teaching Latin, mothering, writing, reading, and deleting adverbs. This week’s picks: * Samantha: Costco Business Center * Tracy: River City Girls (PS4) * Patrick: Cobra Kai (Netflix) Links: * Samantha Cohoe on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Chris Mooney, author of the new thriller – BLOOD WORLD! About BLOOD WORLD: Everything changed when scientists discovered the drug. It looked like the cure for aging, but all progress comes with a price tag. Now, eternal youthfulness will be paid for by the blood of the innocent. The blood of “carriers” is the most valuable commodity on earth. When treated with a new wonder drug, it cures disease, increases power, and makes the recipient a virtual superman. It also makes the carriers targets. Young people with the right genes are ripped from their families and stashed in “blood farms.” Ellie Batista became an LAPD officer specifically to fight this evil as a member of the Blood Squad, but her ambitions are thwarted—until the day she and her partner are ambushed during a routine stop. The resulting events plunge her into an undercover world more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. Because a madman has found a way to increase the potency of the blood to levels previously unimagined. As he cuts a bloody swath through the already deadly world of blood cartels, Ellie is the only hope to stop him before the body count explodes. ABOUT Chris Mooney: Hailed as “one of the best thriller writers working today” by Lee Child and “a wonderful writer” by Michael Connelly, Chris Mooney is the international bestselling author of twelve novels, most recently, Blood World. His fourth book, The Missing, the first in the Darby McCormick series, was a main selection of the International Book of the Month Club and an instant bestseller in over thirteen countries. The Mystery Writer’s Association nominated Chris’s third book, Remembering Sarah, for an Edgar Award for Best Novel. Foreign rights to his novels have been sold to twenty-eight territories. He has sold nearly two million copies of his books. Chris teaches writing courses at Harvard and the Harvard Extension School, and lives in the Boston area with his wife and son. His new novel, Blood World, will be released in August of 2020. This week’s picks: * Chris: The Last of Us 2 (PS4) * Tracy: Favorite Folktales from Around the World (The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) by Jane Yolen * Patrick: Project Power (Netflix) Links: * Chris Mooney on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Carole Stivers, whose debut novel – THE MOTHER CODE is available today – August 25th! About THE MOTHER CODE: Kai is born in America’s desert Southwest, his only companion his robotic Mother, Rho-Z. Equipped with the knowledge and motivations of a human mother, Rho-Z raises Kai and teaches him how to survive. But as children like Kai come of age, their Mothers transform too—in ways that were never predicted. And when government survivors decide that the Mothers must be destroyed, Kai is faced with a choice. Will he break the bond he shares with Rho-Z? Or will he fight to save the only parent he has ever known? Set in a future that could be our own, The Mother Code explores what truly makes us human—and the tenuous nature of the boundaries between us and the machines we create. ABOUT Carole Stivers: Carole Stivers was born in East Cleveland, Ohio. She received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She went on to post-doctoral work at Stanford University before launching a career in medical diagnostics. She now lives in California, where she’s combined her love of writing and her fascination with the possibilities of science to create her first novel, The Mother Code. This week’s picks: * Carole #1: Migrations: A Novel by Charlotte McConaghy * Carole #2: The Sirens of Mars: Searching for Life on Another World by Sarah Stewart Johnson * Tracy: Century: Golem Edition (Board Game) * Patrick: High Score (Netflix)) Links: * Carole Stivers on Facebook * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Brandon Crilly! About Brandon Crilly: An Ottawa teacher by day, Brandon Crilly has been previously published by On Spec, The 2017 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide, and Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation. He received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards, reviews fiction for BlackGate.com and develops programming for Can-Con in Ottawa. This week’s picks: * Brandon: Ephemera Reading Series by Jen R. Albert * Tracy: Ghost of Tsushima (PS4) * Patrick: The Dead South (Band) Links: * Brandon Crilly on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome back Matt Wallace, cohost of the Hugo Award winning Ditch Diggers podcast, and author of Rencor: Life in Grudge City, the Sin du Jour series and his brand new, debut epic Fantasy, SAVAGE LEGION. About SAVAGE LEGION: They call them Savages. Brutal. Efficient. Expendable. The empire relies on them. The Savages are the greatest weapon they ever developed. Culled from the streets of their cities, they take the ones no one will miss and throw them, by the thousands, at the empire’s enemies. If they live, they fight again. If they die, there are always more to take their place. Evie is not a Savage. She’s a warrior with a mission: to find the man she once loved, the man who holds the key to exposing the secret of the Savage Legion and ending the mass conscription of the empire’s poor and wretched. But to find him, she must become one of them, to be marked in her blood, to fight in their wars, and to find her purpose. Evie will die a Savage if she has to, but not before showing the world who she really is and what the Savage Legion can really do. About Matt Wallace: Matt Wallace is the Hugo–winning author of Rencor: Life in Grudge City, the Sin du Jour series, and Savage Legion. He’s also penned over one hundred short stories in addition to writing for film and television. In his youth he traveled the world as a professional wrestler, unarmed combat, and self-defense instructor before retiring to write full-time. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Nikki. This week’s picks: * Matt: Unconquerable Sun (The Sun Chronicles Book 1) by Kate Elliott * Tracy: Batman: The Animated Series * Patrick: Umbrella Academy Season 2 (Netflix) Links: * Matt Wallace on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome not one, but TWO guests! Jennifer Brody and Jules Rivera, whose graphic novel – SPECTRE DEEP 6, is out now from Turner Publishing! About SPECTRE DEEP 6: SPECTRE DEEP 6 is a paranormal sci-fi story about a team of secret government agents who have been resurrected as ghosts to carry out clandestine missions for our government in exchange for day passes to haunt their old lives and fix their unfinished business. The story follows Bianca Vasquez, a woman who became a secret agent to find her missing husband who disappeared undercover – and bring her family back together. Alongside her misfit team of five other Spectre Agents, Bianca goes on missions to ensure the powerful and dangerous spectre technology doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. However, when an ally begins running his own agenda, the lives of her daughter and everyone on earth are put into jeopardy. About Jennifer Brody: Jennifer Brody / Vera Strange is the award-winning author of the Disney Chills book series, The 13th Continuum trilogy, and the graphic novels Spectre Deep 6 and 200 with Jules Rivera. She’s a graduate of Harvard University, a film and TV producer and writer, and a creative writing teacher. She began her career in Hollywood working on many films, including The Lord of the Rings and The Golden Compass. She lives and writes in Malibu by the beach. About Jules Rivera: Jules is an illustrator, graphic novelist, colorist, animator, and writer, prompting SyFy Wire to call her “a multi-talented force in indie comics.” She contributed to the Eisner Award winning Puerto Rico Strong (Lion Forge) and Ringo Award winning Where We Live, A Benefit for the Survivors in Las Vegas (Image Comics). Jules is the co-creator of Spectre Deep 6, a sci-fi graphic novel series by Turner publishing, Love, Joolz, a weekly autobiographical cartoon strip, Love, Joolz, and feminist sci-fi epic, Valkyrie Squadron. She also creates sci-fi designs for TV and film and teaches storyboarding at California Lutheran University. She lives and works in LA and goes surfing on the weekends. Links: * Jennifer Brody on Twitter * Jules Rivera on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome N.Y. Times Bestselling Author R. A. Salvatore, whose latest book – RELENTLESS – concludes his Generations trilogy. About RELENTLESS: Displaced in time and unexpectedly reunited with his son Drizzt Do’Urden, Zaknafein has overcome the prejudices ingrained in him as a drow warrior to help his son battle the ambitious Spider Queen and stem the tide of darkness that has been unleashed upon the Forgotten Realms. Though Zaknafein has endured the most difficult battles, survival has come at a terrible cost, and the fight is far from over. Facing demons and driders, Zaknafein carries the entire weight of Menzoberranzan surrounding Gauntlgym on his shoulders once more. But the chances of survival for him and his old friend and mercenary Jarlaxle look bleak. Trapped in a desperate and seemingly hopeless situation, the legendary warriors must reach deep inside themselves to face the impossible. While the burdens Zaknafein bears are more than enough for one of Menzoberrazan’s greatest warriors, fate holds further challenges. When circumstances take an unexpected turn, Zaknafein discovers he must not only conquer the darkness but learn to accept the uncontrollable: life itself. The stakes have never been higher for R. A. Salvatore’s most beloved creations in this final volume of his latest bestselling trilogy begun with Timeless and Boundless. A story of brave heroes filled with dangerous thrills, Relentless also considers eternal questions about morality, purpose, sacrifice, and the definition of harmony. Exciting, imaginative, and thought-provoking, it takes fans on an action-packed ride that will challenge their assumptions and leave them breathless and satisfied. About R. A. Salvatore: 30 years ago, R. A. Salvatore created the character of Drizzt Do’Urden, the dark elf who has withstood the test of time to stand today as an icon in the fantasy genre. With his work in the Forgotten Realms, Crimson Shadow, DemonWars, and other series, Salvatore has sold more than thirty million books worldwide and has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list more than two dozen times. he considers writing to be his personal journey, but still, he’s quite pleased that so many are walking the road beside him! R. A. Lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Diane, and their three dogs, Ivan Pikel and Dexter. He still plays softball for his team, Clan Battlehammer, and enjoys his weekly DemonWarsRPG game. This week’s picks: * Bob: The Tudors (Netflix) * Tracy: Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guides Series * Patrick: Stargirl (The CW) Links: * R. A. Salvatore on Twitter * Tracy Townsend on Twitter * Patrick Hester on Twitter * ...