37: Of Monsters and Mainframes (w/Arden Harris)

It’s Pride Month! And we’re celebrating with OF MONSTERS AND MAINFRAMES by Barbara Truelove, a clever mashup of genres featuring an AI ship, a motley crew of supernatural monsters, and one very vengeful Dracula. Joining us for this discussion of love, found family, and identity is guest host Arden Harris (they/them) of A Seat at the Table Books in Elk Grove, CA, and host of the Sci-fi/Fantasy Book Club.

Listen as Arden weighs in on this story’s comparisons to both Murderbot and The Locked Tomb, we celebrate the queer representation (and beyond), and discover why Jason blocked the audiobook experience from his mind. Plus, Jason channels Haddaway to ask the eternal question: “What is love?”

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Goodreads Synopsis

Spaceships aren’t programmed to seek revenge—but for Dracula, Demeter will make an exception.

Demeter just wants to do her job: shuttling humans between Earth and Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, her passengers keep dying—and not from equipment failures, as her AI medical system, Steward, would have her believe. These are paranormal murders, and they began when one nasty, ancient vampire decided to board Demeter and kill all her humans.

To keep from getting decommissioned, Demeter must join forces with her own team: A werewolf. An engineer built from the dead. A pharaoh with otherworldly powers. A vampire with a grudge. A fleet of cheerful spider drones. Together, this motley crew will face down the ultimate evil—Dracula.

The queer love child of pulp horror and classic sci-fi, Of Monsters and Mainframes is a dazzling, heartfelt odyssey that probes what it means to be one of society’s monsters—and explores the many types of friendship that make us human.