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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Guest Host:
Arden Harris (they/them) is a bookseller, crafter, and aspiring writer. You can often find them haunting the shelves at A Seat at the Table Books in Elk Grove, CA, or spending time with their wife and four cats.

They tend to lurk in the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror sections, but can occasionally be found creeping into other genres when the mood strikes.

They can be reluctantly perceived on Instagram @bookstore.cryptid

Buy the Book!
Bookshop.org | Libro.fm

Other books mentioned in this episode:

• Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman
• Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Volatile Memory by Seth Haddon
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft

Sink your fangs into our first After Dark episode of the season with A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER by Kresley Cole—a steamy paranormal romance where “a fierce werewolf and a bewitching vampire become unlikely soul mates whose passion will test the boundaries of life and death.”

Emma kicks off the season with this pick and sparks a conversation about what happens when monster theory meets gender essentialism. Meanwhile, Laura draws some surprising parallels to Star Wars, and we collectively urge parents to warn their children about the dangers of fated mates. Plus: find out why this book forced Jason to add a brand-new category in his After Dark grading system.

CONTENT WARNING: This episode features discussions of an adult-themed book, contains explicit language, and is intended for mature audiences only. Listener discretion is advised.

Buy the Book!
Bookshop.org | Libro.fm

Other books mentioned in this episode:

• The Sting of Victory by S.D. Simper
• Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
• Bride by Ali Hazelwood
• Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
• The Bones Beneath My Skin by T.J. Klune
• Railed by the Krampus by Dalia Davies
• Lord of Eternal Night by Ben Alderson

We’re kicking off Season Five with ALL SYSTEMS RED by Martha Wells—and a couple of very special guests! Sir Aaron Carter and Emma Skies join us to talk Murderbot ahead of the AppleTV+ adaptation premiering May 16th. (And yes, they’ll be covering the show in their very own Watch podcast, so stay tuned!)

Listen in as we dig into what makes Murderbot such a compelling character, why Emma has read this book four times, and whether Jason—reading it for the first time—thought it lived up to the hype. Plus, Aaron shares what took him so long to read the second Murderbot novella, and why he refuses to read book two of the similarly-themed Monk & Robot series.

Guest Hosts:
Aaron Carter is a writer, Twitch streamer, and Dungeon Master. He’s also a seasoned podcaster and co-host of BYLO Watch, a podcast series that looks at the film and television adaptations of novels. Beyond that, you won’t find him on social media. He’ll find you.

Emma Skies is a content creator, Twitch streamer, and host of multiple podcasts, including Reader Tangents, BYLO Watch, and our very own Shit We’ve Read After Dark. She’s also the acquiring editor for Skies Press, a publishing imprint under Bindery Books. Skies Press' first acquisition—To Bargain With Mortals by R.A. Basu—releases October 2025. You can find her discussing all the things she loves (and hates) in books and bookish things on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky, and Threads @EmmaSkies, and find her publishing updates on Instagram @SkiesPress.

Buy the Book!
Bookshop.org | Libro.fm

Other books mentioned in this episode:

• Five Survive by Holly Jackson
• Anji Kills a King by Evan Leikam
• Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire
• Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes
• Legendborn series by Tracy Deonn