Advertise on podcast: Official OLS Episodes – One Last Sketch

We chat about Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey (2001), the epic fantasy novel that asks: What if a woman was very sexy? Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

We hash out our Big Canadian Feelings about Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Atwood looms large over the Canadian literary landscape, but this foray into science fiction might be her best-known work. We discuss Atwood’s vision of a near future dystopia, praise her writing style, and stumble over some truly awful neologisms. Download … Continue reading Episode 65 – Unwomen

Marie and I are contractually obligated to discuss any book with dragons on the cover, so in the end, we couldn’t avoid chatting about the publishing phenomenon Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (2023). While it’s not entirely to our tastes, we also wonder if the backlash to the novel might be for all the wrong … Continue reading Episode 64 – Wings and Things

We look back on the things we most enjoyed in 2025, covering films, games, books and whatever else strikes our fancy. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song Stuff we mention Cory has a poetry collection! By-the-Bywater podcast Save Your Game podcast If Books Could Kill podcast Kimimi the Game-Eating … Continue reading Episode 63 – 2025 Year in Review

Over 20 years have passed since I first read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (1869-1870), so I roped in Cory and Marie for a re-read. We find 20,000 problems with the science and struggle through 20,000 lists of underwater species, but they never obstruct the fun. Additionally, Marie “does a Zork.” Download … Continue reading Episode 62 – 20,000 Lists

We wander through a vast mansion full of looming statues in Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (2020). Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

We try to get the jump on Canada Reads by discussing Bird Suit by Sydney Hegele (2024), the first pick for our 2025 book club. This southern Ontario gothic novel tells a story of generational trauma in a tourist town that also happens to have some bird-people living nearby. Opinions are decidedly mixed. We talk … Continue reading Episode 60 – Avian Attire

We decide to finally discuss something J.R.R. Tolkien-related on our podcast, but in the stupidest way possible: by comparing the 2024 animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim to 1980’s The Return of the King. This episode has been a long time coming, but as the orcs might say, where … Continue reading Episode 59 – Where There’s a Whip, There’s a Way!

As the end of 2024 draws ever closer, we reflect on our favourite arts and culture from the past year. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song Some things we mentioned Invincea and the Warriors from Hell Orchard House Folding Ideas Drumeo Goebelins Stories from my Gay Grandparents Münecat Nick … Continue reading Episode 58 – 2024 Year in Review

Our 2024 book club concludes with Roger Zelazny’s 1963 novelette “A Rose for Ecclesiastes”, wherein a poet goes to Mars and discovers he’s not very good at describing dances. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

We have only good things to say about The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed (2021), though that doesn’t extend to the term “hopepunk” used in the marketing copy. Is this post-apocalyptic novella set in Alberta the best specifically Canadian piece of science fiction out there? We make the case that it is. Download … Continue reading Episode 56 – That Was Just Cloud Talk, Man

90s fantasy is back, baby! We discuss The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (2019). Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

Will we survive the fungal infestation that lurks beneath Toronto in The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan (2023)? This horror/near-future science fiction/fantasy novel is packed with ideas and has plenty of relevant criticism of the direction Canada is heading, but doesn’t bring things together in a satisfactory way for the three of us. We talk … Continue reading Episode 54 – Fungus Among Us

In the dying days of 2023, we came together to reflect on the best things that we read, watched, listened to and played this year. Tune in to the end for our “dishonourable mentions” as well, where we consider…the opposite. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

We wrap up our 2023 book club with a recent release, The Terraformers (2023) by Annalee Newitz. This throwback to the fix-up novel explores a lot of big ideas about ecology, biology and society, but do all the many, many elements work together as a whole? And what’s up with all the references to Canada? … Continue reading Episode 52 – Terraforming Moose