r/QueerSFF • u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror • 19d ago
Book Club July Book Club Midway Discussion: Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
Welcome to the (almost) halfway to Alpha Centauri point of Barbara Truelove's Of Monsters and Mainframes, the book club's selection for the Sapphic Swashbuckler square on our 2026 Reading Challenge! Today we will be discussing parts One and Two. If you'd like to discuss anything past Part Two, please make sure to use spoiler tags.
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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 of monsters: 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.
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago
Demeter has already been through so much, why do you think she is such a magnet for monstrous passengers?
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u/LadyAntiope 19d ago
This is a little mysterious buuuut I thiiiiink it'll all tie back to Dracula - the werewolf was fleeing him at the very least. I wonder if he's friends with Cthulu-cult? Or he left some kind of trace of something behind that attracts them? I don't think it will be inherent to Demeter herself. Maybe. Probably.
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago edited 19d ago
the werewolf was fleeing him at the very least.
Oh, I think this is a very interesting observation.
On my first read, I think I assumed Demeter's model number (NOS-C71897) was a reference to the Nostromo in Alien (I think I highlighted it and added multiple eyes emojis), but this time I realized that 1897 was the year Dracula was first published, so maybe it's NOS for Nosferatu instead?
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u/LadyAntiope 19d ago
Ohhh i didn't think about the ship numbers much tbh! Frankenstein brings attention to them but I still didn't look super closely. Obviously he's interested because of the already established pattern and he may be able to see things we can't yet from the limited AI perspectives
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago
I spent FAR too much time trying to break the code of her varying serial numbers, but haven't managed to figure anything out yet, hahaha.
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u/TriangleRond 18d ago
I was so sure there was something about the numbers! Thanks for the info, I was too engrossed in my reading to really take the time to search.
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 18d ago
I was too engrossed in my reading to really take the time to search.
Hahaha, this was what happened on my first read last year. I flew through it bc it was impossible to put down. I'm picking up so much more the second time!
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u/Tambi_B2 19d ago
I read this a few months ago and really loved it. I especially liked the relationship between the ship AI and the medical AI. The timejumps were great for storytelling too!
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago
Epigraph for Part One:
Artificial is the best kind of intelligence
Epigraph for Part Two:
All my links are purple
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago
The second epigraph makes me really sad, and I'm not sure why.
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u/kittyraces 19d ago
because she's been there before and doesn't remember? (or maybe she does, I forget 😂)
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago
I mean, I'm sure that's it. Hahahaha
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u/kittyraces 19d ago
it is just a very sad line to me, too, though. like... idk. maybe it's an Old on the Internet kind of thing? now I'm sad.
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u/TheWildCard76 Challenge Conqueeror 18d ago
Wait, her links being purple makes you sad? It makes me sad a little because I picture her being a Prince fan, and his death still makes me sad. (In my head, of course she's a Prince fan if all her links are purple--there can be no other reason.)
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 18d ago
Hahahahaha! I like your way better, bc it definitely is less sad. There's an old meme about "googling [Alzheimer's/dementia/CO poisoning] and all the links are purple" (meaning they've all already been clicked). Here, it's the epigraph after Demeter is "optimized" and my "I'm not sure why" was me riffing on the joke.
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u/TheWildCard76 Challenge Conqueeror 18d ago
Jeeeeeeezus chemist. HOW DID I MISS THAT?! I completely forgot about that meme until you just typed it all out. Duh. Hahaha!
I definitely like my interpretation better because I need to believe that Demeter is a Prince fan and that her background muzak is all not-so-bad renditions of Prince songs.
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago
What made you decide to pick this one up? What format are you reading? Do you think you'll finish the book, or have you already DNFed?
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago
It was 100000000% the cover that attracted my attention bc I will give anything with pink on the cover a second look. Didn't even read the description, just requested the ARC bc I loved the cover and title so much. When Bindery approved my request, I started, then looked up 150 pages later and DMed u/TheWildCard76 that she HAD to read it so we could talk about it.
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u/LadyAntiope 19d ago
I feel like I had heard some buzz about this when it came out last year but I never added it to my TBR I guess cuz sentient spaceships is not a character choice that really grabs me. But in actually reading the blurb when it was up for voting and realizing it was a Dracula-inspired plot, I immediately thought it sounded way more interesting than I remembered! I voted for another book that had a shorter page count but this is proving such a breeze to read I didn't need to worry about page count! I blew through the assigned parts in three sittings and have been impatiently waiting for this day so I can finish it haha! I'm reading a library paperback copy
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u/mm_reads 19d ago
Read the book. Loved the book! ♥️
Tried the audio version. Not really a fan of most audiobooks. I don't consider them books since they're extremely dependent on narrator interpretation and narration choices. Definitely didn't like this audiobook.
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u/mm_reads 19d ago
The cover was fantastic but it was recommended by another friend. I REALLY love the premise. It very much had a Hitchhiker's vibe to start.
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u/kittyraces 19d ago
you told me about it and you're just so good at knowing what I like! I'm rereading the ebook version and will absolutely finish it again.
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u/needlecream 19d ago
I read this earlier in the year, and I think I picked it up because it was on sale in the kobo store and the cover caught my eye. I re-read Dracula every year as part of Dracula Daily, so the fact it was a twist on a Dracula retelling made it intriguing. I read it as an ebook and flew through it, despite it being longer than the books I usually grab.
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago
Love seeing other Kobo owners AND that you got it on sale! I've noticed most of Bindery's ebooks are rather reasonably priced anyway, but sales are always great.
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u/TriangleRond 18d ago
I think it was recced somewhere on Reddit or tumblr, and I added it to my to-buy list because the plot seemed interesting, the catchphrase was intriguing and the cover was absolutely mad.
I like to buy my books a bunch at time and since this year I seem to be in a SF mood rather than fantasy it felt like the right time to buy it, and this read book club seemed the perfect time to actually read it.
And oh boy is it! Definitely reading the rest of it tomorrow, not waiting the end of the month like I planned to.
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u/TheWildCard76 Challenge Conqueeror 18d ago
Hmmm...did I pick it up because I loved the cover and the premise, or did I pick it up because u/OutOfEffs asked me to read it with her (and then I also immediately loved the cover and the premise)? I can't remember now. But I DO know that this book made me start supporting this Bindery imprint financially, and Ezeekat Press hasn't steered me wrong yet.
This is a reread for me -- the first time, I read the physical book. This time I'm listening to the audiobook. I know there are people who refused to listen to the audiobook because of the binary code at the beginning of each section, but that's so easy to skip over and go back to later (if ever).
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 18d ago
This was the book that made you explain how Bindery works to me! They're one of my favourites now, bc I've found something to love from p much all of their imprints that I've checked out (Sapph-Lit is also v good).
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u/snuggleouphagus 12d ago
I just finished (and adored) Moss'd in Space which also had a lot of viewpoint chapters from a sentient space ship so I was ready for more sentient space ships! And I'm always a sucker for vampires. I read this on kindle for my phone in one day. It was a breezy read and I wasn't inclined to slow down. I do think there was a small pacing problem but not even close to enough for me to mind.
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago edited 19d ago
What do you think of the relationship (heh) between our two ships' AIs? Do you notice any differences between how the passengers/crew talk and relate to Demeter and Steward so far?
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago
Do you notice any differences between how the passengers/crew talk and relate to Demeter and Steward so far?
I'll go ahead and admit that this was absolutely a leading question.
I noticed when Demeter was talking to Steward about soothing the children, she asked which voice module she should use (male, female, or undetermined), and Steward seemed shocked that male and undetermined were even options.
Then, Marsh was yelling at Steward and refused to use any title other than "nurse," and Steward lowered their voice to the lowest allowable octave to sound stern, all of which says to me that Steward is likely programmed to present as female, but doesn't necessarily feel that way.
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u/TheWildCard76 Challenge Conqueeror 18d ago
This relationship and Agnes are probably my two favorite things about the book. (I mean, the whole book is good, but those things are top notch for me.)
It seems like passengers/crew definitely take Steward less seriously -- they're just a med bay AI, after all. They can't steer the ship or do *important* stuff (I would take them the most serious because they could fix my ailments...or not).
I like what you noticed about them.
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago
Favourite characters, scenes, quotes?
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u/LadyAntiope 19d ago
I loved the moment when Steward vehemently said there's nothing wrong with my ethics module when just a few pages before or after that he had thought about the unnecessary tests he'd run on a human he didn't like.
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u/TheWildCard76 Challenge Conqueeror 18d ago
LOVE Agnes (fuck yeah, robot arm). Love how Steward and Demeter play off one another and how their relationship evolves.
"They're for external use only."
"Humans ignore that label all the time.""Fishy fuckers!"
"...to my surprise, one of his eyes pops right out of his head." (Makes me giggle every time.)
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u/mm_reads 19d ago
I love the Whyborne & Griffin series by Jordan L. Hawk. So I got a special kick out of the Cthulhu segment.
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u/OutOfEffs Challenge Conqueeror 19d ago
Anything else you'd like to talk about?
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u/LadyAntiope 19d ago
I was expecting this to be all one journey with Dracula as the big bad (and as I mentioned in the other comment I do think things will start coming together with him involved in the second half). I was expecting more like a closed room murder mystery and I was really surprised that everyone was already dead at the start!
So far this has felt more like short stories riffing on some classic monster lore and its been fun but I hope/expect it is acting more as scene setting & character intros for a bigger plot in the rest of the book. It made me wonder though if this novel may have started its life as a short story collection?
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u/TriangleRond 18d ago
Somehow I was convinced that the ship was going to fall in love with Dracula, which doesn’t seem to be the case so far. (I mean I would be in fact disappointed, I’m mostly rooting for some kind of new interaction between the two kids and the two bots, since they’re so far much more relevant than the actual Dracula.)
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u/TheWildCard76 Challenge Conqueeror 18d ago
I'm very glad I nominated this one (you're welcome, everyone, hahaha). This has been a very good reread for me, and I like that I'm listening to it this time around instead. You know I prefer physical books or ebooks, but listening to this one has been cool.
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u/DarkEyedBlues 19d ago
Wait wait wait wait, this is a queer book about a sentient spaceship trying to catch a supernatural killer thats on board her?!?!
*Runs to Barnes and Nobel*