This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Matthew Kressel, author of SPACE TRUCKER JESS.

About SPACE TRUCKER JESS: Jessian Urania Darger is a kick-ass take-no-shit foul-mouthed too-smart-for-her-own-good sixteen-year-old girl with a chip on her shoulder. She and her daddy have been grifting their way across the verse for years. But when her daddy gets arrested for running crypto-credit scams, Jess is forced to get a job on Chadeisson Station as a roachrunner, fixing starships to survive.

She dreams of a better life, away from her corrupt daddy, so she’s been saving up to buy a Spark Megahauler, a huge cargo ship, ever since she saw one in a printer catalog. She wants to run the long hauls, to sail alone into the black and never look back.

But when her daddy goes missing from prison, Jess realizes she just can’t let him go, and she makes it her life’s mission to find out where he’s gone. In an odyssey that takes her across the galaxy, Jess encounters vanished planets, strange societies, inscrutable alien gods, and mind-bending secrets that may change humanity’s path forever.

About Matthew Kressel: Matt is a software developer and speculative fiction writer with three Nebula Award nominations, a World Fantasy Award nomination, and a Eugie Award nomination. He’s the co-host of the Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series in New York City. And he created the Moksha submissions system, in use by some of the largest publishers in speculative fiction today.

This week’s picks:

• Matthew #1: Poker Face (Peacock)
• Matthew #2: Dept Q (Netflix)
• Tracy: Galaxy Trcuker (Game)
• Patrick: Becoming Led Zeppelin (Netflix)

Links:

• Matthew Kressel on Instagram
• Tracy Townsend on BluSky
• Patrick Hester on Instagram
• The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2025 Patrick Hester

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