Brothers Reading Books

Send us a message We follow Conan through “Rogues in the House” a plan for an assassination job turns into a trap filled nightmare. We talk pacing, pulp, horror, and why we enjoy Conan so much when he leans into his skills for improvised violence. Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave a rating and review! Find us online: Website X/Twitter Email: brothersreadi...

Send us a message Conan arrives on the ship dripping wet from Crom knows where. Conflicts with captain and crew lead to typical Conan solutions. Punch it or stab it if possible. As the ship goes in search of ancient treasure a new and frightening enemy appears that will test Conan's limits. Read The Pool of the Black One with us in this episode. Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast sha...

Send us a message A mysterious city rises out of a waterless desert, and for a second it looks like salvation. But there is more than first meets the eye in this supposed oasis. Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave a rating and review! Find us online: Website X/Twitter Email: brothersreadingbooks@gmail.com

Send us a message We read Robert E. Howard’s “Iron Shadows in the Moon” and follow Conan from a marshland showdown into cursed ruins, pirate politics, and a moonlit escape.  Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave a rating and review! Find us online: Website X/Twitter Email: brothersreadingbooks@gmail.com

Send us a message We read and react to Robert E. Howard’s “Black Colossus." Grave-robbing and treasure hunting goes wrong and unleashes an ancient evil to sweep across the nations. We get to see Conan as a military commander when he is chosen by prophecy to assume a position of leadership in one nation's military defense against the hordes that have been assembled from the south.  Suppor...

Send us a message We follow Conan from a run-in with “civilized” law to his escape to the sea. From there it's on to piracy, pillaging, passion, and exploration of haunting ancient ruins. We also get some insights into Conan’s bleak theology, the visions of the black lotus, and a show down with Lovecraftian horrors. Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave...

Send us a message Today we cover Robert E. Howard’s “The Scarlet Citadel” and look once again at Conan as King which goes well with our previous episode on the "Phoenix in the Sword." This story hits our classic Conan tropes: betrayal, unsettling sorcerers, daring escapes, and last minute rescues.  Overall a rollicking good time! Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with...

Send us a message We dive into a pair of classic Conan heist tales. Join us as we follow a young Conan as he multi-classes as a rogue in the classic stories "The God in the Bowl" and "The Tower of the Elephant." We have the usual Conan tropes of murder, monsters, and unsettling sorcery that reminds us of Howard's pen-pal Lovecraft.  Support the show If you enjoyed the podc...

Send us a message We leave sci-fi behind and jump into sword and orcery with Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian.  We talk pulp context, the Hyborian Age’s “historical shorthand,” and why Conan on the page feels smarter, stranger, and more human than the pop culture version we were more familiar with.  Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave a rating and rev...

Send us a message We finish our read through of Dune by looking the appendixes, where Herbert lays out some of the hard details behind Arrakis's ecology, religion, politics, and the history of the empire.  We also give some of our final thoughts on this foundational work of science fiction. Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave a rating and review! Find...

Send us a message We've done it!  We are making our way through the final chapters of Dune together, well done!  While the title does not appear in the books, it does match our episode's theme quite well today as we march into the confrontation between Paul's Fremen and the Emperor's Sardaukar forces.  Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave...

Send us a message Paul rides the worm, turning a rite of passage into another future legend. Old friends return and trust must be reestablished. What happens when one drinks the Water of Life who was never meant to? Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave a rating and review! Find us online: Website X/Twitter Email: brothersreadingbooks@gmail.com

Send us a message Paul and Jessica learn more about Fremen life in the sietch. We experience the mysterious Water of Life and the strange effects it has on both our characters and the Fremen at large. We revisit the Baron and his plans for the future once again. Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave a rating and review! Find us online: Website X/Twitter Email...

Send us a message We continue our journey through Dune with Paul’s duel with Jamis, the importance of Fremen traditions and names.  This is followed by a detour to Giedi Prime where we meet Count Fenring while the Baron and Feyd put on a grim spectacle.  Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave a rating and review! Find us online: Website X/Twitter Email: brothe...

Send us a message We start off with Paul and Jessica, dodging desert dangers, and encounter the Fremen, and we learn more about the sometimes unforgiving nature of Fremen society. Kynes feverishly reveals his insights on the ecology of Arrakis. Message us on X @BrothersReading. You can email us at brothersreadingbooks at gmail.com. You can also find our website, brothersreadingbooks.com. Support t...

Send us a message We learn more of the Baron’s ruthless strategy, follow Paul and Jessica’s through the desert, and learn about where Gurney Halleck's path has led him. Email us at brothersreadingbooks@gmail.com Find us on X at @BrothersReading Visit brothersreadingbooks Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave a rating and review! Find us online: Website X...

Send us a message Today we continue on into Book 2 of Dune, Muad'dib. Stone halls get traded for sand and storms as Dune’s focus snaps to survival. Paul and Jessica must step carefully as they learn the ways of both the desert and the Fremen.  Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave a rating and review! Find us online: Website X/Twitter Email: brothersread...

Send us a message We trace the fall of House Atreides in Book One’s closing stretch as we follow the interweaving stories of Paul and Jessica, Yueh and Leto, and the looming Harkonnen presence. Email us at brothersreadingbooks@gmail.com, find us on X at @BrothersReading, and visit brothersreadingbooks.com Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave a rating and rev...

Send us a message A dinner on Arrakis reveals the politics of the planet's upper echelon, subtleties of culture and faith and customs, and the goals of trade and ecology collide.  Send your questions and comments to: BrothersReadingBooks at gmail.com Find us on X at Brothers Reading Support the show If you enjoyed the podcast share it with a friend and leave a rating and review! Find us onlin...

Send us a message We weigh betrayal, prophecy, and leadership under pressure as a sandworm turns a routine spice run into a moral crucible. Leto’s public doubt of Jessica, Paul’s growing gravity, and Kynes’s conflicted loyalties all converge in one choice: people over profit. • Harkonnen note plants suspicion of Jessica • Leto’s staged distrust as counter-move • Paul’s terrible purpose and truth-s...

Send us a message We trace Paul’s narrow escape from a hunter-seeker, a coded warning in a supposedly "wasteful" conservatory, and Leto’s hard pivot to “desert power” as Stilgar and the customs of water reframe honor, strategy, and survival. The council ends uneasily, but a relationship with the Fremen begins to form. Find us on X at BrothersReading and email us at brothersreadingbooks@g...

Send us a message Two brothers break down Dune’s early chapters where training, ecology, and prophecy converge to shape power on Arrakis. We follow Paul’s teachers, Jessica’s tests, and Leto’s strategy as the threat of betrayal grows more certain. • fate versus free will set against classical themes • mentat focus, Bene Gesserit methods, and the art of ruling • Arrakis ecology as survival code: st...

Send us a message We read the first few chapters of Dune and unpack the Gom Jabbar, the Bene Gesserit’s quiet influence, and the politics that make the empire feel both ancient and futuristic. We discuss Harkonnen schemes, weigh fate versus free will, and share why rereading sharpens every scene. • why Dune earns “landmark sci‑fi” status • how the Gom Jabbar defines “human” in Herbert’s world • wh...

Send us a message Welcome to Brothers Reading Books, a book club podcast where brothers Michael Kentris and Will Kentris rekindle their childhood tradition of sharing stories and exploring new worlds together.  Each episode, they dive into classic science fiction and fantasy novels—occasionally straying into other genres—offering thoughtful discussion, fresh perspectives, and a bit of nostalgia fo...