Fantasy for the Ages

Everything is zeroing in on Falme in this episode. Rand and the crew are moving closer to the city, with various reasons drawing them in. Nynaeve and Elayne are in Falme, seeking to save Min and Egwene. Min is no helpless woman though, working on her own plans. As for Egwene? Not so good. Give a listen, and see what's up. Join us on Discord for more conversations with a growing community of fantas...

Zach and Jim get together with guests Charles and Dylan of the Friends Talking Fantasy Podcast to dive into the Grimdark fantasy subgenre, exploring what it is all about, why you ought to consider giving it a try, and debating whether authors may push the limits of literature too far in writing this particular type of fantasy fiction. Our guests were wonderful, and we think you'll get a lot of bot...

Here we reconnect with our core ladies, Egwene and Nynaeve, training in the White Tower. They've made solid friendships with Min and Elayne.  Is that a good or bad thing?  That's for you to decide, based upon what happens to all four of them in the adventure of these chapters. Oh, and one more thing.  We have a Liandrin sighting.  Boo!  Hiss! We reference Jim's participati...

Stuck in the situation of needing to follow Fain, Darkfriends and Trollocs across the continent as fast as possible, but having found the Cairhien Waygate blocked, our friends head to the next closest Waygate, and we get an up close and personal encounter with some power ladies and some larger than life characters. Things don't go as hoped, our group is blocked again, leading them to choose yet an...

Here's an episode we're thrilled to bring to you, one that was a long time in the works. Both Zach and Jim succeeded in encouraging their significant others to read Mistborn: The Final Empire, not their typical type of reading material. Both being finished, we sat down with them to discuss the experience, hear their thoughts, and learn if they are ready for more. Come enjoy their insights. NOTE: T...

Continuing on in The Great Hunt, we see what happens when our company discover just where Fain and the Shadowspawn have gone. Our protagonists are in for an unpleasant surprise. Speaking of surprises, our second chapter covers what next happens to Thom, and what it leads him to has series-long ramifications. Oh, and then let's throw in a little content from clear across the continent, because - wh...

Just a single chapter for you this time, but it's a doozie! We continue out trek through The Wheel of Time's The Great Hunt with this experience in Lord Barthanes manor, where some of our characters attempt misdirection while others literally go on a hunt - but Rand ends up feeling like the hunted. WoTionary w Special Guests Fantasy for the Ages, Gleeman Twitch & Master of the Deck: https://youtu....

We're taking a risk, covering the grandfather of modern fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien's epic works of Middle Earth, and specifically the magic system he incorporated into The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and all the other works he created in this world. What can you say about a classic? Well, we definitely have a couple of things. Hope you enjoy! Access Patron-only content, unlock th...

Due to personal scheduling, it's simply to drop this episode today rather than our regular Sunday. Bonus for those of you waiting on fresh content each week! Continuing with our Wheel of Time content, we spend both these chapters of The Great Hunt in the city of Cairhien. Highlights? Rand finally figures out how to play a little of the Great Game, and reconnects with old friends. Just in time, as...

Continuing on in our adventures of The Great Hunt, we bring three different chapters to you today, covering a number of varied settings, from Rand and Loial in Cairhien to Mat and Perrin following behind with some Shienarens and a tag-along Aes Sedai, and then finally clear across the continent to learn more about other characters we'd sent off on different adventures. Big things are set in motion...

We love each chance to bring one of these midweek episodes to you, diving into fantasy fiction content of all shapes and sizes. In THIS episode we talk about Game of Thrones, the epic, groundbreaking HBO television series. There is SO MUCH that fantasy fiction fans owe those who produced this series. There's also plenty to be disappointed and frustrated about. We explore both sides of the coin. Ac...

Finally, Rand and party arrive in Cairhien. And the gaming that goes on is CRAZY. I mean, many people have acted in "sus" sorts of ways so far through the series, but the Cairhienen take it up a notch. We find it highly entertaining, even if Rand does not. New in this episode, upon listener request, we add "The Spoiler Room" onto the end of the episode. The vast majority of the episode is "spoiler...

Continuing into The Great Hunt, we leave Rand and friends behind and learn what some of the others we know and love have been up to. Here we'll check in with Moiraine and Lan, Nynaeve, and then Egwene, separate chapters for each, while also being introduced (and re-introduced) to some additional significant, recurring characters. There is a whole bunch of important information dropped in these cha...

Wow! 30 episodes! That's a lot of content in just six months. Thanks for joining us along the way. For this episode, we're continuing our series digging into the Magic Systems found in various fantasy fiction series, this time exploring the world of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn. Super complex and intricate - and SO interesting. Sanderson is a magic system master - come join us as we dive into the...

Rand, Loial, Hurin and Selene continue on towards Cairhien, knowing Fain and his Darkfriends and Trollocs are likely in pursuit. They come upon a huge freakin' statues being unearthed, that provokes a huge freakin' response from Rand. Getting past that, they make it to a town, where we are introduced to "the Great Game," an element to the story which will have an impact again, and again, and again...

Just one chapter for you this week, but a solid one. Rand, Loial, Hurin, and the Lady Selene await the arrive of Fain & Friends, hoping to recover the items that were stolen. Just think of the glory! And when they show up, what happens is, well, surprising. We see Rand the machine, Loial the log, Hurin the extra guy, and Selene... well, we get to see Selene! Enjoy the listen. Become a supporter on...

Zach and Jim take time to discuss the various fantasy and science fiction books & series they want to see adapted for movie or television, whether for the first time or because they were done before and we need that horrid memory expunged from our brains by something better. What do you agree with? What did we miss? Have a listen. Rate and review us at Apple Podcast or wherever you download conten...

This is one of our most entertaining episodes (we think). Great content to cover, as we follow Rand, Loial, and Hurin through the mirror world, along with an intriguing new companion they come upon, while also spending some time catching up with Egwene and Nynaeve on their traveling adventure to the island city. We additionally somehow found ourselves going down various rabbit trails of conversati...

Continuing further into The Great Hunt, we really do. That is, we really hunt. Rand, Mat, Perrin, Loial, and the Shienarans are hot on the trail of the Darkfriends, seeking what has been stolen, for the good of the world as well as for Mat's long term health prospects. We'll also take a little time to follow up on Egwene and Nynaeve as they begin the journey to Tar Valon and all that will mean for...

Next up in our series of specials rating the magic systems of various fantasy series is the Shannara series by Terry Brooks. One of the first fantasy series Jim came upon, and a long time favorite of many fantasy readers, we're excited to dissect this one a bit, seeing how it holds up to our highly subjective and arbitrary rating scale. We hope you enjoy our exploration of all that Brooks created...

Our coverage of The Great Hunt continues here as the repercussions of the previous chapters make a resounding impact. Rand learns new reasons for concern, from prophecies to Aes Sedai revelations. The people of Fal Dara are reeling from the events of Chapter 5, and things don't get better here. And Chapter 8, The Dragon Reborn, has more bombshells. So much revealed and changed in just four chapter...

Join us in this episode as we jump into Book 2 of The Wheel of Time, The Great Hunt. This is our single longest episode to date. There was simply what Jim felt was the perfect chunk of content to begin and set the stage for this next book, in both actions and tone, so we set out to get it all in. Coming in at just under two hours, we can assure you, it's good from beginning to end, because The Gre...

Zach and Jim get into it in this episode, as Jim goes off all fanboy on his favorite sci-fi fantasy series and makes his claims for its greatness, and Zach comes along and rips his points to shreds. They have an engaging and entertaining debate; name-calling may even have occurred. Jim was right, of course. Or was that Zach? Hmmm... Listen and see what you think? Share your thoughts, questions, or...

The big finish of the first book of The Wheel of Time. Here we review the last two chapters of The Eye of the World, and then wrap up with discussion on the book as a whole, as well as thoughts about the rest of the series to come. As usual, there may be some spoilers in what we share, but we’ll try to keep things “spoiler-lite”, more like hints and highlighting points of significance rather than...

This may be our second to last episode on Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World, but THIS is where the action is at. Our company heads north into the Blight, to the actual Eye of the World, and NOTHING goes as they expected. Surprises, danger, and amazement await - and the people of our Company will never be the same. As always, you may encounter minor spoilers here, but we keep the style "spoiler-...