Fantasy for the Ages

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-...

This Midweek Special kicks off a series we will return to from time to time, diving deep into the magic system created for various fantasy series. We'll explore the rules, what makes the system tick, all the things one can do with the magic. We'll explore its strengths, and seek to identify any intentional failings as well as perhaps author inconsistencies. At the end of each magic system review,...

The tension and energy is ramping up in a big way as we quickly approach the end of this book. Episode 17 sees our company travel unusual and dangerous Ways, coming to a completely new land and experience for our company, but with an old familiar someone following along. We also get a great reveal about one of our more mysterious characters, the Warder Lan - good stuff! With this, the table will b...

Just a little "minisode" to pick up what we couldn't fit into our previous one. We're at the point of The Eye of the World where there is just so much great content occurring! Join us here to experience the return of the missing, and the shift to a whole new level of danger - pushing us on toward a gripping and fantastical conclusion, just a couple episodes away. Enjoying the podcast? Let us know...

Episode 15 returns to Rand and Mat, still in Caemlyn, where adventures and complications await. New characters are introduced that have a huge impact on the entire series. And we learn the mystery of ta'veren - and see it in action in big ways! These chapters represent the start of the rush to the end of the book, but don't worry, there is still a ton of great content to fit in. Subscribe to the p...

Our company was scattered at Shadar Logoth, and since them we've learned about Perrin and Egwene, Thom, Mat, and Rand. But what of Moiraine, Lan, and Nynaeve. Well, here you go! We put some final puzzle pieces together in this episode, and the excitement continues. We hope you'll Subscribe to the podcast, and we invite you to leave a Rating and Review. Let us know what you think! As well, feel fre...

We're super excited to share this episode with you, our second Midweek Special where we stray from our regular book series content and dive into fantasy fiction in some completely different way. Zach came up with the idea of adapting a fantasy draft (as in fantasy football) to assembling the best possible fellowship of adventurers. We collaborated with three other fantasy literature podcasters, gu...

Since Shadar Logoth, we've reviewed the experiences of Perrin and Egwene. What of the others? In this episode we return to Mat, Rand, and Thom Merrilan, to see where the journey takes them. We left them on The Spray, the ship of Captain Bayle Domon, fleeing down the Arinelle away from the Trollocs. Safe now? We would say you shouldn't be too sure... We hope you'll Subscribe to the podcast, and we...