Fantology

What magic is the best magic? We debate. And let us know your top magic systems on Twitter! Plus, we cover news from February including an update from George R.R. Martin, Wheel of Time on Prime and news from new authors.   Followed By: Breach of Peace by Daniel Greene  Next Up: The Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan  Chat with us more and support in the links below    h...

Part two concludes our first trivia episode. Will Stephen hold his lead? Will Nathan overtake his older brother? Will Dan find his way onto the scoreboard? Play along with us and test your Harry Potter knowledge!  Next Up: Top 3 Magic Systems + February News  Followed By: The Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan  Chat with us more! Tell us why we're wrong! Our Discord community is full...

Charles and Dylan from FTF Podcast join Ben and Stephen to cover The Burning God from all angles. We talk Rin and the making of a monster against the backdrop of speculative Chinese history. Plus, our attempted answers to the philosophical questions R.F. Kuang asks in the series and who's interested in The Poppy War: A Musical?  Next Up: Harry Potter Trivia Special Part 2  Followed By: T...

The showdown episodes in the making. Stephen, Nathan and Dan compete for the title of ultimate Potterhead in the first part of our trivia showdown. Play along with us! There's a non-zero chance that your Harry Potter knowledge is much more impressive than ours.  Next Up: The Burning God by R.F. Kuang  Followed By: Harry Potter Trivia Special Part 2  Chat with us more! Tell us why we...

Dune is a classic. One of the founding fathers of the science fiction genre. How does Frank Herbert's creation hold up today? Find out in our review!  Next Up: Harry Potter Trivia Special Part 1  Followed By: The Burning God by R.F. Kuang  Buy the book! https://amzn.to/3rMiC7O  Chat with us more! Tell us why we're wrong! Our Discord community is full of full-time fantasy nerds...

We can't recommend reading this book. But if you have already, here's a rant that might make you feel better.  Next Up: Dune by Frank Herbert  Followed By: Harry Potter Trivia Special  Buy the book! https://amzn.to/39Sdid9  Chat with us more! Tell us why we're wrong! Our Discord community is full of full-time fantasy nerds - join in on the conversation here: https://discordapp....

What are your favorite romances from SFF books? Fantology is unveiling ours and appropriately devoting February to let everyone compete on Twitter to find out which fantasy romances are the strongest. Plus, fantasy news from January and regular old fantasies from Josh!  Next Up: Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline  Followed By: Dune by Frank Herbert  Chat with us more! Tell us why we'r...

Full spoilers this time! Everyone's favorite ball of unstoppable gladiatorial fury, Tau Solarin, is back in Fires of Vengeance, Book 2 of The Burning by Evan Winter. Tune in to see what we loved and what we wanted to obliterate with a dual sword strike from Isihogo.  Next Up: Top Fantasy Romances + January SFF News  Followed By: Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline  Buy the book! https:...

Everyone's favorite ball of unstoppable gladiatorial fury, Tau Solarin, is back in Fires of Vengeance, Book 2 of The Burning by Evan Winter. This episode has no spoilers, so tune in to see if this series might be for you!  Next Up: Top Fantasy Romances + January SFF News  Followed By: Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline  Buy the book! https://amzn.to/2Ys8lB2  Chat with us more! Te...

Anthony Ryan kicks off a new duology starring everyone's favorite Brother of the Sixth Order, Vaelin Al Sorna, with The Wolf's Call. Stephen, Ryan and Jake talk through the plot and our favorite characters, including some controversial decisions. Plus, what do Vaelin Al Sorna and Michael Scott's vasectomy have in common?  Next Up: The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter  Followed By: Top F...

Anthony Ryan kicks off a new duology starring everyone's favorite Brother of the Sixth Order, Vaelin Al Sorna, with The Wolf's Call. If you finished The Raven's Shadow trilogy, or even only read Blood Song and want an opinion on continuing on, we have that here! Jake, Ryan and Stephen break it all down with no spoilers.  Next Up: The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter  Followed By: Top Fa...

We hate to see it end, but also still enjoy the finale Harry Potter all these years later. Dan, Nathan and Stephen provide their takes on the end of The Deathly Hallows and create top & bottom character rankings for the final time. Plus, Stephen's British accent and the discovery of the real reason that Hermione and Ron are a questionable couple.  Next Up: The Wolf's Call by Anthony Ryan...

It might have taken a few long months of pandemic season, but we made it all the way through Stephen King's The Stand. Check out our review below where Jake and Josh talk through the large cast of characters and compare King's pandemic to ours. Plus, we wanted more meat back on the menu!  Next Up: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2  Followed By: The Wolf's Call by Anthony Ryan &...

Stephen King saw it coming. Jake and Josh highlight The Stand, King's version of a pandemic that brings the world to its knees. No spoilers here, so all can safely listen in and let the team convince you to read the book!  Next Up: The Stand Full Spoiler Review  Followed By: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2  Buy the book! https://amzn.to/3i9BpX6  Chat with us more! T...

Beautifully brutal, The Dragon Republic is a must-read for any fan of the genre. R.F. Kuang builds on her debut, The Poppy War with a strong follow-up novel that expands her world and exacerbates the conflict. Stephen & Ben give their review here and talk through favorite characters and moments. Plus, Rin: swipe left or swipe right?  Next Up: The Stand by Stephen King  Followed By: H...

Haven't read R.F. Kuang's Poppy War series yet? Check out Ben & Stephen's review of the second book, The Dragon Republic. No spoilers for the first two books in this quick review, which will be followed up by a full spoiler review in our next episode!  Next Up: The Dragon Republic Full Spoiler Review  Followed By: The Stand by Stephen King  Buy the book! https://amzn.to/3s5GKTQ...

The end is near. We've split book 7 in half and Dan, Nathan & Stephen are once again here with our penultimate review, chalk full of hot takes and inevitable mistakes. Are Dobby & Hedwig emotional departures? Do we forgive Ron? Would the Weasley family wear masks in 2020? All these questions answered, plus more in our top and bottom 3 character ratings. Tune in!  Next Up: The Dragon R...

We've hit the century mark! Fantology celebrates 100 fantastic episode with a review of the 2020 year in books and other SFF news. Our favorite reads get exactly what they were hoping for - a tier list treatment! Check out how we rate our reads of the year, plus see what we're looking ahead to in the 2021 year in fantasy.  Next Up: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One  Followed...

Come hop in a time machine with us and go back one year to a time before Covid-19. A time before mass movie and tv release delays. Before the successful release of Rhythm of War and several other hot fantasy titles. At the onset of the year Stephen, Josh and Jake gave their predictions for 2020 and at the conclusion of the year we now look back at how accurate they were (not very!). Plus, a timele...

Andy aka CubsFan Han, was kind enough to come by and tell us about the current Star Wars landscape and pump up some major excitement for the upcoming projects. We also review season two of The Mandalorian and get an expert breakdown of the music and connections to other Star Wars media. Plus, have you watched Clone Wars and Rebels? Because we really, really need to apparently!  Next Up: Fanto...

This is the Rhythm of War Review that you've been waiting for! Fantology bids farewell to the book that has consumed our last five months with some final comprehensive coverage. We talk our fist-pump moments and speculate on the upcoming book five finale. Plus, a shocking theory about Odium's champion that seems just terrible enough to be true.  Next Up: The Mandalorian Season 2  Followe...

Haven't read Brandon Sanderson's new Stormlight Archive book, Rhythm of War, yet? Or are you new to Roshar entirely even? We've covered this book exhaustively and are now ready to offer our spoiler-free opinion on the book and broader series. Spoiler: Read it! Plus, we give our ratings out of 10 and get into a little bit of a debate over time management.  Next Up: Rhythm of War Full Spoiler R...

We were honored to participate in the inagural #WoTaHoliday Charity Livestream, which raised over $5,000 over the course of 24 hours of brilliance from Wheel of Time content creators. For our segment we stole Wheel of Time Characters and sorted them into Knights Radiant Orders and Houses from A Song of Ice And Fire & Harry Potter. Tune in to see where your favorite characters have landed! &nbs...

What. A. Ride. Part Five had everything we needed and was the perfect payoff for the end of this 1200+ page tome. Fists pumped! Guts punched! Evil slain! Stephen, Ben and Josh break down the ends of our favorite characters arcs and talk our theories, hopes and dreams for book five. Which really can't come soon enough. Plus, watch for a discussion that includes a Mistborn spoiler at 45:00-50:30. We...

As the Sanderlanche approaches the Fantology crew embraces our Taravangian-ish role in pausing our read in order to review part four. How much of this setup will pay off in part five? What are we expecting for the conclusion? And who have our favorite characters been thus far? Plus, Stephen's apology to Dabbid, whom he had previously forgotten the existence of.  Next Up: Rhythm of War by Bran...