Fiction Fans

Your hosts discuss the collaboration between humanity and AI in “The Salvage Crew” by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne. Lilly complains about first person point of view, although she realizes that that’s a “her” problem. They also read “Reaper Man” by Terry Pratchett, and theorize that “Mort” wishes it was as good. Finally, in the Words Are Weird segment, they complain about phrases that have gained cultural...

Your hosts wax poetic about nostalgic memories of the Old Kingdom series (even if Lilly doesn’t like that name). They give an overview of the series including the original trilogy Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen and the recent installations Clariel, Goldenhand, and Terciel & Elinor. It’s a rare pleasure to reread a book that was so influential to our youth that is still enjoyable as adults. They...

Your hosts agree that Michael Crichton is The Worst, although Lilly thinks Sphere could have been great and Sara says she’d never have liked it because the genre isn’t for her. They also talk about their latest stop in their Journey to the Center of the Discworld, Moving Pictures, and how it introduces familiar Unseen University characters and have female characters who actually feel like people (...

This entire episode contains spoilers! Your hosts are joined by Connor Caplan to discuss the various adaptations of Dune through the years, including the 1984 movie, 2000 mini-series, and 2021 movie (one of two). They compare main characters, or more specifically, if there even is one, as well as the depiction of Bene Gesserits and whether they are evil, scheming, conniving witches (hint: they sho...

In this Spooky Finale Sara has to deal with Lilly ranting about Zombies for about 45 minutes (most of which was cut) in their conversation about “A Ritual of Bone” by Lee C. Conley. They also discuss “Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder” by William Hope Hodgson and to what degree it is Sherlock Holmes fanfiction (more than zero).They also attempt to pronounce all of the weird, weird words Hodgson made up f...

Before your hosts dive into spooky season, they talk about some book recommendations. They discuss The Apple-Tree Throne by Premee Mohamed but it was almost all spoilers, so you should just go read it. They also read The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers. They agree-- vampires are cool. Byron is byronic. But are the other characters real people? The answer may surprise you. This episode includes...

Your hosts discuss how true the part about the dragon really was as they talk about unreliable narrators and reminisce over D&D (and other tabletop roleplaying game) hijinks. Think Orcs get a bad rap? You’ll probably love The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson as well. Your hosts have also made it to Eric in their Journey to the Center of the Discworld, and Lilly got to enj...

Your hosts interviewed Sherwood Smith about her recent novel, The Phoenix Feather: Fledglings (and only brought up all of the other books of hers they love a little bit). They talked about Chinese literary traditions and discussed the appeal of familiar tropes in literature. Sherwood also compared experiences with both traditional and independent publishing. Find Sherwood Smith Online: her website...

Your hosts dive into the world of cryptid research in South London with author Ashley Stokes in their conversation about his recent novel Gigantic. Topics in this episode include bigfoot mythology, father/son dynamics, and the tension between science and magical thinking. Also, the word “blobsquatch” is pretty weird (but apparently a real word according to spell check). You can find Ashley online...

Disclaimer: things went awry with the sound file, so a) Sara turned into a robot and b) your hosts talk over each other a lot. Sorry in advance. Your hosts talk about Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons and the brilliant 1995 adaptation. They also continue on their Journey to the Center of the Discworld with a discussion of Guards! Guards! (and how refreshing it is to finally get a female characte...

Recorded on 7/17/21 Your hosts are joined by authors Angela Boord and Krystle Matar for a conversation about genre and societal conventions in the romance genre. With a side of magic. Find Krystle Matar Online: krystlematar.com https://twitter.com/KrystleMatar Find Angela Boord Online: https://twitter.com/Angelaboord Thanks to the following musicians for the use of their songs: Amarià for the use...

In this episode (Part 2 of 2), your hosts continue their discussion of Legacy of the Brightwash with author Krystle Matar. Featuring some silly questions, some spoilery questions, and Sex Words Are Weird. Find Krystle Matar Online: krystlematar.com https://twitter.com/KrystleMatar Thanks to the following musicians for the use of their songs: Amarià for the use of “Sérénade à Notre Dame de Paris&qu...

Your hosts talk (and drink) with Krystle Matar about her debut novel, Legacy of the Brightwash. Content: Discussion of violence against children and addiction Part 1 (of 2)  features some questions from Twitter, some questions from Sara, and an awful lot of whiskey talk. Find Krystle Matar Online: krystlematar.com https://twitter.com/KrystleMatar   Thanks to the following musicians for the use of...

Your hosts welcome K. R. R. Lockhaven to discuss “The Conjuring of Zoth-Avarex” and “Zoth-Avarex’s Escape Plan,” and his inspirations from both literature and his personal life. Lilly insists that Lockhaven write a zombie novel. Sara says that they talked about The Conjuring of Zoth-Avarex in the third episode, but she was wrong (it was actually the fifth). You can listen to that episode here: htt...

Your hosts argue over the relationship dynamics in “Smuggler’s Fortune” by Angela Boord while Lilly tries not to drool over the main “flirt interest.” (She fails). They also discuss “Pyramids” by Terry Pratchett, and the overall Discworld tropes that are well-explored possibly for the first time. Sara gets really into puns. Lilly brings us on a trip to her Pet Peeve Corner where she complains abou...

Your hosts are joined by Hannah and Laura from On Wednesdays We Read Podcast (OWWR Pod) to discuss “American Hippo” by Sarah Gailey. Are hippos adorable or terrifying? Maybe both. This episode also explores one of Hannah’s Pet Peeves. And how could OWWR Pod be on the air without a “brief” foray into the Wheel of Time? You can find more from OWWR Pod here: https://owwrpod.buzzsprout.com/  https://t...

Your hosts reprise their discussion about Mat and Tylin from Wheel of Time, inspired by this (extremely spoilery) Reddit post . They also chat about Of Honey and Wildfires by Sarah Chorn, and the emotional journey it brings the reader on. Lilly finally forced Sara to read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (much to everyone’s enjoyment). Lilly rants about sci fi (only a little bit), and your ho...

Recorded on 6/23 Your hosts are joined by Justin Gross of FanFiAddict to discuss ostensibly obscure books they read as children. The conversation also encompasses reading habits and some classic favorites (and other classics that are on our anti-TBR). Other topics include the appeal of fanfiction, SciFi "vs" Fantasy, and the eternal struggle between rereading books, reading classics, and...

In this episode, your hosts welcomed Charles and Dylan from the Friends Talking Fantasy podcast to discuss “The Last Wish” (first installation of the Witcher Saga) by Andrzej Sapkowski. They dove into the collection of short stories on its own, and compared it to the Video Game and Netflix adaptations. Charles and Dylan also joined the Journey to the Center of the Discworld with a conversation abo...

Your hosts react to the adrenaline rush that is “Red Harvest Moon” by Miles Hurt (and also cast Vin Diesel in the theoretical movie adaptation… more than once). They also argue over just about everything in “Gideon the Ninth” by Tamsyn Muir. This episode also features a “Words are Weird” segment concerning bridges and the state thereof. Thanks to the following musicians for the use of their songs:...

Your hosts are joined by author Connor Caplan to discuss his debut novel “The Sword in the Street.” They also revisit a recent Words Are Weird topic because… words really are that weird. You can find more from Connor here: https://www.patreon.com/thecmcaplan https://twitter.com/thecmcaplan Music provided by Audio Library Plus: “Travel With Us” by Vendredi; “Sérénade à Notre Dame de Paris” by Amari...

In this episode, your hosts rave about the varied and dimensional relationships in “Winter’s Orbit” by Everina Maxwell. They also continue on their Journey to the Center of the Discworld with “Sourcery,” a book they decide is actually a pretty good introduction to the Discworld series. Other segments include Words are Weird and the Pet Peeve Corner. Thanks to Scott Buckley for use of his song “Twi...

Romance, smut, erotica, pornography. Whatever you call it, we've read it. In this steamy bonus episode your hosts are joined by Krystle Matar, author of Legacy of the Brightwash, to talk about sex in storytelling. We discuss both fanfiction vs original work, as well as Krystle’s experience being both a reader and writer of the genre. Includes the segment “sex words are weird” and a not-so-bri...

Your hosts read the recently-released novel “A Master of Djinn” by P Djèlí Clark and venture forth once more on their Journey to the Center of the Discworld with a discussion of “Mort” by Terry Pratchett. They also complain about the word “February,” (because no one has ever done that before) and Sara proposes an alcoholic alternative: Fe-brew-ary Thanks to Scott Buckley for use of his song “Twili...

Your hosts had the exciting opportunity to interview Andrew Cartmel, the author of the Vinyl Detective series, about the first book “Written in Dead Wax” (by Andrew Cartmel, shocker). You can find more from Andrew here: https://medwayprideradio.co.uk/show/the-jazz-cat/ http://venusianfrogbroth.blogspot.com/   They also discuss too much video game content, and attempt to recommend other gothic nove...