Is This Just Fantasy?

We didn't think it would happen, but has a book finally come along to rival both Demon in Silver and The Eye of Argon for the worst fantasy novel the fellas have ever read for this podcast? Gasp in dread and horror at the novel which Geordie couldn't even finish, and which he had to beg Duncan to be permitted to only read three of the six stories. Marvel at the lengths they'll go to avoid talking...

Nothing good lasts forever. The fellas get together to discuss the disappointing follow-up to Tomi Adeyemi's hit Children of Blood and Bone. From messy plotting to unrecognisable character shifts, its hard to believe that these stories were written by the same author. The Legacy of Orisha is in big trouble. The fellas debate what the book's title actually is, Geordie teaches Duncan who Lyndon B Jo...

It's a hit! Duncan and Geordie get together to discuss Tomi Adayemi's Children of Blood and Bone, which they each had a blast reading. The topics range from an enthused discussion about allegory, heritage and social justice, to the logistics collapsible weapons and whether the X-Men should have rights.

Back from their holidays, Duncan and Geordie are rearing to go discussing Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker. It's Geordie's first Sanderson novel, so this could define his relationship to his works until the end of time... no pressure. The fellas discuss: the cosmere, fantasy Mormonism, and sub-standard talking swords.

Whilst Geordie and Duncan are both off on holiday, nothing can stop the great podcasting engine. In between the Northern Lights and the Subtle Knife, the fellas read and reviewed Neil Gaiman's award winning short story: A Study in Emerald, a Sherlock Holmes pastiche which sets the great detective in a world besieged by beings straight from the mind of H.P. Lovecraft. The fellas discuss the amazing...

It's a heated episode as the fellas discuss the anticipated black comedy hit The Black Tongue Thief, triggering a discussion of goblin wars, prequels, and which animals Duncan is prepared to murder,

The fellas complete their first trilogy with Phillip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass. In this episode they discuss a bit of angelology, the mulafa's strange body plans, what this book would be called if it wasn't named after a very minor and comparatively mundane object object, and did Will really walk 500 miles to be back with Lyra. Apologies for audio errors for the majority of the episode, they ha...

The fellas cross distant worlds in their discussion of the second in Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. The discuss the strange change in perspective on the hero Lyra through the introduction of Will, the surprisingly naked biblical allegories, and the confusing timeline of Lord Asriel's war to whack God.

In the premier of their sporadic new series, Duncan waterboards Geordie with Star Wars factoids. Hear Geordie suffer through an explanation of: the Dark Empire comic book run, an exhaustive list of Star Wars super weapons, the life and times of Boba Fett, and clone shenanigans galore.

A.K.A The Golden Compass, the fellas set out on a long trek north is search of the truth. Truths like: is one of Geordie's favourite books as a child just as excellent as he remembers? Can Duncan translate all of the weird word-choices? What are each of the boys' daemons? And is the book more anti-catholic or more anti-terf? To find out the answer to these exciting questions, check our episode on...

At long last, after fighting through Duncan's bout with covid (which was just as hard on Geordie) the fellas are back in action and reading Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses. They spend a little too long talking about War & Peace and Batman, before getting onto the important topics, like alpha-male faeries, extremely easy riddles and Duncan having to borrow smut from his sister.

The One Where Duncan had covid. Geordie embarks on his solo career, giving both his review of the new D&D movie and also giving a breakdown of his pitch for what a D&D movie ought to be.

It's a week of harsh punishments for Duncan. For his crimes against humanity (Geordie) he has been forced to read what is widely regarded as the worst fantasy novel of all time: The Eye of Argon. But because he's such a nice guy, Geordie read it too. The fellas discuss Conan fanfiction, when is a book so bad it's funny, and the actually pretty sad story behind it's creation. Highlights of the epis...

The fellas read Legend by David Gemmel and what do you know, Duncan found another Conan story! How does he do it? The fellas discuss siege logistics, the etymology of the word berserker, a good story weighed down by misogyny, and the story of the book's heartbreaking inception. Plus, Geordie begins his path towards revenge for Duncan's treachery.

Want a story about an extremely dangerous school for wizards, but with actual themes?! This episode the fellas check out Naomi Novik's Deadly Education. Once again Geordie has dragged Duncan back to the world of YA literature (don't worry he he loves it really.) The fellas discuss the books' themes of social isolation, class division and wizard socialism. The highlights of the episode include: get...

The fellas take a break from books (gross) to catch up on their current favourite fantasy TV show: Critical Role's Legend of Vox Machina. Geordie takes Duncan on a tour of the backstory of the D&D campaign which led up to the TV show. What discussion would be complete without an argument about Keyleth? This episode's highlights include Duncan getting the chance to correct Geordie for the first...

Duncan and Geordie set off on an epic journey into imagination and adaptations in their analysis of Michael Ende's classic, The Neverending Story. Highlights include a fascinating role reversal, where Duncan can pronounce things and Geordie cannot, Geordie struggling with why he didn't enjoy the book more, and Duncan begins to suspect that all the book's characters are secretly evil.

Back for a new year and season 2! The fellas return to form by talking about another dynamic duo: the titular Strange and Norrell. This slow epic is a favourite of Geordie's but will Duncan feel the same? They discuss the themes of Englishness and unheard voices in regency era England. Highlights include Geordie adding a sinister new rule to the podcast and Duncan goes a whole episode without misp...

So ends season 1. Starting a podcast was last year's new years resolution, so what shall it be this year? Duncan and Geordie look back at the heights of the books they covered over the year, as well as some of their favourite pieces of media from outside the fantasy genre.

To wrap up the first year of Is This Just Fantasy , Duncan and Geordie make their first journey to the late great Sir Terry Pratchett's seasonal parody: Hogfather . The fellas reflect of their love for Sir Terry's depiction of Death as a character, as well as one of the best speeches in his canon. Duncan denies that the book is a parody of the Nightmare Before Christmas, Geordie can't say the word...

The boys discuss the exciting follow-up to Nicholas Eames' Kings of Wyld. Immediately the debate is on, which of the two books do the lads enjoy more? They discuss characters arcs, the author's worrying increase in willingness to kill characters, evil bunny girls, Duncan's hatred of a fictional child and Geordie relating too much to falling for goth girls who just ain't good for you.

(Audio fixed) What an episode! Not only do the fellas enjoy an amazing fantasy novel, they also got a chance to land their first interview with an author. Nicholas Eames joins them to discuss his novels, his reading list, and the power of rock 'n roll, baby. Geordie and Duncan discuss this novel's comedy, pathos, fist-pumping action and unnecessarily emotionally stirring ettins.

Revisiting one of their favourite book series of the pod so far, the fellas check out the sequel to Green Rider by Kristen Britain, and it is... about time travel? Yeah, this episode is a bit of a curveball. Duncan grapples with his mingled disappointment and hope for the sequels, and tasks Geordie with determining whether this is the end of the road or whether to press on with the rest of the ser...

It doesn't get much more 'E' for explicit than this one. The fellas discuss the conclusion to Berserk's Golden Age Arc and the fateful eclipse, where the flow of causality turns on a gyre. It's a heavy episode, where they discuss the Berserk's lofty themes alongside it's gratuity. Geordie is given the impossible task of defending the character of Wyald, Duncan denies that he ever said Griffith did...

That thing, it was too long to be called a podcast... so we split it in two. The fella's wrap up their Halloween booooooook club with the first part of their discussion of Berserk: Geordie's favourite fantasy series of all time and a first time read for Duncan. Covering the the Black Swordsman Arc till Guts' departure from the Band of the Hawk, Duncan and Geordie rave about Miura's genius penmansh...