Spoil Me

Thank you very much to Ashleigh for commissioning this episode! I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book, despite having heard of it here and there, because I tried not to look into it too much. But at this point I'm only 4 chapters in and I'm absolutely hooked and I can't wait to see what this writer decides to do with this compelling plot and interesting characters. I am absolutely...

Thanks to Heather for commissioning this episode! It's time for the final chapters of the book, and we get a properly epic street brawl with all the Metahumans (thanks for the word, Dr. Spears, but also I hate you) outing themselves in full view of the public, who are all armed with cellphones. The way things shake out, we've got a full-on shift in the terrain of society coming up in the next book...

Thank you to Patricia for commissioning this episode! This section is really interesting and I'm not totally sure what to make of it. Nita and Kit are taken to see a sort of memorial about ancient Alaalu people's interaction with the Lone Power, who appeared to them as a superhot woman. They seem to just tell the Lone One to fuck off, and she just....goes? That can't be right, can it? What is goin...

Thank you to Heather for commissioning this episode! So this is the departure from the main novel, in which I read a short story from the anthology! This is from Jill's perspective, and we get to see exactly how she got out from the house after being taken into custody and basically put into lockdown. In proper teenage fashion, she completely freaks the fuck out over a bullshit relationship with a...

Thank you to Patricia for commissioning this episode! So this section ends partway through chapter 7 at "I can manage", for those out there reading along! We get to meet the folks on Alaalu and it's not as foreboding as I was expecting, considering Nita's dream. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and it's just...not quite happening? WHY DOES THAT MAKE ME EVEN MORE NERVOUS?

Thank you to Heather for commissioning this episode! So for this episode, despite it being slightly under the usual number of pages, I'm just doing this one chapter that ends with Jill running away and next episode I'm covering the short story 'Jill's Run' from the companion anthology! You can find it here! https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B00UQW39E6&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_k...

Thank you so much to Yama for commissioning this episode! This chapter is the one where we get to meet the three wizards that are staying with Dairine and her dad, and wow but I don't think she was ready for this. Even though she's given some information about them, Dairine seems unprepared for the overall attitudes, not to mention eating habits, of a couple of these dudes. And then...there's Rosh...

Thank you to George for commissioning this episode! These chapters are the ones in which the crew approach the Grey Island, and Naberius is lashed to the mast in a very Ulysses-style sort of way. He's already very much in thrall to the Heart, and can sense its presence on the island. Meanwhile, Jyrine is still getting messages and weapons from her allies, and they seem to be the ones who sent the...

Thank you to Yama for commissioning this episode! This chapter is the one where Nita and Kit research the planet they're heading to, and begin their journey. I'm really unnerved by how incredibly peaceful this planet seems to be, and the portentous dream that Nita has puts me on edge. What the hell does it mean? And what's the deal with how infrequent travel is to this planet? Thanks for listening...

Thank you very much to George for commissioning this episode! "Every time Calder saw Cheska Bennet, her hat got bigger." What a completely fantastic opening line. This whole section doesn't go the way that I expected, and I thought I would be more prepared for it all because of seeing from Shera's POV but there's just so much she doesn't know. Fucking Naberius. He's just SUCH a bad choice. I don't...

Thank you so much to Yama for commissioning this episode! These chapters are the ones in which Nita agrees to take a vacation away from home, although considering the way that everything has already been put into motion by her father, I'm not really sure she had a choice when it comes right down to it. At the same time, Kits parents are in talks with Tom behind Kit's back, and while Kit feels inte...

Thank you to George for commissioning this episode! These chapters are where we get another full scene that played out in Of Shadow And Sea from Calder's perspective, and it's really interesting to see how much less organized the whole recovery attempt is than I expected. Calder is only enlightened on the actual objective at the last moment, and is not feeling too great about Naberius getting it,...

Thank you so much to Kyle for commissioning this episode! It's time to wrap on this wild horror novel, and we get to the final scene where Drachenfels indeed returns to life via some wild sorcery and human sacrifices. We knew this was coming, but I wasn't totally sure how it would go due to the people being killed apparently for their various body parts, because he also seemed to be possessing tha...

Thank you to George for commissioning this episode! In these chapters we get to meet Bliss, who is super intimidating and seems to have just enough connection to human compassion (in that she knew Calder's mom would be bummed if he was made insane) to make her somehow even more frightening. Oh also, there's a worm cloud. It's a cloud of worms. I hate it. Thanks for listening!

Thank you to Yama for commissioning this episode! Starting this new book feels like a fresh start after the fraught subject matter of A Wizard Alone and I'm very hopeful that this book is about an actual vacation. Like, as in, no crisis or threatened apocalypse or death. Can't our people just have some time to learn about cool wizard stuff? Meanwhile I'm really REALLY annoyed with Nita's father. T...

Thank you to George for commissioning this episode! In these chapters we find out who Calder's mother is, and she's pretty badass. He's disappointed that she works for the Blackwatch, but it seems as if she's trying to recruit him to one of the guilds, if not that one specifically. In the present day, we get sort of an introduction to everyone on the crew, and we also meet Naberius whom I get mixe...

Thank you very much to Yama for commissioning this episode! Wow, this was pretty fascinating. Comparing the original ending to the revision is compelling stuff, and it makes a lot of sense that people had a negative reaction to Duane's depiction of autism as an inflicted punishment to be escaped rather than an aspect of someone's personality. I'm afraid that I focus so much on the comparisons that...

Thanks so much to George for commissioning this episode! We're starting the companion book to Of Sea & Shadow and I'm really excited to see what the story looks like from Calder's perspective. We're starting off in a similar fashion to Shera's story, jumping back and forth in time between some key moments of Calder's childhood and present day. We're seeing him with his father, getting his initial...

Thank you very much to George for commissioning this episode! In these chapters, we FINISH THE BOOK! And shit ends on a helluva cliffhanger. We've got Shera working with an Awakened weapon and apparently she's Soulbound now! Meanwhile, someone gets away with the Heart, and Calder says that they're going to have to team up together. Meia gets captured somehow (she was unconscious lol) and the cliff...

Thank you so much to Heather for commissioning this episode! These chapters are the ones where we find out that Doctor Spears is an alien from another planet who has been here on earth for what SOUNDS like millenia, and I'm so curious what could be going on back on his home planet. Will they be sending follow-up folks if their agents don't return? Also, there's a badass scene with Jordan that I re...

Thank you so much to Jacob for commissioning this episode! Here's the link for the document that Jacob thoughtfully made comparing the updated version of this section with the original. I hope that you all find it as helpful as I did! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tWAwmN8Tx7UQ85FK0d9ELafZK685leziizz14sGxJuA/edit?usp=sharing I will let this episode speak for itself. See you soon with the fina...

Thank you to George for commissioning this episode! I can't believe there's only one episode left after this. It caught me by surprise! We start here with the first time (I think) that Lucan Reads Shera's blade, and it's really interesting to learn about the origin of this metal and the various levels of intention and meddling it's gone through. This is all a prelude to the Emperor's big moment on...

Thank you so much to Heather for commissioning this episode! So in these chapters we get to see Dr. Spears, who sucks, doing some experimenting from what is apparently a remote facility, located on perhaps a whole different continent from the test subjects themselves. He's trying to do the thing that Tretyak can apparently do with just a sip of blood; Awaken a normal, average human being. However,...

Thank you to George for commissioning this episode! So these chapters are the ones in which Calder shows up with the Emperor's crown on his head, and he's able to command everyone around him because they'd sworn oaths to obey the Emperor and apparently their bodies are just gonna....do that. But not Shera. Why not, though? Why can she resist him, and why was she able to resist the Emperor's comman...

Thank you very much to Heather for commissioning this episode! I'm excited that we're getting further into this plotline, and I am really interested in what poor Jordan being a target of particular interest is going to look like. They don't want to kill her, they want to recruit her, which is so much worse. But first, there's the fight on the Dunleavy which is very cinematic and really gave me a b...