The Fantastic Books Podcast: Fantasy and Sci-Fi Book Reviews

We're back to our regularly scheduled content and it's a big episode in terms of plot! Kvothe learns some secrets, shares some secrets, gets hurt, hurts himself, and manages to get Ambrose as well as someone performing malfeasance against him.  Be sure to check out our social media pages  ⁠⁠@fantasticbookspod⁠⁠  and our website  ⁠⁠Fantastic Books and How to Read Them Podcast (fantasticbook...

It's the long awaited anniversary episode! We do explain why were were late, but other than that we dive right in to some of the most interesting Kingkiller Chronicle fan theories out there. SPOILERS for all of The Wide Man's Fear and Slow Regard of Silent Things because we had to hunt for Patrick Rothfuss' breadcrumbs through all of his writings.  In particular, we cover the Chandrian, Chtha...

In this episode, Kvothe finally gets two things he's wanted for a LONG time: Access to the Archives and Elodin's attention, so we've got a lot to unpack, especially because neither turns out quite to be what Kvothe expected. He's put to the test finding books for his naming class just to discover that it was a waste of his time, chagrined to find anything useful written on the Chan...

In a slightly more last-minute episode than usual, we follow Kvothe as he endures a rough start to his semester at the University. We're not talking the usual strain of the admissions interview either. Kvothe gets plum-bobbed, has an emotional breakdown, is tricked into burning Master Hemme's robes, and makes yet another deal with Devi. Along the way he also has an amazing performance at t...

We are a little late posting the start to Season 2, which covers Patrick Rothfuss' The Wise Man's Fear, but we make up for our tardiness with a very lengthy discussion to the start of the 2nd book in the Kingkiller Chronicles. We chat about Bast, Chronicler, Kvothe and the host of townsfolk at the Waystone Inn as well as delving back into Kvothe's past and analyzing our old favorites l...

Ana identifies herself as a major potterhead so this week we delve into her fantasy roots to discuss Harry Potter - specifically things that fans theorized and we bet most of you have never thought of before. We get deep into the weeds to ask questions like, Is Hagrid a Death Eater? How are horcruxes made? Why were the Dursleys so mean? and How did Voldemort get his baby body? plus much more! Addi...

Thanks to the magic of the internet, we are "joined" this week by all our former guests as they go head to head in fantasy book trivia. The books covered in the trivia were Harry Potter, Eragon, The Kingkiller Chronicles, and Lord of the Rings. What we learned was that Ana made the questions way too hard and one person either has a photographic memory or a knack for obscure details. Be sure to che...

It's the last episode of Season One! We are joined by Sam's twin brother, Elliot, to discuss the end of the first book in The Kingkiller Chronicles and we go deep into our feelings about how much we love the series, Kvothe's transformation into Kote and, of course, Denna.  In these chapters, Kote is visited by a mysterious mercenary, Shep dies, and Bast reveals his true intentions. It&...

In our penultimate episode of the The Name of the Wind, we are joined by the very friend who recommended this book to us as we talk about the set of chapters that give the book its namesake. What we mean by this is, Kvothe calls FINALLY the name of the wind. We discuss the awesome act plus the aftermath, which involves a rollercoaster of emotions as he is simultaneously expelled from the universit...

The draccus and Kvothe finally have their epic showdown after last episode's buildup. There's fire, there's sympathy, and there's screaming villagers, so it's the perfect opportunity for the overly dramatic Kvothe to take down a "demon." In the aftermath, he impresses the Constable and Mayor of Trebon with a great cloak whip and intimidates the town's rude bartend...

Kvothe and Denna's trip to Mathuen Farm takes a sudden turn when a giant Draccus appears. They find themselves in way over their heads as they explore the forest, find some unsettling substances, and a whole lot of destruction. In the end, Denna is drugged, the Draccus is going wild, and the usually quick-thinking Kvothe is running out of ideas about how to fix things. We'll have to see ho...

She's Back! And for once, we don't mean Denna - Jackie is back for her second guest appearance! After his near-death experience, Kvothe goes on a wild goose chase in search of the Chandrian, but comes across several treasures along the way instead. He also meets a copperhawk, tinker, horse salesman, and pig farmer, as well as some suspicious country folk in Trebon as he makes his way to th...

It's a party this week as we are joined by our good friend Phoebe as we discuss the fire in the Fishery and its aftermath, which includes a new cloak, some moping from Kvothe, and some revelations about blood bindings. We wrap up this set of chapters with Kvothe calling down lightning (or at least appearing to). Other topics Include Scuba Diving, our favorite characters, the movies Spirited Aw...

It's our biggest, baddest episode yet! Not only because it's the longest, but also because it's our first episode with a guest! Our friend Jackie joins to discuss Kvothe's first semester at the University. Of course he has to be the most dramatic student around, so we discuss injuries, enemies, and poetry insults galore. We also delve deeply into character developments, how sympath...

Soup’s on and Dinnah’s ready! This episode Kvothe gets quite romantic with Denna, or Dianne...or Dinnah... or whatever her name is. Either way, he’s head over heels for her and spends a lot of time walking around with her or walking around looking for her. He also manages to get slightly on Kilvin’s bad side by making a certain lamp, and he stays on Lorren’s bad side, a fact that is made worse whe...

Our first "minisode!" It's time for our definitive ranking of some fantasy characters as we cover our favorite heroes, villains, and supporting characters...but of course we go a bit off script and also cover several honorable mentions as well as dunking on some seriously disappointing series we've read. Join us as we discuss characters from some of the most beloved fantasy serie...

We take center stage this week, so raise a glass of scutten and settle in to hear the Lay of Sir Savien and his Lady Aloine....or is it Kvothe and his Lady Denna? Kvothe finally gets up the courage to play at The Eolian in Imre & boy do these chapters not disappoint! He also meets a new host of characters and unintentionally irks Ambrose once again. Join us as we geek out about the best musica...

In this set of chapters, Kvothe's super busy trying to stay in the University, continue his feud with Ambrose, make a little cash, and start to feel the pressure of too many classes, so of course he decides to also take up the Lute again.  Ana decides that Kvothe defines himself as "a high stakes roller" since he keeps making risky decisions to keep his head afloat. One of these deci...

New friends, new enemies seems to be the theme of these chapters. Kvothe manages to get through only his first two days of classes before some crazy stuff happens! We cover his first successful attempt in getting into the archives, only to be foiled by Master Lorren, the "standing stone." He manages to make a great group of friends, but within minutes of meeting them, they place bets on how well h...

Kvothe finally leaves Tarbean, and boy are we overjoyed about it! We follow him along his trip to Imre, where he has the best musical experience but also meets his femme fatale, Denna. We have a lot to say about her, but you'll just have to listen to find out. We finish up the episode with his acceptance to Hogwarts, uh, we mean the University. Our other topics include sharing instruments, young l...

Celebrate, It's Kvothe's final chapters in Tarbean! And boy does he go out with a bang, or at least with a scene involving a towel and some mega sass. We also cover both Skarpi's and Trapis' final scenes in this section and wonder a bit about who these influential characters might be... Our other topics of conversation include how much a Talent is worth, the Ruach, and successful b...

This week we pick up with Kvothe after he hit rock bottom by getting beaten up during the holiday season. He turns things around by setting up a Scooby-Doo style trap for his nemesis, "Pike the Goon" and by collecting two awesome stories. The first is a religion-origin story from Trapis, but there certainly are a lot of parallels with the second story, which is the tale of Lanre he hears...

This week we start off with a face-to-face encounter with the Chandrian, which basically starts this downward spiral for our hero and brings us to our boy Kvothe's saddest chapters.  He goes through the turmoil of losing his family, his home, and, last but not least, his lute....and maybe even loses himself a bit. We talk through all this sad stuff, but also get into the connections between na...

It's our second episode and we finally get into Kvothe's life story covering his first years and first experiences with sympathy. We also finally get some new characters that aren't Old Cob, including the merry band that is the Edema Ruh, Kvothe's parents, and the eyebrow-less Ben, as well as more clues about the mysterious and ever elusive Chandrian. Other topics include Ana's...

It's our first episode! We decided to kick off the podcast with one of our favorite fantasy series of all time (extra thanks to our friends who recommended it to us): The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. Mostly we talk about how much we love this book and how many things are snuck into these first few chapters that end up being important later on, but we eventually get around to the...