The Legendarium

Happy Hogswatch, everyone! For our surprise holiday episode, the Blue Team jumps into Discworld in our first Terry Pratchett novel, Hogfather. It's everything you've come to expect from the Blue Team ... but with more Death. Enjoy! Support the show on Patreon Join the conversation on Reddit Music: "Adventure Time" and "The Seven Seas" courtesy of  https://www.philter.no/

Spoilers start at about 12:30. Craig, Kyle, and returning guest Vilja dive into Aquaman. If you're looking for a measured, coherent discussion, well ... this isn't really it. We recorded this about 10 minutes after leaving the theater, so enjoy our completely raw, rambling, unorganized reaction. Support the show on Patreon Join the conversation on Reddit Music: "Adventure Time" and "The Seven Seas...

We're back! This episode covers Royal Assassin, book two in the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb. After being savaged for our discontented take on book 1, will we have a better reception this time around? There's only one way to find out. Support the show on Patreon Join the conversation on Reddit Music: "Adventure Time" and "The Seven Seas" courtesy of  https://www.philter.no/

We return to the works of what some have called our patron saint, Brandon Sanderson.  We take to the stars-is with our review of Skyward.  Todd, Megan, and "visiting panelist" Ryan, tackle the this YA novel about a girl and her fungus loving starship. Support the show on Patreon Join the conversation on Reddit Music: "Adventure Time" and "The Seven Seas" courtesy of  https://www.philter.no/

It's our first episode discussing Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy, starting with Assassin's Apprentice. This is one of the few times when the panel was somewhat baffled by the accolades a book received. We all had a somewhat rough time, but we tease out what our complaints are, what we think the book's strong points are, and whether our perception of the story will change with books two and three. Su...

Todd, Megan, and Kenn discuss Fool Moon, book 2 of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. Todd gets creepy about Megan's skin. Megan sings the Captain Planet theme song. Kenn is back with his patented recap. And through it all, Craig plays video games in the background while the others do all the hard work. Support the show on Patreon Join the conversation on Reddit Music: "Adventure Time" and "The S...

Wait...are they really doing Goosebumps? Those books we all used to read in the 6th grade? Yes, thanks for asking! Tood, Kenn, and Megan discuss two early Goosebumps books, giving them the full Legendarium treatment. On deck for this episode are Welcome to Dead House and Don't Go In the Basement.  Support the show on Patreon Join the conversation on Reddit Music: "Adventure Time" and "The Seven Se...

It's a surprise Halloween episode, with the 200th anniversary of the book that arguably launched the modern science fiction genre. Craig, Ryan, and Kyle take on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, discussing its author, its historical and contemporary significance, and the ever-applicable themes found therein. Pro tip: If you're in high school, this book is a no-brainer as a source to answer almost any A...

It's us at our most self-indulgent, as we spend an hour playing trivia games and telling awful jokes. So...it's pretty much like every other episode, we just didn't have to read a book for it. So it's a win for us. Anyway, enjoy the intense competition, the joy of victory, the agony of Kenn winning, etc. Thanks, everyone, for 200 episodes of the Legendarium.   Support the show on Patreon Join the...

Craig and Ryan swap out Kyle for Kenn (you can decide if that's an upgrade or a downgrade) for this final installment in our Gentleman Bastards podcast series. The general internet consensus is that the GB books declined from the first to this one, but does the panel agree? We discuss the arrival (finally) of Sabetha onto the scene, the A/B structure, some strengths of Lynch as a writer, and of co...

It's our long-awaited dive into Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, starting with book 1, Storm Front. Todd, Kenn, Megan get into the story, the characters, and the adaptation. Includes a classic Kenn synopsis. Also includes Todd trying--and failing--to do Craig-style insults.   Support the show on Patreon Join the conversation on Reddit Music: "Adventure Time" and "The Seven Seas" courtesy of  ht...

Buckle up for the sweariest episode to date. We bleeped most of it, but still...maybe best not to play this one with your kids in the car. Craig, Ryan, and Kyle take on book two of Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards sequence: Red Seas Under Red Skies. The pirate-themed Locke Lamora adventure did some things better and some things worse than it predecessor, but if nothing else, it provided an hour of...

Wrapping up our Red Rising podcast series, Todd, Megan, and Kenn discuss Morning Star, the final book in the trilogy. They tackle the ending, Todd's new preferred sci-fi weapon, and several questions and comments from Reddit as well. Thanks for joining the Blue team for this series, now get set for the Dresden Files!   Support the show on Patreon Join the conversation on Reddit Music: "Adventure T...

The band gets back together to talk about the summer movie season that's finally, mercifully, wrapping up. It wasn't much of a movie season, so Craig, Ryan, Todd, and Kenn end up talking a lot about '80s action stars, a 10-year-old TV show, and Burt Reynolds' chest hair. Back to regular book episodes next week! Support the show on Patreon Join the conversation on Reddit Music: "Adventure Time" and...

Craig and Ryan write a story! Well, not quite. But in this episode, they choose a random writing prompt, set the timer for thirty minutes, and construct a (probably really bad) story from scratch. The idea is for this to serve as inspiration. We've all--panelists and listeners alike--been reading a lot of fantasy and sci-fi, and now it's time, if you have the itch, to start writing. November is Na...

(AN OATHBRINGER PLOT IS SPOILED IN THIS EPISODE.) Todd, Kenn, and Megan discuss Golden Son, the second book in the Red Rising trilogy. They talk about some characters, some events, and presumably some ideas as well. But since the person writing this episode blurb didn't participate and hasn't yet listened (I'll listen along with the rest of you), you won't get any more specifics than that. Please...

In our inaugural Gentleman Bastards podcast, Craig, Ryan, and Kyle discuss The Lies of Locke Lamora. They get into the heavy strengths, the light weaknesses, and the ... colorful language employed by Scott Lynch in this masterful debut novel. Speaking of colorful language, we finally deployed the 'explicit' tag on iTunes for this episode, because, well, because we just couldn't help ourselves. We...

Todd, Megan, and Kenn discuss book one of Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy, conveniently titled...Red Rising. Topics include: its similarities to other works (cough cough Hunger Games), its prose quality, it kickass setting, and its Level-one Punchfest qualities. Megan has her first real tender moment as a panelist. Also: Yes, we know that the audio quality is ... lacking. But we didn't have time...

Wrapping up our Kingkiller Chronicle podcast series, we wrap up any last Book 3 theories that we wanted to float, and then we get into the community reaction to the wait for book 3. It's entirely possible that we go too easy on Rothfuss, but in looking into and thinking about the issue, we found some real reasons to cut the guy a little slack. That being said ... we'd love to read Doors of Stone,...

For our discussion of Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, we're bringing you an all-new panel configuration. Todd leads Kenn, Megan, and Ryan in talking about the classic sci-fi novel, including its historical relevance, both within and without the genre itself. Enjoy the continuation of our Heroes of Sci-Fi series!   Support the show on Patreon Join the conversation on Reddit Music: "Adventure Time"...

The guys discuss the last third or so of The Wise Man's Fear, including Kvothe's trip to Ademre, the rescue of two kidnapped girls, Kvothe's expulsion from Vintas, and his return to the University. They also talk more about the ramifications of the Cthaeh, before the rest of the panel gangs up on Craig for being (angels and ministers of grace defend us) opinionated. It's not our final Kingkiller C...

Leaving the University. Wooing someone else's crush. A month-long jaunt in the woods. Sweet, sweet, fairy sex. Finally, some plot happens in this section, and the guys are eager to discuss it. Or is it really plot, per se? We'll dig into some of the fun stuff from this section, including Felurian and the Cthaeh.   Support the show on Patreon Join the conversation on Reddit Music: "Adventure Time"...

"This is a classic film." So says Matt Zoller Seitz in his review of Ex Machina. In this episode, Craig, Kyle, and Kenn dig into both Ex Machina and Annihilation, Alex Garland's two directorial efforts. Both films deal with the nature of humanity, but from two very different angles, and unpacking them will take a herculean effort. Are our intrepid panelists up to the task? Nope!   Support the show...

"A younger Kvothe pursues his education at the University. There, he carries on a feud with fellow student Ambrose." And...that's pretty much it! The band is finally back together for this first episode of our Wise Man's Fear podcast series. Craig, Ryan, Kenn, and Kyle discuss the plot (such as it is), the characters, and the lessons to be gleaned from the first third of Patrick Rothfuss's book.  ...

Due to scheduling restraints, Craig and Ryan went panel-less today, which meant putting off the stuff you actually WANT to listen to, and replacing it with stuff you do NOT WANT to listen to. This episode was a live Q&A simulcast on both Facebook and YouTube. The guys fielded both pre-submitted questions and some on-the-spot ones as well. Thanks to all who participated (in the middle of a Sunday a...