The Legendarium

Craig, Ryan, and Kenn sit down to discuss the first half of Before They Are Hanged, the second book in Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy.   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out the archives at  https://www.thelegendarium.com/ Join the Discord community:  https://discord.com/invite/FnCSsxx Twitter:  https://twitter.com/LegendariumPod  

Mary Rickert (aka M. Rickert) stops by to chat with Craig about the art of the short story. What are the strengths and weaknesses of short fiction? Why did Mary get drawn to this particular form? What can readers gain by digging into short stories? And where should they start?   Check out M. Rickert's newest (short) book, Lucky Girl   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendari...

Author Brian Evenson stops by to talk with Craig about The Fifth Head of Cerberus, the second novel by Gene Wolfe. And what a novel it is! Without spoiling any of the surprises, the two dig into what makes Gene Wolfe special, and why Brian wanted to write the introduction for a new edition of the book.   Grab a copy of Cerberus here Check out Brian's other work here   Support the show on Patreon: ...

Freya Marske is here to pull Craig--and by extension, us all--into the world of SFF romance! They talk about the definition of romance, why it appeals generally, and why it appeals to her specifically as both a reader and a writer. Toward the end, Freya also gives a sizeable list of recommendations for those wanting to dip their own toes into more romantic waters. (Listen for the recs, or follow u...

The gang is back together! The OG Mistborn crew (Craig, Ryan, Kenn, and Todd) discuss The Lost Metal, the final entry in Era 2 of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series. So how does the book do? Does the plot hold up? Was there TOO much cosmere stuff in there? Does the emotional ending resonate? Only one way to find out.   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out th...

Blue Team is back! Todd, Kenn, and now-resigned Stephanie gather to discuss Tiamat's Wrath, the eighth book in James S.A. Corey's series, The Expanse.   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out the archives at  https://www.thelegendarium.com/ Join the Discord community:  https://discord.com/invite/FnCSsxx Twitter:  https://twitter.com/LegendariumPod  

Blue Team is back! Todd, Kenn, and somewhat reluctant Stephanie gather to discuss Persepolis Rising, the seventh book in James S.A. Corey's series, The Expanse.   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out the archives at  https://www.thelegendarium.com/ Join the Discord community:  https://discord.com/invite/FnCSsxx Twitter:  https://twitter.com/LegendariumPod  

Craig, Ryan, and Kenn talk about the second half of Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself. Is this really the first book in a series, or do we need a different way to think of this one? What's the most "grimdark" line in the book? And are any of these characters worth rooting for?   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out the archives at  https://www.thelegendarium...

Happy Halloween! For this years spooky episode, Craig welcomes Rita Woods to the Author's Shelf series. From her shelf, Rita selected The Good House, by Tananarive Due, a modern-day gothic horror novel. What is the scariest thing about a book like this? Listen on and find out!   Check out Rita's latest, The Last Skinwalker, here   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium C...

Surprise! It's a weekend episode featuring Craig being interviewed by Jack Butler for Jack's Young Americans podcast. The two of them break down their thoughts on the entirety of season 1 of The Rings of Power, especially how it all wrapped up in the end. Was the show ultimately worth making? Or watching?    Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out the archives at...

This is one of those books whose title tells you quite a bit. The book is Origins of The Wheel of Time: The Legends and Mythologies that Inspired Robert Jordan, and it's about...well, that! Craig sits down with the author, Michael Livingston, to scratch the surface of what's in the book, and eventually they take off their official interview hats to get down and nerdy about how much they love The W...

How do they do it? We'll never know. Todd and Kenn have convinced Stephanie to come in and discuss another Expanse novel. This time, it's Persepolis Rising, the 7th book in James S.A. Corey's epic sci-fi series, The Expanse. This discussion covers roughly the first half of the book.   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out the archives at  https://www.thelegend...

Craig, Ryan, and Kenn talk about the first half of Joe Abercrombie's "The Blade Itself," book one in the First Law trilogy. Does it live up to expectations? Should we even *have* expectations? There's humor, there's prose, and there's character work to talk about, not to mention your own questions for us, so plenty to dive into.   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium C...

Craig and Ryan welcome Seanan McGuire to the Author's Shelf! From her shelf, Seanan chose The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle, a '60s classic fairy tale about a unicorn in search of her kin. They also talk a bit about her upcoming book, Into the Windwracked Wilds (as A. Deborah Baker).   Check out A. Deborah Baker's (Seanan's) Amazon page   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/le...

Craig and Ryan welcome Mary Robinette Kowal to the Author's Shelf. She asked the guys to read The Dispossessed, the award winning 1974 novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. There were some hiccups with the audio that had to be edited around, but the conversation was good enough that we were going to bring it to you regardless. Enjoy!   Get a sneak peek of The Spare Man Check out Mary Robinette's work here  ...

Drew McCaffrey from the Inking Out Loud podcast drops by again to spin the Wheel of Tangents with Craig. The twist? This time, we asked for the stupidest questions our listeners could think of. And boy oh boy did they come through.   Check out Inking Out Loud here:  https://www.iolpodcast.com/   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out the archives at  https://ww...

Craig and Todd are joined by Nadia Shammas and Marie Enger to discuss what it was like to collaborate on their new graphic novella, Where Black Stars Rise. They talk about how they found each other, how the creative process unfolded, and why the "dream" collaboration isn't with the biggest name you can find.   Check out Where Black Stars Rise here   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreo...

The Rings of Power is finally here! Now that the most expensive, promoted, anticipated show of the year has arrived, how do we think it's going after just a couple of episodes? Craig, Sara, Stephanie, and Ryan sit down for a LONG discussion, airing their own loves and grievances, and responding to many of your own questions as well.   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendari...

It's here! This is the final episode in our Silmarillion read-along. Ryan and Craig sit down to discuss "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," the final section of The Silmarillion.   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out the archives at  https://www.thelegendarium.com/ Join the Discord community:  https://discord.com/invite/FnCSsxx Twitter:  https://twitt...

Craig sits down with Kaitlyn Facista from Tea With Tolkien to talk about The Silmarillion, the Rings of Power, and other various Tolkien-connected topics. Kaitlyn is the purveyor of Tea With Tolkien, a book club and erstwhile (but still valuable) podcast that Craig has enjoyed from afar for quite a while now, so this is episode has been a long time coming.   Check out Tea With Tolkien here: https:...

Indian novelist Samit Basu stopped by the Legendarium to talk with Craig about what exactly dystopian fiction is, where that term falls down, and how it differs across continents. Samit is also a multi-discipline writer, and they talked about what it means to write across several different mediums. Check out Samit Basu's website: https://samitbasu.com/ And his new book, The City Inside: https://ww...

In this episode, author James Kennedy stops by to chat with Craig about predestination in speculative fiction. He's got four basic categories of determinism, and they walk through each, with a fine-toothed, good-humored comb.   Check out James Kennedy's website And his new book, Dare to Know   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out the archives at  https://www....

After a VERY long break, Craig and Ryan are back with part 10 of their Silmarillion read-along, this time covering AKALLABÊTH. This is part 10 of 11 in the read-along, so things are drawing near the end!   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out the archives at  https://www.thelegendarium.com/ Join the Discord community:  https://discord.com/invite/FnCSsxx Twitt...

A couple of months ago we had our first ever official meetup in Portland, OR. It was fun, and we wish you could all have been there! But for those who were there, we did a live episode on Stardust, the already-classic novel by Neil Gaiman. Such fun to have the audience interaction, so we'll definitely do this again some time.   Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Chec...

Craig and Kenn welcome Ryan Van Loan to the Author's Shelf series. Today's book is Dreamcatcher, the much-maligned 2001 sci-fi horror novel by Stephen King. So does it deserve all that maligning? In some ways, yes! In other ways, it's still an example of a master novelist at work. We'll hit a few of the highs and lows (including the 2003 movie adaptation) in this episode, so strap in!   Check out...