First Chapters

Ep 16: The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkein 04.09.2024 45:03 ↓

On this very special episode of First Chapters, Engineer Mike and Nina are joined in Gray Cat Studios by a very special guest, Dr. Richard Scott Nokes (aka Professor Awesome of Pop Medieval fame)! He’s here to get Nina through a classic work — just in time for the second season of a certain elf-y […]

Ep 15: Old Man’s War by John Scalzi 14.07.2024 33:43 ↓

Needs more Keanu.

Ep 14: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 10.06.2024 27:58 ↓

WHO LET THEY GOONS OUT THAT HOUSE? (Engineer Mike, that’s who!) WHO OUT THERE TALKIN ALL THAT MOUTH? (That’s Nina.) With many apologies to Beyonce, this week they’re reading Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke. Digressions: Ghost tackling, Engineer Mike’s para-social relationships, academic flexing, Platonic pontificating, evoking the Satanic Verses to make a point, praising short...

Ep 13: The Walking Drum by Louis L’amour 28.04.2024 23:11 ↓

This ain't no rodeo. This ain't no country club, either.

Ep 12: Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu 14.04.2024 32:05 ↓

It's truly about throuples.

Ep 11: A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge 24.03.2024 30:06 ↓

Eat my unthinking depths.

Ep 10: Under the Skin by Michel Faber 09.03.2024 23:21 ↓

It's all blood and guts, baby.

Ep 9: Accelerando by Charles Stross 24.02.2024 36:13 ↓

Technojargon meets sexual politics. Do not recommend.

Ep 8: This Is What You Wanted by Nina MacNamara 18.11.2023 22:29 ↓

This is what WE wanted.

Ep 7: The City & the City by China Mieville 20.10.2023 27:19 ↓

This may or may not be Comrade Detective.

Ep 6: The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin 03.10.2023 25:44 ↓

These chuckleheads don't know what they're doing, do they?

Ep 5: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie 23.08.2023 33:39 ↓

They're both turgid with boredom.

Ep 4: Gate of Ivrel by C.J. Cherryh 31.07.2023 38:41 ↓

Secretly, Nina would love to be Morgaine.

Ep 3: The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders 17.07.2023 32:01 ↓

Hey! An author Nina has read before!

Ep 2: Helsreach by Aaron Dembski-Bowden 02.07.2023 29:43 ↓

Jesus, how many of these novels has Engineer Mike read anyway?

Ep 1: Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany 02.07.2023 38:29 ↓

Let's start with a big one, shall we?