Catawampus Readings

I get the feeling I probably read this book before I was ready for it, so there were some concepts that just went right over my head. Still, it was an awesome book for 16-year-old me and an education in how other storytellers think about romance.

I think this book - this whole series, actually - handled the integration of dragons into the worldbuilding very well, but I do wonder if they might not have tried a little too hard later on to keep dragons relevant to the story, even though it was mostly political drama.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed the episode. As always, feel free to leave me some feedback in the comments below, or send me a message via email at [email protected]!

Background music provided by AShamaluevMusic and EmilyFantasy.

If that title looks familiar, it's because we've looked at this book before. I really do love it, and if this isn't enough proof, then I guess I'll just make up a nice big sign. XD

The two-month hiatus was almost completely unplanned, and I suspect it was in part due to several stress factors in my life, one of which was that I had lost my buffer for the podcast and my blog at the same time. With luck, this time around we'll be a little more on top of it.

In other news, I'm still considering the idea of shifting over to YouTube, but haven't gotten a lot of feedback on the idea. Is this something you Inklings would enjoy, even if that meant only getting one episode a month instead of one a week?

For access to early-release episodes, consider visiting my Patreon!

As usual, background music was provided by AShamaluevMusic.

I can't lie - I LOVE this series. It's amazing, and I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who loves dragons and a slightly feminist look at an Edwardian worldview. It's pretty fantastic on all counts, and I've read it through three times already.

That said, there is some confusion about the different names of the months and different year numbers, as they're presented in-universe and obviously never explained because no adult in that world would need month names and year numbers explained to them. I would have preferred something a little more straightforward, but that's a pretty minor nitpick, as in the context of the story you don't need to know what month "Floris" is to know that in contest she's talking about late winter or early spring. She makes it apparent through the story what she means, even if the names themselves are confusing.

And maybe the differing names add to the worldbuilding? I don't know anymore. I've been thinking about it too much.

I love this series. 'Nuff said.

Background music provided by AShamaluevMusic and Dee Yan-Key.

Sorry if I sound a little funny today - it's been terrible for allergies recently, and I can't seem to clear my sinuses. XP

Anyway, I hope that if you have time for it, you'll pick up a copy of Daughter of Dragons by Jack Campbell. It's a fantastic book, and I really like the way the author went out of his way to let the characters have organic interactions, even where it didn't advance the plot very much. It made them feel that much more real.

If you end up reading it, let me know what you think!

As usual, the background music was provided by the talented AShamaluevMusic.

Welcome to the end of the hiatus! I'm mixing things up by posting this episode two weeks early for patrons! It'll take some work to keep up with it, of course, but I think it's worth it, so my lovely patrons have a little more of a reward for their loyal support.

Dragonflight is the first book in the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey, and I think it's one of my favorites, in part because it is incapable of contradicting established canon at this point. (The strong female lead certainly doesn't hurt anything, though.)

There is a balance between leaving your reader with enough questions to engage them and leaving them with so many questions that they're frustrated by the lack of answers. Where is the balance found? I have no idea. Let me know if you figure it out.

The background music for this episode was provided by AShamaluevMusic and EmilyFantasy.

To anyone who likes stories about kids that act like kids but also save the world (like Harry Potter and The Books of Beginning) I would very much recommend this book. I couldn't actually finish its sequel, because I'm a biased hack, but I really liked this one.

Also, because I forgot to add my rating for this introduction into the script until after I'd already finished recording, and I knew it was too long; I'm giving this introduction a slim 4 out of 5. It does what it needs to and it's very clever about not setting up a character with Gandalf-itis, but I would have much preferred an intro that was a little more active.

That said, it was good, and it caught my attention very well even as it is.

This podcast will be going on hiatus for a little while. The next episode will be available to the public on the 24th of June, but new episodes will (as usual) be released to patrons early, so if you want to resume your usual programming sooner than that, toss some money in the pot and let's see where we can take this!

Background music was provided by AShamaluevMusic and EmilyFantasy.

Have you ever had a movie, book, or game that people have told you "you've got to try this" over and over, but you resisted because you were biased in some way? Or maybe it was a food that you were just convinced you wouldn't like. Or a place you never wanted to visit because people were always trying to get you to go there.

Then you finally did try it. You watched the movie or ate the food or read the book - and suddenly regretted all those times you had the chance to experience this wonderful thing, but didn't?

This book is one of those for me. I resisted it just because it was on a list with other books I knew were boring and/or depressing, and I was honestly missing out.

Still.... I did eventually get around to it, didn't I? :)

Is there anything in your life that you're so determined not to like, you won't even try it?

Background music provided by AShamaluevMusic and EmilyFantasy.

This book has come up in discussions several times in the past, but I've never covered the introduction, so I figured this was as good a way as any to wrap up our classics series.

When I'm under pressure or when I'm feeling stressed, I'll often return to books that are familiar to me and reread them. This has made it so I'll read the Harry Potter series, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Black Beauty, and an assortment of other titles at least once a year, and I began to wonder a while back if this was just a weird thing I did, or if there were other people in the world that had a set of books they returned to again and again because they were soothing.

So what about you, Inklings? Do you reread certain books when you're stressed?

Background music was provided by AShamaluevMusic and Ross Bugden.

Or perhaps I should have called this one "where the red fern groans." Suffice to say I don't like this introduction at all, and I have very little objectivity to spare for this one. XP My biased opinions are going to get me in trouble one of these days.

That said, I would like to go on the record to say that framing sequences can be used to great effect, and I think that if this particular opening hadn't taken so long to get to the point, then it would have been a much better introduction to the story I was promised, then it wouldn't feel so much like a doorstop I have to shove my way past to get inside.

And I do like this book, even if it makes me cry. It's worth a read, for sure. Just... skip the first chapter. :)

As usual, background music for the analysis portion of the episode was provided by the talented AShamaluevMusic.

Music for the reading portion was provided by Shake That Little Foot!

We have finally reached the long-awaited series, though we're not digging in just yet. I intent to come back and do a mini-series on all seven books and how they contrast, but that's still on my to-do list. For now, we're just dipping our toes in with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

To be honest, I read these books more for the sake of nostalgia than for the quality of narrative. I would love to go back and rewrite these, but there's a eldritch copyright beast lurking in that corner and I'm not ready to face it, for sure.

As usual, the analysis background music ("Positive Acoustic") was provided by AShamaluevMusic.