Sam and Dan review The Children of Gods and Fighting Men, by Shauna Lawless.

SPOILER ALERT: This episode contains spoilers. We strongly recommend reading this book before listening.

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is the first novel in Shauna Lawless's Gael Song trilogy. We delve into our first historical fantasy. We explore the key themes, the historically accurate plot and how the history drives the plot, and our two main characters, one who experiences a journey of enlightenment and the other who is firmly set in her ways.

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Sam and Dan review The Great When, by legendary writer, Alan Moore.

SPOILER ALERT: This episode contains spoilers. We strongly recommend reading this book before listening.

The Great When is the first novel in Alan Moore's planned series titled 'The London Quintet'. We get into the various plot strands that are introduced and tied off throughout. We discuss our main protagonist, Dennis Knuckleyard, along with some of the prominent side characters. And we discuss Alan Moore's incredibly abstract world-building and his depiction of a post World War Two London.

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Sam and Dan are joined on the podcast by self-published author, Dan Hanly, to discuss his debut novel, The Great Leap (book 1 in the Children of Innauron series).

SPOILER ALERT: While we try to avoid spoilers, the interview inevitably refers to events that occur throughout the book.

We ask Dan all about his thinking behind the world, characters and plot in The Great Leap, along with trying to tease out some of his thinking on the rest of the series. We also cover Dan's writing philosophy and the experience of being a self-published fantasy author.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains references to potentially triggering adult themes contained within the book.

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Sam and Dan wrap up the discussion of S.A. Chakraborty's City of Brass, book one of the Daevabad Trilogy.

SPOILER ALERT: This episode contains spoilers. We strongly recommend reading the chapters we're covering before listening.

Now that we have finished the book, we discuss our feelings on its conclusion, including whether it was in fact a conclusion at all. We get into what we thought of the character development in our two protagonists, Nahri and Ali, as well as the severely problematic romance with alleged war-criminal Dara. Finally, we discuss whether we plan on continuing with this trilogy.

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Sam and Dan discuss chapter 10 - 19 of S.A. Chakraborty's City of Brass, book one of the Daevabad Trilogy.

SPOILER ALERT: This episode contains spoilers. We strongly recommend reading the chapters we're covering before listening.

We still can't really figure out where this story is heading. We're not sure who our main antagonist is supposed to be. And in some cases, we don't know if we're supposed to particularly like our main characters. In spite of all of that, we talk through the issues and make some guesses on where the City of Brass is going to end up.

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Sam and Dan discuss chapter 1 - 9 of S.A. Chakraborty's City of Brass, book one of the Daevabad Trilogy.

SPOILER ALERT: This episode contains spoilers. We strongly recommend reading the chapters we're covering before listening.

We discuss our first impressions of our two protagonists, Nahri and Ali, as well as what we think of the magical Djinn world that exists behind a veil within the recognisable 18th century real world. We try to figure out who our antagonist is and what direction this story is heading and, as alway, we try to make some predictions, which are largely just stabs in the dark!

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Sam and Dan wrap up the discussion of Hannah Kaner's Sunbringer, book two of the Fallen Gods Trilogy.

SPOILER ALERT: This episode contains spoilers. We strongly recommend reading the chapters we're covering before listening.

We ask whether the chapter structure that this book enables the story and characters to be developed most effectively. We reflect on what we loved about the story, the world and where we are heading into the final book in the trilogy. And finally, we make our conclusions on what we thought of Sunbringer overall.

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Sam and Dan discuss chapter 17 - 37 of Hannah Kaner's Sunbringer, book two of the Fallen Gods Trilogy.

SPOILER ALERT: This episode contains spoilers. We strongly recommend reading the chapters we're covering before listening.

As our main characters go about their largely separate storylines, we ponder how Hannah Kaner might bring them all back together, or not, for the climax of Sunbringer. We discuss what we have enjoyed about the building of the political world as well as getting to spend more time interacting with the various gods that have a part to play. As usual, we present theories for where Kissen, Inara, Skeddy and Elo will end up.

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Grab a glass of champagne and join us for an evening of festivities as we crown 2024 winners in the following categories:

- Best Protagonist
- Worst Protagonist
- Best Antagonist
- Best World
- Best Plot Twist
- Book of the Year

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Sam and Dan discuss chapter 1 - 16 of Hannah Kaner's Sunbringer, book two of the Fallen Gods Trilogy.

SPOILER ALERT: This episode contains spoilers. We strongly recommend reading the chapters we're covering before listening.

In our first return to a world we have visited before on the podcast, we catch up with Kissen, Elo, Inara and Skedi. We explore the difference and challenges that the 2nd or middle book in a trilogy presents. We discuss the introduction of a new perspective, King Aaron, and we debate whether there is a good man somewhere inside him. And we put forward our (usually crackpot) theories for where this epic story is heading.

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