What happens when Star Wars creator/destroyer George Lucas hires X-Men writer Chris Claremont to make a trilogy in the style of Lord of the Rings?  An incomprehensible, sodden mess, as it turns out.  A gritty reimagineering of slash sequel to a schlocky, shticky, slapsticky non-hit children's movie called Willow, Shadow Moon nearly brings J., Collision, and special guest Tricia Ellis to their knees in this rollicking, pain-filled episode.  Grab your favorite Renaissance Faire outfit, crank the ocarina to eleven, and join us, won't you?

NOTE: Our guest this week had some unfortunate audio issues with her recording and we had to get a bit creative with editing. Please forgive the occasional crackle and the lack of dramatic reading. Thanks!

Recommendations:Station Eleven, Emily St. John MandelMankind: Have a Nice Day, Mick FoleyA Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula Le Guin

Music:"Whip My Hair" by Willow Smith"Holy Diver" by Dio"Weed Brownies" by Wiz Khalifa"Far, Far Away" by Ultimate Fakebook

Today J. and Collision are getting high -- attic high!  With mondo-special guests Centa and Amanda, the IDEOTV team tackles the oft-requested quasi-gothic super-creepy best-seller and rite of passage Flowers in the Attic.  This one really goes there, people, so if whipped children and brothers licking sisters' nipples isn't your thing, you might want to sit this one out.  But hey, you wanted the best, you asked for the best, and you got the best!

Music:"Blue Flowers" by Dr. Octagon"Trailer Park" by Bracket"Intact" by Ned's Atomic Dustbin"Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers

Recommendations:The BabadookThe Story of the Lost Child, Elena FerranteThe High Window, Raymond ChandlerNine Princes in Amber, Roger Zelazny

Hey, kids!  Do you like playing Video Games?  Do you like watching other people play video games?  Do you like people telling you about playing video games?  Do you like people telling you the story of a video game as though the story had happened to them, omitting no detail, not even one, for 250 pages?  No?  Then you really wouldn't like this book, a shoddy pile of words called DOOM: Knee-Deep in the Dead. J. and Collision welcome back popular/delightful guest Poncho Martinez and get at least hip-deep in dreck.

Recommendations:My Enemy, My Ally & The Romulan Way, Diane Duane14, Peter ClinesThe Library at Mount Char, Scott Hawkins

Music:A bunch of stuff from the DOOM original soundtrack

Recommended by major dude and friend of the show Tom Keiser, it's time for J and Collision to endure the long lines and longer speeches of... Airport, Arthur Hailey's 1968 ode to MEN and their DECISIONS and their FEELINGS.

You need to know, though: this ain't the summer of love.  Also, you can pack your bags and you can leave tonight, but this book ain't exactly your ticket to paradise, people.  Grab a tiny bottle of dad's medicine, find your most comfortable pair of travelling shoes, and join us where the departures meet the arrivals.

This episode will rock you to your foundations, as J. and Collision tune up the band and take a hot shot of Slash's memoir Slash. That's right, the guitar player from Guns & Roses wrote a book (sorta) and we read it (bigtime). Rarely has a book about sex, drugs, and rock & roll been so mundane! Rarely have so many anecdotes been contradicted so quickly! Join us as we hold up this book and say "this thing is not good" a lot. Maybe it's a little sloppy, but that's just good rock & roll, right?

NOTE: J. would like to apologize for his obvious drunkenness. This is what happens when you read a book about Slash.

Recommendations:Frank Zappa, the Real Frank Zappa BookJoan Didion, the White Album

Music:"Sex and Drugs and Rock N' Roll", Ian Drury and the Blockheads"The Majesty of Rock", Spinal Tap"Home of the Brave", Spiritualized"Party Like a Rock Star", Shop Boyz

Saddle up! J and Collision run roughshod over Ernest Cline's new reference deployment device, Armada. Is Cline a one-trick pony, or is this book a dead horse, beaten? The answer is inside! Plus, some extra-good letters, a seriously exciting announcement, and our most appropriate recommendations yet!

Recommendations:Jeff Vandermeer, The Southern Reach TrilogyHelen DeWitt, The Last Samurai

Music:"Aces High" - Iron Maiden"Stand Still" - Gorilla Biscuits"Games" - Hüsker Dü"Space" - Galt MacDermot

A lot of old-school fun this time around, as Chris and J discuss Lee Child's strangely tame thriller/exploration of male fantasy "Killing Floor". Chris drinks way too much delicious Bicycle coffee (roasted in Oakland! Delivered by bicycle!) and gets super-squirrelly. J ponders a minor rebrand for IDEOTVPOD. New segments get new songs and there is much rejoicing.

They can't all be winners, and Frank G. Slaughter's "The Curse of Jezebel" definitely proves that axiom. Join us and semi-regular guest Centa Schumacher as we discuss a book that can probably be best described as "biblical fan-fiction". Really boring biblical fan-fiction.

Music:"Up All Night" -- Slaughter"Here Come the Rome Plows" -- Drive Like Jehu"The Israelites" -- Desmond Dekker

Well then. Here's a book that probably blew your dad's mind back in the day. Sorry about your dad's mind, really and truly. Join our unnamed narrator and a cast of characters including our unnamed narrator's secret personality, his son, and a bunch of people who don't really matter, as they travel across the country and have very trite thoughts about the nature of reason. Whee!

Recommendations:"Fury Road""The Dead Mountaineer's Inn" -- Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.

Music:"Just the Two of Us" -- Will Smith"Hippy Dippy Do" -- Rocket From the Crypt"Wild Mountain Nation" -- Blizten Trapper"Powdered Water Too" -- Eyedea & Abilities