Spoil Me

Many thanks to Patricia Bing-Grant for commissioning this episode of The Dark Lord Of Derkholm! This is a really fun book and you can tell how much I like it on account of how I sound like I'm on death's door but I wanted to podcast anyway.
So, it turns out that Barnabas is actually doing everything he can to fuck up works, by order of Querida. She's hoping that if Mr. Chesney's plan goes badly enough, he will decide that continuing these pilgrim tours isn't actually worth it. It's a solid plan, and I get why she's only told a couple of people, but it sucks to see our friends running their butts off to fix problems that cannot be fixed.
Also, it's pretty satisfying to see Scales show up and scare the shit out of all the troops so that they actually follow instructions and get moving. There is, however, a really unfortunate sexual assault included in the story that doesn't serve any purpose at all so far as I can see. Didn't care for that.
Thanks so much for listening, and I will see you soon with a new episode!

I want to thank sponsor AND author Robin C. Farrell for commissioning another episode of Resistance Rising! For those who may have forgotten, Robin did the first episode of Resistance Rising with me at the Wannabe level a couple months back, and it was a really fun experience to talk about a book with the actual author!
There were definitely some hiccups while I talked about the next couple of chapters because it had been so long since covering the first ones, but I did some rereading to refresh myself before delving further into the story so I think it went pretty well overall. We get to meet a new class of people, and see that there's something weird going on with our Elvish friend with the glowing eye. I maintain that he simply has to be Mr. X, but I am really intrigued by what seems to have happened to him.
Thank you so much for listening, and hopefully I will see you soon with a new episode!

Many thanks to Tristen Haidet for sponsoring this episode of Deep Wizardry! I have to confess, y'all, I was mighty concerned throughout these chapters. There are so many things going on that are all a REALLY BIG DEAL!
So first, let's talk about the giant shark. Actually, you know what? I'm not sure I want to do that. That scares me.
So maybe let's talk about the fact that Nita has agreed to sacrifice her life on behalf of the Song. Nope, you know what I think that's just as terrible so let's skip that part.
How about the fact that Nita's parents find out she's a wizard via a trip to the moon? That sounds safe.
Wait no, that doesn't sound safe at all.
Thanks for listening, and I will see you soon with a new episode!

Hello everyone! I want to shout out Kyle Summers for commissioning this episode of The Grace Of Kings. I am especially grateful that he's commissioning them so close together so that I get to find out what happens really quickly!
These chapters aren't really as thrilling in the fun way as the rest of the book has been so far, which is not to say that they're not good episodes AT ALL...it's just really sad in a lot of ways. There are so many people being forced to do things that they don't want, due to the pressures of duty and tradition, and in the end hurting a lot of people because of it.
I do really have to admire the way that Ken Liu is able to make me care about characters so quickly. Like, we only just met this old general and this young king and I already give a shit about them! Well, the king is dead so that's not super helpful but the old general YES.
Thanks so much for listening, and I will see you soon with a new episode!

Many thanks to Ashlyn for commissioning the next episode of The Fifth Season, and for introducing me to this beautiful, heartbreaking book. Also I want to apologize again for having to reschedule, which is always a bummer. Hopefully it will not happen again.
This episode, Ashlyn asks me to revisit the interlude and see if there's anything that I notice about it. She has something in mind that is a theory for coming books (Ashlyn hasn't read the others as of yet) and she's curious to see if I am of the same mind that she is. I'm not sure if I answered your question, Ashlyn, but let me know!
We are with Essun again in this section, and she finally gets to see what's going on with Hoa and the fact that he has some really weird abilities. Also, it seems that they may have added another person to their little band, although I'm hoping that they can convince her to take a dunk in the creek. Also, Syenite and Alabaster finally reach their destination, and Alabaster can't resist being a bit of a hardass. It's really fun to watch, but it almost results in his death, so I guess you could say I'm ambivalent about that.
Thanks so much for listening, and I will see you soon with a new episode!

Hello everyone, and welcome to the next episode of The Grace Of Kings, brought to you by your generous benefactor Kyle.
These chapters really get into what happens when we start to believe our own hype and completely lose touch with where we're from and what our motivations are. Huno Krima has started to sincerely lose his mind, believing that everyone should be so grateful to him for liberating them from the tyranny of Xana rule that they should accept HIS tyranny with no complaints. Not only is Huno acting superior to everyone who supported him, but he's so sure that he's superior to someone who had been his equal that he actually has Shigin killed, and so there goes any chance at saving the man from his own insanity.
Anyway, Mata gets a pretty cool horse so that works out well, and now Kuni is a duk because titles are meaningless and power is fleeting. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.
See you soon with a new episode!

Thank you very much to Jacqui for commissioning this episode! I'm really surprised at how hard everything gets ramped up this episode, although I'm not going to lie; I'm still distracted by what's going on with Veronica's mom.
This episode is really packed with plot lines. First we have the case of the week, which is about an overachieving student named Sabrina who is getting harrassed by someone she thinks is her ex. Then there's the one where Veronica goes and helps Abel Koontz's daughter go into hiding, only to have her spot blown up by Clarence Weidman. Then there's the hilarious introduction of Vinny Van Lowe, who is so hilarious and I kind of want him in every episode. And lastly, there's the small but significant detail of Logan finding out that Veronica is still conducting an investigation, and that Duncan has epilepsy.
Seriously, y'all, there's a LOT going on here. I hope you enjoy the show!

Many thanks to Ashleigh for commissioning this episode of The Novice. This is a really really surprising couple of chapters because shit starts to pop off way sooner than I expected.
In these chapters we meet Rothen's son for the first time, and it turns out that he's kind of a sweetie pie. This isn't too surprising, but I was definitely not expecting something romantic to sprout between him and Sonea. I have no idea how that can continue to happen when he lives so far away and visits so rarely.
And then of course we are confronted by Akkarin, who somehow has discovered that Sonea and Rothen know about him practising black magic. We know that he found out via Lorlen, but we don't know exactly how that came to happen, and Lorlen isn't in this scene so I'm a little worried about what happened to the guy.

Thank you for listening, and see you soon with a new episode!

Thank you to Kyle for commissioning this episode! I'm really really enjoying how The Grace Of Kings combines tension, great worldbuilding, actual stakes, and humor. I wasn't expecting this story to be quite so exciting.
In these chapters, Mata and Phin are back and they are not fucking around. I was really excited to see them again, and I'm also delighted by what's been happening with Kuni. He's decided to go outlaw, and turns out that he's weirdly good at it.
I am looking forward to the moment when Kuni and Mata are teamed up, because I feel like they would really be good working together. Also, I fucking hate to see what's happening with Huno and Shigin.
Thanks for listening, and I will see you soon with a new episode!

Thank you so much to D'Nique for commissioning another episode of Parable Of The Sower! These chapters are really much more hopeful than probably any of the others so far. I am fascinated by these characters, and really irritated with some of them as well.
I have to admit that I'm really worried about our crew teaming up with a family that has a baby. I know that it's to the other family's advantage, and I respect that, but there is nothing that serves as an ankle weight quite like an infant. At least this isn't the zombie apocalypse where any tiny amount of noise can get you killed...but it's not that far off, either.
Also, it is really startling to me how close to our own present world everything is in this book, which I don't think quite registered with me until now. Find out what did it, and listen, and enjoy!