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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, and sometimes it's about The Expanse but today is about the 2023 James S.A. Corey novella How it Unfolds. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse and Unfoldsiverse!   

In this episode:

• We meet Roy Court and his former wife Anjulah as they unfold throughout the universe, discovering the beautiful and terrible possibilities of living thousands of lives on thousands of worlds.
• Megan Lee makes THEEE most romantic gesture in the history of humankind, and it works.
• Brigid explains epistolary storytelling, drops a banger GnR reference, and summarizes the wonderful timeloop of this amazing story.
• Clint talks about ghosting, Moore's Law, the common law, and why How it Unfolds > Project Hail Mary.
• JSAC makes yet another ASOIAF reference, we make some memes.
• Your hosts explore whether this story is in The Captive's War universe, and come down firmly on one side. Our wonderful audio engineer comes down on the other.

Join us next time when we cover the first part of CALIBAN'S WAR! Do not miss it! Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at [email protected]. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here. Tip Brigid to support the pod. 

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, and sometimes it's about The Expanse but today is a Low Effort Mailbag! Everyone loves those. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!   

In this episode:

• We reveal the podcast's process, publishing plan, and strategy for tackling The Faith of Beasts
• Brigid cites her recommended books, email salutations, and nutrient slurries.
• Clint talks pleasant peninsulas, treating people as things, and band names.
• Questions about Livesuits, AI, and trap planets are answered.
• Someone actually freakin' tells us how many hamburgers it takes to move Eros!!! It's a lot!

Join us next time when we cover HOW IT UNFOLDS! Do not miss it! Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at [email protected]. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here. Tip Brigid to support the pod. 

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are continuing our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with the final part of LEVIATHAN WAKES, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!   

In this episode:

• Miller finally gets the girl but, as usual, she's too good for him. 
• Holden commits some light war crimes and finally gets revenge on Venus for some reason.
• We travel back through the depths of Eros with our handy Macguffin, encountering many wonders of the deep.
• Brigid explains the literary and poetic allusions of the final portion of the book, and explores Miller's connection to J. Alfred Prufrock and Jesus H. Christ. 
• Clint has some choice words for Holden, Immanuel Kant, and STEM majors, and draws line from Miller to Willy Loman. 
• Your hosts compare and contrast Leviathan Wakes with The Mercy of Gods, in theme, structure, and quality. 
• We die maybe... but if we don't die, well that'll be interesting. 

Join us next time when we do a low effort mailbag episode! Be included by sending us a message! Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at [email protected]. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here. Tip Brigid to support the pod. 

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are continuing our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with chapters 43 through 49 of LEVIATHAN WAKES, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!   

In this episode:

• Holden is cranky at Miller for being cool.
• Miller is down apocalyptic over the loss of his job, crew, life, and most of all the love of his life (and death).
• We get our one and ONLY sex chapter in the entire books, and a wild boner appears, but little else. 
• The Gang comes up with a plan to knock Eros into the sun, which takes some exciting twists and turns!
• Clint psychoanalyzes what Holden's polyamorist upbringing did to his brain and heart.
• Brigid goes linguist on lang belta and breaks down other fun stories about suicidal ideation.
• We talk about the rules of Golgo and shout out America's finest jurist, Judy Sheindlin. 
• Julie begins her trip home. 

Join us next time when we cover the seventh and final part of LEVIATHAN WAKES, where everything turns out just fine. Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at [email protected]. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here. Tip Brigid to support the pod. 

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are continuing our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with chapters 33 through 42 of LEVIATHAN WAKES, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!   

In this episode:

• The crew is together and on the same page and everything is going great, with the teensy exception of Jim Holden accidentally starting more interplanetary wars.
• We explore the Anubis and get lots of backstory on Protogen and the origin of the name of the Amon-Ra Class stealth ships. 
• Holden acquires a Chekov's protomolecule sample. 
• Clint wonders why none of the characters are aware of the Trump Era, and praises the authors for refraining from putting a bunch of sexual violence in the Expansiverse.
• Brigid delights in how Leviathan Wakes explores the found family trope, and goes long on sociopathy and how it relates to a host of characters.
• Everyone loves the bit about no one knowing who Fred is.
• The OPA performs a hostile takeover of Protogen's assets and Miller suggests some targeted terminations to trim the corporate fat.
• Clint talks about his pet theory about the Expanse being about humanity being the cause of and solution to all of our problems. 

Join us next time when we cover the sixth part of LEVIATHAN WAKES, where Julie sings the siren song to Miller, beckoning him back to Eros and the abyss. Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at [email protected]. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here. Tip Brigid to support the pod. 

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are continuing our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with chapters 25 through 32 of LEVIATHAN WAKES, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!   

In this episode:

• Everyone Is A Winner On Eros, for a very given definition of "Winner".
• Miller goes all in on the love of his life, ignoring only a few of her metaphorical warts.
• Jim throws his chips in the pot to be a hero and pays dearly for it (again).
• Our two main characters are positively radiating with comradery as they make their way through a team building adventure of discovery. 
• Miller begins the splitting of his consciousness between The Investigator and his Death Self, and foreshadows his eventual journey into oblivion. 
• We are witness to the absolute most horrifying, stomach-churning, uncomfortable scene in the entire series: Jim's chemically-induced confession of love. 
• Your Hosts compare and contrast Miller's crush on Julie, Holden's crush on Naomi, and The Swaaaaarrrrmm's crush on Dafyd. 
• Brigid talks about obscure poetry, serial killers, and caked up cartoon mice.
• Clint wonders about the cognitive abilities of the Vomit Zombies, and continues thirsting for Mother Elise.
• Naomi follows orders and Holden is salty about it. 

Join us next time when we cover the sixth part of LEVIATHAN WAKES, where The Gang Invades A Protogen Research Station. Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at [email protected]. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here. Tip Brigid to support the pod. 

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are continuing our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with chapters 15 through 24 of LEVIATHAN WAKES, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!   

In this episode:

• We finish Act I of the novel as all the pieces come together to send all of our characters to a nice little vacay to Eros Station.
• Jim gets a new ship, a new job, a new boss, and a new crush. 
• Miller, completely out of NOWHERE, is fired from the job that he told everyone a week ago he was too drunk to do.
• Clint gives a legal analysis of whether or not the Rocinante is Legitimate Salvage, with citations to antiquity and relevant international conventions. If you listen to this you owe him his regular hourly rate*. 
• Brigid goes long on the Cervantes references buried in the story and runs down Detective Miller's Grade A detective work.
• There is so much talk about how we should or should not Push The Button.
• One host analyzes the gender politics endemic to book one, and offers a thoughtful critique about the way Jim, Miller, the authors, and men in general think about women in this world and the real one. The other host makes several juvenile chauvinistic jokes. Guess which one does which!
• We compare and contrast the Expanse, the Captive's War, and Andy D's actual canonical favorite book (thanks to Hndlebrrrr on reddit for setting us straight).
•  *this is a joke he is not your lawyer and you cannot pay him

Join us next time when we cover the fourth part of LEVIATHAN WAKES, and everyone is going to win big on Eros. Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at [email protected]. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here.

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are continuing our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with chapters 6 through 14 of LEVIATHAN WAKES, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!   

In this episode:

• We spend more time with the Knight crew as they encounter the most terrifying and evil villain in the entire system: a corporate attorney.
• Miller journeys to the bottom of a bottle and back again, deepens his TOTALLY NORMAL interest in Ms. Juliette Mao, and meets a new friend named Andy.
• Holden offers his airtight alibi against accusations he accused Mars of killing the Cant: TECHNICALLY I never said that. Technically.
• Ceres station is devolving into chaos, but the OPA merch shop is still operational.
• Clint jumps at the opportunity to make a bunch of references to his favorite band and hones his Mariner Valley drawl.
• Brigid posits that Amos already knows that he's invincible and gives a rundown on the literary and cultural significance of the chosen names.
• We compare the pace of storytelling between the Expanse and The Captive's War.
• The entire crew (sorry Shed) narrowly escapes the Donnager in one of the most pulse pounding action sequences in the narrative. 
• Don't worry folks, FRED F'N JOHNSON is finally here. 

Join us next time when we cover the third part of LEVIATHAN WAKES, and find out what they're gonna name their new ship (NO SPOILERS JERKS). Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at [email protected]. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here.

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are beginning our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with the first 6 chapters of LEVIATHAN WAKES, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!   

In this episode:

• We get introduced to the world of the Expanse with the most heart-pounding prologue chapter in sci-fi. 
• Star Helix Detective Josephus Miller is getting way too old for this shit.
• Jim Holden gets a promotion and - for what is surely the last time - makes some bafflingly stupid decisions.
• Brigid sings the praises of the ping-pong storytelling narrative, especially in a story as plot dense as this one.
• Clint gives a mini lecture on maritime law and draws an extended comparison between the Expanse, A Song of Ice and Fire, and Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan. 
• Both hosts gush about the gorgeous JSAC prose that we get exposed to right away, and do an extended comparison of the mental illnesses of Miller and Amos.
• We detail the minor and sundry differences between the book and the show and pitch the listeners on reading the goddanged Captive's War.

Join us next time when we cover the second part of LEVIATHAN WAKES, and get on the Donnager. Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at [email protected]. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Read Brigid's stuff here.

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are covering The Butcher of Anderson Station, the second chronological novella in the Expanse series, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!   

In this episode:

• We cover the very important backstory of three of our favorite characters, Fred Johnson, Anderson Dawes, and [MYSTERY CHARACTER TO BE NAMED LATER].
• We give our sure to be controversial fancasts for those characters. 
• Your hosts hone their drama kid chops to dramatize the interaction between Fred and Dawes.
• Brigid defends the ethics and utility of frontier justice.
• Clint compares Fred Johnson to Frank Castle, and sings the praises of uber utilitarian Anderson Dawes.
• Fred's idealism is crushed forever, replaced by a dogged sense of righteous justice.
• Dawes drags Fred through some popular psychology with and without milk.
• The podcast finally gets to compare something from the show to the written work, and debates the strengths and weaknesses of both. 
• Your hosts discuss the similarities between this and the Captive's War, and the Expanse in general. 
• We build rapport. Lots of rapport. 

Join us next time when we cover the very first part of LEVIATHAN WAKES. Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at [email protected]. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. 

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