The Legendarium (The Legendarium Podcast)

Holy crap, we made it to a hundred episodes? Time to party! Which is pretty much what we did on this episode. There was no topic for the day, other than to chat about our history and how we've changed in our attitudes toward fantasy literature. Oh, and we recorded this episode while simultaneously streaming a video feed live on facebook! So forgive the unpolished delivery. The good news, though, is that we got to interact with a few of you while we recorded. We also played audio from a couple of fans from wildly different parts of the world. Thank you to EVERYONE for listening, and here's to another 100! Support us on Patreon and get exclusive access to amazing perks.

Well, we'd better hop on this bandwagon before everyone's done with it. Craig, Ryan, Todd, and Kenn discuss Netflix's mega-hit show, Stranger Things. Support the show on Patreon. Sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Number 1 in a 3-part series. Discussing parts 1 & 2 of Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings. We're giving away a Sanderson-signed hardcover copy of the book. Rules are at the 3-minute mark. The recording of this episode was broadcast live on facebook. Like our page and subscribe to live videos to get alerts the next time we're live. Support the Legendarium at Patreon.com/Legendarium

The 2nd portion of our Way of Kings podcast discussion is made up of parts 3 & 4 of the book. Craig, Ryan, Kenn, and Todd, discuss their favorite scenes, characters, and quotes; what they'll take from the book so far; how many times they think they'll need to re-read; and give a huge thank-you to the listeners and supporters on Facebook, Reddit, and Patreon. This episode contains the second word of the day needed to enter the giveaway for the Sanderson-signed copy of The Way of Kings. Please support the show at Patreon.com/legendarium.

You asked, we answered: It's our longest episode to date. Craig, Ryan, Todd, Kenn, and newcomer Megan talk about The Way of Kings, part 5, and the book in its entirety. A few questions get answered, but mostly, we get a lot more questions to take us into Words of Radiance. Craig reveals the final word of the day. Tweet the completed phrase at us, @LegendariumPod. Please support the show with just a couple bucks on Patreon.

We take on just the first two parts of Words of Radiance in the first of three episodes on the book. SPOILERS for Mistborn: Secret History... Starts 25:05, ends 31:00; starts 1:19:14, ends 1:19:23 ***Important: We're kicking off a new giveaway on this episode. One thing we forgot to mention is that this giveaway is restricted to US listeners only. We know it sucks, and we're sorry. We'll make it up to all of our overseas listeners in the future.*** (HINT: The word of the day comes between 30:00 and 40:00.)

The crew is all back for episode 2 of 3 in our Words of Radiance podcast series. There's a ton to discuss, and unfortunately we only get to a small part of it. Luckily there's one more episode to go after this. There is a MINOR SPOILER to Warbreaker in there somewhere. Listen at your own risk if you haven't read that one yet. But you should read it before this book anyway. HINT: The word of the day comes between the 50:00 and 60:00 marks. ***Please support the show at Patreon.com/Legendarium***

It’s our final Stormlight Archive podcast! It’s been an amazing ride, and we’re all super excited for the third book. Listen for the third WORD OF THE DAY to enter the drawing for the poster, t-shirt, or signed book. Donate at Patreon.com/legendarium to be entered for the limited edition Lightweaver pin.

**Spoiler Alerts** A blanket heads-up for Warbreaker and Mistborn: Secret History. Also, we mention a chapter from book 3 that Brandon has posted online.

Because of technical issues that we just can’t work around anymore, this is our last Facebook Live broadcast episode. We’re working on an alternative, and we’ll let you know when we have one. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@LegendariumPod) to stay up to date.

Who reviewed it best? Craig, Todd, and Kenn each review the new cowboy fantasy movie, The Magnificent Seven. You can vote for your favorite on our website or on twitter (@LegendariumPod). No spoilers. Well, spoilers, but this isn't really a spoiler kind of movie, so don't worry about it. Craig - 4:15 Todd - 8:20 Kenn - 12:30 Support the show on Patreon.

Two things you need to know before you listen: (1) there is a general spoiler alert that comes into effect after about the 30-minute mark; and (2) Ryan, Craig, and Todd are about to try to distill a dozen concepts from the Cosmere into 60 minutes of discussion. They fail. But it's fun to hear them try! Support the show on Patreon.

Spoiler alert for The Eye of the World. Read first, then listen. Craig, Ryan, Kenn, and newcomer Kyle are ready to take on Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, and they start ... well, at the beginning. This was meant to be a discussion about the entire first book, but they didn't even make it past the first chapter. So there will be more EotW discussion later this month. Please support the show at Patreon.com/Legendarium.

NO SPOILERS, so listen away. Craig, Ryan, and Todd review White Sand, the only thing they've ever read with as many credited authors as Legendarium reviewers. White Sand is the first piece of Cosmere lore that isn't written by Sanderson himself, but rather a graphic novel adaptation of an unpublished manuscript. This is only part 1 of 3 of the story, so there's nothing to spoil yet.

Part 2 of our discussion of The Eye of the World. Craig, Ryan, Kenn, and Kyle finally discuss more than just the prologue. This time we get around to talking about the setting, characters, and plot, plus a few frustrations. Like Part 1, this episode is missing a recap. Our apologies, we'll bring that back for the next Wheel of Time episode.

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We tackle the November movies that most of you saw. First, we discuss Doctor Strange and rank the MCU movies so far. Then, at 39:45, we talk Fantastic Beasts. Unshockingly, Craig has some opinions that prove none-too-popular. At least not with Ryan.

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The guys discuss Robert Jordan's The Great Hunt, in the first of two episodes on the book.

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Craig, Todd, and Kenn resurrect our Heroes of Sci-fi series by diving into Ray Bradbury's classic dystopia, Fahrenheit 451. So get back in the high-school-english-class mindset. Or, if you're still in high school, just use this to pretend like you read the book.

GENERAL SPOILER ALERT FOR THE COSMERE. The crew discusses Brandon Sanderson's novella, The Emperor's Soul. Most of the discussion is about the philosophical importance of the story, but we do stray into some discussion of the Cosmere and how it works, with a few references to other stories that you may not want spoiled.

Please donate to the show on Patreon. (And go there to hear a bonus Rogue One episode.)

We finish up our discussion of The Great Hunt. A lot of talk of foreshadowing, with Lan teaching Rand about "sheathing the sword." Or was it "heron in the rushes?" Or "pigs in a blanket?" We close out with a clip from the song The Wisdom of Emond's Field, by the Swedish metal band Katana.

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Craig and Todd discuss the 1938 novelette, Who Goes There? by J.W. Campbell. This is the story that John Carpenter's movie The Thing was based on. It's a fun one, and a good way to talk about old sci-fi in general.

PDF of the story itself

PDF scan of the original magazine it was published in

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The guys discuss book 3 of the Wheel of Time. Craig forgets Kyle's name. Mat finally gets some pagecount. Everybody hates Faile. Rand is the new King of the Britons. Oh, and SPOILER ALERT, between approximately 42:00 and 45:00, Kyle apparently gave away a plot point that occurs in a later book, but none of us even realized it. I doubt it's that big a deal.

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GENERAL COSMERE SPOILER ALERT. The crew discusses Brandon Sanderson's short story, Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, in this podcast. Is it fantasy? Horror? Something in between? It's a quick read, so if you haven't got to this one yet, take an hour to read before listening in.

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More discussion of The Dragon Reborn, including an excellent "farmer with a quarterstaff" reference. (Thanks to Reddit listener jffdougan!) Also includes WORD OF THE DAY #1 of 3! Stay tuned through the next two WoT podcasts to hear the others and qualify for entry in the giveaway.

 

Support the show on Patreon and get double entry for the giveaway.

MEGA SPOILER ALERT for the Cosmere. Seriously, we spoil most of it, so make sure you're caught up. The good news is that this story really doesn't work unless you're pretty well caught up anyway.

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Spoilers for all of The Shadow Rising. It's a frantic rush to cover as much as we can as we work our way through a discussion of this mammoth, 386K-word novel. This discussion turns out to be almost exlusively about the adventures of the crew in the Aiel Waste. Special attention is paid, per Reddit request, to the vision in Rhuidean. Word of the Day number 2 of 3 is revealed.

We mop up our discussion of The Shadow Rising, book 4 of the Wheel of Time. Craig, Ryan, Kyle, and Kenn dive into the Perrin chapters, where he and Faile have moved from "utterly rage inducing" to just "pretty annoying most of the time." The final Word of the Day is revealed.

First, we announce the winner of the WoT-themed giveaway. Then we get into The Fires of Heaven, book 5 of The Wheel of Time. We talk about a lot of stuff, but the most important may be the question, "What's up with the menagerie, RJ?"

Haven't read this one yet? Don't worry about it! Dauntless isn't the type of book that relies on a surprise ending, so feel free to listen along and let us whet your appetite for this modern scifi classic. Craig and Todd welcome new panelist Scott for this one.

We wrap our discussion of The Fires of Heaven, book 5 of The Wheel of Time. This episode takes on the rampage of the Shaido Aiel, the possible real-world origin of Rand's aversion to harming women, and Kyle's tendency to just let the rest of the guys say idiotic things about the series.

This week we take a little breather from all the reading and relax with a discussion of all the other media we've been consuming for the last few months. Topics include Kong: Skull Island, Iron Fist, Logan, Power Rangers, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the new Stormlight cover reveal, and more. Craig lost a Reddit bet and actually compliments the other guys. The world remains nevertheless intact.

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We take an hour to play catch-up on some of our points and your questions that we never got around to in the first 10 Wheel of Time episodes. So, do we actually catch up? Ha ha ha! No, of course not! But we get to a few more things and clarify a few others. Enjoy this bonus WoT discussion.

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We begin our Lord of Chaos discussion by featuring a couple of voicemails we received through the website. (You should send us one, too!) We also get to a few written questions from Redditors, as well as our own thoughts on the book. 

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Part two of our epic two-hour discussion of Lord of Chaos, book 6 in the Wheel of Time series. Rand and Elayne might be kissin' cousins. More about Rand and Alanna's bond. Dumai's Wells, no need to say more.

Forgive us, listeners, for we have sinned. It has been far too long since our last episode. Hopefully things pick up well, though, as we hit the halfway point in our epic journey through Randland. Although some say that this is where WoT starts to slow down, but we were all well-entertained. Except for the Morgase chapters, of course. Enjoy!

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First of all, our apologies. The audio quality on this episode is terrible. But when you can't get the mics to work right, what do you do? You record anyway! Enjoy our rambunctious, bizarre, tangential conversation about Redshirts.

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In part two of our Crown of Swords podcast discussions, the guys answer another voicemail, discuss the intricacies of balefire, and consider the mark that Cadsuane left on Brandon Sanderson.

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Craig and Ryan welcome new panelist Kayla to help them discuss the newest entry in the Legend of Zelda series: Breath of the Wild. The panel has a wide range of experience with both the game and the series as a whole, so we hope that makes for a good discussion of each. Enjoy!

We're without Ryan on this one, and unfortunately it's noticeably less intelligent. Just don't tell him I typed that. But Craig, Kyle, and Kenn take on the first discussion of The Path of Daggers, book 8 in the Wheel of Time.

Ryan is back, and we're ready to finish our discussion of The Path of Daggers, book 8 of the Wheel of Time. We do some of our usual complaining about a few things, but mostly we defend "the slump" and give Robert Jordan some props for how much level-three stuff he fit into one conversation between two side characters.

Alright all you Todd fanatics out there ... Todd's back! He and Craig discuss Treason, by Orson Scott Card. It was OSC's second novel, originally published in 1979 and later updated to its current form. Although it's wildly different from most of the stuff we read, and although we had a lot of fun tearing it to pieces, we both enjoyed it quite a bit and recommend it as a quick, interesting read.

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Sorry about the ramshackle state of our audio quality! The guys didn't have their regular setup, but they still had to get together and discuss the new Spiderman movie, which they all saw the night before taping this episode. If you can stand the poor sound quality...then enjoy!

The crew discusses Winter's Heart, book 9 of the Wheel of Time. Topics include polyamory, yonic imagery, and whether Rand is a "good guy" or just a protagonist. Ryan gifts Craig with his new favorite analogy for what it's like to read the Wheel of Time.

The guys continue their discussion of Winter's Heart, book 9 of the Wheel of Time series. This episode leans heavily on listener questions from Reddit, some of which even make sense.

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It's a packed house as all five regular panelists pack in to pay homage to Harry Potter on his birthday weekend. Spoilers may abound, but honestly, it's Harry Potter: if you don't know this story inside and out, then you probably aren't listening to the Legendarium anyway. 

Craig, Ryan, and Todd sit down and discuss The Dark Tower (the movie, not the book) with Skyped-in guest Jon Negroni, host of the Cinemaholics podcast. It helped to bring in the big guns, because there was a lot to go over. Long story short: The Dark Tower wasn't a disaster, but it was nowhere near where it should have been. We spend an hour trying to figure out why.

BUY JON'S NOVEL, KILLERJOY, ON AMAZON

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We're finally here, at the crest of the hill. It's no secret that Crossroads of Twilight is considered the worst book in the Wheel of Time series, but we found that it wasn't quite as bad as the hype led us to believe. Craig, Ryan, Kyle, and Kenn are still able to have a good discussion about the book, and to kick off the latest giveaway.

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It was always a gamble, and many of you wondered whether it was one we would take: making a full two episodes out of Crossroads of Twilight. Frankly, it was a lot easier than we thought, and we didn't want for things to say. Craig, Ryan, Kenn, and Kyle are able to fill more than an hour with the good and bad of book 10.

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The four guys deliver four movie reviews for Avengers 2 (4:45), Fantastic Four (14:15), Ant Man (29:40), and Inside Out (40:25).

The guys let their hair down for this one. Well, Craig does, since he's the only one with hair long enough to let down. They quiz each other on some of the big geek news items from 2015, and look forward to a couple events in 2016. Be sure to check out the 2016 reading challenge they've set up at WorldsWithoutEnd.com. Signing up is free and easy, and it makes for an easy way to interact with the guys during their Year of Sanderson.

Craig reviews Jupiter Ascending in 3 minutes. He is not very kind.

Craig reviews "Kingsman" in 3 minutes. The verdict: it was good...until it was bad. Very very bad.

The "let's sit around and chat about geeky stuff!" version of The Legendarium Podcast. Topics include:

0:00 - Intro and insults

1:39 - Pitching the Brandon Sanderson reading challenge and Imzy.com/legendarium

5:24 - Zelda: Twilight Princess HD review so far; plus, the state of Nintendo

12:09 - Brandon Sanderson’s upcoming White Sands graphic novel

16:00 - Deadpool

22:14 - Shannara Chronicles

26:27 - Divergent: Allegiant

27:54 - Gods of Egypt

31:54 - Craig gets political about Hollywood

34:15 - Upcoming movies: Captain America, Batman v Superman

47:05 - Daredevil

Craig, Ryan, Todd, and Kenn wrap up the Mistborn series (so far) with a discussion of The Bands of Mourning, book 3 in the Wax and Wayne era. This will be the last Mistborn episode for a while ... Or will it? Sign up for the new Legendarium community at Imzy.com/legendarium before midnight on April 10th to be entered to win a signed and personalized copy of The Bands of Mourning.

Bonus episode for a bonus book! Brandon dropped Secret History on the world without any warning, so we didn't include it officially in our 2016 reading challenge. But it had to go in, of course. So Craig, Ryan, and Nic chat for a few minutes about seeing some of the old Mistborn cast again, plus implications for the Cosmere at large. Don't forget to go to Imzy.com/legendarium and sign up for the beta test. Do it before midnight on April 10th and you'll be entered for a signed and personalized copy of The Bands of Mourning!

Ryan, Craig, Geoff, and Tommy discuss Steelheart, the first book in Brandon Sanderson's unconventional superhero trilogy. The novel is written for teenagers, so it's no surprise that the four guys who are getting too old for that sort of thing like it a lot. Congrats to the winner of the signed copy of The Bands of Mourning: Ryan A., from New Brighton, MN!

Bonus! Since Brandon Sanderson was kind enough to write a tiny little short story before releasing Firefight a couple years ago, we decided to do a smaller episode of our own. In our Mitosis podcast, we deal with some of the good and bad, and some of the popular reactions to the story. Links we mention during the cast: Writing Excuses - Brandon's podcast Imzy.com/legendarium - Home base for interacting with the Legendarium's hosts and listeners

Craig, Nic, and Geoff discuss the second book in the Reckoners series in this Firefight podcast. Everyone loved the book and thought it had a much stronger antagonist than Steelheart. Nic tries to spoil Mistborn (Craig won't let him), and Geoff teases just a bit of Calamity, making us all pretty excited to get to it.

This week we each give a separately recorded review of Captain America: Civil War. The reviewers in order: Ryan: 1:00 Craig: 4:00 Kenn: 6:40 Todd: 9:20 We need you to vote on which review is the best! Pride is at stake! Vote at any of the following places: thelegendariumpodcast.com facebook.com/thelegendarium twitter.com/legendariumpod imzy.com/legendarium

Today's panel: Craig, Kenn, Jake J, and Jake H. This Zelda podcast started as a review of Twilight Princess HD, but quickly turned into a general discussion of the Zelda franchise, past and future. Support the Legendarium Podcast by tipping us at imzy.com/legendarium. SHOW NOTES: Twilight Princess review - 8:05 NX speculation - 21:03 What makes a game a Zelda game? - 23:50 Favorite items - 27:40 The music of Zelda - 30:13 Favorite game in the franchise? - 35:13 Which is the darker game, MM or TP? - 39:35 Digging into the franchise timeline - 46:55 Support the Legendarium Podcast by tipping us at imzy.com/legendarium.

Today's panel: Craig, Ryan, Geoff, Tommy, Kenn. SPOILER-heavy episode, as always. We discuss Calamity, book 3 of the Reckoners series. We have a few things to say about the setting and the characters, but we save most of our conversation for the ending of the trilogy. 0:00 - Intro, insults, and housekeeping 6:45 - Craig's quick review 8:50 - Reaction and discussion 47:00 - Final thoughts Support the Legendarium Podcast by tipping us at imzy.com/legendarium.

Craig, Ryan, and Nic discuss Akallabêth, the story of the downfall of Númenor. Bit by bit, Craig is forcing Ryan to read the entire book. They dispense with the regular opening insults, and instead opt for bringing back the long-lost "Craig's LotR [Silmarillion] Trivia." 0:00 - Intro, Brandon Sanderson Reading Challenge, Support us on Imzy 4:30 - Craig's LotR Trivia 15:10 - So... What did everyone think of Akallabêth? 21:16 - Arthurian influence on Tolkien 31:44 - Being loyal to fundamental principles 40:45 - Art and holistic progress in Númenor 45:35 - Making the Silmarillion movie 51:33 - Getting to know Sauron the Deceiver

Show Notes

Panel: Craig, Ryan, Geoff

***Spoilers*** for Elantris, but no spoilers for the rest of the Cosmere

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5:25 - Elantris recap

14:00 - The magic system, the setting

18:55 - The politics

22:30 - Elantrian pain = real life. Find a purpose. What are Sanderson’s personal politics?

38:30 - Exploring faith through Hrathen

43:00 - Elantris as a film

44:30 - Do Raoden and Sarene have an actual character arc?

49:45 - Some constructive criticisms

59:00 - The 10th Anniversary edition

The rules are simple: Four of us separately recorded reviews for Warcraft. The review had to be 2-4 minutes. Your job is to decide who reviewed it best. Vote on our website for your favorite: Craig - 1:05 Ryan - 3:40 Kenn - 7:20 Jake - 9:40 Support us on Imzy.

In which is discussed the Silmarillion, chapters 5-9. This is the section all about Fëanor, Melkor, the Silmarils, and the flight of the Noldor. We go back to our roots for this episode. This time it's just Ryan and Craig in the studio, talking about Tolkien, playing trivia games, and trying to get something out of fantasy literature that's above their heads.

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The whole crew (Craig, Ryan, Kenn, and Todd) is back together for this discussion of Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker. We discuss the magic, the characters, the pacing, the humor, and the story's place in the greater Cosmere. Do Vasher and Vivenna show up in Mistborn: Secret History? What other book does Nightblood make an appearance in? Also, we finally announce our post-Sanderson podcast series, toward the end of the episode.

Surprise one and all it's a special new episode of the Legendarium Podcast.  This episode we cover our weekly dose of geek news and speculation and talk about some interesting casting options after we review Salt Lake Comic Con's FanX.

Enjoy this special edition episode as it was meant to be heard! In celebration of Star Wars Day (May 4th) Craig, Ryan, and guest Todd Wente discuss the Star Wars Universe and why it continues to enthrall generation after generation.

The discussion continues into the realm of the films and we get a few moments of pro prequel arguments.

A brief biography and incredibly "accurate" discussion of the life of H.G. Wells. Music: "Hyperfun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Craig, Ryan, and Todd welcome back Dr Matt Woolley to talk about how comic books can affect literacy in children. Craig is revealed as a no-comic-reading snob; Ryan, who is half-asleep, is revealed to have partied much harder than we thought him capable of.

Craig reviews Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" in 3 minutes. Ryan coughs up a hairball.

A midweek featuring the full crew (we'll count Ryan even though he just up and leaves halfway through) talking mostly about Daredevil. Todd also reviews the Star Wars Battle Pod arcade game.

In this episode we talk about what we expect out of good films, make some Oscar predictions, (which Craig couldn't possibly care less about) and we briefly make book suggestions.

Craig and Ryan tackle their first game of Dungeons and Dragons and they are natural....ly poor at figuring it out at the start. Join the Legendarium crew at HaJoMaJe games for the abbreviated adventure into never winter and the quest for the best 401k option available to adventurers.

Book 1, Chapters 1-2 We discuss the ways of hobbits, Bilbo Baggins as one of the 1% (doggone rich people!), and the setting of the massive story to follow.

Book 3, Chapters 8-11 With special guest Rebecca (aka Geeklady) Maps! Craig encourages their liberal use as we make our way through the Two Towers. Ryan wonders if the LotR would be popular if it had been published today. The special guest rolls up "Craig's LotR Trivia" and smokes it.

Book 4, Chapters 1-3 Special guest: Jeff Hewitt, a fantasy author from Georgia. Craig and Ryan celebrate their birthdays hobbit-style. Ryan finally identifies with a Middle-earth activity: rock climbing. Craig thinks Sam is getting a bit orcish in his behavior. Ryan identifies Tolkien's greatest life lesson so far: get out and serve someone else, you selfish jackass.

Book 5, Chapters 6-10: Special guest: Nick Jeter. Ryan and Nick have to endure Craig's lessons on the history and family trees of the Numenoreans, their ancestors, and their descendents. Denethor's despair is deemed decidedly damaging. How does Witch-king die? Well, we're not quite sure, but then Ryan gets it with the help of the All-Powerful Internets.

Book 6, Chapters 1-3Ryan and Craig explore the...excellent?...disappointing?...something...death of the Ring of Power. This episode features Ryan at his most referential and bizarre. And maybe his most awesome.

Book 6, Chapters 4-9. This is it! Our final episode in the LotR series is a doozy, with Larry D Curtis from theonering.net joining us as we discuss the good, the great, and the tear-jerking in the last few chapters. Ryan loves the Scouring of the Shire, Craig thinks that rock he just passed might be an old elf-lord, and Larry thinks the Ring looks decidedly cross-shaped toward the end of the story.

Hobbit News. Guardians of the Galaxy review. A bit of Star Wars news. And we make announcements about some future episodes. Unfortunately, we talk about Craig's sweaty back at the same time.

Book 1, Chapters 3-5 Hitting the road, getting our first glimpse of Black Riders, and lots of first glimpses of what’s to come: poetry, themes, and elves. A salute to the worst accidental innuendo in all of fantasy literature. We also try to answer the question: Why on Eru’s green Middle-earth do we care about the origins of Brandy Hall?

Book 1 Chapters 6-8 O Tom, Jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo! Discussion includes the singing weirdo, barrow wights, and “mastery” vs. “domination”. We’ve left the Shire, and we’re now in the wide world, just like leaving real life and entering wild world of Fairy Tales. This is not Ryan’s best week as a contestant in CRAIG’S LORD OF THE RINGS TRIVIA.

Book 1 Chapters 9-12 Picking up the pace, we go from Bree to the Ford of Bruinen, meet Strider, and run away from Black Riders–a lot.

Book 2, Chapters 1-2 Welcome to Rivendell! We don’t go anywhere, but we hear a lot about many far away places, from many new and old characters. Elves count by twelves, and anyone who has been to Salt Lake City in the winter has seen Isengard in the flesh.

Book 2, Chapters 3-5 Finally, we get resolution on the biggest cliffhanger from The Hobbit: What in the world happened to Balin, son of Fundin? We’ll also say a tearful farewell to our trusty guide, Gandalf the Grey.

Book 2, Chapter 6-10 Wrapping up the Fellowship, we delve into a timid discussion on religion, and Craig makes a controversial claim: Tolkien saw the future and imagined Cate.

The Two Towers, Book 3, Chapters 1-4 An insanely difficult edition of Craig's LotR Trivia, much to the chagrin of Ryan and special(ish) guest Brian. Discussion includes the origin of the Ents (they were created because of some cosmic marital strife) and the unfailing cheerfulness of Hobbits. Ryan can't figure out why people like Treebeard and don't like Tom Bombadil.

Two Towers, Chapters 5-7 Ryan apparently has some serious problems with the names Tolkien is choosing. Craig can't really blame him. Peter Jackson may have taken some liberties at Helm's Deep, but that's not so bad, considering how amazeballs it turned out. Craig basically reads a Middle- and Old-English dictionary on the air. Good times are had by all.

We are joined by clinical psychologist and Professor Matt Woolley to discuss original fairy tales and their darker pieces. We cover the importance of these stories for children and adults and we walk through Hansel and Gretel's story. All while Ryan gets a chance at a small therapy session.

FantasyCon is on! 4th of July weekend, SLC will play host to what we think sounds like the coolest convention ever. Our guests are Larry D. Curtis and Ashley Turner, both organizers for FantasyCon. They'll tell us all about the panels, celebrities, sword fighting, and world's-largest-dragons that we can expect.

Craig and Ryan wax nostalgic (a whole 2 weeks later) about the inaugural FantasyCon in Salt Lake City. If you were there, come relive it. If you weren't, consider this the first step to getting psyched about next year! A huge thanks to FantasyCon for an awesome weekend.

All that "Wait until book 3" talk starts to pay off.

We reach the end of the Hero of Ages and come to see the completion of prophecy.  Happy endings abound......or do they? (Cue dramatic music)  Plenty of punchin' for those who love it and plenty of everything else brings us to the end of our mistborn trilogy series.

We continue our Heroes of Sci-Fi series by tackling 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.  We talk undersea politics and the value of a name.

Finishing our sci-fi series by bringing it into the 21st Century, the guys discuss Ernest Cline's Ready Player One.

Craig and Ryan, along with Todd and Kenn, discuss the '80 classic novel Sphere, by Michael Crichton. They try to figure out just what genre it belongs in, and try to convince Ryan that it was a good book. He seems ... underwhelmed.

We've solved the Case of the Missing Episode! We read and discussed Starship Troopers in February, and we got in way over our heads in that discussion. But we give it a good shot anyway.

Join Craig, Ryan and Todd as they talk the Hobbit and prepare for the final chapter cinematic release.