Sara and Lilly read Thud! a City Watch book in Discworld that is probably not the best book in Discworld, but they genuinely liked it despite their complaining. Your hosts talk about fantasy racial tension, the Bechdel test, and lolrandom chickens. They also discuss Carrot's character development, the helpfulness of strippers, and poor, poor Sybil.…

Your hosts try not to make anyone too mad with their opinions about The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson's first Mistborn novel. Credit where credit's due, it's got a really cool magic system. They spend some time comparing it to Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey, and also talk about the YA to Grimdark pipeline, sex workers, and fun takes on the Ch…

The people have spoken! Your hosts let their patreon subscribers choose the book for this episode, and they chose "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin. Your hosts discuss narrative voice, Fantasy tropes from the mid 20th century, and how an author's reputation may affect the reader's experience. They also talk about coming of age stories, wa…

Your hosts are joined by S.T. Gibson to talk about her new novel, Evocation. They discuss religious characters from all over the spectrum, occult research, and the allure of secret societies. They also talk about headlight writing, flexible series arcs, and the challenges around writing a polyamorous romance plotline. Find more from S.T. Gibson: ht…

Your hosts read Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, and they ask: Is this the best place to start in Discworld? 1 out of 2 Fiction Fans hosts agree. They also talk about reformed conmen, the intricacies of golem gender, and are hesitantly cautious about the romantic interest’s future in the series. Find us on discord or support us on Patreon Thanks to…

Your hosts are joined by Bryan S. Glosemeyer to talk about Beyond the Gates Infernal, volume 2 in his Shattered Gates series, but Sara and Lilly can’t resist asking a few questions about volume 1 anyway. They discuss SciFi slang, cute alien creatures, and the unsettling familiarity of the slavery system our main character grew up in. They also brin…

Your hosts are joined by KRR Lockhaven to talk about The Grimoire, the Gods, and the Girl, the final novel in his Azure Archipelago series. They discuss ending a series vs starting one, re-emerging villains, and love quadrangles. They also bring up Mrs Covington's, a standalone but related novel that adds an extra layer of coziness to the series as…

Your hosts read A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett. They talk about young witches, metaphors for puberty, and theoretical nostalgia. They also discuss how this Tiffany Aching YA novel fits in to the larger Discworld series. Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fictionfanspod Thanks to…

Your hosts are joined by author Krystle Matar and Taylor from Maed Between the Pages for a follow up conversation about genre and everyone's weird emotions about them. They wonder how much kissing makes Fantasty Romantasy, the difference between 'feel good' and 'cozy,' and what drives us to define the things we love. You can find the rest of this e…

Your hosts are joined by Chris Panatier to cover his latest novel, "The Redemption of Morgan Bright." They talk about maintaining mystery in a past tense 1st person POV, suspect character motives, and incredible marketing websites. They also discuss the allure of asylum stories, weaponized "healthcare," and how distressingly close to reality this h…

For national poetry month, your hosts discuss the Selected Works of Audre Lorde, edited by Roxane Gay. They talk about the autobiographical nature of poetry, how the collection was organized, and Lorde's occasionally depressing ability to predict the future. This episode also features a Pet Peeve segment. Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNH…

Your hosts are joined by Andrew Cartmel to talk about "Noise Floor," the most recent addition to his Vinyl Detective series. They discuss keeping an ongoing series fresh, managing overlapping storylines, and poly relationship dynamics. They also go over the inherent (or not so much) personality traits of musical genres, and the mystery surrounding …

This week your hosts discuss Sidle Creek, a very good but also extremely sad collection of short stories taking place in Appalachia. They talk about content warnings (many), privilege (theirs) and heartbreak (lots). They also debate genre for a bit, and argue about whether a sense of horror makes a story Horror. Find us on discord: https://discord.…

Your hosts continue their journey to center of the Discworld with Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett. They discuss performative gender, unexpected allies, and supportive camraderie. They also talk about a character's near miss with fatphobia, underexplored backstories, and overexplored hair. This episode contains a hat-centric words are weird. F…

Your hosts had the opportunity to chat with Nevena Andrić, who works as a translator at one of the biggest Serbian publishing houses. They discuss the joys of translating beloved works like Night Watch from Discworld and The Song of Achilles. They also talk about the different challenges of translating fantasy vs scifi vs nonfiction, works with non…

Your hosts are joined by Premee Mohamed to talk about her novella The Butcher of the Forest and her novel The Siege of Burning Grass. They discuss moral ambiguity, relatable antagonists, and the horrors of war. They also bring up how much they want to give Alefret a hug, even if it wouldn't actually solve any of his problems. Find more from Premee:…

Your hosts enter the Fungalverse as they speak with Adrian M. Gibson about his upcoming novel "Mushroom Blues." This episode gives a sneak peek of the fungalpunk detective novel that features an older female main character, noir inspiration, and cultural fusions. They discuss Adrian's writing process, literary influences, and most of all, mushrooms…

Your hosts are joined by Gabriela Houston to talk about her novel The Bone Roots. They discuss beauty bias in fantasy, older female protagonists, and portrayals of healthy relationships. They also talk about Polish mythology, and the lengths people will go to to protect the people they love. More from Gabriela: https://www.gabrielahouston.com/ http…

This was originally streamed live during TBRCon 2024 Your hosts were joined by author Krystle Matar to talk about genre conventions, definitions, and rule breaking. They discuss genre terms used for marketing vs reviews. Lilly introduces a REVOLUTIONARY 3 Pillar Theory for categorizing works and genres. They play a quick round of Shoot, Screw, or M…

Your hosts discuss The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. They compare it and its main character to The Amazing Maurice, the first YA Discworld novel. Tiffany Aching proves to be the podcast fav. They debate what qualities a book must have to be considered "Discworld" (and in doing so they might accidentally turn "Discworld" into a genre). Witches ar…

Your hosts speak with author Deborah Wilde about her newest urban fantasy novel, Big Demon Energy. The conversation ranged from Jewish culture to vampire mythology to three dimensional hunky love interests (with some detours into knitting, fantastical places on our earth, and complex mother figures) Find more from Deborah here https://deborahwilde.…

Your hosts are joined by P.L. Stuart to talk about A Drowned Kingdom, the first book in his epic fantasy The Drowned Kingdom series. They talk about the pace of worldbuilding, unlikeable main characters, and unreliable points of view. Find more from P.L. Stuart https://twitter.com/plstuartwrites https://www.plstuart.com/ Find us on discord: https:/…

Dr Kat Day joins your hosts to talk about Night Watch by Terry Pratchett. They discuss where the novel fits into The City Watch subseries and Discworld as a whole. They somehow manage to agree to disagree about Carrot. There’s conversation about anti heroes, lampshades, and sexy lamps (some more metaphorical than others). This episode features a se…

This week your hosts discuss Poor Things by Alasdair Gray. Lilly only compares it to the movie a few times. They talk about the book's "found manuscript" framing device, satirizing gothic novels, and sex positivity in fictional victorian Glasgow. They also use the word "Frankenstein" as an adjective to what is hopefully a hilarious degree. Instead …

Your hosts discuss Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock by Maud Woolf. They talk about tragedy, self sabotage, and the worth of a person's life. The book doesn't actually feel that sad though, they swear. Lilly also has beef with the word quash in a mini Words are Weird segment. Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or support us on Pat…

Your hosts absolutely loved the film noir, lesbian novella Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk, which you can tell by how distracted they get and how much they argue over vaguely related topics. They throw out a few comparisons, some more justified than others. Your hosts also discuss how expectations can change how readers feel about an ending…

Your hosts talk about the year including some changes to the podcast, reading metrics, and good old fashioned nostalgia. They give out some superlatives, like "best trash villain" and "best debut novel," both of which were, unfortunately, rigged. Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fic…

JR Lilly is seemingly one of the most connected people in East Portland! He is a cornerstone member of our community and a member of the Dineh (Navajo Nation). In this conversation, JR sets the tone by framing his identity by introducing himself from an indigenous worldview and how that framework of collectivism differs from individualism. He grew …

In this episode, your hosts return to the Graven Trilogy by Essa Hansen to discuss Ethera Grave, the third and final book of the series. They lament the 18 month reading gap, debate what qualifies something to be “cthulu-esque,” and talk about how terrifying true belief is in a villain. They also debate minute details in the definitions of “science…

In this week's episode your hosts are joined by Sherwood Smith to talk about A Stranger to Command, prequel to Crown Duel and part of her Sartorias-Deles series. They talk about Sartorias-Deles as a whole and what it's like to finish such a long-spanning series (both in book time and in our time), an outsider's perspective of the now-familiar Marlo…

Your hosts are joined by Jennifer Donohue to discuss her debut novel Exit Ghost. They talk about witch girls, Hamlet, and witchy-girl Hamlet, along with self destructive characters, sympathetic characters, and prickly characters (and sometimes they're the same!). This episode also features a Wor-ds Are We-ird. Find more from Jen http://authorizedmu…

Your hosts discuss the first Young Adult novel on the Discworld, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. They takes a trip down memory lane to a brand new place, and talk about the various YA tropes that Pratchett plays with. Sara also takes us to the pet peeve corner where they try to come up with better alternatives to "male" and "female" a…

Your hosts are joined by Ai Jiang to discuss her novelette I AM AI. They also talk about ghostwriting, Artificial Intelligence in art, and experimental work in genre fiction. Find more from Ai here https://aijiang.ca/ Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fictionfanspod Thanks to the fol…

Your hosts are joined by Adrian Gibson from SFFAddicts to discuss Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. They give Shelley some marketing advice a few years too late, rip into some 1970s editors with bad opinions and questionable facts, and debate both authorial intent and reader interpretations across centuries. Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHT…

Your hosts discuss The Last Hero, a Discworld fable written by Terry Pratchett and illustrated by Paul Kidby. They talk about its use of Discworld characters as fable archetypes and the various fun cameos that pop up, as well as how it examines the different aspects of heroing. They also go over some of their favorite illustrations from the book. T…

Your hosts are joined by Suzan Palumbo to talk about her new collection of short fiction, Skin Thief. They discuss her inspiration from Trinidadian folklore, love of retellings, and the unique challenges of short fiction. She even gets Sara to admit that she might like gothic horror. Find more from Suzan here: https://suzanpalumbo.wordpress.com/ ht…

Continuing their Spooky Month theme, your hosts are joined by Rus Wornom to talk about his new dark fantasy novel, Ghostflowers. They discuss the genesis of the novel ("the vampires of Madison county"), the differences between horror in short stories vs horror in novels, and music as a narrative device. Find more from Rus Wornom here: https://ruswo…

In this spooky month episode, your hosts discuss Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle, notorious parody erotica author. This book, however, has a lot more bugs and a lot less sex. They talk about how important it is to pace info in horror stories, the inherent horror of gay conversion camps, and whether this book even counts as a horror novel at all. But …

Your hosts are once again joined by Hannah and Laura from On Wednesdays We Read Podcast for another episode of Nostalgia Book Club. They discuss “Which Witch?" a kids’ book that’s half love story, half witchcraft exhibition, and half earthworms (yes, this was a Lilly choice). They talk about the value of dark themes in children's lit, the unremarka…

The people have spoken! Your hosts let their patreon subscribers choose the book for this episode, which means they’re diving into the Dungeons & Dragons world of Krynn with a discussion of “Dragons of Autumn Twilight” by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. To be honest, they’re not too impressed by the blandly unlikeable characters in this first Drag…

In this episode, your hosts discuss The Return of the King by J.R.R.Tolkien and come up with some better names for both this book and the series as a whole. They also talk about fantasy depictions of PTSD, the romanticism of Aragorn, and Eowyn’s flaws. Lilly complains a lot about monarchies. They manage to agree that Lobelia Sackville-Baggins gets …

In this episode, Sara cheats you out of many very funny "horologist" puns while your hosts discuss "Thief of Time" by Terry Pratchett. Your hosts also talk about the inner workings of Igors, what makes a good pun, and the alarming lack of Susan in what is theoretically a book in the Death series of Discworld novels. Content warning: mention of fict…

This week your hosts discuss “Debunked” by Dito Abbott, an action-packed YA adventure across the sci-fi and fantasy genres (which one is it? No one knows). They talk about young readers, dinosaur kidnappers, and sand pits. Lilly continues to have a soft spot for Amnesia in any form. They also debate important topics such as: Does the robot dog have…

This whole episode contains spoilers. This week your hosts discuss The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien. Is it the second book in the Lord of the Rings series, or a combination of books three and four? Probably the former. They also talk about Tolkien having standards for his Kings, sympathy for the ents, and Lilly negs King Theoden. This episode also …

In this episode, you hosts discuss “The Delve” by Dan Fitzgerald. They talk about introductions to fantasy worlds, inevitable comparisons to Tolkien and D&D (even when the work is entirely unique, or perhaps especially then), and magic sex toys. This episode also features a Pet Peeve Corner. Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or supp…

Your hosts take another step on their journey to the center of the Discworld with “The Truth” by Terry Pratchett. They argue quite a bit about books as content vs. physical object and it is tenuously related to the text, we promise. They somehow end up referencing Percy Shelley more than once, and they also discuss whether this book belongs in the …

In this episode your hosts discuss “Nona the Ninth” by Tamsyn Muir, the third book in the Locked Tomb Series. They censor spoiler talk in the first ten minutes, attempt to dive into some mushy details, and compliment Muir’s unusual use of perspective in narrative. They also determine that this novel requires a study guide. This incredible person wr…

Your hosts journey farther into the center of the Discworld with “The Fifth Elephant” by Terry Pratchett. Elephants feature very little in this conversation, and indeed, this book. But they DO talk about poor husbanding played for laughs, the true introduction of the Igor family, and Uberwald from the Witches’ vs Sam Vimes’s perspectives. This epis…

Your hosts celebrate their 100th episode with the Fellowship of the Ring, first sequel to The Hobbit (oh, and the beginning of that Lord of the Rings series). Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fictionfanspod Big huge thank you to Fellowship! The Musical Parody of Fellowship of the Ri…

Rich Waggoner has been writing songs since he was a teenager in Parkrose. He shares his nostalgia for the Parkrose he knew, and we preview four of his original songs about growing up in Parkrose. For more info about Rich Waggoner and Parkrose Life, check out the show notes for this episode at parkroselife.com/nostalgia-rich-waggoner-podcast You can…