215. What if Heroes Made Robots to Save Jews? | Breath of Bones with Tricia and Nathan Goyer

Fantastical Truth

In the days of the second World War, the Nazi party is taking over Europe and persecuting the Jewish people. But this time, one respected journalist and the descendent of a famous rabbi join forces to create a new mystical being to guard the innocent: the golem. How does that go? Tricia Goyer and Nathan Goyer know, and they’ll join us in the studio to explore alternate-historical fantasy in their upcoming novel Breath of Bones.

Episode sponsors

1. Enclave Publishing: Lady of Basilikas by Ronie Kendig
2. Realm Makers 2024 writers’ conference
3. Lorehaven Guild: The Visitation

Mission update

• Lorehaven reviews: This Present Darkness, Breath of Bones
• Starting next week: the Left Behind Legacy series
• Subscribe free to get updates and join the Lorehaven Guild

Tricia Goyer and Nathan Goyer (2024)

Introducing guest Tricia Goyer

Tricia Goyer is a celebrated writer, speaker, and co-host of the Daily Bible Podcast. As an author of 90 books, Tricia has won four Golden Scrolls, two Carols, and a Christian Book Award. In addition to Christy and Gold Medallion nominations, her book sales exceed 4 million copies. Tricia is a highly sought-after conference speaker, sharing on writing, parenting, and purposeful living. Tricia’s most recent work, Breath of Bones, is a historical steampunk fantasy co-authored with her son Nathan Goyer.

• TriciaGoyer.com
• Facebook: @AuthorGriciaGoyer
• Instagram: @TriciaGoyer
• DailyBiblePodCoffeeClub.Substack.com

Introducing guest Nathan Goyer

Nathan Goyer is an upstart designer and science fiction author, who has been writing since he was young. He has written the novel Bask: City of Shadows and solo-developed the mobile RPG game Heedless, which has surpassed 30,000 downloads. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Arkansas Little Rock, he is now pushing forward with new endeavors, starting with his newest novel, Breath of Bones, which he wrote alongside his fellow author and mother, Tricia Goyer.

1. How a homeschool family learned to love fantasy

• Early origins: Tricia’s career and work in many different fiction genres
• Nathan’s role in this journey, as the whole family travels to events
• Recap of recent conferences in Pigeon Forge, Branson, and beyond

2. Behold golems and alt-history in Breath of Bones

Kateřina Dubová has always aspired to walk in her father’s footsteps as a respected journalist, and the Second World War presents a unique opportunity for her to prove her worth to the world. A tip about an assassination attempt on a high-ranking Nazi official, Reinhard Heydrich, the “Butcher of Prague” leads Kateřina into the shadows of the Nazi occupation. Soon she discovers things are not as they seem.

As intrigue unfurls, Kateřina joins forces with Josef Loew, a descendant of the famous Rabbi Loew, renowned for creating a mystical guardian in the form of a golem to protect the souls of 16th-century Jews in Prague. In the chaos of war, some believe a new golem can once again bring help to those in need.

Like flickering candles in the abyss, Kateřina and Josef work to protect the innocent and end the evil that plagues their world. Yet, in their quest to save the Jewish people, have they inadvertently created a new danger? Could the very entity they had forged to protect become their greatest enemy?

3. What’s next for both Goyers and their new worlds

• Tricia and Nathan Goyer will appear at July’s Realm Makers event
• We hear any planned release date(s) for Clockwork Chronicles sequel(s)
• Many likely meetings as we all prepare for the 2025 conference season

Com station

• What’s your favorite World War 2 story and/or robot story?

Next on Fantastical Truth

It’s the end! It’s the end! Or rather, this could only be… the beginning. Sure, it’s cliché to doomsay, but Christians have enjoyed doing this for centuries. So, next week, Stephen and Zack want in on this end-times debating action. This will be a knock-down, drag-out, facts-and-feelings fight that will divide denominations and result in a lot of colorful, complex charts—or maybe it’ll just be some slightly heated fun to start our new series: Left Behind Legacy.