Mary: Well, here we are with another Wheel of Time update. It feels like we haven’t made one in forever (okay, since August 2023), but a lot has changed in terms of where we are in the series. Do you want to explain where we are now, Todd?
Read moreSlogging Through Wheel of Time
Todd: The time has come for another Wheel of Time reading update, and this time Todd (me) is here! To quickly recap, Mary and I spent more than a year “reading” Winter’s Heart before finally finishing it this summer and then zooming through Crossroads of Twilight. We have now almost finished the prologue of Knife of Dreams and we have some thoughts! I will let Mary kick things off by asking this: now that you are through it, how bad was the dreaded “slog”?
Read moreTodd's Fantasy Series Corner Part 4
The Murderbot Diaries
Welcome back to my blog series where I ramble about the fantasy and sci-fi books I have read recently! It has been a while since my last blog, and I am happy to report that I have many series to speak on! First, I have a little update on a couple of series I have mentioned before, and then I will jump into some new series I have been reading recently.
Read moreBSG #68: Who is Raven? / Book of Night
BSG #68: Who is Raven? / Book of Night
Special guest Ellis (and her shadow) joins the Book Squad this week for our discussion of Holly Black’s adult debut, Book of Night. We dig into the novel’s magic system, adult vs. YA fantasy writing, character development, and how we felt about the ending. Check out The Time Traveler’s Wife series on HBO before our next Othersode on June 27th. Then read along with us for our next Bookpisode about Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka on July 11th. Send listener feedback to thesquad@booksquadgoals.com and don’t forget to leave us a rating and review!
Click through for summary, table of contents, and show notes!
Read moreYA Book Club: Of Curses and Kisses
Mary: Hello and welcome back to YA Book Club! Today we’re talking about Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon, which has been on our TBR for quite some time now. Menon is one of our favorites, and we’ve talked about her novel There’s Something About Sweetie in the past, and we even did a whole podcast episode about Make Up Break Up. Of Curses and Kisses is different from any other Menon book I’ve read before simply because it has kind of a fantasy spin. It’s a contemporary retelling of “Beauty and the Beast” (we can get into which version later), and there is a curse as the title implies. There’s not really magic or anything, but there is a fabulous boarding school and lots of money, which is basically magic, isn’t it?
Read moreElden Ring Stuns and Saddens
I spent the last weekend in February planted firmly on my couch, playing hour after hour of Elden Ring, the latest offering in the Soulsborne series. A while back, I wrote about Bloodborne, another FromSoftware game that is incredibly punishing. I concluded the post by saying I wasn’t sure if I liked it, and now, even much later, the answer is still unclear.
Read moreWheel of Time Season 1 Impressions
(Amazon)
Mary: Welcome to the much anticipated (by us) discussion of Season 1 of The Wheel of Time TV show! I started reading the series back in 2018, and felt moved to write a defense of how it “doesn’t suck.” Now, I’m still halfway through the 14 book series and feeling the worst effects of the dreaded Slog. BUT, we’re not here to talk about the novels. No, instead, Todd and I are going to be discussing the Amazon Prime TV adaptation of the novels. Weirdly, we’ve been anticipating this show for a long time, as we both keep tabs on showrunner Rafe Judkins (who previously starred on a season of Survivor). It’s a small world, and basically the same 5 people are in every reality show. But I digress.
Todd, kick us off by talking about how the show is choosing to adapt what you have called “unfilmable.”
Read moreReturn of Todd's Fantasy Series Corner: Part 3
It has been a minute since we last talked fantasy, hasn’t it? Well, I have returned to talk all things fantasy, SF, and anything else I feel like talking about.
First: a quick rundown of series that I have already touched on: I finished Oathbringer, the 3rd book in Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive, and while I still enjoyed it, it did have the feeling of a middle act kind of book. The characters were a little more dour, a little less self-confident, but the book still had its hooks in me and I am excited to pick up Rhythms of War soon! Mary and I also recently got the first 3 Mistborn books, so I am looking forward to digging into some earlier Sanderson soon as well.
Read moreHalfway Through Wheel of Time and Feeling Fine
Hi, everyone. How are you? Hanging in there? On my end, I’ve been in a massive reading slump. Sure, I’ve kept up with my podcast reading, and read an additional book here or there (like Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch), but it’s been hard to muster up the mental energy to do much more than watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Read moreWe Came for Ben Barnes and We Stayed for Everything Else: A Conversation About Shadow and Bone
Kelli: Shadow and Bone is the new(ish) and long-awaited Netflix adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s bestselling Grishaverse novels. Technically, this show is based on both the original Grisha trilogy and the Six of Crows duology, though from what I understand, the events of this first season actually serve as a prequel to Six of Crows. Of course, I’ve never read the books, and it is very possible that Wikipedia is leading me astray.
Emily: Yeah, full disclaimer that neither of us have read these books.
(Some spoilers for Season 1 of Shadow and Bone ahead!)
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