Bookstabber

Episode 41: Silverthorn by Raymond E. Feist

Gene and Willow must save the princess from vile monsters, but get derailed talking about The Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Crystal, and Batman’s sexuality. It's another installment in THE YEAR OF SWORD AND SORCERY!

Episode 40: The High King by Lloyd Alexander

Gene fondly recalls his childhood in the lands of Prydain while Willow absolutely beefs her Gurgi impression. Once again these two can't agree on anything other than sounding tired! Another epic installment in the YEAR OF SWORD AND SORCERY. 

Episode 39: Four Sword and Sorcery Graphic Novels

Join Gene and Willow on a tour of graphic novels during the Year of Sword and Sorcery (TM). Rakish dragons, monstrous princesses, disembodied witches, and weird leg monsters abound in this exciting podcast! (Discalimer, the podcast is only as exciting as two nerds talking about books ever is.)

Books discussed:

Head Lopper Volume 1: The Island or a Plague of Beasts (2016)

Scales and Scoundrels Book 1 (Definitive Edition) (2021)

Darkly She Goes (2023)

Mirenda by Grim Wilkins (2018)

 

Episode 38: Chess with a Dragon by David Gerrold

Gene and Willow find themselves in debt to a hostile universe full of intelligent slugs, hungry dinosaurs, and horny insects. Can they escape an intergalactic MLM scheme or will they be "retired" into oblivion?

 

Trigger Warning: This book contains extremely weird and potentially upsetting ideas not limited to: slavery, sexual assault, gross insect stuff, racial slurs. 

Episode 37: The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson

Long ago, a cursed book was forged in the fires of hell, destined to slay its reader. Willow must take up this book against Gene and make war so great that all the elves, trolls and Aesir tremble in its shadow. Trigger warning: the book (and the podcast discussing it) contains sexual violence. 

Episode 36: Tea with the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy

Gene and Willow learn that it takes a lot to become San Francisco's top gumshoe. Move over Columbo, there's a new detective in town, and he's a giant black dragon! 

Episode 35: The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs

Long ago when wizards walked the earth, some of them had magnificent adventures with dragons, giants, and powers beyond comprehension. Willow and Gene read about some wizards who do none of that, and aren't really sure what they're supposed to be doing at all. Will the hero save the day? And does the day actually need saving??

Episode 34: The Sailor on the Seas of Fate by Michael Moorcock

Within the maelstrom of parallel planes there is a constant: two eternal readers, sometimes allied, at other times opposed. Willow, with her black rune sword, and Gene, heir to the Library Throne, meet again on the field of podcast to delve into classic sword and sorcery.

Episode 33: Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny

Gene and Willow struggle to remember the one true podcast, the podcast which casts all others as shadows. Can they ally themselves with sibling podcasts and take the throne, or will this book lock them in a dungeon? This marks the beginning of The Year of Sword and Sorcery, which Gene is excited for. Willow estimates it will last three months.

Episode 32: The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson

Put on your goggles and galoshes, because you're about to be splattered with viscera! Gene and Willow get this book implanted into their brains and it does not make their lives better. Willow wishes the narrator would shut up and Gene wishes they would stop over-explaining how octopus DNA works.