KrickCast Presents The Definitive

Hiatus?  What hiatus? This week (month) (year) it's The Legend of Luke, which is ... not exactly the kind of material that makes for a triumphal return to podcasting.  LoL does for Redwall a little bit of what Rogue One does for Star Wars, and while it's really fun to see all the iconic stuff we all remember from the first entries into the well-loved series, this prequel doesn't really ... I mean, it kinda never ... that is to say, it sort of ... it just doesn't really bring balance to the Force.  And Chugger ain't no Baby Yoda.  Look, just listen to the episode and you'll see what we're talking about. Kathryn doesn't really like Luke!  Brick doesn't really like continuity errors!  Jacques doesn't really like vermin!  But none of us like absurdly long gaps between episodes, so look out for our next one, coming ... soon! Really!

Welcome to a special eco-friendly episode of The Gatehouse, in which we discuss all the things the Redwall novels are starting to reuse and recycle  — namely character types, scenery, plot points, tropes, and more!  Instead of one Big Bad we have eight of them.  Maybe nine?  Or maybe just one, but recycled seven or eight times? We get a little Shakespearean — Kathryn waxes literary about the use of prologues and poetry, and Brick floats the notion that Marlfox is the story of a marginally more successful Lady Macbeth.  Kathryn fires her headcanons to take Florian Wifflachop’s editorial note at its word and theorize Marlfox as an entirely fictional play written & performed at Redwall, so the stock characters and reused materials make sense as dramatic elements based on myths and legends. Join your ethically sourced, carbon-neutral, and fully biodegradable hosts for another 100% post-consumer-product episode of The Gatehouse as we dig into the 11th book of the Redwall series.

On the heels of Netflix's announcement of their acquisition of the film rights to all 22 Redwall books and the adaptation of Redwall and Martin the Warrior, your Gatehouse pals get together for a quick reaction episode!   Kathryn is excited.  Brick's cold, dead heart is still too broken by what Netflix did to Watership Down to be able to love again, and he torments Kathryn with the idea of Cluny being given a tragic backstory.  Kathryn likes the concept art.  Brick's heart grows three sizes at the thought of getting hired by Netflix as story consultants.   This minisode happened so quickly that Brick was caught without his usual mic, so we apologize for the occasionally wonky audio levels.  What are your thoughts?  Excited?  Worried?  Blasé?  What do you think the adaptation will change from the books, and will it be good or bad?  What should they change?  Who will make the cut for the voice cast?  Let us know what you think and we'll feature your thoughts in an upcoming episode!

Season Two of The Gatehouse rambles on with the fourteenth Redwall book, The Long Patrol.  Join us for a dive into Brian Jacques' novel that is totally all about World War I: mud, trenches, mechanization, shell shock, and other fun fare for a kids' book about talking animals.  Kathryn posits that War itself is this book's Big Bad (better than Damug Wotsifang).  Brick contends that Tammo's character admits insight into trauma in a way we haven't seen from Salamandastron hares.  Jacques finally runs out of vermin species, and the best thing he can make up for an antagonist is "well, it's a rat, but, like ... bigger."  Cregga gets a stan and Russa gets a fan.  Kathryn tries to define authorial intent, and Brick gripes about a riddle that is terrible, even by Redwall standards.  Lots happening in this episode, so hop into your favorite overstuffed armchair and join your hosts on a march through The Long Patrol.

We're back – and glad of it – with a real, full episode this time!   Today, we happily jump back into the world of Redwall to talk about the ottery goodness of the first full novel of our second season, Pearls of Lutra.  We're finally into novels that Kathryn definitely hasn't read before, so she comes to this book as a first-time reader.  We begin as we often do, with an appraisal of the traits and gimmicks main villain (today it's Mad Eyes' mad eyes), then we move on to discuss heroism by committee before turning our attention to Redwall.   Brick defends Tansy's choice to throw the Tears of the Sea into the ocean. Kathryn points out that they weren't Tansy's to dispose of. We quibble fervently over Mystic Martin's intervention and whether or not it's crucial. This editor remains neutral and cannot comment on the correctness of either individual. But one person is correct. And the other person is not. (This blurb writer, who is NOT the editor, technically agrees with the foregoing.)   Kathryn rants about Dibbuns again. And then, to conclude the episode, Brick is forced to come up with a criticism ... which leads to another Kathryn rant. She talks a lot today. Must be the fresh new season.  Enjoy!

For our holiday bonus episode, we dip our toes into A Redwall Winter's Tale (2001). In classic Krick form, we start with a tangent and progress from there. The artwork of Christopher Denise elicits our highest praise, while  Bungo draws some (reduced for the season) ire.   Happy Holidays from the Krickcast.

Your esteemed hosts don't know when to quit while they're ahead and decide to record some afterthoughts on Ray Bradbury's continually engrossing Something Wicked This Way Comes.  In this episode filled with hypotheticals and conjectures, they ponder whether or not Mr. Dark is actually human, and the implications of either answer.  After repeated promises to start posting more Redwall episodes, our hosts luckily remember to shut off their mics before drifting into their respective Thanksgiving dinner comas.

Welcome to the final episode on Ray Bradbury’s novel Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962).  Due to unavoidable and unpredictable life circumstances, our plan for recording and editing this episode on time to get it out for Halloween was ... not possible. But, emergencies happen, you deal with them, and then you make a new plan. enter ... Krickcast Undead! It's not quite a live episode, because we did record it and add our intro/outro ... but it is otherwise Just Like Live. No edits. All rambles. In this episode, we wrap up our reactions to the book and discuss what we saw as the unifying weave of the novel. Brick manages to bring in Flannery O'Connor, while Kathryn mumbles, again, about how much she likes the book.

Welcome to the second of three episodes on Ray Bradbury’s novel Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962).  We continue to love this book. In this episode, though, Kathryn talks about this section of the novel as relatively weak. Brick is unmoved by the Dust Witch. We both dwell on Bradbury's descriptive language and emphasis on empathy.

As promised, the brisk winds of October are sweeping past, but carrying holiday delight along with them. This is the first of three episodes on Ray Bradbury's novel Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962). In this episode, we dive right into discussing all the elements we liked -- the characters, the feel, the prose, Charles Halloway, and the spooky thrill of hovering threat. Brick waxes eloquent about nostalgia, while Kathryn struggles to say anything beyond, "I love this book." We both love this book. Note: Because it is us, we also spent about fifty minutes arguing about the book's conception of the way in which evil functions ... Our editor declared, "Enough! This is already long enough!" and excised that section. The recording, however, does still exist and may make an appearance at some point if there is enough popular (or unpopular) demand.

No new episode yet, but new promises. We love autumn and part of our celebrations this year will include a three-episode series on (the best autumn book?) Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962). We hope you'll join our festivities.

As part of our lighter August load, we decided to return to childhood detective stories. At the time, that seemed friendly and reasonable and Encyclopedia Brown went well. This episode ... went slightly sideways. We don't dig into the actual book as much, using it instead as an occasion to duck into a couple of side conversations*. And that's a very different approach from our usual. We begin by spending a lot of time talking about Alfred Hitchcock and publishing seals of approval used for marketing purposes. Brick bounces us from Jupiter Jones into a discussion of Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes and the complexities of interpretation in an age of rewrites, reboots, and reimaginings. Kathryn talks about discovering, as an adult, how racist the book she read as a child is. And we end, as sometimes happens, with a reflection on what we see as the value of the humanities and the function of art. Thanks for joining us again. We will be back … soon …. (We’re sorry we can’t be more specific, but we are in the U.S. and dealing with the tension and increased work-load of university after university insisting on starting face-to-face classes and then abruptly “pivoting” to online instruction.) *Kathryn hates talking this way about genre, but it's usable shorthand for podcast purposes.

Today we turn to Donald J. Sobol's Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective, the first in the Encyclopedia Brown series. It takes a while to get to the actual book, since we detour through reading habits and Choose Your Own Adventure books first Faithful listeners may know that detective fiction is Kathryn's academic focus ... she unsuccessfully tries to hold back at first, but eventually geeks out. No apologies for getting caught up in discussions of criminal vs. criminality, and the dangers in disseminating a worldview in which one illegal action makes one a criminal -- that's a hugely important conversation .... and Kathryn will have it with anyone at any time. Brick comments on the function of criticism (a micro-glimpse into why we do what we do) and we end, as always, with flair. Also, while Kathryn says in episode that the music is Waltz of Death, it is actually Magical Dirt, also by Sir Cubworth.

We've been enormously grateful for this podcast project over the past few weeks. Setting aside all our quibbles and gripes, Jacques created a world that we (and so many others) rejoiced to enter in childhood and, honestly, still enjoy now. Today's episode is the last one for the current season (don't worry ... we'll be back!) and we use it to create the Krickcast Official Ranking for season one villains. There aren't a lot of surprises, but we had fun with it and hope you do too. Feel free to drop us a comment or an email and let us know what your ranking is! In August, we plan to do a couple of non-Redwall episodes focusing on childhood detectives. Then, once we settle into fall and the new academic year, we can all journey back to Redwall again together. Thanks for listening.

Welcome back! In this episode, Brick and Kathryn disagree about how interesting these villains are. Kathryn points out the issues with Sunflash's management style, and we talk about Batman more than we expected to. Both of our academic specialities make brief appearances: Kathryn mumbles about murder and Brick about surveillance. After a brief stop at nominative determinism ... Kathryn was pretty negative (sorry) about this book overall, and Brick looks forward to Pearls of Lutra. Outcast of Redwall is our last regular-season episode in this first season of The Gatehouse. Next week we'll have a wrap-up episode. Then, in August, we plan to publish a couple of one-off episodes that are not Redwall-based (!) but which focus on childhood detective novels. After that, we hope to return to Redwall with all of you.

First off, an apology. There was some kind of noise interference with the microphone on this one, and we couldn't quite get all of it out during editing. Second, an apology if this is your favourite book; we didn't really like this one. Kathryn (unfavourably) compares the villain to furniture. Brick points out that even the geography doesn't work. We turn to the book a couple of times during our pronunciation debates ... and Kathryn was not paying close enough attention and gets called out. Brick rants about a specific cover illustration ... for more time than expected ... We rambled a bit. We blame the book. Thanks for sticking through it with us. Join us next week for our final (book-centered) episode of this season ... The Outcast of Redwall.

Welcome back! We're glad to find ourselves with Martin once again (and the cool Martin, not the ghosty one). In this episode, Brick tells us again about meeting Brian Jacques. (It really is cool.) Brick also notes the Bird-Saviour-Recurrence anchoring the plot of the book. We wander into the utopia (?) of Noonvale. We spend ... quite a bit of time discussing Noonvale. Kathryn is actually feuding with Brick for his continued refusal to look at the evidence from the text and admit that he is wrong about vermin and building -- instead doubling down and making his theory more convoluted and unlikely. (Guess who wrote this summary.) In the end, we loop back around to Noonvale, and toss in a bit of Derrida-lite for good measure. Thanks for joining, and we'll see you again next week.

This episode is a little different. Instead of discussing one of the Redwall books in detail, we're talking about your letters! We dip through heroes, villains, our embarrassing vulture impressions ... Brick invents an entire "spirit of Mossflower" in order to resist Kathryn's "straightforward" explanation for poems spreading across time and place. You know, all the usual wrangles ... but you asked for them. Thanks for your questions (send more!) and we'll see you next week.

Welcome to the Badger Mountain! In this episode, Brick tries to headcanon away the potential problems with the badger lords amassing capital, while Kathryn insists that none of his headcanons make sense given context. We fail to agree, so you'll have to ponder that one on your own. Seriously, we do not agree at all. Kathryn undermines her own credibility by not accurately remembering the frame story, and also admits to having once been a teenager. Brick brags about meeting Brian Jacques. Thanks for joining us. We'll be back next week.

It's Thursday and it's time to visit The Gatehouse. Today we're talking about Mariel of Redwall (1992), the first book in Brian Jacques' second Redwall trilogy. Brick baits Kathryn into complaining more about chronology. Kathryn encourages Brick to exclaim "Gabool!" more times than strictly necessary. Kathryn coins the term "Martin ex machina" while Brick demands more respect for his cries of "GABOOOL!" We both celebrate our appreciation of Mariel as a character; sidebar into contemplating the function of vengeance; and end with more of Brick's headcanon (which Kathryn fiercely resists). Thanks for listening. Join us next week for Salamandastron.

Welcome to the third book, the final book of Jacques' originally planned trilogy. As usual, we have thoughts. Some of those thoughts are arguments about how to pronounce words. Brick doesn't like the treatment of Guosim as cannon-fodder. Kathryn resists the Abbot's patriarchal head-pats. We still agree that it isn't the worst book of the trilogy. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back here again next week, with Mariel.

Welcome back! We're reading Mossflower (1988), the second book (published) in Brian Jacques' Redwall series.We talk world building and quibble about class hierarchy while also dipping briefly through mythology and Jacques' dislike of J. R. R. Tolkien. We don't let that dislike keep us from making comparisons and analogies.  We both love Gonff! Thanks for listening, and we hope you'll join us next week for Mattimeo.

And we're off. As mentioned previously, we're planning to discuss the "first" eight books in the Redwall series in this next season of the Krickcast. Up first is Redwall (1986). Kathryn complains about Brian Jacques' beginning in the middle of a trilogy. Brick reveals his interests in material book history by discussing different editions and illustrations. We both get briefly sidetracked into talking about feudalism. The discussed illustrations for the Redwall novel were created by Gary Chalk.

A little backstory ... this is the first podcast episode we ever recorded. In it, we introduce ourselves, our reading histories, and the Redwall project as a whole. Brick offers an overview of Redwall the series; Kathryn mentions being a showoff in daycare, and we both talk an awful lot about libraries. We hope you'll join us next week for Redwall.

This is it. The final episode in which we definitively state our own personal thoughts about Watership Down.   The BBC/Netflix version provides the fodder for this final foray into the world of rabbits. We excitedly looked forward to it. We lauded the voice cast. We imagined how they might approach the different grand adventures. We were hugely disappointed.   When editing the episode, one thing became quite obvious; neither of us liked it. I regret that we were unendingly negative about something which I'm sure quite a few people genuinely liked.   Of course, I also regret the many opportunities missed by this miniseries. #turnaroundburn.   In this episode, we talk genre, evil, and animation. Kathryn complains about the female characters and Brick sneaks in yet more commentary about how much he hates the song Bright Eyes. It wasn't even in this miniseries. Then we end with our statement of purpose.   Thank you for joining us on this podcast adventure. We'll hope you'll join us again for the next season.

We're back! Many apologies for the unexpected break in posting. As mentioned previously, there was a pneumonia scourge. That scourge interacted with some other professional conflicts to create a podcast dead zone. Without further ado, let's dive into our newest episode . . . in which we (finally) talk about the 1978 feature film.

Hello again! Welcome to the fourth episode, and our discussion of the final section of Richard Adams' novel Watership Down. Brick expresses deep feelings about Rowsby Woof. Kathryn tangles with Adams' missing female characters. Both agree that death is a strong ending. Enjoy, and join us next time as we dive into the world of film -- Watership Down (1978).

Happy New Year! Start your year off with more happy rabbits! Um . . . angry, surveilled, and rebellious rabbits? This episode covers section three of Richard Adams' novel. Brick makes one truly atrocious pun. Kathryn talks way too much about Foucault and power. It's the deep dive into the Efrafan political structure that no one knew they wanted. Enjoy!

Hello again! In this episode, we talk about language, our favorite descriptions, and pacing. Brick . . . maybe gets a little carried away. Enjoy!

It's here. The moment you've been eagerly awaiting -- ok, at least the moment that we have been eagerly awaiting. We're diving into Watership Down, the 1972 novel written by Richard Adams. In this episode, we cover the first section of the book (and we assume you've read it). Thanks for joining us; we hope you enjoy.  

Hello all! Our trailer for Watership Down is out; we hope you enjoy. Tune in for the Watership Down season launching next week. We'll begin with episodes exploring Richard Adams' classic novel, then conclude our season with episodes focused on the new Netflix special.