Podcasts about The Belgariad

Join the quest to uncover the most foundational fantasy novels of all time! From across the spectrum of fantasy literature, this episode takes you on a journey to explore the most influential and beloved fantasy novels that have shaped the genre and continue to inspire new generations of writers and readers alike. Whether you're a seasoned fantasy fan or just starting your adventure, get ready to discover new favorite books and authors that will transport you to magical worlds and ignite your imagination. So, sit back, relax, and let's dive into the most foundational fantasy novels of all time!#FantasyForTheAges #readingrecommendations #fantasy #fantasyfiction #EpicFantasy #Top10 #SFF #booktube #booktuberWant to purchase books/media mentioned in this episode?The Belgariad: https://t.ly/0I7y7Conan the Barbarian: https://t.ly/cxzd5The Chronicles of Amber: https://t.ly/zASWfThe Chronicles of Narnia: https://t.ly/AbE34The Faithful and the Fallen: https://t.ly/6Oej1The Green Bone Saga: https://t.ly/q6686The Hobbit: https://t.ly/993A3The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: https://t.ly/iow9jLightbringer Series: https://t.ly/NzrYcThe Lord of the Rings: https://t.ly/1eEP9Shades of Magic Trilogy: https://t.ly/M3zalThe Sword of Shannara: https://t.ly/HO6JsThe Wheel of Time: https://t.ly/vmGYtA Wizard of Earthsea: https://t.ly/pJ922Ways to connect with us:Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FantasyForTheAges Follow Jim/Father on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/13848336-jim-scriven Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/jMWyVJ6qKk Follow us on "X": @Fantasy4theAges Follow us on Blue Sky: @fantasy4theages.bsky.socialFollow us on Instagram: fantasy_for_the_ages Follow us on Mastodon: @FantasyForTheAges@nerdculture.de Email us: FantasyForTheAges@gmail.com Check out our merch: https://www.newcreationsbyjen.com/collections/fantasyfortheagesJim's Microphone: Blue Yeti https://tinyurl.com/3shpvhb4 ————————————————————————————Music and video elements licensed under Envato Elements:https://elements.envato.com/

In this week's episode, we continue our discuss about how seeking prestige can be dangerous for writers, specifically in the form of traditional publishing and the New York Times Bestseller list. This coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Dragonskull: Shield of the Knight, Book #2 in the Dragonskull series (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills), at my Payhip store: DRAGONSHIELD50 The coupon code is valid through March 21, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook for spring, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00   Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 241 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is February 28th, 2025. Today we are continuing our discussion of how to escape the trap of prestige for writers, specifically traditional publishing and The New York Times Bestseller List. Before we get to our main topic, we will do Coupon of the Week, an update on my current writing and audiobook projects, and then Question of the Week.   This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Dragonskull: Shield of the Knight, Book Two in the Dragonskull series (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills), at my Payhip store. That coupon code is DRAGONSHIELD50. As always, I'll include the coupon code and the link to the store in the show notes. This coupon code is valid through March 21st, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook as we start to head into the spring months, we have got you covered. Now an update on my current writing projects. I'm pleased to report I am done with the rough draft of Ghost in the Assembly. I came in at 106,000 words, so it'll definitely be over a hundred thousand words when it's done. I'm about 20% of the way through the first round of edits, so I am confident in saying that if all goes well and nothing unexpected happens, I am on track to have it out in March. I am also 10,000 words into Shield of Battle, which will be the fifth of six books in the Shield War series and I'm hoping to have that out in April, if all goes well.   In audiobook news, recording for both Cloak of Dragonfire and Orc-Hoard is done. I'm just waiting for them to get through the processing on the various stores so they're available. There is also an audiobook edition of Half Elven Thief Omnibus One and Cloak Mage Omnibus Three that hopefully should be coming in March. More news with that to come.   00:01:55 Question of the Week   Now let's move on to Question of the Week. Question of the Week is intended to inspire interesting discussions of enjoyable topics. This week's question: what is your favorite subgenre of fantasy, high fantasy, epic fantasy, sword and sorcery, historical fantasy, urban fantasy, LitRPG, cultivation, or something else? No wrong answers, obviously.   Cindy says: Epic fantasy or those with a good history for that world. The Ghost Series are fantastic at this.   Thanks, Cindy.   Justin says: I enjoy all those sub-genres, if they are done well. In times past I would've said comic fantasy, but that is because Terry Pratchett at his best was just that good.   Mary says: High fantasy.   Surabhi says: I'd honestly read anything fantasy that's written well and has characters I'm attached to, given that it's not too gritty. Bonus points if there's humor! Also, I love your books so much and they're the perfect blend of fantasy, adventure, and characters. Your books were what really got me into Sword and Sorcery.   Thanks, Surabhi.     Matthew says: See, that's difficult. I love my sabers, both light and metal. I would say urban fantasy crosses the boundary the most. If it's a captivating story, it will be read.   John F says: I can't choose one- Lord of the Rings or LWW, The Inheritance Cycle, The Dresden Files, Caina, Ridmark, or Nadia. I think what draws me is great characters who grow. The setting/genre is just the device. That's why I keep coming back to your books. You create great characters.   Thanks, John F.   John K says: I think I'm partial to historical fantasy. I enjoy all genres, but when I think of my favorites, they tend to be derivations of historical settings. Think Guy Gavriel Kay or Miles Cameron. That said, I was weaned on Robert E. Howard, Fritz Lieber, Michael Moorcock, Karl Edward Wagner, Jack Vance, so a strong sword and sorcery second place.   Juana says: High fantasy. Belgariad, Tolkien, dragons, et cetera.   Jonathan says: Sword and sorcery in space! Prehistoric sword and sorcery, sword and sorcery always.   Quint: says Sword and sorcery!   Michael says: Sword and sorcery.   For myself, I think I would agree with our last couple of commenters and it would be sword and sorcery. My ideal fantasy novel has a barbarian hero wandering from corrupt city state to corrupt city state messing up the business of some evil wizards. I'm also very fond of what's called generic fantasy (if a fighter, a dwarf, an elf, and a wizard are going into a dungeon and fighting some orcs, I'm happy).   00:04:18 Main Topic of the Week: Escaping the Prestige Trap, Part 2   Now onto our main topic for the week, Escaping the Prestige Trap, Part 2, and we'll focus on traditional publishing and the New York Times Bestseller List this week. As we talked about last week, much of the idea of success, especially in the United States, is based on hitting certain milestones in a specific order. In the writing world, these measures of success have until fairly recently been getting an MFA, finding an agent, getting traditionally published, and hitting The New York Times Bestseller List. Last week we talked about the risks of an MFA and an agent. This week, we are going to talk about two more of those writing markers of prestige, getting traditionally published and having a book land on The New York Times Bestseller List. Why are they no longer as important? What should you devote your energy and focus to instead?   So let's start with looking at getting traditionally published. Most writers have dreamed of seeing their book for sale and traditional publishing for a long time has been the only route to this path. Until about 15 years ago, traditional publishing was the way that a majority of authors made their living. Now that big name authors like Hugh Howie, Andy Weir, and Colleen Hoover have had success starting as self-published authors (or in the case of authors Sarah J. Maas and Ali Hazelwood, fan fiction authors) and then are getting traditional publishing deals made for them for their self-published works. It's proof that self-publishing is no longer a sign that the author isn't good enough to be published traditionally. Previous to the rise of the Kindle, that was a common belief that if you were self-published, it was because you were not good enough to get traditionally published. That was sort of this pernicious belief that traditional publishing was a meritocracy, when in fact it tended to be based on who you knew. But that was all 15 years ago and now we are well into the age of self-publishing. Why do authors still want to be traditionally published when in my frank opinion, self-publishing is the better path? Well, I think there are three main reasons for that.   One of the main reasons is that the authors say they want to be traditionally published is to have someone else handle the marketing and the advertising. They don't realize how meager marketing budgets and staffing support are, especially for unknown authors. Many traditionally published authors are handling large portions of their own marketing and hiring publicists out of their own pocket because publishers are spending much less on marketing. The new reality is that traditional publishers aren't going to do much for you as a debut author unless you are already a public figure.   Even traditionally published authors are not exempt from having to do their own marketing now. James Patterson set up an entire company himself to handle his marketing. Though, to be fair to James Patterson, his background was in advertising before he came into publishing, so he wasn't exactly a neophyte in the field, but you see more and more traditionally published authors who you think would be successful just discontented with the system and starting to dabble in self-publishing or looking at alternative publishers like Aethon Books and different arrangements of publishing because the traditional system is just so bad for writers. The second main reason authors want to be traditionally published is that they want to avoid the financial burden of publishing. This is an outdated way of thinking. The barrier to publishing these days is not so much financial as it is knowledge. In fact, I published a book entirely using free open source software in 2017 just to prove that it could be done. It was Silent Order: Eclipse Hand, the fourth book in my science fiction series. I wrote it on Ubuntu using Libre Office and I edited it in Libre Office and I did the formatting on Ubuntu and I did the cover in the GIMP, which is a free and open source image editing program. This was all using free software and I didn't have to pay for the program. Obviously I had to pay for the computer I was using and the Internet connection, but in the modern era, having an internet connection is in many ways almost a requirement, so that's the cost you would be paying anyway.   The idea that you must spend tens of thousands of dollars in formatting, editing, cover, and marketing comes from scammy self-publishing services. Self-publishing, much like traditional publishing, has more than its fair share of scams or from people who aren't willing to take the time to learn these skills and just want to cut someone a check to solve the problem. There are many low cost and effective ways to learn these skills and resources designed specifically for authors. People like Joanna Penn have free videos online explaining how to do this, and as I've said, a lot of the software you can use to self-publish is either free or low cost, and you can get some very good programs like Atticus or Vellum or Jutoh for formatting eBooks for very low cost.   The third reason that writers want to be traditionally published is that many believe they will get paid more this way, which is, unless you are in the top 1% of traditionally published authors, very wrong. Every so often, there's a study bemoaning the fact that most publishers will only sell about $600 worth of any individual book, and that is true of a large percentage of traditionally published books. Traditional publishers typically pay a lump sum called advance, and then royalties based on sales. An average advance is about the same as two or three months of salary from an office job and so not a reflection of the amount of time it typically takes most authors to finish a book. Most books do not earn out their advance, which means the advance is likely to be the only money the author receives for the book. Even well-known traditionally published authors are not earning enough to support themselves as full-time authors. So as you can see, all three of these reasons are putting a lot of faith in traditional publishers, faith that seems increasingly unnecessary or downright misplaced. I think it is very healthy to get rid of the idea that good writing comes from traditional publishers and that the prestige of being traditionally published is the only way you'll be accepted as a writer or be able to earn a living as a full-time writer. I strongly recommend that people stop thinking that marketing is beneath you as an author or too difficult to learn. Whether you are indie or tradpub, you are producing a product that you want to sell, thus you are a businessperson. The idea that only indie authors have to sell their work is outdated. The sooner you accept this reality, the more options you will have. Self-publishing and indie publishing are admittedly more work. However, the benefits are significant. Here are five benefits of self-publishing versus traditional publishing.   The first advantage of self-publishing is you have complete creative control. You decide what the content of your book will be; you decide what the cover will be. If you don't want to make the covers yourself or you don't want to learn how to do that, you can very affordably hire someone to do it for you and they will make the cover exactly to your specifications. You also have more freedom to experiment with cross-genre books. As I've mentioned before, publishers really aren't a fan of cross genre books until they make a ton of money, like the new romantasy trend.   Traditional publishing is very trend driven and cautious. Back in the 2000s before I gave up on traditional publishing and discovered self-publishing, I would submit to agents a lot. Agents all had these guidelines for fantasy saying that they didn't want to see stories with elves and orcs and dwarves and other traditional fantasy creatures because they thought that was passe. Well, when I started self-publishing, I thought I'm going to write a traditional fantasy series with elves and orcs and dwarves and other traditional fantasy creatures just because I can and Frostborn has been my bestselling series of all time in the time I've been self-publishing, so you can see the advantages of having creative control.   The second advantage is you can control the marketing. Tradpub authors often sign a contract that they'll get their social media and website content approved by the publisher before posting. They may even be given boilerplate or pre-written things to post. In self-publishing, you have real time data to help you make decisions and adjust ads and overall strategy on the fly to maximize revenue. For example, if one of your books is selling strangely well on Google Play, it's time to adjust BookBub ads to focus on that platform instead of Amazon.   You can also easily change your cover, your blurb, and so forth after release. I've changed covers of some of my books many times trying to optimize them for increased sales and that is nearly impossible to do with traditional publishing. And in fact, Brandon Sanderson gave a recent interview where he talked about how the original cover of his Mistborn book was so unrelated to the content of the book that it almost sunk the book and hence his career.   You also have the ability to run ad campaigns as you see fit, not just an initial launch like tradpub does. For example, in February 2025, I've been heavily advertising my Demonsouled series even though I finished writing that series back in 2013, but I've been able to increase sales and derive a significant profit from those ads.   A third big advantage is that you get a far greater share of the profits. Most of the stores, if you price an ebook between $2.99 (prices are USD) and $9.99, you will get 70% of the sale price, which means if you sell an ebook for $4.99, you're probably going to get about $3.50 per sale (depending on currency fluctuations and so forth). That is vastly more than you would get from any publishing contract.   You also don't have to worry about the publisher trying to cheat you out of royalties. We talked about an agency stealing money last episode. Every platform you publish your book on, whether Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Smashwords and Apple will give you a monthly spreadsheet of your sales and then you can look at it for yourself, see exactly how many books you sold and exactly how much money you're going to get. I have only very rarely seen traditional publishing royalty statements that are as clear and have as much data in them as a spreadsheet from Google Play or Amazon. A fourth advantage is you don't have to worry about publishers abandoning you mid-series. In traditional publishing, there is what's called the Publishing Death Spiral where let's say an author is contracted to write a series of five books. The author writes the first book and it sells well. Then the author publishes the second book and it doesn't sell quite as well, but the publisher is annoyed enough by the decrease in sales that they drop the writer entirely and don't finish the series. This happens quite a bit in the traditional publishing world, and you don't have to worry about that in indie publishing because you can just publish as often as you want. If you're not happy with the sales of the first few books in the series, you can change the covers, try ad campaigns, and other strategies.   Finally, you can publish as often as you want and when you want. In traditional publishing, there is often a rule of thumb that an author should only publish one book a year under their name. Considering that last year I published 10 books under my name, that seems somewhat ridiculous, but that's a function of the fact that traditional publishing has only so much capacity and the pieces of the machine involved there are slow and not very responsive. Whereas with self-publishing, you have much more freedom and everything involved with it is much more responsive. There's no artificial deadlines, so you can take as long as you want to prepare it and if the book is ready, you don't have to wait a year to put it out because it would mess up the publisher's schedule.   So what to do instead of chasing traditional publishing? Learn about self-publishing, especially about scams and bad deals related to it. Publish your own works by a platform such as KDP, Barnes and Noble Press, Kobo Writing Life, Apple Books, Google Play, Smashwords, and possibly your own Payhip and/or Shopify store.   Conquer your fear of marketing and advertising. Even traditionally published authors are shouldering more of this work and paying out of their own pocket to hire someone to do it, and if you are paying your own marketing costs, you might as well self-publish and keep a greater share of the profits. The second half of our main topic, another potential risk of prestige, is getting on The New York Times Bestseller List. I should note that I suppose someone could accuse me of sour grapes here saying, oh, Jonathan Moeller, you've never been on The New York Times Bestseller List. You must just be bitter about it. That is not true. I do not want to be on The New York Times Bestseller List. What I would like to be is a number one Amazon bestseller. Admittedly though, that's unlikely, but a number one Amazon bestseller would make a lot more money than a number one New York Times Bestseller List, though because of the way it works, if you are a number one Amazon bestseller, you might be a New York Times Bestseller, but you might not. Let's get into that now.   Many writers have the dream of seeing their name on the New York Times Bestseller List. One self-help guru wrote about “manifesting” this milestone for herself by writing out the words “My book is number one on The New York Times Bestseller List” every day until it happened. Such is the mystique of this milestone that many authors crave it as a necessity. However, this list has seen challenges to its prestige in recent years. The one thing that shocks most people when they dig into the topic is that the list is not an objective list based on the raw number of books sold. The list is “editorial content” and The New York Times can exclude, include, or rank the books on the list however they choose.   What it does not capture is perennial sellers or classics. For example, the Bible and the Quran are obviously some of the bestselling books of all time, but you won't see editions of the Bible or the Quran on the New York Times Bestseller List. Textbooks and classroom materials, I guarantee there are some textbooks that are standards in their field that would be on the bestseller list every year, but they're not because The New York Times doesn't track them. Ebooks available only from a single vendor such as Kindle Unlimited books, ebook sales from not reporting vendors such as Shopify or Payhip. Reference Works including test prep guides (because I guarantee when test season comes around the ACT and SAT prep guides or the GRE prep guides sell a lot of copies) and coloring books or puzzle books.  It would be quite a blow to the authors on the list to realize that if these excluded works were included on the list, they would in all likelihood be consistently below To Kill a Mockingbird, SAT prep books, citation manuals, Bibles/other religious works, and coloring books about The Eras Tour.   Publishers, political figures, religious groups, and anyone with enough money can buy their way into the rank by purchasing their books in enormous quantities. In fact, it's widely acknowledged in the United States that this is essentially a legal form of bribery and a bit of money laundering too, where a publisher will give a truly enormous advance to a public figure or politician that they like, and that advance will essentially be a payment to that public figure in the totally legal form of an enormous book advance that isn't going to pay out. Because this is happening with such frequency, The New York Times gave into the pressure to acknowledge titles suspected of this strategy with a special mark next to it on the list. However, these books remain on the list and can still be called a New York Times Bestseller.   Since the list is not an objective marker of sales and certainly not some guarantee of quality, why focus on making it there? I think trying to get your book on The New York Times Bestseller List would be an enormous waste of time, since the list is fundamentally an artificial construction that doesn't reflect sales reality very well.   So what can you do instead? Focus on raw sales numbers and revenue, not lists. Even Amazon's bestseller category lists have a certain amount of non-quantitative factors. In the indie author community, there's a saying called Bank not Rank, which means you should focus on how much revenue your books are actually generating instead of whatever sales rank they are on whatever platform. I think that's a wiser approach to focus your efforts.   You can use lists like those from Publishers Weekly instead if you're interested in what's selling or trends in the industry, although that too can be manipulated and these use only a fairly small subset of data that favors retail booksellers, but it's still more objective in measuring than The New York Times.   I suppose in the end, you should try and focus on ebook and writing activities that'll bring you actual revenue or satisfaction rather than chasing the hollow prestige of things like traditional publishing, agents, MFAs, and The New York Times Bestseller List.   So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all back episodes at https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

Few developers have had as long and prolific career as our guest, Graeme Bayless. From working on mainframes, to selling Kaypros, to playtesting Accolade's launch titles, to producing games for SSI, Sega Technical Institute, Hyperbole Studios, Dynamix, EA, Eidos, and NetherRealm Studios. In Part 2, we talk about his time at Dynamix, a Sierra subsidiary. We find out how he met his wife in the early days of online geekdom, finally put down roots in Eugene, OR, ventured into online game development, experienced the gradual fall of Sierra as it changed hands again and again, worked on games such as CyberStorm and Starsiege, before being let go as mass layoffs swept the company. Recorded: December 2023 Get us on your mobile device: Android: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly92aWRlb2dhbWVuZXdzcm9vbXRpbWVtYWNoaW5lLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz iOS: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/video-game-newsroom-time-machine And if you like what we are doing here at the podcast, don't forget to like us on your podcasting app of choice, YouTube, and/or support us on patreon! https://www.patreon.com/VGNRTM Send comments on Mastodon @videogamenewsroomtimemachine@oldbytes.space Or twitter @videogamenewsr2 Or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vgnrtm Or videogamenewsroomtimemachine@gmail.com Links: Video version: https://www.patreon.com/posts/112571388 https://www.mobygames.com/person/1308/graeme-bayless/ https://www.mobygames.com/company/47/hyperbole-studios/ http://www.hyperbole.com/ https://www.mobygames.com/company/42/dynamix-inc/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sierra_Network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Link https://www.mobygames.com/game/5241/great-naval-battles-north-atlantic-1939-43/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Belgariad https://www.mobygames.com/game/1653/shadow-of-yserbius/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/1390/missionforce-cyberstorm/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/1609/outpost-2-divided-destiny/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/2648/cyberstorm-2-corporate-wars/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/1022/red-baron-ii/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/5123/red-baron-3-d/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/4658/conqueror-ad-1086/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/2804/fast-attack-high-tech-submarine-warfare/ https://www.mobygames.com/company/1781/software-sorcery/ https://www.mobygames.com/company/1897/jeff-tunnell-productions/ https://www.mobygames.com/company/3176/pipeworks-inc/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_Workshop https://www.mobygames.com/game/364/starsiege/  Recommended Links: The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ Gaming Alexandria: https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/ They Create Worlds: https://tcwpodcast.podbean.com/ Digital Antiquarian: https://www.filfre.net/ The Arcade Blogger: https://arcadeblogger.com/ Retro Asylum: http://retroasylum.com/category/all-posts/ Retro Game Squad: http://retrogamesquad.libsyn.com/ Playthrough Podcast: https://playthroughpod.com/ Retromags.com: https://www.retromags.com/ Games That Weren't - https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/ Copyright Karl Kuras

Are you feeling the weight of fantasy fatigue? In this video, we dive into the five most annoying fantasy tropes that are cluttering the genre and causing reader burnout. From overdone clichés to frustrating plot devices, we explore the common reader gripes that contribute to creative exhaustion and fantasy innovation stagnation. Join us as we dissect these genre tropes and share valuable insights on cliché avoidance. It's time to identify the fiction flaws that need to be left behind! Tune in to learn about these tropes to avoid and discover how we can breathe new life into fantasy storytelling. Don't miss this critical discussion on the tropes that NEED TO GO! Don't forget to share YOUR thoughts on fantasy tropes in the Comment Box. Which ones are you tired of? Are there ones you actually want to see more? Let me know! #Tropes #FantasyTropes #OverusedTropes #FantasyFiction #FictionTropes #AnnoyingFantasyTropes #AnnoyingFantasy #FantasyBooks #SFF #booktube #booktuber #FantasyFatigue #ReaderGripes #TropesToAvoid Want to purchase books mentioned in this video? The Belgariad: https://t.ly/gSJI1 The Book of the Ancestor: https://t.ly/bO1eJ The Empyrean Series: https://t.ly/Et_SU Harry Potter Series: https://t.ly/m9nPV The Hobbit: https://t.ly/993A3 The Kingkiller Chronicle: https://t.ly/FOKzE The Lord of the Rings: https://t.ly/1eEP9 Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief: https://t.ly/ZsEln The Poppy War: https://t.ly/BFRtx A Song of Ice and Fire: https://t.ly/44GSs Shannara: https://t.ly/X6Mvm The Wheel of Time: https://t.ly/vmGYt Ways to connect with us: Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FantasyForTheAges Follow Jim/Father on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/13848336-jim-scriven Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/jMWyVJ6qKk Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fantasy4theAges Follow us on Instagram: fantasy_for_the_ages Follow us on Mastodon: @FantasyForTheAges@nerdculture.de Email us: FantasyForTheAges@gmail.com Check out our merch: https://www.newcreationsbyjen.com/collections/fantasyfortheages Jim's Microphone: Blue Yeti https://tinyurl.com/3shpvhb4 Jim's Camera: Razer Kito Pro https://tinyurl.com/c873tc2n ---------------------------- Music and video elements licensed under Envato Elements: https://elements.envato.com/

In this week's episode, we take a look at seven popular movies about writing & writers and take a look at what they got wrong. This coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of DRAGONSKULL: CURSE OF THE ORCS (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills) at my Payhip store: SPRINGORCS The coupon code is valid through May 20th, 2024. So if you need a new audiobook for spring, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello everyone. Welcome to Episode 198 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is April 26th, 2024 and today we were talking about seven of the most inaccurate movies about writers. Before we do that, we will have writing updates, Coupon of the Week, and a Question of the Week. So let's start with Coupon of the Week. First up, let's do Coupon of the Week. This coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Dragonskull: Curse of the Orc (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills) at my Payhip store. That coupon code is SPRINGORCS and that's SPRINGORCS. As always, that coupon code will be in the show notes. This coupon code is valid through May 20th, 2024. So if you need a new audiobook for spring, we have got you covered. Now an update on my current writing projects and audiobook projects. I'm currently on Chapter 16 of Cloak of Titans. I'm not sure how many chapters it's going to end up being. My number keeps changing, but I think right now it's 25. I am over halfway through the book and I'm hoping to be past the 70,000 word point by the end of the day, if all goes well. I'm hoping to still have that out before the end of May. I am also 5,000 words into Half-Orc Paladin, which should come out this summer. After Cloak of Titans is out, my next main project will be Shield of Darkness, which I know many people have been asking about, so hopefully it will not be too much longer until I start on Shield of Darkness. In audiobook news, Hollis McCarthy is almost done recording Ghost in the Veils, and we should hopefully have that available to listen to sometime in May. Brad Wills is currently recording the anthology Tales of the Shield Knight, which will contain over 15 of the Shield Knight short stories that I wrote for the Sevenfold Sword and Dragontiarna series, and that should also hopefully be out sometimes toward the end of May or possibly June. So that is where I'm at with my current writing and audiobook projects. 00:01:58 Question of the Week/Update on Starfield from Previous Question of the Week Next up is Question of the Week, which is designed to inspire interesting discussions of enjoyable topics. This week's question: what is the first fantasy novel you remember reading? After all, if you're hanging around the website of Jonathan Moeller, Pulp Writer, there's a non-zero chance that you enjoy fantasy books. So it seems like a reasonable question, and it was indeed a reasonable question because we got a lot of responses. Our first response is from Justin, who says: believe it or not, the first fantasy novel I read was The Hobbit. My older sisters had pooled their money to buy the paper version of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I saw them reading it, and since my sisters were for once not being nasty to each other and reading together, it had to be good. After they finished The Hobbit, I asked to borrow it. It was allowed to read it as long as I didn't leave the room and wash my hands first. I was eight. Our next response is from Mary, who says: I remember my first reading of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. It was by no stretch of the imagination my first fantasy novel. Our next comment is from Stuart, who says: Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings. When I was younger/preteens, I loved adventure books like Hardy Boys and The Three Investigators. I didn't really read much in the coming years, until one day it was raining outside and being bored, I made a nuisance of myself when my older brother was trying to watch TV. He finally snapped, told me to shut up, threw Pawn of Prophecy at me, and told me to read that. The rest, as they say, is history. I went from adding Eddings to Feist and Gemmel and then on to Jordan, etcetera. I will always have a soft spot for David Eddings books, though. So it seems the common themes here will be a sibling rivalry inspiring love of fantasy literature. Our next response is from Grace, who says: does the Magic Treehouse series count? If not, Chronicles of Narnia. Leanne says Dragonriders of Pern. Boy, did I want a dragon! Melinda says Piers Anthony's Night Mare. I was in 6th grade and my friend gave it to me for my birthday. Cheryl says: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. From then on, it was full steam ahead, Feist, Eddings, Tolkien, Irvine, and now most of the fantasy/sci-fi authors that are currently publishing on Kindle. David says: probably The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Kevin says: many, many moons ago it was the Earthsea trilogy by Ursula Le Guin. Then I wandered into TV and films in the sci-fi genre for a number of years, forsaking the written word. My imagination was recaptured more recently, about a decade ago, a decade ago, when a friend lent me a copy of Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. Alan says: I've been through most of these mentioned so far though the years but my first introduction to once he was Edgar Rice Burroughs, like Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, Pellucidar, etcetera. Then on to Tolkien. Randy says: for me it was The Hobbit.  Went on a family vacation with my uncle and his family. I was introduced to The Hobbit. My uncle will read just about every night to my cousins, and as we're all sharing the same room, my sister and I began hearing the story. We got home. I asked my dad if I could read his copy. 50 some odd years later, I'm still devouring as many books as I can. Mike says: I am not sure which one it was, but I believe it was either The Hobbit or The Sword of Shannara. Diana says: The Gunslinger. I said what I said. Venus says: A Wrinkle in Time or Dragonsong. I know that the Pern books are actually science fiction, but I don't recall any of the science stuff that first time I read it. It was the first Pern book I read. The first epic fantasy I recall reading was Dragons of Autumn Twilight. Gary says: I couldn't give you a title or author, but I definitely remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books in the fantasy genre as a young reader. Tom said: Not 100% sure, but this is my best guess. It would be The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Ah, the Chronicles of Narnia. What a series. Juana says: I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Catriona says: The Hobbit after listening to the BBC Radio play adaptation in the ‘70s. Pippa says: Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. I've reread them lots too and I've never tired of them. Perry says: Do the Iliad, Odyssey, and Beowulf count? For modern fantasy, would be a toss-up between The Hobbit and The Belgariad. Joy says: the Thomas Covenant series. My boyfriend at the time was into sci-fi and fantasy novels, so I borrowed it and was hooked. A different Glenn says: either Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey or the Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip. I love them both in the same summer while visiting my dad and cannot remember which one came first, but I got hooked on fantasy fiction that summer. Mandy says: The first time I remember reading the left an impression was the Dragonlance Legends series. My favorite fantasy series is Discworld. Gary (a different Gary) says: First one I remember is the Elfstones of Shannara. Also, the Dragonriders of Pern and Crystal Singer series. John says: Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. I was nine years old. It created a lifelong love of fantasy for me. Darla says: A Wrinkle in Time, The Faraway Lurs, and The Runaway Robot were some of the books I read as a kid. Later it was Lord of the Rings and The Dragonriders of Pern and I continue reading to this day. Andy says first ever was the Deverry series by Katherine Kerr. It was a very intense read for 14 year old on an 8 hour drive on a family trip. Sue says David Eddings- all his series, and Anne McCaffrey, Dragonrider series. Brock says Lord of the Rings. Susan says: probably Lord of the Rings, but it's over 50 years ago. I can't really remember. Edward says The Legend of Huma by Richard A. Knaak. Michael says. Now there's a question! Probably The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or one of the other Narnia books, all of which are obviously epic. And finally, Judy says the White Mountains by John Christopher or anything by Dr. Seuss. So I think we can see it's safe to say that if you have a small children between the ages of eight and 10 and you want to get them into fantasy literature, the best places to start would be either The Hobbit, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or perhaps the Dragonriders of Pern. For myself, the very first fantasy novel I ever read was Magician Master by Raymond E. Feist. What got me into that book was The Betrayal at Krondor computer game, which of course was a classic. After I finished the game, I did some reading. Remember this was way before the Internet, so you couldn't find out anything you wanted whenever you wanted and I was astonished to realize that Krondor was in fact based off an actual novel series. So I got Magician Master and started reading it. Fun fact, years later I realized that Magician Master was in fact the sequel to Magician Apprentice and went back to read the first book. So that was this week's Question of the Week. You may remember that last week's Question of the Week was what new Xbox game I should try. Many people had excellent suggestions. I think I'm going to go with Starfield from all the suggestions last week. The reason for this is that Starfield reminds me a great deal of Wing Commander Privateer from the ‘90s. If you remember, the Wing Commander series of PC games, they're basically Top Gun but in space. Privateer took the basic flight gameplay mechanic but changed it so you're an independent privateer captain and you had to make your way through the Gemini sector as a mercenary, a merchant, a pirate, a bounty hunter, or some combination of them. You had to buy your own equipment and weapons and find a way to turn a profit in your jobs, since you had to pay for everything. If you played the main plots, you got involved in conspiracy involving a lost alien relic, but you don't have to do any main plot at all. You just fly around the galaxy making credits, fighting pirates, and trading. Starfield basically feels like someone took Wing Commander Privateer, and then added on a Skyrim-esque role-playing experience for when your character is on the ground. I know it got middling reviews, but I'm enjoying the game so far. Perhaps because, at least to my eye, it feels like a massively updated version of Wing Commander Privateer. 00:09:43 Main Topic: Seven of the Most Inaccurate Movies About Writers Now we're 10 minutes into the show and still haven't gotten to our main topic, so I think it's time we should finally do that, which is Seven of the Most Inaccurate Movies About Writers. I decided to do this because I noticed that whenever a novelist or a writer of fiction turns up in a movie, the depiction of it tends to be grossly inaccurate. That's hardly unique to writers. The joke among the military officers, former military officers, and law enforcement officers is that whenever the military or law enforcement turns up on TV, you can have a good drinking game by counting all the inaccuracies and things that they get wrong. So why should writing be any different? I think the difference might be that writing is kind of a more aspirational career, where it's the sort of career that people tend to daydream about, like going off and becoming a writer and so they tend to get a lot of things wrong about that. So with the help of my transcriptionist, we pulled together a list of seven of the most inaccurate movies about writing. There's actually a couple of Hallmark movies on here, and this isn't to bash on Hallmark movies. I think Hallmark movies tend to be about the fantasy of romance in the way that a show like Law and Order is about the fantasy of law enforcement and criminal justice, or a movie like John Wick is about the fantasy of violence or a game like SimCity is about the fantasy of managing a large city. The reality is of none of these things are nothing like the way they're portrayed in fiction, but instead, Law and Order is about the fantasy of what we would like the criminal justice system to be like and John Wick is kind of like, you know, a revenge fantasy of what we imagine we would do if someone actually shot our dog. So with that in mind, let's look at seven of the most inaccurate movies we found about writing. The first one is called Winter Love Story from Hallmark in 2019. It kind of deserves the 22% it got in the Rotten Tomatometer. The plot is a debut writer who wrote a memoir is appearing on a book tour of a famous fantasy author in order to boost her sales. They travel around visiting charming bed and breakfasts with plenty of time to talk about their feelings. The fantasy writer has a dog that he really loves a lot. The movie really revolves more around the dog more than the books. Now, why is this a bad movie about writing? For one thing, it has an unrealistic view of book tours, namely that a debut writer who is writing a memoir (which is a notoriously hard to sell genre) would be given such a lavish book tour paired with an author outside her genre. Cross-genre of sales promotions here in the real world tend not to work terribly well, because someone who wants to buy an 800 page fantasy novel about dragons is probably not going to be super interested in picking up a new writer's memoir are about her failed dating life. The movie also has an unrealistic view of book marketing and the involvement level and commitment of traditional publishing staff. If traditional publishing marketing staff is marketing 50 plus other writers, they're not going to follow your whimsical book tour and give tons of advice and coaching along the way. Book tours really don't sell very many books in general, to the point where Brandon Sanderson, who is probably the top selling fantasy author in the world right now, stopped doing book tours in 2020 when COVID came along (because you know, everyone had to stop doing book tours). But after all the various restrictions lifted, he found that he really wasn't interested in resuming it because of the physical drain of traveling and it turned out it had no impact on sales whatsoever. Finally, the movie touts the very false belief that the skill of giving heartfelt, heavily autobiographical speeches is the essential skill in marketing your work. Honestly, if you want to sell books, you would have better luck learning how to use Amazon ads or Facebook ads effectively, but I expect that would not make for a very good Hallmark movie. The second movie we're going to talk about is Lost City from 2022, which I actually saw shortly after it came out because it turned up on streaming (I think it was on Prime). I thought it was actually pretty funny, but it was not terribly accurate about the business of writing. The plot is that a romance author is struggling to finish her book. While she's on tour with her famous cover model, she gets kidnapped and the cover model must turn into an action hero and rescue her. The plot very heavily borrows from the 1980s movie Romancing the Stone, which is also about a writer. The scenery in the movie is fantastic and Daniel Radcliffe plays the villain, this insane billionaire who kidnapped Sandra Bullock's character to help find lost treasure and their reactions were pretty funny. It's not a great movie about writing. Even the romance and romantasy (which is a combination of romance and fantasy) authors topping the best seller list right now (as of April 2024) do not have press tours that are more like a fan convention with a budget for sparkly jumpsuits and lighting effects, etcetera. Cover models do not get a lot (or even any) of promotion, attention, or respect from publishers. The cover model is given top billing on the tour along with the author, which just doesn't happen. One side note, what is probably realistic is the publisher trying to discourage tangents in full academic jargon by the author on her history related research interests. You will often find if you're reading a book that involved a lot of research on the part of the author, that the author is going to put that research into the book (whether the reader likes it or not). Our third movie is called Alex and Emma, which came out in 2003. The plot of this movie is that an author with writer's block has debts to a loan shark he must pay in 30 days or else the loan shark is going to get nasty. He hires a stenographer to help him church out a book and since it's a romantic comedy, you can probably guess what happens next. This movie was apparently very loosely inspired by the story of Dostoyevsky writing The Gambler/meeting his wife but is also apparently heavily inspired by the movie Paris When it Sizzles. Even with multiple sources of inspiration, it still received terrible reviews for an incoherent, unsatisfying plot. And why is this a bad movie about writing? For one thing, it treats writing a book draft in 30 days as a near impossible feat. Not to toot my own horn, so to speak, but I'm going to write the rough draft of Cloak of Titans in under 30 days. If all goes well, it will be well over 100,000 words. There's also once again the cliche that writing already must be autobiographical and reflect what's currently happening in your life in order to be good. If that were true, all my books would be about the adventures of a middle-aged IT guy, which would be kind of boring compared to epic fantasy novels. And another thing that's unrealistic is that the struggling writer gets a $125,000 advance from the publisher, but the publisher won't help him replace a computer when it gets destroyed by a loan shark's posse. Computers were, of course, quite a bit more expensive in 2003 than they are now, but still they cost a lot less than $125,000. So that part definitely didn't make sense. Our 4th movie is Not Another Happy Ending, which came out in 2013. A writer becomes successful but has writer's block when she's happy. Her publisher has to figure out how to make her unhappy so she can write again but falls in love with her in the process. And why is this a bad movie about writing? If following around most the successful writers in order to inspire them was the actual job of publishers, a few certain well known fantasy series might have at least one more book by now than they actually do. So we'll just move on from there. The fifth one is a movie that gets made fun of a lot and rather deservedly so: Eat, Pray, Love, which came out in 2010. The plot of this, obviously, is that a reader gets divorced and goes on a journey to Italy, India, and Bali in order to “find herself” and gain writing inspiration. Why is this a bad movie about writing? So many reasons! First, there's a sort of a cliche in poor taste that writers can't be great unless they leave their spouses, that their marriage is preventing someone from devoting themselves to great writing. Although the one thing you say for Eat, Pray, Love is that it's a gender flip as opposed to the way these things usually are in movies where it's the male writer who is being held back by his wife. The reality is that people with stable home lives are more likely to be productive than people without them, and this is true across all fields of endeavor, and not just writing. Another bad cliche is the idea that you need to bankroll a year of travel to luxury destinations in order to find inspiration to write isn't realistic or accurate, and in truth very, very, very, very, very few writers can actually afford this luxury. This type of thinking leads people to believe they need to go on expensive retreats in order to be a “real writer”, when in reality many famous writers rarely traveled. Examples: Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, I think J.R.R. Tolkien spent most of his post-war life entirely in England, etcetera. For myself, I do most of my writing either on my couch or while sitting in a $40 office chair I bought off Amazon Basics. That is definitely a cliche that you do not need to travel in order to write. In fact, travel can get in the way of getting writing done, which was one of the Brandon Sanderson's stated reasons for why he doesn't go on book tours too often anymore. Our 6th movie is As Good as It Gets, which came out in 1997. The premise of this movie is that a crabby, ill-behaved writer with some mental health challenges has a series of unexpected interactions that inspire him to become a better person. And why is this an inaccurate move about writing? First, there's a cliche that writers need to use a typewriter because a computer isn't as artistic or special. I know there are writers who insist on writing things longhand and or insist on using the typewriter and they have their reasons, but it's my belief that that is in fact very inefficient, and you should probably write on whatever method is most efficient or easy for you. And if you are writing for publication and profit, that means writing on a computer. If you don't like to type, you can dictate. There's also the idea I don't like that the idea that the reading public/critics will forgive terrible behavior or prejudice because of how brilliant you are. This is a fallacy you see across many professions where a brilliant doctor, a brilliant scientist, a brilliant politician, a brilliant writer, or whatever feels they have a license to act like a total jerk because they're so good at what they do. In reality, that often causes a lot of problems and ends up destroying the person's career. So that is a bad cliche, and one that if you're listening to this, I urge you not to put into practice in your daily life. Our seventh and final movie is another Hallmark one called A Novel Romance, which came out in 2015. In this story, a male romance writer who uses a pen name meets a female book reviewer who is unaware of his true identity even as they grow closer. Will pressure from his publisher to reveal his true identity hurt their budding romance? What did this movie get wrong about writing? First, there's the idea that pen names are somehow deceptive or shocking, especially in the romance genre where it's very common for a single writer to have multiple pen names. A professional book critic would consider it a very strong possibility that someone is writing under a pen name, which makes you wonder how competent the book critic is as a book critic. Publishers do not send limos to the airport for writers traveling to their personal vacation homes. If a writer is rich enough to have a limo and a personal vacation home, the writer is probably paying for it him or herself. The publisher is not. Most writing is not done on a legal pad while staring out onto the water next to your very expensive boat. Your agent, even a very nice agent (if such a thing exists) will not fly across the country multiple times in order to give you romantic advice. And finally, an author's pen name reveal would not be front page tabloid news. So those are just some of the things that movie got wrong about writing. So there those are 7 movies that are very inaccurate about what being a writer is like, and the point of that was not to pick on those movies (with the possible exception of Eat, Pray, Love, which deserves to be picked on) but to point out that the way they referenced what being a writer was like was often quite inaccurate, even if the movies themselves may or may not have been enjoyable for their intended audience. So that's it for this week. Thanks for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found it useful and a word of thanks to my transcriptionist help me to pull this list together because she's definitely seen more Hallmark movies than I have. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

In episode ten, Jay McGuiness joins me to talk about Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings. Jay is a member of boyband The Wanted and previous winner of Strictly Come Dancing but also the author of Blood Flowers, his debut YA novel, which is out in February and available to pre-order now. Jay's choice was David Eddings' 1982 fantasy book Pawn of Prophecy, the first book in the Belgariad series. We chatted about what makes a book YA, how fantasy can be used to explore almost any idea or issue and the similarities and differences between the publishing and music industry. You can find Blood Flowers, Pages & Co, and Pawn of Prophecy at my Bookshop page: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookwandering-the-podcast-s2This is the last episode of series two but Bookwandering will be back in the New Year for series three. The podcast is produced by Adam Collier with artwork by Hester Kitchen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we have a free-wheeling episode. We cover a lot of topics from Transformers: Rise of The Beasts all the way to books like Nocturnals and The Belgariad: Magician's Gambit.We also talk about Return of the Jedi and some additional Star Wars reflections.HostsPaul McGintyIan SharpleyMatt CasaleHouse KeepingBe sure to follow us on social media:FacebookTwitterInstagramBuy swag at:TeePublicSubscribe to our exclusive content:McSoss Private ReserveShownotes (all timestamps are approximate)Transformers: Rise of The Beasts (~ 06:00)Nocturnals (~11:22)The Belgariad: Magician's Gambit (~18:00)VCR Talk (~29:40)Return of the Jedi (~34:00)The Last Jedi Retrospective (~43:47)

In questa puntata andremo a parlare de "Il segno della profezia" e "La regina della magia", primi due libri di cinque della saga de "I Belgariad", classico del fantasy recentemente riproposto da Mondadori in una edizione completa Link Amazon: https://www.amazon.it/Belgariad-saga-completa-David-Eddings/dp/8804745983/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_it_IT=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=37GCFNENERUJU&keywords=belgariad&qid=1672425654&sprefix=belgariad%2Caps%2C344&sr=8-1 Pagina Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bla.blafantasy/ Pagina Facebook https://www.facebook.com/blablafantasy/ Anchor: https://anchor.fm/blablafantasy Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2oXisQ7r8paJvvuYBrHt3N?si=AfUzdqcoRVaAO6D5Q9HKKw Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/search/bla%20bla%20fantasy Un ringraziamento a Riccardo per la traccia musicale in sottofondo https://campsite.bio/spinaaqm https://www.fiverr.com/riccardos17?source=gig_cards&referrer_gig_slug=do-an-amazing-and-chill-lo-fi-soundtrack-for-your-video&ref_ctx_id=6ed784fb0bae92f95938a321774d6e9d --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blablafantasy/message

Su Battlestar Galactica e la filosofia, segnalo...Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy, edito da Jason T. Eberl. Sul tempo nel fantasy, Fantasy et Histoire(s), edito da Anne Besson, e in particolare il primo tra i contributi che contiene, a cura di Viviane Bergue.

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we conclude our series on Baldur's Gate. We talk takeaways and then clean up a very full mailbag. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Issues covered: the long-term quest of the franchise, Baals everywhere, converting from D&D, not every rule translating well, limiting the story to a generic "Gorion's Ward," having different expectations for their other games, a full campaign, feeling like a bad adventurer, mechanical map support, fog of war, stories about the side content, the story picking up from the flooding of a mine, tactical hybrid combat, the wide variety of character choice, companion quests, addition of voice, closing off branches, RPG elements, holistic design and RPGs, the use of archetypes, the spectrum of being a role-playing game, companion pairs, richness for companions, leaning into the save system, the puzzle nature of the combats, the ideal in level design vs core mechanics, the influence of level design on mechanics, comfort with tools, making the mistake of stopping a story having an impact on me, greater maturity expected of players, missing out on an opportunity for executing a plan, having a wider field of options for play, not worrying about what happens to your game after you've left it, Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Diablo, Dungeons & Dragons, SSI, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Jade Empire, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Neverwinter Nights, Black Isle, The Witcher 3, Fallout, Temple of Elemental Evil, Larian Studios, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, Beamdog, Dragon Lance, The Belgariad, David Eddings, Divinity: Original Sin, Dan Hunter, Descent 3, Dark Souls, UbiSoft, Assassin's Creed, Arkham (series), Bette Davis, Dragon's Dogma, Final Fantasy, Warren Linam-Church, Greg, Logan, Borderlands, Uncharted, Jedi Starfighter, GTA 3, Keith "mysterydip" Wagner, Firewatch, BioShock, The Walking Dead, Artimage, Wizards of the Coast, Ashton Herrmann, Republic Commando, Trent Oster, Soul Reaver, Populous: The Beginning, Hitman 3, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: TBD Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Today I talk about Pawn of Prophecy by David and Leigh Eddings and why you should read it. Pawn of Prophecy is the first in a 5-book epic called The Belgariad, and it follows the coming-of-age story of Garion as his simple farm life is suddenly uprooted by the theft of a mysterious object and the arrival of an old friend.

Brendan makes Levi discuss their favourite book series.

We've circulated back around to book two of The Belgariad and this time we've got some special guest stars on the show. Mama and Papa Dragons are here to tell you about why they love this series and why they raised their children to be such freakin' nerds.

Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 19 Garion and the gang are out of the caves of Ulgo and back in the sunshine on the surface. He inadvertently nominates himself for Relg duty, which basically means to keep the newly emerged cave-dweller calm enough about open sky to not run screaming into the forest. Sondra tries to expound upon the attributes of the peoples of the Belgariad. It’s a hilarious effort. She’s painting and feeling the freshness of new creation and inspiration. Alysia is using drawing to release heavy stuff and maybe it will turn into something more: cha-ching! After all, inspiration is meant to be followed when it strikes. They’re both living parallel lives again. Stick around for "Prophecy Speaks", the segment of the show where real magic is on display and you are invited to join in. Share your own piece of prophecy with the secret episode #hashtag. Books we used for prophecy this week: - Breaking the Spell, Religion as a natural phenomenon, Daniel C. Dennett - Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins Head over to the website for the extended show notes. + Website belgariadandbeyond.goddesskindled.com + Facebook + Instagram @belgariadandbeyond + Voice Message anchor.fm/belgariadandbeyond + Email belgariadandbeyond@gmail.com Support us! ♥ Patreon patreon.com/belgariadandbeyond ♥ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts Theme music © 2018 Bone Deep Sound Productions This podcast is a Goddess Kindled Universe production © 2021 All rights reserved --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/belgariadandbeyond/message

Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 11 Garion meets Aldur and is blessed, claiming the God as his Master without knowing why. He spends time contemplating the passing of what he senses is a significant threshold and then sets out to discover how much more complicated the doing of deliberate magic is compared to instinctive magic. Sondra is enjoying the autumn changes and feeling much better now that her creative spark has returned. Alysia is diving into darkness and feeling the light of the dark, engaging in her first deliberate shadow work. They are both waking up from the sleeping pill of Facebook and excited about moving our Belgariad & Beyond community to Patreon. Stick around for "Prophecy Speaks", the segment of the show where real magic is on display and you are invited to join in. Share your own piece of prophecy with the secret episode #hashtag. Books we used for prophecy this week: - A Home at the End of the World, by Michael Cunningham - New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer Head over to the website for the extended show notes. + Website belgariadandbeyond.goddesskindled.com + Facebook + Instagram @belgariadandbeyond + Voice Message anchor.fm/belgariadandbeyond + Email belgariadandbeyond@gmail.com Support us! ♥ Patreon patreon.com/belgariadandbeyond ♥ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts and our Facebook page Theme music © 2018 Bone Deep Sound Productions This podcast is a Goddess Kindled Universe production © 2020 All rights reserved --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/belgariadandbeyond/message

In this special episode of Belgariad & Beyond, Sondra and her guest, Jessica Moore-Lucas continue a conversation to discover how the magical realism of story and the books that we love weave through the fabric of our lives to support us. If you're enjoying the Belgariad & Beyond Podcast strictly spoiler-free, be aware we sometimes briefly touch on the Belgariad stories. Spirituality. What does it mean? Mindfulness and other home-schooling disasters. Depression and the absence of creative force, and how to find it again. And of course the conversation wraps up with some Prophecy Speaks. Check out the television show Jessica finds so soothing. Time Team has a channel on YouTube where you can find full episodes and more. We'd love to hear from you! Email belgariadandbeyond@gmail.com or send us a voice message to let us know what you think of this episode. © 2020 Goddess Kindled Universe All Rights Reserved --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/belgariadandbeyond/message

In this special episode of Belgariad & Beyond, Sondra and her guest, Rachel Salin continue a conversation to discover how the magical realism of story and the books that we love weave through the fabric of our lives to support us. If you're enjoying the Belgariad & Beyond Podcast strictly spoiler-free, be aware we sometimes briefly touch on the Belgariad stories. This episode gets into the sparks of what has currently set our worlds ablaze and how we find comfort in the known of our favourite stories—and so much more—then wrap up the conversation with some Prophecy Speaks. Want some new film and tv to check out? Find out more about Besties Make Movies and their movie Triple Threat, and listen to their song Piece of Me. We'd love to hear from you! Email belgariadandbeyond@gmail.com or send us a voice message to let us know what you think of this episode. © 2020 Goddess Kindled Universe All Rights Reserved --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/belgariadandbeyond/message

In this special episode of Belgariad & Beyond, Sondra and her guest, Mary Sexton begin a conversation to discover how the magical realism of story and the books that we love weave through the fabric of our lives to support us. If you're enjoying the Belgariad & Beyond Podcast strictly spoiler-free, be aware we do briefly touch on the Belgariad stories. We touch on tender issues and acknowledge the healing that was found in books at those times, and so much more, then wrap up the conversation with some Prophecy Speaks. Want some reading suggestions? Here's Mary's Canada Reads Pinterest board. Email belgariadandbeyond@gmail.com or send us a voice message to let us know what you think of this episode. © 2020 Goddess Kindled Universe All Rights Reserved --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/belgariadandbeyond/message

The grills talk about some authors that we have really enjoyed over the years, including: Dragon Lance-Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman David and Leigh Eddings- Mallorean, Belgariad, etc Anne McCaffrey Mercedes Lackey Anne Rice Diana Wynne Jones Chrestomancy https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-688-07496-8

In this episode Tracy, Eric, and Jeff sit down with Ismael Alvarez and Louis Brenton to discuss Pawn of Prophecy (book one of The Belgariad) by David Eddings.    Links:  Louis Brenton on Twitter Ismael Alvarez on Twitter Ismael Alvarez at Fat Goblin Games Tracy on Twitter   Tracy on the Web   Eric on Twitter    Jeff on Twitter   Thetomeshow.com   Patreon.com/thetomeshow           

In this episode Tracy, Eric, and Jeff sit down with Ismael Alvarez and Louis Brenton to discuss Pawn of Prophecy (book one of The Belgariad) by David Eddings.    Links:  Louis Brenton on Twitter Ismael Alvarez on Twitter Ismael Alvarez at Fat Goblin Games Tracy on Twitter   Tracy on the Web   Eric on Twitter    Jeff on Twitter   Thetomeshow.com   Patreon.com/thetomeshow           

In this episode Tracy, Eric, and Jeff sit down with Ismael Alvarez and Louis Brenton to discuss Pawn of Prophecy (book one of The Belgariad) by David Eddings.    Links:  Louis Brenton on Twitter Ismael Alvarez on Twitter Ismael Alvarez at Fat Goblin Games Tracy on Twitter   Tracy on the Web   Eric on Twitter    Jeff on Twitter   Thetomeshow.com   Patreon.com/thetomeshow           

In this episode Tracy, Eric, and Jeff sit down with Ismael Alvarez and Louis Brenton to discuss Pawn of Prophecy (book one of The Belgariad) by David Eddings.    Links:  Louis Brenton on Twitter Ismael Alvarez on Twitter Ismael Alvarez at Fat Goblin Games Tracy on Twitter   Tracy on the Web   Eric on Twitter    Jeff on Twitter   Thetomeshow.com   Patreon.com/thetomeshow           

Episode 207: Nervous Timid Goth Boys vs Manic Pixie Dream Girls - How a Single Trope can Shift Narrative Preference Different tropes are designed to appeal to different readers and viewers, and, as the dragons have said on many occasions, there is nothing inherently wrong with tropes. Why not give your audience more of what it wants? However there are tropes that are packaged in such a way as to close the narrative of a story to perspectives other than the default, and do so under the guise of providing a strong female lead or co-lead. These tropes can be damaging and need some re-engineering. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at one of the most infamous character tropes - the Manic Pixie Dream Girl - and it's possible antithesis - the Nervous Timid Goth Boy. On the slab this episode - Scott Pilgrim, Weird Science, The Belgariad by David Eddings and many more.   Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

IT'S A WRAP: LIVE! Where Sondra’s got way too many browser windows active and is worried one more click will break the whole show, Alysia’s daughter is a spirited child (AKA extroverted mini-Alysia), and they’re both enormously grateful for everything this show has shown them about themselves. And you. They are loving all over YOU. Time for the Belgariad & Beyond crew to take an end-of-season break, and prepare for season 2, Queen of Sorcery to begin in July! TREATS! Catch the replay of this live recording on the Goddess Kindled Universe YouTube channel. Random fact: A ‘butt‘ is a traditional unit of volume used for wines and other alcoholic beverages. A butt is generally defined to be two hogsheads, but the size of hogsheads varies according to the contents. In the United States a hogshead is typically 63 gallons and a butt is 126 gallons. Books we used for prophecy this week - Women Who Run With the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés - The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho Visit us! ♥ Website belgariadandbeyond.goddesskindled.com + Facebook + Instagram @belgariadandbeyond + Twitter @beyondbelgariad How to be awesome: rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you found our show! That’s how other people will find us. You can also go to this episode on our website and leave a comment that we can actually respond to. That’s another level of cool. You can find the episode segment times at the website if you'd like to jump right to your favourite part. Theme music by Muwan © 2018 Bone Deep Sound Productions This podcast is a Goddess Kindled Universe production © 2019 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/belgariadandbeyond/message

Scrapisodes are segments that are too good to be left on the cutting room floor. Megan Smyth was interviewed for Episode 2 - Peas in a Pod. Her full interview can be found on Patreon. Learn more at lizzylizzyliz.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/LizChristensen)

With the discussion about pillars of Dungeons & Dragons wrapped up, the panel of DM's decides to look into WHY people play D&D as opposed to other games.  The first broad topic is determining what defines the fantasy genre, what it makes it so attractive, and what draws the hosts to this roleplaying game, specifically the Forgotten Realms setting.  As the conversation moves to the details of Forgotten Realms, the Dungeon Masters discuss what the most interesting pieces of the Forgotten Realms lore actually are, and what they find the most inspiring about them.  From nostalgia and inspiration to comparing the differences between gritty campaigns, high fantasy campaigns, and low fantasy campaigns, this episode covers a wide variety of topics and often goes completely off the rails! SUMMARY: There is a lot to unpack in the fantasy genre, D&D, and Forgotten Realms, and as Terry and Adam drill Dan on the specifics, they learn a few shocking details about Dan's improv poetry skills and his preference for vampire sex games. The Dungeon Masters touch on fantasy inspirations, including Star Wars, Conan the Barbarian, A Song of Ice and Fire, Dracula, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Magic the Gathering, Anne Rice novels, Lord of the Rings, Critical Role, World of Warcraft, Star Trek, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, The Dark Tower, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion Warhammer, Harry Potter, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Norse, Celtic, and Greek mythologies, Pathfinder, Scott Lynch novels, The Belgariad, Discworld, Piers Anthony books, The Dresden Files, D&D video games, R. A. Salvatore novels, and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  The conversation then moves on to D&D specifically, covering some books and campaign settings (Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Storm King's Thunder, Tyranny of Dragons, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Tomb of Annihilation, Tales of the Yawning Portal, Death House and Curse of Strahd, Dark Sun, Greyhawk, Eberron, and Expedition to the Barrier Peaks), and then taking a look at the Forgotten Realms, specifically The Spellplague, the two Sunderings, Elminster, Drizzt Do'Urden, Mordenkainen and The Circle of Eight, Toril, Faerun, Evermeet, Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter, Undermountain, The Underdark, Netheril, Lolth, Mystra, Cyric, The Many Arrows Clan, The Lord's Alliance, the Elf/Drow conflict, Thay/Rashemen conflict, Szass Tam, Acererak, Vecna, The Regalia of Evil, The Star Stone, The Deck of Many Things, The Sunsword, Dragons, Mindflayers, and Halflings. Shout Outs: @dungeons_and_maps Available On:iTunes | Spotify | Podbean | YouTube Don’t forget to Like/Follow/Subscribe/Whatever when you listen! Links: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Email: info@itsamimic.com Intro/Outro Music by: Cory WiebeShout Out Music by: Isaac CallenderLogo by: Kate Skidmore    

O Moro te mandou um zap pedindo pra votar nulo? O que acontece se todo mundo votar em branco? Quais são as regras da propaganda eleitoral? Como é esse negócio de sistema proporcional? Se eu votei no Fulano, por que diabos quem ganhou foi o Beltrano? O que é esse negócio de distritão? Esclarecemos vários babados eleitorais com Alexandre Basílio, entendedor dos paranauês todos. Ficha técnica   Hosts: Thiago Corrêa e Leticia Dáquer   Convidado: Alexandre Basílio    Edição: Thiago Corrêa   Capa: Leticia Dáquer   Data da gravação: 27/08/2018   Data da publicação: 12/09/2018   Músicas:  Declamação de Jessier Quirino - Comício de beco estreito Rita Lee e Roberto Carvalho - Vote em mim Silvio Brito - Caso de Emergência Os Paralamas do Sucesso - 300 Picaretas Vinícius - Ano de Eleição (música autoral disponível no YouTube) Beth Carvalho - Onde está a honestidade? (Versão de música de Noel Rosa)   Links mencionados no episódio   RESOLUÇÃO TSE Nº 23.551, DE 18 DE DEZEMBRO DE 2017   Dono da Havan desafia lei eleitoral para promover Bolsonaro no Facebook   Art. 224 do Código Eleitoral - Lei 4737/65   Quem são os brasileiros que formam o terço da população que pretende votar nulo para presidente   Maioria dos votos nulos anula eleição e impõe novo pleito com outros candidatos? Não é verdade!   Voto nulo e branco: entenda a diferença   O índice de votos brancos e nulos nas pesquisas. E o cenário de indefinição   Moro escreveu texto em que defende voto nulo contra corruptos? Não é verdade!   Livro Ensaio sobre a Lucidez   Nem mesmo a Jordânia suportou os problemas do Distritão (Alexandre Basílio - Justificando, na Carta Capital)   Quais os efeitos do sistema proporcional de votos nas eleições brasileiras (Nexo)   O paradoxo da proporcionalidade e o efeito Tiririca (Alexandre Basílio - Os Eleitorialistas) Propaganda eleitoral na internet (vídeo com Alexandre Basílio) O Bom, o Mau e o Feio O Bom:  Leticia:  Vírus da Zika pode dar origem a tratamento para tumores de cérebro, apontam estudos da USP (BBC Brasil, 08/09/2018) Thiago:  Médica de Belém receita medicamentos a pessoa analfabeta (Twitter, 04/09/2018) Pastor toma uma linda traulitada nos cornos por proferir discurso de ódio (The Independent, 30/05/2018)   O Mau: Leticia:  Entidades combatem câmeras do metrô de SP que leem emoções de passageiros para vender publicidade (The Intercept Brasil, 31/08/2018)   Thiago: Preso ancião indígena que enfrentou tropa de choque com rezas (Agência Pública, 03/09/2018)   O Feio: Leticia:  Pesquisadora brasileira tenta decifrar mistério de quatis que usam sabonete (BBC Brasil, 06/09/2018)   Thiago:  STF vai decidir se crianças podem ser educadas em casa pelos pais (Metro, 27/08/2018)   Jabás Alexandre Basílio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abcoura Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abcoura/   Leticia Dáquer Twitter: @pacamanca Blog: www.pacamanca.com   Thiago Corrêa Twitter: @thiago_czz   A Balada do Pistoleiro Alexandre Basílio Livro: O filtro invisível: o que a internet está escondendo de você (Eli Pariser)   NÃO PUBLIQUE NADA SOBRE ELEIÇÕES NO DIA DAS ELEIÇÕES SE O SEU PERFIL FOR PÚBLICO! As multas são pesadíssimas    Leticia Dáquer Série de vídeos da Jout Jout sobre política   Série de fantasy: Belgariad (5 livros), de David Eddings Thiago Corrêa Texto da Svetlana Aleksiévitch: quando as flores pegaram fogo (Revista Piauí, edição de Agosto) #MULHERESPODCASTERSMulheres Podcasters é uma ação de iniciativa do Programa Ponto G, desenvolvida para divulgar o trabalho de mulheres na mídia podcast e mostrar para todo ouvinte que sempre existiram mulheres na comunidade de podcasts Brasil. O Pistolando apoia essa iniciativa.  Apoie você também: compartilhe este programa com a hashtag #mulherespodcasters e nos ajude a promover a igualdade de gênero dentro da podosfera. Links do Pistolando:   www.pistolando.com   contato@pistolando.com   Twitter: @PistolandoPod   Instagram: @PistolandoPod   Descrição da capa: Quadrado dividido em 2 partes iguais por uma linha vertical central.  A parte esquerda foi dividida em uma parte superior maior, contendo uma foto do nosso convidado Alexandre Basílio, homem branco, de olhos e cabelos castanhos, de terno escuro, camisa azul-claro, gravata vermelha, num fundo amarelo, olhando sério para a câmera; a parte inferior, menor, tem pistola e o número do episódio pretos sobre fundo branco. A parte direita foi dividida em uma parte inferior menor, fundo bordô e o nome do episódio em amarelo, e a inferior contém montagem de cartas de baralho que formam a palavra Katchanga

This week Beauty and the Bitch are taking on Part 1 of our Harry Potter finale (of the original series...we'll find more HP to talk about!). It's bittersweet that we made it all this way; a year-and-a-half into our podcast and our beloved Potter-talk is ACTUALLY wrapping up. We have so many emotions about the first time we read this book (Mic has only read it once because he doesn't like for things to end). We've got all the feelings, all the hype, and some movie chatter (some good, some BAD). TBH, we were not into Part 1 of the film. So sorry (not sorry). Thank you for following our journey with Harry (AND HERMIONE!); please enjoy jokes, banter and information about one of our favorite things in existence (and check out part 2 next week!). PLUGS: Mic thinks you should read "The Belgariad" series by David Eddings to scratch that fantasy/coming of age itch. This amazing series is a fantasy classic. If you love Harry Potter, then you'll probably love this too! Also, if you are in need of help or assistance or want to know what resources are available in your community (food needs, rent assistance, homelessness, etc.), please call 2-1-1. THIS IS A GREAT RESOURCE AND YOU CAN CALL ANYWHERE IN THE US!

Witajcie w kolejnej pogadance o książkach w naszym “odprysku” głównego podcastu Tomograf. W ZZSB ;) rozmawiamy o książkach, które kochaliśmy w czasach dzieciństwa. tym razem padło na DAVIDA EDDINGSA i jego BELGARIADĘ (i po pozostałe cykle). Mamy też gościa!Od razu na samym początku muszę powiedzieć wprost – jestem zagorzałym fanem książek fantasy, które wyszły spod pióra DAVIDA EDDINGSA i jego małżonki. Do BELGARIADY i MALLOREONU mam BARDZO osobisty stosunek, o czym mówię uczciwie w poniższym nagraniu. Niestety kolega Randall dopiero zaczął swoją przygodę z powieściami D.E. Ja… znam te książki niemalże na pamięć. Czytałem je wielokrotnie. Wspomniałem na początku o gościu. W progi naszej zakurzonej biblioteki zawitał kolega Michał Sobieszek z podcastów Psychocast i Po Seansie który też jest fanem Davida Eddingsa. No może nie tak wielkim jak ja, ale jednak ;)Tak więc zapraszamy do przesłuchania czwartego odcinka, a także gorąco polecamy poprzedni odcinek w którym wspominaliśmy przygody Tomka Wilmowskiego.

Witajcie w kolejnej pogadance o książkach w naszym “odprysku” głównego podcastu Tomograf. W ZZSB ;) rozmawiamy o książkach, które kochaliśmy w czasach dzieciństwa. tym razem padło na DAVIDA EDDINGSA i jego BELGARIADĘ (i po pozostałe cykle). Mamy też gościa! Od razu na samym początku muszę powiedzieć wprost – jestem zagorzałym fanem książek fantasy, które wyszły spod pióra DAVIDA EDDINGSA i jego małżonki. Do BELGARIADY i MALLOREONU mam BARDZO osobisty stosunek, o czym mówię uczciwie w poniższym nagraniu. Niestety kolega Randall dopiero zaczął swoją przygodę z powieściami D.E. Ja… znam te książki niemalże na pamięć. Czytałem je wielokrotnie. Wspomniałem na początku o gościu. W progi naszej zakurzonej biblioteki zawitał kolega Michał Sobieszek z podcastów Psychocast i Po Seansie który też jest fanem Davida Eddingsa. No może nie tak wielkim jak ja, ale jednak ;) Tak więc zapraszamy do przesłuchania czwartego odcinka, a także gorąco polecamy poprzedni odcinek w którym wspominaliśmy przygody Tomka Wilmowskiego.

Check out Ruby Remote Conf * and Newbie Remote Conf!! * Editor’s Note: Ruby Remote Conf is over, but you can still purchase a ticket to get instant access to the talks!   02:22 - Hanging with Buyers 05:27 - Identifying a Niche and Finding That Expensive Problem 12:27 - Strategies for Getting Noticed 17:16 - Types of Buyers 21:54 - Word of Mouth; Talking to Others Toastmasters Startups For the Rest of Us 28:37 - Tips for Introverts 37:35 - Tips for Recruiters 47:43 - Value   Picks Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble by Dan Lyons (Reuven) Beaver Builder (Philip) Selling to Big Companies by Jill Konrath (Philip) The Belgariad Series (Chuck) Fully Alive by Ken Davis (Chuck) All Remote Conferences (Chuck)

Check out Ruby Remote Conf * and Newbie Remote Conf!! * Editor’s Note: Ruby Remote Conf is over, but you can still purchase a ticket to get instant access to the talks!   02:22 - Hanging with Buyers 05:27 - Identifying a Niche and Finding That Expensive Problem 12:27 - Strategies for Getting Noticed 17:16 - Types of Buyers 21:54 - Word of Mouth; Talking to Others Toastmasters Startups For the Rest of Us 28:37 - Tips for Introverts 37:35 - Tips for Recruiters 47:43 - Value   Picks Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble by Dan Lyons (Reuven) Beaver Builder (Philip) Selling to Big Companies by Jill Konrath (Philip) The Belgariad Series (Chuck) Fully Alive by Ken Davis (Chuck) All Remote Conferences (Chuck)

Forestium by Christopher D. Morgan Published March 2016 by himself 12 reviews with 4.3 average https://www.amazon.com/Forestium-mirror-never-lies-Portallas-ebook/dp/B01CH8BGY6/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=WHTA5F4M17TE9DESB8EH#navbar   Joshua's life is on the line, as he attempts to navigate through the magical world to find the truth about his father. He and his companions will need to use all their cunning to stay alive and avoid the dark forces of the Goat. Will Joshua find the magical orbs and open the Portallas, a gateway to other worlds, before he is killed? Joshua sets out to learn the truth about his father. Along the way, he finds friends, enemies, adventure & romance. Most of all, he finds himself. Joshua, a young woodsman, is approaching the age of decision. Despite the tales of his father having died in a skirmish with another tribe, Joshua's dreams are telling him otherwise. The young man yearns for the truth and decides to enlist the help of his village elder to guide him. Armed with little more than the cryptic musing from the ailing elder, Joshua sets off to find the Oracle with his best friend and an imp, who is travelling the land to find others of his kind. It isn't long before they stumble into a beautiful and ingenious young woman who is herself on a journey of discovery. On the way to the Oracle, Joshua comes by some curious magical artefacts. Can these help him to find his father? An evil and malevolent creature of the underworld known only as the Goat learns that Joshua has possession of some of the magical orbs needed to open the Portallas, a permanent gateway that links worlds together. Enraged, the Goat sends his dark forces to thwart Joshua and to prevent him from fulfilling his destiny. Travelling through fantastic landscapes, the four travelling companions meet strange people and creatures alike, and must use all their cunning and ingenuity to find the remaining magical orbs. Will Joshua find all the magical artefacts needed to open the Portallas and free his father? PORTALLAS - Forestium: The mirror never lies is full of twists and turns, as Joshua goes on a veritable roller-coaster ride of challenges that will test his courage and emotional strength. This Young Adult Fantasy Adventure is the first in the series and will appeal best to young teens. The magical world of Forestium is filled with adventure and the coming of age story will resonate with young adults. Destined to be one of the best selling fantasy adventure series, book 1 has a storyline that moves at a fast pace with lots of twists and turns. The first chapter is a prolog. I'll read it for you now: Here's my problem with prologues. I think that prologues should give you information to help you better understand the upcoming story, whether it's an in depth look at a character, the world the story takes place in, or the intricacies of the magic system. What did we learn from this prolog that we didn't learn from the Amazon book description. There are humans and some of them are dying of a plague. There are birds with magical feathers which can change color, though we aren't told what that change of color indicated. I'm not sure if it was leading them to the healer. I guess not, since it had stay perfectly white until they found the Metamorph. I t hought it was going to be the payment for services, but the man told Valoria to put it away before someone saw it. Who knows. There are Imps. In a crowded rickety town, something appears to be killing them. There are magical balls of fire which cause carnage, or maybe not. Our family come upon a town square that is filled with carnage. However, each powerball that appears chases down an imp and vaporizes it. So, where did the carnage come from? I'm not sure. Our family flees the town and finds a Trader. He has an orb which creates a vortex through which Melachor sees another land. The trader climbs through just before Melachor's family is consumed by one of the balls of light. Before he is consumed by another ball, he grabs the orb, left by the trader, and everything goes black. I think thte story is nicely written. There are enough fantasy elements to keep most readers interested who are into that genre. The book cover is beautiful and remeniscent of the genre with a woodsman holding a hand mirror showing the image of a goat headed man. But the prolog frustrates me. I would just as soon skip it for the number of questions it raises and doesn't come close to answering. It doesn't appear to relate to the book description at all, and if these don't begin to be answered in the first few chapters, I would probably put it down to read something else. Two more notes are: One. "Barely able to stand" is repeated in the third paragraph. I don't know if this is a literary technique or a mistake. The literary technique is to repeat a word or phrase three times on the first page to create a mood. This phrase occurs only twice and in the same sentence. This second reference takes me out of the story to wonder why this mistake was overlooked by the editors. With a third instance of the phrase would resolve that feeling of confusion, as it was used to nail down a feeling or theme. In this case it doesn't, so, to me, it seems like a mistake. Such an error on the first page sets me up to look for more editorial errors, rather than to enjoy the story. In the prolog the author mostly regained my interest. Second, and finally, the book description ends with: Destined to be one of the best selling fantasy adventure series, book 1 has a storyline that moves at a fast pace with lots of twists and turns. Best selling fantasy adventures brings to my mind, Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, The Stormlight Trilogy, The Belgariad, The Sword of Shannarah, Game of Thrones. Is this novel destined to join these fantasy adventure giants? I don't think so. I would say it looks like it will be good, but I doubt it will overtake any of those.

Check out Ruby Remote Conf!   02:39 - Tom Stuart Introduction Twitter GitHub Blog Ruby Rogues Episode #120: Book Club: Understanding Computation with Tom Stuart Understanding Computation by Tom Stuart 03:17 - “Computer Scientist”; Computer Science 04:17 - Static Typing, Type Systems Tom Stuart: Consider Static Typing @ RubyConf Australia 2015 Matz's Opening Keynote at RubyConf 2014 The Halting Problem 18:44 - The Direction, Adoption Curve, and Use of Ruby 33:36 - Multicore Growth and Concurrency => What programming language should I learn? Moore’s Law   Picks Halting State by Charles Stross (Sam) The Belgariad by David Eddings (Chuck) Fully Alive: Discovering What Matters Most by Timothy Shriver (Chuck) The 8000th Busy Beaver number eludes ZF set theory: new paper by Adam Yedidia and me (Tom) Martin Kleppmann: Staying in Sync: from Transactions to Streams (Tom)

Check out Ruby Remote Conf!   02:39 - Tom Stuart Introduction Twitter GitHub Blog Ruby Rogues Episode #120: Book Club: Understanding Computation with Tom Stuart Understanding Computation by Tom Stuart 03:17 - “Computer Scientist”; Computer Science 04:17 - Static Typing, Type Systems Tom Stuart: Consider Static Typing @ RubyConf Australia 2015 Matz's Opening Keynote at RubyConf 2014 The Halting Problem 18:44 - The Direction, Adoption Curve, and Use of Ruby 33:36 - Multicore Growth and Concurrency => What programming language should I learn? Moore’s Law   Picks Halting State by Charles Stross (Sam) The Belgariad by David Eddings (Chuck) Fully Alive: Discovering What Matters Most by Timothy Shriver (Chuck) The 8000th Busy Beaver number eludes ZF set theory: new paper by Adam Yedidia and me (Tom) Martin Kleppmann: Staying in Sync: from Transactions to Streams (Tom)

Check out Ruby Remote Conf!   02:39 - Tom Stuart Introduction Twitter GitHub Blog Ruby Rogues Episode #120: Book Club: Understanding Computation with Tom Stuart Understanding Computation by Tom Stuart 03:17 - “Computer Scientist”; Computer Science 04:17 - Static Typing, Type Systems Tom Stuart: Consider Static Typing @ RubyConf Australia 2015 Matz's Opening Keynote at RubyConf 2014 The Halting Problem 18:44 - The Direction, Adoption Curve, and Use of Ruby 33:36 - Multicore Growth and Concurrency => What programming language should I learn? Moore’s Law   Picks Halting State by Charles Stross (Sam) The Belgariad by David Eddings (Chuck) Fully Alive: Discovering What Matters Most by Timothy Shriver (Chuck) The 8000th Busy Beaver number eludes ZF set theory: new paper by Adam Yedidia and me (Tom) Martin Kleppmann: Staying in Sync: from Transactions to Streams (Tom)

With bookmarks in place, Rick and Ben return to the world of literature, finishing their discussion on books from Junior High and moving into books from High School. From fantasy epics to books filled with social commentary, our hosts continue their journey through the pages of their younger years. Plus, Rick realizes he needs to brush up on the classics, and Ben admits that his English grades are all undeserved.   File Under: Books, David and Leigh Eddings, The Belgariad, The Mallorean, Flowers for Algernon, Stephen R. Lawhead, The Pendragon Cycle, Song of Albion, Animal Farm, John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, Frankenstein   Find us on the web: Rick on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WrathRainbows Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theragu40 ThePastCast website: http://www.thepastcast.com

The guys have one last chat in their Belgariad podcast series, wrapping up with book five, Enchanter's End Game. Joining them through the miracle of Skype recording is Andrew Bayles, a Linguistics grad student from the University of Utah, who comes to teach them all what a true nerd sounds like.

The guys discuss Garion's coming of age--and coming into his inheritance--in the fourth installment of the Belgariad podcast series. We find out who the voice in his head is. Ce'Nedra's innate ability to manipulate comes in real handy. Do any of these characters have free will in this story?

Ryan, Craig, and Kenn discuss the journey to Rak Cthol and the epic showdown between Ctuchik and Belgarath. New members of the company. Garion's magic grows. Ce'Nedra is beyond the fathoming of her creator. Encasing someone in rock is a good way to kill them.

Ryan, Craig, and Todd discuss book 2 of the Belgariad, with a quick appearance from Kenn. The story is starting to heat up, and so is the action. This one is much more violent than the first, and thus much more up Kenn's alley.

Ryan assigns the Legendarium panel to read David Eddings' Belgariad series. This is one of the early(ish) fantasy series that helped set the tone for many of the so-called tropes that have been seen since. But this beautifully written tale does them so well, you'll hardly notice as you start with Garion on his adventure with Belgarath and Polgara.

Twelve feet long and highly mobile. Our Guests+Mark Donkers+Roy SnyderShow Notes after the JumpShow NotesDrinkFarm Hand French-Style Farmhouse Ale, Brewery Vivant, Grand Rapids, MI500 BC Double IPA, Humboldt Brewing Co.Drew & Steve's Imperial Mutt Brown Ale, Stone Brewing Co, Escondido, CAThe Cherry Business, Cherry Mead - Mark made it Necromangocon, B. Nektar, Ferndale, MIZombie Killer, B. Nektar, Ferndale, MIDwarf Invasion, B. Nektar, Ferndale, MISinister Vertigo Imperial Stout, Oddside Ale, Grand Haven, MISpinA Year Of No Light, "Nord"Faith No More, "Angel Dust" Mr. Bungle, "Disco Volante"FantomasWitchcraftBlood CeremonyCreedence Clearwater Revival (Do I have to provide links for this stuff? Is this not day one material?)The Books ReadFrederic Brown short storiesMorrow Project 4eDavid Eddings, The BelgariadGlen Cook, the White RoseRunMore from the Donk about Morrow ProjectAdventures in the East MarkDungeon Crawl Classics RPGCastles & Crusades RPGThe Drink Spin Run Monthly Mini Non-Competition!   Join Donn & Adam every month as we paint a different mini together! We'll share our work along with those submitted by you gorgeous listeners!   This month's mini is Reaper's Toghra the Destroyer, Gnoll WarlordBuy it here! (aff)Thanks for joining us for this episode of Drink Spin Run. We'd love to read your comments on the show, suggestions, where exactly we can stick what and other thinly-veiled threats. Send us your thoughts at dsr@kickassistan.net. Once again, thanks for listening, you gorgeous listeners.

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess bring you the third installment of "Stump the Host," in which Denise tries to stump Jess at Belgariad trivia. We all know how many times Jess has read those books, so stumping her should be very hard to do. How well did it go? Listen and find out! We are currently looking for topic suggestions and book recommendations! You can always email the show at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, find us on Facebook or Twitter, or leave us comments at our official website, www.bibliophiles-anonymous.com. We would love to hear from you! Also, if you listen to the podcast on iTunes, please leave us a review over there. It helps other people find the show! Thanks for listening! Please rate, review and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess pick up a topic that had talked about doing a month ago - our favorite characters who have come back from the dead. Of course I came back. I'm too awesome to die! A few ground rules - no vampires who were just being turned. In order for a vampire to count, it had to already BE a vamp, be killed, and then come back. Same rule would have applied to zombies and other such undeadies, but we didn't have any of those on our list. Do you have any characters you would like to add? We tried to bring in both the well-known ones, but also some more that were a bit obscure. If you would like to add to this list, please email the show at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, or find us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also always leave us comments at our official website. Next week, we will try to stump Jess with Belgariad trivia! If you want to help us with questions, send us an email with "trivia" in the subject line. This will tell her not to read those. Thanks for listening! Please rate, review, and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess are back and talking about their favorite fictional places that they would love to go visit. Oh come on, who doesn't want to go to Hogwarts? Unsurprisingly, a lot of these revolve around bookstore and/or libraries. Can I just live here? Or hobbits. Who wouldn't want this house?   Jess's favorites: Hogwarts Castle (particularly the Room of Requirement) - Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling Polgara's kitchen - Belgariad series by David Eddings Cadogan House - Chicagoland Vampires series by Chloe Neill Bag End or Rivendell - The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien The New York Institute - Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare Denise's favorites: Diagon Alley (particularly Flourish & Blotts, the bookstore) - Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling The Vale of Aldur - Belgariad series by David Eddings The Haven Music Room - Shadow World series by Dianne Sylvan The Green Dragon pub - The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien The Cloud Maze - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern What are some places you would like to visit in fiction? Please let us know! Email the show at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, find us on Facebook or Twitter, or leave a comment at our official website - www.bibliophles-anonymous.com. We would love to hear from you! Also, if you have any suggestions for books or topics that you would like to hear on the show, feel free to let us know! Thanks for listening!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, we have our second "Stump the Host" feature, where Jess gets to test Denise's knowledge on all things Harry Potter. How did she do? You'll have to listen to find out! Professor Snape will make you study for this trivia challenge! For our next "Stump The Host" episode, Denise will be challenging Jess to Belgariad trivia. That should be fun! Want to participate? Email your questions to bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com with the subject "Belgariad Trivia." That way Jess will know not to read those! Next week begins our read through of the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare, starting with Clockwork Angel. Get started reading folks! Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest info, or check out our official website at www.bibliophiles-anonymous.com! As always, thanks for listening! Please rate, review and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess discuss the interview that J.K. Rowling gave regarding her changed views of the Ron/Hermione relationship in the Harry Potter series. This is a fandom that takes its relationships very seriously, and this interview sent it rocking with some people cheering her attitude and some shaking their heads in disbelief. Was it all a lie!?! We also continue the discussion into other authors who have made comments, or out right changes, to their already established stories. Our beloved J.R.R. Tolkien completely rewrote a key chapter in The Hobbit so that he could make it fit better into The Lord of the Rings plot line. David Eddings used prequels, Belgareth the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress to clean up (or add to) inconsistencies within the Belgariad series. George R.R. Martin, while working on the Game of Thrones television show, took a barely existent detail from the Song of Ice and Fire series and blew it wide open. What do you think of when authors make changes to already established stories and canon, either in other works, other mediums, or just in outside interviews? Do you think they should share whatever is in their heads? Or should they leave their stories as is? Links: The J.K. Rowling interview, linked through Hypable.com Pro-Ron article from Tor.com A breakdown of the Renly/Loras relationship clues on Angelfire A discussion of Tolkien's rewrite of The Hobbit from The One Ring.net List of inconsistencies addressed in David Eddings' Belgareth the Sorcerer Please let us know what you think. You can email us at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, find us on Facebook and on Twitter, or leave comments on our official website, www.bibliophiles-anonymous.com. Thanks for listening! Please rate, review and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess talk about their favorite secondary characters of their favorite series. Yes, we have way too many to name, but we gave it a go. Books mentioned: the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, the Belgariad, Mallorean, Elenium and Tamuli series by David Eddings, and many, many, many others. This was a tough topic to narrow down, and we know that we missed a whole bunch of awesome characters. If there are any that you would like to mention, please let us know in comments. You can also email us at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, find us on Twitter (@BibAnonPodcast) or on Facebook. As always, thank you so much for listening! Please rate, review and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess get a little silly while trying to decide which five books they would save if trying to escape a burning building. For the sake of the argument, a series counts as one very big book. Denise would take the Belgariad  by David Eddings, the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, Paper Towns by John Green, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and Without You by Anthony Rapp. She would also try to hide her Riverside Shakespeare collection in her back pocket. Jess would also take the Belgariad and the Harry Potter books, but she would add to that Mercedes Lackey's books set in Velgarth, the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, and her original copies of The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. She might also try to sneak out Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires books. What books can you not live without? Email us at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com. Find us on Twitter @BibAnonPodcast. Or leave us a comment at www.bibliophiles-anonymous.com. Join us in May for another book club discussion: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Discussion forums will be open May 15th at www.maltavern.com. Thanks for listening! Please rate, review, and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess tackle the end of the Belgariad when they discuss Enchanter's End Game, the fifth and final book in the series. They also fight the dragons of Internet issues. Apologies for the audio quality, but hopefully all will be back to normal next week. Speaking of next week - we need some topic suggestions. Contact the show by email (bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com), on Twitter (@BibAnonPodcast), or on the official site (www.bibliophiles-anonymous.com). Thanks for listening! Please rate, review and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess continue their month long celebration of David Eddings' Belgariad with the fourth book in the series, Castle of Wizardry. Both agree that this is probably their favorite book in the series. Want to win a free book? Of course you do! Enter to win a copy of volume one of the Belgariad omnibus edition, which includes the first three books in the series - Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, and Magician's Gambit. Three different ways to enter: 1. email bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com with the subject line "Garion," 2. tweet the name "Garion" to @BibAnonPodcast on Twitter, or 3. leave the name "Garion" as a comment at bibliophiles-anonymous.com on any of the Eddings posts. Please enter by April 24th for a chance to win. Thanks for listening! Please rate, review, and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess discuss the third book in the Belgariad - Magician's Gambit. This book contains some of their favorite scenes in the entire series, as well as the inspiration for one of the most heated debates over at the Mallorean Tavern. Link to the "What is an EVENT?" thread: http://www.maltavern.com/vbforum/showthread.php?142-What-is-an-EVENT Announcement: in honor of Eddingspalooza, the podcast is doing another giveaway! Enter to win the paperback edition omnibus (volume 1) of the Belgariad. This volume contains the first three books of the series - Pawn of Prophesy, Queen of Sorcery, and Magician's Gambit. Enter in one of three ways: send an email to bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com with the name "Garion" in the subject line, tweet the name "Garion" to @BibAnonPodcast, or leave "Garion" as a comment in any of the Eddingspalooza posts over at bibliophiles-anonymous.com. The deadline for entries is April 24th. Thanks for listening! Please rate, review and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Jess is joined by fellow Mallorean Taverners Tim and Rebecca, while Denise is out sick. The second part of Eddingspalooza, they discuss the second book in David Eddings' Belgariad series - Queen of Sorcery. Join us next week as the celebration continues with book three, Magician's Gambit. Questions or comments? Email at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com or find the show on Twitter @BibAnonPodcast. Thanks for listening! Please rate, review and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess kick off Eddingspalooza, their month long celebration of David Eddings' Belgariad. Starting with the first book, Pawn of Prophecy, they talk about their favorite moments, characters, and the quaint inconsistencies that make up the world of David Eddings. Join in next week for book two, Queen of Sorcery. Have you read the Belgariad? Want to join in the discussion? Email at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com. Find the podcast on Twitter @BibAnonPodcast. Or come visit the Mallorean Tavern, the website that started it all, at www.maltavern.com. Thanks for listening! Please rate, review and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess once again welcome Holly to the show as they talk about their favorite books of all time, from the Belgariad to the Harry Potter series, from Mercedes Lackey to Marion Zimmer Bradley. We are looking for topic suggestions! Please email ideas to bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com. You can also find us on Twitter @BibAnonPodcast. Thanks for listening! Please rate, review, and subscribe!