PODCAST · arts
The Legendarium
by The Legendarium Podcast
The Legendarium exists primarily as a book club for fantasy and sci-fi, both the classics and the new classics. Authors discussed have included Tolkien, Brandon Sanderson, David Eddings, Ernest Cline, Robert Heinlein, Michael Crichton, and more. You'll also get the occasional movie review or Star Wars discussion. (Anything in the realm of the fantastic is fair game!)Check out past episodes and other content at thelegendariumpodcast.com.
Episodes
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#442. Guess Who's Back - Wheel of Tangents
After a year and a half away, The Legendarium is back on the microphones. Craig is joined by Panda, Little Red Book, Kyptan, and Cesky from The Legendarium Green Team for a loose, question-driven reunion episode featuring recommendations, old podcast memories, friendship, burnout, favorite...
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#441. The Tiger's Daughter with Martha Wells | The Author's Shelf
Martha Wells stops by for another installment of The Author's Shelf. Together, she and Craig discuss The Tiger's Daughter, the 2017 novel by K. Arsenault Rivera. Check out Martha Wells' new projects: https://www.marthawells.com/ Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/legendarium…
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#440. When a Game Designer becomes an Author, with Katie Hallahan
Author Katie Hallahan drops by for a conversation with Craig about her experience going from game designer to author. What does she value in fiction and storytelling, and how did that impact both areas of her professional life? Visit Katie and check out her books here: https://www.katiehal.com/...
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#439. WoT a Tangential Return!
Ryan, Todd, and Craig reunite for a discussion about Todd's experience with the Wheel of Time. And because they came with a real purpose in mind, of course you know that they won't stick to that at all. Buckle up for Rings of Power, adaptations, Star Wars, and pretty much anything else that…
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[Rerelease] The Lord of the Rings, Book 6
This episode was originally published on June 8, 2020 Craig, Ryan, and Megan reunite for the final part of the Lord of the Rings. Well, except for the appendices, and there will be an episode on that as well, it turns out. Anyway, for this one, they unlock the real meaning behind the Field of...
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[Rerelease] Mort (Discworld #4) | Author's Shelf feat. Daniel Greene
Daniel Greene joins Craig and Ryan for this installment of the Author's Shelf series. Daniel selected Mort, the fourth installment in the Discworld series. Why did he select it? Actually, Daniel isn't quite sure, and he and the guys spend an hour trying to figure that out. Subscribe to Daniel's...
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[Rerelease] The Lord of the Rings, Book 5
This episode was originally released on May 3, 2020 Ryan, Megan, and Professor Craig (whose elbow patches are back from the shop and in better shape than ever) tackle book 5 of The Lord of the Rings. There are battles and ghosts and pirates and dramatic suicides, among many other exciting things,...
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[Rerelease] The Lord of the Rings, Book 4
This episode was originally published on April 14, 2020 Craig, Ryan, and Megan reunite remotely for the next installment of their Lord of the Rings series of podcasts. Up today, Book 4, or the latter half of The Two Towers. In these ten chapters, we follow Frodo, Sam, and Gollum through the Emyn...
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[Rerelease] Determinism in SFF, with James Kennedy
In this episode, author James Kennedy stops by to chat with Craig about predestination in speculative fiction. He's got four basic categories of determinism, and they walk through each, with a fine-toothed, good-humored comb. Originally released on August 22, 2022 Check out James Kennedy's…
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[Rerelease] Enter The Dungeons and Dragons
Originally published January 11, 2015. Craig and Ryan tackle their first game of Dungeons and Dragons and they are natural....ly poor at figuring it out at the start. Join the Legendarium crew at HaJoMaJe games for the abbreviated adventure into never winter and the quest for the best 401k option...
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[Rerelease] Why Do Video Game Movies Always Suck?
Originally released October 31, 2019 Do video game movies always suck? Maybe not. But they're never actually good, either. Why is that? Craig and Kyle are joined by Adam Sherlock from Deep Dive Film School to spend, oh...maybe 5 minutes teasing out the answer to the question at hand, and 45…
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[Released] Worst Dates & the Merits of Michael Bay - Wheel of Tangents #8
Originally released August 18, 2020 Ryan joins Craig and spins the Wheel of Tangents for the first time ever! They answer over a dozen questions submitted by patrons, including tough-to-visualize elements of books, their favorite love stories, and what they'd be reading if they weren't making a...
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[Rerelease] The Lord of the Rings, Book 3
This episode was originally released on March 16, 2020 Craig, Ryan, and Megan (no Kyle today) talk about book 3 of The Lord of the Rings, being the first half of The Two Towers.They take on the entrelacement writing technique Tolkien employs, Aragorn's character arc (yep, he has one!), and the...
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[Rerelease] The Dark Lord of Derkholm - The Author's Shelf, feat. Veronica Roth
Originally released May 25, 2020. Veronica Roth, bestselling author of the Divergent series and the brand-new, adult-oriented fantasy Chosen Ones, joins Craig and Ryan to discuss her pick for the Author's Shelf podcast series. Veronica had the guys read Dark Lord of Derkholm, a 1998 fantasy…
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[Rerelease] Great Art and the Age Ceiling
Originally released April 26, 2020 Craig is joined by author Maram Taibah to discuss the assertion, "Great art has an age floor but no age ceiling." They get into contextual issues, content issues, and what place YA fiction has to play in this discussion. They also talk about Maram's book,...
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[Rerelease] The Truth (Discworld) feat. Brandon Sanderson
This episode was originally released on January 27, 2019 Craig and Ryan welcome a new panelist, Brandon Sanderson (maybe you've heard of him?). The three of them discuss The Truth, the 25th book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Spoiler alert, technically, because we range all over the…
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#438. NEW - Caine's Law, part 2
What in the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is this book, anyway? Craig brings Drew back for one final discussion on Matthew Stover's Acts of Caine series. They wrap up with book 4, Caine's Law, which is a book about ... something. The guys will try to figure that out. Support the show on Patreon:...
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[Rerelease] The Lord of the Rings, Book 2
This episode was originally released on March 1, 2020 Craig, Ryan, Megan, and Kyle discuss the second book in The Lord of the Rings--or to put it another way, the second half of The Fellowship of the Ring. They get into lots of listener questions, like whether the Rivendell chapters are too long,...
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[Rerelease] The Neverending Story
This episode was originally released October 27, 2019. The Ladies of the Legendarium are back! And this time, Stephanie, Megan, and Kate are joined by Sara Hanks to discuss Michael Ende's classic book, The Neverending Story. There's laughing and crying, and a whole lot of love -- old and new…
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[Rerelease] Brent Weeks Spins the Wheel
This episode was originally released October 17, 2019. Weeks Week begins on Monday with the release of The Burning White, but we thought we'd get a jump on it by airing a few minutes of Brent Weeks spinning The Wheel of Tangents. Brent answers eight questions scientifically designed in a lab to...
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[Release] The Lord of the Rings, Book 1
This episode was originally released February 9, 2020. The other episodes in this series are #268, #270, #274, #277, and #281. The time has come! Six years ago Craig and Ryan kicked off the Legendarium podcast with a read-through of the Lord of the Rings. Now they're back, and they've got Kyle…
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[Rerelease] Scary Stories and Why We Like Them
This episode was originally released October 10, 2015. We're joined again by Dr. Matt Woolley, who helps Craig, Ryan, and Kenn work through the benefits, pitfalls, and psychology of scary stories and people who love (or hate) them. (And no, you're not hallucinating, we swapped out our normal…
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[Rerelease] Leaf by Niggle
This episode was originally released May 13, 2018. In 1944, Professor Tolkien published a short story about a strange little man who was obsessed with a single piece of art that consumed his entire life. Sound familiar? It should. And if it doesn't, then listen on, and we'll lift the...
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#437. You saw Dune 2, right?
Craig and Todd chat for a few minutes about the new installment of Denis Villeneuve's Dune adaptation. Before that, Craig makes an announcement about the show taking a short break. Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out the archives at...
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#436. FIRELORD - Author's Shelf with Daniel Ford
Returning guest Daniel Ford drops by to discuss a favorite of his, Parke Godwin's Firelord. This 1980 retelling of the King Arthur myth is one of the best you'll come across, and it made for some great discussion. Check out Daniel's stuff here: https://www.danielmford.com/books Support the show…
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#435. Project Hail Mary
Megan has brought the Blue Team back together to a discussion of a recent favorite: Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary. Will she have better success in bringing them a good book than Todd did when he made her read John Carter of Mars? (Hint: How could she not?) Support the show on Patreon:...
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#434. I AM THE MESSENGER | Author's Shelf with Kaela Rivera
Old friend of the podcast Kaela Rivera stops by for an Author's Shelf episode about I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak. This magical-realism novel was an absolute delight, and you should give it a read if you haven't yet. And as a bonus, it made for a fun 45 minutes of conversation! Check out...
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JADE CITY | Author's Shelf with Moses Ose Utomi
Moses Ose Utomi is Craig's guest today on the Author's Shelf series, and he's selected Fonda Lee's Jade City to discuss. As always, the first question is, "Why did you choose this book?" And with that, Moses and Craig are off to the races for a fun discussion. Check out Moses's stuff here:...
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#432. A Game of Thrones (the book.) (finally.)
Craig and Kenn are joined by Eradandis (of Discord fame) to discuss A Game of Thrones, the first book in #georgerrmartin 's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Are they going to give it the lengthy treatment it deserves? Absolutely not. At least not today. But they are going to talk about its...
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#431. Caine Black Knife, part 1
After the ... experience that is Blade of Tyshalle, Craig and Drew are back for more, starting in on part 1 of Caine Black Knife, the third book in Matthew Stover's Acts of Caine series. Is this book really as "fun" as Craig was promised? Support the show on Patreon:...
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#430. Read the LAST Page FIRST? With Hank Phillippi Ryan
Author and journalist Hank Phillippi Ryan joins Craig for a very spoiler-y discussion. Luckily, they don't spoil anything for you, but Hank is here to talk about why she sometimes reads the last page of a book first. What exactly counts as a spoiler? When and why should we be careful about them?...
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#429. How Self Publishing Really Works, with Philip Chase
What was once condescendingly sneered at only a few years ago has become more and more commonplace: self publishing. With the rise of new technologies and easier printing, now authors can bypass the middleman (the publisher) and get their work out on their own. But how does it actually work? Are...
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#428. A Wrinkle in Time
Craig and Megan are joined by longtime listener and friend of the show, "Codingfoo," to discuss A Wrinkle in Time, the classic young-reader sci-fi novel by Madeleine L'Engle. Enjoy an hour of vintage Legendarium conversation on a vintage book. Support the show on Patreon:...
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#427. Travis Baldree talks going from narrator to author
Travis Baldree, Author of Legends and Lattes and the new Bookshops and Bonedust, stops by to chat with Craig about what it's like to go from narrating to writing books. What have been the challenges, the lessons, the surprises? Check out Travis and his books here: https://www.travisbaldree.com/...
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#426. The Darkest, then the Weirdest Book I Ever Read
Blade of Tyshalle, part 2. Craig and Drew dive into the second half of the book. Which in this case means Drew dives into it, because Craig has no idea what's going on in this book anymore. Drew attempts to explain it to him. Check out part 1 at Inking Out Loud (Spotify link) Support the show on...
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#425. HELLSPARK - Author’s Shelf w/ Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Craig welcomes again Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, the writers behind the Liaden universe. They stop this time to discuss Hellspark, the 1988 novel by Janet Kagan. It's a murder mystery ("in spaaaaaace!!"), but more than that, it's a meditation on language, communication, and what it means to be a...
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#424. Why Do We Love Talking Animals?
Is it projection? Wish fulfillment? Or just plain adorableness? Why do we readers (and viewers) enjoy stories with talking animals so much? Christopher Rowe stops by to chat with Craig about our favorite fabled furry friends. Check out Christopher's latest, The Navigating Fox:...
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#423. A Comedic and Divine Author’s Shelf
Austin Freeman makes his return to the Legendarium! After a great discussion on the theology of Tolkien (episode 400), he's back for an Author's Shelf episode, and together he and Craig talk Dante's Divine Comedy. (Which is a bit like saying that between Craig and Jeff Bezos, they're...
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#422. When a Mental Health Pro Takes Up Fiction
Kristen Simmons joins Craig to discuss the intersection of her work both as a mental health professional and as an author. How does the one inform the other? Check out Kristen's work here: https://www.kristensimmonsbooks.com/books Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/legendarium...
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#421. Mattimeo (Redwall #3)
Craig and Kenn welcome Little Red Book from the Patrons' Discord channel as they discuss Mattimeo, the third book in Brian Jacques' Redwall series. Well, "discuss" may be the wrong word here. And maybe "Mattimeo" too, since they mostly spend their time sidetracked and flailing. But hey, that's…
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#420. Tolkien & Beowulf, with Tom Shippey
It's a big day at the Legendarium when Craig finally gets to talk with Tom Shippey, one of the most frequently cited writers on the show. Tom comes by to talk about his new translation of Beowulf, and especially about the chapter dedicated to Tolkien's relationship with the poem and the poet. It...
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#419. When a Diplomat Writes a Fantasy Book... with David Schlaefer
Dropping in from his temporary home in Poland, author and diplomat David Schlaefer joins Craig to talk about his experiences serving in the U.S. State Department. After having been stationed in several countries (most notably for this conversation, Finland), how do David's international…
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#418. Heroes Die, days 1-3 | The Acts of Caine
Craig and Drew embark on a new podcast series, covering Matthew Stover's four-book series, The Acts of Caine. To follow the entire series of discussions, you'll need to subscribe to both The Legendarium and Inking Out Loud, since episodes will appear both places. But you'll be well rewarded if…
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#417.BEOWULF | Author’s Shelf with Philip Chase
Philip Chase joins Craig for an Author's Shelf episode about Beowulf. Why has this story endured? Is it just a historical artifact, or is there something worthwhile here on its own terms? Frankly, it's a long-overdue discussion, and Philip brought his A-game, so enjoy. Check out Philip's book…
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#416. Mossflower | Redwall book 2
Craig and Kenn are joined by longtime patron Levi, aka Texas Blade, to discuss Mossflower, Brian Jacques' prequel to Redwall. The guys talk about great heroes, great villains, and the establishment of many of the Redwall tropes that will hit us through this whole series. Support the show on...
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#415. Tropes come to life! What we’re reading + a big announcement
Drew McCaffrey from Inking Out Loud joins Craig again for some seemingly random potpourri. But it's all for a purpose! The guys announce an upcoming series and the return of a beloved podcast. Check out Inking Out Loud here: https://iolpodcast.com/ Support the show on Patreon:...
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#414. The Enduring Power of Alice
Author, producer, and all-around interesting guy Frank Beddor joins Craig for a discussion about why stories last. Craig, as you know, is a big Tolkien guy, and Frank is a big Lewis Carroll guy--and between the two of them, they try to tease out what makes stories last (when they do). Check out...
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#413. The Origins of Tropes: Comparative Mythology and Modern Fantasy
Craig is joined again by Aparna Verma, and this time they also have R.R. Virdi to speak with as well. The trio (mostly the latter two) dive into the world of comparative mythology and the origins of many of our story beats and structures. Check out R.R. Virdi's newest offerings here:...
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#412. AI, Tech, and Storytelling
Craig welcomes Jon Evans, author and Impressive Man extraordinaire, to discuss tech, AI, and how they think it may intersect with writing and storytelling. Check out Jon's new book, Exadelic, here: https://rezendi.com/wp/ Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Check out...
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#411. Talking SPACE OPERA with Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Craig is joined for this episode by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, the husband-wife team behind the Liaden Universe (and plenty else besides). They talk about the history of the term "space opera," their own experiences with the genre, and the authors' approach to it. Check out their latest Liaden...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Legendarium exists primarily as a book club for fantasy and sci-fi, both the classics and the new classics. Authors discussed have included Tolkien, Brandon Sanderson, David Eddings, Ernest Cline, Robert Heinlein, Michael Crichton, and more. You'll also get the occasional movie review or Star Wars discussion. (Anything in the realm of the fantastic is fair game!)Check out past episodes and other content at thelegendariumpodcast.com.
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The Legendarium Podcast
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Legendarium have?
The Legendarium currently has 485 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Legendarium about?
The Legendarium exists primarily as a book club for fantasy and sci-fi, both the classics and the new classics. Authors discussed have included Tolkien, Brandon Sanderson, David Eddings, Ernest Cline, Robert Heinlein, Michael Crichton, and more. You'll also get the occasional movie review or Star...
How often does The Legendarium release new episodes?
The Legendarium publishes regularly with 485 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Legendarium?
You can listen to The Legendarium on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Legendarium?
The Legendarium is created and hosted by The Legendarium Podcast.
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