On this episode, we discuss a lot of Nine Houses/Blood of Eden politics, a returning character, memories, dreams, and THE PINING. Your hosts are Steph Kingston (@StephOKingston), Christina Ladd (@christinaladd), and Joshua MacDougall (@FourofFiveWits). You can find us all on Bluesky. Our art is by Mangoyu Art (@MangoyuArt), and our music is by Bad Sparrow …
When you’ve read a lot of novels, or this could likely apply to a lot of other media too, your brain starts to recognize the patterns of storytelling that will lead to certain outcomes, like seeing where you have to swap the tiles in a puzzle-solving game. Authors can take advantage of these expectations and …
When an Anthony Ryan book comes out, I read it. So imagine my excitement when a sequel to The Covenant of Steel series, a trilogy beloved by me, was announced. When I began the book, I had some apprehension. Previously, I felt Ryan’s singular character point-of-view books always felt stronger than his multiple point-of-view books, …
Brigands & Breadknives, the third book in the Legends and Lattes series by Travis Baldree continues where Bookshops & Bonedust left off with Viv inviting her friend and bookshop owner Fern the ratkin to open a bookshop next door to Viv’s coffeshop. It’s a success, but the problem is Fern absolutely hates it. A fear …
Josh goes off on John and his old Lyctors in these middle chapters. Steph digs through the clues. Christina praises the use of asymmetrical information serving multiple twists. Ortus is the real MVP and sees the Cool S. Your hosts are Steph Kingston (@StephOKingston), Christina Ladd (@christinaladd), and Joshua MacDougall (@FourofFiveWits). You can find us …
We talk about holding grudges, how much we hate the mayonnaise uncle, ghost talk, trauma responses, the youth of the Ninth House, Gideon and Harrow’s backstory, the mythology of the locked tomb, Camilla’s weapon of choice, and what Dulcinea is up to. Your hosts are Steph Kingston (@StephOKingston), Christina Ladd (@christinaladd), and Joshua MacDougall (@FourofFiveWits). …
We discuss our favorite / best books we’ve read halfway through the year (2025) and what we’re looking forward to reading. Your hosts are Steph Kingston (@StephOKingston), Christina Ladd (@christinaladd), and Joshua MacDougall (@FourofFiveWits). You can find us all on Bluesky. Our art is by Mangoyu Art (@MangoyuArt), and our music is by Bad Sparrow …
A teenager discovers they have magic abilities and joins a group with the same abilities hoping to learn from them. Sound familiar? Yet, The Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald is anything but that simple. It is a story with those elements, but so is it a tale of the class divide, finding a place …
The series, A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons, since its first book The Ruin of Kings, released in 2019, has quickly become the series I look forward to the most. The fourth book, The House of Always, is no exception. It continues to balance the world-building, plot, and character development of the characters and …