There is a lot to love about James S. A. Corey’s fully realized Expanse universe. It just might help you forget about how bad Star Wars has been derailed and make you fall in love again with sweeping space sagas that can deliver on what the sci-fi genre is capable of. We’re slowly making our … Continue reading EP. 77 Mars is for Badass Marines, Venus is for Creepy Alien Cities | Caliban’s War by James S. A. Corey

REIGN of Books Podcast

EP. 77 Mars is for Badass Marines, Venus is for Creepy Alien Cities | Caliban’s War by James S. A. Corey

We are finally here. We have crossed the lands of Mordor, braved the winter wastelands of Westeros, and survived Arrakis’s unforgiving and unending desert in a struggle to master fate itself and steer the course of the universe. WE NOW STAND BEFORE THE DARK TOWER. These other fictional worlds lie parallel in their own universes … Continue reading We Come at Last to the End (EP. 76) | THE DARK TOWER (DARK TOWER #7) BY STEPHEN KING

We Come at Last to the End (EP. 76) | THE DARK TOWER (DARK TOWER #7) BY STEPHEN KING

  The gunslingers just can’t catch a break. They face down insurmountable odds to save a town, but then Susannah goes off the deep end with the split personalities. Spoilers ahead.  

Our Girl is in a Bad Spot (EP. 75) | SONG OF SUSANNAH (DARK TOWER #6) BY STEPHEN KING

  In the quest for the Dark Tower, the gunslingers are drawn into a conflict where a town is being terrorized by wolves from the land of Thunderclap. Our heroes are reminded of the humanity they are fighting for and the terror that lies at the end of their journey. Spoilers ahead.

Drawing Battle Lines | Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King BOOK TALK

  This is a mesmerizing entry into the Dark Tower series. Roland Deschain is asked to save a town from a horrible fate, and he can no more deny these people than forget the face of his father. There is an impending sense of doom and betrayal and more loss as the gunslingers must keep … Continue reading Justice at the End of the World (Ep. 74) | Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King

Justice at the End of the World (Ep. 74) | Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King

Stephen King may be known for his horror novels, but over the span of his career he also shaped a very different type of story, one as ambitious and sprawling as the great fantasy epics of the 20th century. The Dark Tower series, now being adapted for film in 2017, follows the gunslinger, the last … Continue reading REIGNFALL – Journey to the Dark Tower Movie

REIGNFALL – Journey to the Dark Tower Movie

This entry into the Dark Tower odyssey offers some of the most tense and fascinating exploits in Roland Deschain’s journey to the Dark Tower. It is in fact near the beginning of a journey that will span Roland’s lifetime  and it shows a boy in a trial to become a man. The game of Castles … Continue reading Love, Loss and Exile (Ep. 73) | Wizard and Glass (Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King

Love, Loss and Exile (Ep. 73) | Wizard and Glass (Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King

The Star Wars movie franchise is back and strong with the Force. So are the new “official” novels any good? Fans are divided, and it’s clear that the format of the book matters. Before Rogue One arrives in theaters, check out another band of rebels in “Star Wars: Aftermath” by Chuck Wendig laying the hurt … Continue reading REIGNfall – Star Wars Aftermath – Readers Hate It, Listeners Love it

REIGNfall – Star Wars Aftermath – Readers Hate It, Listeners Love it

  Tron had its heyday. The future is the Oasis. We were inspired by Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One to discuss how both games and books are home to some of the best fiction anywhere.

REIGNfall – Video Game Culture in Books

    Seriously good fantasy fiction ahead, light spoilers included. The end of the Earth is happening, again, and maybe for the final time. Some humans, who are more than human, are realizing they may have the power to change their planet’s fate, but it is an odyssey filled with pain and uncertainty. Ancient truths … Continue reading Dreams of a Better World – The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin BOOK TALK

Dreams of a Better World – The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin BOOK TALK

    The humans of this world carry so much pain and sorrow with them. They are under perpetual threat of death by their own planet and must take on a resilience to survive threats that upend whole parts of the world. Yet there is hope, and it’s through the strength of one family that humankind may … Continue reading A Lifetime of Running, Then a Revolution (Ep. 72) | The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

A Lifetime of Running, Then a Revolution (Ep. 72) | The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

    Does it keep with the Star Wars spirit? Yes. Is it Empire Strikes Back good? No, but it could have been. Han is still a scoundrel, the new crew earns their keep, and the intrigue with the empire continues. But there are missed opportunities in the liberation of Kashyyyk, Chewie’s home planet and … Continue reading Gritty Good Fun | Star Wars: Aftermath Life Debt by Chuck Wendig BOOK TALK

Gritty Good Fun | Star Wars: Aftermath Life Debt by Chuck Wendig BOOK TALK

    Some Star Wars movie regulars get into the action and we see what war on a planetary scale looks like (kind of). Solid entry into the galaxy far, far away.

Galaxy Questing (Ep. 71) | Star Wars Aftermath Life Debt by Chuck Wendig

    Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is essential science fiction reading; one of the most brilliant pieces of fiction we have ever read. It imagines our future by peeking just around the corner and showing how one new piece of technology could plausibly change everything about how we live.

Reimagining Human Reality (Ep. 70) | Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

    This sci-fi classic examines the trauma of war and how in the future, to ensure humankind’s survival, some soldiers must sacrifice almost all of their connections to the species.

Soldiers We Leave Behind (Ep. 69) | The Forever War by John Haldeman

Reader's Entry Into Great Narratives; we discuss our current reads and topics in the world of written fiction

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REIGN of Books Podcast

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