E21. From Classics to Contemporary: Our Reading Reflections
This podcast episode delineates our exploration of various literary works that have captivated our attention in the recent weeks. We delve into the transformative experience of reading, highlighting how a thoughtful selection of genres can invigorate one’s literary journey. An essential focus is placed on the books we have read thus far, including significant titles such as "Don't Let the Forest In" by CG Drews and "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, both of which offer profound insights into their respective themes. Furthermore, we engage in a discussion regarding our impending reading lists, wherein we contemplate the diverse narratives awaiting discovery. Through this discourse, we aspire to illuminate the multifaceted nature of literature and its capacity to resonate within our lives.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- CG Drews
- Joe Hill
- Stephen King
- Kristin Hannah
- H.G. Wells
- Omar El Akkad
- Ray Bradbury
- Robert Jackson Bennett
- Carys Davies
- Leigh Bardugo
- James Baldwin
- Lara Paulson
- Jonathan Sims
In this episode of Rolling Into Fantasy, the hosts engage in a thorough examination of their recent literary endeavors, reflecting on their reading experiences as the new year commences. The discourse is enriched with a diverse array of genres, as Laurent articulates the benefits of genre-switching to prevent monotony in reading habits. The hosts delve into the narrative of 'Don't Let the Forest In' by CG Drews, illustrating its unique premise where the characters confront the monsters born from their creativity. This leads to a broader conversation about representation in literature, particularly the importance of nuanced portrayals of identity, such as the asexual representation that resonates deeply with contemporary audiences. Laurent recounts his journey through a range of works, including Joe Hill's 'King Sorrow' which captures the essence of familial bonds and the supernatural, alongside Kristin Hannah's exploration of the Vietnam War's impact on the lives of women. The episode culminates in an anticipation of future discussions that promise to explore the intricate relationships between literature and its adaptations in film, fostering a deeper understanding of storytelling in various mediums, thus enthralling the audience with a promise of rich content to come.
Transcript
Sam.
Speaker A:Okay, and welcome to the 21st episode of Rolling Into Fantasy.
Speaker A:Our first of the year.
Speaker A:It has taken us more than a month to come up with the first one.
Speaker A:But anyway, happy New year.
Speaker A:Although it's 1st of February today, but nevertheless, things have sped up.
Speaker A:When looking at my read list of books, I think I'm really on a big roll.
Speaker A:How about you?
Speaker B:Well, you can sh people's reading tempo.
Speaker A:No, I'm not.
Speaker A:Shame.
Speaker A:It's just a question.
Speaker B:I've also read a book.
Speaker A:Oh, you've read a book?
Speaker B:Well, I'm like halfway through a second one.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:Like I said, you can't shame people's reading tempo.
Speaker A:No, no, no.
Speaker A:True, true.
Speaker A:But I mean, I. I didn't have a fast pace as far as reading is concerned, you know, throughout last year.
Speaker A:And I don't know how I think I found my right tempo or my frequency in switching genres of books that really turn out very helpful.
Speaker A:But more on that just in a few minutes.
Speaker A:And so we will be talking about our read books.
Speaker A:Our to be read, because that's a big pile as well, and some activities as well.
Speaker A:And then perhaps also something that is coming up in our future episodes.
Speaker A:You're giving like these big eyes.
Speaker A:Rabbit in the headlights, but I'll tell you more.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:So with no further ado, which book did you read?
Speaker B:The book that I read is Don't Let the Forest in by CG Drews.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I think you already mentioned this one in one of our last episode, but go ahead.
Speaker B:So it's about two boys who go to the same boarding school.
Speaker B:And from that year onwards, the forest is forbidden because this boarding school is in the middle of a forest and they're not allowed to go in there.
Speaker B:But then suddenly all these monsters start appearing.
Speaker B:And it becomes very clear very quickly to these two boys that the monsters who appear are the monsters that they write about and paint.
Speaker B:And so they do go out into the forest to defeat these monsters.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:It's more like an urban fantasy type book.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Is it young adults or.
Speaker B:It is young adults, but it's definitely not the romantic type.
Speaker A:I figure that much.
Speaker B:It does have.
Speaker B:The main character is Asexual, which I really enjoyed because it was represented in such a way that it's not constantly in your face, doesn't constantly need to be mentioned.
Speaker B:But he does talk about it in a way that made me feel seen.
Speaker A:Okay, good, good.
Speaker A:Have you read anything by the same author yet?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:But on that note, one of the books that I recently bought is also from the same author, which would be Hazelthorn, which I don't really know much about yet.
Speaker A:That's okay, because same here, but go ahead.
Speaker B:I just know that friends of mine who also had read Don't Let the Forest in also read Hazelthorn and kept raving about it.
Speaker B:Even said that it's better than Don't Let the Forest In.
Speaker B:So I was like, okay, now you piqued my interest.
Speaker B:So why is this better?
Speaker B:And from, like, the book so far, it's giving me very haunted house vibes.
Speaker B:I know that the author in itself has a very poetic way of writing.
Speaker A:Okay,.
Speaker B:So I'm assuming that this will feel very much the same.
Speaker A:All right, excellent.
Speaker A:But we'll touch on the to be read list in a few minutes.
Speaker A:So that's actually your first one.
Speaker A:But that's my first one.
Speaker A:All right, but wasn't I.
Speaker A:Am I mistaken that.
Speaker A:Haven't you read also Fahrenheit 451?
Speaker B:That's the one I'm currently reading.
Speaker A:Okay, well, on that note, I'll just switch to my list of books that I've read.
Speaker A:And I mean, I've never had such a good pace, as I said.
Speaker A:So in.
Speaker A:In January, I read 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 books.
Speaker A:I don't know how.
Speaker A:Don't ask.
Speaker A:Although I. I know that I've read on a daily basis.
Speaker A:Whenever I had, like an hour, somewhere, some time to spend, I did it on reading.
Speaker A:And I think also what really helped me was alternating, switching really from genres from book to book, meaning the first one, and I've got the whole pile just in front of me.
Speaker A:The first one that I read this year is actually the first book that I read from Joe Hill, you know, the son of Stephen King.
Speaker A:And I really, really enjoyed.
Speaker A:I mean, this is a big boy.
Speaker B:I can see that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:King Sorrow.
Speaker A:So it's his last one.
Speaker A:And I think.
Speaker A:Let me just.
Speaker A:I have the.
Speaker A:The paperback.
Speaker A:But nevertheless, it was 877 pages.
Speaker A:So, I mean, it's a big boy.
Speaker A:But I really, really enjoyed this one.
Speaker A:I did see, you know, definitely the.
Speaker A:The paternal straight in this.
Speaker A:You do recog some of, you know, excuse me.
Speaker A:Some of the writing skills that must have trickled down from father to son.
Speaker A:But it definitely won't be my last book.
Speaker A:Basically, this is a game of summoning spirits.
Speaker A:In this case, they summon a dragon.
Speaker A:But the cool part is there are many references to Smaug.
Speaker A:So you have this reference to this kind of dragon, but it manifests itself as long as you really think it's there if it makes sense.
Speaker A:And every year it comes for its payment, being a payment in blood, and it's done on a name basis, but very interesting.
Speaker A:I won't tell too much about it, but I highly recommend this one and as I said, won't be the last one.
Speaker A:What I did then after a fantasy book, I quickly switched.
Speaker A:Let me go back.
Speaker A:I have to go back in time.
Speaker A:I switched to historical fiction, which actually I also really enjoyed.
Speaker A:This one is the Women by Kristin Hannah.
Speaker A:And again, first book I've read from this author, and this takes on three women that are actually in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Speaker A:So we're like 68 in Vietnam.
Speaker A:And they, they volunteered to go, or at least some of them volunteered to go as a nurse.
Speaker A:And this is, let's say a section of.
Speaker A:Of the military that was until, you know, a few years ago or a few decades ago was not mentioned that much.
Speaker A:But there were quite a lot of women who saw as nurses.
Speaker A:And I mean, this is really gruesome, but it's not only about what they experienced as nurses, as women back during the Vietnam War, but also the homecoming.
Speaker A:So after they turn, some of them, they just take one turn, but many soldiers as well, they take two turns.
Speaker A:And it's because they cannot.
Speaker A:How should I put it?
Speaker A:They're having really a hard time going back to the real world.
Speaker A:This is really based on real stuff, right?
Speaker A:But I mean, these women, they do go back to the US and it's there that they have a whole new battle to fight, you know, fighting their demons that they've created, that they've met during the war, that they've taken actually with them.
Speaker A:So it's very personal, very psychological as well, but very human.
Speaker A:And I must say, I really enjoyed this.
Speaker A:So I'm not too certain if I'm gonna have another one of her novels in my shortlist in my to be read pile.
Speaker A:But having said this, it's definitely an era that has always interested me.
Speaker A:But having it highlighted from this perspective, I really enjoy that.
Speaker A:So after a historical fiction, I went to a classic and I read.
Speaker A:I cannot believe I hadn't read it yet.
Speaker A:Is the War of the Worlds by Wells.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Really enjoyed this one.
Speaker B:Doesn't ring a bell.
Speaker B:Can you enlighten us?
Speaker A:Oh, come on.
Speaker A:Oh, geez.
Speaker B:So listen, I know a lot of the classics, but that doesn't mean that I know all of them.
Speaker A:Basically, it's set in England, right?
Speaker A:So around London, with.
Speaker A:Which is why I always have little preferences for these Kind of novels or whatever that occurs in UK or preferably in London.
Speaker A:But anyway, this is one of those classics.
Speaker A:And actually I'm just flipping through.
Speaker A: the first publication was in: Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And this is based on the Encounter of Martians.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And I mean, this has been so often been translated into movies, but even way back, I think one of the first translated versions into something else was a radio program.
Speaker A: So you had the book late: Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And in.
Speaker A:In the next millennium, one of the first translations into another media was a radio show.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But you have, you know, have to look upon the right context.
Speaker A:You don't have Internet, you don't have these big TV shows, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker A:And this radio show was so scary because people who were listening to the radio show, I mean, they knew it was a radio show, but at a certain point they were thinking that this was like, really happening.
Speaker A:So you had these encounters of said Martians and that would destroy parts of the city or whole cities, and they would kill people.
Speaker A:And at first you don't know why they're killing people.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It seems that they are using whatever living material, such as, you know, humans, but other cattle, you know, whatever, they're using that as nourishment, so.
Speaker A:As food.
Speaker A:Yep, exactly.
Speaker A:And I mean, it's.
Speaker A:It's not a big.
Speaker A:Well, for you.
Speaker A:It might be, but I mean, I'm.
Speaker A:I don't think that I'm spotting everything as to the vulnerability of the Martians because they're seemingly.
Speaker A:They are vulnerable to some very, very small life forms here on Earth.
Speaker A:Bacteria.
Speaker A:Oh, okay.
Speaker B:I mean, just like we are.
Speaker A:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker A:But, you know, with different consequences, let's put it this way.
Speaker A:But I really liked the writing.
Speaker A:I mean, it's.
Speaker A: It's a writing style of the: Speaker A:To read it and really to.
Speaker A:To be part of that era where science fiction, slash fantasy, but definitely science fiction made its steps into a larger world.
Speaker A:So I highly enjoyed this one.
Speaker A:And again, it's.
Speaker A:It was fun because it's.
Speaker A:It's shy of 200 pages, so it's.
Speaker A:Oh, it's very.
Speaker A:It's very fine.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:It's a short read.
Speaker A:It's a short read.
Speaker A:And I like these classics from the Clothbound Penguin Classic collection.
Speaker B:Yeah, you do.
Speaker B:You do like those.
Speaker B:You do have a few of them.
Speaker A:Oh, I love these.
Speaker A:So anyway, so that was the classic one.
Speaker A:And then I switched.
Speaker A:Let me see.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Then I switched to a non Fiction, which was highly recommended.
Speaker A:And it's rather a long title, which is One day everyone will have always been against this.
Speaker A:And this is by Omar El Akat and he's a journalist, lives in the us comes from Egyptian parents, so they fled Egypt when he was a kid.
Speaker A:And so he worked like a journalist now as an author.
Speaker A:And this touches on very sensitive topics.
Speaker A:You know, all the armed conflicts throughout the world where you have minorities in certain areas, be it Egypt, be it Palestine, be it any other Middle Eastern country, but also in the US itself, where you see this minorities being attacked on a daily basis, either verbally, but also physically.
Speaker A:And you see where at a certain point where you have this a few years ago, unfortunately, the slaughter that happened near Palestine and the reaction of Israel, which really was followed by this unmitigated slaughter on Gaza, as we still see it.
Speaker A:And for many that was the breaking point, hence the title.
Speaker A:So one day everyone will always have been against this.
Speaker A:And it's about, you know, that people agree, you know, we're against this, but they don't always translate that in the same actions.
Speaker A:So it's a very personal view.
Speaker A:My take on it, I, I liked it because of the topic.
Speaker A:What I did find some difficulties in was the constant time jumps in the, in his book, you know, from.
Speaker A:From.
Speaker A:From one year to another and then from one decade, decade to another.
Speaker A:And for me it's.
Speaker A:It's fine if you're like world building, character building, but this is non fiction.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And for me that was a bit.
Speaker A:I had a hard time keeping into it.
Speaker A:Although again, it's a very short read.
Speaker A:It's again a little shy of 200 pages.
Speaker A:So it was a quick read.
Speaker A:I did like style, very direct.
Speaker A:But I had some, some troubles keeping pace due to the time jumps, you know.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So, okay.
Speaker A:Anyway, excuse me then, another classic that I read.
Speaker A:This was a tough.
Speaker B:I didn't check if I had it,.
Speaker A:But no, I. Oh, okay.
Speaker A:So I bought this one being Fahrenheit551 by Bradbury, Ray Bradbury, another classic.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And apparently you had a copy as well.
Speaker B:Yes, I, I do really love dystopian novels, so obviously I have Fahrenheit 451.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:And the fun part is again, this one was published in 76.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And unfortunately, like many dystopian novels or fiction are becoming increasingly close to reality and.
Speaker B:Oh yeah.
Speaker A:And hence why they're so important.
Speaker A:So in a nutshell, Fahrenheit551 is actually the degree.
Speaker A:So the temperature at which books burn.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And you have the society where you have the firemen.
Speaker A:And the firemen, they don't douse out the fires, but they ignite the fires.
Speaker B:Create them.
Speaker A:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker A:Because books are banned.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And possessing books is really a crime.
Speaker A:And they would come and burn down your possessions.
Speaker B:Your entire house.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:And then with it, your entire house.
Speaker A:Too bad if you're in it.
Speaker B:Well, from what I've gathered so far, usually the police would take the culprits first.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:So you don't come into contact with the actual people who committed the crime.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker B:But that doesn't always go according to plan.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:And at first I really struggled with this because of the writing.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, this.
Speaker B:I started reading this way before you, but then I DNF'd it because I just.
Speaker B:The language.
Speaker B:I could not follow the story.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker B:So now I restarted it again.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And at first I was like, what the heck is this?
Speaker A:Because you have, like, these weird words and sounds that he's describing, but also, like, the vocabulary is really off.
Speaker A:And of course, this is the genius of Bradbury.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The main character.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Don't spoil it too much.
Speaker B:No, no, no.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:I'll just say, so Guy Multak, or Guy, if you want to.
Speaker A:You know.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'm not sure how to pronounce his name.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:I mean, it's a French name.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:It's always been Guy in my mind.
Speaker A:Sure, Guy.
Speaker A:But, you know, if you read it, it's Guy.
Speaker A:But anywho, so you have Guy Montag.
Speaker A:He's a fireman.
Speaker A:And the language is.
Speaker A:Did put me off.
Speaker A:I mean, it was really weird.
Speaker A:But it's also because of his perception, which is the same as the majority of the civilization at that point, in which they regard books as being evil and it's normal to, you know, to burn them, to.
Speaker A:To capture the.
Speaker A:The culprits, etc, etc.
Speaker A:But the language being so distorted is a reflection or a translation of a distorted civilization.
Speaker A:And throughout the book, without spoiling it, he tends to see that something is off.
Speaker A:And due to some actions, he sees that there is a disconnect, and then the language slowly but surely changes.
Speaker B:Oh, okay.
Speaker B:It's gonna be interesting to see.
Speaker A:And this was really, for me, it was close to poetry.
Speaker A:I mean, I gave it a five out of five.
Speaker A:Very good book.
Speaker B:You were very excited.
Speaker A:I was really excited about this one.
Speaker A:And again, it's.
Speaker A:It's something very close to what's happening now, you know, with more and more books being put on.
Speaker A:On the banned list in.
Speaker A: n the U.S. for instance, like: Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:In some states they are banned.
Speaker A:Indeed.
Speaker A:Anywho, moving on.
Speaker A:Then I jumped straight back into fantasy with the Tainted cup by Robert Jackson Bennett.
Speaker A:Excuse me.
Speaker A:This was a first one because, I mean, it's a series.
Speaker A:I mean, you can read them as standalones, but it's the first one.
Speaker A:There are two books out.
Speaker A:I think the third one is still due.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's kind of a Sherlock Holmes kind of thing.
Speaker A:So it's a whodunit, but with a total fantasy background.
Speaker B:That's with the tree.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Really, really cool.
Speaker A:Because how they.
Speaker A:How the murder, the first that they uncover is that actually somebody was.
Speaker A:Was killed by having a tree grow out of his body.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And they have to figure out now how did this happen?
Speaker A:And without spoiling anything, I mean, it's due to spores, some kind of spores that were inserted into that body.
Speaker A:That person at that time still being alive.
Speaker A:And so you have this duo of detectives, let's put it this way.
Speaker A:They have each their own special capabilities because people are enhanced.
Speaker A:And you have people that are enhanced physically, you have people that are enhanced mentally.
Speaker A:And some are very expert in remembering everything.
Speaker A:And this is one of these person that you follow, which is the engraver.
Speaker A:And he follows together with his superior being, Ana Dolobra.
Speaker A:So the engraver being Dinius Call, he's the assistant.
Speaker A:But he has the ability to remember everything in the slightest details, even up to the smells, the light, I mean, you name it.
Speaker B:So glad that I do not have that.
Speaker B:That sounds insane.
Speaker A:Yeah, so he remembers.
Speaker A:But with every enhancement there is a price, obviously, so I liked it.
Speaker A:There was somewhere towards the middle a little.
Speaker A:A little bump that I was less caught by.
Speaker A:The book.
Speaker A:I gave it, I think, a three out of five.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker A:Because it touched on so many things, but it didn't delve into it, you know, So I was left a bit, you know, wanting more.
Speaker A:More character building, more details on the world because I thought they were really interesting takes on a lot of stuff, but I wanted more.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And, yeah, I don't know.
Speaker A:So I'm a bit on.
Speaker A:On the fence for going for the second one.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:But anyway, still good.
Speaker A:Then the last book of this year that I read, so last month was a very short one, which is Clear, by Clarice, by Carrie.
Speaker A:Sorry, Carys Davies, in a nutshell, because this is a very short book.
Speaker A:I think it's like 150ish pages so very quickly.
Speaker A:I mean, you read it in one day.
Speaker B:It does seem like a very short book.
Speaker A:Yeah, but it was so nice.
Speaker A:It was a nice book.
Speaker A:Again, it's fiction.
Speaker A: It's set on, let's see, late: Speaker A: So we're in: Speaker A:And you had the Presbyterians who wanted to evict people from their communities.
Speaker A:And, you know, I mean, this happened, right?
Speaker A:And you have a lot of small islands along the coast of Scotland.
Speaker A:This is where it happens.
Speaker A:And one of these Presbyterian priests from the mainland, let's say from Scotland, accepted the task to evict one of the last inhabitants of that little island.
Speaker A:But the person that is living there is one who has been there for decades and who was more or less left alone, is a sole survivor from a poor family.
Speaker A:But he has some mental challenges in that he's not to his full capacity.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And he has spent the last few decades, I think the last at least 20, 30 or even more 20, 30 years alone on that island, tending to the few sheeps.
Speaker A:He have a cow and a horse, all of those very old.
Speaker A:And he tends to whatever he can cultivate there.
Speaker A:And there is this empty church.
Speaker A:And so the main character, or one of the two main characters, John Ferguson, he goes there and when he arrives, he has a little mishap, he falls and he hurts his head really badly before even getting up to the main person on the island being Ivar.
Speaker A:And Ivar is in his mid-40s, I'd say.
Speaker A:And Ivar finds this guy and he takes care of him.
Speaker A:You know, he looks after him.
Speaker A:He stitches also his wounds.
Speaker A:He makes even new clothes because his clothes are torn or soaked.
Speaker A:So he actually knits because this is one of the very few things he can do next to attending to the little livestock there is on the island and cultivating some cabbages, etc.
Speaker A:He has also the capacity or ability to knit, which he learned from his mom and his grandmother.
Speaker A:And at a certain point they start to interact because obviously he has a language, a Scottish dialect, which was heavily influenced by Danish at that time, which was very hard to understand for people who did not know these dialects.
Speaker A:I mean, and this is all true, right?
Speaker A:But at a certain point, they.
Speaker A:They get to find some common ground.
Speaker A:They.
Speaker A:They start to having some very short discussions where they understand one another.
Speaker A:And a certain point, this John Ferson, you know, who is bound to send him off.
Speaker A:He doesn't have the heart to it.
Speaker A:So there's a kind of friendship that ties.
Speaker A:But then John Ferguson's wife Mary, who has been really worried because there was no news of him, she decides to go fetch him.
Speaker A:Then the story goes differently, but it's a beautiful book with an ending I really liked.
Speaker B:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So that's my pile of red books.
Speaker A:And I think I'm gonna keep this pace of alternating fantasy classics, fiction and non fiction, because it really works.
Speaker B:Speaking of which, I think because of you, I've also kind of filtered through my books and found, like three categories that I really like and decided for my next TBR shortlist.
Speaker B:I do also want to alternate between these three categories.
Speaker A:It works for me, but, you know, up to you.
Speaker A:And the three categories are.
Speaker B:So the first one is the most obvious one being fantasy.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:Which is the one which I have the most books in right now.
Speaker B:The second one is more horror stuff.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:The creepy stuff, though.
Speaker B:And Tender is the Flesh, which technically fits two categories.
Speaker A:It does.
Speaker B:The second one, the third one being dystopian novels.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So Tender is the Flesh is technically fits too.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:But I put it in a horror because what the hell?
Speaker B:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:It's very creepy, Very gory.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:I already made a short list of the next few books that I would like to read.
Speaker A:So Hazel Thorn being the first one.
Speaker A:No, no.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Totally not the first one.
Speaker B:The one that I'm currently reading is a dystopian novel, which is Fahrenheit 451.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So we start with dystopian.
Speaker B:Then I'm going over to the horror section, which will be.
Speaker B:And the river drags her down by.
Speaker B:I'm going to butcher this name.
Speaker B:It's a Korean name.
Speaker B:I'm so sorry.
Speaker A:That's okay.
Speaker B:Ji.
Speaker A:Sounds very plausible to me.
Speaker B:It's about two sisters.
Speaker B:And the eldest one drowns.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:But the younger sister, she uses this forbidden magic to bring her sister back.
Speaker B:And at first, you know, all is well until this older sister suddenly starts to hunger.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So very eerie.
Speaker B:That is a horror one that I will be reading.
Speaker B:Then I'm going over to fantasy, which I will be reading Brandon Sanderson's first book of Mistborn.
Speaker A:Oh, wow.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's been.
Speaker B:It's been staring me down in my shelves.
Speaker B:So I was like, okay, okay.
Speaker B:I really need to set myself to this.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B: ian novel, that's going to be: Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Hey, we're almost on the same page here.
Speaker A:George Orwell.
Speaker A:More on that.
Speaker B:Huh?
Speaker B:I wonder what is in Your tbr, then I'm not.
Speaker B:I've not decided yet on which horror book I will be reading next.
Speaker B:I have basically four options for that one, but I'm not.
Speaker B:There are so many great options right now in the horror section that I'm.
Speaker B:I haven't decided yet.
Speaker B:It's either gonna be one of the three books that I just bought or one of one book that I already have.
Speaker B:So the option that I already have is technically two books by the same author, which is Jonathan Sims.
Speaker B:If that name rings a bell.
Speaker B:It should, because it is the same person who wrote the Magnus Archives, which is a podcast that I absolutely adore.
Speaker B:And I'm currently on my second listen through.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Which, yes, the rumors are true.
Speaker B:The second listen through is way better because everything connects from the first episode.
Speaker B:You didn't see the first.
Speaker A:Hence also the importance of.
Speaker A:I mean, I don't know whether I will be able to ever do that, but rereading a book.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, I think it has the same.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:But anyway, so he wrote two books, Being family business and 13 stories, which are both two horror books.
Speaker B:Knowing that I really, really love his podcast that he wrote, I'm like, the chances of me liking his books as well, fairly high.
Speaker B:The other three options are either Hazelthorn by CG Drews, which is more poetic horror, in my opinion.
Speaker B:It's like a romanticized version of horror that still feels very uncomfortable, very eerie.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:But very poetic in a.
Speaker B:And the other two options are the Eyes are the Best Part by Monica Kim.
Speaker A:Thunder is the flesh.
Speaker A:The Eyes are the Best part.
Speaker B:Okay, listen, listen, listen.
Speaker B:This book is about a family that is basically fallen to pieces.
Speaker B:It's about Jiwon, and her life is completely falling apart because her father has an affair and her mother has a new white boyfriend who constantly brags that he knows everything about Korean culture.
Speaker B:And everything is starting to weigh very, very heavily on Ji Won, the main character of the story.
Speaker B:And she starts to grow obsessed with basically eating the blue eyeballs of the white bush freckles of her mother.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:You know, that's.
Speaker B:That's an option.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And the last option is the Lamb by Lucy Rose.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Which is basically, it's about Margot and her mother, and they live in a forest.
Speaker B:Margot, she's still going to school while her mother takes.
Speaker B:Takes care of the strays.
Speaker B:That's what the mother calls them.
Speaker B:Not sure what that means yet.
Speaker B:She feeds them wine.
Speaker B:She keeps them warm.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:She feeds them wine?
Speaker B:Yeah, that's what it says.
Speaker B:She feeds them wine.
Speaker B:She Keeps them warm.
Speaker A:She's cooking them then.
Speaker B:Hold on.
Speaker B:Then she satisfies her burning appetite by picking apart their bodies.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Sacrificial lamb.
Speaker A:Okay, I get it.
Speaker B:Something like that.
Speaker B:It sounds very much cultish in some way to me as well.
Speaker B:Apparently there's also some romance in here, but in the most toxic way ever.
Speaker B:And nothing is what it seems.
Speaker A:Okay,.
Speaker B:So those are the current options for the horror one, but again, that isn't for the second cycle.
Speaker B:So that.
Speaker B:That's way ahead.
Speaker B:But there are so many good options.
Speaker A:All right, well, yeah, you mentioned already on.
Speaker A:On my tbr, and it's a big pile.
Speaker A:I have also a classic one, which I started.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A: already in this one and it is: Speaker A:And unfortunately, yes, it's.
Speaker A:It's very actual.
Speaker A:I mean, this is a book, you know, that really from page one starts with.
Speaker A:With Big Brother.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Big Brother's watching you.
Speaker B:Big Brother is watching you.
Speaker B:Oh, I wonder why.
Speaker B:That is very active right now.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:And I think.
Speaker A:And it's also actually the Vern or the edition that I have is also in the Penguin classic cloth binded.
Speaker B:See, I like my special edition more.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker A:Because it has golden leaf pages?
Speaker A:Ish.
Speaker B:No, I just really like the COVID more.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:But anyway, it's about the inner part.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:The inner part is still the same.
Speaker A:Yeah, but I mean, it has, you know, even.
Speaker A:I think it was on.
Speaker A:I see on page six already you have the, the three.
Speaker A:What's called the three slogans of the party.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Which.
Speaker B:Which is ignorance is peace.
Speaker A:No, war is peace.
Speaker B:War is peace.
Speaker A:And then freedom is slavery.
Speaker A:Ignorance is strength.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:I mean, damn.
Speaker A:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:The whole war is peace.
Speaker B:As the first slogan is wild.
Speaker B:Because as a.
Speaker B:That's a.
Speaker B:That's a paradox.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:But you know, it, it's.
Speaker A:It's also explaining as long as they're doing business as usual, which is raging war.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Then everything is normal because they're doing what they have always done way.
Speaker A:So from that perspective, war is peace.
Speaker A:It's peace of mind.
Speaker A:It's, you know, it's.
Speaker A:It's what we do.
Speaker B:It's what they do.
Speaker A:But I'm, I'm.
Speaker A:I'm really curious to see where this is going.
Speaker A:So it's another classic.
Speaker B:So what else is on the tbr?
Speaker A:Okay, so this is definitely.
Speaker B:There's a lot of books.
Speaker A:I know, I know.
Speaker A:And then one of the.
Speaker A:Let me go to the.
Speaker A:The big.
Speaker A:Another big boy There.
Speaker A:So jumping from a classic to fantasy is alchemized by still not reading Poppy.
Speaker B:War while it has been collecting dust on your shelf for months.
Speaker A:Collecting dust, I know, but I'm so intrigued by Senlene Yu.
Speaker A:Alchemized.
Speaker B:It's gonna take you another two weeks to finish that thing.
Speaker A:Yeah, we'll see.
Speaker A:We'll see.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Gigantic.
Speaker A:It's like.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And it is.
Speaker A:Let me just peek.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's more than 1,000 pages.
Speaker B:Figured as much.
Speaker A:But anyway, so that's for the fantasy part.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And the next one.
Speaker A:The next one is.
Speaker A:I always had a, you know, something for your whodunit, your classic, who done it.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I also am very keen on reading more Japanese authors translated, obviously.
Speaker B:And otherwise I'd be concerned.
Speaker A:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:Excuse me, It's a.
Speaker A:It's a.
Speaker A:What they call a classic mystery novel from a.
Speaker A:And again, this is, for me, the first novel from her.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:I'm gonna really butcher this one.
Speaker A:But Shizutsuko Natsuki, and she's supposed to be the Japan's queen of crime.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It's about a family drama.
Speaker A:So there's a murder that occurs.
Speaker A:And again, it's a whodunit, and it's a little shy of 300 pages, so.
Speaker A:But you know why I picked this one?
Speaker A:Because my last trip to London, beginning of January, when shopping for some books, I just saw the COVID and I love the COVID So it says Murder at Mount Fiji.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:I hadn't mentioned the name of the book, which is Murder at Mount Fiji.
Speaker A:And it has this.
Speaker A:It's Mount Fuji, obviously, but it's in very nice colors, so it's pink and blue.
Speaker A:I really like the COVID Sure.
Speaker A:And then it said, okay, so it's Japan, It's a whodunit.
Speaker A:It's a mystery novel.
Speaker A:I said, okay, fine, you know, and they.
Speaker A:They really highlighted.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:And I'm still spotting more books that would even bring you to the next fantasy phase in which we will be reading Poppy War.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:It's in the pile.
Speaker A:It's in the pile.
Speaker B:Good.
Speaker A:Speaking of which, I know this is fantasy, but it's a bit like historical fantasy, might I say, because it has a real background.
Speaker B:I recognize the author.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:So it's Leigh Bardugo.
Speaker A:Sorry, the familiar.
Speaker B:I've read a lot of her books already.
Speaker B:She's the same author as the Crows.
Speaker A:And Six of Crows.
Speaker B:Six of Crows, sorry.
Speaker B:And Shadow and Bone, which I've Read the trilogy and the duology of Six of Crows.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:There's also a duology about a different side character, King of Scars, I believe that I've been contemplating to also read because I really like the.
Speaker B:That particular character.
Speaker B:But I, I just needed a break from that entire universe because it all plays out in the same unit in this.
Speaker B:On the same country.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:A kingdom, whatever you want to call it.
Speaker A:Fictional fiction.
Speaker B:It's fictional.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And I just needed a break from it.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Because it, it's, it's really good.
Speaker B:But at the same time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And here it's set in, in an alternative history during.
Speaker A:I think it must be that like the 16 16th century, because there is still the Inquisition.
Speaker A:And so it is in, in Spain and it's I think in, in Madrid.
Speaker A:But obviously it takes a little turn to the fantasy as far as I've understood.
Speaker A:You know, some people possess certain powers.
Speaker A:Let's see.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean it's where they can invoke some powers and alter the course of history.
Speaker A:And it has also a slight touch of horror.
Speaker A:And that's what I've been told.
Speaker A:But we'll see what that will do.
Speaker A:And then.
Speaker A:Oh, I'm going into American classics.
Speaker A:Haven't read any of his, but I just wanted to dive into it.
Speaker A:It's James Baldwin and this one is another country.
Speaker A:Now James Baldwin is one of these really classic writers, beginning of the 20th century.
Speaker A:And this is nothing fantasy like of course.
Speaker A:So let me just read you the back part.
Speaker A:So it's a story of desire, hatred and violence with the unforgettable characters of Rufus Scott, a scavenging Harlem jazz musician adrift in New York.
Speaker A:So it's fiction, but it's very relatable for that era, let's say.
Speaker A:So it's about this self destructive, bad and brilliant.
Speaker A:You know, he draws us into a behemon underworld pulsing with hate music, music and sex, where desperate and dangerous characters betray love and test each other to the limit.
Speaker B:You know, the kind of reminds me when you read that.
Speaker B:Kind of reminds me of a brave new world.
Speaker A:Ah, it might.
Speaker A:Yeah, it might.
Speaker B:I really hated that story.
Speaker B:God awful.
Speaker A:And then another classic, but then French, which I will be reading in French.
Speaker A:And this is really classic about vengeance.
Speaker A:If there's like one book, if you want to read one book on the topic of vengeance, it is Le Comte de Monte Cristo of the Count of Monte Cristo.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:But this is a big boy because.
Speaker B:I mean, that's only part one.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:This is part one.
Speaker A:And I'M Okay, I'm reading it in.
Speaker A:In.
Speaker A:In Pocket version Y.
Speaker A:The first part is.
Speaker A:Let me just quickly go to the end.
Speaker A:It has 703 pages and this is part one.
Speaker A:Just part one.
Speaker B:But I mean, so what is it about?
Speaker A:Oh, no.
Speaker A:And I have the backflip in French, so I have to.
Speaker B:Yeah, so translate.
Speaker B:You can do it.
Speaker A:Oh, this is going to be too hard to translate.
Speaker A:Simultaneously try and explain it in your own words.
Speaker A:So this is a guy that has been wrongly accused of a crime, obviously, which he didn't commit, and he is being sentenced to die.
Speaker A:And they.
Speaker A:I think there's an attempt to.
Speaker A:To kill him.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:I think, if I'm not mistaken, to drown him.
Speaker A:But obviously he survives and the person just.
Speaker A:I mean, there is more than this wrongdoing on his character than that.
Speaker A:I mean, much more.
Speaker A:But because he survives that attempted murder on his character and much of his whole existence, he retraces all of his wrongdoers and is really bound to get his vengeance, but really in.
Speaker A:In a very demonic way.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And I mean, the book also starts with him being, if I'm not mistaken, cast to sea, but like being.
Speaker A:Or at least that's the attempt to kill him.
Speaker A:And I mean, it has been on.
Speaker A:On my to be read list for.
Speaker B:Forever and I still see one more book.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And this one I know nothing about.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:But it.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker A:It popped out as a suggestion.
Speaker A:Another very, very small book or short book, should I say?
Speaker A:It's 135 pages.
Speaker B:Damn.
Speaker B:Okay, so it's doable.
Speaker A:Very doable.
Speaker B:It's read it in a day book.
Speaker A:Oh, definitely.
Speaker A:And let me see.
Speaker A:So spent.
Speaker A:It's Spent Light by Lara Paulson.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And if I'm not mistaken, it's her first novel.
Speaker A: think she did win a prize in: Speaker A: ed for the Goldsmith Prize in: Speaker A:And let me see, so what they said about it.
Speaker A:So Splintlight asks us to begin the work of de Enchanting all the crafts trap.
Speaker A:We gather around ourselves to fend off the abyss, because we'll never manage that anyway.
Speaker A:The book warns, the abyss is already in us, but love is too.
Speaker A:There might be no home to be found in objects, but there's one to be made with other people in the end.
Speaker A:This is a powerful, startling book.
Speaker A:It's a love letter.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:So very short and sweet.
Speaker B:So it is.
Speaker A:And that's the pile.
Speaker A:So I'm really curious to see if I'm going to keep the Same reading pace.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:As I did in the first month.
Speaker A:But you know, this is something.
Speaker A:I really hope so.
Speaker B:And other than books, I have one more interesting thing that I wanted to talk about.
Speaker A:Shoot.
Speaker B:So yesterday or you know, this morning I got back from a LARP from.
Speaker A:I think you came home at 3:30.
Speaker A:Ish.
Speaker B:Yeah, 3:30.
Speaker B:I got home around that time.
Speaker B:It was really, really late.
Speaker B:I just sent you guys a text like, please don't wake me.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker A:We didn't.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:You didn't.
Speaker B:So I, I did get some decent sleep.
Speaker B:And this LARP was called Danse Macabre.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Which is based off the tabletop role playing game A Vampire Requiem.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Which there were a lot of the mechanics.
Speaker B:Mechanics from the tabletop role playing game that you could see in the larp.
Speaker B:A lot of the mechanics were right there.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I must say, when I arrived, I felt like a baby.
Speaker A:What do you mean you felt like a baby?
Speaker B:Half of the people there were twice my age, so.
Speaker A:My age.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:Somewhere even older than you, I'm pretty sure.
Speaker A:Did they have to wheel them in?
Speaker B:No, no, they did not.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Don't insult them like that.
Speaker B:They were like half of the people there were definitely around your age.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So that I instantly felt like, oh gee, I'm so.
Speaker B:I'm such a baby here.
Speaker B:Which was a very different feel compared to mech, which I've been doing where everyone is around my age.
Speaker B:So it's like, oh yeah, everyone is a student here.
Speaker B:We're all young.
Speaker B:Yay.
Speaker B:And now it's like, oh right, there's a lot of older vampires.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that was what it was about.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So yeah, it is.
Speaker B:This larp, as the name might suggest, is about vampires.
Speaker B:Everyone was playing a vampire.
Speaker B:It's a very political LARP.
Speaker B:It's also a very short LARP.
Speaker B:We started at 8pm and the LARP ended at 2am so it's a six hour session basically in which you play the game of pawns, which means you have a map of Belgium where everyone can place their pawn.
Speaker B:And depending on how old you are as a vampire, there are three ranks.
Speaker B:The Neonates which are the youngest vampires, the Ankila which is, are like in the middle, and the elders which are obviously the oldest vampires.
Speaker A:So most of them were the latter.
Speaker B:No, no, no.
Speaker B:So how it works is if you are an elder vampire, you have to have, I believe, two ankilab underneath you and four neonates who are also all players, which is to make sure that the largest population are neonates and then second largest population are the Ankila.
Speaker B:And that there aren't as many elders because those have more power, more abilities that they can use.
Speaker B:Obviously most of the time a higher rank.
Speaker B:So we can't have like 93% of all the players be elders because that wouldn't be interesting.
Speaker B:Very political.
Speaker B:I went in with it with like zero expectations because I wanted to go in with a completely open mind.
Speaker B:I didn't want to expect anything and be disappointed.
Speaker B:And then it completely blew me away.
Speaker B:It was so intense.
Speaker B:The first two hours felt really slowed for me.
Speaker B:I was like, okay, it's a lot of mingling and a lot of people already know each other and I am fairly new.
Speaker B:So I was a little timid to approach people out of nowhere.
Speaker B:And then at 2pm that Markish, things just suddenly started rolling.
Speaker B:And before you knew it, it was 2:00am it was super, super intense.
Speaker B:A lot of things happened.
Speaker A:Where was this held?
Speaker B:Actually in Bechmau.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So nearby.
Speaker A:But was it in a building?
Speaker A:Was it.
Speaker B:So it was in this building called Castelcia, which.
Speaker B:Which is like a pretty big manor type thing.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And how it was divided.
Speaker B:The ground floor was basically where most of the play went on.
Speaker B:We had like the throne room, a chapel, because a lot of.
Speaker B:So you have these covenants, right, that everyone can belong to.
Speaker B:First you have the Invictus, which are like, oh, they're the first house of all the covenants.
Speaker B:They're like the best of the best.
Speaker B:They're like very royal, coded like, we know better.
Speaker B:We are right.
Speaker B:We are correct.
Speaker B:We know how to rule.
Speaker B:Yada, yada, yada.
Speaker B:Then you have the Lancea, which are the religious people.
Speaker B:They're the Catholics.
Speaker B:Yes, they wear crosses.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Very awkward, but okay.
Speaker B:Because in the system you only are.
Speaker B:Have a weakness to a cross if that is your specific curse.
Speaker B:So there's a lot of religious vampires.
Speaker B:Then you have the.
Speaker B:The Ohdrakul, which is the scholars, basically.
Speaker B:They study a lot of different beliefs among them on how they should go about their studies.
Speaker B:Then you have the Qarthians, which are the revolutionists.
Speaker B:They want to see a different way that the vampires have to rule.
Speaker B:And then the last covenant is the Circle of the Crone.
Speaker B:We don't talk about the Circle of the Crone.
Speaker B:Nobody likes them.
Speaker A:Crone or crown?
Speaker B:Crone.
Speaker A:Crone.
Speaker A:C R O O N, C R.
Speaker B:O, N E, N E. Okay.
Speaker A:Crone.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:It's a very occult covenant that is believed to be completely destroyed.
Speaker B:But when you delve deeper into it, you find that it's not.
Speaker B:And it's very much based on rituals, very occult, like I said.
Speaker B:And it's a no.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:To be in the circle of the Crone, if you suspect someone to be part of it, you have to talk to someone from the Lancia Covenant so they can kill them.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And then you also have the bloodlines, which there's again five.
Speaker B:But no matter what bloodline you have, you can be in any covenant you want.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker B:And these five covenants, well, technically four, vie for lands within Belgium.
Speaker B:That's what where the map comes in, everyone has a pawn.
Speaker B:Depending on your rank, again, neonate and killer or elder, you have more weight in this game.
Speaker B:A neonate has one point and killer two, elder.
Speaker B:Three, let's say you have two neonates of opposing covenants on one little piece of land.
Speaker B:If I, an Ankila, were to place my pawn on that little piece as well, my covenant would win because I carry more weight.
Speaker B:And why do we do this?
Speaker B:It's so everyone has feeding grounds to see who can feed where.
Speaker B:Because if I were to feed on Invictus grounds while I'm not an Invictus, they would have the right to punish me because I'm not allowed to feed them.
Speaker B:And that caused a lot of turmoil because everyone wanted Brussels.
Speaker B:But if you were vying for Brussels, you were gonna get a fight.
Speaker B:It was really intense.
Speaker A:And was this a one shot or is this.
Speaker B:Oh, no, it's not a one shot.
Speaker B:So the goal for this organization is to try and have a session every three or four months.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And each session will be six hours, so from 8p to 2am so it's a very short LARP.
Speaker B:And every time the game of pawns is played again to re rearrange the feeding grounds once more.
Speaker B:That's technically what the entire game is about.
Speaker B:But you have a lot of political warfare going on between this game of pawns.
Speaker B:There was a lot of different things going on.
Speaker B:For example, there was a prisoner who was believed to have done a ritual that wasn't allowed.
Speaker B:He lost a hand because of it.
Speaker B:There was.
Speaker A:In the game, I hope.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:In the game, the Lancia held a miss.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:A service.
Speaker B:A service sermon.
Speaker B:Which was also intense because every time other people were like, talking in the background, they immediately started yelling at them to be quiet.
Speaker B:It was a very serious ordeal.
Speaker B:There were a lot of secret meetings with all the different covenants.
Speaker B:You constantly got pulled out of conversations to be like, can I talk to you for a moment in private?
Speaker B:The amount of times that that happened.
Speaker B:Oh, dear Lord.
Speaker B:And because I was wearing heels and I can't stand up for a very long time, I was sitting a lot, which gave me the opportunity to talk to a lot of people, because every time I sat down, within five minutes, somebody else was seated right next to me, and I was pulled into a conversation, which was amazing.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:I let.
Speaker B:For some reason, that led to a lot of religious conversations, because, again, there's a lot of.
Speaker B:Of religious vampires.
Speaker B:I was just sitting there.
Speaker B:I'm not religious at all.
Speaker B:What the are you talking about?
Speaker B:But it was really intense, and I really think you would enjoy it, too.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And so it's to be continued, so.
Speaker B:Oh, definitely.
Speaker B:I will 100 be vying for a ticket for the second session.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Excellent.
Speaker B:I loved it.
Speaker A:So, so, so, so much good on you.
Speaker A:And on that note, for our next episode, which we'll.
Speaker A:We'll try to record in the upcoming weeks, we'll have another special guest, and we will be talking about, you know, at least about one big topic being the parallels of the book.
Speaker A:So literature, but also movies as far as fantasy and stuff like that is concerned.
Speaker A:But diving really into origins, the classics, and who inspired who.
Speaker A:Was it the book that inspired the movie?
Speaker A:Or was it the movie that inspired the book?
Speaker A:But really big classics and going back to the origins.
Speaker B:So who will this mystery guest be?
Speaker A:Well, if I spoil it now, it won't be a mystery guest.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So fair enough.
Speaker B:Fair enough.
Speaker A:So you'll have to hear.
Speaker B:All right, then.
Speaker B:Keep your secrets.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:But we'll be back in a few weeks from now, and that's it for me.
Speaker B:This concludes our episode.
Speaker B:So until next time, stay enchanted, stay.
Speaker A:Curious, and keep the fantasy alive.
Speaker B:Sam.
