Undertowers Podcast

Episode 37: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, is it the best new manga?

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a manga and anime that has quickly become a modern classic. It tells the story of an elf mage who outlives her companions after their great quest, and then begins a quieter, more contemplative journey through memory, grief, and what it means to value the fleeting lives around us. The guys get together to discuss Frieren in both its manga and anime forms, unpacking the themes of time, legacy, and friendship. The pleasure of a story like Frieren is in reflecting on it—and talking it through with friends. Give us a like and subscribe! You can follow us on x / tiktok / instagram / bluesky / substack: https://x.com/undertowerspod https://www.tiktok.com/@undertowerspodcast https://www.instagram.com/undertowerspodcast/ https://bsky.app/profile/undertowers.bsky.social https://substack.com/@undertowerspodcast The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from their Crossroads EP.

Episode 36: Peace by Gene Wolfe; what the $%!^ was that?!

Peace is a novel by Undertowers favorite, Gene Wolfe. It was his 3rd full length novel. The guys get together to discuss and try to make sense of what they just read. The pleasure of a Gene Wolfe work is in thinking about it and discussing it with friends. 
 
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The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from their Crossroads EP. 

Episode 35: Undertowers Recommends

In this episode we bring to you, our intrepid listeners a series of recommendations, an eclectic series of things we are enjoying. 
You’ll hear about Dragon Quest, Indiana Jones, and the Oblivion remake, as well as The Night Manager (2016), and Squid Game. We run through audiobooks, especially The First Law world of books, the recent Andy Serkis Middle-earth narrations, the Astral Codex Ten Substack based blog and similarly the Astral Codex Ten Podcast, and finally the new anime Lazarus. We finish up with a round of dislikes or un-recommendations. 
 
Links:
Dragon Quest III: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF7ojlK1TjA
Oblivion Remaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbohbX33pvg
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZxxpnK0LqU
The Night Manger (2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-ZcaKdvML8
Squid Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbAKYgfYET8&list=RDSbAKYgfYET8&start_radio=1
First Law Trilogy: https://www.audible.com/series/The-First-Law-Trilogy-Audiobooks/B005NAILNU
Midde-earth with Andy Serkis: https://www.audible.com/ep/lord-of-the-rings
Astral Codex Ten: https://www.astralcodexten.com/ 
Astral Codex Ten Podcast: https://sscpodcast.libsyn.com/ 
Lazarus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpG8vtFMkD0 
 
Give us a like and subscribe! You can follow us on x / tiktok / instagram / bluesky / substack: 
 
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https://www.instagram.com/undertowerspodcast/
 
https://bsky.app/profile/undertowers.bsky.social
 
https://substack.com/@undertowerspodcast 
 
The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from their Crossroads EP. 

Episode 34: Lord of The Rings 'Recast'

Episode 33: Hangout with Mike's Book Reviews

We are delighted to welcome Mike Kearns of the excellent booktube channel Mike’s Book Reviews to the podcast this week. We talk through a current dissatisfaction in the current fantasy and science fiction psychosphere as well as what it’s like to be an established and successful booktuber. You can find Mike’s excellent channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@mikesbookreviews Give us a like and subscribe! You can follow us on x / tiktok / instagram: https://x.com/undertowerspod https://www.tiktok.com/@undertowerspodcast https://www.instagram.com/undertowerspodcast/ The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from their Crossroads EP.

Episode 32: Tropes 2.0

We are revisiting our tropes discussion, this time with a twist. We each prepared lists of tropes we are recently enjoying and some we are tired of but as we pick them to discuss, each of us will take turns steelmanning the opposite of our baseline positions. Led to a fun and hilarious episode and discussion. 
 
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The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from their Crossroads EP.

Episode 31: Bookclub Hangout: the funniest moments in fantasy

We have a wide-ranging conversation covering the totality of the books we’ve read in our book club thus far. What was the funniest moment? What counts as grimdark? We wind down with a speed round of favorite moments and look at what we are most excited to read the rest of the year. 
 
OUR COMPLETED NOVELS:
2023 -
THE SHADOW OF THE TORTURER by Gene Wolfe
THE CLAW OF THE CONCILIATOR by Gene Wolfe
THE SWORD OF THE LICTOR by Gene Wolfe
THE CITADEL OF THE AUTARCH by Gene Wolfe
THE BLACK COMPANY by Glen Cook
SHADOWS LINGER by Glen Cook
THE WHITE ROSE by Glen Cook
THE EYES OF THE DRAGON by Stephen King
GALAPAGOS by Kurt Vonnegut
TARZAN OF THE APES by Edgar Rice Burroughs
THE RETURN OF TARZAN by Edgar Rice Burroughs
THE COMING OF CONAN THE CIMMERIAN by Robert E. Howard (13 short stories)
THE BLOODY CROWN OF CONAN by Robert E. Howard (Del Rey Edition Vol. 2)
THE CONQUERING SWORD OF CONAN by Robert E. Howard (Del Rey Edition Vol. 3)
THE BROKEN SWORD by Poul Anderson
ELRIC OF MELNIBONE: THE ELRIC SAGA PART 1 by Michael Moorcock
STORMBRINGER: THE ELRIC SAGA PART 2 by Michael Moorcock
THE WHITE WOLF: THE ELRIC SAGA PART 3 by Michael Moorcock
 
2024 - 
SWORDS AGAINST DEATH: FAFHRD AND THE GRAY MOUSER BOOK 2 by Fritz Leiber
SWORDS IN THE MIST: FAFHRD AND THE GRAY MOUSER BOOK 3 by Fritz Leiber
THE SWORDS OF LANKHMAR: FAFHRD AND THE GRAY MOUSER BOOK 5 by Fritz Leiber
THE SWORDS OF LANKHMAR: FAFHRD AND THE GRAY MOUSER BOOK 5 by Fritz Leiber
LEGEND (DRENAI SAGA 1) by David Gemmell
THE KING BEYOND THE GATE (DRENAI SAGA 2)  by David Gemmell
WAYLANDER (DRENAI SAGA 3) by David Gemmell
SWORD OF DESTINY by Andrej Sapkowski
THE LAST WISH by Andrej Sapkowski
THE KNIGHT by Gene Wolfe
THE WIZARD by Gene Wolfe
MALICE (THE FAITHFUL AND THE FALLEN 1) by John Gwynne
VALOR (THE FAITHFUL AND THE FALLEN 2) by John Gwynne
RUIN (THE FAITHFUL AND THE FALLEN 3) by John Gwynne
WRATH (THE FAITHFUL AND THE FALLEN 4) by John Gwynne
SHAGDUK by JB Jackson
 THE MABINOGION (Jones and Jones translation & SIONED DAVIES AUDIOBBOOK)
LE MORTE D’ARTHUR (part 2, books X-XXI, chapters 19-45 audiobook)  by Thomas Malory
IDYLLS OF THE KING by Alfred Lord Tennyson
URSULA OF ULM by JB Jackson
THE STORY OF KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT by Mark Twain
BETWEEN TWO FIRES by Christopher Buelhman
THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING: THE SWORD AND THE STONE by T.H. White
THE BLACKTONGUED THIEF by Christopher Buelhman 
The Daughter’s War by Christopher Buelhman
SULDRUN’S GARDEN Garden by Jack Vance
 
Give us a like and subscribe! You can follow us on x / tiktok / instagram: 
 
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The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from their Crossroads EP.

Episode 30: The State of Sci fi Fantasy in Film & TV