complexity
The Obelisk Gate
Novel Ideas apologizes for the delay, but we return with a new episode on N.K. Jemisin’s The Obelisk Gate. This novel is the sequel to The Fifth Season, the Hugo award winner and a Novel Ideas favorite. We should warn you going in, since this is a recent publication, this episode is chock full of spoilers. In addition to spoilers, we also cover Chosen One plots, dark elements, shades of gray, and family. We also talk about how this story is not Harry Potter, adorable monsters, the importance of the moon, and how none of these characters are actually Gandalf.
The music bump is “The Unanswered Question” by Charles Ives in honor of all of the questions from the first book that were answered with more questions in the second book.
108 – The Obelisk Gate – Sympathetic Murderers
Our rating: A worthy follow up to the original with excellent depth of world building and characterization.
Ben: 10/10. I love the world building and the characters and anything else I forgot to mention.
Gabs: 9/10 moons. Darkness is slightly less shocking the second time around, but the complexity is great.
This entry was posted in Episodes and tagged adorable monster, answering questions with questions, Chosen One plot, complexity, darkness, Evil Earth, excellent characters, family, helping others v. helping yourself, listener Alex, listener feedback, N.K. Jemisin, not Gandalf, not Harry Potter, Novel Ideas meta-podcast, omg spoilers, oppressing the oppressors?, prejudice, protagonist traits, second person narration, shades of gray, spoilers, survival ethics, sympathetic murderers, The Obelisk Gate, throwing the moon away, trials of podcasting, trust, world building, wtf guardians, wtf Stone Eaters, zomfg spoilers.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Welcome back to Draco Malfoy Talk, a podcast devoted to analyzing Draco Malfoy and his hilarious antics. Or maybe it’s just starting to feel that way. This week on Novel Ideas, we discuss Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, the third book in the Harry Potter series. In this episode we don’t just talk a whole bunch about Draco and his continued status as a dick, we also talk about good teachers, possible metaphors for discrimination, overcoming fear, and holy crap plot twists. We also discuss the logic of divination, alternate universe Snape, ideas for improving the Hogwarts curriculum, and the plight of those poor flobberworms.
The music bump this week is “Seven Potters” by the Remus Lupins, a Harry Potter tribute band. They are nerdy as hell and probably more enthusiastic than talented, but I can appreciate the principle behind them.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Recommendations:
Best of the series so far! Also, if you’ve gotten this far and you’re still not convinced that you like this series, it probably isn’t for you…
This entry was posted in Episodes and tagged alternate Snape, bad guy fake out, bullying, chocolate as a restorative, complexity, cowardice, debt, Dementors may be unreliable, Dementors suck (souls) for serious (Sirius), discrimination, Draco Malfoy Talk, friendship, good teachers, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hogwarts curriculum, J.K. Rowling, Lupin the laid back, no nonsense, overcoming fear, paradox, persecution of the innocent, poor flobberworms, revenge, Scabbers is... a rat!?, Sirius ethical challenges, Sirius/Lupin?, the logic of divination, werewolf metaphors, werewolves.
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