Is This Just Fantasy?

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if Edward Cullen wasn't Mormon, or Xaden Riarson didn't have #believewomen in his Tinder profile? Then this is the episode for you, as Duncan and Geordie cover From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
They discuss a parade of bizarre and lazy worldbuilding, dangling plot threads, unusually basic wording errors, and possibly the shadiest love-story they've covered on the podcast so far (and that's saying something). Duncan found it so dry that he forgot the book existed until shortly before recording, and Geordie struggles with the fact he used to like it!

A divisive episode. Duncan declares victory as Geordie is forced to hand in his membership to the 'pretencious nerd who doesn't like Brandon Sanderson books' club, because this one is a corker.
They cover Mistborn: The Final Empire, covering its excellent twists and implemenation of magic, its surprising themematic coherence and nuance, and Geordie has no choice to admit that this time, maybe worldbuilding is important to making a fantasy novel work. Its not all glaze though, they cover their complaints about the book's depiction of women, and the weird age gap between the love interests.
Has this turned Geordie around on Sanderson? And how long will Duncan be smug about it?
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At long last, the fellas cover one of the big daddies of epic fantasy. For Duncan its a return to an old-favourite, whilst Geordie experiences it for the first time. They discuss the start of Robert Jordan's saga: 'The Eye of the World.'
Geordie wrestles with explaining how a book can be boring 'but in a good way,' whilst Duncan keeps forgetting how much of what he thinks happens in this book, won't happen till books 2-4, and how many of his favourite characters still kinda suck. Geordie challenges the book's attempts at depiciting a matriarchal system, whilst Duncan struggles with how to keep telling Geordie that most of his complaints will be solved if he Just. Keeps. Reading. The. Books!
Apologies to fans of Nynaeve for butchering her name all episode. (How is it pronounced Nah-Neeve?!)
Like the show? Follow us on Insta: @IsThisJustFantasyPodcast, or ask us a question via [email protected]

Consumer warning: this episode contains no Condors. But it does contain an in-depth review of one of the most influencial yet unknown books the fellas have covered on the podcast, the first part of Jin Yong's Legend of the Condor Heroes - "the Chinese Lord of the Rings."
They cover the unbelievable Kung Fu action, the surprising blend of fantasy and real history, and the best plot twist they've encounter on the podcast yet. Duncan tries very hard to pronounce names correctly this time, whilst Geordie spends too much time on dubious "translate your name into Chinese" websites instead of actually releasing the episode on time.
Like the show? Follow us on Insta: @IsThisJustFantasyPodcast, or ask us a question via [email protected]

Ah, 2025. An impossibly long and packed year which just flew by. In their annual tradition, Duncan and Geordie take a look back at a year full of ambitious pulls, many surprises, and a couple of truly dire low-points (in terms of books, the podcast is obviously better than ever)!
They take a look at everything they've reviewed to select their Most Surprising, Most Disapointing, Favourite, Worst, and of course their Best book of the year. Will they be in agreement, or is their time for one last heated debate before the ball drops?