Fantasy, Sci Fi and speculative fiction, observed through the comedic lens of The Bugle. Become a Bugle subscriber to enjoy this show ad free and help us thrive.
Expect reviews and supernova level hot takes on literature, gaming, films, TV, board games, and anywhere else you can experience space ships, clones and beautiful elves with massive weapons.
A podcast from The Bugle. Hosted by Alice Fraser and friends. Also available as a video podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Fantasy, Sci Fi and speculative fiction, observed through the comedic lens of The Bugle. Become a Bugle subscriber to enjoy this show ad free and help us thrive.
Expect reviews and supernova level hot takes on literature, gaming, films, TV, board games, and anywhere else you can experience space ships, clones and beautiful elves with massive weapons.
A podcast from The Bugle. Hosted by Alice Fraser and friends. Also available as a video podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan bring you episode 24 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
Episode 24
This week's news covers the Squid Game USA spinoff, Disney suing AI image generator Midjourney, and a mother suing Disney after a Stormtrooper scared her child, causing injury. Hear what Tom and Alice have been enjoying recently, men slaps and silly old women with health issues are the tropes on the rope this week and they venture into the 'mines of urrgh'. The sub genre deep dive is flintlock fantasy - combining gunpowder-era warfare with magic!
And hear the EXCLUSIVE breaking news as Tom coins what may be a brand-new genre - culturepunk. You (possibly) heard it here first!
Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion
News
TV Squid Game USA
What have you been into of late?
FILM 28 Years Later
Gods of Blood and Powder - Brian McClennan
FILM M3GAN 2.0
Sub genre deep dive - flintlock fiction
TV Sharpe
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City - K. J. Parker
The Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne - Brian Staveley
GAME Dungeons & Dragons Spelljammer
TV Shadow and Bone
Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo
The Cardinal’s Blades - Pierre Pevel
The Phoenix Guards - Steven Brust
Five Hundred Years After - Steven Brust
GAME Assassin’s Creed
Mines of Urrgh
FILM 28 Years Later
FILM Severance
FILM Predator
FILM Snow White
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan.
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Alice Fraser and James Nokise bring you episode 23 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
Episode 23
This week's news covers The Odyssey, Masters of the Universe and the Highlander remake, and James and Alice dive into all manner of good things sci fi and fantasy. The sub genre deep dive is all about side characters as leads!
Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion
James Nokise - PODCAST The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior
News
FILM The Odyssey
FILM Masters of the Universe
FILM Highlander
Ads
GAME Hero’s Quest
GAME Police Quest
GAME Space Quest
What have you been enjoying?
GAMES Final Fantasy
Lirael - Garth Nix
Sub genre deep dive - side characters as leads
PLAY Rosencratz and Guildenstein Are Dead - Tom Stoppard
TV Dollhouse - Joss Whedon
The Curse of Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold
GAME Final Fantasy XII
Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold
FILM Solo
The Book of the New Sun - Gene Wolf
TV Star Trek: Lower Decks
Redshirts - John Scalzi
Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie
The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Magician - Raymond E. Feist
Mines of Urrgh
The Belgariad - David Eddings
FILM The Sword and the Sorcerer
FILM Close Encounters of the Third Kind
FILM Popeye
FILM Masters of the Universe
Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and James Nokise.
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Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan bring you episode 22 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
Episode 22
This week's news respectfully looks at buff geek Henry Cavill's forthcoming Highlander movie, and Tom and Alice dive into all manner of good things sci fi and fantasy. This week's deep dive is all about translated works!
Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion
Alice Fraser - Calm World: Introduction to Meditation
Tom Neenan - Zeroes - David Reed
News
FILM Highlander
APP Zombies! Run!
What have you been enjoying?
FILM Under The Skin
Under The Skin - Michael Faber
Behooved - M. Stevenson
Trope on a rope - bikini armour / warrior maiden vagina chokehold
Jill Bearup - Just Stab Me Now
Sub genre deep dive - sci fi and fantasy in translation
The Odyssey
The Iliad
Beowulf - Maria Dahvana Headley
Beowulf - Seamus Heany
Asterix & Obelix
The Cyberiad - Stanislaw Lem
The Melting - Lize Spit
ANIME Neon Genesis Evangelion
TV Dark
The Night Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko
FILM The City of Lost Children
Mines of Urrgh
FILM Elysium
FILM Mountainhead
Mr Men - Roger Hargreaves
Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast
Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate
Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
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Alice is joined by Chris Skinner to discuss the work of Tamora Pierce. They also chat about Murderbot and Sarah J Maas - is Romantasy sexy enough?
Search for Chris’s show Mildly Informed in your pod feed now.
Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast
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Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown
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Produced by Chris Skinner. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner.
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Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan bring you episode 20 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
This week, it's all about neurodivergent heroes in sci-fi and fantasy!
Episode 20
This week's news features Guillermo del Toro's new Frankenstein movie, the new Predator: Killer of Killers movie and is gravity proof that life on Earth is actually a simulation?
Hear what Alice and Tom have been enjoying recently, which tropes they love or hate, then take a deep dive with them into early sci-fi and fantasy, and hear the things that they used to love but now make them feel a bit urrrgh.
Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion
Tom Neenan - The Hauntening
Tom Neenan Is Not All Men
News
FILM Frankenstein
FILM Predator: Killer of Killers
FILM Mountainhead
What have you been into?
TV Rick and Morty
Blood Song - Anthony Ryan
Witch King - Martha Wells
Sub-genre deep dive: neurodivergent heroes
Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
TV Bones
Temperance Brennan series - Kathy Reichs
A Drop of Corruption - Robert Jackson Bennett
TV Star Trek
TV Red Dwarf
The mines of urrrgh
FILM Passengers
Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast
Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
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Host Alice Fraser and author Patrick Lenton bring you episode 19 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
This week, we're looking at gender!
Episode 19
This week's news features The Wheel of Time getting cancelled, Lilo and Stitch doing surprisingly well at the box office, and a fantasy author caught using AI to write in her own style!
Hear what Alice and Patrick have been enjoying recently, which tropes they love or hate, then take a deep dive with them into early sci-fi and fantasy, and hear the things that they used to love but now make them feel a bit urrrgh.
Host books
Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion
Patrick Lenton - In Spite of You
News
TV The Wheel of Time
FILM Lilo and Stitch
What have you been into?
Scholomance Trilogy - Naomi Novik
Blood over Bright Haven - M.L. Wang
TV Andor
Trope on a rope
TV Charmed
Sub-genre deep dive: gender
The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie
The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
TV Rings of Power
TV Xena: Warrior Princess
Ethan of Athos - Lois McMaster Bujold
The Honorverse - David Weber
TV Deep Space Nine
Terry Pratchett Discworld series
Lady’s Knight - Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
The Bright Sword - Lev Grossman
The mines of urrrgh
Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson
Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast
Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate
Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Patrick Lenton.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Host Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan (The Mash Report, The Hauntening) bring you episode 18 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
This week, we're looking at experiments in form!
Episode 18
This week's news features the Highlander remake moving to Amazon, Sinners continuing to tear up the box office, and the sad introduction of AI-narrated audiobooks.
Hear what Alice and Tom have been enjoying recently, which tropes they love or hate, then take a deep dive with them into early sci-fi and fantasy, and hear the things that they used to love but now make them feel a bit urrrgh.
Host book
Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion
News
FILM Highlander remake
FILM Sinners
What have you been into?
FILM Sinners
The Blacktongue Thief - Christopher Buehlman
The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Trope on a rope
Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett
Sub-genre deep dive: experiments in form
The Book of Good Times - Hank Green
The Ship of Theseus - VM Straka
This Is How You Lose The Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
SCP-3008
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Subcutanean - Aaron Reed
PODCAST - The Last Post
PODCAST - Revolutions
WEBCOMIC - xkcd
WEBCOMIC - Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
PODCAST Beef and Dairy Network
PODCAST Welcome to Night Vale
Convince Me
The Rest of Us Just Live Here - Patrick Ness
Redshirts - John Scalzi
The mines of urrrgh
FILM Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom
FILM Wall-E
Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows
Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate
Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Host Alice Fraser and Eleanor Morton bring you episode 17 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
This week, we're looking at early sci fi and fantasy!
Episode 17
This week's news features the Apple TV+ series Foundation, a surprisingly sexual story about E.T. and how Margaret Attwood receiving an entertainment award may distract from similarities with current issues.
Hear what Alice and Eleanor have been enjoying recently, which tropes they love or hate, then take a deep dive with them into early sci-fi and fantasy, and hear the things that they used to love but now make them feel a bit urrrgh.
Host books
Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion
Eleanor Morton - Life Lessons From Historical Women
News
TV Foundation
FILM E.T.
What have you been into?
The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle
Dinotopia - James Gurney
The Daughters’ War - Christopher Buelman
The Edge Chronicles - Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
Sub-genre deep dive: early sci-fi and fantasy
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
The Last Man - Mary Shelley
FILM Elysium (diversion)
Around the World in 80 Days - Jules Verne
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea - Jules Verne
From the Earth to the Moon - Jules Verne
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen - Alan Garner
Gulliver’s Travels - Jonathan Swift
GAME: The Landlord’s Game
The Odyssey - Homer
One Thousand and One Nights / Arabian Nights
Le Morte d’Arthur - Sir Thomas Malory
Lud in the Mist - Hope Mirrlees
The Broken Sword - Poul Anderson
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
The mines of urrrgh
FILM Ghostbusters
Tintin
Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows
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Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Eleanor Morton.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Host Alice Fraser and fellow writer, podcaster and comedian Andrew Hunter Murray (QI, Private Eye, Austentatious) bring you episode 16 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for genre fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
This week, we're looking at heroes operating outside of the law in sci fi and fantasy!
Episode 16
In this week's news roundup of sci-fi and fantasy in the real world, there's an actual working bionic hand, actor Issa Rae says she could never fall in love with a chatbot, and there's also book news of an alien abduction Rom-Com!
Andrew has been enjoying the latest Star Wars series Andor and the Japanese epic kaiju film Godzilla Minus One, while Alice has been deep into reading Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen.
We, of course, bring you tropes galore! Hey, remember though, guys - humans are messy and you're going to love this back story about girls cross-dressing as boys to become attractive to other girls.
Alice's mines of urrgh this week is Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree, and they wonder should you edit on the fly while reading to your child and should books have newer editions without the discomfort?
Host books
Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion
Andrew Hunter Murray - A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering
News
Never Let Me Go / Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro
I Got Abducted By Aliens And Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-com - Kimberly Lemming
What have you been into?
Andor
Godzilla Minus One
Wake of Vultures - Lila Bowen
Sub-genre deep dive: heroes operating outside of the law
Firefly
The Expanse
Alien series
Sleeper Beach - Nick Harkaway
Sabriel - Garth Nix
Judge Dredd
Hot Fuzz
Peter Pan
Jungle Book
Taltos - Steven Brust
V For Vendetta - Alan Moore
The Watchmen - Alan Moore
Minority Report
Star Wars
Trope on a rope
The World's End
Independence Day
Men In Black
Mad Max: Fury Road
Rings of Power
The mines of urrrgh
The Magic Faraway Tree - Enid Blyton
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Andrew Hunter Murray.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosts Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner bring you episode 15 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for genre fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
This week, we're looking at actual parenting in sci fi and fantasy!
Episode 15
In this week's sci fi and fantasy news, the new trailer for Predator: Badlands is pretty fantastic and horror movie Sinners starring Michael B. Jordan is doing huge things at the box office.
Chris had a really joyous time watching the stage production of Studio Ghibli's My Neighbour Totoro, and enjoyed bingeing the TV series Paradise. Alice has been laid on her back reading A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett and The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso.
Chris isn't keen on the trope of the thick cockney-sounding low level bad guys, and Alice notes the trope of kids being aged up and dropped back into the plot later on, or even people having previously undeclared secret children!
Alice's mines of urrgh this week is the comic book Phantom which she enjoyed as a child, but has not dated well unless you're particularly keen on white saviour complex.
For all of the books mentioned in the sub genre deep dive this week, please see the lists below!
Alice's book
Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion
Chris' podcast
News
FILM Predator: Badlands
FILM: Sinners
What have you been into?
THEATRE (/FILM) My Neighbour Totoro
A Drop of Corruption - Robert Jackson Bennett
The Last Hour Between Worlds - Melissa Caruso
TV Paradise
Sub-genre deep dive: parenting
TV Raised by Wolves
MANGA Lone Wolf and Cub - writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima
TV Sweet Tooth
Heir to Sevenwaters - Juliet Marillier
GRAPHIC NOVEL Saga
FILM Beasts of the Southern Wild
GAME God of War
Tehanu - Ursula Le Guin
Broken Earth trilogy - N K Jemisin
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Thud - Terry Pratchett
The mines of urrrgh
COMIC - Phantom
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
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Host Alice Fraser and James Colley bring you episode 14 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for genre fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
It's a mushroom / plant life / flora core / sentient forest special!
Episode 14
In this week's sci fi and fantasy/real world crossover news, is there life on distant planet K2-18B, and are dire wolves making a comeback?
James has been enjoying The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie and Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges, while Alice has been dipping a toe into Mushroom Blues by Adrian M. Gibson.
In this week's Trope on a Rope section, the forced 'here's six months earlier' flashbacks are annoying James and Alice really wishes that people would just wear appropriate headwear in the desert.
Kurt Vonnegut's use of misogyny tarnishes James' otherwise love of the author, along with fatness being used as shorthand for evil of some sort.
For all of the books mentioned in the sub genre deep dive this week, please see the lists below!
Hosts' books
Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion
James Colley - The Next Big Thing
What have you been into?
The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie
Labyrinths - Jorge Luis Borges
Mushroom Blues - Adrian M. Gibson
Sub-genre deep dive: plant life / flora core
The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
War of the Worlds - HG Wells
FILM Little Shop of Horrors
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
TV Farscape
‘Amnesty’ from Bloodchild and Other Stories - Octavia Butler
TV/GAME The Last of Us
The Tainted Cup - Robert Jackson Bennett
TV Seeds of Doom - Dr Who episode
Blue Moon Rising - Simon R Green
GAME Botanica
GAME Strange Horticulture
GAME Caves of Qud
GAME Hollow Knight
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and James Colley.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Host Alice Fraser, and Tom Neenan bring you episode 13 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for genre fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
Please take our listener survey so we can do even better: http://bit.ly/realmsunknown-survey
Episode 13
In this week's news, Alice makes international front pages after she decides not to take a trip the US, Nanowrimo is cancelled (the organisation, not the event) and we may soon see more quality sci-fi from China.
Tom has recently been enjoying the start of season two of The Last of Us, while Alice has been distracting herself from real-life dystopian futures by dipping back into the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik.
Tom's trope on a rope for this week is the oil pit fire scene, used way too often, while Alice's is the antisocial heroine.
In Mines of Urgh, Tom is looking for positive representations of limb difference, given that it's commonly used as a signifier for evil.
And listener Jen convinces Tom so convincingly to read The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness, that he orders the book during the podcast record!
For all of the books mentioned in the romance in sci -fi sub genre deep dive this week, please see the lists below!
What have you been into?
TV - The Last of Us
Temeraire series - Naomi Novik
Convince Me
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
Sub-genre deep dive: admin/bureaucracy
TV Star Trek
The Craft Sequence - Max Gladstone
FILM Terry Gilliam - Brazil
Vorkosigan Saga series - Lois McMaster Bujold
FILM Alien Romulus
TV Dr Who episodes The Sunmakers / Paradise Towers
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
GAME Papers Please
GAME Return of the Obra Dinn
FILM Shin Godzilla
Tyrant Philosophers series - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Landover series - Terry Brooks
The Traitor Baru Cormorant series - Seth Dickinson
Dagger and Coin series - Daniel Abraham
Terry Pratchett
FILM Amazing Grace
Mines of Urgh
Star Wars
Good Omens
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Host Alice Fraser, and romance critic Jen Prokop from the Fated Mates podcast (space episode), bring you episode 12 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for genre fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
Please take our listener survey so we can do even better: http://bit.ly/realmsunknown-survey
Episode 12
In this week's news, rumours abound that Meryl Streep could be cast as Aslan in Greta Gerwig's forthcoming Narnia films, and Alice and Jen discuss Simon & Schuster's rebrand and 'Simon Maverick' audiobook imprint.
Jen has recently been enjoying mafia romance such as The Kings of Italy series by Mila Finelli and the Perfectly Imperfect series by Neva Altaj.
Alice's trope on a rope for this week is people being granted immortality and being pissed about it, while Jen takes issue with fake dating.
In Mines of Urgh, Alice has a problem with her beloved The Dragonriders of Pern and then Jen sees how the heteronormative style of books of a past era, such as Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward show us how far gender and sex have come in recent years.
For all of the books mentioned in the romance in sci -fi sub genre deep dive this week, please see the lists below!
What have you been into?
The Kings of Italy series - Mila Finelli
Perfectly Imperfect series - Neva Altaj
These Summer Storms - Sarah MacLean
Romance in sci-fi
Shards of Honor / Barrayar / A Civil Campaign - Lois McMaster Bujold
Fiasco - Constance Fay (read Jen's article here)
Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir
The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
This is How You Lose the Time War - Max Gladstone
The Space Between Worlds - Micaiah Johnson
Winter’s Orbit - Everina Maxwell
Ringworld - Larry Niven
Sex Criminals - Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
The Kushiel’s series - Jacqueline Carey
Aurora Blazing - Jessie Mihalik
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Jen Prokop.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosts Alice Fraser and James Colley bring you episode 11 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for genre fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
Episode 11
In this week's news, Edgar Wright has finished filming his remake of The Running Man, while set images from The Odyssey, starring Zendaya and Tom Holland have been released.
James has been enjoying The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, Alice has been reading The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone, and they both loved Hyperion by Dan Simmons.
In this week's Trope on a Rope section, James wonders if anyone has seen the 'Filbert report on Liberia'? and Alice notices all of the noir detectives getting the shit beaten out of them.
The 'Convince Me' section sees listener Joyce Ketterer give the big pitch to the Tiffany Aching series of books by Terry Pratchett.
And take a plunge in the deep dive sub-genre submarine, as James and Alice rattle off all manner of evil corporations in the worlds of film, games and books.
News
FILMS
The Running Man
The Odyssey
What have you been into of late?
BOOKS
Ministry of Time - Kaliane Bradley
Max Gladstone - The Craft Sequence
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Convince Me
Terry Pratchett - Tiffany Aching series
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions - Edwin Abbott Abbott
Sub genre submarine - Evil corporations
TV
Futurama
FILM
The Fifth Element
Tank Girl
Alien
Judge Dredd
BOOKS
Thursday Next series - Jasper Fforde
Murderbot series - Martha Wells
GAMES
Portal
Fallout
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and James Colley.
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Hosts Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan bring you episode 10 of Realms Unknown with all the latest genre fiction based news and recommendations.
Episode 10
In this week's news, we look at the cinema release of Snow White, Wheel of Time on Amazon, and The Electric State on Netflix - starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt.
Hear why Tom is enjoying re-reading Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, what he thought of the film Opus, and what drew Alice to reading The Unorthodox Chronicles by James J Butcher.
In this week's Trope on a Rope section you can hear the various examples of a 'special little boy' and why Tom has issue with it, and Alice discusses the trope of being able to sense someone walking into a busy room.
Take a plunge in the deep dive sub-genre submarine, as Tom and Alice totally recall the various memory modification based books, films, TV shows and games.
And Tom opens up an interesting conversation about the representation of little people on screen.
News
FILMS
Snow White - cinemas
The Electric State - Netflix
TV
Wheel of Time - Amazon
What have you been into of late?
BOOKS
Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro
The Unorthodox Chronicles - James J Butcher
FILM
Opus
Trope on a rope
TV Daredevil - Disney+
Sub genre submarine - Memory modification
FILMS
Bourne Identity
Total Recall
The Prestige
Companion
TV
Dollhouse
Severance
Altered Carbon
The Shining Girls - Apple TV
Dr Who episode Mawdryn Undead
BOOKS
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale - Philip K Dick
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie
Reasons to be Cheerful - Greg Egan
The Shining Girls - Lauren Beukes
Memory - Lois McMaster Bujold
GAME Soma
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
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Hosts Alice Fraser and Henry Fraser bring you episode 9 of Realms Unknown with all the latest genre fiction based news and recommendations.
Episode 9
In this week's news, Terry Brooks is to retire from writing the Shannara series books, with Delilah S. Dawson taking over as the new author, Sarah J. Maas’ publisher launches new sci fi and fantasy imprint, Bloomsbury Archer, and Naruto has become the most watched anime on Netflix.
Henry has been enjoying Miles Cameron, with the Cold Iron trilogy and Artefact Space duology coming highly recommended. But the real big recommendation this week - from both Henry and Alice - is for everyone to marvel at the incredible archery skills of Lars Anderson on YouTube.
Post-apocalypse (specifically post-technological and post-AI-collapse) fiction books are the focus of the sub-genre submarine deep dive - with a whole library full of examples and recommendations to explore - see the affiliate store. There are also games such as Horizon Zero Dawn and story-based fitness apps like Zombies Run and The Walk to explore.
We also have Trope on a Rope, with Henry questioning the 'blood brothers' hand cuts, and Alice's trope gripe is female protagonists supposedly not reading the really quite obvious signs from their admirers.
TV
Shannara Chronicles
Naruto
Blue Eye Samurai
YOUTUBE
Lars Anderson: A new level of archery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEG-ly9tQGk&
GAMES
Horizon Zero Dawn
Zombies Run - story based running app
The Walk - story based fitness app
BOOKS
WHAT ARE YOU INTO OF LATE?
Miles Cameron - Cold Iron trilogy (Masters and Mages)
Miles Cameron - Artefact Space duology
POST-APOCALYPSE/POST-TECHNOLOGICAL/POST-AI-COLLAPSE
Dune - Frank Herbert
Shattered Sea trilogy - Joe Abercrombie
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M Miller Jr
Sun Eater series - Christopher Ruocchio
Anathem - Neal Stephenson
Elder Race - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Bee Speaker - Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Hungry Gods - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Cold Fire trilogy - CS Friedman
CONVINCE ME
Sum: Tales from the Afterlife by David Eagleman (sent in by Thomas Craven)
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Henry Fraser.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
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Hosts Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan bring you episode 8 of Realms Unknown with all the latest genre fiction based news and recommendations.
Episode 8
In this week's news, as Paapa Essiedu has been cast as Snape in the new TV adaptation of Harry Potter, Alice and Tom discuss the racial considerations of the casting and how this might play out within the characterisation. Also, Bong Joon-ho's new film Mickey 17 starring Robert Pattinson intrigues them both, as does it being a Warner Bros production.
Metaphysical libraries are the focus of the sub-genre deep dive this week - with a whole library full of examples and recommendations to explore - see the affiliate store.
We also have Trope on a Rope, with certain commonly-used phrases the source of ire this week. And find out which significant public figure popping up in Iron Man 2, Star Trek Discovery, The Simpsons and Rick and Morty makes Tom uneasy.
FILMS
Mickey 17
Timestalker
TV
Harry Potter (HBO)
Dr Who - Silence in the Library + Forest of the Dead episodes
GAMES
The Last of Us Part II
BOOKS
The Library of Babel - Jorge Luis Borges
Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett
The Library at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins
Thursday Next series - Jasper Fforde
The Book that Wouldn’t Burn - Mark Lawrence
Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend
Golden Enclaves - Naomi Novik
Service Model - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
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Produced by Chris Skinner, Ped Hunter and Laura Turner. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
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Hosts Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner bring you the second of two child-friendly World Book Day (UK) episodes of Realms Unknown this week, with today's focusing on children's fantasy and science fiction books for ages 12-17 years old. Part 1, which looked at books for 0-12 years old, is available in your podcast feed and on YouTube.
Before diving into the many great books in this episode, Chris and Alice recommend some music with a sci-fi/fantasy twist, with Janelle Monáe's 2010 album The ArchAndroid being enjoyed at the family dinner table for Chris, and Alice enjoying the storytelling of LayLow's TRINITY album, released in 2020.
In this episode’s Trope on a Rope, Alice brings the use of parental neglect to the table, preferring the loving and engaged parenting in books like The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik, while Chris bemoans beings magically being able to just learn a language at a speed unfamiliar to a Duolingo user like himself.
Chris and Alice then enthuse over a number of fantasy and sci-fi books that shaped them as teenagers, which you can find listed below and can buy in our Bookshop affiliate store, which supports your local bookshops.
Age 12-17 books
Loving and engaged parents
The Golden Enclaves - Naomi Novik
Sibling adventures
Magic Faraway Tree - Enid Blyton
The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
Narnia series - CS Lewis
Gillian Rubinstein - Space Demons
The Storm Keeper’s Island - Catherine Doyle
Why teenagers should read fantasy
Phillip Pullman - His Dark Materials
Phillip Pullman - The Ruby in the Smoke
Phillip Pullman - The Book of Dust
Sabriel series - Garth Nix
Lioness series - Tamora Pierce
Terry Pratchett - Mort
Terry Pratchett - Eric
Galax-Arena - Gillian Rubinstein
Short stories
Dangerous Women - George R R Martin & Gardner Dozois
More to explore
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Dune - Frank Herbert
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Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
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Hosts Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner bring you two child-friendly World Book Day (UK) episodes of Realms Unknown this week, focusing on children's books from 0-10 years old.
The second episode, looking at books for older children, will be out on Thursday 6 March!
In the regular news section, they touch on Doctor Who and Pokémon Go while detouring down memory lane, recalling He-Man, Thundercats and The Trap Door.
Chris is pleasantly surprised to be enjoying the Amazon series The Rings of Power, having not taken to The Hobbit off-shoots of Lord of the Rings. While Alice is enjoying the gentle calm of toddler books such as Kuma-Kuma Chan by Kazue Takahashi and Grug by Ted Prior.
In this episode’s Trope on a Rope, Alice wonders where tropes of boys being ballerinas, or girls wanting to play soccer are still relevant in a more inclusive age.
Chris and Alice recommend a number of books they've enjoyed both as children and as parents, which you can find listed below and can buy in our Bookshop affiliate store. Bookshop supports the local and independent book stores in your area.
Age 0-5 books
The Tiger Who Came To Tea - Judith Kerr
Not Now Bernard - David McKee
I Want My Hat Back - Jon Klassen
The Gruffalo, Zog, The Smeds and the Smoos - Julia Donaldson
Cautionary Tales for Children - Hilaire Belloc
Meg and Mog - Helen Nicholl and Jan Pienkowski
Age 5-8 books
Isadora Moon and Mirabelle series - Harriet Muncaster
Age 8-10 books
The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
The 13 Clocks - James Thurber
The Stormkeeper’s Island - Catherine Doyle
Also, don’t miss our recommendations for what to do, watch, or read this week. Tune in for a packed episode full of insightful discussions, book and TV recommendations, and much more!
🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment with your thoughts or recommendations! We’d love to hear from you!
Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In Episode 5 of Realms Unknown, hosts Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan leap into the latest news in pop culture and fantasy! Hear what's coming up from Guy Gavriel Kay, Jim Butcher, Game of Thrones, Mila Jovovich, and ACOTAR.
They take a deep dive into this week's sub-genre of steampunk, making recommendations from film, books and games such as Mortal Engines, Cinder Spires, Bioshock Infinite, Howl's Moving Castle, and more.
In this episode’s Trope on a Rope, Tom explains the much-used prop of an epic city final battle featuring a column of light or energy, while Alice is baffled by sexy fights in films.
Also, don’t miss our recommendations for what to do, watch, or read this week. Tune in for a packed episode full of insightful discussions, book and TV recommendations, and much more! Buy the books we cover in this episode in our affiliate store.
🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment with your thoughts or recommendations! We’d love to hear from you!
Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan.
📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com
🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
