Hardcover Hooligans
Two comedians read popular fantasy, sci-fi, and horror books.
About the show
There’s a lot of books out there. Good books. Bad books. Really bad books. Some books you might read some day, and some books you just want to know what all the fuss is about.
Join comedians Danylo Loutchko and J. McIntyre Godwin as they read, review, critique, and joke about popular fantasy, sci-fi, and horror books, every two weeks.
And yes, if you listen to us talk about a book, it counts as reading it and you can put it on your Goodreads.
Episodes
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Werewolf Island (The Silmarillion - Part 2/3)
April 8th, 2024 | 1 hr 19 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien, tolkienfans
The tragic saga of the Silmarils continues with a talking dog, Sauron doing a Battle of the Bands, and the coolest heist ever.
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2 Dune 2 Furious (Dune Part 2 Movie vs. Book)
March 25th, 2024 | 1 hr 5 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, geek, review, sci-fi
Danylo and Mc have a timely discussion on a movie that came out like a month ago. They discuss the differences between Frank Herbert’s novel Dune (1965), and the recent film Dune Part 2 (2024) by Denis Villeneuve, starring Timothée Chalamet and a very bald and very white Austin Butler. Does Space Elvis love knife fights? Yes, yes he does.
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Angels Doing Karaoke (The Silmarillion - Part 1/3)
March 11th, 2024 | 1 hr 10 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien
If you thought fantasy couldn’t get nerdier than the appendices of Lord of the Rings, let us introduce you to The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien, the "prequel" to Lord of the Rings. It is very cool. And beautiful. And also boring sometimes. Is it for everyone? No. Is it for anyone? Well…
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Real Nerd Sh*t (The Lord of the Rings - Appendices)
February 26th, 2024 | 1 hr 7 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien
That’s right, the appendices of The Lord of the Rings have so much frickin’ nerd stuff we need a whole separate episode.
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An Infamous Scouring (The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - Part 2/2)
February 12th, 2024 | 1 hr 35 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien
Danylo and Mc read and discuss the finale of Lord of the Rings. There's like twelve different endings, including Sharkey and the infamous Scouring of the Shire.
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Doomscrolling On a Palantir (The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - Part 1/2)
January 29th, 2024 | 1 hr 40 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien
Mc and Danylo read Book 5 (a.k.a. the first half) of The Return of the King. Battles with orcs, battles with pirates, and battles with despair!
Plus, Mc shares an internet book culture pet peeve. -
New Evil City (The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers - Part 2/2)
January 15th, 2024 | 1 hr 15 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien
Our heroes get ever closer to Mordor, where it’s dangerous to look at the evil stuff for too long. Danylo definitely thought this part was going to be boring (it was not), and Mc gets confused about the layout of a cave. But in all sincerity, the main take is that these books definitely don’t get enough credit for their subtlety, nuance, and literary merit. It’s just good.
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It’s an Entmoot, Baby (The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers - Part 1/2)
January 1st, 2024 | 1 hr 9 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien
Danylo and Mc chug some ent-draughts and discuss the first half of The Two Towers. Dwarves love running actually, Wormtongue is the alt-right pipeline, and waving around a sword cures depression. We also meet the second and final woman in these books! Wow!
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The Crypto Mines of Moria (The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring - Part 2/2)
December 18th, 2023 | 1 hr 30 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien
Danylo and Mc read the second half of The Fellowship of the Ring, during which they try to answer the question “what if Frodo was wearing armor made of Bitcoin?”
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Hiking With Haunted Jewelry (The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring - Part 1/2)
December 4th, 2023 | 1 hr 27 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien
Danylo and Mc throw a long-expected party by reading the first book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (we know it’s not technically a trilogy, it’s one whole story, but who cares). Danylo constantly compares the book to the movies (sorry), and Mc revisits one of his favorite books. They both have a crush on Aragorn.
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How To Rob People With Riddles (The Hobbit)
November 20th, 2023 | 1 hr 28 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien
Mc and Danylo read a classic in the fantasy genre, which is also a classic in the “cheating at riddle games to get over-powered jewelry” genre.
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The Sequel Is Better…Kinda (Dune Messiah)
November 6th, 2023 | 1 hr 5 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, geek, review, sci-fi
After the baffling conclusion of Dune, Danylo and Mc read the sequel, Dune Messiah. We get the satisfying conclusion of the epic story of Paul Muad’Dib Atreides, as well as a bunch of weird 1960s sci-fi pervert stuff.
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It Hasn't Aged...Horribly (Dune - Part 2/2)
October 23rd, 2023 | 1 hr 15 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, geek, review, sci-fi
The sweeping, epic adventure story of Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides just suddenly kinda…ends. And he wins. And beats everyone. And becomes emperor. Okay.
Danylo and Mc talk about Dune’s legacy, lasting impact, and how Frank Herbert doesn’t know what women talk about when there are no men around. -
Into the Dune-iverse (Dune - Part 1/2)
October 9th, 2023 | 1 hr 19 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, geek, review, sci-fi
Kwisatz Haderach. Bene Gesserit. Fremen. Melange. Muad’Dib. The C.H.O.A.M. Company.
What do these goofy words even mean? Find out on this week’s episode.
Hint: they’re all things in the novel Dune, by Frank Herbert. -
Oppenheimer Invents the Internet (The Dispossessed - Part 2/2)
September 25th, 2023 | 1 hr 14 mins
book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, geek, review, sci-fi
We return to the twin moons of Urras and Anarres to see if capitalism and ownership have poisoned our interpersonal and societal relationships (spoiler alert: yes).
But there’s still kind of a happy ending??? Based. 10/10.
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Owning Things Is Fake (The Dispossessed - Part 1/2)
September 11th, 2023 | 1 hr 20 mins
book, comedy, criticism, discussion, geek, review, sci-fi
If you want to have constant thoughts about the horrors of our capitalist and governmental systems, then this book is for you. And if you already do that, well…here’s more of that.
Danylo and Mc read Ursula K. Le Guin’s classic sci-fi book, The Dispossessed, and have to resist the urge to tell everyone they know that money, laws, and owning things is fake actually.