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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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.
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Mistborn Is a Christian Allegory (Mistborn - The Hero of Ages - Part 2/2)
August 28th, 2023 | 1 hr 51 mins
book, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review
Danylo and Mc finally finish the Mistborn Trilogy and crawl out from under the debris of the Sanderlanche™. They give their thoughts on the book and the trilogy as a whole and, oh boy, do they have a lot of thoughts.
They also “read” the novella Mistborn: A Secret History as a special “treat”.
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Rearranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic (Mistborn - The Hero of Ages - Part 1/2)
August 14th, 2023 | 1 hr 44 mins
Danylo and Mc are almost at the end of a fantasy trilogy and still nothing important is happening. Your Favorite Mistborn Characters™ do nothing but walk from place to place, gather information, and sit around. Isn’t the world supposed to be ending?
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Punching Even More Dogs (Mistborn - The Well of Ascension - Part 2/2)
July 31st, 2023 | 1 hr 56 mins
book, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review
Danylo and Mc lose their minds a little bit in this episode. They vent about how insane Brandon Sanderson’s writing choices are, and how his Mormonism seems to seep into every aspect of his writing.
We’re sorry it’s so long. We hope it makes sense. -
Punching the Dog (Mistborn - The Well of Ascension - Part 1/2)
July 17th, 2023 | 1 hr 55 mins
book, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review
Mc and Danylo start the second book in the Mistborn Trilogy. They finally feel like they’re reading a real book, except for the part when our hero inexplicably punches a dog in the head. And then it starts unraveling from there…
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This Book is Like Waiting for a Train to Arrive (Mistborn - The Final Empire - Part 3/3)
July 3rd, 2023 | 1 hr 29 mins
book, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review
Danylo and Mc finish their read-through of Mistborn. They discuss its flaws, its weirdness, and what, if anything, this book is actually about. Hint: it’s not just cool metal magic.