Hardcover Hooligans

Is Fantasy Worldbuilding...Evil? (Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius)

September 19th, 2025  |  41 mins 16 secs

book, book podcast, books, bookstagram, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, horror, review, scifi

After an unintentional summer hiatus, we’re back with the third and final installment of our short series on Borges short stories. And oh no! It turns out a billionaire creating a fantasy planet with his friends can destroy the world.

One Long Book Joke (Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote)

June 2nd, 2025  |  51 mins 43 secs

book, book podcast, books, bookstagram, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, horror, review, scifi

If we claimed we wrote a Borges story and read it in its entirety at the end of our podcast, that would make the story infinitely richer.

The Nightmare of Infinite Books (The Library of Babel)

April 30th, 2025  |  48 mins 30 secs

book, book podcast, books, bookstagram, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, horror, review, scifi

An infinite library implies the existence of infinite Mr. Beast video transcripts.

High School Prank GONE WRONG (Carrie)

April 14th, 2025  |  1 hr 13 mins

book, book podcast, books, bookstagram, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, horror, review, scifi

The moral of this story is to not bully the girl with latent psychic abilities.

Everything Is a Video Game (Dungeon Crawler Carl)

April 1st, 2025  |  59 mins 24 secs

book, book podcast, books, bookstagram, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, scifi

I guess books are just video games now.

Is Being Blue a Superpower? (Watchmen)

March 17th, 2025  |  1 hr 14 mins

book, book podcast, books, bookstagram, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, scifi

That’s right, we read comic books now! Just kidding, it’s called a "graphic novel". And this one’s about a bunch of superheroes who aren’t really that super and one blue guy who is TOO super. Get ready for morally grey characters, questionable motives, and a weird spooky pirate story.

Boredom Spren (The Way of Kings - Part 2)

March 3rd, 2025  |  1 hr 17 mins

book, book podcast, books, bookstagram, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review

We finish The Way of Kings and are left with boredomspren floating around our computers. Plus, we read some one-star Goodreads reviews of The Way of Kings and do a quick overview of the other Stormlight Archive books.

When Authors Play Too Many Video Games (The Way of Kings - Part 1)

February 17th, 2025  |  1 hr 34 mins

book, book podcast, books, bookstagram, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review

We embark on The Way Of Kings, the first book in Brandon Sanderson’s magnum opus series, The Stormlight Archive.

This book dares to explore such important questions as “what if someone who was good at fighting also had depression?” and “what if big swords but no blood?”

Fitz’s Frustrating Finale (Assassin’s Quest - Part 3)

February 3rd, 2025  |  49 mins

book, book podcast, books, bookstagram, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review

Fitz’s story finds a poetic, complex, and bittersweet ending, but all we can talk about are Prince Verity’s cool silver arms. Which begs the question: did Robin Hobb want Prince Verity to eventually become this world’s Silver Surfer?

A Sad Life But At Least You’re Hot (Assassin’s Quest - Part 2)

January 21st, 2025  |  45 mins 45 secs

book, book podcast, books, bookstagram, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review

Are chronic pain, sadness, social isolation, and the unbearable burden of duty worth it if it means you get abs?