Wizards vs Lesbians

A podcast about books where lesbians fight wizards.

[wizardsvslesbians]

Podcast Episodes

Here are all our episodes so far, in one convenient place! 

Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir

The Unspoken Name - A.K. Larkwood

Ninefox Gambit - Yoon Ha Lee

The Traitor Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson

A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine

Harrow the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir

Gossamer Axe - Gael Baudino

Empress of Forever - Max Gladstone

Green - Jay Lake

Divine Endurance - Gwyneth Jones

The City In The Middle Of The Night - Charlie Jane Anders

Unconquerable Sun - Kate Elliott

A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine

Fire Logic - Laurie J. Marks

The Unbroken - C.L. Clark

The Space Between Worlds - Micaiah Johnson

The Fortunate Fall - Cameron Reed

Bonus episode: The Steerswoman series (with special guest P. H. Lee) - Rosemary Kirstein

The Jasmine Throne - Tasha Suri

She Who Became the Sun - Shelley Parker-Chan

Bearly a Lady - Cassandra Khaw

Foundryside - Robert Jackson Bennett

Black Water Sister - Zen Cho

The Raven And The Reindeer - T. Kingfisher

The Dyke And The Dybbuk - Ellen Galford

Shoujo Kakumei Utena (plus Isaac’s Utena Liveblog)

Bonus episode: Homestuck (with special guest P.H. Lee)

Girl Serpent Thorn - Melissa Bashardoust

Bonus episode: The First Annual Wizzly Awards (with special guest P.H. Lee)

Girls of Paper and Fire - Natasha Ngan

Light from Uncommon Stars - Ryka Aoki

Short Fiction Roundup #1: ( “How to Swallow the Moon,” “Florilegia; or, Some Lies About Flowers,” "The Demon-Sage's Daughter")

The Midnight Lie - Marie Rutkoski

This Is How You Lose The Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon

Provenance - Ann Leckie

The Thousand Eyes - A.K. Larkwood

A Master of Djinn - P. Djeli Clark

Trouble And Her Friends - Melissa Scott

Battle of the Linguist Mages - Scotto Moore

Among Thieves - M.J. Kuhn

Catfishing on Catnet - Naomi Kritzer

AMATKA - Karin Tidbeck

Bonus episode: 2022 Hugo Awards (featuring Leora Spitzer)

Last Exit - Max Gladstone

Bonus episode: The Sandman (featuring Kiana Stewart)

Fireheart Tiger (Aliette de Bodard) and Tiger Came Down The Mountain (Nghi Vo)

Spear - Nicola Griffith

Uncommon Charm - Emily Bergslien and Kat Weaver

The Saga of the Renunciates - a Death of the Author Special - Marion Zimmer Bradley

Siren Queen - Nghi Vo

Short Fiction Roundup #2 - Our Souls To The Moon by Tamara Jeree, Onward by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, and A Series of Steaks by Vina Jie-Min Prasad

The Dawnhounds - Sascha Stronack

Slow River - Nicola Griffith

Revolutionary Girl Utena: Adolescence Apocalypse

Nona the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir

The Wicked and the Willing - Lianyu Tan

Bonus episode: The Second Annual Wizzly Awards (feat. P.H. Lee, Kiana Stewart and Leora Spitzer)

The Book Eaters - Sunyi Dean

Tamsyn Muir Short Fiction Roundup (The Magician’s Apprentice, The Deepwater Bride, Lalonde’s Inferno)

Payback’s a Witch - Lana Harper

Sappho’s Bar and Grill - Bonnie J. Morris

Unwieldy Creatures - Addie Tsai

Tomoe Gozen - Jessica Amanda Salmonson

BONUS: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Chaos on Catnet - Naomi Kritzer

The Outside - Ada Hoffman

Even Though I Knew the End - C.L. Polk

The Fallen & The Infinite - Ada Hoffman

Short Fiction Roundup #4 - “The Terracotta Bride” by Zen Cho, “Lay My Stomach On Your Scales,” by Wen-yi Lee, and “Margo Lai’s Guide to Dueling Unprepared,” by Alison Tam

The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry - C.M. Waggoner

BONUS: The Night-Bird’s Feather - Jenna Moran

A Restless Truth - Freya Marske

High Times in the Low Parliament - Kelly Robson

Some Desperate Glory - Emily Tesh

The Breath Of The Sun - Isaac Fellman

BONUS: The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle

The Mimicking Of Known Successes - Malka Older

The Babylon Eye - Masha du Toit

Mortal Follies - Alexis Hall

We Know the Devil

He Who Drowned The World - Shelley Parker-Chan

The Water Outlaws - S.L. Huang

STAKES

BONUS: Q & A Episode 1

I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself - Marisa Crane

BONUS: Translation State - Ann Leckie

Valhalla - Ari Bach

BONUS: Relationship Advice, Hugos

The Valkyrie - Kate Heartfield

BONUS: Travel Light - Naomi Mitchison

BONUS AGAIN: The Third Annual Wizzly Awards

The Witch’s Heart - Genevieve Gornichec

Santa Olivia + Saints Astray - Jacqueline Carey

These Burning Stars - Bethany Jacobs

The Saint of Bright Doors - Vajra Chandrasekera

Ex-Wives of Dracula - Georgette Kaplan

BONUS: Q & A 3

Planetfall - Emma Newman

BONUS: Foreigner - C.J. Cherryh (featuring Ann Leckie)

Camp Damascus - Chuck Tingle

Night in the Woods

All Good Children - Dayna Ingram

The Book of Love - Kelly Link

Carmilla (Carmen’s Version) - Sheridan Le Fanu, ed. Carmen Maria Machado

The Spear Cuts Through Water - Simon Jiminez

Someone You Can Build A Nest In - John Wiswell

BONUS: Disco Elysium

Those Beyond the Wall - Micaiah Johnson

Short Fiction Roundup #5 - Miss Bulletproof Comes Out of Retirement: https://podcastle.org/2022/03/08/podcastle-725-miss-bulletproof-comes-out-of-retirement/ (or https://giganotosaurus.org/2020/08/01/miss-bulletproof-comes-out-of-retirement/) Selkie Stories are for Losers: http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/selkie-stories-are-for-losers/ Nuca: http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/nuca/

Spirits Abroad (Just The Gay Parts) - Zen Cho

BONUS: The Scholomance Trilogy (with Jenna Moran) - Naomi Novak

Daughter of Mystery - Heather Rose Jones

Daughters of Chaos - Jen Fawkes

Daughters of the Coral Dawn - Katherine V. Forrest

BONUS: Pale Fire (with Kat Weaver) - Vladimir Nabokov

Ammonite - Nicola Griffith

BONUS: Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (with Naked Bee) - Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

The Seep - Chana Porter

KILL LA KILL

BONUS: Q & A 4 (100 EPISODES!)

The Scorpion Rules - Erin Bow

BONUS: The Summer Prince (with P.H. Lee) - Alaya Dawn Johnson

The Lyremouth Chronicles - Jane Fletcher

BONUS: The Ministry of Time (with Vajra Chandrasekera) - Kaliane Bradley

An Education In Malice - S.T. Gibson

A Dark and Drowning Tide - Allison Saft

BONUS: The 4th Annual Wizzly Awards

The Golem of Brooklyn - Adam Mansbach

BONUS: Stars In My Pocket Like Grains Of Sand (with Cameron Reed) - Samuel Delaney

MOBY-DICK - Herman Melville

BONUS: The Expedition: A Love Story (with Isaac Fellman) - Bea Uusma

Feast While You Can - Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta

BONUS: Shell Game (with Lianyu Tan) - Benny Lawrence

Zeta Base - Judith Alguire

Short Fiction Roundup #6 - 2024 Nebulas Edition - 1. The V*mpire by P.H. Lee 2. Katya Vasilevna and the Second Drowning of Baba Rechka by Christine Hanolsy 3. The Witch Trap by Jennifer Hudak 4. Joanna’s Bodies by Eugenia Triantafyllou

BONUS: Fangirl (with Masha du Toit) - Rainbow Rowell

Asunder - Kerstin Hall

Lote - Shola von Reinhold

BONUS: Piranesi (with P.H. Lee) - Susanna Clarke

The Sapling Cage - Margaret Killjoy

A Sweet Sting of Salt - Rose Sutherland

BONUS: The Chatelaine (with Heather Rose Jones) - Kate Heartfield

The Manor of Dreams - Christina Li

BONUS: The Vows & Honor series (with Naked Bee) - Mercedes Lackey

The Incandescent - Emily Tesh

BONUS: The Commodore (Aubrey-Maturin #17) (with Isaac Fellman) - Patrick O’Brian

The Membranes - Chi Ta-wei

BONUS: Middlemarch (with Kat Weaver) - George Eliot

Short Fiction Roundup #7 - Closer Than Your Kidneys,  BRIDE / BUTCHER / DOE,  There’s a Door to the Land of the Dead in the Land of the Dead

BONUS: Karla’s Choice (with Arkady Martine) - Nick Harkaway

Aunt Tigress - Emily Yu-Xuan Qin

Metal From Heaven - August Clarke

Bunny - Mona Awad

The Starving Saints - Caitlin Starling

BONUS: The Ragpicker (with Kerstin Hall) - Joel Dane

But Not Too Bold & Radcliffe Hall - Miyuki Jane Pinckard and Hache Pueyo respectively

When They Burned the Butterfly - Wen-yi Lee

Direct Descendant - Tanya Huff

BONUS: Biting the Sun (with Rachel Swirsky) - Tanith Lee

Oniisama E

To The Resurrection Station - Eleanor Arnason

Volatile Memory - Seth Haddon

BONUS: Angelmaker (with Jake Casella Brookins) - Nick Harkaway

Short Fiction Roundup #8 - Another Girl Under the Iron Bell, Abstraction Is When I Design Giant Death Creatures And Attraction Is When I Do It For You, The Name Ziya

Jane, Unlimited - Kristin Cashore

Taiwan Travelogue - Yang Shuang-zi

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto

BONUS: Fifth Annual Wizzly Awards

The Memory Hunters  - Mia Tsai

BONUS: 5th Anniversary Q&A

The Secret Market of the Dead - Giovanni De Feo

BONUS: What We Are Seeking (with Louis Evans) - Cameron Reed

The Cinder House - Freya Marske

On a Sunbeam - Tillie Walden

Selections from The Singing Hills - The Empress of Salt and Fortune, The Brides of High Hill, and A Mouthful of Dust - Nghi Vo

The Child Garden - Geoff Ryman

Sawkill Girls - Claire Legrand (forthcoming)

Lolly Willowes; or The Loving Huntsman - Sylvia Townsend Warner (forthcoming)

BONUS: Orlando - Virginia Woolf (forthcoming)

Eat the Ones You Love - Sarah Maria Griffin (forthcoming)

Afterparty - Daryl Gregory (forthcoming)

Also: the Unofficial but Officially Endorsed Wizards vs Lesbians Drinking Game

[spiribia]

if wicked songwriter wrote a baru cormorant musical it'd be like "i'll show them who they can't debase. no, i'll hide my mask behind my face! the empire will seeeee -- that i'm their prodigy!". if hadestown songwriter wrote a baru cormorant musical i'd be like 'the noose that binds the traitor man / it makes sure he won't lie again! / but the NOOSE that binds the CORMORANT / it STRANGLES him with what he wants / and that, my brother, that's much worse". if falsettos songwriter wrote a baru cormorant musical it'd be like "My father's a homo."

[spiribia]

If Hamilton songwriter wrote a baru cormorant musical it would be like “I’m climbing the ranks, now this is the thanks / i GET! For setting and netting an economical BET! / That’s right, mess with the cormorant and you get the beak! / All the FISH have gone MISSing, that’s the word on the street! / Now a word to my rivals: you can see to the sea / But you’ll be sure to the shore / They’re crying BANKRUPTCY!” Or whatever.

[wizardsvslesbians]

hey love the podcast just one small request. can you put author names in the description? english is my 2nd language and I find it often hard to make out the names just from audio. Sometimes the book title is distinctive enough but often it isn't

Good idea, I'll do that for future episodes. Changing the descriptions for already published episodes en masse isn't practical, but I have added all the authors to our masterpost for reference purposes.

[wizardsvslesbians]

Wizards Vs. Lesbians: THE CHILD GARDEN

A debilitating novel - simultaneously enormous and petty, tragic and hilarious, insightful and insular. It wrecked us down the stretch but l

The Child Garden joins Lote in the pantheon of novels that have done us physical harm. It's a very good book about mental illness and childhood trauma, and as such you should be careful with it - it's also kind of about finding Jesus in space, and as such you may be baffled by it.

It's about a million other things, too - like being a theater queen in London during the AIDS crisis, and being really upset that someone won't return a book they borrowed - and that's before you get to what it's textually About, which is doomed love between a lesbian autist and a polar bear (who's also the greatest classical composer of her generation.)

[thisonelikesaliens]

Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang Zi, translated by Lin King, wins the International Booker Prize 2026.

[wizardsvslesbians]

Wizards Vs. Lesbians: STORIES FROM THE SINGING HILLS

We return to Nghi Vo's Singing Hills series and discuss the three next most wizlez-adjacent books in it (to date.) Covered in this episode:

The Singing Hills books are just straightforwardly good - they have the comforting aura of a classic detective serial, combined with the academic/historical nous you'd expect from a Steerswoman novel. How can a series that's mostly about disasters and atrocities feel so chill?

Covered in this episode: The Empress of Salt and Fortune, The Brides of High Hill, and A Mouthful of Dust.

[wizardsvslesbians]

Wizards Vs. Lesbians: ON A SUNBEAM

This week we're talking about a classic webcomic in both senses of the word, as it feels like it comes from a departed era of the internet d

On A Sunbeam was the consensus favorite webcomic in my circles around 2017. Looking back on it now, it feels very of its moment - maybe even of a Wizards vs Lesbians moment, despite what feels like a deliberate, even pointed lack of wizards.

OAS is still free to read online and is absolutely worth your time.

[eightopals]

News About C.J. Cherryh

She posted this on her Facebook Saturday evening, April 25, 2026:

"Dear readers and friends. The unhappy fact is---the numerous bouts of anaesthetic I've had have made it pretty well impossible for me to write. I drop stitches. Not many. No problems with daily life or doing creative stuff or enjoying life in general. But the ability to control narrative is just not what it was, and it's just not going to be there. I've accepted that, painful as it is. I thank all of you who've stood by me patiently. The body of work is what it is, and I am lastingly grateful to my publisher, Betsy Wollheim, who has given me every extension of time and resource. And of course to Jane, who is all things."

[Jane Fancher has been her companion and co-author for many years, and more recently her wife as well.]

Her stories have occupied my mind for decades now, ever since a university classmate introduced me to The Faded Sun series. Large parts of my heart are owned by Pyanfar Chanur and her clan and associates as well as by the Hellburner Four and their long-suffering program officer Jurgen Graff.

It's the end of an era.

[wizardsvslesbians]

Wizards Vs. Lesbians: THE CINDER HOUSE

It's a Cinderella retelling! But it's Freya Marsk, so it's better than it needs to be, and stranger.

Can I call this one a comfort read? Sure, it's a fairy tale retelling, but it's the good kind, and thus doesn't skimp on the trauma and pain. I'm going to say it is - even though the fairy tale ending seems unreachable from page one, you know you're going to get there, and quickly. The question is how it's going to happen, and the answer is kind of delightful.

[wizardsvslesbians]

Wizards Vs. Lesbians: BONUS: WHAT WE ARE SEEKING

Anthropological SF in the mold of Cherryh or Le Guin, updated for our era and its preoccupations - funny, surprising, and smart.  We ha

We dabble with relevance once again by reviewing a book that just came out! And what a book. We had a delightful time talking about Cameron Reed's re-debut, which feels simultaneously classic and contemporary, and is full of literal and metaphorical treats.

Our guest Louis Evans has a new story out! Equipped with two sandwiches, a couple sets out to the zoo to see the one totally sane human being.

[wizardsvslesbians]

I’m listening to the archives and Isaac often seems to describe metaphors or symbols as “overdetermined,” which seems to be a bad thing for them to be, in his opinion, and I don’t know what sense he’s using it in? I tried looking it up on the internet and most definitions I found suggested that it would be a neutral-to-positive thing in fiction, but “the first couple links the search engine turns up” aren’t exactly a definitive source. Can you clarify what that means?

I use it to refer to a symbol with too many referents. "Too many" is not the same as "multiple", here - of course a symbol can mean more than one thing - but when a story is really leaning on one interpretation, particularly when trying to impart a lesson, evoking other interpretations simultaneously can make things messy.

It occurs to me that this isn't a critique I use as often these days. The more books I read for this show, the more I value an interesting mess over a coherent bore.

[wizardsvslesbians]

I should add that my go to example of an overdetermined symbol is fusion in Steven Universe, which has way too many sexual and romantic connotations to also be something you do with your dad

[wizardsvslesbians]

what was the tumblr account you mentioned in your 5 year q&a episode as a good source for aroace-spec book reviews? I often have trouble parsing names aurally and can't figure out what I should be typing into tumblr!

Thanks for asking, that should have been a link/jingle/something and I missed it!

Alexis says:

Laya Rose

Art tumblr (including tons of wizlez books) is: https://layaart.tumblr.com/

Book review tumblr is: https://aroaessidhe.tumblr.com/

[wizardsvslesbians]

I’m listening to the archives and Isaac often seems to describe metaphors or symbols as “overdetermined,” which seems to be a bad thing for them to be, in his opinion, and I don’t know what sense he’s using it in? I tried looking it up on the internet and most definitions I found suggested that it would be a neutral-to-positive thing in fiction, but “the first couple links the search engine turns up” aren’t exactly a definitive source. Can you clarify what that means?

I use it to refer to a symbol with too many referents. "Too many" is not the same as "multiple", here - of course a symbol can mean more than one thing - but when a story is really leaning on one interpretation, particularly when trying to impart a lesson, evoking other interpretations simultaneously can make things messy.

It occurs to me that this isn't a critique I use as often these days. The more books I read for this show, the more I value an interesting mess over a coherent bore.

[wizardsvslesbians]

the jingle at the end of the 5 years anniversary episode made me cry. thank you both for sharing your opinions with us!! thank you for your work on the podcast and for all the wonderful episodes!!! 💖💖💖

Thank you!

[wizardsvslesbians]

Wizards Vs. Lesbians: THE SECRET MARKET OF THE DEAD

This is that good, chunky, deeply strange fairy tale stuff. You don't have to settle for Gaiman - you never did, honestly. Plus it's Italian

Despite the fact that our main characters is probably just aro/ace, this is extremely wizards vs lesbians - it's about the deals you need to make to be a girl who is a wizard, and whether the revolution is everything it's cracked up to be. And it's really good!

Late update due to me forgetting that last week's episode was a bonus until about ten minutes ago. Apologies!

[wizardsvslesbians]

Oh my paws and whiskers it's time for another recommendation masterpost!!

By the way - if you send in a rec, we seem enthusiastic, and then nothing happens? That doesn't necessarily mean we're not going to cover it! We have an episode on The Child Garden coming up, a book which someone recommended over a year go. The process can be arcane.

On with the stuff:

tormentedbyvisions asked: Have you heard of The Blacktongue Thief? Thieves’ Guild (evil wizards) vs lesbian knight trying to save the queen she’s in love with. The main character is a cishet dude, but he’s one of those main characters who is not really the central driver of the plot (he doesn’t really know what is going on). It’s a really incredible, funny, fast paced novel that I think fits the wizards vs lesbians bill perfectly

Hmm. Taken under advisement!

Anonymous asked: Since you're both Cherryh fans, have you considered covering her other big work that definitely influenced the subgenre, Cyteen? WizLez OGs Arkady Martine and Yoon Ha Lee both list it as one of their favorite novels and a big influence on their writing. And have written fic for it. Lacking in lesbians, but heavily features maybe the only(?) #canon Cherryh gays. Dares to ask questions like "What if the manipulative older woman was ALSO the wizard and ALSO yourself!?" Can confirm that the audiobook narration is excellent!

We would in fact consider doing Cyteen - we've both read it. Might be one of those things where we'd need to find the right guest.

seiya234 asked: I've got a ton of book recs for y'all from my latest batch of library books- though my apologies if i've goofed and rec something I've recced before. "Humboldt Cut" by Allison Mick. Okay so like there's less a lesbian in here and more 'former female bff's with a Very Charged Relationship With Undertones" but y'all are getting expansive so! Has what I think is maybe the next cannibalism, fungi, as a nurse returns to her hometown in the redwoods of California for a funeral, and then shenanigans ensue. Anyway, if I had a nickel for every book with a monstrous girl and the hometown she has a complicated relationship with and also symbiotic ties with i'd have two nickels! "Apparently Sir Cameron Needs to Die" by Greer Strothers. This book is very tumblr, but in this case this is meant with love and positivity. Anyway Sir Cameron is the wettest, saddest, scrungliest little cat stuffed inside the body of a traditionally hot man, who meets an evil wizard and has a sexual awakening. Shenanigans ensue. A lot of fun, 12/10. "As Many Souls as Stars," by Natasha Siegel. Lesbian Faust. That's it, that's the tweet. "Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World" by Mark Waddell. Colin works for an Evul Magic Corporation, and makes a wish with a demon for a small, reasonable promotion. This does not go well. Normally I don't rec books that I think both of you wouldn't like but I am so fascinated by the editorial choices in here that I just need to throw it at y'all. Like the author heard the term "no ethical consumption under late stage capitalism" and then decided to write a book about that but everyone in here is super chill with colin working at the evil corporation and like?! i both enjoyed reading it- it was a fun and fast read- but if i sit down and think about the implications for more than ten minutes my head hurts. alright i think that's all i got for now, happy 5 years of wizarding and lesbianing

American publishers are finally catching up with Japan re: light novel titles, huh

I feel like I still want this podcast to mostly be about books with lesbians, on account of what we're called and such. That being said, thanks as always for keeping us abreast of the latest trends in the nightmare clown world that is pop SF publishing!

yevie asked: Have y'all read Island of the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri? I'm reading through it and it seems very WizLes. Not a full hearted recommendation. The book seems to occasionally try and be 'good rep' in ways that don't fully gel with the setting its established (more with the language characters use and cultural attitudes they have than anything else) and doesn't seem to fully trust the audience to get what its saying without hand holding... but thematically it fits right in and it DOES have a very charming butch knight.

Tasha Suri is definitely a core wizlez author. I was mixed on The Jasmine Throne, which is the last book of hers we covered for the podcast - Alexis was slightly more enthusiastic and we'll talk about its world again whenever we do the "Alexis explains sequels of books Isaac didn't like" episode we've been thinking about. This one is likely already on Alexis' list of things to consider.

Anonymous asked: Loved your episodes on the most recent ann leckie books and your episode with her as a guest! Would you ever consider doing an episode on the first imperial radch book? It's my favorite of her works and I'd love to hear you guys talk about it. I've seen some other book podcasts cover it, but many of them don't seem to be picking up on what she's doing with gender and I trust your takes on the matter

We would consider doing that! And, coincidentally,

annleckie asked: Hey, I wanted to suggest some books, but not necessarily books I want to come on and talk about. Have y'all read A.S. Byatt's Possession? I think it might almost be actual wizlez. There is definitely a wizard, and there are lesbians (and bisexual women) and they are in conflict. Also the book is really really good. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_(Byatt_novel) I also wanted to suggest Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker, which is wizlez if a corporation counts as a wizard. Which it might not! But it's also a good book. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_for_a_New_Day Hope you're both/all keeping safe and well!

Hi, Ann! Thanks, we'll put these on the to-read list.

So I have two recommendations I've been meaning to make. The first is for John C. "Wildbow" McCrae's Worm, the other serialized web original from the early 2010s that broke containment. It's a superhero story that's very interested in digging into and taking apart superhero stories, which naturally means that there are wizards upon wizards upon wizards. (Ironically, the one superhero who made "wizard" his cape persona is one of the least important characters in the story.) As for lesbians, they come in three varieties - intentional (alright), unintentional (very compelling), and Amy Dallon (oh dear God). We also have mountains of terrible parents, scores of monstrous children, and a few characters who manage to be both at the same time. Unfortunately, the story is about as long as the entirety of ASOIAF put together, so there's no way you'll ever be able to cover it on the podcast. On top of that, while Wildbow has returned to the wizlez well multiple times in his subsequent projects, all of those are as long - if not significantly longer - than Worm. All the same, his work is definitely work reading. https://parahumans.wordpress.com/ My next recommendation is something more manageable: MANCHUKUO 1987 by "yoshimi red" from just last year. In an alternate world where WW2 never happened, the Japanese Empire has staggered on into the late 1980s, where it is finally facing liberalization at home and decolonization abroad. In a coastal village in Japanese-controlled Manchuria, a veteran serving as a detective in the Kempetai is tasked by his superior to discreetly investigate a sensitive crime and avoid increasing tensions between the long-suppressed Chinese majority and the increasingly anxious ruling class of Japanese settlers who fear their days are numbered. Naturally, nothing goes smoothly, and all sorts of unwanted secrets come to light, including the detective's own role in the violent crackdown of a communist uprising some twenty years before. One of the viewpoint characters is a lesbian, described by the author as "combining the repression of a Mishima protagonist with the pathetic political rebellion of Orwell's Winston Smith", with the mannerisms of Kobeni from Chainsaw Man thrown in for good measure. As for wizards, there's a case to be made that the true wizards were the people who conquered Manchuria in the 1930s, and the story takes place in the aftermath of their reign. To quote the author again, MANCHUKUO 1987's fundamental question is "what if the worst people who ever lived got away with it, and left a bunch of hapless settlers squatting on bloodstained land to face the music?" (The novel is also a metaphor for the end of the British Empire.) https://yoshimired.itch.io/manchukuo-1987

With all the love in my heart - as you correctly surmise, we are never going to cover Worm. That is simply not a thing that is going to happen.

Manchukuo 1987 sounds like a really bad time! The "what if" you posit there makes me think "yeah, what if that, I could just read the news", so. I imagine if we're going to cover an edgy, depressing political novel it would be Sacred and Terrible Air, but we do like talking about China.

moonmilk asked: A tentative book recommendation: Lolly Willowes or the Loving Huntsman (1926) by Sylvia Townsend Warner. Are there wizards? Well, there's Laura ("Lolly")'s male relatives who completely control her life. Also there's literal witches and warlocks but I don't think they count. The second person mentioned in the title is totally some kind of wizard. Are there lesbians? We aren't shown that Laura has any sexuality at all until the red haired girl's hair brushes her face, and then we get about 3 seconds of unfulfilled longing, that's all. Do they fight? ...sort of? Also the book is short and funny, which is nice

I have no idea what this book is about, based on your description, but you had me at "1926" (and cemented it with "short.") I think we're more likely than not to give this a look.

[wizardsvslesbians]

What was the song at the end of the Q&A episode? I really enjoyed it

Words by me, set to the tune of Donald Swann's "The Youth of the Heart."