Episode 156 - Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

August 03, 2026 by Grace Harnois

Return of the Thief closes out the Queen’s Thief series with thrills, spills (meaningful falls off of horses) and the kind of chills that only Megan Whalen Turner can pull off - and we lapped up every single sentence. Pheris, maybe the best protagonist of the series, witnesses the culmination of the Mede / Little Peninsula conflict and finds himself along the way. We discuss this entry’s Big Twists, MWT’s remarkable consistency of character development, and how Gen has finally met his match in Pheris. We’re swinging from chandeliers and dancing on palace rooftops - join us!

Our other Queen’s Thief episodes:

The Thief

The Queen of Attolia

The King of Attolia

A Conspiracy of Kings

Thick as Thieves

Episode 155 - The Capture by Kathryn Lasky

May 18, 2026 by Grace

It’s a Harnois Sibling Spectacular - we’re covering The Capture by Kathryn Lasky with none other than our brother, Patrick! Book 1 of the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series is a brutal look at fascist owl overlords and the revolutionaries quietly defying them. Young Soren and Gylfie experience perils, found family and the terrors of moon blinking after being ripped away from their parents. We delight in The Owliness of It All and the ways this book permits young readers to question the authorities in their lives and celebrates coming of age. In the words of Twilight: "I am big -- right you are! But I am delicate and beautiful. I can float! I can skim.” If that’s not enough to convince you to listen, I don’t know what will!

EPISODE MEDIA

Presenting: Grace’s Owl Gallery

Soren - Barn Owl

Gylfie - Elf Owl

Twilight - Great Gray Owl

Grimble - Boreal Owl

Hortense - Spotted Owl

Digger - Burrowing Owl

Skench - Great Horned Owl

Spoorn - Western Screech Owl

Jatt and Jutt - Long Eared Owls

BONUS BONUS BONUS Mrs. Plithiver - Blind Snake

Episode 154 - Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones

April 20, 2026 by Grace

Triumphant griffin scream!! We’re back with Derk’s brood 8 years after the events of Dark Lord of Derkholm, and it’s his daughter Elda’s time to shine. She’s enrolled at the Wizards’ University alongside fellow oddball first years Felim, Olga, Lukin, Ruskin and Claudia, and they’re realizing there’s not much learning to be had there. When the inept chairman Corkoran, obsessed with flying to the moon and uninterested in all else, betrays their secret enrollment, the university is beset by assassins and concerned relatives. We discuss the lure of a magical pit, terrible admins, Giant Woman / Tiny Man romance, and why DWJ absolutely owns a Fantasy Romp. Join us!

Thanks to our many listeners who keep the DWJ request fires stoked.

Episode 153 - The Owl Service by Alan Garner

March 29, 2026 by Grace

In lieu of a standard episode description, I will simply say: I spent the whole book expecting the “Owl Service” to be some kind of organized operation, perhaps to threaten outsiders or deliver pellets into enemies’ quarters. Only now, upon reflection, do I realize that it is a description of the set of plates. I am a fool and the owls are beyond me. They should be flowers, anyway.

This book defies description and we laughed, cried and wondered in reading it for the first time. Thank you, as always, for introducing us to magnificent books that we missed in our childhoods! This one’s for our listeners.

SIGNIFICANT pronunciation disclaimer. It would be painful to come off as disrespectful of the Welsh language and its folkore when we are actually pronunciation-challenged and (unfortunately) too American. Please know that we love learning more about the Mabinogion and can only improve from here!

EPISODE MEDIA

This was a very visual episode!

Our favorites of the many covers:

Photos from the Owl Service TV adaptation

Our family heirloom Aragorn poster

Episode 152 - Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney

March 06, 2026 by Grace

Grab your blood cakes and head to Mother Malkin’s pit! It’s time to discuss Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney. As the seventh son of a seventh son, Tom is destined to become the Spook’s apprentice (at least according to his mom). He learns to trap boggarts under steel (just don’t get your fingers stuck!!) and imprison witches in barred pits - and makes friends like Alice, a girl with suspiciously pointy shoes, along the way. Grim, gross and fascinating, this is an apprenticeship like no other and we have so much to discuss. We are all witches, but are we good witches or bad witches? The Spook recommends putting us into pits just as a precaution. Join us!

EPISODE MEDIA

Season 6, episode 33 of Adventure Time - Jermaine - Hulu