Episode 24 - A Tale of Time City, by Diana Wynne Jones

A book so perfect for our podcast mission that it has actually been requested by multiple listeners, A Tale of Time City burst into our lives with all the force of a butter-pie being poked into your eye. Listen in to hear us gush over Diana Wynne Jones' fascinating sci-fi/fantasy time travel extravaganza, and then argue over what a butter-pie might be like in real life for far too long. As inhabitants of an unstable era, we can all benefit from a different perspective. Big thanks to Kate and Madeline for their requests!

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An untested butter-pie recipe - if anyone tries this, please send photos, a sample, and your PayPal information so that we can immediately send you one million fantasy dollars.

Tartquest, a butter tart review Instagram created by Michael DeForge and Jillian Tamaki

The Adventure Time Tart Toter soliloquy, from Season 2, Episode 9, "The Other Tarts"

MINI EPISODE - Rewatching Neverending Story Adaptations

To follow up our episode on The Neverending Story, we rewatched The Neverending Story (1984) and an episode of The Neverending Story: The Animated Adventures of Bastian Balthazar Bux (1995). This episode features our brother Patrick! We have a lot of thoughts about these adaptations!

DISCLAIMER: We love fantasy literature and most of our episodes are unflinchingly positive. This is not one of those episodes. This is a highly critical review of Neverending Story-inspired media by three cynical adults who have just spent four straight hours watching a movie and television show made for children. If you do not want to hear grumpy jerks talking about a movie that you love, it's definitely best to skip this one!

(The television show, on the other hand, is a little-watched disaster and is unlikely to be loved by anyone other than our childhood selves. Please get in touch at dragonbabiespodcast@gmail.com if you've ever seen the show, as we're pretty sure we're alone in this).

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TV show review mentioned - The Neverending Story: The Animated Adventures - The Dom Reviews

Episode 23 - The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende

Falkor. Atreyu. BBB aka Bastian Balthazar Bux aka Boo... Bad Bro (okay we're reaching but stick with the alliteration please). All your old friends are living on forever in Michael Ende's The Neverending Story - but that's a story for another time. Listen in as Grace grows furious discussing hungry heroes on quests, Madeleine creates the Giant Spider Meter and both of us manage to forget nearly every character's name (but the sheer number of proper nouns does us no favors). In all seriousness, this fascinating novel places familiar folk characters in an entirely new framework and the results are pretty cool. Fans of the 1984 film should definitely check out the source material - there's just no comparison. Hop on your luckdragon and hang tight!

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We're saving videos / music / images from the adaptations mentioned to share in our mini episode about the animated series and the 1984 live action film - coming later this week, so check back soon!

Related Recommendations:

Undertale on Steam

Dixit

The Snow Queen

MINI EPISODE - Howl's Moving Castle at the Book-It Repertory Theatre

This is a Very Special Episode about Seattle's Book-It Repertory Theatre production of Howl's Moving Castle! If you're in the Seattle area, we urge you to check out this show ASAP - it's about to close. Beautiful, creative, and totally faithful to the book, this musical adaptation was everything we could have asked for.

Disclaimer: this episode was recorded on our mom's couch and in the throes of a Christmas-candy induced sugar high. Production quality not guaranteed. Check out our Howl's Moving Castle and Witch Week episodes for more Diana Wynne Jones goodness!

Episode 22 - Dragonsong, by Anne McCaffrey

Dragonsong has every permutation of our own dang podcast name we could ask for - dragon babies, baby dragons, and even baby dragon babies (we've never been more on brand). But that's not the only reason we've loved this book since Grace stole our copy from her 5th grade classroom. By turns triumphant and devastating, Anne McCaffrey's classic novel about a gifted, determined and resilient young woman with a penchant for taming fire lizards born into a family that couldn't care less gives outsiders everywhere a rallying cry. We discuss fantasy elements within a sci-fi world, the irrepressible power of music, and the monotony of fish-based cuisine.

You don't even need to go *between* to listen, so dive in!