Smiley's Podcast

May 02 2024 96 ep. 64 mins 23

Smiley's Podcast artwork

A podcast meant for semi serious conversations on all things Malazan (and an occasional non-Malazan topic). The world of Malazan is a fictional one created by authors, friends and anthropologists, Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont. They have published more than 2 dozen critically acclaimed, fan favourite books set in this universe. We, the hosts Lee and Mora, are avid fans of the series and this podcast is but a peek into the many conversations we have about this fascinating topic.

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Cradle Book Seven - Uncrowned

May 02 2024 50 mins

[INFORMATION REQUESTED] Holy shit you guys are still alive? It's been a hot minute since we last posted, friends, and while this particular Cradle episode has been stewing for some time, we finally did get around to posting it. Uncrowned is a while back, but we still look upon it fondly. If by fondly you mean "how dare you," then yes, very fondly. Uncrowned marks th

"Kallor did Nothing Wrong?" - A Close Look at the MoI Prologue - Smiley's After Hours

Jan 24 2024 68 mins

[Spoilers MBotF] If you've been in the Malazan sphere long enough, you've probably heard the adage "Kallor did nothing wrong" more than once. Turns out, those four words encompass whole avenues of discussion that one video couldn't possibly hope to tackle. But all in due time. Inspired largely by our chat with AP about narration & his excellent videos on

Narrators in Malazan ft. A Critical Dragon

Jan 14 2024 87 mins

[Spoilers for All Malazan books] [Mild spoilers for Book of the New Sun, Kushiel's Legacy, Farseer Trilogy & the Scarlet Letter (we're thorough, damn it!)] Hello & welcome to a very special guest episode featuring AP, longtime viewer, supporter, and indirect (and now somewhat more direct!) mentor. AP surely needs no introduction, so let's get to more pertinent m

Cradle Book Six: Underlord

Jan 07 2024 35 mins

[Information Requested: How dare you, Will Wight?] Smiley's is back to Cradle, with one core question: How dare you, Will Wight? Underlord's a damn fine book. Action-packed, lots of heartfelt moments, interesting worldbuilding, and we hate it for all those reasons. We here at Smiley's have taken a firm stand against authors making us feel things. Not us, no sir. Jests

Malaz Trivia Quiz 2023

Dec 31 2023 71 mins

Hello & welcome to our first (and hopefully not last) installment of the Smiley's Malazan Trivia Quiz! Lee, your host (that's me!) is joined by Mora, Wes, Nate of Podcast of the Fallen, and GB - all of which happen to be mods on the Malazan subreddit. We actually go through a fair number of questions over quite a few rounds, and great times are (hopefully) had by all. T

Tavern talk: Malazan Curses

Dec 26 2023 49 mins

[Spoilers All, or only MBotF, we dont know, its all a drunken haze] We decided to slack off and not read FoL. Instead here is a random discussion on Malazan curses, limited to the ones we see in BotF. Spoilers abound, so beware new readers. If you want us to tackle curses that appear in NotME, PtA or Kharkanas- send us an email: [email protected] Would you prefer YouTub

Fall of Light Chapter 18

Dec 10 2023 93 mins

Don't you like it when chapters follow a certain thematic throughline that makes things easy? I know I do. We're back in the Citadel (or, at least, adjacent to it), and oh boy do we get going quickly. Rise Herat explores a dusty old room full of the shameful past, Orfantal explores sorcery to an unparalleled degree, Endest Silann sets off in search of decency, a goddamn dra

Fall of Light Chapter 17

Nov 26 2023 82 mins

What starts off as a somewhat innocent chapter - with the biggest idiot of Fall of Light taking centre stage - quickly devolves into a mess of shifting alliances, weird mysticism, unsettling flashbacks, and overall bizarre scenes (see Narad & Threadbare). At least it ends the way it began; simply, with the biggest idiot of Fall of Light taking centre stage. Something of a stap

Fall of Light Chapter 16

Nov 19 2023 75 mins

Don't you just love when a chapter lays out its theme in the first paragraph? I sure do. Makes summarising very easy. However, we do suggest at least some booze on hand for this particular one; it gets... odd. Meddling Azathanai, pride & innocence, childhood & grief, all entwine to give us what is arguably the most bizzarre chapter of Fall of Light thus far. Wreneck co

Smiley's After Hours - Why is Kaminsod?

Nov 16 2023 19 mins

[Spoilers for Kushiel's Dart, the Book of the New Sun (mild at best), the Malazan Book of the Fallen, and Forge of Darkness] Perhaps a bit of an unorthodox question, but one I feel is worth asking: Why is Kaminsod, what is his narrative significance, and why is he portrayed in the manner that he is ? At least as far as his [Redacted because of spoilers.] I'm contrasting K