#186 He Can't Even Build a Ship...

About the Movie:The Odyssey (2026) is a mythic action epic directed and written by Christopher Nolan, adapting one of the foundational works of Western literature: Homer's ancient Greek epic poem. The film follows Odysseus, King of Ithaca, as he attempts to make his way home following the Trojan War. What should be a straightforward journey becomes a years-long struggle against monstrous creatures, vengeful gods, supernatural forces, and the consequences of his own decisions. Meanwhile, back in Ithaca, his wife Penelope and son Telemachus face growing pressure as they wait for his return.Starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, and Tom Holland as Telemachus, the film features an expansive ensemble cast that includes Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Charlize Theron, and Samantha Morton. Nolan's adaptation was filmed across multiple international locations and became the first feature film shot entirely with IMAX film cameras, reflecting the director's ambition to bring the scale and spectacle of Homer's ancient world to the big screen. Produced by Nolan and longtime collaborator Emma Thomas, the film explores enduring themes of home, loyalty, identity, fate, and what it means to survive the journey back to the people who matter most. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Book:Published in 2022, One Dark Window is a dark fantasy novel set in the mist-shrouded kingdom of Blunder, a land plagued by a mysterious magical infection known as the mist. Those afflicted by the disease risk losing their minds to strange creatures and spirits, while the kingdom's ruling family maintains control through a powerful system of magical cards. The story follows Elspeth Spindle, a young woman who has spent years hiding a dangerous secret: she carries an ancient, unpredictable spirit known as the Nightmare inside her own mind.When Elspeth becomes entangled with a group of highwaymen led by the enigmatic Ravyn Yew, she is drawn into a dangerous effort to collect the twelve Providence Cards and break the kingdom's curse. Blending gothic atmosphere, folklore, romance, and political intrigue, Gillig creates a world where magic comes at a terrible cost and the line between protection and possession is increasingly difficult to distinguish. One Dark Window explores themes of identity, sacrifice, power, and the dangers of the things we carry within ourselves. It is the first installment in the Shepherd King duology.About the Author:Rachel Gillig is an American fantasy author known for her atmospheric worldbuilding, gothic influences, and character-driven storytelling. She studied English literature and writing before pursuing a career as an author, drawing inspiration from folklore, fairy tales, and the darker traditions of fantasy literature.Gillig gained widespread recognition with the Shepherd King duology, consisting of One Dark Window (2022) and Two Twisted Crowns (2023). Her writing is characterized by intricate magical systems, haunting settings, and explorations of morality, love, and the supernatural. With her distinctive blend of dark fantasy and romantic elements, Gillig has established herself as a prominent voice in contemporary fantasy fiction. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Book:Published in 2020, Dungeon Crawler Carl is a darkly comedic science-fiction and fantasy novel that turns the end of the world into a televised game show. When an alien corporation destroys the surface of Earth and forces the surviving population into a massive, multi-level dungeon, Carl finds himself fighting for survival alongside his ex-girlfriend’s unusually intelligent and very opinionated cat, Princess Donut. Together, they must navigate deadly traps, bizarre monsters, and increasingly absurd challenges while competing for the entertainment of an intergalactic audience.Beneath its outrageous humor and video game-inspired mechanics, Dungeon Crawler Carl offers a sharp satire of reality television, corporate greed, and a society willing to turn human suffering into entertainment. As Carl and Donut descend deeper into the dungeon, the stakes grow increasingly personal, and survival becomes about more than simply reaching the next level. Blending action, horror, comedy, and social commentary, the novel has become a standout in the progression fantasy and LitRPG genres, building a devoted readership through its inventive world, memorable characters, and irreverent approach to the apocalypse.About the Author:Matt Dinniman is an American author best known for the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, which combines science fiction, fantasy, dark humor, and role-playing game mechanics. Before achieving widespread recognition as a novelist, Dinniman worked as an artist and created artwork for a variety of projects, including book covers. His writing reflects a fascination with unconventional characters, absurd situations, and stories that balance outrageous comedy with genuine emotional stakes.Dinniman launched the Dungeon Crawler Carl series in 2020, developing it into an expansive saga that has attracted a passionate following among fantasy and science-fiction readers. His work has helped bring LitRPG—a genre built around game-like systems, character progression, and structured challenges—to a broader audience. Through the series, Dinniman has established a distinctive voice in contemporary speculative fiction, pairing inventive worldbuilding and relentless action with a satirical look at entertainment, power, and what it takes to remain human in an increasingly inhuman world. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Book:Published in 2020, Dungeon Crawler Carl is a darkly comedic science-fiction and fantasy novel that turns the end of the world into a televised game show. When an alien corporation destroys the surface of Earth and forces the surviving population into a massive, multi-level dungeon, Carl finds himself fighting for survival alongside his ex-girlfriend’s unusually intelligent and very opinionated cat, Princess Donut. Together, they must navigate deadly traps, bizarre monsters, and increasingly absurd challenges while competing for the entertainment of an intergalactic audience.Beneath its outrageous humor and video game-inspired mechanics, Dungeon Crawler Carl offers a sharp satire of reality television, corporate greed, and a society willing to turn human suffering into entertainment. As Carl and Donut descend deeper into the dungeon, the stakes grow increasingly personal, and survival becomes about more than simply reaching the next level. Blending action, horror, comedy, and social commentary, the novel has become a standout in the progression fantasy and LitRPG genres, building a devoted readership through its inventive world, memorable characters, and irreverent approach to the apocalypse.About the Author:Matt Dinniman is an American author best known for the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, which combines science fiction, fantasy, dark humor, and role-playing game mechanics. Before achieving widespread recognition as a novelist, Dinniman worked as an artist and created artwork for a variety of projects, including book covers. His writing reflects a fascination with unconventional characters, absurd situations, and stories that balance outrageous comedy with genuine emotional stakes.Dinniman launched the Dungeon Crawler Carl series in 2020, developing it into an expansive saga that has attracted a passionate following among fantasy and science-fiction readers. His work has helped bring LitRPG—a genre built around game-like systems, character progression, and structured challenges—to a broader audience. Through the series, Dinniman has established a distinctive voice in contemporary speculative fiction, pairing inventive worldbuilding and relentless action with a satirical look at entertainment, power, and what it takes to remain human in an increasingly inhuman world. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Book:Published in 1985, Love in the Time of Cholera is Gabriel García Márquez’s sweeping meditation on love, desire, aging, and the passage of time. The novel follows Florentino Ariza, who falls passionately in love with Fermina Daza as a young man. When Fermina ultimately chooses another life and marries the distinguished Dr. Juvenal Urbino, Florentino spends the next fifty years waiting for another chance at the love he believes they share.Set against the backdrop of a Caribbean city shaped by cholera epidemics, political upheaval, and social change, the novel explores the many forms love can take across a lifetime. Márquez moves effortlessly between romance, humor, melancholy, and magical realism, questioning the boundaries between devotion and obsession, memory and reality. Rather than presenting love as a single ideal, Love in the Time of Cholera examines what it means to remain devoted to something—or someone—while everything else changes.About the Author:Gabriel García Márquez (1927–2014) was a Colombian novelist, journalist, and one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. Widely known as “Gabo,” he became one of the leading figures of the Latin American literary boom and helped bring magical realism to an international audience. His writing frequently blurred the boundaries between the ordinary and the extraordinary, using fantastical elements to explore history, politics, memory, and human relationships.García Márquez’s best-known works include One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975), Love in the Time of Cholera (1985), and The General in His Labyrinth (1989). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982 for his novels and short stories, in which he combined the fantastic and the real to create a distinctive literary world. His work has had an enormous influence on writers around the world and remains central to modern Latin American literature.  WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Book:Published in 1985, Love in the Time of Cholera is Gabriel García Márquez’s sweeping meditation on love, desire, aging, and the passage of time. The novel follows Florentino Ariza, who falls passionately in love with Fermina Daza as a young man. When Fermina ultimately chooses another life and marries the distinguished Dr. Juvenal Urbino, Florentino spends the next fifty years waiting for another chance at the love he believes they share.Set against the backdrop of a Caribbean city shaped by cholera epidemics, political upheaval, and social change, the novel explores the many forms love can take across a lifetime. Márquez moves effortlessly between romance, humor, melancholy, and magical realism, questioning the boundaries between devotion and obsession, memory and reality. Rather than presenting love as a single ideal, Love in the Time of Cholera examines what it means to remain devoted to something—or someone—while everything else changes.About the Author:Gabriel García Márquez (1927–2014) was a Colombian novelist, journalist, and one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. Widely known as “Gabo,” he became one of the leading figures of the Latin American literary boom and helped bring magical realism to an international audience. His writing frequently blurred the boundaries between the ordinary and the extraordinary, using fantastical elements to explore history, politics, memory, and human relationships.García Márquez’s best-known works include One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975), Love in the Time of Cholera (1985), and The General in His Labyrinth (1989). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982 for his novels and short stories, in which he combined the fantastic and the real to create a distinctive literary world. His work has had an enormous influence on writers around the world and remains central to modern Latin American literature. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Book:Published in 2012, Throne of Glass introduces Celaena Sardothien, a notorious teenage assassin who has been imprisoned in the salt mines of Endovier. When the Crown Prince offers her a chance at freedom, she agrees to compete against a collection of the kingdom’s most dangerous criminals and warriors to become the king’s champion. But as competitors begin turning up dead, Celaena finds herself caught in a mystery that reaches far beyond the competition.What begins as a high-stakes contest gradually opens into a much larger story of magic, political intrigue, ancient powers, and a kingdom on the brink of change. With its blend of fantasy, romance, adventure, and mystery, Throne of Glass established the world and characters that would eventually grow into Sarah J. Maas’s bestselling eight-book series. At its heart, the novel is a story about identity, freedom, ambition, and discovering that there may be far more to a person than the reputation that precedes them.About the Author:Sarah J. Maas is an American fantasy author best known for her bestselling Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City series. Born in New York City in 1986, Maas began writing what would become Throne of Glass while she was still a teenager, originally posting portions of the story online before developing it into a published novel.Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been translated into numerous languages. Known for expansive fantasy worlds, intricate character relationships, romance, and long-form storytelling, Maas has become one of the most prominent authors in contemporary fantasy. Throne of Glass launched the series that established her as a major voice in the genre and introduced readers to the sprawling world of Erilea. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Book:Published in 2012, Throne of Glass introduces Celaena Sardothien, a notorious teenage assassin who has been imprisoned in the salt mines of Endovier. When the Crown Prince offers her a chance at freedom, she agrees to compete against a collection of the kingdom’s most dangerous criminals and warriors to become the king’s champion. But as competitors begin turning up dead, Celaena finds herself caught in a mystery that reaches far beyond the competition.What begins as a high-stakes contest gradually opens into a much larger story of magic, political intrigue, ancient powers, and a kingdom on the brink of change. With its blend of fantasy, romance, adventure, and mystery, Throne of Glass established the world and characters that would eventually grow into Sarah J. Maas’s bestselling eight-book series. At its heart, the novel is a story about identity, freedom, ambition, and discovering that there may be far more to a person than the reputation that precedes them.About the Author:Sarah J. Maas is an American fantasy author best known for her bestselling Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City series. Born in New York City in 1986, Maas began writing what would become Throne of Glass while she was still a teenager, originally posting portions of the story online before developing it into a published novel.Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been translated into numerous languages. Known for expansive fantasy worlds, intricate character relationships, romance, and long-form storytelling, Maas has become one of the most prominent authors in contemporary fantasy. Throne of Glass launched the series that established her as a major voice in the genre and introduced readers to the sprawling world of Erilea. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Book:Published in 1968, Outer Dark is Cormac McCarthy’s haunting second novel, set in the isolated backcountry of Appalachia at the turn of the twentieth century. The story follows Rinthy Holme, a young woman searching for the child her brother Culla has secretly abandoned. As Rinthy travels through a brutal and unforgiving landscape, Culla is pursued by a mysterious trio of men whose presence seems to carry an almost supernatural sense of judgment.Dark, spare, and deeply unsettling, Outer Dark is a journey through a world where violence, superstition, and isolation exist alongside moments of unexpected tenderness. McCarthy blends the traditions of Southern Gothic fiction with biblical imagery and an almost mythic sense of good and evil. The novel offers little comfort, but its stark portrayal of human cruelty, guilt, and desperation makes it an essential early work in the career of one of America's most celebrated writers.About the Author:Cormac McCarthy (1933–2023) was an American novelist and playwright whose work explored violence, morality, fate, and the darker dimensions of human nature. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, and raised in Tennessee, McCarthy developed a distinctive prose style marked by sparse punctuation, vivid imagery, and an extraordinary ear for the rhythms of American speech.McCarthy wrote twelve novels, including Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, No Country for Old Men, and The Road. His work frequently moved between the American South and the American West, creating landscapes that are as important to his stories as the characters themselves. The Road won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2007, while No Country for Old Men was adapted into the Academy Award-winning film of the same name. McCarthy remains widely regarded as one of the most important American novelists of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Book: Published in 1968, Outer Dark is Cormac McCarthy’s haunting second novel, set in the isolated backcountry of Appalachia at the turn of the twentieth century. The story follows Rinthy Holme, a young woman searching for the child her brother Culla has secretly abandoned. As Rinthy travels through a brutal and unforgiving landscape, Culla is pursued by a mysterious trio of men whose presence seems to carry an almost supernatural sense of judgment. Dark, spare, and deeply unsettling, Outer Dark is a journey through a world where violence, superstition, and isolation exist alongside moments of unexpected tenderness. McCarthy blends the traditions of Southern Gothic fiction with biblical imagery and an almost mythic sense of good and evil. The novel offers little comfort, but its stark portrayal of human cruelty, guilt, and desperation makes it an essential early work in the career of one of America's most celebrated writers. About the Author: Cormac McCarthy (1933–2023) was an American novelist and playwright whose work explored violence, morality, fate, and the darker dimensions of human nature. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, and raised in Tennessee, McCarthy developed a distinctive prose style marked by sparse punctuation, vivid imagery, and an extraordinary ear for the rhythms of American speech. McCarthy wrote twelve novels, including Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, No Country for Old Men, and The Road. His work frequently moved between the American South and the American West, creating landscapes that are as important to his stories as the characters themselves. The Road won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2007, while No Country for Old Men was adapted into the Academy Award-winning film of the same name. McCarthy remains widely regarded as one of the most important American novelists of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website