2021 Review and 2022 Look Ahead

Leave it to the Prose is your podcast for science fiction and fantasy discussion. We bring the perspective of a reader and a writer to discuss what works and doesn’t work in storytelling fantastical fiction.

2021 Review

2021 was another big year for Leave it to the Prose, featuring in depth analysis and discussion of contemporary and classic works. The year started out with a discussion of middle grade books, and books which got Isaac and Reid into speculative fiction. We read through the first works of Deltora Quest, Animorphs, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and The Giver cycle. These works allowed us to reflect on those memorable moments where fantasy and science fiction entered our childhood, as well as gain a greater appreciation for the depth of work required to write for a younger audience.

2021 features our first series discussion, and Leave it to the Prose: The Next Chapter went through the first three books in the Red Rising Saga. The Next Chapter dove into the dramatic downturns of Golden Sun, and the triumphant rise of Morning Star.

We discussed contemporary works such as The Poppy War and Dreadnought. We also read The Unbroken very close to its release!

We went back in time. We celebrated our 75th episode with The Hobbit. We went back to Brave New World. And just a generation ago to the groundbreaking works of House of Spirits, Dragonflight, and Magic’s Pawn.

Upcoming 2022 Look Ahead

2021 was a great year for Leave it to the Prose, but it was also an exhausting one. As many listeners know it is a lot to juggle work, life, hobbies, and more; and as such Leave it to the Prose is modifying the 2022 plan. Isaac and Reid wish to keep the podcast going, and, in looking through the stories we most enjoyed, we landed on a complete read through of Deltora Quest starting in April. January through March will feature re-releases of some of our favorite discussions from 2019 and 2020, and then in April we will begin new content beginning with book 2 of the Deltora Quest series: The Lake of Tears.

Join us in 2022 as we read through Deltora Quest!

Leave it to the Prose

Leave it to the Prose is your book discussion podcast dedicated to science fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction. In 2021 we read a variety of stories featured below:

• The Forests of Silence by Emily Rodda
• The Invasion by K.A. Applegate
• The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare
• Golden Son by Pierce Brown
• Fantasy Magazine Issue 63 Read-Through
• Morning Star by Pierce Brown
• The Vaporization Enthralpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family and The Wandering City by Usman T Malik
• The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
• The Glass Bottle Trick and Old Habits by Nalo Hopkinson
• Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
• The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
• The Dead, In Their Uncontrollable Power; The Two Bullet War; and Cratered by Karen Osborne
• Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
• Dead at the Feet of a God; Pattern Recognition; and Like Birdsong, the Memory of Your Touch by Izzy Wasserstein
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones
• All Systems Red by Martha Wells
• Dreadnought by April Daniels
• The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
• House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
• Magic’s Pawn by Mercedes Lackey
• 2021 Hugo Award Short Story Nominees
• The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wesker
• And then there were (N-One) by Sarah Pinsker