Belgariad & Beyond
Books & Literature
Exploring magical reality through fiction, chapter by chapter, beginning with The Belgariad books. It is impossible for us to stay on the surface, so expect a deep dive into the juicy stuff of our lives! Read along with us, spoiler free, as Alysia discovers the stories for the first time, and Sondra, a twenty-year veteran of the tales, enjoys the ride. This is an intimate discussion, which delves into the hosts' personal lives. Since one's a holistic therapist, and they're both authors, the talk goes to unexpected places. Join the conversation at Patreon.com/belgariadandbeyond
Location:
United States
Genres:
Books & Literature
Description:
Exploring magical reality through fiction, chapter by chapter, beginning with The Belgariad books. It is impossible for us to stay on the surface, so expect a deep dive into the juicy stuff of our lives! Read along with us, spoiler free, as Alysia discovers the stories for the first time, and Sondra, a twenty-year veteran of the tales, enjoys the ride. This is an intimate discussion, which delves into the hosts' personal lives. Since one's a holistic therapist, and they're both authors, the talk goes to unexpected places. Join the conversation at Patreon.com/belgariadandbeyond
Language:
English
Episodes
Boob Crystal Taboos
5/29/2021
Castle of Wizardry, Chapter 1
Garion’s tripping on memories being recalled by the Orb, as the company flies down through the caves beneath Rak Cthol inside the earthquake triggered by Ctuchik’s utter destruction. He’s the one witness who truly understands the struggle of faith Relg goes through in his decision to pass through the rockfall and rescue Taiba.
Sondra has book promo excitement and nerves, and is fizzing over the new words she wrote into the draft of Emerald on Her Tongue....
Duration:01:20:40
An Entirely Possible Starsword
5/21/2021
Castle of Wizardry, Prologue
Garion’s family history with lots of story Easter eggs about the Rivan blood line’s relationship with the orb, Tolnedrans, and Nyissans.
Sondra has realised, as she pens the series of introductory emails for new GKU subscribers, that she should probably take a sec to celebrate her achievements.
Alysia is finalising her last Raven Dreams book and finding inspiration in music again amid demanding household transformations.
They’re both of the opinion that...
Duration:01:06:27
Perceptions of Perverted Minds
4/23/2021
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 27
Garion follows Wolf through the strange and horrible rooms of Ctuchik’s tower as the orb song swells in his body and mind. His grandfather does battle with the evil magician until Ctuchik destroys himself, the aftermath of which cracks the city apart around them. In the end Garion scoops up the innocent orb thief just in time to flee the wreckage and re-enter the caves.
Sondra is in data overload recovery (again) after coming down from the excitement of fresh,...
Duration:01:23:45
Over the Edge
4/19/2021
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 26
Garion is in the thrall of some intense emotions: fear saturated slave pens, Brill’s surprise ambush and Silk’s bout of hand-to-hand combat with the assassin, anger at the horror of worship in the temple of Torak, and the subsequent draining of his will to destroy it all.
Sondra has redesigned and reissued her whole Embodying Earth series of books and must be in alignment because she accidentally created a new book while she was at it.
Alysia is in a week of...
Duration:01:11:44
Serenading Death
4/2/2021
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 25
Garion follows Relg into the darkness of the caves beneath Rak Cthol, climbing up sheer rock for hours to reach the slave pens. He gives Taiba the escaped and dying Marag slave his cloak, and finds out Ctuchic killed her two baby girls, sacrificing them on the altar to Torak.
Sondra is intoxicated by the sensuousness of the warming forest. She’s cycled around to connecting with people and her creations again.
Alysia is once again experiencing the negatives...
Duration:01:09:57
Casting Life Illusions
2/19/2021
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 24
Garion helps Aunt Pol shield the group from grolim mind-searching and is an accidental partner in the madding of a grolim’s mind when his aunt attacks.
Sondra is walking into inspiration and feeling alive. Her artistic senses are waking up with the seasonal thaw.
Alysia is pulling weeds and enjoying the scent of fresh turned earth, and drawing joy from the awareness of human connections.
They’re both opening up to life.
Stick around for "Prophecy...
Duration:00:56:27
Learning to Pray on Horseback
2/11/2021
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 23
Garion swims through black sand with sea monsters in the freezing wasteland of an empty sea, while Silk turns inside out in the aftermath of his internal rockslide. There’s a bit of swordplay, axeplay, and rockplay before the company sets course over shaking ground toward the smoking volcano.
Sondra is in the depths of despair of ever being able to finish watching Anne with an E, and poking her sore spots.
Alysia is toasting her happy birthday with friends...
Duration:01:27:00
The Taste of Rock
2/4/2021
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 22
Garion slides back down into the gully with Barak with the news of Silk’s capture. He waits around with everyone else for hours in the dark, spiralling down internally into guilt and grief, remembering Lelldorin for the first time in ages, while Relg prays his way through the rock wall of the pit to rescue Silk.
Sondra has been ambushed by a year of work upending down the drain. Now she’s finding the advantages of a startling change of direction. Is panic...
Duration:01:22:09
Turning Bones to Water
1/29/2021
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 21
Garion meets Silk’s Nadrak “friend” Yarblek and is amazed by the way Aunt Pol behaves when Yarblek asks to buy her. Relg gets a cold and thinks he’s dying. Silk freaks out and flees when he hears the King of the Murgos is on his way. But, too late! Brill has finally captured his man.
Sondra is drawing more mystical creatures with layer and layers of colour, and they’re talking to her! She needs to remember that she’s an EFT, Reiki and Meditation therapist and...
Duration:01:15:37
Lust in the Righteous Dust
1/24/2021
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 20
Garion has become Relg’s confessor—the Ulgo is having a tough time of it this week. Our teenage hero is witness to the horror of a Thull hurling himself from the top of the Eastern Escarpment, but the horror turns to sickness when he hears Silk explain why The Thull had been so willing to die by his own design.
Sondra is still drawing and painting, and is NOT chopping her wife’s toe off. She’s been deep in the design and build of her publishing company’s new...
Duration:01:26:34
Drawing in Inspiration
1/15/2021
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 19
Garion and the gang are out of the caves of Ulgo and back in the sunshine on the surface. He inadvertently nominates himself for Relg duty, which basically means to keep the newly emerged cave-dweller calm enough about open sky to not run screaming into the forest.
Sondra tries to expound upon the attributes of the peoples of the Belgariad. It’s a hilarious effort. She’s painting and feeling the freshness of new creation and inspiration.
Alysia is using...
Duration:01:23:00
Out of the Darkness
1/8/2021
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 18
Relg gets very cooperative, Ce’Nedra is told she has to stay behind, and Garion gets kissed again (and is still clueless about why). The gang makes a plan to sneak into Cthol Murgos.
Alysia is in Covid recovery with Supernatural, and she’s wondering what does being a professional writer look like? She’s centred and calm, even after coming through some tumultuous December happenings.
Sondra gets passionate about personal responsibility around vaccinations....
Duration:01:18:01
Sliding Through Illusions
12/4/2020
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 17
Ce’Nedra acknowledges to herself that her bad behaviour is due to her continual state of fright since joining the group. The Gorim surprises her by recognising she’s a dryad, and her haughty sass plonks her into a situation of having to listen to a tiresome ancient story. But she’s captivated and learns about UL. Relg antagonises them all and ends up demonstrating why anyone might be willing to put up with his company.
Sondra is moving her body more,...
Duration:01:37:45
It's Pink Down There!
11/13/2020
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 16
Garion enters the portal and descends into the red-tinted dark caves of the Ulgos feeling the weight of the mountain as well as their seemingly bottomless depths. He is profoundly moved by the neverending echo of the Ulgo hymn that has sounded in the caves for thousands of years, and again when he meets the Gorim, knowing instinctively that he is perhaps the holiest man in the world.
Sondra is rolling around in yin yoga yumminess and feeling rewarded for...
Duration:01:11:20
Don’t Touch the Holiness
11/6/2020
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 15
Garion is feeling drained in the aftermath of working magic with Aunt Pol, and even though he’s worried about Durnik being unconscious for so long and the others being injured, he is present enough to prompt his aunt to get Wolf back on track when his grandfather gets lost in the misery of his grief. Belgarath then leads them up the mountain and through the worsening blizzard to the mysterious abandoned city of Prolgu.
Sondra has been making plans and...
Duration:01:16:01
Tears of a Clown
10/30/2020
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 14
Garion is again reigned in by Aunt Pol when he reaches for his sword to join the others as they fight off an attack from Grul the Eldrak and his pack of rockwolves. His grandfather leaps into the fray in wolf form. Garion and his aunt perform a piece of sorcery so powerful it takes their combined focus and their medallions to build the required will. Aunt Pol releases the spell with the word, Mother, after which an ephemeral smaller wolf appears surrounded...
Duration:01:04:27
Laughing into the Lurking Madness
10/23/2020
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 13
Garion draws his sword and protects his aunt and the princess while Barak, Mandorallen, and Hettar do battle in epic style with hrulga and algroths, the big knight laughing in the face of fear.
Sondra has a new mantra: I’m a writer and a podcaster I’m a writer and a podcaster. She’s in shock over her brother’s accident and feeling scattered and lost, scared of activating old patterns of guilt about leaving her family. Alysia is still encountering dark...
Duration:00:59:00
The Weight of Spirit
10/15/2020
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 12
Garion gets a lesson in the balance of universal forces after feeling foolish for flubbing his first act of deliberate magic. The shifted perspective of birds sings him out of his funk though, right before he meets his grandfather’s brother sorcerers and expands his cursing vocabulary thanks to Beldin and—of all people—his Aunt!
Sondra has had a week of imposter syndrome that she only emerged from after remembering to breathe and meditate. Alysia has been...
Duration:01:21:58
Butterflies in the Dark
10/8/2020
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 11
Garion meets Aldur and is blessed, claiming the God as his Master without knowing why. He spends time contemplating the passing of what he senses is a significant threshold and then sets out to discover how much more complicated the doing of deliberate magic is compared to instinctive magic.
Sondra is enjoying the autumn changes and feeling much better now that her creative spark has returned. Alysia is diving into darkness and feeling the light of the...
Duration:01:12:45
The Tree Of Life Has Only One End
9/26/2020
Magician’s Gambit, Chapter 10
Garion is nervous about Ce’Nedra who is watching him all the time. He projects his mind into that of the little colt, confirming the existence of a special bond between them. Mr Wolf relates a brief history of the ruined towers they pass once they reach the Vale of Aldur but is subdued and seems to not want to elaborate. But after the group reaches The Tree, Wolf takes Garion to his tower and relates some family history, and after some intimate instruction in...
Duration:01:32:11