Dune is, by no means, a simple book. It examines how an environment shapes a society and its politics, how political and economic power intertwine, and how resources can both provoke or deter war. It speaks about the consequences of scarcity, and how differently we treat abundance when it overflows.

With that in mind, this episode will focus on two key threads—details often smoothed in adaptations: the geopolitics of Dune's universe, and how religion and myth are leveraged to manufacture authority.

Let's get this book undone.

Check my latest book, The Omens of War: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNN94R17

Embassytown is one of the most extraordinary linguistic thought-experiments in modern SFF. This episode explores how Miéville uses language—not just as a tool for communication, but as the very architecture of consciousness, politics, and power.

We look at how signs and symbols shape meaning, why the Hosts can't lie, Avice’s role as a living simile and the moment language evolves into something new.

If you love stories where words remake the world, this is for you.

My substack: https://liviajelliot.substack.com

My book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNN94R17

Watchmen: the greatest graphic novel ever written, a Rorschach test on morality where every character’s goodness is afflicted with greyness and nuance. Join me in a terrific group discussion with Jarrod (from The Fantasy Thinker), and Britton (from smectite).

My Substack: https://liviajelliot.substack.com

Get The Omens of War: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNN94R17