Delusions Of Grandeur  By  cover art

Delusions Of Grandeur

By: Emily Gadek & Kelly Jones
  • Summary

  • Emily and Kelly grew up before Star Wars returned to the big screen—when novels were fans' only hope. Now, they're re-reading them with fresh eyes for plot twists, new characters, and surprisingly apt socio-political themes. Delusions of Grandeur is a podcast about the good, the bad, and the truly bizarre stories of the Star Wars novels.

    delusionspod.com
    Emily Gadek & Kelly Jones
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Episodes
  • Shadows of the Empire Ch. 25-29
    May 22 2024
    We know some of our listeners are reading along with your kids, so a content warning: these chapters includes discussion of an extended sexual assault scene that’s probably not appropriate for younger listeners (and maybe not a choice for all adults, either).

    Before we dive in, Kelly reports back from the 25th anniversary screening of The Phantom Menace (spoiler alert: it’s still not great, but we forgot all about Darth Maul’s sick Lime scooter and the guy that yells about sports).

    
Leia finally comes face-to-face with Xizor and initially likes what she sees before realizing something is very, very wrong. Luke and Lando take an extended road trip in the Falcon. Artoo and Threepio finally get a chance to catch up. Chewie and his terrible haircut escape Black Sun. And Vader feels sure he can avoid the pitfalls of the Dark Side (he’s just built different, duh).
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Shadows of the Empire Ch. 20-24
    May 15 2024
    Did something finally happen in these chapters or do Kelly and Emily just have space Stockholm syndrome?? The action is finally picking up: Xizor contemplates creating some deepfake nudes of Leia and then trims his bonsai (not a metaphor). Vader gets real mad his boss sent him to pick up his son from jail. Threepio commits a felony with a cheerful wink. Guri shows off her pottery skills. Leia hits the strip mall on Coruscant before her business meeting with Xizor. Some (perhaps many) more Bothans die to bring us this information. And just as on Myrkr, Luke truly thrives in captivity.

    Also - if you went to watch the prequels on the big screen, tell us all about it!
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Shadows of the Empire Ch. 15-19
    May 8 2024
    Vader and Xizor ratchet up their game of mutual spying and lying. Leia waits around a casino until Guri’s busy schedule of murdering unruly Black Sun associates clears up. Luke and Dash intercept a message from a Bothan spy who may or may not be just a human guy (?) and end up hijacking a load of literal bullshit. And we are left asking what a Twi’lek dye job might entail.

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    54 mins

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Somehow, the EU returned...

Though they have a mild tendency to gloss over smaller scene details and give silly(er) names to the galaxies odds and ends, what you most get from them is a real love of the old cannon. They spend precious little time tying things back to the pre- and sequels, and though I've never watched Andor or any of the new shows, the references there are a similarly light touch. Mostly they deal with what's in front of them; the sometimes absurd texts, the wild machinations of the galaxy, the choices of the authors, and of course, the bonkers cover art.

Instead of strictly going though and parsing the text for technical details and inaccuracies, they joyously and with a great amount of humor point out that Lando tricked Luke into drinking Hot Chocolate as his fancy drink. That Wedge is a gawd awful spy from "Space Skokie". That you can't just mind meld with nine week old embryos. Things I never picked up on twenty years ago, and that I'm having an absolute ball discovering a new.

Only caveat to my ironclad recommendation: if you read these for the lightsaber duels and space dogfighting, they summarize fights and battles. Kelly (I think) doesn't follow these actions scenes very well, but they are recapped completely and, as with all other things here, with humor and a clear love of the books*.

It's a blast and I've already made a brother and a few friends into listeners as well.

*Except Courtship of Princess Leia.

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