The Side Quest Book Club Podcast

One of us read all eight books. The other read one and isn't on the hype train yeWe break down what to know before you read DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL by Matt Dinniman — spoiler-free, with a marked spoiler gate for books two through eight.

Slava gives book one an honest first-timer's grade, and Jonathan makes the case for the full series. We explain LitRPG for beginners, how the series started as a free web serial on Royal Road, and the cat-show job that inspired Princess Donut. We trace the death game genre from Stephen King's The Running Man an...

72 agent queries, 64 rejections, and a Christian horror writer who isn't slowing down.

Indie horror author Audra Kate joins us to talk Tomato Juice, her querying manuscript Festering Shadows, and writing horror as a person of faith.

Audra Kate has 10 books out across self-publishing and indie presses, and she's querying her first adult novel, a zombie horror romance. She walks us through the query package, Query Tracker, comp titles, manuscript wish lists, and why agents now ask for your Instagram numbers. Then we get to the hard question: how a Christian writes possession horror, and why...

Our guest had to put this book down for two weeks. Chapter 35 named the date.

We close out PET SEMATARY by Stephen King with John, the listener who talked us into reading it — full spoiler discussion, final episode of four.

John is the reason this book was on our list, and he's read it twice: once at 20, once as a father. We start with why it's the rare book you have to walk away from, then get into what actually makes horror work — the slow boil, and whether a story lands when it stops being abou...

Grief driven by madness, or madness driven by grief? We never settled it.

We break down part three of PET SEMATARY by Stephen King — full spoiler discussion of the final act.

Gage is back, and nothing after that goes well. We argue about how much the Wendigo actually knows and whether a word it says is true, whether a toddler can kill in cold blood, and why King arms a doctor with a scalpel and a bottle of morphine. Then the craft: why the tension in Pet Sematary never stops climbing when most authors peak an...

One of us argues the Wendigo doesn't need to be real for part two to work.

Part 2 of 4 on PET SEMATARY by Stephen King. Spoilers through part two only.

Jonathan calls this the scariest King book he's read, and not because of jump scares — it's dread, and it got worse reading it through fog on four hours of sleep. Slava counters that only one book has ever truly creeped him out, and it wasn't this one. We dig into the myth itself: the Algonquin folklore, documented cases of Wendigo psychosis, and Winona LaDuke's Wendigo economics. Pl...

King put this one in a drawer. He only published it to finish out a contract.

Part 1 of 4 on PET SEMATARY by Stephen King. Spoilers through part one only — two of us are reading it for the first time.

Slava has read it twice. Jonathan and Josh are going in blind, which means predictions, wrong theories, and one running joke that this is King's debut novel about neutering animals. We get into why he shelved the manuscript, the real Maine road that inspired it, whether Rachel's reaction to the pet cemetery is irrational or something th...

The author was too scared to publish this book. Here's what to know before you read it.

Everything you need to know before reading PET SEMATARY by Stephen King. Spoiler-free up front, full spoilers after the warning.

We start with the setup: Louis Creed moves his family to Ludlow, Maine, befriends his neighbor, Judd Crandall, and learns what waits beyond the deadfall at the pet cemetery. Then we cover the real events behind the book, including a family cat lost on a busy road and a toddler pulled back from it, and how Tabitha talked...

She built an author platform with a public money ledger and an e-reader she says rivals Kindle.

We sit down with Jules, founder of thing.pub — the ARC and beta reader platform built for the author community.

Jules walks us through the proprietary e-reader that carries almost any book's formatting into near-print visual fidelity, and the book showcase pages that give authors a customizable marketing hub — accent colors, genre and trope filters, representation tags, buy links, and QR codes for conventions. We get into the public financial ledger she built for full transparency, the human-verification proc...

Dozens of agent queries, mostly form rejections. So he took his fantasy novel to Substack.

We sit down with Rob Mortell, author of the indie fantasy TALES & TREASURE, for a full author interview.

Rob explains how a quirky bard named Vatis, a bards guild, and bard tourneys became the spine of a four-year discovery-writing project. We get into soft magic versus Sanderson-style hard magic, a haunted Fangorn-style forest he invented mid-draft, why he wants fewer morally gray protagonists, and why he can't stand first-person present tense.

Then the publishing side: six months of...

Why did The Hunger Games take off in the West when Battle Royale never did?

We close out SUNRISE ON THE REAPING by Suzanne Collins with a full look at the world of Panem — and whether this one makes a good movie.

Evan and Jules are back for the finale. We start with the four-year gap between the book and the first movie, and what we were all doing in 2008 instead of reading it. Jules argues that Kishotenketsu is why Eastern storytelling didn't cross over. Jonathan argues the dystopian boom traces back to 9/11. From there: th...

Effie Trinket gets a better character arc in ten pages than Haymitch gets in the entire book.

We break down SUNRISE ON THE REAPING by Suzanne Collins — themes, character arcs, and full spoilers. Part 2 of 3.

Slava, Jonathan, Jules, and Evan roll a die to pick a theme and land on the cost of survival — what Haymitch actually gets for staying alive. It turns into an argument about whether Collins gave him an arc at all, why he reads stronger standing next to Katniss, and how Effie, Maysilee, and Lulu do more character work in a hand...

One of us has a theory that this book was ghostwritten and badly edited.

Part 1 of 3 on SUNRISE ON THE REAPING by Suzanne Collins — the plot, top to bottom, full spoilers.

Jules walks through the prose inconsistencies that made her suspect a second hand on the manuscript. Slava reread all three Hunger Games books and watched four movies out of spite, and still landed at 3.5 out of 5. We argue about whether Snow is a Disney villain, why Haymitch works as a foil to a character who isn't in this book, how much Edgar Allan Poe is...

How to start a podcast without waiting for perfect gear — just pick a narrow niche and find your 10 episode ideas.

In this how-to episode, Slava and Jonathan walk through the actual process of launching a podcast in 2026, from defining your topic and audience to building a setup that fits your budget.

They cover the 10-episode test that separates viable ideas from broad ones that get buried, why specificity wins over production value, and a breakdown of equipment options from $0 (phone in a closet) to $300+. Then they tour their own setup: Rode NTG1 mic, Elgato arm an...

She built a magic system out of Gödel's incompleteness theorem.

Physicist-turned-author Keon Shore on THE BAD APOTHECARY, book one of The Ninth Path, and the Jungian shadow underneath it.

Keon walked away from physics, then spent years turning integral theory, Jung's shadow, and Daoist inner alchemy into a cultivation fantasy where doing magic wrong tears holes in reality. She explains how a universe with repressed truths became the engine of the series, why she wrote it so none of that has to be visible to enjoy the story, and how Chinese web novels shaped h...

He stocked shelves at Barnes & Noble and kept the A-slot open for a book he hadn't sold yet.

Crime thriller author Marc Avery on DISCIPLINE, ten years from first draft to physical book, and building an audience on Threads.

A hundred rejections in, a bookseller told Marc to try one more time. He emailed an agent who had already turned him down years earlier, and she sold the book. He talks through what Discipline actually is under the buddy-cop surface — brotherhood, and how far you'd go for the people you love — and how the serial kill...

She was offline for ten years. She came back and built an anti-piracy platform for authors.

Indie author and solo dev Jules Mourne on thing.pub — a free platform for sharing manuscripts without feeding them to AI.

Jules walks us through how thing.pub actually works: device fingerprinting, watermarks embedded so they survive being run through a model, a kill switch for anyone poking at the dev console, and a reputation system that holds readers and authors to the same deal. She explains why it will always be free, why every server cost will be pu...

Evan Kidwell was born three months premature, always the smallest kid in the room and the easiest target. From grade school through junior year of high school, bullying was constant. Books were his escape. Fantasy worlds were where he survived.

Now he's an author.

In this episode, Evan joins Side Quest Book Club to talk about Timaeus, his debut young adult fantasy novel about a hierarchy of powered individuals, a tyrannical government, and a protagonist whose superpower is resilience. We explore the childhood trauma that shaped Evan and his story, the dream that became the...

Join us as we sit down with Mark Benson, author, entrepreneur, and founder of Writerly — the thriving community transforming writers into family.

In this interview, Mark shares his unconventional journey from Chicago's South Side to Marquette University (where he discovered that medical school wasn't his calling) to becoming a passionate novelist and storyteller. 

We dive into:

✍️ His writing process and what inspires his emotional storytelling
📚 His published books and creative projects
🏔️ How he built Writerly — an annual gathering of writers in the Smoky Mountains
🎭 Balancing multiple careers (from the World's Largest Laundromat t...

🚨 Announcement 🚨

We are taking a break, but we also have author interviews. Subscribe, tune in, and join us on Discord. Link in bio or the comments.

Or here:https://discord.gg/z3qYKnKC3

ABOUT THE SIDE QUEST BOOK CLUB PODCAST 
Reading is the ultimate side quest. Side Quest is a casual book club podcast full of literary adventures. Join Slava and Jonathan as they discuss the books they are reading, life, history, belief systems, and much more. Explore world-building, characters, and story development—and share some laughs along the way.

New episo...

We finally finished Pride & Prejudice and have thoughts. In this season finale, Shiara, Jonathan, and Slava are joined by guest Lindsay to break down Volume 3: Darcy's secret intervention, the Lydia and Wickham disaster, the Pemberley awkward run-in, and whether Elizabeth Bennet deserves her happy ending (jury's still out).

We also get into why gossip is the engine of the whole book, what makes Mr. Darcy the most underrated character in classic lit, and why texting would have solved literally everything.

In this episode: Darcy's Pemberley behavior explained · The "I did it for you" moment · Lydia an...

Volume 2 of Pride and Prejudice delivers the most talked-about proposal in English literature and Darcy somehow manages to insult the woman he's proposing to while doing it. In this episode of Side Quest Book Club, Shiara, Slava, and Jonathan break down Charlotte's calculated decision to marry Mr. Collins, Jane's disappointing trip to London, Darcy's awkward courtship strategy, and the moment Elizabeth finally learns the full truth about Wickham.

Plus: a hot take on Bridgerton that may cost us some subscribers.

Next week we will finish the book with a special guest.

Subscribe so...

In this episode, Shiara, Slava, and Jonathan dig into Volume 1 of Pride and Prejudice, and things get surprisingly heated. We break down why Jane Austen was basically living her own novel, why Mrs. Bennet is actually more tragic than she is crazy, and why Mr. Darcy is either the most misunderstood man in literary history — or just a really well-dressed snob.

Also: Jonathan was not bamboozled by Wickham (for the wrong reasons), Slava almost ruined Thanksgiving, and we had a full debate about the Georgian vs. Victorian era that started before church and ended on air.

...

Debbie Show joins the SideQuest crew to talk about all of it — what really happened, what she changed, and why she hired a developmental editor for two years instead of just writing the book she could have written the day her sister was arrested. 

We get into bibliotherapy, writing as trauma processing, the Kirkus review, and why developmental editors might be better than therapists. Slava also drops one of the most honest things anyone has said on this show. If this book moved you — leave Debbie a review. She earned it.

ABOUT THE BOOK
When...

We're back to wrap up Paper Roses by debut indie author Debbie Show, and she did not disappoint. In Part 2, we cover the second half of this semi-autobiographical slice-of-life novel: betrayal, financial fraud, ethical spirals, forgiveness, and one of the most satisfying endings we've seen from a first-time author.

We also explore why writing is a powerful tool for processing trauma. Slava shares an update on his autobiographical horror short story, and we discuss how slowing down to write or journal can change how you see your own story.

Tune in, then go show Debbie...

What happens when family secrets span generations? When loyalty and survival become entangled with trauma?

In Part 1 of our deep dive into Paper Roses by Debby Show, we're introduced to 13-year-old Abigail in 1970s San Jose as her world spirals into chaos—all before breakfast. From her brilliant but troubled younger sister to a mother medicated into numbness and a father whose absence is deafening, this opening section sets the stage for a haunting exploration of inherited dysfunction.

ABOUT THE BOOK
When Abigail Jones learns of her sister Nikki’s third arrest, she’s pulled...

Raskolnikov finally confesses — but does he ever actually believe he did anything wrong? We're joined by special guest J.F. Ramos to close out Crime and Punishment with hot takes on guilt, redemption, nihilism, and what Dostoevsky was really trying to say in that epilogue. We also get into small talk as a gateway to real connection, why your friend count matters more than your therapist, and somehow end up comparing Raskolnikov to Holden Caulfield.

Next episode, we're reading Paper Roses by indie author Debbie Shaw — drop your Crime and Punishment takes in the comments before we move...

Jonathan and Slava are back, and again they've dragged Kris and Josh into the chaos. In Part 3, Porfiry plays mind games, Raskolnikov slowly unravels, a painter randomly confesses to a murder he didn't commit, and Katerina remains everyone's least favorite character. Nobody is okay. Not the characters. Not the hosts. Not the guests. Especially not Josh.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the bleak heat of 19th-century St. Petersburg, Rodion Raskolnikov, a brilliant but destitute former student, wanders the streets nursing a dangerous theory. He believes that "extraordinary" men are above the moral law of the masses...

The gang continues its trek through St. Petersburg. No pawnbrokers were harmed during the filming of this episode. Join us as we examine the complex themes of Fyodor Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment,' including Raskolnikov's psychology, the critique of the Great Man Theory, and the characters' moral dilemmas. This episode provides insights into morality, pride, and the metaphysical forces that shape human choices.

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE BOOK

Dostoevsky’s "Crime and Punishment": A Reader’s Guide (Cultural Syllabus): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Q8RRZ7H?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fe...

Kris joins us to discuss another serialized classic. This time it is Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE

Dostoevsky’s "Crime and Punishment": A Reader’s Guide (Cultural Syllabus): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Q8RRZ7H?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_digi_asin_title_351

Cliff's Notes: https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/c/crime-and-punishment/book-summary

Super Summary (least helpful, but worth consulting): https://www.supersummary.com/crime-and-punishment/summary/?searchId=78e20184-cb8a-4498-8570-a1d06cb38115&searchPosition=1

ABOUT THE BOOK

In t...

In this mini-episode, Jonathan recounts how he came to hate Crime and Punishment. Not to worry, he eventually came around.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the bleak heat of 19th-century St. Petersburg, Rodion Raskolnikov, a brilliant but destitute former student, wanders the streets nursing a dangerous theory. He believes that "extraordinary" men are above the moral law of the masses and have the right—even the duty—to commit crimes for the greater good.

To prove his superiority, Raskolnikov executes a cold-blooded plan to murder an unscrupulous old pawnbroker. The "perfect crime" quickly spirals into...

Calling all indie authors! Join us here on YouTube to chat about books, stories, and promote your book. 

ABOUT THE SIDE QUEST BOOK CLUB PODCAST 
Reading is the ultimate side quest. Side Quest is a casual book club podcast full of literary adventures. Join Slava and Jonathan as they discuss the books they are reading, life, history, belief systems, and much more. Explore world-building, characters, and story development—and share some laughs along the way.

New episodes drop every TUES.

 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSION 
This is a video version of our...

In this mini-episode, Slava sets the context for understanding Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic, Crime and Punishment.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the bleak heat of 19th-century St. Petersburg, Rodion Raskolnikov, a brilliant but destitute former student, wanders the streets nursing a dangerous theory. He believes that "extraordinary" men are above the moral law of the masses and have the right—even the duty—to commit crimes for the greater good.

To prove his superiority, Raskolnikov executes a cold-blooded plan to murder an unscrupulous old pawnbroker. The "perfect crime" quickly spirals into a psychological nightmare. Haunted by g...

Jonathan, Slava, Spenser, and Josh watched the recent Project Hail Mary movie and had some thoughts...

ABOUT THE MOVIE 

The wait is finally over! Project Hail Mary, the long-awaited adaptation of Andy Weir's bestselling novel, is officially in theaters and IMAX. Directed by the visionary duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Verse, The LEGO Movie), this sci-fi epic stars Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace—a middle-school science teacher who wakes up millions of miles from home with no memory of how he got there. He soon realizes he is humanity's last hope to stop the Ast...

We're still on Cradle, Side Questers. But this is our last episode covering this book. We are on the ninth book in Will Wight's Cradle series, Bloodline. And it gets a little spicy.  Frankly, it's embarrassing. But only for Jonathan.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In Bloodline (Cradle Book 9) by Will Wight, Lindon returns to Sacred Valley to evacuate his family and villagers before the Wandering Titan Dreadgod destroys the area. Although he possesses great power, an ancient curse limits his abilities, complicating his efforts as he encounters resistant villagers and strained family relationships.

A...

We're still on Cradle, Side Questers. We are on the ninth book in Will Wight's Cradle series, Bloodline. And it gets a little spicy.  Frankly, it's embarrassing. But only for Jonathan.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In Bloodline (Cradle Book 9) by Will Wight, Lindon returns to Sacred Valley to evacuate his family and villagers before the Wandering Titan Dreadgod destroys the area. Although he possesses great power, an ancient curse limits his abilities, complicating his efforts as he encounters resistant villagers and strained family relationships.

ABOUT THE SIDE QUEST BOOK CLUB PODCAST 
Reading is...

This week, we go back to Cradle, Side Questers. We are on the ninth book in Will Wight's Cradle series, Bloodline. And it gets a little spicy.  Frankly, it's embarrassing. But only for Jonathan.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In Bloodline (Cradle Book 9) by Will Wight, Lindon returns to Sacred Valley to evacuate his family and villagers before the Wandering Titan Dreadgod destroys the area. Although he possesses great power, an ancient curse limits his abilities, complicating his efforts as he encounters resistant villagers and strained family relationships.

ABOUT THE SIDE QUEST BOOK CLUB P...

This time, we sit down with author Debby Show. We talk generational trauma and her debut novel, Paper Novels. Author Debby Show is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and School Psychologist based in California. With years of experience with individuals and families, she brings a deep understanding of human behavior, relationships, and generational dynamics to her fiction.

00:00 Introduction to Debbie Show and 'Paper Roses.'
10:10 The Role of the Scapegoat in Families
17:47 Understanding Intergenerational Trauma
26:07 The Impact of Debbie's Sister's Actions
39:06 The Nature vs. Nurture Debate
41:45 Writing Advice for Aspiring Authors<...

Hey Side Questers! We are back with part 4 of our discussion of Nicholas Keating Casbarro's Vitalerium: Descent into the Void. Nick joins us for this final episode. We get a little taste of the next book in the series.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Nearly six centuries have passed since humanity discovered vitalerium, which ushered in a golden age of space exploration and colonization. Planet Deorum’s society is centered around this illustrious, gravity-bending blue crystal. The year is 2701.

Following a near-fatal disaster, roughneck freelancer Roman Matthews becomes unwittingly trapped at the center of a ha...

Hey Side Questers! We are back with part 3 of our discussion of Nicholas Keating Casbarro's Vitalerium: Descent into the Void.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Nearly six centuries have passed since humanity discovered vitalerium, which ushered in a golden age of space exploration and colonization. Planet Deorum’s society is centered around this illustrious, gravity-bending blue crystal. The year is 2701.

Following a near-fatal disaster, roughneck freelancer Roman Matthews becomes unwittingly trapped at the center of a harrowing conspiracy. Hunted by Deorum’s government, the Coalition for Prosperity, Roman must use his deadly skillset to survive agai...

Hey Side Questers! We are back with part 2 of our discussion of Nicholas Keating Casbarro's Vitalerium: Descent into the Void.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Nearly six centuries have passed since humanity discovered vitalerium, which ushered in a golden age of space exploration and colonization. Planet Deorum’s society is centered around this illustrious, gravity-bending blue crystal. The year is 2701.

Following a near-fatal disaster, roughneck freelancer Roman Matthews becomes unwittingly trapped at the center of a harrowing conspiracy. Hunted by Deorum’s government, the Coalition for Prosperity, Roman must use his deadly skillset to survive agai...