Ars Arcanum

Nora, Mark, and Autumn are reading a couple chapters of Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere books and talking about them every two weeks! We'll be going in publication order, starting with Elantris! Join us for a podcast doing close reads of our favorite fantasy author as we discuss his highs and his lows!

Last refreshed: July 27th, 2025 at 5:10 AM ⓘ

Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.

Follow on

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

RSS

Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app

Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

S1E5 - Elantris ch. 13-15: ...And Other Arts

Elantris is a desert. Please Brandon. Write a better book. Harrow the Ninth spoilers from 21 minutes to 46 minutes! You can find Nora on twitter @NeitherNora and you can find more of zir work on norablake.online You can find Tili on twitter @charaznablunt and their other podcast Higgledy-Piggledy Whale Statements on the Abnormal Mapping podcast network! You can find Autumn on twitter @autumnal_coffee . Her other podcasts are Export Audio , Hot Singles , and And Then, An Aeroplane ! And you can s...

Nov 03, 2020•2 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 5

S1E4 - Elantris ch. 10-12: Is Raoden a Lelouch?

We return from brief medical hiatus to get mad about Elantris. Maybe someday this book will be good, but not today. We open on a spoiler-free discussion of Gideon the Ninth— though if you want a spoiler-filled discussion you can listen to episode 103 of Export Audio —and fan fiction. Then in our chapters, Raoden is a jackass, Sarene is an evil girl boss, Hrathen does nothing of note, and Brandon NEEDS to read Capital. You can find Nora on twitter @NeitherNora and you can find more of zir work on...

Oct 20, 2020•2 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Bonus Ep: Perfect State (2015)

Episode Notes Hey there! While Autumn recovers from surgery, please enjoy this bonus episode from Nora & Tili! We read the novella Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson and wanted to share a little of how much of an incredibly wild ride it was. We'll be back next fortnight with some more Elantris!

Oct 09, 2020•2 hr 26 min

S1E3 - Elantris ch. 7-9: The Poster's Honor

We cross the 100 page mark in Elantris and ask the important question: Brandon, where is the plot? Despite there nothing happening, we do our longest episode yet as we get really in the weeds trying to understand the non-sensical political economy of Arelon because boy howdy, there is some stuff in these chapters that feels ill considered. We are truly delivering on the promise of this podcast "some marxists thinking way too hard about a fantasy novel that invites such thought". You can find Nor...

Sep 22, 2020•2 hr 41 min•Season 1Ep. 3

S1E2 - Elantris ch. 4-6: Igor Coded

It's our sophomore episode! We buckle in this week for 3 very exposition-heavy and conflict-light chapters of Elantris. But that's okay because we're already starting to spot some Themes that might be important through the novel as we try to pick apart what exactly this Hrathen guy is up to. You can find Nora on twitter @NeitherNora and you can find more of zir work on norablake.online You can find Tili on twitter @charaznablunt and their other podcast Higgledy-Piggledy Whale Statements on the A...

Sep 08, 2020•2 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 2

S1E1 - Elantris ch. 1-3: I Love A Girlboss Princess

Hello and welcome to Ars Arcanum! Every other Tuesday, we will be here to talk about Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere books! We are of course starting with Elantris, going 3 chapters at a time. This week we're introduced to our 3 perspective characters: Raoden, Sarene, and Hrathen (forgive me if I spelled any of those wrong, I listen to the audiobooks haha). We summarize the chapters so even if you're not reading along, this should be a funny journey through Sanderson's first published novel. You can...

Aug 25, 2020•1 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 1

← Prev

For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android