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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are continuing our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with the second set of chapters of CALIBAN'S WAR, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!

In this episode:

• Prax is having a real REAL bad time, fighting his way through starvation until he finds his Knight in martian armor: James Holden.
• Bobbie is trying to muscle her way through PTSD, which is never a bad idea.
• Avasarala works her magic to defang Admiral Nguyen, and begins to suspect that some people she's working with may not be telling her the unvarnished truth.
• Brigid explains Cassandra and explores how the story reflects that the term "collateral damage" is insufficient to explain the devastation and struggle that those directly affected by war suffer.
• Clint tells a story about his favorite bar and how laws stop having meaning when you're faced with unprecedented circumstances, and plays his favorite game: What happens if Naomi doesn't intervene?
• Your hosts compare and contrast Chrissie's problem solving process with Jim's and decide which one is better. You'll never guess who they pick!
• Amos, Jim, and Prax happen upon a group of rogue mercenaries, roll d20 to see if they join the quest!

Join us next time when we cover the third part of CALIBAN'S WAR, where some other stuff happens but also Bobbie and Avasarala meet(!!!!). Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at themercyofpods@gmail.com. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Read Brigid's stuff here.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIGID! Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are continuing our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with the first 7 chapters of CALIBAN'S WAR, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!

In this episode:

• We meet Roberta Draper, Praxidike Meng, Mei Meng, and Queen of Clint's Heart Chrisjen Avasarala, as the narrative expands to additional POVs, plotlines, and characters.
• Despite all of this, Holden is still obsessing about coffee. Also pirates or whatever.
• Brigid talks about the Creature, Frankenstein, Caliban, and other wonderful and terrifying literary monsters.
• Clint talks about government work, politics, and persuasion and gushes about the assistant TO the Undersecretary of the Executive of the United Nations.
• Amos grows a beard and hilariously annoys the Captain, Naomi remains insanely competent, and Alex is mostly just there.
• We introduce book two of the series discuss the real villain of the Universe: Capitalism.

Join us next time when we cover the second part of CALIBAN'S WAR, and learn more about what is going down on Ganymede. Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at themercyofpods@gmail.com. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Read Brigid's stuff here.

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, and sometimes it's about The Expanse but today is about the 2023 James S.A. Corey novella How it Unfolds. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse and Unfoldsiverse!

In this episode:

• We meet Roy Court and his former wife Anjulah as they unfold throughout the universe, discovering the beautiful and terrible possibilities of living thousands of lives on thousands of worlds.
• Megan Lee makes THEEE most romantic gesture in the history of humankind, and it works.
• Brigid explains epistolary storytelling, drops a banger GnR reference, and summarizes the wonderful timeloop of this amazing story.
• Clint talks about ghosting, Moore's Law, the common law, and why How it Unfolds > Project Hail Mary.
• JSAC makes yet another ASOIAF reference, we make some memes.
• Your hosts explore whether this story is in The Captive's War universe, and come down firmly on one side. Our wonderful audio engineer comes down on the other.

Join us next time when we cover the first part of CALIBAN'S WAR! Do not miss it! Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at themercyofpods@gmail.com. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here. Tip Brigid to support the pod.

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, and sometimes it's about The Expanse but today is a Low Effort Mailbag! Everyone loves those. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!

In this episode:

• We reveal the podcast's process, publishing plan, and strategy for tackling The Faith of Beasts
• Brigid cites her recommended books, email salutations, and nutrient slurries.
• Clint talks pleasant peninsulas, treating people as things, and band names.
• Questions about Livesuits, AI, and trap planets are answered.
• Someone actually freakin' tells us how many hamburgers it takes to move Eros!!! It's a lot!

Join us next time when we cover HOW IT UNFOLDS! Do not miss it! Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at themercyofpods@gmail.com. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here. Tip Brigid to support the pod.

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are continuing our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with the final part of LEVIATHAN WAKES, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!

In this episode:

• Miller finally gets the girl but, as usual, she's too good for him.
• Holden commits some light war crimes and finally gets revenge on Venus for some reason.
• We travel back through the depths of Eros with our handy Macguffin, encountering many wonders of the deep.
• Brigid explains the literary and poetic allusions of the final portion of the book, and explores Miller's connection to J. Alfred Prufrock and Jesus H. Christ.
• Clint has some choice words for Holden, Immanuel Kant, and STEM majors, and draws line from Miller to Willy Loman.
• Your hosts compare and contrast Leviathan Wakes with The Mercy of Gods, in theme, structure, and quality.
• We die maybe... but if we don't die, well that'll be interesting.

Join us next time when we do a low effort mailbag episode! Be included by sending us a message! Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at themercyofpods@gmail.com. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here. Tip Brigid to support the pod.

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are continuing our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with chapters 43 through 49 of LEVIATHAN WAKES, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!

In this episode:

• Holden is cranky at Miller for being cool.
• Miller is down apocalyptic over the loss of his job, crew, life, and most of all the love of his life (and death).
• We get our one and ONLY sex chapter in the entire books, and a wild boner appears, but little else.
• The Gang comes up with a plan to knock Eros into the sun, which takes some exciting twists and turns!
• Clint psychoanalyzes what Holden's polyamorist upbringing did to his brain and heart.
• Brigid goes linguist on lang belta and breaks down other fun stories about suicidal ideation.
• We talk about the rules of Golgo and shout out America's finest jurist, Judy Sheindlin.
• Julie begins her trip home.

Join us next time when we cover the seventh and final part of LEVIATHAN WAKES, where everything turns out just fine. Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at themercyofpods@gmail.com. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here. Tip Brigid to support the pod.

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are continuing our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with chapters 33 through 42 of LEVIATHAN WAKES, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!

In this episode:

• The crew is together and on the same page and everything is going great, with the teensy exception of Jim Holden accidentally starting more interplanetary wars.
• We explore the Anubis and get lots of backstory on Protogen and the origin of the name of the Amon-Ra Class stealth ships.
• Holden acquires a Chekov's protomolecule sample.
• Clint wonders why none of the characters are aware of the Trump Era, and praises the authors for refraining from putting a bunch of sexual violence in the Expansiverse.
• Brigid delights in how Leviathan Wakes explores the found family trope, and goes long on sociopathy and how it relates to a host of characters.
• Everyone loves the bit about no one knowing who Fred is.
• The OPA performs a hostile takeover of Protogen's assets and Miller suggests some targeted terminations to trim the corporate fat.
• Clint talks about his pet theory about the Expanse being about humanity being the cause of and solution to all of our problems.

Join us next time when we cover the sixth part of LEVIATHAN WAKES, where Julie sings the siren song to Miller, beckoning him back to Eros and the abyss. Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at themercyofpods@gmail.com. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here. Tip Brigid to support the pod.

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Welcome to the Mercy of Pods, a podcast that is normally about The Captive's War by James S.A. Corey, but today we are continuing our coverage of the main Expanse narrative with chapters 25 through 32 of LEVIATHAN WAKES, also by James S.A. Corey. This episode is spoilers for the entire Expansiverse!

In this episode:

• Everyone Is A Winner On Eros, for a very given definition of "Winner".
• Miller goes all in on the love of his life, ignoring only a few of her metaphorical warts.
• Jim throws his chips in the pot to be a hero and pays dearly for it (again).
• Our two main characters are positively radiating with comradery as they make their way through a team building adventure of discovery.
• Miller begins the splitting of his consciousness between The Investigator and his Death Self, and foreshadows his eventual journey into oblivion.
• We are witness to the absolute most horrifying, stomach-churning, uncomfortable scene in the entire series: Jim's chemically-induced confession of love.
• Your Hosts compare and contrast Miller's crush on Julie, Holden's crush on Naomi, and The Swaaaaarrrrmm's crush on Dafyd.
• Brigid talks about obscure poetry, serial killers, and caked up cartoon mice.
• Clint wonders about the cognitive abilities of the Vomit Zombies, and continues thirsting for Mother Elise.
• Naomi follows orders and Holden is salty about it.

Join us next time when we cover the sixth part of LEVIATHAN WAKES, where The Gang Invades A Protogen Research Station. Follow the Mercy of Pods on social media at themercyofpods, or email us at themercyofpods@gmail.com. Logo by Matt Howse. Music is Push The Button by Sid Luscious and the Pants. Audio Engineering by QueenCorpseFace. Read Brigid's stuff here. Tip Brigid to support the pod.

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