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
  • The Crystal Star Ch. 1 - 4
    Mar 26 2025
    Our latest entry starts with a bang. Literally. Chewbacca gets blown up and the three Organa-Solo kids are kidnapped. Everyone around Leia gaslights her into thinking maybe it's an unserious kidnapping (because apparently that's a thing!) — except master detective R2 Freakin' D2 who is on the case and fully prepared to do a murder if necessary to solve it. Luke Skywalker and Han Solo would probably have some feelings about the kidnapping, but they're on vacation near a black hole that blocks all cell service so they have no idea. Jaina Solo is pretty pissed about having to survive on crappy soup and being forcibly separated from her brothers. She makes a friend only to have that kid immediately sold into slavery by a Force-sensitive Empire-revival cultist — but hey, there's a cool dragon!

    Also, 3PO is purple.
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Who knows how the Force really works?
    Mar 19 2025
    As the New York Times best-selling saga of the Callista trilogy draws to a close, Kelly and Emily are joined by a surprise guest who weighs in on who gets to decide what's in a Star Wars novel, why Han Solo is totally cool being a Wife Guy, and the power of body swaps.
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    55 mins
  • Planet of Twilight Ch. 17-22
    Mar 5 2025
    It's a Lunar New Year Miracle (we finished more than 3 chapters of a Hambly!). Leia and Callista have some dorm room conversations on the nature of power and its uses. Luke returns to his first love (hotwiring speeders and driving across the desert like a lunatic). Leia returns to her first love (small artillery fire). Threepio and Artoo continue bouncing around the galactic postal system. We find out that the Spook crystals ARE talking and Luke becomes their Lorax. Han Solo finally gets to hug his wife. Callista continues on her own path. GMOs are revealed as the ultimate evil. And one of Star Wars’ most baffling ‘ships appears like a Death Star on the horizon. 11.5/12 parsecs.

    If you want to vote on what comes next, join us over on the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DelusionsofGrandeurPod
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    1 hr and 25 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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