This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Jim C. Hines, author of Kitemaster.

About Kitemaster: Nial Sarnin is twenty-one years old, far too young to have lost her beloved husband Jika. One year after Jika’s death, Nial is preparing to fly a kite sewn from the shirt Jika wore at their wedding, to carry his spirit to the stars and beyond.

Instead, Nial finds herself launched on an adventure that will change the fate of her world. The spirit kite doesn’t flow at the mercy of the winds, but responds to Nial’s control, marking her as a Kitemaster—a rare and valuable gift on a magical world where the winds forever blow.

Her powers bring her to the attention of Captain Wolf of the kiteship Midnight Rain. Wolf has joined forces with the runaway Prince Vikaan to attempt to thwart Queen Kavaya’s plan to conquer the skies and start a war against neighboring kingdoms.

Nial could be the key to stopping Queen Kavaya and saving countless lives—including the lives of her own family—but only if she can learn to truly understand her gift before the Queen and her agents rain death across the kingdoms.

Every gust of wind in this inspiring tale promises hope and a chance to reshape a world on the brink in this spellbinding adventure of loss, resilience, and transformation.

About Jim C. Hines: Jim C. Hines’ first novel was Goblin Quest, the tale of a nearsighted goblin runt and his pet fire-spider. Actor and author Wil Wheaton described the book as “too f***ing cool for words,” which is pretty much the Best Blurb Ever. After completing the goblin trilogy, Jim went on to write the princess series, four books often described as a blend of Grimm’s Fairy Tales with Charlie’s Angels. He’s also the author of the Magic ex Libris books, which follow the adventures of a magic-wielding librarian from northern Michigan; the Fable: Legends tie-in Blood of Heroes; and the humorous Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse trilogy.

Jim has written more than fifty published short stories. His first professional story sale was the award-winning “Blade of the Bunny,” published way back in 1999. He also won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2012.

He has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a Masters in English. He currently lives in Michigan.

This week’s picks:

• Jim: The books of Janet Kagan; Hellspark, Mirabile and Uhura’s Song
• Tracy: The Residence (Natflix)
• Patrick’s Anti Pick: Corporations tying AI to Spellcheck, Grammar, Predictive Text and other things we actually want and use to prevent us from turning off the AI we don’t want and which they’re shoving down our throats

Links:

• Jim C. Hines on Instagram
• Tracy Townsend on BluSky
• Patrick Hester on Instagram
• The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2025 Patrick Hester

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