Episode #72 – Winston Chaotic

Prophecy Radio episode #72 is all about Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies by Stacey Lee. We do a deep-dive into the latest Rick Riordan Presents book, with both a spoiler-free and spoiler-filled section. We also tackle all the latest Riordanverse news, including our live and in-the-moment reactions to the Percy Jackson and the Chalice of the Gods cover reveal and accompanying interview with Rick Riordan. New episodes of Prophecy Radio air weekly, and all ages are welcome to tune in.



News and updates (00:04:01)

The Chalice of the Gods cover reveal dropped just as we started our news section.
We go through the interview one question at a time, and talk about Victo Ngai’s artwork for the cover.
We can’t stop saying nice things about Walker Scobell—we’re so excited to see him as Percy and beyond.
Read Riordan posted an article to celebrate Black heroes with fan-favorite titles from Rick Riordan Presents.
We also find out Serwa Boateng by Roseanne A. Brown will be a trilogy!

Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies by Stacey Lee (00:31:23)

This book is total chaos, but it’s purposeful and we kind of loved it.
Don’t forget to check out Karen’s Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies book review.
Stacey was so good at capturing a 12-year-old boy’s voice.
Kristen tells us her experience with listening to the audiobook, narrated by Brian Kim McCormick.
But what is this story actually about?? Well, let us tell you.
Winston is a bit chaotic and doesn’t always look before he leaps—but we love that this becomes an asset for him.
We take a moment to talk about sports.
Which of Winston’s friends did we like best?
Phillipa broods for most of the book, but she still looks out for Winston whenever she can.
She was totally a standout character, and we loved her relationship with Winston by the end of the book.
Monroe totally surprised us!
Was it surprising that Winston and Phillipa had such a good relationship with Coco?
Okay, Not-Coco was SUPER, SUPER CREEPY though.
Let’s talk about Mr. Pang, because he’s the definition of chaotic neutral.
Spoilers begin at 01:03:50.
Winston’s journey to understanding what happened to his father was really nuanced.
We were super worried about Monroe’s character to begin with, but he ended up being pretty smooth!
How do we feel about Dani’s aunt?
Either way, we loved Dani, and we can’t wait to see more of her!
Will there be more jealousy in the second book from Winston’s teammates over Dani?
Okay, it’s time to talk about the Cowherd and the Cloud Weaver.
It’s cool that this story takes place inside Winston’s everyday life.
We’d never heard of Mirth and Sorrow before, and it made Mr. Pang’s story so much more interesting.
But Mr. Gu was hella suspicious the whole time.
We’re so glad that Winston’s dog tags survived the process.
Is Coco going to have trauma for the rest of her life? Will she have residue?

Winston Chu vs. the Wingmeisters is coming in 2024!
We definitely want to learn more about Chinese mythology and folklore.
Does Winston have a leg up on Mr. Gu?
How did we forget about Lucky!!??

Feedback (01:32:45)

Thank you to the winners of our J. Maya giveaway!
Karen goes over the results for the poll in which we asked everyone what their favorite short story was.
Seaweedbrain Podcast is funnier than us, and we’re okay with that.

Thanks for listening, and tune in next time for episode 73, where we'll do a final sendoff for Percy Jackson and the Olympians before starting The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles #1).



This episode’s hosts are: Karen Rought and Kristen Kranz.



Each episode, our Prophecy Radio hosts and their guests will keep you up to date on the latest information coming out of Camp Half-Blood, including upcoming books and adaptation news, discuss a topic of choice, and do a chapter by chapter reread of the Percy Jackson series.



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