It makes me laugh, the foley is fantastic and the creators’ world building is so much fun. Thank you so much, friends, for making this show.

As someone who found himself discovering the potential of podcasts later in his early adult life, Once and Future Nerd was on of the first shows I followed. I’ve been along for the ride sing 2018 and couldn’t be happier. If you haven’t listened you’re missing out. It is a story for anyone who loves the fantasy genre. The world building is thoughtful, the social dialogue is intentional, and the love for story telling is palpable. Perhaps most importantly this show is clearly a labor of love. A group of actors, creators, and collaborators who get together to bring the world of Iorden to us. It is a wonderful and thrilling story that asks us both the difficult and fun questions posed high fantasy setting. Please listen. You won’t regret it.

Absolutely awesome series. I am blown away by the character development. It’s clear how much heart and talent goes into this series.

Binging this while working is what has been keeping me going for weeks. I’m super picky about what is pleasing to my ears. This is FANTASTIC! Also digging the Springsteen references. 😊♥️

Title says it all, in the words of Michael Jordan “Republicans buy sneakers too”.

...that should probably go unanswered, but they're questions. This is a weird and unhinged and HILARIOUS and dramatic story so far and I ADORE it. Thank you to one of the founders of the TOAFN discord for recommending it to me.

I love your work - top notch! Update: Congratulations on putting the production back together. A little rough for the new episode but the story is moving forward again. I think the rough patch will be smoothed over by your story and characters - just might be a little while until you get the previous depth of dialog/acting/production back in force. Thank you for the accomplishments so far.

If you liked the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon, LOTR, GoT or even are just a rpg player you’ll love this. The writing is amazing and equally is the voice acting. I hope this goes on for years!

Just fantastic stuff.

This podcast is so good, I can’t wait for you to be able to make more episodes!

The amount of bonus content is annoying and mixing it in with the story episodes is infuriating

This podcast is completely unique in the audio drama world. I’ve listened twice and I’m itching to listen again. Highly highly recommend

Can’t believe it took me so long to listen to this - it’s fabulous! Superficially it has all the usual tropes and elements for an epic fantasy fish-out-of-water adventure. But it’s so much more: updated and timely characters with more depth, diversity and inclusiveness than they first appear; an interesting and engaging story; and loads of fun puns and pop-culture references (but not so many they’re distracting). Nicely done! I appreciate the laughs and respect the various plot points. Really terrific.

I was really uncertain about this podcast after reading the description, but I finally gave it a shot when I didn’t have another podcast to listen to. So happy I did. After about 3-4 episodes, I was hooked. LOVE THIS! It’s part LOTR, part the Breakfast Club, and part WOW. Just the right amount of humor to keep it from being too intense but the character development and story will definitely keep you enraptured.

I love this show! I went from episode 1-(80?) in about a week. In truth, I skip all the bonus content - never been big on interviews. The first couple of episodes were ok. I was just giving it a chance. Then after a little bit I was completely hooked. It’s a great story that’s also not afraid to make fun of itself and the fantasy genre. The side comments from the narrator himself are a large part of the draw.

D/d like stories without dice. Well performed. Like R masterpiece theatre

The Good: It’s well-written and well-acted. The sound design is quite high. The narrator is quite good and and does a good job, even with the fight scenes. The Bad: While the writing is good, the story is crap. The focus is on the characters to the detriment of the plot. the B-plot of the 1st Book is cringe-worthy (palace drama, verbal/emotional abuse, repression, and rape). But the main problem is in the A-plot: There are too many characters! In an isekai, the normal-worlders come to the strange land and find that they’re able to meaningfully interact with that world. 50 episodes in and that has yet to happen! The three normal, audience-analogs are just along for the ride as the Adventurers (fighter, ranger, cleric, and rogue) have their Campaign. Verdict: While it does have good moments, I can’t recommend this to most people. If, however, you are a fan of Game of Thrones and the works of Marion Zimmer Bradley, you might like this series. I look forward to other series by this same group—and hope they have different writers.

It’s Monday and I just started listening to this over the weekend. I don’t know how many episodes I’ve listened to but it is a lot! I’ve kept going because of the way the creators blend contemporary issues with an epic story. My only quibble-some uneven performances and interesting accent choices. That said, they don’t pull me out of the story and I’ve been sucked in.

One of the greatest stories I’ve ever heard. Beautiful voice acting, amazing character development. A true gem. “if you want to change the world, change their stories”. It starts here.

Best fantasy podcast I’ve stumbled across. Love the actors, voices, story. Only thirty or so episodes in but will definitely listen thru the end!!!

Great story telling, voice acting etc. time well spent.

The Once and Future Nerd is an amazing fantasy story that encapsulates the war contemporary fans of fantasy often feel within themselves. The stories we loved growing up (as well as the classic English cannon in general), aren’t stories that raise most people up, yet we love them still. This podcast has amazing voice-acting, wonderful characters, & a beautifully painted medieval/fantastical world as a backdrop for the characters & the listener to question the stories they repeatedly tell themselves. It is inspiring & hilarious & real. What are the stories we repeat? Who wrote them? Where did they come from? Who enforces the repetition of them? We do. The Once and Future Nerd gives hope that the world can be changed one story at a time. Thank you for creating this wonderful podcast & for helping another creator realize what she should be focusing on.

I am clearly very late to the party. I just finished the series. It took me 3-4 episodes to get into the story and to understand some of the accents, but I’m really glad I stuck with it. This storyline is well-written, engaging, and humorous. It reminds me of a perfect blend of The Magicians and G.O.T. I’d love to see the creators get optioned to flesh this out as a live-action series, since I’ve basically assembled the entire cast in my head. Kudos to the writers, performers, the sound effects team, and the mixers & editors. This one is a gem! Please tell me there’s a Book 2 in the works...

I love this series. I just finished listening to part 4 of “the singing sister”. The song at the end gave me chills. The dramatic tension is perfect, same for the word choice and subtlety. The series throughout is at times hilarious (especially the narration) but also deeply moving. This is what stories should be like.

Thats all I have to say

This podcast is one of my favorites out of everything I’ve listened to. The voice acting (with a huge cast) is amazing as well as the audio quality. It has a rich and dramatic fantasy world that doesn’t shy away from themes of race, gender and sexual orientation, especially as the story develops. I really appreciated how they dive into problems into power dynamics that are normally left unquestioned in other fantasy genre material. This story has incredible arcs that build and all kinds of deep and empowered heroines, which I love! I will say please give this story a little chance to breathe before you judge if you like it. I didn’t like starting in a modern day setting but that changes quickly and sets up the rest of story—this is an absolute pleasure to listen to! At least get to the end of the first chapter before you make up your mind. I got my husband hooked on this show too and we decided to become Patreon partners for TOAFN for the first time because we just can’t get enough of this podcast. Please go and enjoy the show now!

I am in love with this podacst. The story line is creative, the charactors are lovable, and Billy is hysterical. Great voices & acting, great sound quality.

I’m impressed with the amount of talent and effort that goes into this podcast, and the result is engrossing and so well done.

Love this podcast - the story is clever, and entertaining, and characters are the right mix of complex and familiar. The writing is fabulous! Hilarious, serious, and witty with a generous sprinkle of foul language and a dash of cavalier attitude. Worth the listen and worth the wait for new episodes! #TeamNarrator

I love the podcast. On my podcast apps, on all of my iOS devices (Apple’s native app, iCatcher-tried different user agents) the server either doesn’t connect or won’t dl anymore. Apple’s native app, at least, shows new episodes, but can’t DL or stream. iCatcher just shows ‘Could not connect to server’ and has for quite some time (since ‘Impregnable Missive’). Initially, I assumed they went with an exclusive platform (ie Stitcher), as others have as of late. (Update: Ended up downloading latest episodes on Spotify)

I love reading fantasy novels, so naturally I fell in love with this show. The comedy and fantasy trope awareness made me laugh many times, the story shows soooo much potential. However, the time between releases of sequential chapters is too long. It’s hard to get back into it when you’re waiting a month for a 20 minute episode and you have to wait a month for the next. I understand it’s not their full time thing, which is why I’m not hating on it, just being open about how I particularly feel.

Great writing, Voice acting, and production.

It’s a fantastic show with notes of game of thrones and lord of the rings, but I would say as good as if not better than both! I just wish the episodes were longer...the story is so good, more than once I’ve caught myself letting out an ‘oh, come on!’ As the ending music plays.

i’m a huge fantasy nerd. I’ve read all the classics and listened to many fantasy audiobooks. This holds up against the best of them and has a unique and singular voice that taps into the present moment. It’s woke and gives a powerful voice to female characters. It plays with existing tropes but subverts expectations. I can sing it’s praises enough. Can’t wait for the next installment. Thank you TOaFN!

I really respect the writers of this podcast. They do a great job of taking the high fantasy genre and giving it a new spin. I really appreciate that the character of Destiny isn’t one of the people from the regular world. At least so far. Keep up the good work. I love the addition of the people to the land of the west or east, the orcs, I don’t know what you’re calling them. As a young woman has always felt a bit like an outsider in the high fantasy genre, I really appreciate the work you’re putting out and the complex characters you guys are bringing to the story. (I don’t think you have too many storylines happening. Not hard to follow at all. I think you could add more aspects to the story if you wanted.) Big thumbs up to the cast as well. I really love how your voice actors are trying to take on their characters and offering ideas for the show. The difference in accents for the races is really helpful in an audio drama. And I think all your actors do a splendid job. Again, keep up the great work. Can’t wait for the next season chapter thingy to come out in September. Hopefully? Love what you’re doing. Also that jab at all your listeners “not having lives” at the end of your last Q&A is totally true. If I didn’t have lots of work that I could do by myself, I would not be able listen this podcast lol.

I discovered this show late last week & have binged it to completion already! I especially love that you guys aren’t afraid to hit harder topics. It’s such a great show & I can’t wait for more, keep up the great work!

With GOT coming to an end this Sunday, I was on the hunt for a new podcast that had a nice fantasy vibe. This totally did the trick. I have been listening for 2 days and am already on episode 35. I am addicted and am so happy I found this! Keep up the great work!

This is one I look forward to every time an episode comes out. Whimsical and funny but serious when it needs to be. Characters are all great, the voice acting, sound effects and music are all superb. My favorite character is by far David the elf, hilariously written and acted. Normally I’m not a fan of fantasy where the characters get transported to a different world, but this show has broken me of that. Keep the content coming!

Really well done. I listen to a lot of fiction podcasts and TOAFN is probably the highest quality in terms of production and story line. My only gripe is that it takes so long for new episodes, but all good things come in time. Love it!

I came across this podcast a few weeks ago while looking for a non-TTRPG fantasy podcast. I wasn’t sure I’d like it, but I gave it a try & it’s quickly become one of my favorite podcasts! I really can’t recommend TOAFN enough. It’s a great story, with great characters who have a lot of growth and development, & great writing.

the voice acting is okay but its not 3d audio. the jock is a simple character who is annoying and keeps making cheesy dad-level jokes, why is he a protagonist. Also, It says a lot when you have a narrator, describe every situation in the story. why does one character have a freaking boston accent, pick your settings rightly people. this is clearly done by a bunch of high school play writers.

I’ve binge listened to this podcast and become a Patreon in three days. It is that good. I love the narration, the strong female characters, and storyline is gripping. Can’t wait for a Season 3!

It’s a fun ride if you want something that has humor and a good plot. Sometimes it’s hard to tell voices a part but not this podcast! If you like fantasy with humor and heart definitely give this a listen!

I never know what to write in reviews but I enjoy the story and it’s evolution so far I can’t wait to see where it goes from here!

Blaze it

What can I say about this beautifully crafted story that other more clever people haven't already? It burrowed its way into my earholes and reminded me of the power words have.

I have no idea how I found this podcast, but I'm glad I did! It's definitely one of my favorites.

I’m totally addicted to this story and the voice actors are great, but THE CRYING BABY. Does the baby need to be constantly crying in the background? It’s driving me insane. Shooting for realism, I guess?

This show was recommended to me and, frankly, I expected a run-of-the-mill dungeons and dragons knockoff thing some kids did in their basement. However, this was not the case! Characters go against stereotype and are actually developed! The plot is well written and the actors are first rate! To The Once and Future Nerd crew: you rock!

The first set of episodes doesn’t have the best audio quality. It sounds like everyone is in a really big echoey room. However, the quality gets drastically better. The story also takes a little bit to ramp up but it is so worth it. Once all the threads start, every episode is amazing. The creators manage to keep the fantasy plot captivating while also infusing it with really good social commentary. The cast is quite an ensemble so some characters will inevitably not be quite as developed but I’m not even halfway through so I have high hopes everybody will get their moments to become more fleshed out. Definitely give it a try and personally, o think it’s very bingeworthy.