Beyond the Sectors Podcast

Episode 12: Beyond Surrender

This is the last official book in the Beyond Series but not the last Beyond the Sectors podcast! In this episode Chelsea and Ana gush about Nessa and Ryder's romance and tackle the explosive and powerful way Bree and Donna close out their series and set up what is next for the Sectors.
Chelsea and Ana discuss passion, purpose, loss of innocence, isolation and loneliness, grief, revenge, justice, all the other consequences of war, and the power of the ADHD representation. 

In Beyond Surrender, Nessa, the O'Kane Princess, everyone's little sister and the secret to O'Kanes fabulous liquor finally meets her match. Ryder has lived and trained for one purpose his whole life, and just he finally attains it he comes to realize he has never learned to dream for more, that is until he meets Nessa. Together they will face the ugliest bits of war and dream of life after it.

Also mentioned: Ashwin, Kora, Dallas, Lex, Flash, Amira, Stuart, Finn and pretty much everyone else!

And Ana rants about Knitting and we talk about Bree's crafting and the Kit Rocha Etsy Store.

Please send us your questions for Bree and Donna as we plan to have a special  Q&A episode with them soon!

Books Mentioned:

The Complete Beyond Series Book Bundle
Beyond the HEA Stories
Gideon's Riders
The Silver Devils/Mercenary Librarians

Where to Find us on the Web:

Chelsea Outlaw co-hosts the Not Now I’m Reading podcast with Kay Taylor Rea.  She is @anoutlawlife on Twitter.

Ana Coqui reviews romance, SFF and more at AnaCoqui: Immersed in Books and Love in Panels and on Twitter

 

 

Episode Eleven: Beyond Ecstacsy

Going to war has consequences! In Beyond Ecstasy Hawk and Jeni have been circling around each other for ages but with the start of the war they feel they can't wait any longer. Ana and Chelsea look at the ramifications this rush has on their relationship and discuss the thematic echoes to series themes that are reflected back in different ways in Beyond Ecstasy.

In this episode Ana and Chelsea also talk about the cultural differences between the sectors, agency, marriage rituals and finding overlooked strengths and building from disaster.

Episode Ten: Beyond Ruin

The intense and suspenseful run-up to war and the most complicated relationship dynamics in the series compete for our attention in Beyond Ruin. Ana and Chelsea could have talked forever about this book, and only scratch the surface.
In this episode, our complicated quartet's, Mad, Dylan, Scarlet and Jyoti, emotional scars and secrets are dissected and the ramifications of Eden's surprising assault on Two are discussed.

Ana and Chelsea wrestle with all the forces drawing Mad, Dylan, Scarlet and Jyoti together and the misunderstanding & assumptions that nearly drove them apart as the O'Kanes gear up for war and the sector's political landscape is forever changed.

Chelsea and Ana discuss all the tantalizing new knowledge about Sector One, Bree and Donna drop in Beyond Ruin, from its unique way of life, to the inner workings of the Rios's family and their complicated Theocracy. Also mentioned in this episode are Gideon, Avery, Ashwin & Kora and Marciela.

Episode Nine: Closed Doors & Blank Canvas

In this episode Ana and Chelsea discuss the storytelling and world-building nuggets embedded in these two "Beyond the HEA" vignettes, that explore the growth and changes to Lex, Dallas, Jas, and Noelle, as well as and Rachel, Ace and Cruz 's relationships since the end of their books.

Both books are set as the Sectors and Eden are at the brink of war, and these couples & triads take some time away to be together and showcase how much the series has evolved since we first met them. We talk about the radical acts of hope and love in action that take place in these stories, from momentous choices to smaller promises.

Did you read the vignettes as your worked through the series, or did you discover them after the fact?

Episode Eight: Beyond Innocence

As the world building expands and the plot rapidly picks up pace, Ana and Chelsea spend this episode diving in to what exactly makes it feel just a little different than all the other O'Kane books. They discuss the underlying, often dismissed queerness of both the book and the series, while also noting the variety of ways female agency is expressed and the development of the main theme for the rest of the series: the ability to choose how one fights for the things one loves.

Along the way, Ana and Chelsea also discuss the old Hollywood feel of the novel, the appeal of spy novels, and, of course, the sex on the piano.

This book also sets up the final stages of the relationship between Mad, Scarlet, Jade and Dylan, whom become the central quad of our next book!

Episode Seven: Beyond Possession

Both Ana & Chelsea adore Tatiana, her need for independence, her fierce pride and her determination to survive. And in this episode they breakdown why Tatiana and Zan clash even as she deeply wants Zan in her life & in her bed. Chelsea and Ana discuss just what submission has meant to Tatiana and what Zan has to do to prove that he can respect her needs and be the person she can rely on.

Ana and Chelsea also discuss one of their favorite moments in the whole series involving Lex and her kick-ass posse of O’Kane women and why it is thematically significant in the series.

In this episode Chelsea and Ana also talk about Gia, Lex & Stuart and the important of crafting and labor in the worldbuilding of the Beyond Series.

Episode Six: Beyond Addiction

Finn & Trix's explosive second chance/reunion romance nearly tears the O'Kanes apart. Ana & Chelsea discuss how Kit Rocha combine high-octane action (pulse-pounding escapes, car chases, sneaky heists and armed stand-offs) with quiet emotional conflicts centered on the themes of addiction, acceptance, sacrifice, redemption and trust.

Chelsea and Ana also talk about Zan, Ryder, Jade, Hawk, Mad, Jim Jernigan, Logan and Lili, how shocking it was to see things not go in the O'Kane's way for once, and how a war is undeniably coming.

Episode Five: Beyond Solitude

Beyond Solitude features the most explicitly Hufflepuff/Slytherin pairing yet in the Beyond Universe. Chelsea and Ana discuss how incredibly grumpy Derek Ford is and just how much they love brave and determined Mia.

They also breakdown the power dynamics at the heart of Ford and Mia's tumultuous relationship, discuss what it means to be a resident of Sector Four without being an O'Kane and talk about everything we have come to learn about Sector Two.

Episode Four: Beyond Temptation & Beyond Jealousy

Doubling your pleasure, Ana and Chelsea start this episode with a discussion of Beyond Temptation, Emma & Noah's worldbuilding-heavy novella about painful & dangerous secrets, before getting down and dirty with our favorite triad, Ace, Cruz & Rachel in Beyond Jealousy.

Beyond hot-showers & self-sabotage, Ana & Chelsea deep-dive into Ace, Rachel and Cruz's relationship dynamics, discussing what went wrong, and why we so love this story of learning to let people love you when you feel unworthy or unlovable. Also discussed are all the parents present or absent in Beyond Jealousy from Maddox's ghostly mother, Ace's late mother, Cruz's distant mother to Rachel all too-present meddling father, Liam Riley and how it all connects to the radically different family the O'Kanes are building in Sector Four.

Ana shares how much she loves the variety and complex depictions of Latinx identity in the series and Chelsea expands on why she thinks these two books are a turning point in the series. Chelsea & Ana also discuss learning the difference between mfm and mmf and how that can make all the difference in whether a story works for them or not.

Episode Three: Beyond Pain

In this episode of Beyond the Sectors, Chelsea and Ana lovingly dissect Bren & Six, the cage-matches, the trauma, there-is-more-to-life-than-revenge tropes, flawed found family dynamics and the collision between the political and relational storylines as the O'Kanes try to unravel what has gone wrong in Sector Three.

Bren has been guiding and training Six as she gets to know the O'Kanes, face her past and learn to trust and hope again, but when a villain from his past re-surfaces his need for revenge exposes cracks in his relationships with the gang and almost destroys his relationship with Six.

Listen as we discuss Bren and Six's relationships with their pasts, their kinks, the gang and each other in Beyond Pain.

Also mentioned in this episode are some of the future leads, Noah, Emma, Mad, Scarlet, Ace, Rachel & Cruz including a discussion of Ace's role in helping Six understand Bren's desire and need for pain.

Books mentioned: The Gideon's Riders Series, Beyond Jealousy (4), Beyond Ruin (7), Beyond Temptation (3.5)

We also allude to Beyond Doubt -- Bren and Six's post-HEA #OkaneforLife story.