Appendix N Book Club

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Jeff Goad, Ngo Vinh-Hoi, and a rotating roster of special guests discuss the classic adventure, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and weird fiction that inspired the creation of the world's first roleplaying game.

Jeff Goad, Ngo Vinh-Hoi, and special guests


    • May 26, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 58m AVG DURATION
    • 166 EPISODES

    4.8 from 115 ratings Listeners of Appendix N Book Club that love the show mention: appendix n, pulp, dandd, dragons, literary, influence, gaming, books, material, playing, game, analysis, reading, hosts, chemistry, inspired, thoughtful, topic, review, excellent.


    Ivy Insights

    The Appendix N Book Club podcast is a brilliant combination of genre literature and RPG discussion. This podcast offers an intelligent and insightful exploration of the fascinating roots of our gaming hobby, with a wide range of interesting guests to chew it over with. One of the best things about this podcast is that it provides excellent pointers for what books to read, and sometimes what not to. As an author, TTRPGamer, and avid reader myself, this is my favorite podcast. I love the tone, subject matter, format, and how it inspires me to read works I might not have picked up otherwise.

    The hosts of The Appendix N Book Club bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to each episode. They engage in thoughtful discussions about the literature that inspired Dungeons & Dragons, providing fresh perspectives on these seminal works. The chemistry between the hosts is evident, making for enjoyable and engaging conversations. The episodes feature special guests who offer unique insights into the books and their authors. Additionally, the podcast explores the texts from more diverse perspectives, which adds depth to the analysis. Furthermore, I appreciate the modern context in which they discuss these classic works, considering how they can be adapted or stolen for modern tabletop gaming.

    While there aren't many negatives about The Appendix N Book Club podcast, one potential drawback is that some episodes may contain spoilers for those who haven't read the book being discussed. However, even if you haven't read the book beforehand like myself (I'm a maniac who has to read before listening), you can still enjoy most episodes due to the focus on broader issues related to writing and gaming rather than plot summaries.

    In conclusion, The Appendix N Book Club podcast is a must-listen for any gamer – both old school and new school alike. With its excellent guests, consistently interesting takes on pulp literature, sincere love for the source material, and good chemistry between hosts Jeff and Hoi – this podcast stands out as one of the best literary review podcasts available. The analysis is intelligent and entertaining, making it a pleasure to spend time with the hosts and their guests. Whether you're interested in the origins of D&D, exploring classic literature, or simply looking for an enjoyable podcast to listen to, The Appendix N Book Club has got you covered.



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    Latest episodes from Appendix N Book Club

    L. Sprague de Camp's "The Fallible Fiend"

    Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2025 54:46


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss L. Sprague de Camp's "The Fallible Fiend", futtering spouses, the maps in front of fantasy novels, fleshed-out characters, missile weapons, Dave Arneson's rules, picking spells other than Fireball, flavorful book titles, historical fiction with magic, older styles of writing, fantasy novels as reflections of their time, and much more!

    Gretchen Felker-Martin's "Manhunt"

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2025 58:28


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss Gretchen Felker-Martin's "Manhunt", visceral horror-thrillers, section transitions, interchangeable characters, physical descriptions of characters, depictions of trans genitalia, sexualizing a wide varieties of body types, TERFs and anti-vaxxers, replacing PCs with NPCs, the Broo in Runequest, overland exploration in Forbidden Lands, parental access restrictions in libraries, and much more!

    Katherine Kurtz's "Deryni Rising" with our Patron Book Club

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2025 58:03


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss Katherine Kurtz's "Deryni Rising", sarcophagi, achieving literary liftoff, the Brandon-to-Demos scale, fantasy worlds with real-life historical cultures, female fantasy authors writing under their own names, scattered hidden magical races, Empire of the Petal Throne, AD&D psionics, counterspells, adventure hooks to clear a character's name, Dragon Magazine and White Dwarf Magazine on archive.org, and much more!

    James Enge's "Blood of Ambrose" with our Patron Book Club

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2025 57:58


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss James Enge's "Blood of Ambrose", obscure words from classic languages, Scooby Doo episodes, slowing down for character development, The Book of the New Sun books, magic from alchemy, flying horses, world maps, DCC spell corruption, blood that catches fire, other notable works by the author, trial and error, and much more!

    H. Rider Haggard's "She" with our Patron Book Club

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 31, 2024 58:54


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss H. Rider Haggard's "She", the smell of the flame, Haggard's other works, "the things dudes won't do for a hottie", the city of Cambridge, the good earthy feminine logic, being torn between two ill-fated women, the lost race genre, the tombs of an ancient civilization, quaint local customs, being unalive (instead of undead), democracies and tyrants, and much more!

    Charles R. Saunders's "The Quest for Cush"

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2024 59:04


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss Charles R. Saunders's "The Quest for Cush", the Swahili glossary, the shame of the King County Library system, fiction as gaming supplements, inversions of traditional sword and sorcery, Burroughs's Mythic Africa, the Mary Sue problem, Greeks in Egypt, a dungeon under quicksand, responsible and dilligent city guards, Imaro as a demigod,, and much more!

    Edgar Rice Burroughs's "The Gods of Mars" with our Patron Book Club

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 4, 2024 61:51


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss Edgar Rice Burroughs's "The Gods of Mars", John Carter in a blond wig, repetitiveness in Edgar Rice Burroughs's works, French words, female characters' screen time, the Tree of Life, fainting characters, early examples of megadungeons, helpful ghosts, constantly escalating tension and perils, authors inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs, wish-fullfillment protagonists, and much more!

    Dan Simmons's "Hyperion” with our Patron Book Club

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2024 69:45


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss Dan Simmons's "Hyperion”, listening to audio books at work, Vaults of Vaarn, prescient fiction, choosing whether or not to continue on with fiction series, the Dying Earth, ambiguous endings, failed attempts at humor, the author's current politics, chase scenes, Shadowdark, roasting bestsellers, reading books outside of our comfort zone, plans for the future of the show, and much more!

    Episode 146 – Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s "A Canticle for Leibowitz” with our Patron Book Club

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2024 70:40


    This episode is dedicated to Rick Byrne. Please consider sending a gift to support Leukemia research at UCSF: UCSF Foundation, PO Box 45339, San Francisco, CA 94145 or make a gift online at makeagift.ucsf.edu. Please be sure to note that the gift is in memory of Rick Byrne to support the Leukemia research of Dr. Neil Dunivan.

    Episode 145 – Michael Moorcock's "The Mad God's Amulet” with our Patron Book Club

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2024 59:36


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss Michael Moorcock's "The Mad God's Amulet, Michael Moorcock's love of arcane texts, action scenes, hyperviolence and gore, following expectations, whimsical supporting characters, battles over land and sea, reskinning monsters for science-fantasy, a device that can unlock any lock, the Devil's Rejects, our friend Rick Byrne, and much more!

    Episode 144 – Gustave Flaubert's "Salammbô” with special guest Robert Poyton

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2024 58:38


    Robert Poyton joins us to discuss Gustave Flaubert's "Salammbô”, October horror films, the etymology of Hygaxian words, Howardian prose, varied treasures, the French "oh là là", the literary influences of Clark Ashton Smith, the diversity of intersecting cultures in North Africa, African nations, horse nomads, cult generators, unearthly treasure hoards, and much more!

    Episode 143 – Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” with special guest Tim Mendees

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2023 58:01


    Tim Mendees joins us to discuss Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell”, the dangers of massive hardbacks, literary rabbit holes, the Dorset dialect, cursing those who have wronged us, classist hypocrits, the couragousness that comes with conviction, interdimensional travel through reflective surfaces, interesting and flavorful spells, failing sanity rolls, faerie rewards, and much more!

    Episode 142 – Robert Asprin's "Thieves' World" with special guest Brian Yaksha

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2023 59:38


    Brian Yaksha joins us to discuss Robert Asprin's "Thieves' World", the give and take of what you're going to give to the audience, fantasy shared worlds, Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar, Aragorn's tax plan, Machiavelli, passing off as older for added credibility, rotating GMs, bespoke stat blocks, power levels, player character points of entry, random tables, and much more!

    Episode 141 – Edgar Rice Burroughs's "A Princess of Mars" with special guest Goran Gligovic

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2023 58:32


    Goran Gligovic joins us to discuss Edgar Rice Burroughs's "A Princess of Mars", Asterix and Obelix, the Library of Wonder, Tarzan, being 30 for as long as you can remember, main characters as blank canvases, Robert E. Howard, the Fighting Man class in OD&D, when to embrace realism and when to eschew it, Frank Frazetta's action scenes, gargoyles taking a piss, a brightly dressed Elric, and much more!

    Episode 140 – Lloyd Alexander's "The Book of Three" with special guest Becky Annison

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2023 59:08


    Becky Annison joins us to discuss Lloyd Alexander's "The Book of Three", the Dungeons and Dragons movie, dwarven guides, Welsh myth, characters with firm personality hooks, spaghetti westerns, the Black Cauldron, clear linear mission paths, giving each character their moment, changing the stakes of successes, horror mechanics, destroying books or cards for art, and much more!

    Episode 138 – Jack Vance's "Cugel's Saga" with special guest Brad Kerr

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2023 58:53


    Brad Kerr joins us to discuss Jack Vance's "Cugel's Saga", virtual tabletops, Brom, pompous vocabulary, whimsical characters, world-class worldbuilding, being nickel-and-dimed by the boss, moving from one grift to the next, interesting mounts, making monsters more mysterious, D&D 4E, being your own boss, and much more!

    Episode 138 – George MacDonald's "Phantastes" with special guest Conner Habib

    Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2023 59:52


    Conner Habib joins us to discuss George MacDonald's "Phantastes", D&D's influence on a young person's imagination, Irish mythology, the art of Gervasio Gallardo, a focus on environment over character, main characters as blank slates, living in a perpetual state of wonder, how people are changed by their history of trauma, readers seeking the consequences of character actions, the woods as both a singular living entity and a collection of entities, the making of meaning after a story is finished, loss of innocence, and much more!

    Patron Book Club 137 – William Gibson's "Neuromancer" with our Patron Book Club

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 17, 2023 59:04


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss William Gibson's "Neuromancer", hypnogogic images, heists with scifi crap on top, retrofuturism, slow-moving death, the Velvet Underground, Dan Brown novels, splitting the party, simstims, genetic engineering in RPGs, cyperpunk RPGs, sentient AIs, and much more!

    Episode 137 – William Gibson's "Neuromancer" with special guest Nathaniel Webb

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 3, 2023 59:13


    Nathaniel Webb joins us to discuss William Gibson's "Neuromancer", D&D Next playtests, self-contained cities in a building, people writing fiction written by Chat-GPT, action/heist stories, ninjas and Rastafarians, getting the heist team together, the hacker's role in a cyberpunk game, Tom Clancy novels, quick dramatic actions, player-facing tools, cozy fantasy, and much more!

    Episode 136 – Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" with special guest Yochai Gal

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2023 58:25


    Yochai Gal joins us to discuss Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", Ursula K. LeGuin, Cairn's influences, Book of the New Sun, the Blade Runner movie, androids and empathy, what makes a belief system valid, Philip K. Dick's less approachable works, sex as a survival strategy, current concerns about AI, cyberpunk LARPs, Jack Vance, and much more!

    Episode 135 – Caroline Stevermer's "A College of Magics" with special guest Katrin Dirim

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2023 55:42


    Katrin Dirim joins us to discuss Caroline Stevermer's "A College of Magics", the diverse gaming scene in Turkey, YA book covers, politically correct highwaymen, the price that magic extracts, inevitable Harry Potter comparisons, the changing experiences of college students, playing the outsider, Dungeon Crawl Classics luck checks, players who struggle stepping into the spotlight, hat bombs, and much more!

    Patron Book Club 134 – Michael Chabon's "Gentlemen of the Road" with our Patron Book Club

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2023 60:31


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss Michael Chabon's "Gentlemen of the Road", miniature wargaming, doing "a Jeff" by listening to the audiobook, Robert E. Howard's Middle Eastern adventures, melancholy guys dressed in black, the role of the animals in the story, surviving in a ruined temple, dual power structures, chloroform mini-games, five-page backstories, being rewarded in-game for bringing in aspects of your character, hitting Wikipedia hard, and much more!

    Episode 133 – Michael Chabon's "Gentlemen of the Road" with special guest Bill Gosline

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 6, 2023 59:08


    Bill Gosline joins us to discuss Michael Chabon's "Gentlemen of the Road", reading books written for adults as kids, Deities & Demigods as Appendix N, elephant-related words, "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay", smug afterwords, Ren faire troupes, world-building in epic fantasy, world-building around the characters, historical fiction, when magic is not a technology, the future demise of Twitter, and much more!

    Episode 133 – Poul Anderson's "Operation Chaos” with special guest Andy from Breakfast in the Ruins

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2023 59:34


    Andy from Breakfast in the Ruins joins us to discuss Poul Anderson's "Operation Chaos”, homemade ginger beer, Moorcock's influence on the fantasy genre, frothing latter-day conspiracy theorist wet dreams, the limitations of the word lycanthropy, main characters who suck, heroes defending the military industrial complex, Anderson's influence on Moorcock, Van Helsing the Cleric, werewolves as player characters, Gygaxian naturalism, statting up Christian mythology, and much more!

    Episode 132 – Scott Oden's "A Gathering of Ravens" with special guest Rick Byrne

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2023 58:31


    Rick Byrne joins us to discuss Scott Oden's "A Gathering of Ravens", demons in Norse mythology, purging darkness with creativity, faction play, the various Viking lands, grim dark, authentic Irish representation, giving monsters meaning, Orc morality, periods of transition, Conan, the number 42, and much more!

    Episode 131 – P. Djèlí Clark's "A Master of Djinn" with special guest Maxwell Lander

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 26, 2022 59:35


    Maxwell Lander joins us to discuss P. Djèlí Clark's "A Master of Djinn", programming VR games, conversational RPGs, Audible audiobooks, villains plotting since childhood, the steampunk literary genre, when men write women, antisocial characters, Tunnel Goons, Shadowrun, freaky angels, anti-colonial violence, and much more!

    Patron Book Club 130 – Arkady & Boris Strugatsky's "Hard to Be a God" with our Patron Book Club

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2022 60:18


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss Arkady & Boris Strugatsky's "Hard to Be a God”, impecunious dons, Brave New World, the Soviet Union in the 1960s, de-Stalinization, going straight to feudalism to fascism, the stench of the 18th century, saving artists to advance society, the great expansion of man, the collaboration between criminals and reactionary religious clashes to create facism, the 2007 video game adaptation, The Worm Ouroboros, and much more!

    Episode 130 – Arkady & Boris Strugatsky's "Hard to Be a God" with special guest Aaron King

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2022 59:17


    Aaron King joins us to discuss Arkady & Boris Strugatsky's "Hard to Be a God”, West Marches-style gaming, fantasy bestiaries, impecunious dons, astronauts in the middle ages, the character arcs of doomed nobles, the inherent tension that exists from generation to generation, keeping each other safe in the dirt, playing with Barbies, Warhammer 40K, characters using their imagination to see their future, our patron book clubs, and much more!

    Episode 129 – Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Farthest Shore" with special guest Joshua Phillip Johnson

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2022 60:00


    Joshua Phillip Johnson joins us to discuss Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Farthest Shore", elves named Josh, media being smarter than us, Audible audiobooks, hanging in Hort Town, magic being leached from the world, ideas of power and kingship, the importance of mentorship, journeying from the quiet places to the places where stuff happens, adult themes in YA lit, warriors' powers being looked at as magic, the reason for the season, and much more!

    Episode 128 – Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere” with special guest Jim Hall

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2022 59:43


    Jim Hall joins us to discuss Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere”, art school, crunchy combat, time loops, manic pixie dream girls, the Tony Blair-era of the UK, addressing audience needs, ideas for the sequel, using the Floating Market in an Underdark campaign, journeying into the underworld, D&D as a combat game, his monthly zine, and much more!

    Patron Book Club 127 – Robert E. Howard's "Conan the Conqueror" with our Patron Book Club (Part 2)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2022 67:24


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss Robert E. Howard's "Conan the Conqueror", art pull-outs in paperbacks, the de Camp vs the Karl Edward Wagner introductions, sword and sorcery tropes, Conan's Greatest Hits, Shakespearean battles, Conan in disguise as a headsman, wanting to spend more time in Stygia, the dangers on the left path, mummy tour guides, smaller villains, August Derleth's landscapes, Savage Worlds RPG, The Tower of the Elephant, and much more!

    Patron Book Club 127 – Robert E. Howard's "Conan the Conqueror" with our Patron Book Club (Part 1)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2022 58:49


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss Robert E. Howard's "Conan the Conqueror", the terrible glue on Lancer paperbacks, Howard's attempts to reach the English audience, the reach of Weird Tales Magazine, Conan's anti-colonialist stance, Howard's horror writing, de Camp's editing, vampires, evil priests, killer illusions, the Hyborian Age as a living and breathing world, Call of Cthulhu RPG for sword and sorcery, and much more!

    Episode 127 – Robert E. Howard's "Conan the Conqueror” with special guest Eric Johnson

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2022 59:29


    Eric Johnson joins us to discuss Robert E. Howard's "Conan the Conqueror”, artists to draw visual inspiration from, de Camp's editorial choices, the rabbit hole of research involved in writing historical fiction, The People of the Black Circle, 10,000 year old hotties, Howard's attitudes toward civilization, The Whole Wide World, Mystara, A Song of Ice and Fire, evil temples packed with unspeakable horrors, Raymond Chandler, and much more!

    Episode 126 – William Hope Hodgson's "Carnacki the Ghost-Finder” w/ special guest James Mendez Hodes

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2022 59:16


    James Mendez Hodes joins us to discuss William Hope Hodgson's "Carnacki the Ghost-Finder”, Sonic the Hedgehog fandom, changing conversations around cultural appropriation, Harlem detectives, Greek translations, disembodied limbs, the journey down the magical hog hole, Arthur Conan Doyle stories, the Trail of Cthulhu RPG, avoiding stereotypes when playing races other than your own, GMs falling asleep at the table, offers to help with high school projects, and much more!

    Episode 125 – Michael Shea's "A Quest for Simbilis” with special guest Jason Cordova

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 22, 2022 59:07


    Jason Cordova joins us to discuss Michael Shea's "A Quest for Simbilis”, Powered by the Apocalypse games, the correct pronunciation of Cugel, gothic horror, the publishing world in the 1970s, Lovecraftian horror fiction, high stakes games of strip poker, moving from absurdity to horror in an instant, crunchier traditional game systems, comedic hijinks, high fantasy vs sword and sorcery, fantasy fiction in the 80s and 90s, and much more!

    Episode 124 – Michael Moorcock's "The Knight of the Swords” with special guest Stefan Surratt

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 8, 2022 55:04


    Stefan Surratt joins us to discuss Michael Moorcock's "The Knight of the Swords”, other aspects of worldbuilding, uncaring beings of great power, loss of innocence, fantasy genocides, the Dresden bombings, the Vadaugh as elves, Daniel J. Bishop magic items, gods with cool and specific spheres of influence, the Lords of Law, our Patreon, and much more!

    Episode 123 – Fritz Leiber's "The Knight and Knave of Swords" with special guest Ahimsa Kerp

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 24, 2022 53:43


    Ahimsa Kerp joins us to discuss Fritz Leiber's "The Knight and Knave of Swords", Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser in Riverside, ooh naughty sexy times, sex-obsessed adventurers, the city of Lankhmar, transgressive swords and sorcery, aging characters in fantasy RPGs, moon priestesses, pushing luck mechanics, having identifiably unique cultures, mythic Greece, and much more!

    Episode 122 – E.R. Eddison's "The Worm Ouroboros” with special guest Caroline Stevermer

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 11, 2022 59:44


    Caroline Stevermer joins us to discuss E.R. Eddison's "The Worm Ouroboros”, depictions of Elizabethan masculinity, characters that don't have parents, archaic language, excerpts from Western European literature, understanding characters through their deeds, a woman's virtue measured by her maidenhood, the passage of time in Tolkien's work, the taming the savages trope, the changing landscape of contemporary academia, San Francisco in 1906, and much more!

    Patron Book Club 121 – N.K. Jemisin's "The Fifth Season” with our Patron Book Club

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2022 60:02


    Our Patron Book Club joins us to discuss N.K. Jemisin's "The Fifth Season”, AD&D's obsession with gem names, the tonal resonances between this book and Octavia E. Butler's “Fledgling”, the missing moon, savior narratives, sci-fi slang traditions, a melonated future, meta vs in-text author motivations, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, using Numenera for the Broken Earth setting, being surrounded by superheroes, systemic abuse in youth institutions, and much more!

    Episode 121 – N.K. Jemisin's "The Fifth Season” with special guest Tanya DePass

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2022 58:45


    Tanya DePass joins us to discuss N.K. Jemisin's "The Fifth Season”, Black people cosplaying as White characters, the formation of mountain ranges, effective plot twists, how a Black woman reading a Black woman author might have resonances other people may not, finding new meaning in a text by returning to a piece of fiction later in life, using complex morality in worldbuilding, characters together by necessity rather than being in an adventuring party, Green Ronin RPG systems, how game design is harder than many folks think, how people bring their biases to the games they run, TwitchCon Amsterdam, and much more! The patron poll for episode 129 will drop on Sunday.

    Episode 120 – Peter S. Beagle's "The Last Unicorn” with special guest Brian Cortijo

    Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2022 60:00


    Brian Cortijo joins us to discuss Peter S. Beagle's "The Last Unicorn”, how wars affect settings, irredeemably evil Drow and Orcs, splitting a wizard's gizzard, the melancholy themes of the film and the books, heroics as showmanship, character agency and the consequence of choice, the abundance of printed material available about the Forgotten Realms, having a mythical creature in your adventuring party, games that are more "story forward", game systems and their reliance on dependability, weeping spiders, and much more!

    Episode 117 – Clark Ashton Smith's "The End of the Story" with special guest Matt King

    Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2022 57:42


    Matt King joins us to discuss Clark Ashton Smith's "The End of the Story: The Collected Fantasies, Vol. 1", Italian horror films, Nightshade Press, the Lin Carter anthologies, all the things CAS wants to have sex with, lamias, pulp magazines, cultivating a sense of dread, highways becoming footpaths, Gygax's theoretical stance on CAS, Gary Con, and much more!

    Episode 119 – Octavia E. Butler's “Fledgling” with special guest Tim Hutchings

    Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2022 59:06


    Tim Hutchings joins us to discuss Octavia E. Butler's "Fledgling", modern D&D-insired art, the effect of slavery on language, the book's use of childhood sexuality, vampire fiction of the early 2000s, vampire society, old racist vampires, Thousand Year Old Vampire, power dynamics between vampires and their symbionts, explaining monster lore as a tool for world building, blueberry pies, being terrible at social media, and much more!

    Episode 118 – Peter Bebergal's "Appendix N” with special guest Ian McGarty

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2022 59:03


    Ian McGarty joins us to discuss Peter Bebergal's "Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons & Dragons”, games publishing, lifting magic items from fiction, the Swords Against Darkness anthologies, skeletal vampires, Tanith Lee's wild fiction, Elric and Moonglum, the old school D&D thief class, wanting to die a warrior's death, the Vivimancer class, necromancer PCs, crisp mountain air, and much more!

    Episode 116 – Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Tombs of Atuan" with special guest Noora Rose

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2022 59:51


    Noora Rose joins us to discuss Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Tombs of Atuan", game masters as game designers, non-white people writing fantasy and sci-fi, the trauma of forced identities, sex and intimacy, Le Guin's masterful character development, reclaiming identities, creating barriers with purple prose, cast-and-forget spellcasting, fantasy whodunits, the rising costs of paper, and much more!

    Episode 115 – Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein” with special guest Karlo Yeager Rodríguez

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 21, 2022 59:11


    Karlo Yeager Rodríguez joins us to discuss Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein”, Vampire LARPing, the 1818 vs 1831 texts, Victor Frankenstein as a narrator, Mary Shelley's commentary on the fate of Native Americans, Frankenstein's monster as a metaphor for queer angst, Victor Frankenstein as Lucifer falling from grace, the Bride of Frankenstein, Wraith: The Oblivion, the claim of Frankenstein as the first work of science fiction, and much more!

    Episode 114 – Tim Powers's "Declare” with special guest Pete Johannsen

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2022 57:21


    Pete Johannsen joins us to discuss Tim Powers's "Declare”, using amber beads as tokens, books found on your doorstep, the language and pace of spy novels, the djinn as fallen angels, power as a human motivator, Rube Goldberg occultism, the U.S. vs the Soviet Union, Torg RPG, djinn as ancient vampires, exploring Christian mythology in fiction and gaming, and much more!

    Episode 112 – William Hope Hodgson's "The House on the Borderland” with special guest Lucas Zellars

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2022 58:20


    Lucas Zellars joins us to discuss William Hope Hodgson's "The House on the Borderland”, natural history as a science, out of body experiences, b-movie monsters, horse pistols, geological time, unreliability injected into the fiction, cosmic pigs, Super Mario Bros., and D&D as Capitalism: The Game or Colonialism: The Game, and much more!

    Episode 113 – Michael Moorcock's "The Jewel in the Skull” with special guest Menion (AKA Rob)

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2022 58:36


    Menion (AKA Rob) joins us to discuss Michael Moorcock's "The Jewel in the Skull”, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the influence of Burroughs on Moorcock, the initial emptiness and passivity of Hawkmoon, character motivation, mixing scifi and fantasy, characters being swept up in the current of world events, old-school versus new-school ways of thinking about gaming, what we lose when gaming online, runes as cosmic forces in RuneQuest, the gaming scene in Japan, and much more!

    Episode 111 – Glen Cook's "The Black Company” with special guest Jason Lutes

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2022 59:59


    Jason Lutes joins us to discuss Glen Cook's "The Black Company”, Dungeon World, Ursula K. Le Guin, conquistador helmets, swords-for-hire, what makes a villain, grim dark's celebration of the darkest sides of the human experience, wizards as marketing and PR agents, eating tacos, fantasy metropolises, random words as proper nouns, and much more!

    Episode 110 – Fred Saberhagen's "Changeling Earth” with special guest Rev. Dak Ultimak

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2022 58:28


    Rev. Dak Ultimak joins us to discuss Fred Saberhagen's "Changeling Earth”, the DCC RPG zine scene, reclaiming H.P. Lovecraft, tanks and UFOs in fantasy fiction, the paperback culture of the 1970s, transcending humanity, cosmic horror, evil characters getting their comeuppance, the Luke Skywalker-type protagonist, genre crossing, throwing out the Firearms issue of Crawl, and much more!

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