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Advent 6: the Books of Abarat by Clive Barker
Music
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube
111.6: the Books of Abarat by Clive Barker
magic
105: Dune by Frank Herbert
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Dune by Frank Herbert Dune (1984 film) directed by David Lynch Frank Herbert’s Dune (TV miniseries) Dune (2021 film) directed by Denis Villeneuve
Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 01:47 // Extra 20:17 // Remarks 26:06 (transhumanism, worms as dragons, ecological mysteries) // Media 36:39 (screen versions, best actors, RPGs)
Patreon
Support this podcast on The Fictoplasm Patreon!
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear, “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
103: Verdigris Deep by Frances Hardinge
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Verdigris Deep by Frances Hardinge
Intro 00:06 // Synopsis 01:00 // Remarks 10:21 (small communities, NPCs’ desires, surprise powers and downsides, the spirit world) // Media 19:58 (Amelie, Wonderfalls, Touch, Joan of Arcadia)
Patreon
Support this podcast on The Fictoplasm Patreon!
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear, “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
100: The Invisibles by Grant Morrison
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The Invisibles (volume 1) by Grant Morrison
Intro 00:06 // Synopsis of volume 1 01:48 // Remarks 20:13 (Mage: the Ascension and Department V) // Media 32:21 (The Matrix, Over the Edge, Nephilim, Sorcerer, Unknown Armies, Continuum, The Mega City Book Club Podcast)
Patreon
Support this podcast on The Fictoplasm Patreon!
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear, “Cylinder 5”, “Cylinder 4” and “Cylinder 7” from Cylinders, “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
99: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (patron’s choice)
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Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Intro 00:06 // Synopsis 01:16 // Remarks 08:39 (unreliable narrators, how to host a murder mystery, closed worlds, the dead) // Media 25:19 (The Sunken Land Begins To Rise Again, plus games, video games)
Patreon
Support this podcast on The Fictoplasm Patreon!
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear and “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
98: Marvel 1602 with Paul Baldowski
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With special guest Paul Baldowski of Just Crunch games, author of the Dee Sanction, The Cthulhu Hack and more!
Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 02:53 (spotting Marvel characters, Strange=Dee and Fury=Walsingham, pocket universes, three act structure, hating on bards) // Commentary 35:50 (the Dee Sanction and the Cthulhu Hack, the Duffer’s Guide to Historical Roleplaying and why you should visit actual bookshops) // Media 1:10:58 (Maelstrom, Mage: the Sorcerer’s Crusade, GURPS supplements, Lords of Creation, Luther Arkwright, The Discovery of Witches, The Irregulars, The Nevers) // Contact info for Paul 1:30:45
Books mentioned are The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer, and The Arch-Conjurer of England: John Dee by Glyn Parry (Guardian review), as well as the current printing of Maelstrom (Arion games).
All Rolled Up at UKGE
If you’re listening to this when the podcast is hot off the press, All Rolled Up will be at UKGE! Check the end of the podcast for the stand. If you’re not going, buy their stuff online, and contact Paul at twitter.com/cthulhuhack and twitter.com/deesancion
Patreon
Support this podcast on The Fictoplasm Patreon!
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear and “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
96: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
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Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 02:25 // Remarks 12:12 (paired characters 12:16, locked room mysteries and LARP 20:38, magic and Thanergy 26:52) // Media 32:01 (Sabriel)
Patreon
Support this podcast on The Fictoplasm Patreon!
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear and “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
94: The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
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The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 02:00 // Remarks 13:08 (magic, history, time travel, fate and determinism) // Other Media 31:08 (Time and Again, Bid Time Return, TimeCop, Continuum)
Links
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear // “Cylinder Four”, “Cylinder Six” and “Cylinder Eight” from Cylinders // “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
91: The Princess Bride
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The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Intro 00:06 // Synopsis 01:32 // Themes 09:59 (Ruritania, Inigo Montoya) // RPG combat systems 28:50 (Lace & Steel, The Riddle of Steel, Burning Wheel, Three Rivers) // Media 41:50 (Le Bossu, The Duellists, Hawk the Slayer)
Links
- Dave Rawlings of the London Longsword Academy discusses the Princess Bride and other films
- Lace & Steel on DrivethruRPG
- Past Fictoplasm episodes including The King in Yellow and a Coda, The Land of Laughs, The Prisoner of Zenda, Pale Fire
- Film: Le Bossu, The Duellists, Hawk the Slayer
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear // “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
90: Invisible City
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This episode Ralph is joined by Tom McGrenery to discuss the Brazillian urban fantasy Netflix series Invisible City
Timestamps
Synopsis 02:51 // Themes I: Brazilian Myth 18:29 // Themes II: Urban Fantasy 29:24 // Media 58:30 (Changeling the Dreaming, Nephilim, Highlander, Elephant and Macaw Banner, Hilda) // Tom’s other stuff 71:50 (Revolution comes to the Kingdom, Mean by Scene, Fear of a Black Dragon)
Links
You can find The Elephant and Macaw Banner (as well as Tom’s other games such as Malandros, and other translations of games like UED: You Are The Resistance) at Porcupine Publishing
Tom’s Patreon where you can find Revolution Comes To The Kingdom (which he also talks about on the FoaBD podcast)
The Mean by Scene podcast
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear // “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
Episode 71: Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip (fantasy cities pt. 3)
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Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip
Show Notes
Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 02:21 // Commentary 12:39 // Modelling the shadow city 13:00 // Crossing between worlds 14:55 // Mapping 22:53 // Further Reading 30:50
Links
Corpathium (lastgaspgrimoire.com)
Other fiction mentioned in the episode
Neverwhere and Sandman: World’s End by Neil Gaiman The City and The City by China Mieville Wanted by Mark Millar The Invisibles (and Marvel Boy) by Grant Morrison The films Night Watch and Day Watch
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear // “Cylinder Nine” from Cylinders // “Take off and shoot a Zero” from Stunt Island // “I don’t know where I’d be without it” and “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
Episdode 70: Rats and Gargoyles by Mary Gentle (cities pt. 2)
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Rats and Gargoyles by Mary Gentle
Rats and Gargoyles by Mary Gentle
Show Notes
Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 05:30 // Commentary 36:05 // Bleed 36:05 // Magic 39:09 // Magicians, Runequest and Mage: The Ascension 41:01 // Dialect 47:14 // Resources 53:45 (Yates, Agrippa, Authentic Thaumaturgy)
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear // “Cylinder Nine” from Cylinders // “Take off and shoot a Zero” from Stunt Island // “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
Episode 68: Mythago Wood and Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock
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Mythago Wood and Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock
Show Notes
Synopsis 01:10 // Mythago Wood 01:15 (plot dump 02:46) // Lavondyss 08:27 (Blavatsky 08:30) // Themes 20:07 // “British rural fantasy” 20:07 (Robin of Sherwood, Children of the Stones, Century Falls) // The “rural fantasy formula” 22:37 // Landscape 26:09 (Wizardry and Wild Romance, M John Harrison’s “great clomping foot of nerdism”) // Three perspectives on the Mythago 31:10 // RPG 33:33 (liminal fantasy, representing ) // Afterthoughts 38:32 (Pale Assassins, etc.)
Links
Quite a few references here.
For podcasts check out The Grognard Files episodes on Robin of Sherwood, part 1 and part 2, and The Good Friends of Jackson Elias on Heaven and Earth
And from this podcast, check out the episodes for Pale Fire, The Magicians, The Land of Laughs, The King in Yellow part 1 and part 2
About Michael Moorcock’s Wizardry and Wild Romance
An old blog post on Department V including M John Harrison’s Very Afraid essay and link to Warren Ellis’s blog
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear // “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
Episode 61: King in Yellow coda
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This is a companion to and additional content that didn’t make into Episode 60.
The King In Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
Show Notes
Plot and Setting 01:56 // Themes and Images 07:10 (False Documents, vectors, Tommy Westphall, Dollhouse, Snow Crash, Marvel Boy, The Invisibles, Kult, Hellraiser) // The RPG bit 19:23 (Freeform Games, Carcosan Bingo)
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear // “Cylinder One”, “Cylinder Six” and “Cylinder Eight” from Cylinders // “Another Version Of You” from Thoughtless
Episode 58: Imajica part 3
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Imajica by Clive Barker
(chapters 43-62, approx 450 of 1100 pages)
Show Notes
Synopsis 00:40 // Themes 12:05 // Wonderlands of Flesh and Blood by Christian Daumann 12:15 // Metaphors for the body 13:41 // The Patriarchal God 14:44 // Gender: female 15:22 // Gender: male 18:41 // Pie’oh’Pah 20:34 // Carnivale and the grotesque 21:53 // Corporeal transformation and extension 27:53 // Cities 28:05 (City Accelerated) // Games 30:56 // Mechanising gender 32:35 // LARP is awful 33:36 // Sagas of the Icelanders 36:01 // Representing the spirit 40:42 // Nephilim 41:50 // Imajica card game 46:28
Wonderlands in Flesh and Blood by Christian Daumann
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear // “Another Version Of You” from Thoughtless
Episode 57: Imajica part 2
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Imajica by Clive Barker
(chapters 18-42, approx 500 of 1100 pages)
Show Notes
Synopsis 00:35 // Themes 13:25 // What is Portal Fantasy? 13:52 // The sub-genre (self-contained, relative to our world, superstructures, identity, travellers, geography) 17:25// Dopplegangers 26:00 // Games (Portal Rats, Day Trippers, Lords of Gossamer and Shadow, Everway, Grand Tableau) 32:33
Links
Bibliography
- Coraline by Neil Gaiman
- Jerry Cornelius by Michael Moorcock
- Everness series by Ian McDonald
- Zenith by Grant Morrison
Blog posts
Other Games
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear // “Another Version Of You” from Thoughtless
Episode 56: Imajica by Clive Barker pt1
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This is the first in a series of 3 episodes discussing Imajica by Clive Barker, covering chapters 1-17.
Show Notes
Synopsis 04:45 // Themes 16:39 in which I rant about 1e vs 2e Vampire the Masquerade, plus some waffle about the Urban Fantasy genre // Games Keeping Urban Fantasy “fresh” 21:15 // Department V (embarassing nostalgia; Blavatsky, Atlantean Colonies; Arktos) 31:36 // Options for interesting modern fantasy (Conspiracy X 2.0; Silent Legions; why PbtA sucks for mystery games)
Music Credits
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear // “Another Version Of You” from Thoughtless
Episode 51: fiction within fiction, part 1 (The Magicians, When the Dark is Gone)
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This is the first of a series looking at secondary worlds that exist as known fiction inside a primary, fictional world. In this episode Ralph tackles Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, and talks to Becky Annison about her game When the Dark is Gone.
Show Notes
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
When the Dark is Gone, a game by Becky Annison, part of the Seven Wonders anthology
Synopsis 00:56 // Themes and remarks 05:38 // When the Dark is Gone with Becky Annison 14:00 // end bit 44:05
Music Credits
All of the music in this podcast was composed and performed by Chris Zabriskie (chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive). This episode included Is That You Or Are You You? from Reappear, Cylinder Three, Cylinder Four and Cylinder Nine from Cylinders, and Another Version Of You from Thoughtless.
Episode 310: The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
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For our second seasonal episode Ralph and Liz discuss Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising as part of the worldwide #thedarkisreading hashtag.
Show Notes
The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
Elizabeth Lovegrove and Ralph Lovegrove
- Synopsis 00:35
- Themes 10:50
- Comparisons with The Box Of Delights
- Winter and isolation
- Myth and prophecy
- Time travel
- Transformed landscape
- RPG bit 22:55
- Ralph’s idea: The Dark Is Rising meets The Hunger Games meets Power Rangers/Chronicle
- Liz’s idea: The Dark Is Rising without the supernatural
- Dialect
- Alas Vegas and Yet Already
- Last words 34:30
Music Credits
“Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear by Chris Zabriskie
“But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton” from Direct To Video by Chris Zabriskie
Episode 309: The Box of Delights by John Masefield
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Just in time for Christmas, Ralph and Liz discuss the book and TV series of the children’s fantasy The Box of Delights by John Masefield.
Show Notes
The Box of Delights by John Masefield
Adapted for the BBC by Alan Seymour
- Synopsis 01:05
- Themes 10:15
- Pagan myth vs. warring magicians
- Sapphire and Steel vs. Dr Who
- The RPG bit 25:05
- Night Witches, Malandros, Tales from the Loop
- A Taste for Murder
- Monsterhearts
- The Just City by Jo Walton
- Coming soon: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
Music Credits
“Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear by Chris Zabriskie
“But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton” from Direct To Video by Chris Zabriskie
Episode 304: The Changeover by Margaret Mahy
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This episode Liz, Ralph and guest Rhiannon Lassiter experience a magical awakening in Margaret Mahy’s The Changeover
Show Notes
The Changeover by Margaret Mahy
Rhiannon Lassiter, Elizabeth Lovegrove, Ralph Lovegrove
- Synopsis 2:55
- Themes 6:30
- RPG bit 22:40
- Liz’s game 22:45
- Rhi’s game 26:55
- Ralph’s idea 30:57
- Closing 42:36
Music Credits
“Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear by Chris Zabriskie
“But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton” from Direct To Video by Chris Zabriskie
Summer Special: Beyond the Wall
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In this seasonal special, Ralph interviews John Cocking and Peter Williams, authors of Beyond the Wall.
Show Notes
Ralph Lovegrove with John Cocking and Peter Williams of Flatland Games.
About Flatland Games 00:30 // Reading background 01:35 // Fantasy and D&D 04:40 // Swallows and Amazons 05:40 // Aiming for a roleplaying experience 07:05 // The lone wolf hero in fiction and RPGs 08:30 // The World of Darkness 10:45 // A shout out for Dragon Warriors 18:35 // How Beyond the Wall came to be 20:45 // What is the “D&D experience”? 24:30 // A four year-old’s perspective on system matching 25:55 // The lingua franca 29:30 // The playbooks and layers for other D&D 31:05 // BtW’s spells (and Ars Magica) 33:10 // Design — what came first? 36:25 // BtW and Appendix N 41:40 // Other fiction properties that should be RPGs 43:00 // Your favourite Eternal Champion (Ralph blathers a bit here…) 44:50 // Stormbringer RPG 48:30 // US-UK cross-cultural 49:20 // Flatland Games’ other offerings (Action Movie World, Wizard’s Museum Construction Kit) 52:20
Music credits
“Cylinder Eight“ and “Cylinder Nine” from Cylinders by Chris Zabriskie
Episode 214: Kill the Dead by Tanith Lee
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This episode Liz, Becky and Ralph hang around long after they should have moved on, chatting about Kill the Dead by Tanith Lee.
Show Notes
Kill the Dead by Tanith Lee
Elizabeth Lovegrove and Becky Annison with Ralph Lovegrove
Synopsis 00:30 // Comments 02:15 // Sabriel 19:15 // RPG bit starts 21:10 // Liz’s game 21:20 // (Ralph’s superhero WaRP) 23:00 // (Lights, Camera, Action!) 28:10 // Becky’s Game 34:40 // Witch: the Road to Lindisfarne 35:15 // The Mountain Witch 38:10 // Ralph’s Game 40:10 // Wraith 43:20 // (it takes two, baby) 46:35 // Did we like it? (plus other works: Elephantasm, Night’s Master, Don’t Bite The Sun) 47:50 // The Blake’s 7 connection 51:00
Music credits
“Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear by Chris Zabriskie
“But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton” from Direct To Video by Chris Zabriskie
Xmas Episode 02: Our Picks
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We pitch 7 books for future consideration.
Show Notes
Mo Holkar, Josh Fox, Elizabeth Lovegrove, Ralph Lovegrove
The books:
- Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
- No Good Men Among The Living by Anand Gopal
- Factoring Humanity by Robert Sawyer
- The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon
- The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker
Mo’s bit (Vonnegut) 00:40 // Josh’s bit (Gopal, Sawyer) 08:10 // Liz’ bit (Chambers, Austen) 17:50 // Ralph’s bit (Stapledon, Barker) 25:30
Other Stuff
M. John Harrison’s essay on the Great Clomping Foot of Nerdism from Warren Ellis’ blog (original can be found via Wayback Machine)
Music credits
“I can’t imagine where I’d be without it” and “Another version of you” both from Thoughtless by Chris Zabriskie
Xmas Episode 01: Lyonesse by Jack Vance
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In this special holiday episode Dave, Tim and Ralph talk about Jack Vance’s exceptional fantasy trilogy Lyonesse.
Show Notes
The Lyonesse Trilogy by Jack Vance
Ralph Lovegrove with special guests Dave Morris and Tim Harford
Synopsis 00:45 // The RPG Bit 28:33 // Skulduggery and The Dying Earth 29:12 // Dragon Warriors 34:56 // Pendragon 56:53 // Whitehack 69:41
Music credits
“Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear by Chris Zabriskie
“But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton” from Direct To Video by Chris Zabriskie
Episode 13pt1: The Course of the Heart by M. John Harrison
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We’ve split our “season finale” into two separate episodes, the first of which is a bit of an experiment — it’s quite short and a solo recording which I did a while ago. But, it’s thematically linked to the next episode, which will follow shortly.
Ralph muses over the liminal fantasy genre and M. John Harrison’s The Course Of The Heart.
“Liminal Fantasy” 00:35 // Synopsis 00:45 // RPG bit 04:05 // Changelings 04:50 // Tarot Tales and The Horse Of Iron 07:55
Music credits
“Cylinder Four“ from Cylinders by Chris Zabriskie
Episode 08: Women of the Otherworld by Kelly Armstrong
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This episode Liz and Becky discuss Kelly Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld and talk about pack mentality
Show Notes
The Women of the Otherworld (series) by Kelly Armstrong
Elizabeth Lovegrove and Becky Annison with Ralph Lovegrove
Synopsis starts at 00:40, RPGs at 16:05
Games
Bite Me! by Becky Annison is a Powered by the Apocalypse Game debuting at the Revelation convention in Sheffield on 25th and 26th February 2017
Other games Ralph mentioned in a desperate attempt to be relevant to the conversation: Werewolf (White Wolf publishing) // Buffy and Angel (now OOP, Eden Studios) // Ghosts of Albion (Eden Studios)
Music credits
“Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear by Chris Zabriskie
“But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton” from Direct To Video by Chris Zabriskie
Episode 07: Roger Zelazny’s Amber
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Ralph and Becky spend an extra-long episode dissecting Roger Zelazny’s Amber, and consider different systems for running an Amberite game
Show Notes
The Amber series by Roger Zelazny
Ralph Lovegrove and Becky Annison
Synopsis 00:15 // World-building 8:10 // RPGs start with Amber Diceless at 19:10 // Lords of Gossamer and Shadow 24:50 // Hillfolk 40:00 // Malandros 41:40 // Everway 50:00
Music credits
“Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear by Chris Zabriskie
“But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton” from Direct To Video by Chris Zabriskie
Episode 02: Sabriel by Garth Nix
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In this episode we claw our way up through the precincts of Death to talk about Sabriel by Garth Nix.
Show Notes
Sabriel by Garth Nix
Ralph Lovegrove and Elizabeth Lovegrove
Games
Beyond the Wall by Flatland Games // Death Comes To Wyverley (Playset for Beyond the Wall) by Ralph Lovegrove // Monsterhearts by Avery McDaldno
Other
Music
“Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear by Chris Zabriskie “But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton” from Direct To Video by Chris Zabriskie (chriszabriskie.com bandcamp free music archive)
“Content” from Music For Podcasts by Lee Rosevere (happy puppy records bandcamp free music archive)