SPOILERS FOR GIDEON THE NINTH BELOW. Something about the absolute animosity between Gideon Nav and Harrowhark Nonagesimus lets you know…these two crazy kids love each other to death. That something isn’t the vague, zeitgeisty knowledge I had about the novel before ever picking it up (thanks, blogosphere!); nor was it an errant turn left down... Continue Reading →
I have passing knowledge of Alexis Kennedy, one of the two leaders at the head of game developer Weather Factory (the other being Lottie Bevan). I've spent several hours with Cultist Simulator, a game thoroughly disquieting and altogether too complex for me to get after three failed attempts. I've also heard enough about Fallen London... Continue Reading →
Whatever you say about Jonathan Franzen (and there's plenty to say, no small amount of it critical), you can't deny the man his insight. He's a fine writer, as this collection of republished essays proves; though they all originate in the 90s and very early 2000s, few come across as dated; the topics Franzen addresses... Continue Reading →
Before I picked this up, I knew nothing about who James Wood is; having now finished it, I can tell with absolute certainty, he is one of contemporary criticism's most gifted and steadfast voices, a lover of literature through and through. How Fiction Works is among the finest examples of that particular branch of non-fiction... Continue Reading →
Over the last ten months, I've began to look to Rachel Cusk's work with a reverence bordering on religious fervour. Her Outline trilogy* is revelatory, and does what few novels ever manage - it updates character, changes the narrator's role to little more than a lens to look through. Further, it sacrifices that central individuality... Continue Reading →
I'm making a point of examining the great surviving tragedies of Ancient Greece. The time was right, I knew, when a Signet Classics edition of Euripides: Ten Plays looked at me invitingly from a shelf in the Sofia Airport bookstore this January. It's a wonderful pocket edition, and it set me back by three euro.... Continue Reading →
I don't remember how I came across Ecstasy and Terror but I knew when I read its blurb that I would love it. Having read every one of the essays in this collection, I've found myself not only loving it but hungry for more of Mendelsohn's writing. This anthology by Mendelsohn(who is Editor at Large... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgDoV76A3RI I don't necessarily have the best opinion of content I've worked on in the past but I had a friend over this last Friday and I happened to show her the trailer of the recently announced Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 (it looks great, you can see it here) and she'd never heard of the... Continue Reading →
Hello and welcome back to my Dungeon Master's Diary, where I recollect the long and winded tale of my Dungeons&Dragons party, the Assholes. Some time has passed since I last posted about these venerable adventurers. Let's get straight to it! The problem with note-keeping is...sometimes you lose the notes. Others, you're too lazy to write... Continue Reading →
Ah, 80's era fantasy. An era much beloved by many and fairly disliked by some. To me, it's a by-gone age with some great books that hold up really well, and some that...well, don't. Either way, I've been going out of my way to explore this decade's worth of fantasy trends, and--surprise, surprise-- sword'n'sorcery is... Continue Reading →
The Grimoire Reliquary 