Appendix N Book Club

Becky Annison joins us to discuss Roger Zelazny's "Sign of the Unicorn", female authors, murder-mysteries, audiobooks, characters with godlike powers, world-building, rooting games in a setting, one-on-one gaming, making allies out of enemies, using player imagination, gaming in the era of Critical Role, and much more!

Brian Murphy joins us to discuss Andrew J. Offutt's "Swords Against Darkness", reading fantasy fiction as a kid, writing about swords and sorcery, second generation sword and sorcery authors, the understated prose of Poul Anderson, O. Henry's sword and sorcery, multiclass characters, the collected Ryre stories, elves and dwarves in swords and sorcery, sword and planet, and much more!

Jamila R. Nedjadi joins us to discuss Philip José Farmer's "Behind the Walls of Terra”, World of Darkness games, the false divide between the OSR and indie games, simulacrums, motorcycle gangs, one's own mother as a romantic love interest, hippie culture, fiction written by random tables, GMs building on what players give them, PBtA moves, describing modern items as marvelous artifacts, the perfect way to end a session, and much more!

Hoi and Jeff interview Tim Kask, the co-compiler of the Appendix N list, who gives us some interesting insight into its history!

Stacy Dellorfano joins us to discuss Leigh Brackett's "The Best of Leigh Brackett", the OSR, Boris Vallejo, women writing for male audiences, early antiheros, Eric John Stark as the outsider, Pocahontas, using life experiences in monster design, the balance of crunch and fluff, underwater adventures, Lovecraftian horror, and the future of Contessa Con in the quarantine era, and much more!

Evey Lockhart joins us to discuss Clark Ashton Smith's "Poseidonis", dark + quirk, Northern California as Mythic Greece, pulp colonialism, circus folk, horny 15 year olds, Irony as a rollable stat, Troika's resolution system, bug collecting magic, Pathfinder vs. Dungeon World, the joy of a well-designed wizard's tower, and much more!

Sean McCoy joins us to discuss Jack Vance's "Star King", police violence, pulp crime, spaghetti westerns, sci-fi RPGs, Intelligence vs. Wisdom, a future controlled by corporations, off-screen sexual violence, the future of Mothership, and much more!

Angela Murray joins us to discuss Fritz Leiber's "Swords and Ice Magic", avoiding the GM system mastery trap, unlikable protangonists, women as sex objects, learning more about characters than just their physical descriptions, Norse mythology, Death as an adversary, being upfront about campaign setting elements, the player's role in story generation, the GM's responsibility to follow the player's lead, playing a Dragonborn Cleric who worships a god who hates dragons, reading fiction when you aren't the target audience, and much more!

Carmin Vance joins us to discuss L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter's "Conan the Buccaneer", barriers for entry into the hobby, weird descriptions of breasts, sword and sorcery as escapism, black amazon warriors, reading non-Howard Conan stories, the man-eating trees of Nubia, ritual magic, the bellybuttons of the Easter Island statues, reading with an open mind, and much more!

Chris Holmes joins us to discuss Edgar Rice Burroughs's "Tarzan at the Earth's Core", contemporary fantasy fiction, the Holmes Basic set, the varying levels of dignity given to the black characters, IP crossovers, surprisingly positive depictions of Germans, "Mahars of Pellucidar", magic dirigibles, the developmental biology of reptiles, informal vs codified ways of encouraging heroism in RPGs, the incredible speed in which pulp characters learn new languages, and the future of Pellucidarian fandom.

Shanna Germain joins us to discuss Lord Dunsany's "The Charwoman's Shadow", Dunsany's evocative prose, shadow magic, fairy tales, the impetuousness of youth, walking 25 miles in a day, love potions, esoteric prices, the lifelong pursuit of magic, the value of reading something you normally wouldn't, and much more!

Thanks to Noah Green and Adam Styers for joining our Patron Book Club to discuss Andre Norton's "Web of the Witch World"!

Humza Kazmi joins us to discuss Andre Norton's "Web of the Witch World", elven fighters, mind reading, the power of love, reclaiming lost power, the culture of Estcarp, domain game play, internal consistency, talismans, character agency, and much more!

Daniel J. Bishop joins us to discuss J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Return of the King", the fundamental misunderstandings of the Peter Jackson movies, Tolkien's Christianity, Frodo and Sam's gay love, the racist legacy of the Lord of the Rings, bringing our own life experiences to what we read, the value of gaming post-climax, "useless" characters, the appendices, and so much more!

Hoi and Jeff chat with Todd Bunn about Lin Carter's "The Enchantress of World's End", flipping expectations, one-shot adventures, sphinxes, and introductory RPG systems!

Hoi and Jeff chat with Elizabeth Chaipraditkul about Gardner F. Fox's "Kothar and the Demon Queen", demon summoning, cheesy erotica, sword and sorcery traditions, and much more!

Episode 61 - A. Merritt's "Dwellers in the Mirage" with special guest Jeannette Ng

Hoi and Jeff chat with Jen Brinkman about Fritz Leiber's "The Swords of Lankhmar" and get a behind-the-scenes look at DCC Lankhmar.

Hoi and Jeff chat with Agatha Cheng about Robert E. Howard's "Conan the Adventurer", orientalism, past life regression, and slavery in RPGs.

Hoi and Jeff have the supreme pleasure of interviewing Michael Moorcock, author of the Elric and Hawkmoon stories among many others, and the youngest and only living author from the Appendix N list, who is also celebrating his 80th birthday in Dec 2019!

Hoi and Jeff chat with Dirk the Dice about the multiverse, Stormbringer RPG, Law vs Chaos, and Michael Moorcock's "The Singing Citadel"!

Hoi and Jeff discuss PVP gaming, turning classic troupes on their head, and the act of imagination and its limits in Roger Zelazny's "The Guns of Avalon" with special guest Ethan Schoonover!

Hoi and Jeff discuss nature versus nurture, invoking Satan, and skin changing in Poul Anderson's "The Broken Sword" with special guest Tim Deschene!

Hoi and Jeff discuss character morality, action scequences, and female sexuality in Philip José Farmer's "A Private Cosmos" with special guest Eric Daum!

Hoi and Jeff discuss liminal spaces, war, peace, and fear of masculine vulnerability in Fletcher Pratt's "The Well of the Unicorn" with special guest Strix Beltrán!

Hoi and Jeff discuss multiple timelines, necromantic reincarnation, and sanity checks in H.P. Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" with special guest David Baity

Hoi and Jeff discuss race coding, the laws of gravity, and monogamy in Edgar Rice Burroughs's "Tanar of Pellucidar" with special guest Noah Green.

Yes, for the Two Towers, we're doing Two Episodes! For Round 2, Hoi and Jeff discuss character fame, the halfling class, and foreshadowing in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Two Towers" with returning guest Daniel J. Bishop.

Hoi and Jeff discuss demagogues, war, elves, dwarves, and wizards in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Two Towers" with special guest Anna B. Meyer.

Hoi and Jeff discuss living dungeons, world building, and using evocative setting descriptions at the table in Clark Ashton Smith's "Hyperborea" with special guest Jeffrey Talanian.

Hoi and Jeff discuss fungus, hallunications, dream logic, dungeons levels, and hippie culture in Margaret St. Clair's "Sign of the Labrys" with special guest Katie Shrieves.

Hoi and Jeff discuss Elder Signs, Lovecraftian gaming, and summoning spells in August Derleth's "The Lurker at the Threshold" with special guest Jon Hook.

Hoi and Jeff discuss impossible-to-kill enemies, player agency, and unsolvable puzzles in Fredric Brown's "Martians, Go Home" with special guest Sean Kelley.

Hoi and Jeff discuss vampires, hunting, the beauty defense, and truly alien aliens in Stanley G. Weinbaum's "A Martian Odyssey" with special guest Brett Bloczynski.

Hoi and Jeff discuss lost worlds, adventuring parties, and Lovecraftian gaming in A. Merritt's "The Moon Pool" with special guest Joseph Goodman

Hoi and Jeff discuss welfare states, decadent elites, and hopeless puppets in Jack Vance’s “Emphyrio” with special guest FIONA MAEVE GEIST!

Hoi and Jeff discuss Fritz Leiber's "Swords Against Wizardry" with special guest Josh from the Cromcast

Hoi and Jeff discuss Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, & Lin Carter’s “Conan the Wanderer” with special guest Jon from the Cromcast.

Hoi and Jeff discuss L. Sprague de Camp's "The Goblin Tower" with special guest Luke from the Cromcast

Hoi and Jeff discuss Lin Carter's "The Warrior of World's End" with special guest Howard Andrew Jones.

Hoi and Jeff discuss Fred Saberhagen's "The Broken Lands" with special guest Jason Hobbs.

Hoi and Jeff discuss Gardner F. Fox's "Kothar of the Magic Sword!" with special guest Liz Stewart.

Hoi and Jeff discuss Jack Williamson's "Darker Than You Think" with special guest Dani Neary.

Hoi and Jeff discuss Manly Wade Wellman's "Who Fears the Devil?" with special guest Michael Curtis.

Hoi and Jeff discuss Michael Moorcock's "Stormbringer" with special guest Terry Olson

Hoi and Jeff discuss Roger Zelazny's "Nine Princes in Amber" with special guest Marc Bruner.

Hoi and Jeff discuss Poul Anderson's "The High Crusade" with special guest Jeremy Farkas.

Hoi and Jeff discuss Philip José Farmer's "The Gates of Creation" with special guest Christopher Paul Carey.

Hoi and Jeff discuss Leigh Brackett's "The Halfling and Other Stories" with special guest Paolo Greco.

Hoi and Jeff discuss A. Merritt's "Creep, Shadow Creep!" with special guest Edgar Johnson.