Breakfast in the Ruins

Derek AKA Imrryr joins me in Derry and Toms to discuss this choice piece of 60s SF courtesy of Moorcock and Hilary Bailey, as well as his new(ish) The Black Corridor inspired album and his latest variation on his ongoing Elric-related project The Dreaming City III. Then Graham calls in from his weird shack* in the woods to add his tuppence ha'penny worth and his thoughts on collaborating with ＮΛＮD to interpret this novel as a musical suite. Speculations on a grim future... Musings on a grim present... Bleak experimental electronica... Politics... We leave it all hanging out. Imrryr's The Black Corridor cover art is by Mark Jarell Check out ST 37's track The Black Corridor from their Glare album. John's new book of poetry, When the Banshee Howls, is available for pre-order. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden. *Japanese RV NOTE: This episode was originally uploaded with a sound error. This has been corrected.

Dave (AKA SÖNUS) is back in Derry and Toms to pick up the second and concluding part of our quest for The Mad God's Amulet. Join us as we discover the greatest NWOBHM band to never exist... THE MUTANT WAR JAGUARS OF ASIACOMMUNISTA... and Lord Shark's Ostentatious Couch returns. Things mentioned in the show include Gates of Londra - a must have if you dig your industrial black metal with a Moorcockian twist. Imrryr's latest release The Dreaming City III is out now featuring Dave and Allister Thompson AKA The Gateless Gate. Massive thanks to Dave Dempster for the Maegan Lemay poster. Check out her web and store page. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden.

Ted AKA @tedankhamen joins me in Derry and Toms for the second leaf of our Summer diptych musing on Moorcock, gaming and whatever else enters our eyeline. Some choice cuts in here including miniature bashing, Tolkien (again), a shock Strongbow appreciation story, chaosium-isms... but mostly some good, chewy thinking on modelling Moorcockian worlds and cosmology. I also bang my BoL drum again. Be sure to have a good delve around Ted's blog Tomb of Tedankhamen. Ted also mentioned Lasers and Feelings by John Harper. Lots more good stuff on his itch.io You can check out the Tentacled Whisperer of Secrets Discord by making an offering to... THE TENTACLED WHISPERER... or just check out his profile. He's pretty lax on gatekeeping for an ancient deity of unspeakable power. Steve's Stormbringer game recaps are on his blog. Check out and subscribe to Jim Kirkland's newsletter and read his spoiler-free review of The Citadel of Forgotten Myths. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden.

We're back in Derry and Toms to talk gaming again, this time with CLARKY THE CRUEL. Dave gets shocked by the crap number of TV channels we had in the UK as kids, Clarky tells us about his sandboxing adventures beyond the ultraworld, and I get inspired. And we digress. Obviously. You can find Clarky's Dissecting Worlds podcast archive and all of his game logs on his blog (including entires by yours truly describing the action from the perspective of post-apocalypse fiction powerhouse Roy Saveloy. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden. We also mention Jason's podcast, the Nerd's RPG Variety Cast.

After 40 years of obsessing over the Mayflower covers of Bob Haberfield, Dave and I get to wig out and talk to Ben Haberfield about his Dad's life, art and the gestating project to celebrate the breadth of his work in the form of two art books. You can keep up with Ben's work at bobhaberfield.com and follow him on Instagram. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden.

Phil returns to Derry & Toms as we visit Morecambe's (and perhaps the world's) premier second hand book vendor to select a candidate for the first ever Old Pier Bookshop Special. We choose, or rather are chosen by, The Winds of Gath by EC Tubb - first in a 33 book series spanning three decades that charts the adventures of Earl Dumarest of Terra. In honour of old school SF we drink old school beers. Well, I do. Phil drinks fancy wine. But we meet in the middle when the mysterious books of booze box appears for the first time in D&Ts. JOIN US! Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Chapter 13 of The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly was scored by N Λ N D. Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden.

Dave AKA SÖNUS returns to Derry and Toms to dive into the fast-paced and very metal, yet weirdly just OK-ish first part of The Mad God's Amulet, second in the Hawkmoon sequence The History of the Runestaff. As always, digressions await the unwary traveller as well as ostentatious coughing and just excellent pants. JOIN US! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Support the podcast by becoming a Patron. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Chapter 12 of The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly was scored by N Λ N D Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden

Loz returns to Derry & Toms to revisit an old adversary, Michael Moorcock's The Fortress of the Pearl. Join us and marvel at our declining energy. Bridle, as Loz declares The Chronicle of the Black Sword a shit book and denigrates poetry. Along the way we 'wake the chicken'. What does that even mean? How many names are there for trousers? Why would anyone smoke stout? Listen as we mull over the answers. (Spoiler - we don't know) Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Support the podcast by becoming a Patron. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Chapter 11 of The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly was scored by N Λ N D

Finally, we're back at Derry & Toms to take a look at the 1980 Moorcock collection My Experiences in the Third World War. Along the way Phil and I compare notes regarding our mindsets in the 1980s, laugh at the preposterous Controller and let fate decide on the Wandering Traumatic Nuclear War Film Table. Also, on this occasion we might not offend a small town in the UK but potentially ALL of Canada. But seriously what DOES 'pie-dish of privilege and broken promises' really mean? Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Support the podcast by becoming a Patron. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. CONTENT WARNING - there are discussions in this show regarding sexual violence and exploitation

Dave AKA SÖNUS is back in Derry & Toms to celebrate the release of his second cut - USURPER OF THE UNIVERSE - out now on Forbidden Place Records. As it aligns nicely we also take a dive into the 1962 Moorcock story To Rescue Tanelorn and make some connections. Along the way we talk about some other guff. JOIN US! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Support the podcast by becoming a Patron. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his new store. Our avatar is by Wyrmwalk. Follow him on Instagram.

Another year down and this is our third show celebrating Mike Moorcock and Phil's birthdays. It's also the Breakfast in the Ruins podcast's second birthday... sort of. Loz joins me in Derry & Toms to reflect on two and a bit years of podcasting against the strangest of backdrops. Plus the wandering beer table returns, for both good and ill. JOIN US! Clarky's multipart Tenerife campaign as discussed on the show is detailed on his excellent site. My in-character (as Roy Saveloy) chapter write-ups are here and here.

After the Halloween Special we couldn't stay away. Phil needed to know how the Crabs came to be. Where did they come from? What do they want? So we read Crabs Moon and discovered the answers to none of these questions. But we did have a hoot and we were joined by Graham (aka @opensussex AKA Apkallu of Enmerkar AKA DECADNIDS) to have a couple of beverages, discuss Crabs Moon and to talk in general about the late Guy N Smith, his diverse writing career. We also raised a glass to the man too as this show lands close to a year after his passing. We reference a Guy N Smith interview from the excellent The Collected Pulp Horror by Justin Marriott and Will Errickson. Guy's daughter TARA has re-energised the GNS Twitter and Instagram accounts. We play this show out with Proditol from the album The Black Corridor by DECADNIDS vs ＮΛＮD. ***warning: unlike Night of the Crabs, Crabs Moon contains references to sexual violence and we do talk about them so please proceed with caution and look after yourselves - this month's Patreon funds have been donated to The Survivor's Trust - please do look them up and consider donating***

Andrew Nette, journalist, writer and lover of all things pulp, joins me in Derry and Toms to talk about his new book Dangerous Visions and New Worlds Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985 . In this deep dive into the progressive, sexy explosion of challenging stories we wander off on various tangents including an Australian viewpoint on pulp and genre fiction, the wonders of the publisher NEL (New English Library), Jon Pertwee Doctor Who (again), long dead bus drivers and Rollerball! We also touch on PS Publishing's Midnight Movie Monographs.

The patrons have spoken. This year's Halloween Special looks at the classic New English Library killer critter classic, Night of the Crabs by Guy N Smith. Death... Destruction... Rumpy pumpy... Knobhead crabs... It has it all. And sorry to Rhyl (again). Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Check out our Patreon for exclusive updates and content. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his new store. Our avatar is by Wyrmwalk. Follow him on Instagram.

Hussein is back in Derry & Toms to triumphantly conclude our epic coverage of The Final Programme. We talk parties... get older... and add Rhyll to the list of towns we've offended... but damn it we got through it! The best news is that Hussein WILL return again. This show is played out once again by Ｎ Λ Ｎ Ｄ with the new track Gallery of the Lost. DIG IT!

We're back in Derry and Toms Once again via the Ladbroke Grove counter-culture scene, this time in the company of journalist and author Joe banks as we talk about his book Days of the Underground: Radical Escapism in the Age of Paranoia. We yak about Hawkwind, Moorcock, Target Books and other digressions. Joe's website is daysoftheunderground.com. John Coulthart's website is www.johncoulthart.com Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Check out our Patreon for exclusive updates and content. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his new store. Our avatar is by Wyrmwalk. Follow him on Instagram.

Musician and author Allister Thompson navigates the frozen Northern Wastes (Canada) to join me in Derry and Toms and talk about Moorcock, music, writing and, most importantly, his debut novel The Music of the Spheres. We also run our first competition (sort of) and The Singularity repeatedly attempts to shut down our groove. Check out the new N Λ Ṇ D album Journal and the DECADNIDS vs N Λ Ṇ D collaboration The Black Corridor Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Check out our Patreon for exclusive updates and content. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his new store. Our avatar is by Wyrmwalk. Follow him on Instagram.

Grognard Files host Dirk the Dice joins me at Derry and Toms to investigate Wizardry and Wild Romance, Moorcock's critical appraisal of the field of heroic fantasy/sword and sorcery . Inevitably there's some salty talk, most of it from MM himself, and beverages are consumed via the D6 wandering stupid beer table. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Check out our Patreon for exclusive updates and content. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his new store. Our avatar is by Wyrmwalk. Follow him on Instagram.

In search of Moorcock-tinged sonic experiences and the stories behind them we pack up and hit the road on a coast to coast trip across the USA to talk Mike, space rock and bleak electronica in the company of SÖNUS and Imrryr. As usual we go off beam a bit. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Check out our Patreon for exclusive updates and content. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter. Our avatar is by Wyrmwalk. Follow him on Instagram.

In the third and final part of our Moorcockian RPG triptych Rob (aka OldShabbyGamer), host of the Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi podcast, joins me at Derry & Toms to talk Moorcock, D&D, when a beer is not a beer, and Tolkien! Graham, Neil and Norman also drop by to talk Stormbringer 3e, ploons, shit sailors & what would make our own ideal Moorcockian RPG. It's a really Deep Fix. No prizes for guessing who provides the soundtrack!

Tash is back in Derry & Toms as we embark upon an epic quest to the Jennithusian Continent to search for the perfect one-shit book! Is it Mike Sirota's fourth Dannus opus, The Dark Straits of Reglathium? TUNE IN AND FIND OUT. We talk Sword & Planet fiction, how to ruin expensive spirits and reminisce about No Frills Value Cola Flavour Drink. Rum features.

We're back in Derry and Toms and returning to Moorcock's influence and presence in RPGs in the company of Ralph Lovegrove, host of the Fictoplasm Podcast and designer of STORMHACK! We talk Moorcock (obviously), gaming, podcasting and other bits n bobs, as well as Ralph's own take on the Moorcockian role-playing game... STORMHACK! Find Ralph's gear at these links: STORMHACK! Appendix N and Cousins Runequest's Appendix N

Old pal Robbo joins me in Derry & Toms to discuss the book from Pops that blew my mind into tiny pieces back in the early 80s, Sven Hassel's Wheels of Terror! We look at the man himself, including the shroud of mystery around his history, the first part of the novel and it's horrific, bleak yet darkly humorous depiction of the impact of war, and whether this was really suitable reading for an 11 or 12 year old to move onto from the Doctor Who novelisations by Target Books. We also talk Moorcock (naturally) and the impact growing up in the ruins of a war must have had on him. We also probably add wargamers, military geeks and the people of Withernsea and Patrington to the list of people we've offended.

We're back with another look at Moorcockian music, this time in the company of Don Falcone, captain of the starship Spirits Burning, long time collaborative portal for progressive and space rock projects involving luminaries from across the rock field, most recently Michael Moorcock himself with their last two albums being musical adaptations of the Dancers at the End of Time trilogy. We talk Moorcock (obviously) and Don's influences and history as a musician and producer, as well as a few other bits n' bobs as we go. The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly continues with Chapter 10 and an unusual encounter (score and atmos again by @nand_soundtrax).

Loz is back as we conclude our look at the first volume in the psychedelic adventure of Corum, the Prince in the Scarlet Robe. As usual our conversation veers around a bit, covering beers, rhubarb, hernias and just how much agency Corum has. We also have a good think about what to cover next, roll some dice to decide, and get bowled over by the sheer quality of @nand_soundtrax's journal soundscape!

We delve into the worlds of Moorcock influenced music with the other-worldly Dungeon Synth of The Artist Called Elric, and the powerful METAL!!! of Corum, two faces of the Eternal Champion. Gerard Arthur Connelly returns and gets his poor boots wet, with all new atmos and score by @nand_soundtrax Elric and Corum's Bandcamp pages are: https://elricstormbringer.bandcamp.com/ and https://metalcorum.bandcamp.com/

It's December 18th 2020, Michael Moorcock and Phil share a birthday AGAIN (weird right?) and, with the help of some friends, we celebrate a great day and take a look at Mike's Sherlock Holmes story, The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger. In addition we consider the broad appeal of Moorcock and how it crosses some boundaries that in this strange day and age are often extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and we get to showcase some great music. Happy birthday Mike and Phil!

On our first purely music focused show we talk Hawkwind with biographer and writer Ian Abrahams. We also muse on how notice boards on launderette walls can produce great results. Also, Loz calls in to Derry & Toms to drink some traditionally stupid beers and reminisce about the days of yore, sleeping dogs and the Giantkind track Breakfast in the Ruins.

After getting caught between worlds and never managing to quite hook it up, through a radio link between Earths 2 and 5 we finally get it together to discuss Moorcock with comics luminary and 2000AD Script Droid KEK-W! We talk Moorcock, The Rituals of Infinity, comics, Dark Judges, music and the disturbingly beautiful art of Dave Kendall. I continue to learn regarding online recording, with mixed results. Gerard Arthur Connelly gets his slippers wet. As discussed on the show Jim’s Kickstarter for Urish’s Horde – The Guide to Elric Collectibles is at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dcbooks/urishs-horde-the-guide-to-elric-collectibles

Loz returns as we head up to the Roof Garden to ruminate over Corum's endless jawing with a slightly dubious sorceror in The Knight of the Swords Book Two. Multiple varieties of pants are considered along with a couple of actually palatable beers. Progress I say!

It's Halloween, so Phil and I enjoy some spooky old fashioneds and engage with the horror of James Herbert's 1974 debut novel, The Rats! It's got the lot. A creepy hero... out of order tramps... vicious critters... and an abundance of thigh references! STAY SAFE!!!

Finally, the Spheres align and Hussein and I manage, after ten months, to get it together and look at Phase Two of The Final Programme. We talk about Mike's uncanny prescience, wrestling in Featherstone Library, and Hussein rags on sci-fi again. It's a fun time all round. Also, GAC reaches the village of Treybach. Foxes may be abroad.

We're back, and this time Phil joins me at Derry and Toms to conclude our coverage of The Eternal Champion. Turns out Erekosë is just a horny jock. Who knew? We also find that if you're being peer pressured into genocide you just need a bath, dinner and an intervention... it's just so relatable!

We're back at Derry and Tom's and unfortunately so are the challenging porters. REJOICE as we finally get around to covering Corum... SIGH as we continue to fail to avoid weird beer... DESPAIR as our energy levels dip in the second half... GASP at chapter two of The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly...

Phil, Loz and I celebrate an all too brief interlude in lockdown life to drink weird porters and muse upon Moorcock’s treatment at the hands of tabletop role-playing games. Phil taunts us with her syrupy beer avoidance skills, two-man canoes get far too many mentions and Loz gatekeeps Moorcock RPG play (the rotter). Also, The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly debuts with chapter one. There are 5 more to come (and if I don’t get pelted with rottent tomatoes I may write more).

Tash returns from her exile in Sri Lanka and finally we get together after a four month Covid delay to finish The Jewel in the Skull. Stand by as we flatten the curve! REEL at the variable sound quality as my Tascam once again has to do some heavy lifting. MARVEL at the disagreements over the last few chapters. HOWL at Tash's toilet allocation of an all new (to me) classification of a certain type of fantasy novel. SHOEGAZE to the mellow sounds of Breakfast in the Ruins by the mighty Giantkind.

We're back. The Eternal Champion continues on his crusade to defeat the enemies of humanity and further proves himself an absolute duffer with the ladies. Phil reveals a penchant for watching extreme violence against Ewan McGregor and Channing Tatum. I wring my hands at the horror of it all. JOIN US!

We're back in Derry & Toms roof gardens to mull over 1970's The Eternal Champion, the novel debut of Erekosë/John Daker. It's got everything. Bad pronunciation, silly names and nudity. Phil returns to the co-host chair, we drink an old old-Fashioned or two and draw comparisons between Noonos and Grimsby, adding that ancient port-town to our list of mildly insulted settlements.

Loz is back as we conclude our coverage of the 1972 Moorcock novel Elric of Melniboné. Join us as we are horrified by a challenging beer and Loz offends Scunthorpe (as well as narrowly avoiding a date with Dannus). As usual we struggle with pronunciation and saying The Ship That Sails Over Land and Water.

Natasha is back with me as we continue our deep dive into the first Hawkmoon novel, The Jewel in the Skull. MARVEL at Tash's brutal takedown of mothers-in-law... SIGH at the rambling non-sequiturs... GASP at Tash's salty sailor talk... WONDER at the gradual breakdown of recording discipline... WEEP at the continual intrusion of traffic, crisp packets and leather furniture...

Loz is back with me at Derry and Tom's as we dive into Straasha's ocean depths to prize open the mysteries below and discuss (most of) Book Two of Elric of Melniboné. Excellent beverages are consumed along the way.

After a degree of arm-twisting and one false start, Hussein finally gets his head into a sci-fi/fantasy book and agrees to tell the tale! We cover the first Phase of The Final Programme, the introduction of Jerry Cornelius into the Multiverse of Michael Moorcock. Hussein marvels at the wonders of psychedelic 70s scifi covers and I keep mixing up my Perssons and my Brunners.

One of the twitter gang tipped me off a few weeks ago that December 18th is Michael Moorcock's birthday. It took a while for the penny to drop, but when it did and my brain was penetrated by the copper and grub of ten thousand grasping fingers, I was taken aback for a second. December 18th is also my brilliant and long-suffering partner Phil's birthday, so I made her read something because CONTENT! So happy birthdays all around!!!

Loz is back with me at Derry and Tom's as we tackle the 1972 novel Elric of Melniboné. We have a few drinks and muse upon Elric's early pre-wanderer, Stormbringerless years on the Ruby Throne of Imrryr. We also ponder the news of a possible Elric TV show and attempt to get comfortable on Lord Shark's Ostentatious Couch (spoiler, we don't).

Natasha and I discuss Book One of The Jewel in the Skull. It's got it all! Moorcock discussion? Check! Moorcroft? Sure, why not! Bagging small English towns? Check! Dogs wagging tails? Check and check! NOW IN THC SOUND! Note: The bulk of this was recorded before Episode One, so we're already entering into the true spirit of Moorcock by confusing our own internal chronology.

Join Loz and I as we discuss the first published Elric story, The Dreaming City. In this, the first full-blooded episode of Breakfast in the Ruins we take a look at the first published story featuring (arguably) Michael Moorcock’s most enduring creation, the moody albino warrior-sorcerer-emperor-wanderer Elric. All music in this episode is courtesy of Giantkind.

A short, primer podcast episode that will set the scene for the series. Inspired by the books given to me by my grandad in the early 80's, helped out by friends old and new, we'll discuss the books of Michael Moorcock and others and the way they shaped our tastes in fantasy fiction and charged our imaginations then and now. All music is in this episode is courtesy of Giantkind.