Andy Darby shakes off the Monkey for an evening and drops by D and Ts to take a look at one of Moorcock’s 60s SF tales, The Fireclown (later retitled The Winds of Limbo but I’m sticking with the original title for vaguely defined reasons related to being old and finnicky).
Strap in for a political thriller laced with astute observations on the natures of media and personality politics, the odd sprinkling of futurism and some oddly prescient sort-of predictions.
A quick update this time whilst I’m waiting for some processing to complete on the latest pod (and listening to the newly remastered Hawkwind platter, Sonic Attack on the trusty Sound Burger as I type).
In the Patron Poll for the subject of our Halloween Special it looks like James Herbert’s Domain has an unassailable lead, leaving me kicking myself as it’s about twice the length of all the others. It is a page-turner though and last year we introduced a new sort of precedent when, following The Fog’s triumph in the poll, we did The Devils of D-Day anyway. So currently The Cats by Nick Sharman is in final place so maybe we’ll do that later in the year. It looks mercifully short. Probably a one-shit book in fact.
Either way, I’ll leave the poll up for another week or so, should there be any late gambits that drastically alter the field.
On the skinny book front, I’ve had another suggestion fly in from left of field and a one-shit book suggestion at that…
Snowcastles by Duncan McGeary. It looks gloriously rubbish. Therefore it has made the to-do list. Which is growing longer by the week.
Right, processing is complete. Back to editing. There was a time when a monthly episode was the norm but this year we’ve had a more productive spell, reaching close to two per month at times. I don’t want to let that slip too much so I intend to have this latest show out in the next day or four. Furthermore, despite recent developments in the realms of real life (and thanks for the lovely messages on that front by the way, they were highly appreciated), this is a passion project that is going to continue until I stop enjoying it. Or you do. Or both.
As you know’ll if you’re a listener, this podcast was founded on the back of my early journeys through genre fiction as prompted by the books I’d see on, and later receive from, Pops’s little coffee table. It was these wonderful, colourful, garish titles that informed my reading habits for the next 40 or so years. Right up until today in fact.
But I was already a reader. And that was down to one person. My mam.
One of my favourite memories of childhood is coming home from primary school on a lunch time and, along with my two older sisters, sitting rapt as Mam read us the next chapter of The Hobbit. Then she would send us back to school, fed and read, with heads full of trolls and goblins and Middle Earth.
For almost all of my 51 years on the planet, books have been an intrinsic part of my being and that’s down to Mam.
Pops may have influenced my tastes further, but Mam MADE me a reader. In fact she made readers of us all, including STIMBOTCLASSIC, whom she wed in 1967.
Having spent a lot of time back at the family home this last couple of weeks, it struck me how similar our places look.
Books everywhere. On shelves. In piles. On chair arms with bookmarks.
She was reading Shikasta by Doris Lessing again, but it wasn’t alone. It was with a couple of others in her to-read/being read piles, alongside some notes she’d made about her garden, her other great pastime.
I barely remember a conversation of ours that didn’t feature at least some mention of what we were reading, or going to read. Phil had even suggested she appear on Breakfast in the Ruins, we just needed to pick a book.
Our last conversation was about what she wanted for her birthday.
Book vouchers.
Only yesterday I glanced at my birthday presents from her and dad from just five or so weeks ago.
Books.
In every way though, she herself was the gift that kept on giving.
So I’ll keep on reading. And remembering. Because she gave us everything.
And I’m sure, over in the Undying Lands, she’s reading right now.
Graham returns to Derry and Toms to pick up the chat regarding another Uncosy Catastrophe, on this occasion recommended by listener Paul Miles… 1985’s The Fungus by Harry Adam Knight, a book that somehow passed us by despite being firmly in our wheelhouse.
Exploding landlords, extremely poor mission personnel choices, sweaty liaisons and deeply unfortunate children await in this tale of an England overwhelmed by scientifically boosted mycelium.
Breakfast in the Ruins 