Another year has flown by and we return to Derry and Toms for our fourth annual Phil and MM birthday special and celebrate another year on the planet. This time by reading some patron-selected festive horror!
Tanks, demons, onion soup, calvados and freezing weather all combine to create a truly seasonal challenge for a horny cartographer.
This is a little bit late for reasons explained in the show (birthday boozing) but Happy Birthday to Phil, MM and Sebastian Weetabix – and Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and whatever you may celebrate at this time of year even if it’s just putting your feet up and having a break. If you’re working through it, take care and stay safe.
We’ll be back with Part II of our musings on The Devils of D-Day in the next few days. In the meantime.. HAVE A COOL YULE!
It’s finally release day* for the new Elric novel, The Citadel of Forgotten Myths. If you’re in the UK I hope your delivery isn’t delayed too badly by the mail strikes. Solidarity with Royal Mail staff btw – I can wait – also Neil Burton and I were very fortunate to receive advanced reader copies from Joe at SAGA. I’ve been bashing my way through it and look forward to eventually covering it here on BitR.
If you haven’t seen it already you can enjoy MM discussing it on Forbidden Planet TV.
In other news, last night I was delighted to record with Hoi and Jeff as a guest on the Appendix N Book Club talking about Operation Chaos by Poul Anderson. That was a rare treat for me as I love their show and that episode will emerge in late January. If you haven’t listened to their interview with MM already, hop over and do so at your earliest opportunity. It’s terrific.
Meanwhile, in Derry & Toms, Simon Perrins and I had the great pleasure of being able to grill Guy Lawley over his late 80s/ turn of the 90s comic Saga of the Man Elf, his approval from MM and his time working on fanzines and independent comics with a host of business luminaries.
Look out for that in the New Year.
Now Operation Chaos and Man Elf are ticked off though, I can dive through the rusty driver’s hatch** of a mysterious abandoned Sherman and tackle The Devils of D-Day, our Patron’s Choice for the Xmas/Birthday show. We’ll be issuing that one from our boozy HQ in Morecambe on Phil’s and MM’s birthday.
On top of all of that we have a very busy schedule in January where we’ll be talking about bikersploitation, Martian war machines, uncosy catastrophes and lots of other stuff no doubt.
In the meantime take care…
Stay warm and safe…
Load up on cheese footballs/twiglets/[insert festive niche snack here]…
And we’ll see you soon…
On the Moonbeam Roads.
*Technically it’s release week – chalk it up to excitement on my part
**I would never fit through the driver’s hatch of a Sherman
Simon Perrins joins me in Derry and Toms to discuss Moorcock, art, comics, Tolkien, TV adaptations, role-playing games, tortured poet musicians we adored in our youths and generally go totally fugazi.
Simon is the man behind our banner art, logo, Gerard Arthur Connelly portraits and pretty much our entire visual identity. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store.
Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden.
Imagery and stuff we discuss along the way:
White Dwarf #57
Thrud and Eric of Boneymaloney – Carl Critchlow
Fighting Fantasy Book 9 – Caverns of the Snow Witch
Imagine Magazine January 1985 – Cover by Rodney Matthews
The Nomad of Time – Grafton Edition – Cover by Melvyn
The Tolkien Bestiary – David Day – Illustration of The Fall of Numenor by Ian Miller
Phil and Graham return to Derry and Toms to gas about James Herbert’s second novel, 1975’s The Fog. One year on from The Rats he’s back terrorising London and the south-east, this time with a rampaging combination of mutated disease and spooky weather condition. He also baffles and amuses us with protracted sexy-times, which was de rigueur for Herbert at this early stage in his career. Also, I can only apologise to any German listeners for reasons that will become apparent.
BEHOLD the crapness of the cover on my Pan edition in the middle. NEL were streets ahead in the cover stakes, particularly that pop art design.
This episode is played out by Brayna’s Creed, the second track from the upcoming Journal Vol II, available via N Λ Ṇ D
Me and the Monkey – Chronicles of the Monkey God Vol. I
Andy Darby joins me in virtual Derry and Toms to talk his tales of the Monkey God, Moorcock, and lots of other stuff including reminiscences about Johnny Seven, Lion annuals, Commando comics, Mme. Blavatsky, My First Two Thousand Years and tripping in Amsterdam.
You can pick up Vol I and The Paddington Incident now and Vol II releases on 5th November. There are QR codes with the illustrations in Vol 2 and The Paddington Incident that link to audio sections narrated by Andy, and you can connect with him on Goodreads.
Brayna’s Creed, the second track from the upcoming Journal Vol II is available via N Λ Ṇ D
This episode is played out by the title track from The Dreaming City III by Immryr. At the time of recording (and at the time we released The Black Corridor) this was the latest release from Imrryr but, characteristically, there is another available for pre-order already. Check out One Flesh, One End.
Andy’s reading recommendations:
C J Cherryh: Gate of Ivrel, Well of Shiuan, Fires of Azeroth, Exile’s Gate
Madeline Miller: Circe, The Song of Achilles,
Pat Barker: The Silence of the Girls, Natalie Haynes: A Thousand Ships,
Conn Iggulden: Conqueror series (these are just fucking epic!)
Tim Willocks: The Religion (awesome!), The Twelve Children of Paris (awesome 2!)
Ben Aaronovitch: Rivers of London series
Jonathan L Howard: Johannes Cabal series
Catherynne M. Valente: Deathless
Kim Newman: Anno Dracula
Karl Edward Wagner: Kane series
Chris Carlsen: Berserker series
Stewart Gordon Suaine and the Crow God
Iain Banks: The Wasp Factory, The Bridge Walking on Glass,
Clive Barker: Weave World
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.
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.
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.
It’s been a fun time and it continues to prove a satisfying and rewarding pursuit. It has led to great conversations and hook-ups across the globe and shows just how wide the reach of rambling, often drunken but always enthusiastic conversations about Moorcock, genre fiction, music and anything else that crosses our minds can be.
My better half and regular co-host Phil joining me on the ride has only made it better.
Mad shouts from the mountain tops too to my Buds of Ages for their support:
Loz, getting stuck in from day one with drunken takes and hideous challenging beers only encouraged me to continue
Neil for all that early support showing me what a microphone is, how to plug it in and what is achievable with sound and editing software. He even stepped in and corrected the audio on a particularly drunken session with Tash very early on. Loz and Neil’s old band Giantkind is the source of the intro and outro music on the show too
And Wayne for all of his collaboration, creative and musical input on the Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly.
Very specific thanks also to Simon Perrins. Simon has provided almost all of the art and banners for this podcast across a variety of platforms and, as a result, he’s a core part of its identity.
And finally of course thanks to all our you, our patrons, and to all of our friends & contributors!
It’s Friday and another week is down, so best wishes and hearty cheers to all of you, even those that may yet have some work to undertake this weekend – I raise a glass in salutations as you await your moment.
It’s been a busy few weeks here at Derry and Toms, what with The Mad God’s Amulet Book Two making its way out into the spheres and the next show in the can and awaiting a good editing. That particular show is a timely one as we take a look at The Black Corridor and, along with Derek AKA Imrryr and a cameo from our old Duckpond Sailor friend Graham, we muse upon just how relevant it feels in this age of populist nutjobs, demigoguery and rampant knobheadery. That show will be out in a week or two.
I had been due to record with an all new guest this past weekend but the covid booster I had on Saturday morning wiped out all of my weekend plans. This new variant I had was called Spikevax.
SPIKEVAX!
It spiked the shit out of me so, whomever gave it that tag must have known their stuff. Anyway, apologies to Andy Darby and we’ll get something in the diary as soon as possible.
It’s also getting to that time of year and although our patreon poll is still open, it’s highly unlikely The Fog will get overhauled. So Phil and I have been picking out our editions and we will be joined in this endeavour by Graham so expect some tasty/nasty hoots in three weeks or so.
In other reading news, I somehow continue to punish myself by reading Alien tie-in novels but I’ve stalled halfway through a particular stinker. Set in 2186 (give or take) it’s the first one I’ve read that features the ‘British’ colony New Albion (groan) and it hits all the checkboxes for colossally irritating, theme park horseshit depictions of British culture that I usually find in 80s RPG supplements (for a particularly egregious example see the Twilight 2000 Survivor’s Guide to the United Kingdom). Not satisfied with all of the colony occupants saying ‘best of British’ to each other, it even has Brexit analogies and a faux B*ris J*hns*n character. Just what I want in a grim, gritty corporate future scifi tale. I will make it through it. I will. I will brook no defeat in even the shittiest of books.
Even Dannus (#FUCKINGDANNUS).
Right. It’s time I logged off and opened a stupid beer of some description, so for those able to join me (whatever your poison, be it booze, a cuppa or plain old aqua) here’s to your good health and thanks for your ongoing support.
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.
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.
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.
Breakfast in the Ruins Podcast 