Designers and Dragons: The '70s by Shannon Applecline

The seventies can rightly be called the golden age of role playing game design. The history of TSR and the creative duo of Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson is well known (and was also covered in depth in 'Of Dice and Men' by David Ewalt), but Shannon Applecline takes a slightly different approach by cataloguing the significant releases of role playing games and associated products by all of the companies founded in the seventies as well as the monolithic TSR. Thus we get histories of Flying Buffalo, Games Designers Workshop, Chaosium, Judges Guild, and the UK Games Workshop as well as a raft of smaller companies and personalities. There was an unsurprising amount of cross-fertilisation of ideas as designers moved from company to company or influenced each other in various ways (from friendly collaboration to personality clashes and feuds ending in lawsuits).

Although this book is the first of four in a series covering the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s respectively, each company started in the 70s gets their full history in this volume, so we see TSR's rise and fall, the dogged persistence of Flying Buffalo  and resurgence of Chaosium in recent years. It's more of a reference encyclopedia that is fun to dip into than something that you might read cover to cover in one go, but it's an entertaining piece of history, particularly for those of us who started in the hobby at the end of the 70s and heard second hand accounts of the mighty deeds of those legendary figures.

Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch

The tenth book in the Rivers of London series finds our heroes a long way from home - there have been reports of a giant cat in the Scottish highlands, possibly supernatural in origin, so what better excuse for all of the principal cast to travel to Aberdeen for a working holiday. Inspector Nightingale and apprentice Abigail prepare for a big game hunt whilst Peter's unique skills are called upon when the local police find the naked body of a man on the sea front. How did he get there and why does the autopsy report say that he has gills? Add in a strange girl armed with a spear, demonic seagulls, a missing scientist and shady tycoons linked to the North Sea oil industry and you have an intriguing mystery.

The various strands of the story combine nicely, and the audiobook is narrated in chapters alternating between the viewpoints of Peter (voiced by series regular Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) and Abigail (Shvorne Marks). Both narrators do a good job of the various different Scottish accents that appear in the story and this approach gives the series a fresh twist. I particularly enjoyed the appearances of Abigail's fox companions who seem to think that they are secret agents on assignment. 

I enjoyed it, even though the ending seemed a little rushed. I had the feeling that a couple of scenes had been dropped somewhere in the editing process making the denouement a bit confusing. I also got the impression that the author had moved almost all of the main characters up to Scotland at the start of the story, and then didn't really know what to do with most of them. 

I Love You, Byeee by Adam Buxton

Adam Buxton is probably best known now as a podcaster, but this second volume of his autobiography goes back to his days working with school friend and collaborator Joe Cornish working on their Adam & Joe Show, as well as covering his relationship with his mum who passed away in 2020, and the pressures of being a parent. It goes over some of the same territory as his previous Ramble Book (which dealt with the death of his father and the issues that brought up), but is an entertaining read, with many interesting digressions. 

I listened to the audio version, which includes musical interludes and a bonus podcast with Joe talking about some of the issues raised when they stopped working together. 

The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch

Another short Rivers of London novella, this one being based in prohibition era New York, complete with jazz clubs, mobsters, and lashings of bathtub gin. The protagonist is the Bertie Wooster-esque Augustus “Gussie” Berrycloth-Young, an alumnus of Casterbrook school who has moved to a swanky apartment in New York after pulling one too many pranks knocking off policemen’s helmets with a cheeky spell or two.

In best Woodhousian tradition he is therefore somewhat discombobulated when old school chum Thomas Nightingale turns up unannounced on his doorstep claiming to be investigating the provenance of a certain unusual musical instrument, to whit a magical saxophone that enhances the abilities of anyone who toots it. Crikey, a rum do and no mistake, but what’s a chap to do but lend a hand (and some ready cash when required).

The first part of the story is something of a magical maguffin hunt, but then things become considerably more interesting when certain secrets about Gussie himself and the speakeasies that he frequents come to light. There is a darker undertone to this subplot, dealing with racism and prejudice, and the resolution of the rest of the story is satisfyingly done, with one particular reveal being especially juicy (and I would love to read Peter Grant’s reaction if this tale ever comes to light).

On balance I preferred this one, mainly for the narration of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith who turns out to be a dab hand with switching between his familiar voice of Nightingale, an upper class toff and an array of authentic sounding New York accents. Good stuff, but I’m still waiting for the next full length novel, please and thank you!

Winter’s Gifts by Ben Aaronovitch

When a call from a former FBI agent comes in using the code phrase “X-Ray Sierra India” it goes straight to the desk of agent Kimberley Reynolds who has been tasked with any case with “unusual characteristics” or as her British police counterparts would put it “weird bollocks”.

Reynolds is despatched to Eloise, Wisconsin - a small town on the shores of Lake Superior, frozen in the middle of an unusually violent ice storm. The former agent is now missing, apparently kidnapped by unidentified individuals who may or may not have had “horns and snouts”. The game is now, as they say, afoot.

This is a short novella with a straight to the point plot. It’s not really a spoiler to say that events unfold in the best X-Files tradition with a dogged agent putting the clues together by investigating the past history of a place and linking it to the present. This being America, there are quite a few more guns in the story than the traditional Rivers of London setting, but it’s enjoyable all the same and left me wanting to read more about Agent Reynolds, hopefully in a full length story sometime soon.

The audiobook of this is narrated by Penelope Rawlins, who does a great job, even managing a reasonable London accent for a brief cameo appearance from Peter Grant. 

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed"

I first read this book sometime in the 90’s and found it surprisingly hard going. It’s effectively an overture for The Dark Tower series, King’s magnum opus, and introduces the themes that will be explored over the course of seven volumes. For someone used to reading about horror authors in small Maine towns, the idea of a gunslinger who was also somehow an Arthurian knight, chasing a mysterious adversary through an arid, dying world that has ‘moved on’ was a challenging one. 

I persevered, eventually making sense of the flashbacks and the story of how Roland of Gilead came of age and earned his guns, taking the first steps on the road to the Dark Tower. I eventually picked up the subsequent books in the series and at some point, the Gunslinger clicked for me as the throwaway references to characters like Susan Delgado and Roland’s Ka Tet were fleshed out. 

This book was originally written as a series of short stories, very early in King’s writing career, then stitched together and revised as the rest of the Dark Tower series took shape. The edition now in print and audio form is the perfect introduction to lead you into the series, and you can be assured that you are in safe hands on this quest. I’ve not read these books for a long time but this feels like the right year to revisit them.

One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time by Craig Brown

This is a comprehensive history of the Beatles, told through a series of short vignettes, anecdotes and contemporary quotes that put the well known milestones of the Fab Four’s career into perspective. It’s mostly a chronological account from their earliest days as a school skiffle band, through their time playing in dive bars in Hamburg and the Cavern club, to conquering America and the world, to their eventual (and seemingly inevitable) breakup.

Some of the stories are familiar, but others were new to me, especially those focusing on some of the peripheral characters such as John’s Aunt Mimi and drummer Jimmy Nicol who stood in for Ringo for two weeks on tour. We also hear contemporary accounts from fans and public figures, and one fascinating section compares the annual Beatles Christmas messages with those of Queen Elizabeth.

I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by the author along with Mark McGann and Kate Robbins, who all do a pretty good job of imitating the characters they are quoting. There is also a fair amount of swearing, which might be a surprise to anyone expecting a clean cut portrayal of the lovable mop tops.

Amongst Our Weapons - Ben Aaronovitch

The last full novel in the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch for now, and a return to form after the slightly disappointing predecessor. In this one, Peter Grant is investigating a series of bizarre and brutal murders with a common link being a short lived 1980’s evangelical cult. I particularly enjoyed the section of the book where the trail leads north to Manchester and the confused ghosts of World War II airmen who had lost their lives in the peaks above the city. The author has sensibly cut back on the puns and references in this one, although he can’t resist throwing in Monty Python quotes as the chapter headings which are a tangential clue to the mystery.

False Value - Ben Aaronovitch

The eighth book in the Rivers of London series opens with protagonist Peter Grant taking a job as a security guard at a high-tech company on Silicon Roundabout, having apparently left the police service. An initially confusing series of flashbacks sets up the backstory of what he is investigating and why, before the story settles down into a more straight forward narrative. 

The plot covers the intersection of technology and magic, name checking Ada Lovelace and mechanical computing engines and bringing the technology up to date in some surprising ways. We also see a little more of the American side of the magical demimonde which sets things up for a future novella featuring FBI Agent Kimberley Reynolds.

The book has one major problem in the sheer number of clunking in jokes from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series. The tech company under investigation is called the Serious Cybernetics Corporation and every department and function is named similarly, with the high security section of the company being called Bambleweenie who are working on, well, if you know the references you will see exactly where the plot is going. I’m really surprised that Aaronovitch’s editor didn’t insist on cutting 95% of these jokes, which would have still left far too many in there. There are also a lot of stomach churning descriptions of a particular magical after effect smelling like rotting fish which genuinely had me feeling queasy by the end of the book.

Aside from that, it’s not a bad story, but not really up to the level of some of the previous books and feels a little bit like marking time in the series with some notable characters being absent or only mentioned in passing. It does have a lot of neat ideas which I suspect will make their way into the Rivers of London role playing game - I think that 3D printed magically powered drones could come in very handy!

The Grand Illusion by Syd Moore

The premise for this book sounded fascinating - a stage magician and his assistant being recruited by a secret section of the war office to fight the Nazis in the early days of World War II. I was expecting this to focus on the use of illusions in secret operations by the Ministry of Ungentlemanly warfare with some biffing of Nazi goons along the way, but it spends a lot of time on the build up with references to the Third Reich's occult beliefs but it never pays off with the end being a set up for what looks like a series. 

The audiobook is narrated in a jolly hocky sticks sort of way and was a struggle to get through. Disappointing.

Slayers : A Buffyverse Story

I’ve always been a fan of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon’s egregious behaviour notwithstanding. The TV series finished at season 7, but the story has continued in various spin off books and comics. This latest iteration is an audio drama featuring some of the original cast, although with the notable absence of Sarah Michelle Geller in the title role. She has said that she doesn’t want to return to the role, which is fair enough, so in this we have Charisma Carpenter as a parallel universe slayer who magics her way into the main Buffy reality to seek help against a threat to her own world. 

The story is of variable quality with some bits working better than others. The fight scenes (a staple part of the TV show) fall especially flat with a lot of crashing and banging with no sense of what is supposed to be happening. The voice acting is also of variable quality - James Marsters and Juliet Landau reprise their Spike and Drusilla double act but other cast members sound a bit strange. 

Only worth getting if you have an Audible credit burning a hole in your pocket.

Slayers : A Buffyverse Story

Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch

 I came late to the Rivers of London series, only starting them last year after a recommendation in the Liminal RPG, and I’ve been mainlining them as audiobooks since. This is the eighth book in the main series and continues the various ongoing plot threads with some interesting twists and yet another killer cliffhanger ending. I can recommend the audiobooks narrated by Kobnar Holdbrook-Smith who brings the series to life, coping with some tricky accents in places.