Skeleton Songs

Lottie Bevan & Alexis Kennedy

5.0 (7)
VIDEO GAMES

Skeleton Songs

A games and literature podcast all about stories, from London-based indie developers Weather Factory. Forgotten myths, fantastic sources, gothic tropes and ghoulish tales. All with a list of the games / texts we talk about at the bottom of the episode summary, so you can go away and play/read to your black heart's content.

25 JAN

Only In Silence The Word

"The final victory of sci-fi is its final defeat," says AK, gnomically, before we sing the Beverly Hills Cop theme tune and talk about trombones. Join us for a discussion of 'the best fiction novel of the 20th century', A Wizard of Earthsea, and its masterful magic system: from Native American folklore to shamanism, demonic to natural theurgy, and eastern wyrms to western protodragons. Is it written for children or not? What is 'Equilibrium'? Why is 'clot of shadow' so upsetting, and what doe...

1h 1m
18/12/2023

The Wood Between the Worlds

Lord of the Rings + Narnia + Jane Austen = ? A smash-hit 800-page faux-Victorian novel of realist magic and alternate histories, of course! Welcome to the world of Susanna Clarke, whose rules-based, Mametian and very 'English' magic system is one of the best we've had the good fortune to meet. Join us for a discussion of made-up magical scholarship, urban versus natural magic, whether you should consider the Land of Faerie for your next holiday destination, and 'the beauty of grey'. Games / b...

1h 6m
24/11/2023

The Kilns of Smorgasbord

Author. Visionary. Dreamweaver. Plus bellhop. Meet Jack Vance, one of the most inventive fantasy authors we've ever heard of, and probably not a pirate king. What happens when fairies become too lumpen and earthy? Why are Lvl1 wizards in D&D so rubbish? Who is Larkin the Baby-Stealer, and why are you reaching for that kazoo?We talk Cugel the Clever, Vancean magic and why you shouldn't make bread from dogs.Games / books mentioned in this episode, for your gaming / reading pleasure:- Lyones...

1h 3m
06/11/2023

Magic That Hath Ravish'd Me

"If magic works, why isn't the President of the United States doing it?"After a 'brief' hiatus, we're back! We pick up where we left off and talk about the magic of Doctor Faustus, whether magic is 'liberation or damnation', and the distinction between ceremonial magic and what specialists term 'Doing A Big Spell'. Games / books mentioned in this episode, for your gaming / reading pleasure:- The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, by, mostly, Christoper Marlowe- Cultist ...

48 min
27/04/2022

This Thing of Darkness

Welcome to a new season, all about magic and literature! We talk William Shakespeare's Tempest, from women-wizards from Algiers to royal demonology. Caliban's Moth, Ariel's Lantern and AK nearly dies in a spiegel tent.Games / books mentioned in this episode, for your gaming / reading pleasure:- "The Tempest", by William Shakespeare- Against Worldbuilding, and Other Provocations, by Alexis Kennedy- Daemonologie, by King James I- The Lesser Key of Solomon, anonymousFollow us on Twitter and sign...

47 min
03/12/2021

A City Is Not A Tree

What makes games 'savoury'? Why is Twitter such a bad place to get game design advice? And is it ever sensible to push a count off a cliff?This episode, Lottie and Alexis talk art, games and critique, through architect Christopher Alexander to Jack Cohen and Brian Aldiss' fight over speculative xenobiology in Helliconia. Listen to avoid the perils of categorisation, and the pitfalls of diamonds - and hear Alexis fake his own death. Literally.Games / books mentioned in this episode, for your g...

34 min
19/11/2021

The Glittering Lights of Wolfstack Docks

Hiraeth? Sensucht? Saudade? Listen to Alexis and Lottie cry as we talk nostalgia, sequels and games, from 17th-century Swiss cowbells to sailing away from your loved ones into danger. We talk transmission of experience from one generation to the next, the future of games as gamers get old, and the impossible loss of childhood - and why that's not such a bad thing after all.Games / books mentioned in this episode, for your gaming / reading pleasure:- Sunless Sea, by Alexis Kennedy and Failbett...

43 min
27/08/2021

Now Draw the Rest of the Owl, Part 2

The conclusion of an epic two-parter. Who would win in a fight between TRPGs and CRPGs? What happens if a giant worm swallows a city? Is a dolphin the same as a cat? We attempt to answer these questions with appeals to Simon Baron-Cohen's empathising-systemising theory, work out why TRPGs rely so heavily on rule-sets when lots of people don't follow them anyway, and end up convincing ourselves that Game of Thrones is Love Island for nerds. PROVE US WRONG IF YOU DARE.Games / books mentioned in...

57 min

5

out of 5

7 Ratings

A games and literature podcast all about stories, from London-based indie developers Weather Factory. Forgotten myths, fantastic sources, gothic tropes and ghoulish tales. All with a list of the games / texts we talk about at the bottom of the episode summary, so you can go away and play/read to your black heart's content.

Creator

Lottie Bevan & Alexis Kennedy
Years Active

2020 - 2024
Episodes

24
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2024 Skeleton Songs
Show Website

Skeleton Songs