Breakfast in the Ruins

It's Mike's birthday... It's Phil's birthday... It's our centenary... For this one, we have a very special guest. It's Michael Moorcock! Also, me and Phil go to Morecambe blah blah blah... JOIN US!!!

Simon Perrins is back in Derry and Toms to pick up the third instalment of the first Corum trilogy. Many delights await as Mike puts his foot down on drawing together the threads of this first ten years of Eternal Champion cosmology and, as usual, Jhary wears some nice threads. JOIN US!

Steve Aylett, Moorcock's favourite modern absurdist and one-man genre, drops by Derry and Toms to talk about his work, satire and his latest novel The Book Lovers (available Dec 2nd 2024). This was a real treat for me as I've been a fan of Steve's since happening across Lint in a King's Cross bookshop nearly 20 years ago. Since then he's continued to amuse and alarm with a whole range of writings and claims. In his own words: "My writing has been described as dreampunk, slipstream, bizarro, cyberpunk, new weird.  I call it satire.  I'm an aspie, a synaesthete and, despite all I've done, miraculously invisible.  I love books. I'm very interested in permaculture, perennial veg and ecobuilds. I'm tall and resemble some sort of hen." 

For this almost-delve into Moorcock's dark and inspired quest fantasy The Warhound and the World's Pain, I'm joined by author, playwright and Games Master David Griffiths. Inevitably, we ended up going down various routes in a wide-ranging conversation including Target Books (again), Moorcock and other inspirations, roleplaying games and, eventually, The Warhound and the World's Pain, which is getting a fresh coat of paint thanks to Joe Monti and Saga Press and their brand-new hardcover Von Bek collection (releasing in December). We will follow up on this in the next few weeks with a deeper delve. We also discuss Dave's latest play, inspired by the events that led an under-sexed weirdo to produce the infamous Malleus Maleficarum, The Hammer and Helena. This is the latest of Dave's plays to be staged by Arts Groupie, a Liverpool-based Community Interest Company. Check out their website for more details, including Dave's take on the Dickens classic ghost story, The Signalman.