Welcome to This Book I Read…: a podcast from Beyond Cataclysm where we interview an author about their own work, and about a book that has stuck with them, for good – or bad – reasons…
Each episode explores the ups and downs of a particular book or author’s work, highlighting the great bits, and critiquing the bad stuff.
Get inside the minds of other writers and the works that inspire them!
Nov 30, 2022 • 40:06
This episode CM Lowry is talking with author Adrian Tchaikovsky about The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake, in the second episode of our Beyond Cataclysm podcast – ‘This Book I Read…’ Why this classic 1950s fantasy trilogy absolutely deserves a read. A discussion of the role of ruin in narrative.…
May 28, 2022 • 44:37
Welcome to the very first episode of our Beyond Cataclysm podcast – ‘This Book I Read…’ This episode Dave is talking to author CM Lowry about The Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham Topics covered include: Our parent’s bookshelves. John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris and his many pseudonyms.…
Jan 11, 2023 • 39:08
This episode CM Lowry is talking with author Rachel A Rosen about Brown Girl In The Ring by Nalo Hopkinson in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Post-apocalyptic Toronto & Ontario. ‘White Flight’, inner city decline, ‘Donut cities’ and gentrification. The Afro-Caribbean diaspora, The Jab Jab & Roti Shops.…
Feb 17, 2023 • 34:30
This episode CM Lowry is talking with author Allen Stroud about House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Holiday reads: getting through more challenging material. Control of print format and process, colours, typefaces and orientation. Fictional videotape commentary of recordings that don’t even exist!…
Apr 3, 2023 • 39:07
This episode CM Lowry is talking with author and RPG designer Jay Dragon about The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Kat Valente in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Having a 50% success rate when using Stranger Things to help explain to your…
Apr 24, 2023 • 49:37
This month CM Lowry is talking to author and games historian James Wallis about A Void by Georges Perec in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: The excitement of creating stories within the worlds that others have designed. Constrained creativity, and the Oulipo literary movement. How games and role-play create…
May 12, 2023 • 33:05
This month CM Lowry is talking to Jacob Wood, creator of Accessible Games Quarterly, about Frankenstein by Mary Shelley in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: The challenge of looking at a book so well known – and misrepresented – in popular culture. The Beast within; making monsters vs. being…
Jul 4, 2023 • 35:45
This month CM Lowry is talking to his childhood hero Elizabeth Laird – globetrotter, adventurer and author. They talk all about her life and how it has influenced the many books she has written in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Elizabeth’s 1989 children’s book, Crackers, and the important…
Aug 1, 2023 • 41:30
This month CM Lowry is talking to Baron von Michael, author of Professor Elemental Roleplaying Games, about The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Bruce Chatwin’s use of flippant anecdotes, quotes and stories to explore deeper themes The broken nature of this book and how…
Nov 14, 2023 • 38:55
This month CM Lowry is talking to Chris Durston, author of Chronicles from the World of Guilt, about The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Being old enough to remember the internet before Wikipedia existed, writing stories on early PCs and…
This month CM Lowry is talking to Graphic Designer and RPG Creator Marco Serrano about The Long Rain by Ray Bradbury in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Kansas being scientifically flatter than a pancake! The Long Rain is a short story by Ray Bradbury, which is a sci-fi psychological thriller. It’s only 12 …
This month CM Lowry is talking to author Nathan Philpott about All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Nathan and Chris discuss struggling with pronunciations, translation difficulties and seeking to be culturally sensitive and respectful to the creator Nathan shares a quote with the listeners that illustrates …
This month CM Lowry is talking to author Sandra Bond about Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Sandra gives us an introduction to the book Three Men in a Boat. First published in 1889, the book tells the story of three men on a boating …
This month CM Lowry is talking to author Flora Qian about Little Reunions by Eileen Chang in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: The fact that Eileen Chang actually wanted Little Reunions to be destroyed, not published. It was not published until after her death. Flora shares a quote from Little Reunions with us, that …
This month CM Lowry is talking to author Dan Sumption about Viriconium by M John Harrison in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Viriconium is actually a collection of books, now published as a single volume, of which ‘Viriconium Nights’ is Dan’s favourite. These stories tell tales of the city of Viriconium, loosely based on …
This month CM Lowry is talking to author James Flanagan about Extremophile by Ian Green in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Extremophile is a bio-punk speculative sci-fi story written by Scottish author Ian Green, who also wrote The Gauntlet fantasy series. Extremophile is billed as a breakneck biohacking thriller set in climate-collapse London. James’s …
This month CM Lowry is talking to author Beatriz Seelaender about The Razor’s Edge by W.S. Maugham in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Beatriz shares the reasons why she loves this book: It’s very humorous It follows the story of a group of people over the years surrounding Maugham as the central character. The …
This month CM Lowry is talking to author Sara Norja about The Dark is Rising book sequence by Susan Cooper in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: The premise of The Dark is Rising, which is book two of The Dark is Rising Sequence, is that Will turns 11 and discovers he is an …
This month CM Lowry is talking to author Cécile Cristofari, about The Accursed Kings book series by Maurice Druon in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: The Accursed Kings is series of Historical Fiction books about the Capetian Kings in France. These books are based on the legend that this dynasty were cursed by the …
This month CM Lowry is talking to author Stephen Hart, about Blue Moon Rising by Simon R Green in ‘This Book I Read…’ Topics covered include: Stephen points out that Simon R Green is somewhat unknown, dispite being a New York Times Bestseller, and is most widely known for writing the novelised version of the classic …
