Bookwarm Games

I urge you all to read Philip Pullman and the Historical Imagination: Seventeenth-Century Literature, Science, and Religion in His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust by Kristen Poole, available from Oxford University Press, where else? https://global.oup.com/academic/product/philip-pullman-and-the-historical-imagination-9780192889317

My review, with copious quotations - https://newschoolnotes.blogspot.com/2026/06/past-and-present-overlapping-philip.html

Many thanks to Dr Poole for taking some time to talk with me about her work. Intermission music from an historical recording of Tchaikovsky's Hamlet Overture hosted at archive.org.

For more in this series: https://newschoolnotes.blogspot.com/2026/01/out-of-ground-reading-book-of-dust-by.html Thanks for listening.

Back from the moon, we see the flying horseman raise an army. The tension builds as someone might actually fight nobly to save/conquer Paris. Thanks for listening.

Wondering with Orlandeau, Orren, Zalmour, and Wiegraf wherein true power consists.

Thanks for listening.

Following on our discussion of the new Odyssey film, we revisit the classic sci-fi reimagining of the story.

Thanks for listening.

"Rediscovering 8-Bit on the Japanese Famicom," per the subtitle, in this interview with the author of Beyond the NES, Joe Bourrie aka Syncoplay. We discuss what inspired him to dig into the Famicom library (King Kong 2), what he learned (Chrono Trigger wasn't the first "dream team" project), and where to start (check out Cocoron and Summer Carnival '92: Recca).

While there's "no crying till the end" of legendary games like MOTHER/EarthBound Beginnings, even so-called "kusoge" such as Bokosuka Wars are worth another look.

Support the kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/syncoplay/beyond-the-nes

Thanks for listening, and special thanks to Coffee over at the Pixels for connecting us! https://the-pixels.com/

Interlude audio: Cocoron Theme (excerpt)

To the moon in search of Orlando's wits.

Thanks for listening!

We talk about first impressions of Bolano's 2666. Long story short: so far, so good!

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Discussing the difficulties and delights of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles through the end of chapter 2: The Manipulated and the Subservient.

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We're joined by our friend in Finland, Otto Lehto, who is actually up after midnight to talk The Odyssey with us. The discourse, the spectacle, the poem and the film briefly considered. Thanks for listening. Next time, Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

More fights, more deaths, and more frenzy as we approach the tail end of the romantic epic of European male insecurity. Thanks for listening. The essay on Harington referenced: https://journals.openedition.org/palimpsestes/2925 ; see also Machiavelli's letters