Classic SF with Andy Johnson

In 2004, the Tomb Raider series was in a bad place. The critical failure of The Angel of Darkness led publisher Eidos to sack Core Design from the series, and bring in another of their studios - Crystal Dynamics. Released in 2006, Tomb Raider: Legend overhauled Lara Croft's adventures in a number of key ways that have set the series in good stead for its ongoing success.

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There is a grand tradition of rally video games, stretching back into the 1980s. Released for a host of platforms, they have varied in their approach to realism and their relationship to official championships. Art of Rally is a genuinely unique take on this venerable sub-genre of racing games. Developed by Canadian outfit Funselektor Labs, it recognises the things that make rally unique and special - the mastery of its delicate technical skills, the sense of being alone against the elements and the clock, and the euphoric experience of getting a corner just right.

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My overview of Michael Moorcock’s epic Elric saga continues, and concludes, with this second part. The guide covers the eight main novels in the sequence in their internal chronological order; to catch up with the first four novels, be sure to read or listen to part I.

Following those first four books, Elric has made enemies in what remains of his Melnibonéan people, and in the powerful sorcerer Theleb Ka’arna. More positively, he has made a stout ally in the form of Moonglum of Elwher. He has won great victories, and done terrible things, all with the demonic sword Stormbringer at his side.

All of these events are factors in the stories which follow in books 5 to 8. Here, the chronology and provenance of the series becomes a bit more complicated. The four books were published out of sequence, during three decades. Confusingly, the book published first is actually the lastin the main sequence. Hopefully, this concluding part of the guide will clear up the probable misunderstandings - rest assured that these are fine books, and a wild ride in the Multiverse.

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By 1972, Ursula K. Le Guin was increasingly being seen as one of the most important writers of science fiction and fantasy. Following three fascinating but mostly ignored novels, the Oregon-based author and her Hainish series were brought to wide attention by The Left Hand of Darkness (1969). She had also published A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) and The Tombs of Atuan (1971), the first two entries in her Earthsea fantasy series, to some acclaim.

While Le Guin’s career was taking off, she was profoundly troubled by outside events - specifically the horror of the Vietnam War. This would profoundly influence the fifth entry in her Hainish series, The Word for World is Forest. As Ken MacLeod put it in his introduction, the book is a “reflection on invasion, exploitation and oppression, and on the necessity and cost of resistance.”

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Nothing looks quite like Amid Evil. Released from the murky ambiguity of Early Access into the sunlit uplands of actual completion in 2019, the fantasy shooter by developer Indefatigable has a genuinely unique aesthetic. Even moreso than its eminently solid gameplay, it is the visuals and level design of Amid Evil which elevate the game into being one of the best examples in the recent retro shooter boom.

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Ursula K. Le Guin made her name with her groundbreaking 1969 novel The Left Hand of Darkness. Thie episode recommends this oft-recommended book, introduces some of its themes, and looks at how it connects to the larger Hainish cycle.

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Michael Moorcock is one of speculative fiction's greatest ever authors, and Elric of Melniboné is one of the key characters in British fantasy fiction. However, the series' tortured chronology can make it less accessible than it could be - this episode is the first in a two part series exploring the epic Elric books in their internal chronological order.

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C.J. Cherryh's 1981 novel Downbelow Station won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, becoming the first book published by DAW Books to achieve this feat. A part of the long-running Alliance-Union universe, the novel is one of the definitive space station stories - but does it still hold up?

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On September 5 and 6, 3D Realms masterminded an online game show dedicated almost entirely to retro-style FPS games. This episode runs down some of the highlights from Realms Deep 2020, and what the event implies about the health of the "boomer shooter" movement.

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Ursula K. LeGuin is best known for her award-winning sci-fi novels The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) and The Disposessed (1974). These are both part of her loose "Hainish cycle", but far fewer people have read the books which began the series.

This episode looks at LeGuin's first three novels - Rocannon's World (1966), Planet of Exile (1966) and City of Illusions (1967) - to see how they fit into the author's wider SF project.

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