In the latest episode of the Lair of Secrets podcast, we delve into our summer reading lists, exploring a mix of thrilling, nostalgic, and intellectually stimulating books. Ken kicks things off with Action Park by Andy Mulvihill, reminiscing about the notorious amusement park of his youth. David follows with a dive into sci-fi novels, including Larry Niven's Ringworld Engineers and Cixin Liu's The Dark Forest.

After the reading lists, we've got the obligatory Overlord banter, with Ken's 20-mile hike, David's ongoing writing course, and our upcoming Fallout 2d20 actual play RPG game.

Need more books? Check out our previous summer reading lists:

Summer Reading List 2023

Summer Reading List 2022

Summer Reading List 2021

Quotes

"Action Park was as legendary as it was notorious because the designer's impetus was, 'It's the amusement park where you control the rides.'"

Chapters

0:00 Intro2:10 Ken’s First Book: "Action Park"5:35 David’s Sci-Fi Reads: "Ringworld Engineers" and "The Dark Forest"11:48 More Book Picks: "In Our Stars" and "Venice"18:23 Short Stories vs. Novels21:08 Ken’s 20-Mile Hike Adventure28:44 David’s Writing Course Progress30:36 Fallout 4 Gameplay and Mods37:03 Fallout 2d20 TTRPG Excitement38:20 Outro and Community Engagement

https://youtu.be/wa2UMca9ALw

Show Notes

Sci-Fi & Fantasy Summer Reading List 2024

Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America’s Most Dangerous Amusement Park by Andy Mulvihill and Jake Rossen

In Our Stars (The Doomed Earth, Book 1) by Jack Campbell

Chaos Terminal (The Midsolar Murders, Book 2) by Mur Lafferty

Terminus (Threshold, Book 4) by Peter Cline

Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven

The Dark Forest (The Three Body Problem, Book 2) by Cixin Liu

Ibenus (The Valducan, Book 3) by Seth Skorkowsky

The Best of Science Fiction 2003 by Karen Haber and Jonathan Strahan

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett

The Banter of the Overlords

Ken's 20-mile hike

Lessons in pain from a long day on the trail.

Writing, writing, procrastinating, writing

Back to Fallout 4 … with Mods!

Planning our upcoming Fallout 2d20 TTRPG actual play game

Outro

Thanks for attending our latest minion and future overlord training. Thanks for coming! If you were sitting near the old death ray, head over to dice.camp and follow us @lairofsecrets. We’ve got all you need for those Hyperion gamma burns.

Featured Image Meta

Book cover art for In Our Stars by Jack Campbell.