Undertowers Podcast

Episode 18: The Authorial Godhand

In this episode we each reveal our authorial Godhand, giving the thumb, index, middle, ring, and pinky (basically a Berserk themed “top 5”). As we share a universal love of Tolkien and Gene Wolfe, those authors were highlighted by left out of the exercise (our Guts and Skull-Knight you could say). 
 
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The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from their Crossroads EP.

Episode 17: the Wizard with James Wynn of Rereading Wolfe

Our second episode with James Wynn of the Rereading Wolfe to discuss Gene Wolfe’s fantasy masterpiece The Wizard which completes the duology that is The Wizard Knight. We get into wild speculation while also highlighting the sheer pleasure that this epic provides. In this episode we utilize the great work done by Marc Aramini (https://www.youtube.com/@marcaramini9794) and The Duchy of Cumberbatch blog (https://duchyofcumberbatch.wordpress.com/about/). Make sure to subscribe and check out the Rereading Wolfe podcast (podbean: https://rereadingwolfe.podbean.com/ / x-twitter: https://x.com/ReReadingWolfe). 
 
Give us a like and subscribe! You can follow us on x / tiktok / instagram: 
 
https://x.com/undertowerspod 
 
https://www.tiktok.com/@undertowerspodcast
 
https://www.instagram.com/undertowerspodcast/
 
The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from their Crossroads EP.

Episode 16: The Knight with Rereading Wolfe

We are pleased to be joined by James Wynn of the Rereading Wolfe podcast to discuss Gene Wolfe’s fantasy epic The Knight, the first novel from his duology The Wizard Knight. We dive deep into the complex story (and in Wolfe fashion the story behind the story) while never steering away from the sheer pleasure of this imaginative fantasy tale. 
 
The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from the Crossroads EP. 

Episode 15: Berserk

We finally give Berserk its due with a full spoiler-free but content rich episode on Kentaro Miura’s dark fantasy masterwork. Berserk is a classic work of seinen manga and we are just as thrilled to talk about it as we were to experience it. 
 
The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from the Crossroads EP. 
 

Episode 14: The Hero Battle Brackett

Hear ye! Hear ye! It is time for the Battle Bracket! We work through a violent thought-experiment asking the question, “who would be the victor in a combat tournament between sixteen selected heroes from the Sword & Sorcery / Heroic Fantasy series we’ve read over the past year?” The challengers are: Sir Able - Gene Wolfe’s Wizard Knight Conan - Robert E Howard’s titular muscle-bound barbarian Corban - John Gwynne’s The Faithful & The Fallen Druss - David Gemmell’s Legend Elric - Michael Moorcock’s albino sorcerer from The Elric Saga Fafhrd - Fritz Leiber’s barbarian from his many Lankhmar tales Geralt - Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher The Grey Mouser - Fritz Leiber’s mischievous thief from his many Lankhmar tales Karnak - David Gemmell’s Waylander Sir Leort - Gene Wolfe’s Wizard Knight Maquin - John Gwynne’s The Faithful & The Fallen Skafloc - Poul Anderson’s The Broken Sword Tarzan - Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan stories Tenaka Khan - David Gemmell’s The King Beyond The Gate Veradis - John Gwynne’s The Faithful & The Fallen Waylander - David Gemmell’s Waylander Matches were selected at random. Fighters assumed to be at the height of their powers with signature arms available to them. We have a lot of fun in this one and hope you will enjoy it. The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from the record Crossroads.
 
#BattleBracket #SwordAndSorcery #HeroicFantasy #FantasyPodcast #FantasyShowdown #EpicHeroes #FantasyFiction #FantasyBattles #PodcastCommunity #FantasyFandom #WizardKnight #BarbarianBattles #TheWitcher #LegendaryHeroes #FantasyBookTalk #CrossroadsMusic

Episode 13: Rings of Power Season 2 Official Trailer, The First Sword & Sorcery Story: Lord Dunsany’s “The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth”

Episode 13: Rings of Power Season 2 Official Trailer, The First Sword & Sorcery Story: Lord Dunsany’s “The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth”
 
In this episode we react to the new “official” trailer for Rings of Power season 2. Then we do a full breakdown and deep dive into Lord Dunsany’s short story The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth which is believed by many to be the first Sword & Sorcery Story (the other contenders are The Shadow Kingdom which is the first King Kull story by Robert E Howard but Howard’s first published Sword & Sorcery story would be Red Shadows a Soloman Kane story which although it was written after The Shadow Kingdom was published by weird tales first). We discuss whether Dunsany’s fairy tale fits the definition of a Sword & Sorcery story (spoiler warning, we do!) and run through our overall enjoyment and delight in reading the story. 
 
You can read Lord Dunsany’s story here:
http://www.digital-eel.com/blog/library/The_Fortress_Unvanquishable_Save_For_Sacnoth.htm
 
The tale can also be found in Lord Dunsany’s short story collection The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories. 

Episode 12: Robert Downey Jr Returns & Schuyler Hernstrom's The Gift of the Ob-men

While Sam is unfortunately absent from this episode, Steven and Daniel met at Smoker’s Abbey in East Nashville to discuss Robert Downey Jr’s return to the MCU as Doctor Doom and then do a deep dive into Schuyler Hernstrom’s magnificent short story The Gift of the Ob-men, originally published in 2016 in Cirsova magazine and later collected in Hernstrom’s novel The Eye of Sounnu, being released in 2020. Sky’s writing is a gift to all lover’s of Sword & Sorcery and a breath of fresh air for those worried the genre was dead. His storytelling evokes fantasy giants such as Robert E Howard and Jack Vance and his work is no slouch alongside these titans. We have a great discussion and look forward to sharing Hernstrom’s work with you. You can read The Gift of the Ob-men online right here. The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from his Crossroads EP.
 
 
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Episode 11: JB Jackson & Shagduk

Episode 11: JB Jackson & Shagduk
 
In this episode we interview JB Jackson, the author of Shagduk and the upcoming Ursula of Ulm, the second installment in the ongoing five book De re Dordica saga. We discuss his writing style and inspiration for Shagduk. Shagduk is an epistolary novel being written as a journal or diary and we dive deep into what writing in this style entails. We discuss some key touchpoints in Diary of a Nobody by Weedon Grossmith and George Grossmith and Satan Wants Me by Robert Irwin. We talk through his admiration for fantasy giants like JRR Tolkien and Jack Vance and how JB read a years worth of newspapers from 1977 to make sure that the places, dates, weather, events, and ways people were thinking and talking back in that time were accurate and true to life. We dive into all this and much much more. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did. You can buy Shagduk here directly from Pilum Press. It is also available on Amazon. Look for Ursula of Ulm to be released any day now. You can follow JB on x/twitter at @deredordica. The music you heard was Greener Pastures by Hole Dweller from his EP Crossroads.
 
#BookInterview #FantasyAuthor #WritingCommunity #Shagduk #EpistolaryNovel #DiaryStyleWriting #Literature #FantasyBooks #BookRecommendations #AuthorInterview #WritingInspiration #JRRRTolkien #JackVance #FantasySaga #HistoricalAccuracy #1970s #WritingProcess #PilumPress #BookLovers #ReadingCommunity #FantasyLiterature #BookDiscussion #AuthorSpotlight #BookTube #NewRelease #FantasyWorldBuilding #BookReview #UpcomingBooks #JournalStyleWriting #BookTalk