Praetermancy October, 2024 Monthly Roundup
Dark autumnal skies
Cool wind under pale moonlight
Spirits walk the earth
Introduction
Autumn has officially come to Arkansas. As I write this the leaves have long since turned their shades and have begun to fall. I've always felt a strange melancholia during this season and I know I'm not alone. It's a period of transition. A bittersweet reminder of what was, with the cool wind a comforting reminder of what is to come. It's a sad time. A happy time. A cold foreboding time. And on these crossroads, lays Halloween. A festival, that in the past, represented a time and place where the barrier between life and death was at it's thinnest. A point of transition. A point of melancholia. Raise a glass to those who couldn't be here this year. Raise a drink to the ones who are trapped on the other side of that veil. May they walk on this side, just for tonight. Happy Halloween.
Articles
This month turned into more of a TTRPG affair than I meant it too. Unfortunately a friend passed away unexpectedly, and I didn't feel up to writing anything complicated.
I started the month off with a look at the excellent Ultraviolet Grasslands. Not much conversation to be had, though I did learn that Luka Rejek has a substack that you should probably be subscribed to, so I've left a link to it here: https://substack.com/@wizardthieffighter
I followed it up with a look at Lazy Lich's intriguing wavecrawl toolkit Wind Wraith. It's Call of Cthulhu as written by Shirley Jackson, and starring the biblical Noah. Well worth a read if you are planning any kind of naval TTRPG campaign.
Instead of the intended Scotland and Ireland post, I dropped an article where I set up Dolmenwood for a TTRPG campaign that I'll probably run early next year. This was a lot of fun and an activity I desperately needed at the time.
Lastly, I did a deep dive into Laird Barron's excellent short story "Nemeis." This one was a good time, and I really enjoyed the reading of it. Unfortunately actually writing it was something of a headache. At least it's done now. If you are interested in reading more studd like this I highly recommend joining us on the Laird Barron subreddit for the readalong.
Bibliomancy: What I've been Reading
Not as much reading done this month, and it will probably be that way for awhile. I've switched jobs, and the training I'm doing doesn't leave much mental space for listening to audio-books at work. Hopefully I'm back to my usual range by next year, but we will have to see how it goes.
The Fisherman - John Langan
This is an excellent book though admittadly a little slow at times. I'm planning on doing a critique of this sometime next year, so look forward to more thoughts then.
Not A Speck of Light - Laird Barron
I think this is Lairds best collection, though not my favorite. The highs aren't as high (Barring "Tiptoe" which I found incredibly effective) but the lows aren't as low. While "Mobility" wasn't my favorite the others in the collection are well placed and continue the experimentation of Swift to Chase while being a lot more readable. Look forward to my review of this one which will probably be released sometime in November.
Dungeon Crawler Carl - Matt Dinniman
My third or fourth time reading through this series, it's well worth reading though the initial books aren't the strongest. I'm currently indoctrinating my wife into the court of Princess Donut, long may she reign!
Conan: The Halls of Immortal Darkness - Laird Barron
This is the first Conan story I've ever read, though I have seen the Arnold movies made way back when. It blends a solid horror aesthetic with classic Sword and Sorcery convention. A good read, though definitely more on the straightforward side of Barron's work.
Persuasion - Jane Austen
Another story I'm reading through with my wife. I'm enjoying it, but it's not as good as Pride and Prejudice, or Emma.
Noctuary - Thomas Ligotti
Ligotti is an author I go back and forth on. His stories are ones that I am either wholly apathetic towards, or deeply love, with no in between. Noctuary continues this trend; leaning even more into the lovecraftian imagery that he toyed with in Grimscribe. However, his baroque prose often gets in the way of his ambitions. When his prose works, it works well. When it doesn't I'm left meandering through a story without being able to latch on to aspects that I would otherwise enjoy immensely.
The Shadow over Innsmouth - H. P. Lovecraft
There is a lot to love about this story, and a lot to hate. The writing is archaic and verbose, with characters often going on long diatribes about details that don't seem relevant in the moment. However the imagery is fantastic, and Lovecraft's use of theme is striking, if antiquated. It's a fun yarn for this time of year though, and I enjoyed my time with it.
The Spectral Link - Thomas Ligotti
This is by far, the most enjoyable group of stories I've read from Ligotti. All of his flaws are curbed, and all of his strengths exemplified. If you can I highly recommend starting with this book specifically.
Annihilation - Jeff Vandermeer
An excellent piece of weird fiction that reminds me of a worse book by Christopher Paolini, (that I still very much enjoyed) called Fractal Noise. Both stories have survival elements though Annihilation is less blunt with it's themes and has stronger storytelling. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the Southern Reach series.
The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson
I've been a fan of Sanderson for a few years now, but I've always held off from reading the era two stuff, because I've heard it's some of his worst. Now that I have read the first book I'm actually delighted by it. It's not flawless, but it shows a side of Sanderson that is a lot more restrained and files away a lot of his weaknesses. The only thing I didn't like is that it didn't have the same horror adjacent focus as the original trilogy, instead opting to lean into a western/Victorian England style.
Ludus: What I've been playing
Signalis - Roseengine games
Mechanically this is a very strong game, however on the writing side, my thoughts are a little more mixed. On a moment to moment basis I find the plot and circumstances compelling, but overall, I'm not sure the plot actually makes much sense. It's worth your time if you are interested, but if you aren't, playing it probably won't change your mind.
Dusk - New Blood Interactive
While first person shooters really aren't my thing, I have to admit I had a lot of fun with this one. The controls are tight, the levels short, and a there is a strong lovecraftian element to the world and story. It's Doomguy but instead of fighting demons, he's fighting cults to Elder Gods, military divisions with ties to the Outer Darkness and alien monstrosities from beyond space and time.
Warhammer 40k: Boltgun
Apparently it's the season of Boomershooters. This was another great one, though I will say that there was less enemy variety than I'd have liked, and the encounter design was a little lacking. It seemed like most levels had a point or four where you had to purge most of the enemies in the arena before progressing, something which I was already doing anyway. However the final level was a glorious, chaotic, multi-stage fight that was incredible. I can highly recommend this one to anybody who is interested in 40k or boomer shooters. If you like either, you will be in for a great time.
Cinemancy: What I've been Watching (Yes, I know that's terrible Latin.)
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare -
I watched this while on the plane to Ireland, it was a good, fun movie, but not brilliant. There were a couple of pacing issues as the movies switched between various perspectives, but it was fun. You could tell the cast and crew were enjoying themselves while they made it, and that’s something I haven't seen from Hollywood for a few years.
Oregon Trail - Starkid
God I love Starkid. Musicals generally aren't my thing, but Starkid manages to be just the right level of funny, insincere, and chaotic, that I can't help but love them. Oregon Trail is perhaps a little messy from a writing perspective, but it's also a lot of fun.
The Mandalorian Season 2 - Disney
Oh boy. I don't really have much to say here. It seems like everyone except the writing team has it together. That isn't to say the writing is bad, but it lacks confidence in what it is, instead opting to bring in (admittedly excellent) fan service as a cover for its deficiencies. It's fine. Not good, not bad. I just really wish it were a stronger product on the whole.
Auguary: Looking Forward into November
Upcoming Articles
Wednesday, November 6th Laird Barron Read Along Number 58: Fear Sun
Saturday, November 16th An Overview of The Painted Wastelands by Christopher Willett and Tim Molloy
Saturday, November 23rd TBD (but probably a book review of some kind)
Saturday, November 30th - The November edition of Praetermancy
Long Term Project Status
My Sword and Sorcery novella The Last Vice. No word from the artist.
Same as last time, my short story Campfire is sitting on a publishers desk awaiting rejection/acceptance. Hopefully acceptance. I likely won't have an update for a couple more months.
Azathoth Station hasn't been touched this month. Things have been a little too hectic for me to consistently rewrite it.
I was unable to get out any rules on the WWN project out this month. I'm hoping for next month. Unfortunately things got busy and I just wasn't able to work on them as much as I would like. We'll see how things go.
A new short story called The Kelpies is going through editing. I wrote the first draft of this while traveling on my honeymoon, and the second draft is almost ready.
Auspices
Normally auspices is filled with a lot of things I'm interested in that are releasing soon, but this month is a little bare. Not sure if it's me, or if it's the season. We'll have to find out.
Books
Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 7 by Matt Dinniman
This one is releasing on Kindle this month. I'll probably wait for the audiobook when it comes out it February, but this series is a longtime favorite, and I'm not sure I can wait that long...
TTRPGs
Ashes Without Number by Kevin Crawford
Kevin's most recent reddit post on the matter says that this kickstarter is beginning in November. Not sure the date yet, but I'm looking forward to this one. The Without Number series is filled with some of the best GM prep advice so if you are looking for an apocalyptic setting and don't mind waiting a month or two, this is where I would start.
Video Games
Dragon Quest 3 - HD rerelease November 14th
Stalker 2 releases November 20th
Movies & TV
Zilch. Nothing I'm interested in is releasing this month, which I'm very sad about.
That is all I have for you this month. I hope everyone has a good halloween, and I will see you next time!