No maps, this time. Fictional worlds and fandoms instead. Why the Culture Wins: An Appreciation of Iain M. Banks: I may never know if it was intentional or not, but there was an argument of sorts across the body of Banks’ work. The Culture might be what you imagine as
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Ainulindalë: A stunning visual adaptation of the first chapter of the Silmarillion, in which Tolkien’s world is created. I first came across this a couple of years ago and recently found it in my inbox while digging through old emails. World Axis Cosmology: Sticking with cosmologies, this one
The Railway Mania of the 1840s: Railway company after railway company, a speculative bubble that eventually burst. All the usual foolishness and ruin of a financial bubble, but unusually with one tangible result: an extensive British railway system. What did the Earth look like X million years ago? See the
The Real Reason Women Love Witches. (Requires sign-in.) The witch is a survivor. Monster Monocles. See the world through the squamous eyes of Cthulhu. ‘Goblin’ world found orbiting at the edges of the Solar System. Ever since I started reading Lovecraft, I enjoy imagining cold, alien intelligences watching us from
A map of London as it was during the era of the Tudor monarchs, which I could basically play with all day. The Volcano That Shrouded the Earth and Gave Birth to a Monster: Eighteen-Hundred-and-Froze-to-Death. Quotes on Mental Health and Mental Illness: “Don’t make a permanent decision for your temporary emotion.” On
Transformers Beast Wars was a show that surprised me. It was a show for kids. But the writers went to some trouble to ensure can also be enjoyed by adults. With memorable characters, villainous infighting, clever plots and references to the old 80s cartoon that us now-adult Transformers fans could
