Dirty clothes, grayed-out color palettes, and terrible things happening unrelentingly to everyone: that's the stereotype of grimdark. But in this episode, Anna Smith Spark joins us to explore what that term really means, from interrogating ideas of heroism and villainy to unraveling toxic masculinity and examining the consequences of supposedly noble choices.
Transcript for Episode 63 (Thank you, beloved scribes!)
Our Guest: Anna Smith Spark lives in London, UK. She loves grimdark and epic fantasy and historical military fiction. Anna has a BA in Classics, an MA in history and a PhD in English Literature. She has previously been published in the Fortean Times and the poetry website www.greatworks.org.uk. Previous jobs include petty bureaucrat, English teacher and fetish model.
Anna's favourite authors and key influences are R. Scott Bakker, Steve Erikson, M. John Harrison, Ursula Le Guin, Mary Stewart and Mary Renault. She spent several years as an obsessive D&D player. She can often be spotted at sff conventions wearing very unusual shoes.
Episode 10: Death Becomes Us
Episode 9: Picking the Ties that Bind (with guest star RJ Theodore)
Episode 8: A Trip Over the Tongue
Episode 7: Just Shake and Add Magic
Episode 6: An Interlude with Spreadsheets (with guest star Jenn Lyons!)
Episode 5: People in a Petri Dish
Episode 4: Civilization and You! (with guest star Fonda Lee!)
Episode 3: As Narrated by David Attenborough
Episode 2: Terra Firma and the Firmament
Episode 1: Playing God In Your Spare Time
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
Just So Stories
Anne of Avonlea
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends