Board game: Eldritch Horror: Mountains of Madness (Fantasy Flight Games, 2014) Eldritch Horror is a follow-up to the successful H.P. Lovecraft -themed board game, Arkham Horror. In Arkham Horror, the action is limited to a small New England town, while in Eldritch Horror, the entire globe acts as the stage. Continue Reading
Antarctica
Research Blog Antarctica #133 – Whale Wars (season 3)
TV series: Whale Wars (season 3): U.S.A. 2010 Whale Wars is an American documentary tv series about the conservationist group Sea Shepards. Each season follows one Antarctic summer in which the Sea Shepards attempt to disrupt the operations of Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean. Season 3 is quite amazing Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #132 – Whiteout (the game)
Video game: René Rother: Whiteout Whiteout is a small game playable either in a browser or as a stand-alone installation. Made as part of a 48-hour game creation challenge, it distills a simple Antarctic experience. You’re an expeditioner, and your partner has disappeared. You’re in the middle of a white Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #131 – Southern Exposure
Non-fiction: Alia Sorensen: Southern Exposure (AuthorHouse, 2005) Southern Exposure documents writer a year of Alia Sorensen’s working life on Antarctica in the early 2000’s. It’s not an ambitious book, and perhaps that’s its strength. Sorensen worked both a summer and a winter at McMurdo station in the kitchen. The book’s Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #130 – Whale Wars, Seasons 1 & 2
(Whale Wars) Tv series: Whale Wars: Seasons 1 & 2 (U.S.A., 2008-2009) Whale Wars is a documentary tv series about the campaigns the environmental organization The Sea Shepherds conducts in the Southern Ocean. They disrupt Japanese whaling operations by harassing them in various ways. In the first two seasons, we Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #129 – Freeze ‘Em All
Freeze ‘Em All is a concert given by Metallica at the Argentinean Carlini base on 8.12.2013. It’s part of an attempt to make a record by playing a gig on all seven continents within a year. I’m an Antarctic geek and I like metal, but this doesn’t do much for Continue Reading
Antarctic Research Blog #128: Lost Antarctica
Non-fiction: James McClintock: Lost Antarctica (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) James McClintock is an American scientist with a long career of work on Antarctica. His book Lost Antarctica is one of those that I can recommend with: “If you read one book about Antarctica…” Lost Antarctica is part career retrospective, part adventure Continue Reading
Antarctic Research Blog #127: A Line in the Ice
Novel: Jamie Craig: A Line in the Ice (Carina Press, 2011) Jamie Craig’s A Line in the Ice is the first Antarctic Harlequin book I’ve read. Polar literature is not usually big on romance or sex, and this book has plenty of both. Charlie is a member of a small Continue Reading
Antarctic Research Blog #126: The Ice Cave
Non-fiction: Lucy Jane Bledsoe: The Ice Cave (University of Wisconsin Press, 2006) The Ice Cave is a travel book, but more to the point, it’s a book about experiencing nature. The title refers to an ice cave the writer Lucy Jane Bledsoe visited as a child, and which she describes Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #125: Antarctica: A Year on Ice
Documentary: Anthony Powell: Antarctica: A Year on Ice (New Zealand, 2013) A documentary about a year working in Antarctica, this is one of the best Antarctic movies I’ve seen. The director Anthony Powell has worked on the continent for many years, and the movie reflects a deep understanding of the Continue Reading