This is a review of Lizzie Stark’s book Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-Playing. Since I’m in the book, I cannot claim complete objectivity. Leaving Mundania is a subjective description of Stark’s journey of discovery into the world of larp in the U.S. and later in Continue Reading
Books
States of Play presentation
Here’s the presentation I made at the publishing event of my new book States of Play, courtesy of Nordic Larp Talks. The event was held at the PRKL club in Helsinki on the 11th of April.
States of Play has arrived from the printer
My new book States of Play has arrived from the printer. Upper left is the version reserved for the people who contributed to the book. Lower left is the commercial version. On the right is the Solmukohta version. (Photo: Maria Pettersson) More information about the book here.
States of Play sent to the printer
My fourth book, the larp and roleplaying article collection States of Play: Nordic Larp Around the World was just sent to the printer. The book will be physically released on the 11th of April, but a PDf version will be made available for free in a few days. This is Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #108: Peter Wilkins
Fiction: Robert Paltock: Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man (U.K. 1751) Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man has the distinction of being the first Antarctic novel ever written, by the English lawyer Robert Paltock. Unfortunately, it’s not very good. Peter Wilkins loses his inheritance Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #107: No Horizon Is So Far
Non-fiction: Liv Arnesen, Ann Bancroft & Cheryl Dahle: No Horizon Is So Far (Penguin, 2004) No Horizon Is So Far is the account of the Norwegian Liv Arnesen and American Ann Bancroft’s expedition to cross the Antarctic continent unsupported. Books about modern Antarctic expeditions like this one are more like Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #106: Icequake
Novel: Crawford Kilian: Icequake (toExcel, 1998) What if there was an earthquake on Antarctica? That’s the premise of Crawford Kilian’s disaster novel Icequake, a novel that’s at its best when describing tons of ice moving in chaos. Following all the traditions of genre literature, its at its worst when it Continue Reading
Larp Frescos vol II
The Nordic tradition of publishing collections of larp and roleplaying game theory and design articles together with the Knudepunkt conventions has inspired similar books in other parts of the world. One of these is the Italian Larp Frescos, published in two volumes and edited by the Italian Andrea Castellani and Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #104: Antarctica on a Plate
Non-fiction: Alexa Thomson: Antarctica on a Plate (Random House Australia, 2003) Many different kinds of people go to Antarctica. Scientists, adventurers and the people who keep the infrastructure running. Often, this last category produces the best books. Alexa Thomson writes about her experiences as a cook at an Antarctic tent Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #103: The Book of Ice
Art book: Paul D. Miller: The Book of Ice (Mark Batty Publisher, 2011) Paul D. Miller, also known as DJ Spooky, created a multimedia performance piece called Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica in 2009. This book is a part of that project. It’s kind of a documentation book or an artbook, Continue Reading