The Worldbuilder’s Tavern
Welcome to The Worldbuilder’s Tavern — where great books meet creative minds. Twice a month, we explore the worlds inside your favourite sci-fi and fantasy novels and build our own right alongside them. Whether you're constructing your next novel, TTRPG setting, or just love speculative fiction, pull up a chair at the Tavern!
Episodes
Join us for a hands-on worldbuilding exercise in creating a cataclysmic event!
Here are the 10 questions we answered in this episode, which can help guide you in building your own cataclysm.
- What is the nature of the event? Natural vs supernatural; single vs multiple events; unprecedented vs repeat, etc.
- What is the scale and impact of the event? Who or what is most affected, both immediate and long term?
- Who survives and why...
Join us for a chat about the writing and worldbuilding in the horror novel Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle. We discuss luck and math as a magic system, how people react to trauma, and the wonderful weirdness of horror.
Join us for a hands-on worldbuilding exercise in creating a dragon!
Here are the 7 questions we answered in this episode, which can help guide you in building your own dragon.
- What hallmarks of traditional dragons are essential to keep in order for something to still be considered a dragon?
- What is our dragon’s intellectual capacity? Is it sentient, or more bestial?
Join us for a chat about the writing and worldbuilding in the fantasy novel, A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan. We discuss dragons as the topic of academic study, worldbuilding inspired by Victorian England, and memoir-style novels.
In this episode, we're talking about writing and worldbuilding in the post-apocalyptic with zombies TV show (based on the video game series of the same name), The Last of Us.
- Proprietor's Pick: The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern...
In this episode, we're talking about writing and worldbuilding in the paranormal romance novel Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.
- Proprietor's Pick: Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
- Visit the Tavern: Website...
In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the children's fantasy (with vikings) movie How to Train Your Dragon.
- Proprietor's Pick: Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the urban fantasy novel Jade City by Fonda Lee. (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Proprietor's Pick: The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
- Visit the Tavern: Website...
In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the sci-fi alien invasion series Animorphs by K.A. Applegate.
- Proprietor's Pick: Ice Wolves by Amie Kaufman (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
- Visit the Tavern: Website...
In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the fantasy novel The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.
- Proprietor's Pick: Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
- Visit the Tavern: ...
In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the gothic romance movie Crimson Peak.
- Proprietor's Pick: The Dark Window by Rachel Gillig (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
- Visit the Tavern: Website | Discord...
In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the sci-fi/LitRPG novel Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Proprietor's Pick: The Wandering Inn by pirateaba
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
- Visit the Tavern: Website | D...
In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the science fiction TV show Fringe.
- Proprietor's Pick: Recursion by Blake Crouch (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
- Visit the Tavern: Website | Discord | ...
In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the epic fantasy novel The Will of the Many by James Islington.
- Proprietor's Pick: Red Sister by Mark Lawrence (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
- Visit the Tavern: Website | Dis...
In this episode, we're talking about humour, worldbuilding, genre, and the animated TV showFuturama.
- Proprietor's Pick:I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Comby Kimberly Lemming (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through this link we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
- Visit the Tavern:Website...
In this episode, we're talking about genre, the state of YA sci-fi in publishing, and the writing and worldbuilding in the young adult science fiction novel Skyward by Brandon Sanderson.
- Proprietor's Pick: Red Rising by Pierce Brown (Disclosure: we are a bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie book store!)
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern...
In this episode, we're talking about the worldbuilding in the Dungeons & Dragons RPG comedy Fantasy High: Freshman Year, which is a Dimension 20 show produced by Dropout TV.
- Proprietor's Pick: Highfire by Eoin Colfer (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through this link we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Gh...
In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the fantasy novel Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher, and how the story feels like a fairy tale even though it is not a retelling.
- Proprietor's Pick: All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Intro and...
In this episode, we're talking about the horror movie A Quiet Place.
- Proprietor's Pick: Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle and Birdbox by Michael Louis Calvillo (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
- Visit the Tavern: Website | ...
In this episode, we're talking about environmental sci-fi, ecological themes, children's literature, and the Disney movie Wall-E.
- Proprietor's Pick: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
- Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
- Visit the Tavern: ...
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