Bookwarm Games

One last look at the classic JRPG and its relevance today, closing out this series of Bookwarm Games. Thanks again to Jason, media studies maestro and fellow reader. I'm hoping to be back soon with a third installment under the Bookwarm Games banner; see https://videogameacademia.wordpress.com/ for more studies of classic games meanwhile.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

Many thanks to independent scholar Kat Sas, who joins me to discuss JK Rowling and Philip Pullman in the context of the impression of depth lent to modern fantasy by JRR Tolkien.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

On ch 10-11 of The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman  https://newschoolnotes.blogspot.com/2020/02/gamecool-books-amber-spyglass.html  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

On ch 8-9 of The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman.  https://newschoolnotes.blogspot.com/2020/02/gamecool-books-amber-spyglass.html  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

On ch 5-7 of The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

The author of the invaluable Xenogears and Xenosaga Study Guide, AC, and I talk once more about the mirroring of Xenosaga and the unfinished large-scale story sketched in Perfect Works. Here's hoping that he, and Takahashi, find time to complete their respective projects!   --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

Patrick Holleman, author of the Game Design Forum and Reverse Design book series, joins me for a discussion of game studies and Xenogears. See his rockin' collabs with Resonant Arc on Xenogears, Becoming Whole, and FFVII's Deeper Meaning. For a distillation of some of his research, check out the Game Design Extracts.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

On the end of Xenogears. And then...  Xenogears OST  Creid arranged album  20th Anniversary Concert  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

On Xenogears final gameplay chapter, First and Last, where I sat (figuratively) for twenty years playing cards, slaying dragons, looking at Christmas trees, and crafting Mermaid Rings, before finally beating the game a few weeks ago in preparation for this podcast :) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

On Xenogears (the gear), Lacan's bid to 'Live!' and other late-game transformations --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

On sex and crucifixion in Xenogears --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

The hosts of the brilliant Retrograde Amnesia podcast join me to share some of the highlights of their chapter-by-chapter inspection of Xenogears. We ponder the cast from Citan to Big Joe, muse upon influences from gnosticism to anime--and our discussion here only hints at the super muchacho information to be found in their own comprehensive offerings on patreon. Thanks again, amigos!  We refer to The Gnostic Gospels, by Elaine Pagels, and to The Great Mother, by Erich Neumann. For more notes and recommended reading, see the Bookwarm course page.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

On Xenogears' Anima Relics and the counterparts coming together here: the Elements, Ramsus, Hammer, and Cain  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

Overview and tentative vindication of Xenogears' opening chapters of disc 2  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

Leanna, aka Musical33, mod on the HDM Fandom Wiki, joins me once again, this time for a joyous discussion of season one of the new series. Spoilers abound!  https://hisdarkmaterials.fandom.com/f  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

On ch 3 Scavengers and ch 4 Ama and the Bats, of The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman  with "The Knight's Tomb," by Coleridge and "She lay as if at play," by Dickinson  https://newschoolnotes.blogspot.com/2020/02/gamecool-books-amber-spyglass.html  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

The Gamecool Books podcast turns to The Amber Spyglass, the concluding volume in His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman. Long-form discussions of the intertextual goodness branching out from the book in all directions, and of the depiction of consciousness at its heart, will be posted on a weekly-or-so basis, along with conversations with other fans and scholars. This page will also be updated with recommended additional reading to accompany our deep dive into Pullman's work. I welcome any questions or comments. Enjoy!  This episode covers Ch 1 The Enchanted Sleeper and Ch 2 Balthamos and Baruch.  Recommended Reading:  Blake, America A Prophecy  Rilke, The Third Elegy  Ashbery, The Ecclesiast  Blake, The Little Girl Lost  Job 4  "The Man Who Walked with God: Philip Pullman's Metatron, the Biblical Enoch, and the Apocrypha," John Haydn Baker. In Critical Perspectives on Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Barfield and Cox ed.  --- Support this podcast: https://an

In which we range over the contexts for game- and god-talk, with genial insights from my guest Moses Norton and some great audience input--many thanks to the Well-Red Mage for hosting my writing, cross-releasing this episode (with augmented audio) on his podcast, and letting me host him on this show! https://thewellredmage.com/ and see his Chrono Trigger dissertation  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

Gabriel joins me to discuss the massive, rich, and challenging new book, The Secret Commonwealth, the second volume of Philip Pullman's Book of Dust.  After this interlude, I'll be picking up with The Amber Spyglass shortly!  Thanks for listening.   https://newschoolnotes.blogspot.com/2019/05/gamecool-books-subtle-knife-by-philip.html   --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support

On Solaris, where we're head over heels, and on to the end of Disc 1 of Xenogears. If anyone knows what Citan's sword is saying with his elemental attacks, please teach me that sophistry or poetry or whatever it might be!  https://newschoolnotes.blogspot.com/2019/05/bookwarm-games-xenogears.html  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wesley-schantz/support