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Loz returns to Derry & Toms to pick up our coverage of The Fortress of the Pearl, muse on Elric's 'nice guy' characterisation, grumble at Jack Three-Beaks, coo over weird sky descriptions and suffer the depredations of the returning D6 wandering beer table. In other news I was delighted to be a guest of Jeff and Hoi on the Appendix N Book Club. Be sure to check out their interview with Mr Moorcock himself too. Also, check out the exquisite black metal dungeon synth of Fortress of the Pearl on Bandcamp.  

After falling foul of birthday libations first time around, we're back to finish our exploration of Graham Masterton's The Devils of D-Day.   The Seven Tests return, Dan McCook still isn't owning his fundamental rookie error, the Official Secrets Act counts for sweet FA and it turns out Eloise is the MVP of this whole story.   We also watch a movie! Surely there has to be a better Graham Masterton protagonist out there right? Turns out there's two (and a very unfortunate doctor)!

Simon is back in Derry & Toms to carry on our chinwagging and this time we're joined by Guy Lawley, author of Saga of the Man Elf. This 1989 five issue Trident comics run is my most highly treasured Moorcock-related comic and Guy tells us how it came to be, how Mike gave it his blessing, and how he worked and moved through UK comics and fanzines. We also discuss the artists involved in the conception of the Man Elf character and story, and dedicate this show to the memory of Steve Whitaker.

Another year has flown by and we return to Derry and Toms for our fourth annual Phil and MM birthday special and celebrate another year on the planet. This time by reading some patron-selected festive horror! Tanks, demons, onion soup, calvados and freezing weather all combine to create a truly seasonal challenge for a horny cartographer. This is a little bit late for reasons explained in the show (birthday boozing) but Happy Birthday to Phil, MM and Sebastian Weetabix - and Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and whatever you may celebrate at this time of year even if it's just putting your feet up and having a break. If you're working through it, take care and stay safe. We'll be back with Part II of our musings on The Devils of D-Day in the next few days. In the meantime.. HAVE A COOL YULE!

Simon Perrins joins me in Derry and Toms to discuss Moorcock, art, comics, Tolkien, TV adaptations, role-playing games, tortured poet musicians we adored in our youths and generally go totally fugazi. Simon is the man behind our banner art, logo, Gerard Arthur Connelly portraits and pretty much our entire visual identity.  Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden. For a visual guide to the imagery we discuss along the way check out the Patreon Post or the BITR Blog.

Phil and Graham return to Derry and Toms to gas about James Herbert's second novel, 1975's The Fog. One year on from The Rats he's back terrorising London and the south-east, this time with a rampaging combination of mutated disease and spooky weather condition. He also baffles and amuses us with protracted sexy-times, which was de rigueur for Herbert at this early stage in his career. Also, I can only apologise to any German listeners for reasons that will become apparent.    Behold the crapness of the cover of my Pan edition in the middle. NEL were streets ahead in the cover stakes, particularly that pop art design.   This episode is played out by Brayna's Creed, the second track from the upcoming Journal Vol II, available via N Λ Ṇ D   Our banner art, avatars and logos were created by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and check out his store.   Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden.

Andy Darby joins me in virtual Derry and Toms to talk his tales of the Monkey God, Moorcock, and lots of other stuff including reminiscences about Johnny Seven, Lion annuals, Commando comics, Mme. Blavatsky, My First Two Thousand Years and tripping in Amsterdam.   You can pick up Vol I and The Paddington Incident now and Vol II releases on 5th November. There are QR codes with the illustrations in Vol 2 and The Paddington Incident that link to audio sections narrated by Andy, and you can connect with him on Goodreads.   Brayna's Creed, the second track from the upcoming Journal Vol II is available via N Λ Ṇ D   This episode is played out by the title track from The Dreaming City III by Immryr. At the time of recording (and at the time we released The Black Corridor) this was the latest release from Imrryr but, characteristically, there is another available for pre-order already. Check out One Flesh, One End.   Andy's reading recommendations: C J Cherryh: Gate of Ivrel, Well of Shiuan, Fires of Azeroth, Exile's Gate Madeline Miller: Circe, The Song of Achilles, Pat Barker: The Silence of the Girls, Natalie Haynes: A Thousand Ships, Conn Iggulden: Conqueror series (these are just fucking epic!) Tim Willocks: The Religion (awesome!), The Twelve Children of Paris (awesome 2!) Ben Aaronovitch: Rivers of London series Jonathan L Howard: Johannes Cabal series Catherynne M. Valente: Deathless Kim Newman: Anno Dracula Karl Edward Wagner: Kane series Chris Carlsen: Berserker series Stewart Gordon Suaine and the Crow God Iain Banks: The Wasp Factory, The Bridge Walking on Glass, Clive Barker: Weave World

Derek AKA Imrryr joins me in Derry and Toms to discuss this choice piece of 60s SF courtesy of Moorcock and Hilary Bailey, as well as his new(ish) The Black Corridor inspired album and his latest variation on his ongoing Elric-related project The Dreaming City III. Then Graham calls in from his weird shack* in the woods to add his tuppence ha'penny worth and his thoughts on collaborating with ＮΛＮD to interpret this novel as a musical suite.   Speculations on a grim future...   Musings on a grim present...   Bleak experimental electronica...   Politics...   We leave it all hanging out.     Imrryr's The Black Corridor cover art is by Mark Jarell    Check out ST 37's track The Black Corridor from their Glare album.   John's new book of poetry, When the Banshee Howls, is available for pre-order.   Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store.   Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden.   *Japanese RV   NOTE: This episode was originally uploaded with a sound error. This has been corrected.

Dave (AKA SÖNUS) is back in Derry and Toms to pick up the second and concluding part of our quest for The Mad God's Amulet.   Join us as we discover the greatest NWOBHM band to never exist... THE MUTANT WAR JAGUARS OF ASIACOMMUNISTA... and Lord Shark's Ostentatious Couch returns.   Things mentioned in the show include Gates of Londra - a must have if you dig your industrial black metal with a Moorcockian twist.   Imrryr's latest release The Dreaming City III is out now featuring Dave and Allister Thompson AKA The Gateless Gate.   Massive thanks to Dave Dempster for the Maegan Lemay poster. Check out her web and store page.   Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden.

Ted AKA @tedankhamen joins me in Derry and Toms for the second leaf of our Summer diptych musing on Moorcock, gaming and whatever else enters our eyeline.   Some choice cuts in here including miniature bashing, Tolkien (again), a shock Strongbow appreciation story, chaosium-isms... but mostly some good, chewy thinking on modelling Moorcockian worlds and cosmology. I also bang my BoL drum again.   Be sure to have a good delve around Ted's blog Tomb of Tedankhamen.   Ted also mentioned Lasers and Feelings by John Harper. Lots more good stuff on his itch.io   You can check out the Tentacled Whisperer of Secrets Discord by making an offering to... THE TENTACLED WHISPERER... or just check out his profile. He's pretty lax on gatekeeping for an ancient deity of unspeakable power.   Steve's Stormbringer game recaps are on his blog.   Check out and subscribe to Jim Kirkland's newsletter and read his spoiler-free review of The Citadel of Forgotten Myths.   Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store.   Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden.

We're back in Derry and Toms to talk gaming again, this time with CLARKY THE CRUEL. Dave gets shocked by the crap number of TV channels we had in the UK as kids, Clarky tells us about his sandboxing adventures beyond the ultraworld, and I get inspired. And we digress. Obviously.   You can find Clarky's Dissecting Worlds podcast archive and all of his game logs on his blog (including entires by yours truly describing the action from the perspective of post-apocalypse fiction powerhouse Roy Saveloy.   Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden. We also mention Jason's podcast, the Nerd's RPG Variety Cast.

After 40 years of obsessing over the Mayflower covers of Bob Haberfield, Dave and I get to wig out and talk to Ben Haberfield about his Dad's life, art and the gestating project to celebrate the breadth of his work in the form of two art books. You can keep up with Ben's work at bobhaberfield.com and follow him on Instagram. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden.

Phil returns to Derry & Toms as we visit Morecambe's (and perhaps the world's) premier second hand book vendor to select a candidate for the first ever Old Pier Bookshop Special. We choose, or rather are chosen by, The Winds of Gath by EC Tubb - first in a 33  book series spanning three decades that charts the adventures of Earl Dumarest of Terra. In honour of old school SF we drink old school beers. Well, I do. Phil drinks fancy wine. But we meet in the middle when the mysterious books of booze box appears for the first time in D&Ts. JOIN US! Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Chapter 13 of The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly was scored by N Λ N D. Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden.

Dave AKA SÖNUS returns to Derry and Toms to dive into the fast-paced and very metal, yet weirdly just OK-ish first part of The Mad God's Amulet, second in the Hawkmoon sequence The History of the Runestaff. As always, digressions await the unwary traveller as well as ostentatious coughing and just excellent pants. JOIN US! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Support the podcast by becoming a Patron. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Chapter 12 of The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly was scored by N Λ N D Listen to BITR Breakfast in the Ruins Radio on Radio Garden

Loz returns to Derry & Toms to revisit an old adversary, Michael Moorcock's The Fortress of the Pearl. Join us and marvel at our declining energy.   Bridle, as Loz declares The Chronicle of the Black Sword a shit book and denigrates poetry. Along the way we 'wake the chicken'. What does that even mean? How many names are there for trousers? Why would anyone smoke stout?   Listen as we mull over the answers.   (Spoiler - we don't know)   Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Support the podcast by becoming a Patron. Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store. Chapter 11 of The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly was scored by N Λ N D

  Finally, we're back at Derry & Toms to take a look at the 1980 Moorcock collection My Experiences in the Third World War. Along the way Phil and I compare notes regarding our mindsets in the 1980s, laugh at the preposterous Controller and let fate decide on the Wandering Traumatic Nuclear War Film Table.   Also, on this occasion we might not offend a small town in the UK but potentially ALL of Canada. But seriously what DOES 'pie-dish of privilege and broken promises' really mean?   Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.    Support the podcast by becoming a Patron.    Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his store.    CONTENT WARNING - there are discussions in this show regarding sexual violence and exploitation  

Dave AKA SÖNUS is back in Derry & Toms to celebrate the release of his second cut - USURPER OF THE UNIVERSE - out now on Forbidden Place Records. As it aligns nicely we also take a dive into the 1962 Moorcock story To Rescue Tanelorn and make some connections. Along the way we talk about some other guff. JOIN US! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.  Support the podcast by becoming a Patron.  Our banner art and logo is by Simon Perrins. Follow him on Twitter and check out his new store.  Our avatar is by Wyrmwalk. Follow him on Instagram.

Another year down and this is our third show celebrating Mike Moorcock and Phil's birthdays. It's also the Breakfast in the Ruins podcast's second birthday... sort of. Loz joins me in Derry & Toms to reflect on two and a bit years of podcasting against the strangest of backdrops. Plus the wandering beer table returns, for both good and ill. JOIN US!  Clarky's multipart Tenerife campaign as discussed on the show is detailed on his excellent site. My in-character (as Roy Saveloy) chapter write-ups are here and here.

After the Halloween Special we couldn't stay away. Phil needed to know how the Crabs came to be. Where did they come from? What do they want?   So we read Crabs Moon and discovered the answers to none of these questions. But we did have a hoot and we were joined by Graham (aka @opensussex AKA Apkallu of Enmerkar AKA DECADNIDS) to have a couple of beverages, discuss Crabs Moon and to talk in general about the late Guy N Smith, his diverse writing career. We also raised a glass to the man too as this show lands close to a year after his passing.   We reference a Guy N Smith interview from the excellent The Collected Pulp Horror by Justin Marriott and Will Errickson.   Guy's daughter TARA has re-energised the GNS Twitter and Instagram accounts.   We play this show out with Proditol from the album The Black Corridor by DECADNIDS vs ＮΛＮD.   ***warning: unlike Night of the Crabs, Crabs Moon contains references to sexual violence and we do talk about them so please proceed with caution and look after yourselves - this month's Patreon funds have been donated to The Survivor's Trust - please do look them up and consider donating***

Andrew Nette, journalist, writer and lover of all things pulp, joins me in Derry and Toms to talk about his new book Dangerous Visions and New Worlds Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985 . In this deep dive into the progressive, sexy explosion of challenging stories we wander off on various tangents including an Australian viewpoint on pulp and genre fiction, the wonders of the publisher NEL (New English Library), Jon Pertwee Doctor Who (again), long dead bus drivers and Rollerball! We also touch on PS Publishing's Midnight Movie Monographs.