I was talking with Twitter friends @Emily30Red and @Brainfertilizer earlier about SFF matters – the latter fellow trying to get back into writing and thinking of exploring some blogs. Red Emily also expressed interest in a few recommendations. So here are some that I’ve found and enjoyed recently, mostly pertaining to classic SFF and gaming, but with some overlap into other nerdy spheres, culture, and religion, as well:
John C Wright’s Journal
Notes: Blog of author and atheist -to-Catholic convert, John C Wright. I’ve been reading this one the longest of any on my list. Some of his posts are novel-length, but he makes some very sharp observations about both culture and nerd matters (lit, film, games, etc). A lot of content to explore.
Cirsova
https://cirsova.wordpress.com/
Notes: I’ve been following this one for a while now. It’s affiliated with the relatively new retro-SFF magazine of the same name. Some posts with music recommendations and a few reflections on cultural trends (usually anti-SJW), but a lot of incisive commentary and reviews on classic SFF and gaming materials. This was my gateway to Jeffro and a whole mess of other blogs. Highly recommended; a lot of good archive material.
Castalia House
http://www.castaliahouse.com/posts/
Notes: The official site and blog of the Castalia House publishing company. Alex of Cirsova and Jeffro (see next entry) and a couple other writers post regular articles related to classic SFF and tabletop gaming. To my knowledge Jeffro runs the Twitter account. Highly Recommended.
Jeffro’s Space Gaming Blog
Notes: Jeffro is pretty active on Google+ and the Castalia House blog, but he will sometimes post to his personal site, as well. There are periods of long inactivity, but some very interesting posts here. Dig into the archives. Highly recommended.
Every Day Should Be Tuesday
https://everydayshouldbetuesday.wordpress.com/
Notes: Attorney and book reviewer HP writes mostly reviews of speculative fiction (including his Throwback Thursdays devoted to classic SFF), with miscellaneous other nerdbits thrown in. Great blog.
The Catholic Geeks
Notes: As the name suggests, this is a geek blog from a Catholic outlook. As you may imagine, some religious content here. Mostly you’ll find commentary and reviews on books, film, TV shows, comics, etc. I haven’t read this one extensively but have liked what I’ve seen.
Don’t Split the Party
https://harbingergames.blogspot.com/
Notes: Old school gamer Rick Stump lays out very astute reviews on TV and film (check out his posts on Blade Runner and Stranger Things!), as well as gaming materials and other nerdy things. Very good!
Black Gate
Notes: Another publishing house’s blog. This one is hit or miss; some nice book/magazine reviews, but also some banal SJWish content on occasion (see my post making fun of one such review).
The Land of Nod
https://matt-landofnod.blogspot.com/
Notes: RPG writer’s blog focusing mostly on tabletop resources and ideas, with a smattering of literature reviews and other stuff. I haven’t delved too deeply, but seems cool.
Dyvers
https://dyverscampaign.blogspot.com/
Notes: A nerd hobbyist’s blog about tabletop RPGs, video games, comics, art, etc. An interesting variety of material, and he puts together a giant blog list (almost) every year.
Tales to Astound
https://talestoastound.wordpress.com/
Notes: A blog that seems mostly focused on resources and inspirations for the Traveller tabletop RPG. Also haven’t dug too deep here, but some of the article titles have caught my eye.
The Frisky Pagan
https://friskypagan.wordpress.com/
Notes: A bilingual blog about culture, gaming, and other nerdy pursuits. Good variety of content.
Seagull Rising
https://seagullrising.blogspot.com/
Notes: A (as of this writing) young blog mostly about culture, gaming, and fiction. Jon and I hold opposing views on a number of issues, but he strikes me as well-spoken, respectful, and affable. Worth checking out!
Campaign Mastery
http://www.campaignmastery.com/blog/
Notes: Mostly a gaming (pen and paper RPG) resource for DMs. Some material is interesting to read even outside of that context, like this post exploring possible explanations of/for in-game (or in-story) magic.
Battered, Tattered, Yellow, and Creased
https://yellowedandcreased.wordpress.com/
Notes: A blog devoted to reviewing and analyzing vintage “genre” fiction. Not updated so often anymore, but it has a great index of book reviews, including many SFF items.
Trollsmyth
https://trollsmyth.blogspot.com/
Another blog that I haven’t read extensively, but has some eye-catching posts about games and films. It was originally his two reviews of Star Wars: The Force Awakens that drew my attention.
Bonus resource:
If you’re interested in classic SFF and haven’t yet checked out my Grand List, I shamelessly invite you to do so!
-Bushi
PC Bushi 
Hey, hey! Thanks for the shout out. Of course, as a fellow sci-fi loving papist I already follow John C. Wright, but that Catholic Geeks blog is new to me. I’ll check it out.
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Sure thing, Jon. Keep up the good work! My Vance fanboyness may fuel some disagreements, but I follow your writing with anticipation. ;)
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Woah, woah, woah. Wait a minute, that was a reference to Vance? I let it slide because I thought is was something trivial. Like politics. If it’s something important like Vance, we need to clear that up.
If I gave you the impression that I don’t like Vance, then get that notion out of your head. Vance is great…my calling Schuyler’s recent work better was high praise and no slight on Vance. In fact I compared him to Vance specifically because that man’s writing serves as such a high bar to clear. I enjoyed the heck out of his Dying Earth series, even if it was darker than my favorite stuff. I mean, he’s not in my top 5, but I still love him. Jeffro’s got me jonesing for some Tchasch right now, as a matter of fact.
So we’re cool right? Vance bros 4eva?
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Haha…it was a slight reference to politics as well, yes, but I figured I’d focus on our shared love of good classic scientifantasy. It’s totally cool – to each his own! I’ve got bigger fish to fry than fellow dudebros who have different favorites. I guess after staring into the flames of ERB, REH, Vance, and the like, I’m a little jaded and having difficulty appreciating contemporary (SFF) writers. But I’m also a curmudgeon, so that fits my personality. In all fairness, I haven’t yet allotted time to read any Cirsova #2, so I’ve only read one of Schuyler’s stories.
If you do some Tchasch, you should write some reviewage!
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Reblogged this on Cirsova.
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Thanks for the Shoutout and article link, PCBushi :)
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No problem, Mike. Looking forward to more!
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Sounds Good to me :)
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Thanks for the shoutout!
As for the content of Tales to Astound!…
It does tilt heavily toward Traveller, because I’ve been doing a lot of digging into with an eye toward OSR thinking. And having a blast doing that.
But I also discuss my Lamentations of the Flame Princess campaign. (It has been on hiatus with my players running other games, but we’re starting back up in a few weeks.)
I also do posts about Burning Wheel, King Arthur Pendragon, OSR products, and other RPG stuff.
It’s a place where I get to talk out loud to work out my gaming thinking! I’m glad you’re enjoying it!
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Not a problem! I’ll keep an eye on it for sure. I don’t read a ton of pen and paper content these days, as I haven’t been involved in a campaign in quite a while, but it’s still interesting to see sometimes. And I think some of my readers are gamers, so they may want to take note. Glad you and others like you are sharing content and experiences.
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