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I started playing Dungeons & Dragons at the end of 1983. I’d heard a few kids talking about it at school, and begged my parents to buy it for me for the upcoming Christmas. I spent hours reading those books, immersing myself in characters, rules and ideas. I’d always loved movies featuring knights, Robin Hood, anything with swords and magic. I’d seen Conan the Barbarian at the drive-in the year before, and one of my all-time favourite movies was Hawk Read More…

It was midnight when the storm reached its crescendo, and that beautiful and steady flow of electrons normally busy powering our fridge and computer and television suddenly stopped. I’d been half-way through a YouTube special of Jimmy Carr being delightfully offensive when, as if in judgement of the man who somehow in 2021 still earns a living making jokes about sexual violence, the power cut out. Not so bad, thought I, time for bed anyway, all will be well tomorrow. Read More…

It’s a balmy night in the blink and you would miss it town, the hall standing out amongst the cow paddocks and the sun setting behind the rose pink and tangerine sky. The crowd strolls up to what is known locally as “the Bundy Hall” in anticipation, full eskies of their favourite beer and snacks. Past the smell of sausages and onions sizzling away on the BBQ cooked lovingly by the local Lions club. The show is the Keep the Read More…

Finally, the Ulstermen began to rise from their pains, one by one, and then all at once. King Conchobar mac Nessa swore that “as the sky is above and the Earth is beneath,” he would bring all the stolen cattle and every abducted woman home. The final battle was joined – though Cú Chulainn, still recovering from his wounds, wasn’t able to fight at first. In the clamour, Fergus mac Róich beat down Conchobar, and had the Ulster King at Read More…

Now Medb’s armies were ready to invade, but separate tragedies had befallen Ulster. The men of Ulster had been crippled by an ancient curse laid by the goddess Macha, wife of Cruinniuc. The curse was laid after Macha was forced by the king of Ulster to race on foot against a chariot while heavily pregnant, and went ​that the men of Ulster would suffer though the pains of pregnancy in their greatest time of need. Also, many of the greatest Read More…

So it happened that Medb [P], Queen of Connaught – said to be so beautiful that it robbed men of two-thirds of their valour to simply look upon her – and her husband, King Ailill mac Máta [P], fell to arguing over wealth. Both rulers in their own right, they were equal in all power and property, but for one thing: Finnbhennach. Finnbhennach, the white horned, was a bull so potent and powerful, he made Ailill by far the richer Read More…

In the years following the death of Christ, long before the coming of the sainted Patrick, when the old gods still roamed the wild hills, and the howl of the Banshee was heard upon the wind, there was an age of heroes where the lines of myth and reality entwined. Many are the champions and kings of Irish legend that can be traced to some semi or fully-historical name, and in the telling of these sagas of old, even the Read More…

I enjoyed Bombay, once I got used to the smell of piss. I was staying in this absolute rat-sack of a hotel in Colaba, the southern end of Bombay. The touristy area. I’ll call it Bombay, not Mumbai. Two reasons. I only know one person who lives there, Ajay Aggarwal. He calls it Bombay. And of the many books I’ve read about India, the most interesting is Maximum Bombay by Suketu Mehta. He also calls it Bombay, so Bombay it Read More…

I’ll call it Bombay, I enjoyed Bombay, once I got used to the smell of piss. I was staying in this absolute rat-sack of a hotel in Colaba, the southern end of Bombay. The touristy area. I’ll call it Bombay, not Mumbai. Two reasons. I only know one person who lives there, Ajay Aggarwal. He calls it Bombay. And of the many books I’ve read about India, the most interesting is Maximum Bombay by Suketu Mehta. He also calls it Read More…