The Worldbuilder’s Tavern

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

July 23, 2025 44 mins

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...
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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!)
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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!)
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
  • Visit...
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June 11, 2025 44 mins

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
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May 28, 2025 48 mins

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!)
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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: ⁠⁠⁠...
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April 30, 2025 39 mins

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!)
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April 16, 2025 39 mins

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!)

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April 2, 2025 43 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the science fiction TV show Fringe.

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March 19, 2025 45 mins

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...
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March 5, 2025 32 mins

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...
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February 19, 2025 46 mins

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...
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February 5, 2025 43 mins

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...
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January 22, 2025 45 mins

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...
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January 8, 2025 45 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the horror movie A Quiet Place.

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December 25, 2024 34 mins

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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In this episode, we're talking about cozy science fiction and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers.

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In this episode, we're talking about how horror and romance can go together (and whether cozy horror is a thing) in Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell.

  • Proprietor's Pick: Voyage of the Damned by Frances White (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...
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November 13, 2024 43 mins

In this episode, we're talking about deconstructing tropes, dark fairy tales, costs of magic, monsters, and more in the dark fantasy TV show The Witcher.

  • Proprietor's Pick: Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova (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 ...
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October 30, 2024 45 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the novella All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells.

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