Dr Simon Reads...

Dr. Simon Reads Appendix N Part Seven: L Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt This is an ongoing sporadic series, in which I explore classic fantasy and science fiction works. Appendix N is the bibliography of Gary Gygax's original Dungeon Masters Guide, and lists a range of classic SF and fantasy authors that influenced his interest in the fantastical. See  the first part of this series  for more information. This time around, I have reached the works of: L Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt Normally here I go into a brief bit of biography, but I’m skipping that this time. I’ve already covered L Sprague de Camp in the previous   instalment, and Fletcher Pratt has his own solo entry later on (under “P”, of course!) All we need to know for now is that the two men met through wargaming (seems apropos) and were both members of the Trap Door Spiders literary club. As well as the collaborations described below they worked together on a number of short stories, and the one th...

2 Esdras 1-5 In Which Esdras Has A Dream And Asks God Some Difficult Questions. Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Apocrypha version). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Old Testament Apocrypha, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/3aEJ6Q5 For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP And now: 2 Esdras 1 “ The second book of the prophet Esdras, the son of Saraias, the son of Azarias, the son of Helchias, the son of Sadamias, the son of Sadoc, the son of Achitob,” Esdras goes on for another couple of large verses, again giving his lineage back to Aaron, and indicates that this is written during the reign of Ataxerxes. The word of God comes to Esdras (how, he doesn’t say), and complains yet again about how the Israelites are not upholding their side of the covenant. God goes over all of the help given dur...

1 Esdras 6-9 Wives and Children? Meh. Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Apocrypha version). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Old Testament Apocrypha, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/3aEJ6Q5 For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP And now: 1 Esdras 6 “ By whose appointment do ye build this house and this roof, and perform all the other things? and who are the workmen that perform these things?” I feel stupid for not recognising it earlier, but “Esdras” is surely an alternative of “Ezra”. I knew the Zorobabel sounded familiar – in Ezra he’s “Zerubbabel” and his friend “Jesus” is “Jeshua”, but they’re obviously the same people. In Ezra they have more of a support role than here, where Zorobabel/Zerubbabel has taken a fairly prominent role. I recognised the connection now because in this secti...

1 Esdras 1-5 Women are Stronger Than Kings. Plus: Detailed Book-Keeping. Yay. Welcome to the first instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Apocrypha version). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Old Testament Apocrypha, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/3aEJ6Q5 For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP And now: 1 Esdras 1 “ And such a passover was not kept in Israel since the time of the prophet Samuel” The First Book of Esdras looks back to the reign of King Josias (Josiah), during Passover of his eighteenth regnal year, where he ordains that the Levites should bring the Ark of the Covenant to rest in the temple and to “ no more bear the ark upon your shoulders ”. There then follows an ostentatious Passover sacrifice, where Josias offers 30,000 lambs and 3000 cattle, the governors of the temple (Helkias, Zacharias, and Sy...