Ricky Broome

@karanthir

Recovering academic who just can't seem to quit

156 Folgt1.629 Follower1.668 Posts

Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir karanthir.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Ricky Broome@karanthir· 6d

Iykyk

Writing in the style of the NOW music compilations in neon yellow with a neon pink outline against a blue space background. Writing reads
NOW
THAT'S WHAT I CALL
DIABOLICAL

Ricky Broome@karanthir· 9d

Good luck

Ricky Broome@karanthir· 13d

Another book arrival. An older volume this time, but no less interesting for that.

A copy of The Scandinavians from the Vendel Period to the Tenth Century: An Ethnographic Perspective edited by Judith Jesch

Ricky Broome@karanthir· 15d

The arrival of this means you can probably expect a new interview with @alexharvv.bsky.social on the blog in the not too distant future.

A copy of Little Kingdoms: An A-Z of Early Medieval Britain by Alex Harvey

Ricky Broome@karanthir· 20d

Setting myself up with a nice little @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social double bill. Time to learn about Baltic paganism!

Ricky Broome@karanthir· 21d

Good morning!

A butterfly with black, red and white striped wings sits on a pink flower as the sun rises over red-brick terrace houses in the background

Ricky Broome@karanthir· 27d

You've been murdered. Who do you want on the case?

A wizened bald old man with a ceremonial dagger in his left hand wearing purple robes reads from a tome on a ghastly altar. A skeleton in a purple wizard's hat and other profane ephemera lurk in the background.

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Jul 14

And then whatever this is

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Jul 7

New Edge Novellas have arrived in the UK! So excited to have them along with my physical copy of Double Edged Sword & Sorcery! (Two photos to both sides of DESS in.) @newedgeswordmag.bsky.social

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Jul 5

Wondering how to start your #IMC2026? Why not Frisians? We have two excellent Monday sessions where you can learn all you want (and probably more) about early medieval Frisia: sessions 143 and 243. Featuring myself, @alexharvv.bsky.social and @history-w-hilbert.bsky.social plus other great scholars.

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Jun 30

"What is best in life? To have a friend in Texas. To have him send you a postcard from Howard Days. To hear the lamentations of those who did not get a postcard!" @geoliminal.bsky.social

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Jun 28

Catching up on @bretdevereaux.bsky.social series on pre-modern armies for worldbuilders and got so distracted by this intrusive thought that I had to share it with the world. acoup.blog/2026/06/12/c...

Simpsons character Principal Skinner labelled as a military tribune asking "what if our soldiers recruited themselves?" Then saying it would be "delightfully devilish, Seymourius".

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Jun 20

Eldest has made runic keyrings to go in her friends' party bags for her upcoming birthday party.

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Jun 17

Fact: you have to show proof of professorship to buy Professor Peppy

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Jun 17

More novels should have footnotes that make them look like German monographs

Pages 24-25 of Edmond Hamilton's novel "The Star Kings" with a single note that takes up three quarters of each page

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Jun 7

After years of getting one or two flowers, our peonies have decided to go wild

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Jun 6

My David Gemmell tribute bundle arrived! Really happy to have supported the project to bring "The Iron Code" to life, and to have physical copies of the three "Legends" volumes.

Ricky Broome@karanthir· May 24

Lots of great stuff in this interview (as always from @brynhammond.bsky.social) but this snippet gets right to the point of what modern S&S needs in terms of worldbuilding.

Of course, I like the particular thing that I’ve been doing, that at this point I have to call historical sword & sorcery, because it is so anchored in specific cultures, and my reasons for writing are tied up with those cultures. I’m always keen to see other people’s rendition of that. We’ve probably moved past the hodgepodge of Robert E. Howard and Conan’s historical world, we probably want to use historical cultures – actual cultures – with more care now.

Ricky Broome@karanthir· May 20

Quote with a fictional band that is not Spinal Tap

The Wonders - black and white photo of four young men styled as if from the 1960s

Ricky Broome@karanthir· May 12

I read Merynthia's Master. I liked it. A lot.

This is a masterpiece of modern Sword & Sorcery! Saitta weaves together the story-telling style of the grand tradition of the genre with twenty-first-century sensibilities in a way that feels completely natural. This is especially apparent in the transition from the first to the second part of the novella, where both the protagonist and the reader are allowed a brief but enjoyable and indulgent respite from the action with an opportunity to revel in Saitta's luxuriantly descriptive scene-building. Those coming for the classic S&S action need not worry, though - there is plenty of that! And it takes place in an excellently sketched colonial-Mediterranean setting that provides lots of opportunity both high- and low-stakes antagonism.

Particularly enjoyable is the way Saitta utilises spiciness not just for titilation or for its own sake, but as a way to drive the plot forward and provide character development along with moments of genuine tenderness. I'm not always a fan of spiciness in my fiction, but here it works so, so well! Saitta is the master of the sword and the spice.

There were a few things here and there that weren't quite to my taste: the final, climactic battle is a little too magic heavy for me, and the language occasionally drifts into the slightly too modern, for example. There were certain elements I would have liked to see developed further, too, but I accept that may lie outside the scope of a novella. These are nit-picks though. There really was nothing that detracted from my enjoyment of this wonderful tale!

Ricky Broome@karanthir· May 8

One of the best thing about having a garden (apart from, y'know, the outdoor space) is the unusual wildlife we get. Here are some recent visitors to the washing line.

Tawny mining bee: a black bee with a red furry back and bright orange furry abdomen against a black background

Green-veined white butterfly: side-view of a green butterfly with it's wings folded standing on a white towel. The wings are green with brown veins.

Ricky Broome@karanthir· May 7

True gentlemen of the tenure track drink Professor Peppy

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Apr 24

As a non-American S&S fan, it's not always easy (or cheap!) getting hold things. So I'm very happy that these have made it safely across the Atlantic! Including one from @weirdpunkbooks.bsky.social

The cover of "To Leave a Warrior Behind", the biography of Charles R. Saunders by Jon Tattrie, featuring a black and white photo of a balding man with large hair and beard (Charles R. Saunders) wearing sunglasses. In the sunglasses are the cover of his novel "Imaro 3: The Trail of Bohu" with Imaro riding a rhino in colour.

The cover of "Profane Sorcery" volume 3, featuring some Great Gatsby-like green eyes, and, in red, some vultures, a corpse and two monstrously claw-like hands.

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Apr 20

Latest book arrivals!

Two books. Left: Queens of a Fallen World by Kate Cooper, cover is a yellow, orange and brown Roman mosaic of a woman with a demon on her shoulder. Right: Twilight of the Godlings by Francis Young, cover is a green image of a Celtic-style goddess standing in front of a forest.

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Mar 26

Actual photo of Charlemagne with his model Constantinople (c.814, colorised)

A large model of a heavily fortified medieval city in a poorly lit room. An old man dressed in white and with long white hair sits on the left. A young woman in a dark green dress with brown hair sits on the right.

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Mar 13

Not often my mum gets to send me something from her local newspaper that's relevant to my research!

Photo of a newspaper story with the headline "Detectorist finds Viking coins made in Italy and buried in Norfolk field". The story explains that the coins were minted in Italy around 812 and brought to Fleggborough, Norfolk and buried around 830. The find meets the definition of treasure under the Treasure Act of 1996. The detecorist work was carried out on agricultural land with permission from landowner.

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Feb 26

Allister Heath's open letter to the Frankish elite c.700

Mock-up of a Telegraph headline for a story by Allister Heath titled "This monstrous Radbod is a betrayal of Western civilisation"

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Feb 23

Close enough. Is Roger Collins saying Charlemagne looked like Obelix in hos biography of the big man?

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Feb 17

Another day, another book to review. Really looking forward to this one. An opportunity to revisit some classics, and there are some previously unpublished articles!

Cover of "From Clovis to Charlemagne: Frankish History and Historians", a collection of articles by Roger Collins

Ricky Broome@karanthir· Feb 17

Probably couldn't get away with putting this on a dice tray.