They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Chadwick Ginther, whose latest, Graveyard Mind, was released last summer from ChiZine!
What does Chadwick love when he’s not writing about the dead that won’t stay buried? Spoiler alert: a galaxy far, far away, a new iteration of a classic game, watching toys crash together, a fantasy by a classic author, a storytelling band that produces great album after great album, and a book on mythology to read over and over. Curious? Read on to learn more!
Star Wars: May as well start with that first great nerdy love of my life! Even though Star Wars is clad in SF, it’s probably the thing that made me love mythology and fantasy more than anything else. Loving Star Wars is probably not surprising for someone my age, but I don’t remember a time in my life without it. From early childhood toys, to comics to the movies to novels and roleplaying games, it’s always been there. I’ve lost count of the lightsaber duels I had as a child (and as an adult). I wanted to be Luke Skywalker as a kid, then briefly flirted with the idea Han Solo was the cool one, but Luke’s final confrontation with Vader and the Emperor in Return of the Jedi changed that. Even in the long wait between the original trilogy and the prequels and the prequel and sequel trilogies, Star Wars was a part of the everyday way I talked. When The Force Awakens teaser came out, I was afraid to watch. I really wanted it to be good, and feared it wouldn’t be, but the moment the Falcon soared into frame, I lost my mind and heart to Star Wars all over again. I love the original movies. I love the Disney movies. I could watch Finn and Poe and Rey in a dozen more movies. I want more Star Wars.
Right now.
Dungeons & Dragons: I love roleplaying games in general, but D&D is always the one I come back to. I have more ideas for characters to create and campaign stories to tell than I will ever have time to play. I’ve played every edition of the game as Player and Dungeon Master, but I love the current renaissance that 5th edition has brought on. Everywhere I turn I see drawings of people’s characters, t-shirts, and new players taking up the game and having fun. Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition is probably my favorite iteration of the grand old game and now, thanks to technology, I can still play with my high school gaming group despite being scattered across Canada. My love of the game isn’t even limited to playing anymore; watching D&D livestreams like Critical Role has become entertainment for those times when I can’t get a game together.
Pacific Rim: C’mon! Giant robots versus giant monsters? It’s like this was the movie I was born to watch (in fact, I watched it again while I polished this article). Pacific Rim really shouldn’t have worked, but it sure did. The visual world-building hints at so much more story than would ever fit in a two hour movie, but you still internalize it amid all the action. I also love how Del Toro skips over the origin story of the robots and the first Kaiju attack to get right to what we’re all there to see: crashing our toys together. The fact we care about the humans caught in the middle of the spectacle makes the movie all the better. If I ever got to pilot a Jaeger, its name would be Whiskey Danger, BTW.
Nine Princes in Amber: The only book I will buy again just because I see it in an edition I don’t already have. It’s so hard to choose a favorite book, but whenever I’m pressed into a corner, this is the one I settle on (and not just because I can cheat and say the Great Book of Amber, which collects the entire series in one omnibus volume). Nine Princes in Amber kicked off my love of Roger Zelazny’s work and got me reading through his catalogue. It got me to play the Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game at a time when I couldn’t imagine gaming without the clatter of dice.
One of the only times I’ve ever cosplayed was to dress up as Corwin of Amber at the book store where I worked. No one knew who I was, but I didn’t care. It was a chance to recommend the book!
Murder by Death: Murder by Death became my favorite band by accident. I’d never heard of them, but they were opening for the band I would’ve then declared my favorite: The Reverend Horton Heat. Murder By Death claimed the top spot first by dethroning the Rev as my benchmark for an opening band blowing me away and then by releasing album after album of great songs. From the opening moments of that first show when singer Adam Turla declared, “First we’re gonna do a song about drinkin’, then a song about revenge, then a song about drinkin’ and revenge, we are Murder by Death.” I was hooked. Their albums are all full of stories, but In Bocca al Lupo was the one they were touring at the time, and its themes of sin, guilt and redemption, remains at the top of the list.
D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths: I came to Norse mythology because of Greek mythology. After watching The Mighty Hercules cartoon — the one with the magic ring and the annoying centaur — I went right to the library to find books on Greek Mythology. When I read everything my local library had on the subject, right next to D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths I found D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths. There was something about the Norse myth cycle that spoke to me even more. Maybe it was because the shortest boy in his class saw something necessary in stories about fighting giants. Or maybe it was because as a D&D player, I thought the Aesir had the coolest magic items. Whatever it was, I checked that book out of the library so many times the librarians asked me to stop in case there was another little kid who wanted to learn about Norse Mythology. But I never really stopped, because now I own the book and I can reread it any time I want.
Chadwick Ginther is the Prix Aurora Award nominated author of the Thunder Road Trilogy (Ravenstone Books), Graveyard Mind (ChiZine Publications), numerous short stories and the occasional comic. He lives and writes in Winnipeg, Canada, spinning sagas set in the wild spaces of Canada’s western wilderness where surely monsters must exist.
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Author Photo by Ashley MacLennan
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We read “Nine Princes in Amber” for graduate school and it really was like nothing I had ever read before. I loved the parallel/mirror kingdoms and the tarot card system. I’m happy to see you put it on your list!
AND YESSSSSS “Critical Role!” I loved all of those VAs so when I found out they made this show, I was so happy for them. I got to meet Matthew Mercer back in 2016 and had a fangirl moment. I love how much it’s grown now and spread into other things (like the Vox Machina comics, for example).
Basically I want to high five you for so many things in this post.