Filip Magnus
@filipmagnus.bsky.social
Writer | Critic | Book Blogger | Narrative Designer | All-Around Nerd
Yesterday was a a busy day: I shared some design for the excellent ttRPG, Mythic Bastionland, on my Substack.
The Fated Knight, haunted by loss, fated for greatness. open.substack.com/pub/delversc...
The Fated Knight, haunted by loss, fated for greatness. open.substack.com/pub/delversc...
November 5, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Yesterday was a a busy day: I shared some design for the excellent ttRPG, Mythic Bastionland, on my Substack.
The Fated Knight, haunted by loss, fated for greatness. open.substack.com/pub/delversc...
The Fated Knight, haunted by loss, fated for greatness. open.substack.com/pub/delversc...
Halloween might be over, but gothic vibes are never out of season! To this end: Two of my favourite fantasy novels set in distinctly gothic cities: City of Last Chances by @aptshadow.bsky.social and The Gutter Prayer by @mytholder.bsky.social.
My write-up:
wp.me/p8LkPa-35Y
youtu.be/PlmCeM_TEUU
My write-up:
wp.me/p8LkPa-35Y
youtu.be/PlmCeM_TEUU
November 5, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Halloween might be over, but gothic vibes are never out of season! To this end: Two of my favourite fantasy novels set in distinctly gothic cities: City of Last Chances by @aptshadow.bsky.social and The Gutter Prayer by @mytholder.bsky.social.
My write-up:
wp.me/p8LkPa-35Y
youtu.be/PlmCeM_TEUU
My write-up:
wp.me/p8LkPa-35Y
youtu.be/PlmCeM_TEUU
I’m sorry, are there any actual journalists who read this headline? Does anyone working in media outlets today know the meaning of “ceasefire”?
October 29, 2025 at 10:00 AM
I’m sorry, are there any actual journalists who read this headline? Does anyone working in media outlets today know the meaning of “ceasefire”?
Not my wallet, victimised by @aptshadow.bsky.social today. What a gorgeous hardback this is! Can’t wait to blaze through it.
October 14, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Not my wallet, victimised by @aptshadow.bsky.social today. What a gorgeous hardback this is! Can’t wait to blaze through it.
Mieko Kawakami's All the Lovers in the Night speaks to the part of the human that yearns for connection. It illustrates, too, the difficulty of reaching out and making those connections, especially in the aftermath of deep and abiding trauma.
Find my review here:
wp.me/p8LkPa-35x
Find my review here:
wp.me/p8LkPa-35x
October 3, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Mieko Kawakami's All the Lovers in the Night speaks to the part of the human that yearns for connection. It illustrates, too, the difficulty of reaching out and making those connections, especially in the aftermath of deep and abiding trauma.
Find my review here:
wp.me/p8LkPa-35x
Find my review here:
wp.me/p8LkPa-35x
Piranesi turned out to be such a special read, y’all. If you, like me, haven’t yet picked it up, you should.
Here’s why:
filipmagnuswrites.wordpress.com/2025/09/22/p...
Here’s why:
filipmagnuswrites.wordpress.com/2025/09/22/p...
September 22, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Piranesi turned out to be such a special read, y’all. If you, like me, haven’t yet picked it up, you should.
Here’s why:
filipmagnuswrites.wordpress.com/2025/09/22/p...
Here’s why:
filipmagnuswrites.wordpress.com/2025/09/22/p...
August was a good month for reading on my end, with lots of five-star reads!
I’ve written a few sentences about each on the ol’ blog, give them a read, you shan’t be disappointed:
filipmagnuswrites.wordpress.com/2025/08/31/b...
I’ve written a few sentences about each on the ol’ blog, give them a read, you shan’t be disappointed:
filipmagnuswrites.wordpress.com/2025/08/31/b...
August 31, 2025 at 8:43 PM
August was a good month for reading on my end, with lots of five-star reads!
I’ve written a few sentences about each on the ol’ blog, give them a read, you shan’t be disappointed:
filipmagnuswrites.wordpress.com/2025/08/31/b...
I’ve written a few sentences about each on the ol’ blog, give them a read, you shan’t be disappointed:
filipmagnuswrites.wordpress.com/2025/08/31/b...
Made a Substack for yapping about ttRPGs.
First post: my thoughts on the wonderful Wanderhome! This is a game that offers an experience so different from your average fantasy ttRPG, one that accentuates the journey rather than the destination.
Read it here, please: substack.com/@delverschoi...
First post: my thoughts on the wonderful Wanderhome! This is a game that offers an experience so different from your average fantasy ttRPG, one that accentuates the journey rather than the destination.
Read it here, please: substack.com/@delverschoi...
August 28, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Made a Substack for yapping about ttRPGs.
First post: my thoughts on the wonderful Wanderhome! This is a game that offers an experience so different from your average fantasy ttRPG, one that accentuates the journey rather than the destination.
Read it here, please: substack.com/@delverschoi...
First post: my thoughts on the wonderful Wanderhome! This is a game that offers an experience so different from your average fantasy ttRPG, one that accentuates the journey rather than the destination.
Read it here, please: substack.com/@delverschoi...
The Alters: Brilliant, Flawed, Must-Play Sci-Fi
Really enjoyed getting back to writing, recording, editing a video game review. The Alters is a brilliant exploration of a singular sci-fi idea but it isn't without its flaws.
Video and words:
wp.me/p8LkPa-34n
youtu.be/2ePMlhJ2Z9I
Really enjoyed getting back to writing, recording, editing a video game review. The Alters is a brilliant exploration of a singular sci-fi idea but it isn't without its flaws.
Video and words:
wp.me/p8LkPa-34n
youtu.be/2ePMlhJ2Z9I
August 19, 2025 at 7:52 AM
The Alters: Brilliant, Flawed, Must-Play Sci-Fi
Really enjoyed getting back to writing, recording, editing a video game review. The Alters is a brilliant exploration of a singular sci-fi idea but it isn't without its flaws.
Video and words:
wp.me/p8LkPa-34n
youtu.be/2ePMlhJ2Z9I
Really enjoyed getting back to writing, recording, editing a video game review. The Alters is a brilliant exploration of a singular sci-fi idea but it isn't without its flaws.
Video and words:
wp.me/p8LkPa-34n
youtu.be/2ePMlhJ2Z9I
Hullo, Womble. Very late response, here goes: Reading MONSTERS, ALIENS, AND HOLES IN THE GROUND by Stu Horvath.
It is a gorgeous, encyclopaedic work on tabletop roleplaying games published from the medium’s genesis in 1974 all the way to the end of the 2010s.
It is a gorgeous, encyclopaedic work on tabletop roleplaying games published from the medium’s genesis in 1974 all the way to the end of the 2010s.
July 27, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Hullo, Womble. Very late response, here goes: Reading MONSTERS, ALIENS, AND HOLES IN THE GROUND by Stu Horvath.
It is a gorgeous, encyclopaedic work on tabletop roleplaying games published from the medium’s genesis in 1974 all the way to the end of the 2010s.
It is a gorgeous, encyclopaedic work on tabletop roleplaying games published from the medium’s genesis in 1974 all the way to the end of the 2010s.
Finished two books yesterday:
Everyone Wants to Rule the World Except Me by Django Wexler: easiest read of the year. Really fun but so vapid at times. Enjoyed it more than the first because I knew what to expect and how not to approach it.
But good god does it read like a 2010s Deadpool comic.
Everyone Wants to Rule the World Except Me by Django Wexler: easiest read of the year. Really fun but so vapid at times. Enjoyed it more than the first because I knew what to expect and how not to approach it.
But good god does it read like a 2010s Deadpool comic.
July 17, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Finished two books yesterday:
Everyone Wants to Rule the World Except Me by Django Wexler: easiest read of the year. Really fun but so vapid at times. Enjoyed it more than the first because I knew what to expect and how not to approach it.
But good god does it read like a 2010s Deadpool comic.
Everyone Wants to Rule the World Except Me by Django Wexler: easiest read of the year. Really fun but so vapid at times. Enjoyed it more than the first because I knew what to expect and how not to approach it.
But good god does it read like a 2010s Deadpool comic.
Started running the first Dragon Delves adventure from the latest WotC #dnd5e book. Can’t give a verdict yet as the session was a slow burner due to irl stuff.
What I can say is, the Death at Sunset adventure reads well. Clicked with the story, had fun bringing the first part alive. A good start!
What I can say is, the Death at Sunset adventure reads well. Clicked with the story, had fun bringing the first part alive. A good start!
July 9, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Started running the first Dragon Delves adventure from the latest WotC #dnd5e book. Can’t give a verdict yet as the session was a slow burner due to irl stuff.
What I can say is, the Death at Sunset adventure reads well. Clicked with the story, had fun bringing the first part alive. A good start!
What I can say is, the Death at Sunset adventure reads well. Clicked with the story, had fun bringing the first part alive. A good start!
2168 words written in truth but a solid catch-up session after a wedding and new friendships made.
June 17, 2025 at 11:06 PM
2168 words written in truth but a solid catch-up session after a wedding and new friendships made.
Book Catalogue Project, Day 1: A Thousand Blues
I love my silly little hardcover edition with its silly little cover. Quality paper, three hundred-odd pages.
I reviewed this book across video and text a few weeks ago on my TowerofBooksSFF channel on YouTube: youtu.be/17nUxLyxGC0?...
I love my silly little hardcover edition with its silly little cover. Quality paper, three hundred-odd pages.
I reviewed this book across video and text a few weeks ago on my TowerofBooksSFF channel on YouTube: youtu.be/17nUxLyxGC0?...
June 9, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Book Catalogue Project, Day 1: A Thousand Blues
I love my silly little hardcover edition with its silly little cover. Quality paper, three hundred-odd pages.
I reviewed this book across video and text a few weeks ago on my TowerofBooksSFF channel on YouTube: youtu.be/17nUxLyxGC0?...
I love my silly little hardcover edition with its silly little cover. Quality paper, three hundred-odd pages.
I reviewed this book across video and text a few weeks ago on my TowerofBooksSFF channel on YouTube: youtu.be/17nUxLyxGC0?...
Never been happier to go with my gut than when I picked up Cheon Seon-ran's A THOUSAND BLUES, a #scifi novel of the near future.
This, to me, was a pitch-perfect novel. Gorgeous prose, beautifully translated. And so, so much more.
Video: youtu.be/17nUxLyxGC0
Text: wp.me/p8LkPa-32b
This, to me, was a pitch-perfect novel. Gorgeous prose, beautifully translated. And so, so much more.
Video: youtu.be/17nUxLyxGC0
Text: wp.me/p8LkPa-32b
May 13, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Never been happier to go with my gut than when I picked up Cheon Seon-ran's A THOUSAND BLUES, a #scifi novel of the near future.
This, to me, was a pitch-perfect novel. Gorgeous prose, beautifully translated. And so, so much more.
Video: youtu.be/17nUxLyxGC0
Text: wp.me/p8LkPa-32b
This, to me, was a pitch-perfect novel. Gorgeous prose, beautifully translated. And so, so much more.
Video: youtu.be/17nUxLyxGC0
Text: wp.me/p8LkPa-32b
We Called Them Giants is a triumph of storytelling in the graphic novel medium. @kierongillen.bsky.social and @stephaniehans.bsky.social's latest collaboration is intimate, beautiful, and polished like few other comic books I've read.
Read it!
Video: youtu.be/BRQ6agxcWFw
Text: wp.me/p8LkPa-31Z
Read it!
Video: youtu.be/BRQ6agxcWFw
Text: wp.me/p8LkPa-31Z
May 9, 2025 at 9:51 PM
We Called Them Giants is a triumph of storytelling in the graphic novel medium. @kierongillen.bsky.social and @stephaniehans.bsky.social's latest collaboration is intimate, beautiful, and polished like few other comic books I've read.
Read it!
Video: youtu.be/BRQ6agxcWFw
Text: wp.me/p8LkPa-31Z
Read it!
Video: youtu.be/BRQ6agxcWFw
Text: wp.me/p8LkPa-31Z
One of the novels I read last year was Voltaire's Candide, or the Optimist, a satirical work relevant to this day. If you'd like to find out how, I wrote a veeery short essay(-ish) thing on it. Follow the links below for your preferred medium.
Video: youtu.be/wkDZcsG6I7I
Text: wp.me/p8LkPa-31w
Video: youtu.be/wkDZcsG6I7I
Text: wp.me/p8LkPa-31w
May 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
One of the novels I read last year was Voltaire's Candide, or the Optimist, a satirical work relevant to this day. If you'd like to find out how, I wrote a veeery short essay(-ish) thing on it. Follow the links below for your preferred medium.
Video: youtu.be/wkDZcsG6I7I
Text: wp.me/p8LkPa-31w
Video: youtu.be/wkDZcsG6I7I
Text: wp.me/p8LkPa-31w
Came across a rather egregious editorial error in the otherwise excellent NECROBANE by Daniel M. Ford.
April 21, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Came across a rather egregious editorial error in the otherwise excellent NECROBANE by Daniel M. Ford.
Princess Floralinda by Tamsyn Muir...What to say about it? Lots, in truth!
The sparknotes version:
Easily my favourite novella in a long time; endlessly witty and darker than dark. Narrated to perfection by Moira Quirk.
The vid: youtu.be/9-szRD8ARrM
The text: wp.me/p8LkPa-30H
#fantasy #books
The sparknotes version:
Easily my favourite novella in a long time; endlessly witty and darker than dark. Narrated to perfection by Moira Quirk.
The vid: youtu.be/9-szRD8ARrM
The text: wp.me/p8LkPa-30H
#fantasy #books
April 20, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Princess Floralinda by Tamsyn Muir...What to say about it? Lots, in truth!
The sparknotes version:
Easily my favourite novella in a long time; endlessly witty and darker than dark. Narrated to perfection by Moira Quirk.
The vid: youtu.be/9-szRD8ARrM
The text: wp.me/p8LkPa-30H
#fantasy #books
The sparknotes version:
Easily my favourite novella in a long time; endlessly witty and darker than dark. Narrated to perfection by Moira Quirk.
The vid: youtu.be/9-szRD8ARrM
The text: wp.me/p8LkPa-30H
#fantasy #books
The thought occurs, no one has documented the plight of sentient weapons like @mytholder.bsky.social does here:
“Do you have any idea how dull these nights are for me? I do not sleep. I lie there in my scabbard, listening to you snore like a golem made of bagpipes."
Poor Spellbreaker.
“Do you have any idea how dull these nights are for me? I do not sleep. I lie there in my scabbard, listening to you snore like a golem made of bagpipes."
Poor Spellbreaker.
April 10, 2025 at 11:10 PM
The thought occurs, no one has documented the plight of sentient weapons like @mytholder.bsky.social does here:
“Do you have any idea how dull these nights are for me? I do not sleep. I lie there in my scabbard, listening to you snore like a golem made of bagpipes."
Poor Spellbreaker.
“Do you have any idea how dull these nights are for me? I do not sleep. I lie there in my scabbard, listening to you snore like a golem made of bagpipes."
Poor Spellbreaker.
When I bought The Sword Defiant and started reading it last year, I found I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for it and left it aside some sixty pages in. Recently picked it up again and it bears repeating: @mytholder.bsky.social is a word wizard.
This novel haunts my dreams, and I love it.
This novel haunts my dreams, and I love it.
April 5, 2025 at 10:20 PM
When I bought The Sword Defiant and started reading it last year, I found I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for it and left it aside some sixty pages in. Recently picked it up again and it bears repeating: @mytholder.bsky.social is a word wizard.
This novel haunts my dreams, and I love it.
This novel haunts my dreams, and I love it.
I gave into my worst instincts and purchased three comic books today. I blame @kierongillen.bsky.social’s The Powers Fantasy - it unlocked something in me. A hunger, a yearning. ‘Tis insatiable! Where will it end?!
April 4, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I gave into my worst instincts and purchased three comic books today. I blame @kierongillen.bsky.social’s The Powers Fantasy - it unlocked something in me. A hunger, a yearning. ‘Tis insatiable! Where will it end?!
Certainly not an artist, but this might cheer someone up. Doodled it months ago based on a much better drawing seen somewhere on the interwebz!
March 30, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Certainly not an artist, but this might cheer someone up. Doodled it months ago based on a much better drawing seen somewhere on the interwebz!
Tactical Breach Wizards is a magical experience. A fantastic turn-based strategy with some of the cleverest comedic writing to ever brace the video game medium. Play it if you haven't, folks - it's disastrously good time, this.
Read my review: wp.me/p8LkPa-2ZT
Or watch it here: youtu.be/BWddRTbN0t8
Read my review: wp.me/p8LkPa-2ZT
Or watch it here: youtu.be/BWddRTbN0t8
March 25, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Tactical Breach Wizards is a magical experience. A fantastic turn-based strategy with some of the cleverest comedic writing to ever brace the video game medium. Play it if you haven't, folks - it's disastrously good time, this.
Read my review: wp.me/p8LkPa-2ZT
Or watch it here: youtu.be/BWddRTbN0t8
Read my review: wp.me/p8LkPa-2ZT
Or watch it here: youtu.be/BWddRTbN0t8
Finishe this most excellent lit theory book, Fantasy How it Works by Brian Attebery.
To anyone with an interest in the academic approaches to fantasy, this title should be of interest.
Excellent writing on how fantasy is most useful politically; on conflict, gender, and more, too!
To anyone with an interest in the academic approaches to fantasy, this title should be of interest.
Excellent writing on how fantasy is most useful politically; on conflict, gender, and more, too!
March 21, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Finishe this most excellent lit theory book, Fantasy How it Works by Brian Attebery.
To anyone with an interest in the academic approaches to fantasy, this title should be of interest.
Excellent writing on how fantasy is most useful politically; on conflict, gender, and more, too!
To anyone with an interest in the academic approaches to fantasy, this title should be of interest.
Excellent writing on how fantasy is most useful politically; on conflict, gender, and more, too!