John M. Ford with Victor Raymond - Episode 289 - 3/30/2026

Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #289 – 3/30/2026

The one and only, amazing, science fiction and fantasy writer, game designer, and poet, John M. Ford (aka “Mike”) with Dr. Victor Raymond. A very quick Tékumel update. John M. Ford won a prestigious award for a Christmas card. In addition to his novel writing, he also wrote for RPGs, including Traveller, GURPS, Star Trek, Paranoia, and Ghostbusters. Paranoia is a joyful HOOT. John M. Ford’s take on Klingons (including linguistics) is excellent and sublime, and it’s a shame it’s not Star Trek canon. “Realistic” space combat in science fiction. Reading a John M. Ford novel is a very rewarding exercise in inference. Recommendations on where to start in his bibliography. A brief digression into Harlan Ellison. Sweet memories of Mike (and Darklands, too).

Listen to the Shane Plays podcast on YouTube, iTunes, Google Play Music, Podbean and Stitcher (plus other fine podcast directories).

SHOW NOTES

John M. Ford on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_M._Ford

The Disappearance of John M. Ford by Isaac Butler
https://slate.com/culture/2019/11/john-ford-science-fiction-fantasy-books.html

Bibliography: John M. Ford on the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?226

—

Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games 2nd Edition
Shane’s book! Co-authored with Matt Barton of Matt Chat
Order on Amazon now:
https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Desktops-History-Computer-Role-Playing/dp/1138574643/

Like what you hear?
Support Shane Plays Geek Talk on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/shaneplays