Send us a text This week I take a road trip with Matt Ruff, into the more monstrous corners of the universe. Sure, some of them are alien planets… but some are here on earth, with the racists! Matt is best known as the author of 2016’s Lovecraft Country. He never planned to write a sequel, yet here it is. The Destroyer of Worlds picks up several years later, when Atticus, Letetia, Montrose and Hipolyta et al are still battling malign forces both human and otherworldly. I went into it nervously, thinking surely a white author can’t pull of a story about Black characters in Jim Crow America without really sh***ing the bed. I was wrong! Matt and I debate the responsibility and potential pitfalls of the project, and what his books get right that other ventriloquised stories get wrong. But we also talk about monsters and comic horror and the terror and joy of a wide-open universe. And of course, Lovecraft. Though, not kindly. Enjoy!The Destroyer of Worlds was published by on February 21st by HarperCollins Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.