The Worldbuilder’s Tavern cover art

The Worldbuilder’s Tavern

The Worldbuilder’s Tavern

By: Emma Maione Allison Alexander and Christiana Jones
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About this listen

Welcome to The Worldbuilder’s Tavern — where great books meet creative minds.

Twice a month, we explore the worlds inside your favourite sci-fi and fantasy novels and build our own right alongside them. Whether you're constructing your next novel, TTRPG setting, or just love speculative fiction, pull up a chair at the Tavern!

The Worldbuilder’s Tavern Art Literary History & Criticism
Episodes
  • 4.2 Building a Dragon

    4.2 Building a Dragon
    Jan 24 2026

    Join us for a hands-on worldbuilding exercise in creating a dragon!

    Here are the 7 questions we answered in this episode, which can help guide you in building your own dragon.

    1. What hallmarks of traditional dragons are essential to keep in order for something to still be considered a dragon?
    2. What is our dragon’s intellectual capacity? Is it sentient, or more bestial?
    3. What is the full-grown size of our dragon?
    4. What does our dragon look like? Does it display any aspects of sexual dimorphism?
    5. What is our dragon’s diet?
    6. What is our dragon’s lifecycle?
    7. Does our dragon have any magical/supernatural powers?
    • Visit the Tavern: Website | Discord | TikTok | Bookshop
    • Support us and get bonus episodes by joining our Patreon
    • Next month’s novel: Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
    • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
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    40 mins
  • 4.1 A Natural History of Dragons

    4.1 A Natural History of Dragons
    Jan 7 2026

    Join us for a chat about the writing and worldbuilding in the fantasy novel, A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan. We discuss dragons as the topic of academic study, worldbuilding inspired by Victorian England, and memoir-style novels.

    • Visit the Tavern: Website | Discord | TikTok | Bookshop
    • Support us and get bonus episodes by joining our Patreon
    • Next month’s novel: Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
    • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
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    51 mins
  • 3.22 Post-Apocalyptic: The Last of Us

    3.22 Post-Apocalyptic: The Last of Us
    Jul 23 2025

    In this episode, we're talking about writing and worldbuilding in the post-apocalyptic with zombies TV show (based on the video game series of the same name), The Last of Us.

    • Proprietor's Pick: The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
    • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
    • Visit the Tavern: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
    • Listen to our Worldbuilding Workshop bonus episodes by joining our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
    • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support Haneen's family in Gaza
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    45 mins
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