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BefuddledPanda and Cesky are excited to chat about The Emilie Adventures by Martha Wells, author of the very popular The Murderbot Diaries. This is her YA steampunk fantasy adventure duology that Tor is re-releasing as a bindup. It consists of two YA steampunk fantasy adventure stories featuring…you guessed it a girl named Emilie. The first book is called Emilie and the Hollow World, originally published in 2013. The second book is called Emilie and the Sky World, originally published in 2014. Since we're discussing 2 books in this episode, a quick overview of the format. We'll start with a spoiler-free discussion of both books and then dive into a spoilery chat of Emilie and the Hollow World, and then a spoilery chat of both books. The first part of the episode is spoiler-free with spoilers starting at 9:33.Disclaimer: Green Team received an ARC of The Emilie Adventures by Martha Wells courtesy of NetGalley and Tordotcom. We thank them for the early copy for review. All opinions are our own. The Emilie Adventures releases on May 13, 2025. Hope you enjoy the episode. Music is Galactic Damages by Jingle PunksFind us on:Discord: https://discord.gg/FNcpuuABlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/greenteampod.bsky.socialThreads: https://www.threads.net/@greenteampodReddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thelegendarium/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@greenteamlegendarium
Trevor and Sley House intern Anna Bisbee are joined by author Amal El-Mohtar, whose new book The River Has Roots is available from Tordotcom on March 4, 2025. Together, they talk about the book, about its origins as an audio project and its relationship to music, about the structure and nature of art, about magic as mundane and wonderful, and a whole lot more.For more joyous things from Amal El-Mohtar, you can follow her at her website amalelmohtar.com, and you can find The River Has Roots at your local library or your favorite independent bookseller, available from Tordotcom. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/sley-house-publishing-presents-litbits. https://plus.acast.com/s/sley-house-publishing-presents-litbits. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, Trevor talks to Kerstin Hall about her latest novel, Asunder, published by TorDotCom in 2024. Kerstin shares her ideas about complex fantasy worldbuilding, about honesty and authenticity in telling the story you want to tell, and with Trevor explores how art as metaphor can address complex issues with nuance while remaining fun and engaging intellectually and creatively. You can (and should) support Kerstin Hall by finding her at kerstinhall.com (her newsletter is amazing) and by buying Asunder from your favorite local bookseller or by requesting it from your local library! Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/sley-house-publishing-presents-litbits. https://plus.acast.com/s/sley-house-publishing-presents-litbits. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
P. Djèlí Clark is the author of acclaimed and award-winning speculative fiction, including the much-loved Dead Djinn universe books, Ring Shout, and his most recent, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins. We speak with him about why he writes, how he sees speculative fiction as a genre, whether we can expect to see more Dead Djinn books, the origins of his acclaimed novella Ring Shout, his new book The Dead Cat Tail Assassins (Tordotcom, 2024), and much more. For our conversation about the author's academic work in history, see our previous episode: “Dexter Gabriel: Slavery and Film, Creativity and Academia, and Is Slavery a Good Metaphor for AI?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
P. Djèlí Clark is the author of acclaimed and award-winning speculative fiction, including the much-loved Dead Djinn universe books, Ring Shout, and his most recent, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins. We speak with him about why he writes, how he sees speculative fiction as a genre, whether we can expect to see more Dead Djinn books, the origins of his acclaimed novella Ring Shout, his new book The Dead Cat Tail Assassins (Tordotcom, 2024), and much more. For our conversation about the author's academic work in history, see our previous episode: “Dexter Gabriel: Slavery and Film, Creativity and Academia, and Is Slavery a Good Metaphor for AI?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/fantasy
Tonight we're chatting with Sarah Pinsker, author of the new book HAUNT SWEET HOME – a ghost story set in the world of reality TV and a young woman's first real job. Sarah Pinsker is the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K Dick Award winning author of A Song For A New Day, We Are Satellites, Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea, Lost Places, and over sixty works of short fiction. Her stories have appeared in Asimov's, Strange Horizons, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Uncanny, and in numerous anthologies and year's bests. She is also a singer/songwriter with four albums on various independent labels. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland with her wife and two weird dogs.ABOUT HAUNT SWEET HOME:Fixer Upper meets Ghost Adventures in the reality TV show at the center of HAUNT SWEET HOME by award-winning queer author Sarah Pinsker (on-sale Sep. 3; Tordotcom), where the crafty night-shift crew manufactures “hauntings'' to spook homeowners and capture their ratings-boosting screams. However, these staged scares unfold into an unnerving reality for the show's aimless production assistant Mara when the lines blur between practical effects and paranormal activity—and her stumbling journey through adulthood is given an unanticipated push by an unlikely ally.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.
Sometime in the first year of my review blog, I developed a checklist which I use when reviewing sequels. It helps me qualitatively describe how they are composed, and how they interact with the surrounding books in their respective series. More recently, I added a much shorter checklist for describing the first book in a series. Full Episode Text on Reviews That Burn Works Cited Ancrum, K. The Weight of the Stars. Imprint, 2019. ---. The Wicker King. Imprint, 2017. Black, Holly. Ironside: A Modern Faerie Tale. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2020. ---. Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2020. ---. Valiant: A Modern Faerie Tale. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2020. Brown, Roseanne A. A Psalm of Storms and Silence. HarperCollins, 2021. ---. A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. HarperCollins, 2020. Callender, Kacen. King of the Rising. Hachette UK, 2020. ---. Queen of the Conquered. Hachette UK, 2019. Cipri, Nino. Defekt. Tordotcom, 2021. ---. Finna. Tordotcom, 2020. Grant, Mira. Blackout. Orbit, 2012. ---. Deadline. Orbit, 2011. ---. Feed. Orbit, 2010. ---. Feedback. Orbit, 2016. Khaw, Cassandra. A Song for Quiet. Tor.com, 2017. ---. Hammers on Bone. Tor.com, 2016. Maxwell, Everina. Ocean's Echo. Hachette UK, 2022. ---. Winter's Orbit. Tor Books, 2021. McGuire, Seanan. Be the Serpent. Astra Publishing House, 2022. ---. Sleep No More. Astra Publishing House, 2023. ---. The Innocent Sleep. Astra Publishing House, 2023. Reid, Ava. Juniper and Thorn. Random House, 2022. ---. The Wolf and the Woodsman: A Novel. HarperCollins, 2021. Weir, Andy. Artemis: A Novel. Ballantine Books, 2017. ---. The Martian: A Novel. Ballantine Books, 2014. Westerfeld, Scott. Extras. Simon and Schuster, 2007. ---. Pretties. Simon and Schuster, 2008. ---. Specials. Simon and Schuster, 2011. ---. Uglies. Simon and Schuster, 2011.
Hark, Constructs! We hope you enjoy the third episode in our series of Bonus Episodes we're calling, “Tomb Talks”, where we invite some of our favorite authors and artists to our table to discuss their work and the works that inspire them as well as the various types of nerdy media we consume. This interview is the final interview (3 of 3) from that series and features Kerstin Hall author of STAR EATER, the Mkalis Cycle series, and Asunder, which comes out on August 20, 2024, each from TorDotCom! We hope you enjoy the conversation! Very Respectfully, Nick & Emily Kerstin Hall's Website ! Kerstin Hall's Twitter ! Beneath Ceaseless Skies: https://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com Follow The Unlocked Tomb Podcast Here! Podcast Artwork by: Marceline_Art Artwork by SushiWestern - https://sushiwestern.carrd.co Featuring Original Music by: - Chelsea Lankes - Ghost© (Remix by Dance with the Dead (Permission for use granted by the artist) - Blue Wednesday feat. Shopan - Murmuration © (Permission for use granted by the artists) - Blue Wednesday - Mother Nature ft.Yasper © (Permission for use granted by the artists)
Today it is my absolute pleasure to welcome to the show none other than Martha Wells! Martha joins us to read from and talk about the newest entry in her Murderbot Diaries series, System Collapse, out November 14th from TorDotCom publishing! A transcription of this episode by Kiri from the Murderbot discord is available here Things we mention on this episode: Hugo Awards Nebula Awards Locus Awards Dragon Awards Network Effect, Fugitive Telemetry, and Exit Strategy, by Martha Wells Witch King, by Martha Wells City of Bones, by Martha Wells Jamie Jones The Book of Ile-Rien: The Element of Fire & The Death of the Necromancer, by Martha Wells Mammoths at the Gates, by Nghi Vo Furious Heaven, by Kate Elliott Andrea Hairston The Water Outlaws, by S.L. Huang Aliette de Bodard Martha's website, bluesky, mastodon, and insta The Deadlands Join us on November 17th, when my guest will be Sean Markey!
Emma Mieko Candon (she/they) is a bestselling queer author and escaped academic drawn to tales of devouring ghosts, cursed linguistics, and mediocre robots. Her work includes Star Wars: Ronin (2021), a Japanese reimagining of the Star Wars mythos, and the forthcoming The Archive Undying (2023), an original speculative novel about divine AIs, giant robots made of bone, and fraught queer romance in the post-post-apocalypse.As an actual cyborg whose blood has been taken for science, Emma's grateful to be stationed at home in Hawaii, where they were born and raised as a fourth-generation Japanese settler, and where they remain academically haunted by identity, ideology, and imperialism. At all hours of the day, they are beholden to the whims of two lopsided cats and relieved by the support of an enviably handsome wife. Find Emma airing unimpeachable anime opinions on Instagram at @emcandon, Twitter at @EmmaCandon, at website http://emcandon.com, or wailing about video games under the bushes in front of the nearest boba tea joint.The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon published by TorDotComhttps://publishing.tor.com/thearchiveundying-emmamiekocandon/9781250821546/The Wrath of the iOtiansEmail: thewrathoftheiotians@gmail.comInstagram: thewrathoftheiotiansTwitter: @OfiOtiansWebsite: https://thewrathoftheiotians.buzzsprout.com/MusicLand Of The Me-me by Aleksandar Dimitrijevic (TONO)Licensed under the NEO Sounds Music License Agreement
The Archive Undying (Tordotcom, 2023) is Emma Mieko Candon's ambitious epic science fiction novel about intertwined human survivors following the violent fall of cities run by AI entities so massive, they had the power and influence of gods. When the robotic god of Khuon Mo went mad, it destroyed everything it touched. It killed its priests, its city, and all its wondrous works. But in its final death throes, the god brought one thing back to life: Sunai. For twenty years, Sunai has been unable to die, unable to age, and unable to forget the horrors he's experienced. He's run as far as he can from the wreckage of his faith, drowning himself in drink, drugs, and men. But when Sunai wakes up in the bed of the one man he never should have slept with, he finds himself on a path straight back into the world of gods and machines. There's a lot to unpack and it may sound all doom and gloom, but not to worry. Says Candon, “Welcome to your protagonist. I hope you have fun. He's at least funny about it.” The Archive Undying evokes a relatable trajectory and fresh take on what artificial general intelligence could look like, the beauty it could create, and havoc it could cause. Emma Mieko Candon is a queer author and escaped academic drawn to tales of devouring ghosts, cursed linguistics, and mediocre robots. Her work includes Star Wars Visions: Ronin, a Japanese reimagining of the Star Wars mythos, and The Archive Undying (2023), an original speculative novel about sad giant robots and fraught queer romance. As an actual cyborg whose blood has been taken for science, Emma's grateful to be stationed at home in Hawaii, where they were born and raised as a fourth-generation Japanese settler. By day, they edit anime nonsense for Seven Seas Entertainment, and by night they remain academically haunted by identity, ideology, and imperialism. At all hours of the day, they are beholden to the whims of two lopsided cats and relieved by the support of an enviably handsome wife. Brenda Noiseux hosts New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
The Archive Undying (Tordotcom, 2023) is Emma Mieko Candon's ambitious epic science fiction novel about intertwined human survivors following the violent fall of cities run by AI entities so massive, they had the power and influence of gods. When the robotic god of Khuon Mo went mad, it destroyed everything it touched. It killed its priests, its city, and all its wondrous works. But in its final death throes, the god brought one thing back to life: Sunai. For twenty years, Sunai has been unable to die, unable to age, and unable to forget the horrors he's experienced. He's run as far as he can from the wreckage of his faith, drowning himself in drink, drugs, and men. But when Sunai wakes up in the bed of the one man he never should have slept with, he finds himself on a path straight back into the world of gods and machines. There's a lot to unpack and it may sound all doom and gloom, but not to worry. Says Candon, “Welcome to your protagonist. I hope you have fun. He's at least funny about it.” The Archive Undying evokes a relatable trajectory and fresh take on what artificial general intelligence could look like, the beauty it could create, and havoc it could cause. Emma Mieko Candon is a queer author and escaped academic drawn to tales of devouring ghosts, cursed linguistics, and mediocre robots. Her work includes Star Wars Visions: Ronin, a Japanese reimagining of the Star Wars mythos, and The Archive Undying (2023), an original speculative novel about sad giant robots and fraught queer romance. As an actual cyborg whose blood has been taken for science, Emma's grateful to be stationed at home in Hawaii, where they were born and raised as a fourth-generation Japanese settler. By day, they edit anime nonsense for Seven Seas Entertainment, and by night they remain academically haunted by identity, ideology, and imperialism. At all hours of the day, they are beholden to the whims of two lopsided cats and relieved by the support of an enviably handsome wife. Brenda Noiseux hosts New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-fiction
The Archive Undying (Tordotcom, 2023) is Emma Mieko Candon's ambitious epic science fiction novel about intertwined human survivors following the violent fall of cities run by AI entities so massive, they had the power and influence of gods. When the robotic god of Khuon Mo went mad, it destroyed everything it touched. It killed its priests, its city, and all its wondrous works. But in its final death throes, the god brought one thing back to life: Sunai. For twenty years, Sunai has been unable to die, unable to age, and unable to forget the horrors he's experienced. He's run as far as he can from the wreckage of his faith, drowning himself in drink, drugs, and men. But when Sunai wakes up in the bed of the one man he never should have slept with, he finds himself on a path straight back into the world of gods and machines. There's a lot to unpack and it may sound all doom and gloom, but not to worry. Says Candon, “Welcome to your protagonist. I hope you have fun. He's at least funny about it.” The Archive Undying evokes a relatable trajectory and fresh take on what artificial general intelligence could look like, the beauty it could create, and havoc it could cause. Emma Mieko Candon is a queer author and escaped academic drawn to tales of devouring ghosts, cursed linguistics, and mediocre robots. Her work includes Star Wars Visions: Ronin, a Japanese reimagining of the Star Wars mythos, and The Archive Undying (2023), an original speculative novel about sad giant robots and fraught queer romance. As an actual cyborg whose blood has been taken for science, Emma's grateful to be stationed at home in Hawaii, where they were born and raised as a fourth-generation Japanese settler. By day, they edit anime nonsense for Seven Seas Entertainment, and by night they remain academically haunted by identity, ideology, and imperialism. At all hours of the day, they are beholden to the whims of two lopsided cats and relieved by the support of an enviably handsome wife. Brenda Noiseux hosts New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
Today I talked to Kelly Barnhill about her book The Crane Husband (Tordotcom, 2023). Our unnamed narrator, a fifteen-year-old girl, manages to care for her six-year-old brother and creative but irresponsible mother by skipping school and selling her mother's artwork. Her father taught her everything useful before he died, and much like Katniss in The Hunger Games, she devotes herself to keeping her small family afloat (and dodging the social worker's efforts to intervene). The Crane Husband opens with the arrival of her mother's newest lover, an insolent giant crane that demands every bit of her mother's attention while returning her affection with raucous sex and deep cuts from his razor-sharp beak. From this surrealist beginning, things get progressively stranger. In some ways, this surreal, poetic novella reminded me of Australian author Kathleen Jenning's eerie novella, Flyway. There are fatherless children fighting for survival, allusion to ancestral violence, and odd metamorphoses taking place in remote locations. Underneath the inexplicable events lie opposing motivations—the wish to escape both love and duty fighting with the desire to nurture and care for others. The two novels' daughters are left to sort through the wreckage and attempt to make wise decisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Today I talked to Kelly Barnhill about her book The Crane Husband (Tordotcom, 2023). Our unnamed narrator, a fifteen-year-old girl, manages to care for her six-year-old brother and creative but irresponsible mother by skipping school and selling her mother's artwork. Her father taught her everything useful before he died, and much like Katniss in The Hunger Games, she devotes herself to keeping her small family afloat (and dodging the social worker's efforts to intervene). The Crane Husband opens with the arrival of her mother's newest lover, an insolent giant crane that demands every bit of her mother's attention while returning her affection with raucous sex and deep cuts from his razor-sharp beak. From this surrealist beginning, things get progressively stranger. In some ways, this surreal, poetic novella reminded me of Australian author Kathleen Jenning's eerie novella, Flyway. There are fatherless children fighting for survival, allusion to ancestral violence, and odd metamorphoses taking place in remote locations. Underneath the inexplicable events lie opposing motivations—the wish to escape both love and duty fighting with the desire to nurture and care for others. The two novels' daughters are left to sort through the wreckage and attempt to make wise decisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
Today I talked to Kelly Barnhill about her book The Crane Husband (Tordotcom, 2023). Our unnamed narrator, a fifteen-year-old girl, manages to care for her six-year-old brother and creative but irresponsible mother by skipping school and selling her mother's artwork. Her father taught her everything useful before he died, and much like Katniss in The Hunger Games, she devotes herself to keeping her small family afloat (and dodging the social worker's efforts to intervene). The Crane Husband opens with the arrival of her mother's newest lover, an insolent giant crane that demands every bit of her mother's attention while returning her affection with raucous sex and deep cuts from his razor-sharp beak. From this surrealist beginning, things get progressively stranger. In some ways, this surreal, poetic novella reminded me of Australian author Kathleen Jenning's eerie novella, Flyway. There are fatherless children fighting for survival, allusion to ancestral violence, and odd metamorphoses taking place in remote locations. Underneath the inexplicable events lie opposing motivations—the wish to escape both love and duty fighting with the desire to nurture and care for others. The two novels' daughters are left to sort through the wreckage and attempt to make wise decisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/fantasy
A hapless salesman flees the librarian hell-bent on retrieving her lost library book. This story appears in Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, published by Tordotcom in hardcover and e-book, and by Recorded Books in audiobook format. For more from the author, visit tobiogundiran.com.Content advisory: Explicit language, gore
“Soft sci-fi, gothic body horror” is how Hiron Ennes describes their debut novel, Leech (Tordotcom, 2022). But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Set in an isolated winter chateau, the novel weaves a surreal and atmospheric tale of a doctor who is part of a hivemind parasite, a twisted baron's family, and a newcomer that threatens to destroy any perceived sense of order. Leech is an exploration of bodily autonomy, trauma, and a desperation to dig up the oppressive structures of the past. It is a multi-layered, multi-threaded slow burn that pays off for the persistent reader as the characters reveal their own monstrous, intertwined attempts at survival in the least hospitable of places. Hiron Ennes is a writer, musician, and medical student based in the Pacific Northwest. Their areas of interest include infectious disease, pathology, and petting your dog. Brenda Noiseux is a host of New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
“Soft sci-fi, gothic body horror” is how Hiron Ennes describes their debut novel, Leech (Tordotcom, 2022). But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Set in an isolated winter chateau, the novel weaves a surreal and atmospheric tale of a doctor who is part of a hivemind parasite, a twisted baron's family, and a newcomer that threatens to destroy any perceived sense of order. Leech is an exploration of bodily autonomy, trauma, and a desperation to dig up the oppressive structures of the past. It is a multi-layered, multi-threaded slow burn that pays off for the persistent reader as the characters reveal their own monstrous, intertwined attempts at survival in the least hospitable of places. Hiron Ennes is a writer, musician, and medical student based in the Pacific Northwest. Their areas of interest include infectious disease, pathology, and petting your dog. Brenda Noiseux is a host of New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-fiction
“Soft sci-fi, gothic body horror” is how Hiron Ennes describes their debut novel, Leech (Tordotcom, 2022). But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Set in an isolated winter chateau, the novel weaves a surreal and atmospheric tale of a doctor who is part of a hivemind parasite, a twisted baron's family, and a newcomer that threatens to destroy any perceived sense of order. Leech is an exploration of bodily autonomy, trauma, and a desperation to dig up the oppressive structures of the past. It is a multi-layered, multi-threaded slow burn that pays off for the persistent reader as the characters reveal their own monstrous, intertwined attempts at survival in the least hospitable of places. Hiron Ennes is a writer, musician, and medical student based in the Pacific Northwest. Their areas of interest include infectious disease, pathology, and petting your dog. Brenda Noiseux is a host of New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
“Soft sci-fi, gothic body horror” is how Hiron Ennes describes their debut novel, Leech (Tordotcom, 2022). But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Set in an isolated winter chateau, the novel weaves a surreal and atmospheric tale of a doctor who is part of a hivemind parasite, a twisted baron's family, and a newcomer that threatens to destroy any perceived sense of order. Leech is an exploration of bodily autonomy, trauma, and a desperation to dig up the oppressive structures of the past. It is a multi-layered, multi-threaded slow burn that pays off for the persistent reader as the characters reveal their own monstrous, intertwined attempts at survival in the least hospitable of places. Hiron Ennes is a writer, musician, and medical student based in the Pacific Northwest. Their areas of interest include infectious disease, pathology, and petting your dog. Brenda Noiseux is a host of New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
“Soft sci-fi, gothic body horror” is how Hiron Ennes describes their debut novel, Leech (Tordotcom, 2022). But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Set in an isolated winter chateau, the novel weaves a surreal and atmospheric tale of a doctor who is part of a hivemind parasite, a twisted baron's family, and a newcomer that threatens to destroy any perceived sense of order. Leech is an exploration of bodily autonomy, trauma, and a desperation to dig up the oppressive structures of the past. It is a multi-layered, multi-threaded slow burn that pays off for the persistent reader as the characters reveal their own monstrous, intertwined attempts at survival in the least hospitable of places. Hiron Ennes is a writer, musician, and medical student based in the Pacific Northwest. Their areas of interest include infectious disease, pathology, and petting your dog. Brenda Noiseux is a host of New Books in Science Fiction.
The GET TO WORK HURLEY podcast is a monthly rant about the hustle of making a living as a writer of All of the Things. You can support this podcast each month as a Patron or make a one-time donation. EPISODE TWENTY FIVE: Author Hiron Ennes joins us to discuss their debut novel LEECH (out Sept 27th via Tordotcom). Listen … GET TO WORK HURLEY: Episode 25. With Guest Hiron Ennes, author of LEECH! Read More » https://www.kameronhurley.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/oct-GTWH-audio.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download The post GET TO WORK HURLEY: Episode 25. With Guest Hiron Ennes, author of LEECH! appeared first on Kameron Hurley.
A clever magical mystery which needs your full attention, Comeuppance Served Cold (Tordotcom, 2022) challenges this podcaster to write a review without a spoiler. The novella begins with what appears to be the murder of a young dark-haired woman, followed by the departure of a masked person who might be the perpetrator. Or maybe not. Nothing what it seems like, except that the pompous powerful Mr. Earnshaw, and his misogynist son Francis really are as despicable as they first appear to be. (They do get their comeuppance, though). Earnshaw, whose nickname is the White King, runs a commission to license magicians. His son Francis leads a group called the Order of Saint Michael, which metes out punishment when his father wishes his own hands to stay clean. The White King and Francis have targeted people from the waterfront, such as Violet, a Black speakeasy owner, and her brother, a shape shifter, in their efforts to clean up Seattle and regulate magic. The battle lines are drawn. But what does Dolly White, a no-nonsense caretaker for Mr. Earnshaw's drunken daughter, Fiona, have to do with any of this? Corpses on ice, magical jewels, a bespoke suit, and a precious mask will all make their appearances as this sly tale unwinds. Marion Deeds was born in Santa Barbara, California and moved to northern California when she was five. She loves the redwoods, the ocean, dogs and crows. She's fascinated by the unexplained, and curious about power: who has it, who gets it, what is the best way to wield it. These questions inform her stories. Fun Fact: She once lost her glasses when they fell into a glacier. You can follow Gabrielle on Twitter to get updates about new podcasts and more @GabrielleAuthor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
A clever magical mystery which needs your full attention, Comeuppance Served Cold (Tordotcom, 2022) challenges this podcaster to write a review without a spoiler. The novella begins with what appears to be the murder of a young dark-haired woman, followed by the departure of a masked person who might be the perpetrator. Or maybe not. Nothing what it seems like, except that the pompous powerful Mr. Earnshaw, and his misogynist son Francis really are as despicable as they first appear to be. (They do get their comeuppance, though). Earnshaw, whose nickname is the White King, runs a commission to license magicians. His son Francis leads a group called the Order of Saint Michael, which metes out punishment when his father wishes his own hands to stay clean. The White King and Francis have targeted people from the waterfront, such as Violet, a Black speakeasy owner, and her brother, a shape shifter, in their efforts to clean up Seattle and regulate magic. The battle lines are drawn. But what does Dolly White, a no-nonsense caretaker for Mr. Earnshaw's drunken daughter, Fiona, have to do with any of this? Corpses on ice, magical jewels, a bespoke suit, and a precious mask will all make their appearances as this sly tale unwinds. Marion Deeds was born in Santa Barbara, California and moved to northern California when she was five. She loves the redwoods, the ocean, dogs and crows. She's fascinated by the unexplained, and curious about power: who has it, who gets it, what is the best way to wield it. These questions inform her stories. Fun Fact: She once lost her glasses when they fell into a glacier. You can follow Gabrielle on Twitter to get updates about new podcasts and more @GabrielleAuthor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
A clever magical mystery which needs your full attention, Comeuppance Served Cold (Tordotcom, 2022) challenges this podcaster to write a review without a spoiler. The novella begins with what appears to be the murder of a young dark-haired woman, followed by the departure of a masked person who might be the perpetrator. Or maybe not. Nothing what it seems like, except that the pompous powerful Mr. Earnshaw, and his misogynist son Francis really are as despicable as they first appear to be. (They do get their comeuppance, though). Earnshaw, whose nickname is the White King, runs a commission to license magicians. His son Francis leads a group called the Order of Saint Michael, which metes out punishment when his father wishes his own hands to stay clean. The White King and Francis have targeted people from the waterfront, such as Violet, a Black speakeasy owner, and her brother, a shape shifter, in their efforts to clean up Seattle and regulate magic. The battle lines are drawn. But what does Dolly White, a no-nonsense caretaker for Mr. Earnshaw's drunken daughter, Fiona, have to do with any of this? Corpses on ice, magical jewels, a bespoke suit, and a precious mask will all make their appearances as this sly tale unwinds. Marion Deeds was born in Santa Barbara, California and moved to northern California when she was five. She loves the redwoods, the ocean, dogs and crows. She's fascinated by the unexplained, and curious about power: who has it, who gets it, what is the best way to wield it. These questions inform her stories. Fun Fact: She once lost her glasses when they fell into a glacier. You can follow Gabrielle on Twitter to get updates about new podcasts and more @GabrielleAuthor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/fantasy
Nona the Ninth is the much-anticipated 3rd book in the Locked Tomb Series by Tamsyn Muir. GateCrashers is joined by TorDotCom editor extraordinaire Carl Engle-Laird to dive into Muir's newest book. This series is pitched as lesbian space necromancers. If you haven't picked it up yet, it's sure to be one of the most unique stories you've ever read, as well as heart-wrenching. Each book in the series follows a different main character. The first was Gideon, the second was Harrow, and now it's Nona's turn for the spotlight. Nona lives in a war-torn city with her best pals Camilla Hect, Palamedes Sextus, and Pyrrha Dve. Nona is sweet, innocent, and full of love. However, she has a huge problem; she doesn't know who she is, but she does know that she looks like someone important. On top of that, the Emperor and a terrorist organization called the Blood of Eden are also interested in who she really is. But Nona cannot be bothered and just wants to be cool like her schoolmate Hot Sauce, play with an 8-legged dog named Noodle, and go to the beach. Cidnya sits down to talk to Carl all about Nona, both in reference to the book and the character, including discussing the sweet surprise that is this novel (instead of the previously reported Alecto the Ninth). Super fans of The Locked Tomb series will get a look into what the editing process is, what working with Tamsyn Muir is like, and the parts of Nona we are excited to talk to readers about! From body swaps to the return of a missed fan-favorite, Carl gives us rabid Locked Tomb fans every piece of insight that will make you fall even more in love with Nona the Ninth and the world this series inhabits.
People have always cared about their social status and how others perceive them, but advances in technology have changed how we ascend the social ladder, giving us new tools to manipulate our image and new measures of success as we seek “friends,” “likes” and the ever-elusive virality. In Joma West's debut novel Face (Tordotcom, 2022), climbing the ladder is everything. The way you act and dress, who you couple with, how you move and talk—it all adds up to “face,” which, in turn, determines your job, where you live, who you befriend and the quality and quantity of opportunities available to you. Every second—at home, in public or on the “In”(ternet)—is carefully choreographed. It's a cold world, where even children are curated to advance social standing. With everyone—even enslaved “menials”—hiding their thoughts and feelings, people turn to anonymous confessors to express their emotions. Through a Rashomonic narrative where the reader re-experiences the same scenes from different characters' points of view, West reveals the tensions underlying every interaction and the emotional cost of living in a society that values external success over internal well-being. “Face is a game, a way of life, a survival mechanism,” West says. “It's essentially everything that you are when you're on the hierarchy. If you're a menial you have no face, so it doesn't matter, but if you're someone on the social ladder of any kind, your face is everything. And it is what ensures that you are at the level that you're at, and it also ensures how you climb the ladder as well.” Joma West is a third culture writer whose work straddles both fantasy and science fiction. Rob Wolf is a writer and co-host of New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
People have always cared about their social status and how others perceive them, but advances in technology have changed how we ascend the social ladder, giving us new tools to manipulate our image and new measures of success as we seek “friends,” “likes” and the ever-elusive virality. In Joma West's debut novel Face (Tordotcom, 2022), climbing the ladder is everything. The way you act and dress, who you couple with, how you move and talk—it all adds up to “face,” which, in turn, determines your job, where you live, who you befriend and the quality and quantity of opportunities available to you. Every second—at home, in public or on the “In”(ternet)—is carefully choreographed. It's a cold world, where even children are curated to advance social standing. With everyone—even enslaved “menials”—hiding their thoughts and feelings, people turn to anonymous confessors to express their emotions. Through a Rashomonic narrative where the reader re-experiences the same scenes from different characters' points of view, West reveals the tensions underlying every interaction and the emotional cost of living in a society that values external success over internal well-being. “Face is a game, a way of life, a survival mechanism,” West says. “It's essentially everything that you are when you're on the hierarchy. If you're a menial you have no face, so it doesn't matter, but if you're someone on the social ladder of any kind, your face is everything. And it is what ensures that you are at the level that you're at, and it also ensures how you climb the ladder as well.” Joma West is a third culture writer whose work straddles both fantasy and science fiction. Rob Wolf is a writer and co-host of New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-fiction
People have always cared about their social status and how others perceive them, but advances in technology have changed how we ascend the social ladder, giving us new tools to manipulate our image and new measures of success as we seek “friends,” “likes” and the ever-elusive virality. In Joma West's debut novel Face (Tordotcom, 2022), climbing the ladder is everything. The way you act and dress, who you couple with, how you move and talk—it all adds up to “face,” which, in turn, determines your job, where you live, who you befriend and the quality and quantity of opportunities available to you. Every second—at home, in public or on the “In”(ternet)—is carefully choreographed. It's a cold world, where even children are curated to advance social standing. With everyone—even enslaved “menials”—hiding their thoughts and feelings, people turn to anonymous confessors to express their emotions. Through a Rashomonic narrative where the reader re-experiences the same scenes from different characters' points of view, West reveals the tensions underlying every interaction and the emotional cost of living in a society that values external success over internal well-being. “Face is a game, a way of life, a survival mechanism,” West says. “It's essentially everything that you are when you're on the hierarchy. If you're a menial you have no face, so it doesn't matter, but if you're someone on the social ladder of any kind, your face is everything. And it is what ensures that you are at the level that you're at, and it also ensures how you climb the ladder as well.” Joma West is a third culture writer whose work straddles both fantasy and science fiction. Rob Wolf is a writer and co-host of New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
Jake and Ron interview Malcolm Devlin, author of And Then I Woke Up published by TorDotCom!And Then I Woke Up by Malcolm Devlin TorDot Comhttps://publishing.tor.com/andtheniwokeup-malcolmdevlin/9781250798084/Malcolm Devlin Web Sitehttp://www.malcolmdevlin.com/Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanierhttp://www.jaronlanier.com/tenarguments.htmlThree Colors Trilogyhttps://www.imdb.com/list/ls068621392/The Endless (2017) directed by Jason Benson and Aaron Moorheadhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt3986820/The Wrath of the iOtiansEmail: thewrathoftheiotians@gmail.comInstagram: thewrathoftheiotiansTwitter: @OfiOtiansWebsite: https://thewrathoftheiotians.buzzsprout.com/MusicLand Of The Me-me by Aleksandar Dimitrijevic (TONO)Licensed under the NEO Sounds Music License AgreementThe Lowest DeepA supernatural horror fiction series.Listen on: Spotify
Jake and Ron interview one of the most exciting science fiction novelists in recent years, Samit Basu, author of The City Inside published by TorDotCom!Samit Basu is a prolific veteran of fantasy and science fiction novels. He's also quite versatile, with work ranging from the bestselling Gamewold trilogy to YA titles such as The Adventures of Stoob, Terror on the Titanic, and even comic books. He has written columns and essays for several leading Indian and international publications. On top of that, Samit is also a screenwriter and director. He co-directed the film House Arrest, which was part of the Netflix International Originals program in 2019. His UK/US crossover occurred with the superhero novels Turbulence and its sequel, Resistance, published by Titan Books. Said Wired Magazine of Turbulence, "... it has it all. Solid writing, great character development, humor, personal loss, and excellent points to ponder in every chapter" Turbulence won the Wired Goldenbot Award.His latest novel The City Inside, published by TordotCom, tells the story of Joey, a "Reality Controller" in near-future Delhi. Her job is to supervise the multimedia multi-reality livestreams of Indi, one of South Asia's fastest-rising online celebrities.It turns out some of those live streams are manufactured to your tastes and desires. Popularity, views, and likes are now part of the sophisticated disinformation machine. To make matters worse, Joey and her friends live in an outright surveillance state. Understanding where cameras are located and being careful about what they say are in the forefront of their minds. To survive in near-future Delhi, one needs to constantly play defense and be on alert.The City Inside reads not as a dystopia, but rather as a forecast for tomorrow. Samit's education at the University of Westminster, London in broadcast and documentary film-making lends itself to the immediacy felt when reading this book. Despite the extraordinary circumstances the characters live under, there is a sense of hope and humor throughout the book. Samit prepares to write a novel by immersing himself in research. Now, you would think that someone who spent a multitude of hours researching potential issues for the human race would be quite dour, but he was very affable and we absolutely enjoyed our conversation with him. As you'll see, he's very thoughtful during the interview. Although he lives in Delhi, India, Samit was kind enough to interview while he was on vacation. We reached him in Berlin, Germany.Samit Basu LinksThe City Inside by Samit Basu (2022)https://publishing.tor.com/thecityinside-samitbasu/9781250827487/Samit Basu Official Web Site: https://samitbasu.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/samitbasuInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/samitbasu/Samit Basu interviews author Bruce Sterling: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=samit+basu+bruce+sterlingThe Wrath of the iOtiansEmail: thewrathoftheiotians@gmail.comInstagram: thewrathoftheiotiansTwitter: @OfiOtiansWebsite: The Lowest DeepA supernatural horror fiction series.Listen on: Spotify
For the first week in July, we're joined by Nebula Award winner Rachel Swirsky, whose novella January Fifteenth ( just out from Tordotcom) is a provocative exploration of the idea of Universal Basic Income (UBI) as it might play out in the lives of four women in very different circumstances. We touch upon Rachel's decision to focus on characters rather than systems, to set the tale in a recognizable near future, and to deliberately restrain from many science-fictional bells and whistles. This leads to how SF deals, too rarely, with questions of economic policy and the effects on individual lives —in the case of January Fifteenth, a woman escaping from an abusive ex-spouse, a journalist covering the effects of UBI, a well-off college student whose friends deliberately waste their annual checks, and a young member of a repressive religious cult. As usual, we touch upon what's next for Rachel, including an intriguing collaboration with Ann Leckie. As always, our thanks to Rachel for making the time to talk to us. We hope you enjoy the episode!
This week, Jonathan and Gary are joined by the brilliant Christopher Rowe, whose novella These Prisoning Hills appears next week from Tordotcom, revisiting the wonderful and bizarre world first introduced in his earlier stories “The Voluntary State” and “The Border State.” We cover quite a bit of territory, ranging from Christopher's own influences, what it means to be associated with a particular region (such as Kentucky and Tennessee in Christopher's case), the nature of influence in SF, and Christopher's own discovery of the work of Cordwainer Smith, whose stories he's been assiduously collecting in their original magazine appearances. As usual, we would like to thank Christopher for taking the time to talk to us, and hope you enjoy the podcast.
The Gauntlet Reading Club continue our run of Avery Alder's Monsterhearts inspired by Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway with an important PSA: Just because the mushroom says "Eat Me" doesn't mean you should. Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway is published by Tordotcom. Information about it can be found here: https://publishing.tor.com/everyheartadoorway-seananmcguire/9780765385505/ Monsterhearts 2 is developed by Avery Alder, and can be found through Buried Without Ceremony: https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/monsterhearts The Siren and The Formorian can be found in Skin Deep, a third party Monsterhearts supplement developed by Sawyer Rankin published under their personal imprint, Ferretheim Games: https://ferretheim-games.itch.io/skin-deep-bundle This game is organized through the Gauntlet, an online table-top roleplaying community. For more on the Gauntlet and how to sign up for online games like this one, use the following link: https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/
This week's Bookin' features Ilube Nommo Award, New England Book Award, and Alex Award winning author Tochi Onyebuchi, who discusses his new novel Goliath, which is published by our friends at Tordotcom. Topics of discussion include Economic Law, writing for young adults vs not so young adults, gangs, Connecticut novels, space exploration and global warming, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, cigarettes, Cormac McCarthy, and much more. Copies of Goliath can be purchased here with FREE SHIPPING.
The Gauntlet Reading Club continue our run of Avery Alder's Monsterhearts inspired by Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway. So someone's been murdered! We're all pretty certain that Grace did it, but should Bailey and Jason really be barhopping at a time like this? And who's the cat with big smile and equally big claws making a late night visit in the dorms? Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway is published by Tordotcom. Information about it can be found here: https://publishing.tor.com/everyheartadoorway-seananmcguire/9780765385505/ Monsterhearts 2 is developed by Avery Alder, and can be found through Buried Without Ceremony: https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/monsterhearts The Siren and The Formorian can be found in Skin Deep, a third party Monsterhearts supplement developed by Sawyer Rankin published under their personal imprint, Ferretheim Games: https://ferretheim-games.itch.io/skin-deep-bundle This game is organized through the Gauntlet, an online table-top roleplaying community. For more on the Gauntlet and how to sign up for online games like this one, use the following link: https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/
We continue our run of Avery Alder's Monsterhearts inspired by Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway. It's the morning after and the kids at the Open Door Academy deal with the hangover. Something has started to hunt them and folks are going missing. If people aren't careful, someone could end up dead... Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway is published by Tordotcom. Information about it can be found here: https://publishing.tor.com/everyheartadoorway-seananmcguire/9780765385505/ Monsterhearts 2 is developed by Avery Alder, and can be found through Buried Without Ceremony: https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/monsterhearts The Siren and The Formorian can be found in Skin Deep, a third party Monsterhearts supplement developed by Sawyer Rankin published under their personal imprint, Ferretheim Games: https://ferretheim-games.itch.io/skin-deep-bundle This game is organized through the Gauntlet, an online table-top roleplaying community. For more on the Gauntlet and how to sign up for online games like this one, use the following link: https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/
We are introduced to our final main character, Formorian Grace played by Marleigh, and see our characters start their day at the Open Door Academy. Siren Jason puts on a show, Ghost Leigh has some unwelcome visions, and Bailey deals with their jealousy in a completely healthy manner. It's only the first session and we're already doing a musical interlude! Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway is published by Tordotcom. Information about it can be found here: https://publishing.tor.com/everyheartadoorway-seananmcguire/9780765385505/ Monsterhearts 2 is developed by Avery Alder, and can be found through Buried Without Ceremony: https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/monsterhearts The Siren and The Formorian can be found in Skin Deep, a third party Monsterhearts supplement developed by Sawyer Rankin published under their personal imprint, Ferretheim Games: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/236292/Skin-Deep This game is organized through the Gauntlet, an online table-top roleplaying community. For more on the Gauntlet and how to sign up for online games like this one, use the following link: https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/
Spoilers for Every Heart a Door in this video!!! For this segment of the Gauntlet Reading Club, the group discusses Seanan McGuire Every Heart a Doorway, a story about what happens after the portal fantasy ends. The group discusses the genre of the portal fantasy, trauma, and the teenage experience. The latter part of the discussion focuses on adapting the book to a roleplaying game, considering what games that might suit the feel and tone of Every Heart a Doorway and the ways that our chosen game, Monsterhearts, does and doesn't work with the book. If you would rather skip the parts where we talk about Every Heart a Doorway, you can skip directly to our discussion of adapting it here: https://youtu.be/EJ_bA2FHp6g?t=6409 Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway is published by Tordotcom. Information about it can be found here: https://publishing.tor.com/everyheartadoorway-seananmcguire/9780765385505/ Monsterhearts 2 is developed by Avery Alder, and can be found through Buried Without Ceremony: https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/monsterhearts Skin Deep is a set of third party playbooks developed for Monsterhearts 2 by Sawyer Rankin published under their personal imprint, Ferretheim Games: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/236292/Skin-Deep This game is organized through the Gauntlet, an online table-top roleplaying community. For more on the Gauntlet and how to sign up for online games like this one, use the following link: https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/
We create characters for our run of Monsterhearts inspired by Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway. Sabine introduces Ghost Leigh, a former sweeper at the Carnival of Sorrows, Kae introduces Infernal Bailey, a pet among Masters in Belonging Outside Belonging, and David introduces Siren Jason, an exiled performer among the gods of Mount Olympus. Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway is published by Tordotcom. Information about it can be found here: https://publishing.tor.com/everyheartadoorway-seananmcguire/9780765385505/ Monsterhearts 2 is developed by Avery Alder, and can be found through Buried Without Ceremony: https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/monsterhearts Skin Deep, which includes the Siren playbook, is a set of third party playbooks developed for Monsterhearts 2 by Sawyer Rankin published under their personal imprint, Ferretheim Games: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/236292/Skin-Deep This game is organized through the Gauntlet, an online table-top roleplaying community. For more on the Gauntlet and how to sign up for online games like this one, use the following link: https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/
Tochi Onyebuchi's new novel Goliath (Tordotcom, 2022) features a phenomenon familiar to those of us who live in cities—gentrification. Like the gentrifiers of today who push out old-timers with high rents and coffee boutiques, Onyebuchi's urban colonizers are taking over property in communities that have suffered from underinvestment and systemic racism. But unlike gentrifiers of today, who often leave behind comfortable lives in the suburbs, the gentrifiers in Goliath are returning from comfortable lives on space stations where those with means had fled years earlier to escape pollution and environmental degradation on Earth. Onyebuchi sees in the story of David and Jonathan—returnees from who take over a home in a Black and Brown community in New Haven—parallels to frontier narratives. “I've read a lot of westerns and western-inflected literature, and the ways in which people have written about the American West were very fundamental in how I approached the characters of David and Jonathan. You have people going out west historically for all sorts of reasons. ‘Oh, that's where my fortune is.' Or they're like, ‘Oh, like, there are no rules out there. I can totally remake myself.'” In David and Jonathan's case, their relationship is broken. “They think, ‘Oh, if we just change the scenery, that'll make things better, we'll be able to start over.… We can make this work on Earth. It's virgin territory, this place where we can build something together.' That in many ways is the animating impulse, of course, completely or almost completely disregarding the fact that Earth is already home to a lot of people.” Tochi Onyebuchi is the author of the Beasts Made of Night series; the War Girls series; and the non-fiction book (S)kinfolk. His novel Riot Baby—which he discussed on the podcast in 2020—was a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and NAACP Image Awards and winner of the New England Book Award for Fiction, the Ignyte Award for Best Novella, and the World Fantasy Award. He has degrees from Yale, New York University, Columbia Law School, and the Paris Institute of Political Studies. Rob Wolf is the host of New Books in Science Fiction and the author of The Alternate Universe and The Escape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
Tochi Onyebuchi's new novel Goliath (Tordotcom, 2022) features a phenomenon familiar to those of us who live in cities—gentrification. Like the gentrifiers of today who push out old-timers with high rents and coffee boutiques, Onyebuchi's urban colonizers are taking over property in communities that have suffered from underinvestment and systemic racism. But unlike gentrifiers of today, who often leave behind comfortable lives in the suburbs, the gentrifiers in Goliath are returning from comfortable lives on space stations where those with means had fled years earlier to escape pollution and environmental degradation on Earth. Onyebuchi sees in the story of David and Jonathan—returnees from who take over a home in a Black and Brown community in New Haven—parallels to frontier narratives. “I've read a lot of westerns and western-inflected literature, and the ways in which people have written about the American West were very fundamental in how I approached the characters of David and Jonathan. You have people going out west historically for all sorts of reasons. ‘Oh, that's where my fortune is.' Or they're like, ‘Oh, like, there are no rules out there. I can totally remake myself.'” In David and Jonathan's case, their relationship is broken. “They think, ‘Oh, if we just change the scenery, that'll make things better, we'll be able to start over.… We can make this work on Earth. It's virgin territory, this place where we can build something together.' That in many ways is the animating impulse, of course, completely or almost completely disregarding the fact that Earth is already home to a lot of people.” Tochi Onyebuchi is the author of the Beasts Made of Night series; the War Girls series; and the non-fiction book (S)kinfolk. His novel Riot Baby—which he discussed on the podcast in 2020—was a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and NAACP Image Awards and winner of the New England Book Award for Fiction, the Ignyte Award for Best Novella, and the World Fantasy Award. He has degrees from Yale, New York University, Columbia Law School, and the Paris Institute of Political Studies. Rob Wolf is the host of New Books in Science Fiction and the author of The Alternate Universe and The Escape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Tochi Onyebuchi's new novel Goliath (Tordotcom, 2022) features a phenomenon familiar to those of us who live in cities—gentrification. Like the gentrifiers of today who push out old-timers with high rents and coffee boutiques, Onyebuchi's urban colonizers are taking over property in communities that have suffered from underinvestment and systemic racism. But unlike gentrifiers of today, who often leave behind comfortable lives in the suburbs, the gentrifiers in Goliath are returning from comfortable lives on space stations where those with means had fled years earlier to escape pollution and environmental degradation on Earth. Onyebuchi sees in the story of David and Jonathan—returnees from who take over a home in a Black and Brown community in New Haven—parallels to frontier narratives. “I've read a lot of westerns and western-inflected literature, and the ways in which people have written about the American West were very fundamental in how I approached the characters of David and Jonathan. You have people going out west historically for all sorts of reasons. ‘Oh, that's where my fortune is.' Or they're like, ‘Oh, like, there are no rules out there. I can totally remake myself.'” In David and Jonathan's case, their relationship is broken. “They think, ‘Oh, if we just change the scenery, that'll make things better, we'll be able to start over.… We can make this work on Earth. It's virgin territory, this place where we can build something together.' That in many ways is the animating impulse, of course, completely or almost completely disregarding the fact that Earth is already home to a lot of people.” Tochi Onyebuchi is the author of the Beasts Made of Night series; the War Girls series; and the non-fiction book (S)kinfolk. His novel Riot Baby—which he discussed on the podcast in 2020—was a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and NAACP Image Awards and winner of the New England Book Award for Fiction, the Ignyte Award for Best Novella, and the World Fantasy Award. He has degrees from Yale, New York University, Columbia Law School, and the Paris Institute of Political Studies. Rob Wolf is the host of New Books in Science Fiction and the author of The Alternate Universe and The Escape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-fiction
Travis interviews author Freya Marske about her debut fantasy novel, A Marvellous Light, which is available now from Tordotcom. Red White & Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in debut author Freya Marske's A Marvellous Light, featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies. Freya and Travis discuss the best gins, building books around an emotional spine, and the highlights of her unofficial Smut Writing Course. Want your message featured on the podcast? Find out more here. About Freya Marske: Freya Marske lives in Australia, where she is yet to be killed by any form of wildlife. She writes stories full of magic, blood, and as much kissing as she can get away with. Her hobbies include figure skating and discovering new art galleries, and she is on a quest to try all the gin in the world. Her short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction, Andromeda Spaceways, and several anthologies. In 2020 she was awarded the Australian National SF (Ditmar) Award for Best New Talent. Find Freya on Twitter, the Be the Serpent podcast, or at her website, freyamarkse.com. Find Us Online: Blog Discord Twitter Instagram Support Us: Become a Patron Buy Us a Coffee Music: Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no This episode of The Fantasy Inn podcast was recorded in the unceded territory of the S'atsoyaha (Yuchi) and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee Band) peoples. Some of the links included in these show notes are affiliate links and support the podcast at no additional cost to you. If it's an option for you, we encourage you to support your local bookstores! The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.
Welcome to episode 22 of Season 12 of The Coode Street Podcast. In this episode, Gary and Jonathan talk to Oghenechovwe Ekpeki, author of the Otherwise Award-winning and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, British SF Award, and Nebula Award-nominated novella "Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon", editor of The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction, and co-editor with Zelda K. Knight of the British Fantasy Award-winning anthology Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora. Oghenechovwe joins us from Lagos, Nigeria to discuss growing up reading speculative fiction in Nigeria, his hopes for The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction series, the challenges facing writers from Africa to get a chance to be a part of the international science fiction community, his upcoming anthology African Risen for Tordotcom (co-edited with Sheree Renee Thomas and Zelda K. Knight), and much more. While there are, later in the podcast, a few moments where static affected our Skype connection, we hope you'll bear with the episode. As always, we'd like to thank Oghenechovwe for taking the time to talk to us, and hope that you enjoy the episode. Available for order now:
It's no coincidence that one of the main characters in S. Qiouyi Lu's In the Watchful City carries with ser a qíjìtáng, or cabinet of curiosities. Lu's novella is, itself, a cabinet of unusual mementos, with many smaller objects carefully folded into the larger structure. On one level the plot is simple. The qíjìtáng is full of stories, and its owner, Vessel, who hovers between life and death, needs to add one more story to ser collection in order to have a second chance at life. (Vessel's pronouns are se, ser and sers). So se asks Anima, one of eight people who provide surveillance for the city-state of Ora, for aer story. (Anima's pronouns are ay, aer and aers). But Anima's life isn't so simple. Ay serves as a node in the city's Hub, which aer monitors by entering the consciousness of animals (including a gecko, raven, and wild dog during the course of the story). In this way, Ay can travel anywhere and yet aer body is fastened by a stem to a tank of amniotic-like fluid. Lu likens Anima's experience of being both fixed and all-knowing to our relationship with the internet. “We're sitting in front of a computer, and, physically, our body is stationed in front of this machine. But through this network, we're able to explore so much,” Lu says. “We're able to go to faraway lands, see through the eyes of someone else.” The topics ay covers in aer New Books interview include aer inspirations for the novella (such as China's facial recognition technology), aer interest in linguistics, including neopronouns, and aer fascination with experimental narratives. Lu is also a poet, editor, and translator and runs microverses, which publishes speculative flash fiction, poetry, and other short forms of storytelling. Rob Wolf is the host of New Books in Science Fiction and the author of The Alternate Universe and The Escape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
It's no coincidence that one of the main characters in S. Qiouyi Lu's In the Watchful City carries with ser a qíjìtáng, or cabinet of curiosities. Lu's novella is, itself, a cabinet of unusual mementos, with many smaller objects carefully folded into the larger structure. On one level the plot is simple. The qíjìtáng is full of stories, and its owner, Vessel, who hovers between life and death, needs to add one more story to ser collection in order to have a second chance at life. (Vessel's pronouns are se, ser and sers). So se asks Anima, one of eight people who provide surveillance for the city-state of Ora, for aer story. (Anima's pronouns are ay, aer and aers). But Anima's life isn't so simple. Ay serves as a node in the city's Hub, which aer monitors by entering the consciousness of animals (including a gecko, raven, and wild dog during the course of the story). In this way, Ay can travel anywhere and yet aer body is fastened by a stem to a tank of amniotic-like fluid. Lu likens Anima's experience of being both fixed and all-knowing to our relationship with the internet. “We're sitting in front of a computer, and, physically, our body is stationed in front of this machine. But through this network, we're able to explore so much,” Lu says. “We're able to go to faraway lands, see through the eyes of someone else.” The topics ay covers in aer New Books interview include aer inspirations for the novella (such as China's facial recognition technology), aer interest in linguistics, including neopronouns, and aer fascination with experimental narratives. Lu is also a poet, editor, and translator and runs microverses, which publishes speculative flash fiction, poetry, and other short forms of storytelling. Rob Wolf is the host of New Books in Science Fiction and the author of The Alternate Universe and The Escape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
It's no coincidence that one of the main characters in S. Qiouyi Lu's In the Watchful City carries with ser a qíjìtáng, or cabinet of curiosities. Lu's novella is, itself, a cabinet of unusual mementos, with many smaller objects carefully folded into the larger structure. On one level the plot is simple. The qíjìtáng is full of stories, and its owner, Vessel, who hovers between life and death, needs to add one more story to ser collection in order to have a second chance at life. (Vessel's pronouns are se, ser and sers). So se asks Anima, one of eight people who provide surveillance for the city-state of Ora, for aer story. (Anima's pronouns are ay, aer and aers). But Anima's life isn't so simple. Ay serves as a node in the city's Hub, which aer monitors by entering the consciousness of animals (including a gecko, raven, and wild dog during the course of the story). In this way, Ay can travel anywhere and yet aer body is fastened by a stem to a tank of amniotic-like fluid. Lu likens Anima's experience of being both fixed and all-knowing to our relationship with the internet. “We're sitting in front of a computer, and, physically, our body is stationed in front of this machine. But through this network, we're able to explore so much,” Lu says. “We're able to go to faraway lands, see through the eyes of someone else.” The topics ay covers in aer New Books interview include aer inspirations for the novella (such as China's facial recognition technology), aer interest in linguistics, including neopronouns, and aer fascination with experimental narratives. Lu is also a poet, editor, and translator and runs microverses, which publishes speculative flash fiction, poetry, and other short forms of storytelling. Rob Wolf is the host of New Books in Science Fiction and the author of The Alternate Universe and The Escape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-fiction
Travis interviews fantasy author P. Djèlí Clark about Ring Shout, his newest novella from Tordotcom. It follows three Black women in the 1920s as they fight the literal demons within the Ku Klux Klan, and blends fantasy, horror, and historical fiction. Djèlí and Travis revisit his blog post on diversity in the Wheel of Time TV show, discuss the founding of FIYAH Literary Magazine, and talk about the history of slavery in film. About P Djèlí Clark: Born in New York and raised mostly in Houston, P. DJÈLÍ CLARK spent the formative years of his life in the homeland of his parents, Trinidad and Tobago. P. Djèlí Clark is the author of the novellas The Black God's Drums, winner of a 2019 Alex Award from the American Library Association; The Haunting of Tram Car 015; and A Dead Djinn in Cairo. His short story “The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington” (Fireside Fiction) has earned him both a Nebula and Locus award. He is loosely associated with the quarterly FIYAH: A Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction and an infrequent reviewer at Strange Horizons. He currently resides in New England and ruminates on issues of diversity in speculative fiction. You can find him on Twitter as @pdjeliclark, at his website www.pdjeliclark.com, and at his blog disgruntledharadrim.com. Find Us Online: Blog Discord Twitter Instagram Support Us: Become a Patron Buy Us a Coffee Music: Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.
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