Book Club (from The Incomparable Mothership)

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FAQs about Book Club (from The Incomparable Mothership):

How many episodes does Book Club (from The Incomparable Mothership) have?

The podcast currently has 103 episodes available.

Book Club (from The Incomparable Mothership) episodes:

August 15, 2025Not a Hugo (The Incomparable Mothership 779)
Our Awards Book Club closes up shop for 2025 with a final set of rankings, the presentation of an award we made up, and an overview of all the Hugo-nominated short fiction.

Host Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Scott McNulty, Aleen Simms and Heather Berberet

Show Notes & Links

What Are We Reading?
Scott: How to Solve Your Own Murder
Erika: Swordheart, Throne of Glass series specifically Heir of Fire
Heather: Dungeon Crawler Carl
Aleen: When Women Were Dragons, Lake of Souls
Jason: The Fourth Consort by Edward Ashton, Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
The Incomparable Award
Service Model (4 first-place votes, 2.0 average placement)
The Tainted Cup (3.4)
Someone You Can Build a Nest In (1, 4.0)
A Sorceress Comes to Call (4.4)
Alien Clay (5.0)
The Ministry of Time (5.8)
Asunder / The Book of Love (tie) (6.4)
Rakesfall (8.6)
Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory (9)
The Short Fiction
Novella
“The Brides of High Hill” by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
“The Butcher of the Forest” by Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom)
“Navigational Entanglements” by Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom)
“The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain” by Sofia Samatar (Tordotcom)
“The Tusks of Extinction” by Ray Nayler (Tordotcom)
“What Feasts at Night” by T. Kingfisher (Nightfire)
Novelette
“The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld)
“By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” by Premee Mohamed (Strange Horizons)
“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” by Naomi Kritzer (Asimov’s)
“Lake of Souls” by Ann Leckie (in Lake of Souls)
“Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny)
“Signs of Life” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny)
Short Story
“Five Views of the Planet Tartarus” by Rachael K. Jones (Lightspeed)
“Marginalia” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Uncanny)
“Stitched to Skin Like Family Is” by Nghi Vo (Uncanny)
“Three Faces of a Beheading” by Arkady Martine (Uncanny)
“We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read” by Caroline M Yoachim (Lightspeed)
“Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole” by Isabel J Kim (Clarkesworld)
...more
1h 13min
August 01, 2025 The 44% Rule (The Incomparable Mothership 777)
2025 Awards Book Club nears the end with award nominees “Asunder,” “The Ministry of Time,” and “The Tainted Cup.” Plus: What else are we reading?

Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms and Heather Berberet

Referenced Works

Show Notes & Links

What are we reading?
Aleen: Sounds Like Love and Saint Death’s Daughter
Erika: The Assassin’s Blade and Moonstorm
Heather: When Women Were Dragons and Atmosphere
Scott: Shroud
Jason: Shroud, and also the Barker & Llewellyn series

...more
1h 11min
June 06, 2025 Wrestle a Book (The Incomparable Mothership 769)
Our Awards Book Club continues its run through the roses with a tougher than expected review of Vajra Chandrasekera’s “Rakesfall,” Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Alien Clay,” and Kelly Link’s “The Book of Love.”

Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Aleen Simms and Erika Ensign

Referenced Works

Show Notes & Links

What are we reading?
Scott: Strong Female Character by Fern Brady, The Melancholy of Untold History by Minsu Kang, Making History by KJ Parker
Aleen: Dauntless Path series by Intisar Khanani
Erika: Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher
Jason: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson

...more
1h 16min
May 02, 2025Books About Towers (The Incomparable Mothership 764)
Our walk through the 10 different novels nominated for the Hugo and Nebula awards in 2025 begins! In this episode we discuss “Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory” by Yaroslav Barsukov, “A Sorceress Comes to Call” by T. Kingfisher, and “Someone You Can Build a Nest In” by John Wiswell.

Host Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms, Scott McNulty and Heather Berberet

Referenced Works

Show Notes & Links

What are we reading?
Heather: “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore” by Robin Sloan
Erika: World of the Five Gods series by Lois McMaster Bujold
Aleen: Mark Lawrence’s Library Trilogy
Scott: Jack Taylor series by Ken Bruen
Jason: “When Women Were Dragons” by Kerry Barnhill
...more
1h 7min
March 12, 2025Goodnight Moon Dragons (The Incomparable Mothership 757)
Book Club travels to the far future for the sci-fi/fantasy mash-up “Moonbound” by Robin Sloan. Here be dragons! Not to mention wyrd multidimensional witches at the bottom of a pool, Arthurian proto-heroes, friendly sentient robot hive minds, and plucky talking beavers!

Host Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, Erika Ensign, Scott McNulty, Joe Rosensteel and Heather Berberet

Referenced Works

Show Notes & Links

What are we reading?
Scott:
Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara
Future’s Edge by Gareth L. Powell
Aleen:
Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett
Drowning Empire series by Andrea Stewart, specifically The Bone-Shard Daughter
Erika:
Winter’s Gifts by Ben Aaronovitch
Roses in Amber by CE Murphy
Heather:
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Joe:
Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne
Jason:
Recursion by Blake Crouch
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
...more
1h 11min
January 31, 2025 Empathy for My Python Scripts (The Incomparable Mothership 752)
It’s the end of the world and a robot apocalypse has happened, so what are the robots up to now? One robot butler takes an unusual journey through the darkly absurd world of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Service Model.” All bytes will be sorted and preserved, Uncharles.

Host Jason Snell with Joe Rosensteel, Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms, Scott McNulty and Katie Mack

Referenced Works

Show Notes & Links

...more
1h 22min
January 10, 2025 Just Clean the Beakers (The Incomparable Mothership 749)
The writers of “The Expanse” are back with a new series, and “The Mercy of Gods” is an alien invasion story that goes to some extremely dark places. But sometimes, dark is good… right? Right?! Plus: What are we reading?

Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Heather Berberet and Aleen Simms

Referenced Works

Show Notes & Links

Next book: “Service Model” by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
What are we reading?
Heather: The Pandominion series, Infinity Gate and Echo of Worlds by M.R. Carey
Aleen: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Scott: Jack Taylor series by Ken Bruen, Playground by Richard Powers
Jason: Inverted Frontier series by Linda Nagata (Start with Edges)

...more
1h 14min
August 16, 2024A Mean Man Made Me Rank Things (The Incomparable Mothership 729)
Our Book Club wraps up its 2024 walk through nine shortlisted SF/F novels with our overall rankings, some short fiction recommendations, and a quick dip into what we’ve read recently and really enjoyed.

Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms and Heather Berberet

Show Notes & Links

The Incomparable Book Club Consensus
Translation State by Ann Leckie - 2.0 average rank (2 first-place votes)
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty - 2.6 (2)
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh - 2.8 (1)
The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz - 4.4
Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi - 5.0
Witch King by Martha Wells - 5.6
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera - 6.8
Starter Villain by John Scalzi - 7.8
The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang - 8.0
Novellas
Seeds of Mercury by Wang Jinkang
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo
Novelettes
The Year Without Sunshine by Naomi Kritzer
On the Fox Roads by Nghi Vo
One Man’s Treasure by Sarah Pinsker
Ivy, Angelica, Bay by C.L. Polk
Short Stories
The Sound of Chldren Screaming by Rachael K. Jones
Better Living Through Algorithms by Naomi Kritzer
How to Raise a Kraken in your Bathtub by P DjÃ¨lÃ Clark
The Mausoleum’s Children by Aliette De Bodard
What Are We Reading?
Scott:
Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
Heather:
A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
Erika:
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
Aleen:
City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Jason:
The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
The Penric and Desdemona novellas by Lois McMaster Bujold
...more
1h 15min
July 26, 2024Too Many Books in This Book (The Incomparable Mothership 726)
Our Book Club convenes for its final set of shortlisted novels, including “The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi,” “The Water Outlaws,” and the Nebula-winning “Saint of Bright Doors.” Plus: What are we reading?

Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms and Heather Berberet

Referenced Works

Show Notes & Links

What are we reading?
Scott:
The Guards by Ken Bruen
Wicked Problems by Max Gladstone
Erika:
The Worms that Ate the Universe by Megan Chee
Book Clubs with My Imaginary Friends by Marissa Lingen
Heather:
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
Aleen:
Still the Sun by Charlie N. Holmberg
The Prince & The Apocalypse by Kara McDowell
Jason:
MÃ©lusine by Katherine Addison/Sarah Monette
...more
1h 10min
June 07, 2024Three Novellas in a Trench Coat (The Incomparable Mothership 719)
Our 2024 book club shortlist read continues with “Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon”, “The Terraformers,” and “Some Desperate Glory.” We enjoyed them all, to varying degrees! Plus: What else are we reading?

Host Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign and Heather Berberet

Referenced Works

Show Notes & Links

Next books: “The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi”, “The Saint of Bright Doors”, and “The Water Outlaws.”
What else are we reading?
Erika:
The Best-Ever Cosplay of Whistle and Midnight
Seven of Nine is a Third-Culture Kid
Almost Human - The Borg as a Metaphor for Societal Ableism
Aleen:
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
Geekerella by Ashley Poston
Scott:
Twilight Falls by Juneau Black
Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway
Heather:
Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoiki
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yaros
Jason:
Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
...more
1h 27min

FAQs about Book Club (from The Incomparable Mothership):

How many episodes does Book Club (from The Incomparable Mothership) have?

The podcast currently has 103 episodes available.