Kaleb Russell and Rose Eveleth join me to talk about The Obelisk Gate.  Also Charles Payseur recommends short fiction about libraries.

Thanks for your patience during an extended (and unplanned) hiatus.  Hopefully the podcast will begin regularly monthly service now.  You can also subscribe to my emails about having a hobby farm & being a Quaker, or follow my blogging about Tolkien.

Recommended Stories - 

The Universal Library (written & translated Erik Born), in Mithila Review Issue #9

Turing Machines of Babel - Eric Schwitzgebel, in Apex Magazine

Library of Lost Things - Matthew Bright, at Tor.Com

The Librarians Dilemma, E. Saxey in Journal of Unlikely Academia

In Libres, Elizabeth Bear, In Uncanny Magazine #4

The amazing art which inspired me to actually get this project off the ground was created by  @etrandem

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Music - Jazzy Ashes by The Underscore Orkestra

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Rion Amilcar Scott (@reeamilcarscott), author of the award-winning collection Insurrections joins me to discuss his book, the aesthetic of speculative fiction, and the boundaries between the real and the fantastic.  Also Charles Payseur (@clowderoftwo) recommends short stories with whales.  

Story recommendations from Charles Payseur (transcript of Charles' reviews)

“An Account of the Sky Whales” by A Que, translated by Andy Dudak (Clarkesworld June 2017)

“We Who Live in the Heart” by Kelly Robson (Clarkesworld May 2017)

“The Beachings” by JY Yang (Sockdolager Fall 2016)

“Whale-Oil” by Sylvia V. Linsteadt (BCS April 2016)

“Whaling With Clowns” by Chris Kuriata (Unlikely Coulrophobia Remix 2017)

“A Brief History of Whaling with Remarks Upon Ancient Practices” by Nicasio Andres Reed (QDSFLightspeed June 2015)

Two stories from Insurrections

202 Checkmates

Boxing Day

The amazing art which inspired me to actually get this project off the ground was created by  @etrandem

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Music - Jazzy Ashes by The Underscore Orkestra

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Megan (@couchtomoon) and Maureen (@maureenkspeller) join me for another round of the Cabbages & Kings book club.  Rather than discuss the Clarke Award, we each brought a book of our choice. (Note that unrelated to this episode Megan and Maureen are participating in a Shadow Clarke jury, which has been the site of some fascinating discussions and reviews)  In this episode: Sarah Tolmie's The Stone Boatmen, Sun Yung Shin's Unbearable Splendor and Watership Down by Richard Adams.

The amazing art which inspired me to actually get this project off the ground was created by  @etrandem

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Music - Jazzy Ashes by The Underscore Orkestra

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This episode I am joined by Kate Schapira, host of the Climate Anxieties Counseling blog, to discuss Jeff VanderMeer's award-winning Annihilation, as well as some of her early introductions to the SF&F genre. 

Transcript here.

The amazing art which inspired me to actually get this project off the ground was created by  @etrandem

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Music - Jazzy Ashes by The Underscore Orkestra

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This episode I'm joined by Kate Heartfield (@KateHeartfield) to discuss Historical Fantasy, and Charles Payseur (@clowderoftwo) has short fiction recommendations.

Four Haunted Houses Adam Troy Castro, Nightmare (Sep 2016)

The Girl Who's Going To Survive Your Horror Movie Barbara Bennett, Flash Fiction Online (Mar 2017)

If We Survive The Night Carlie St. George, The Dark (Mar 2017)

The Venus Effect Joseph Allan Hill, Lightspeed Magazine (Dec 2016)

None of This Ever Happened Gabriela Santiago, POC Destroy Horror (Oct 2016)

The Grace of Kings and Other Narratives

Indigenous Futurisms Roundtable at Strange Horizons

Transcript to come.  Review text here.

The amazing art which inspired me to actually get this project off the ground was created by  @etrandem

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Music - Jazzy Ashes by The Underscore Orkestra

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This episode, I'm joined by novelist and short story author Na'amen Gobert Tilahun (@naamenism) to discuss his history with the genre, the process of Canon formation, and ways of reacting to harmful representation of marginalized identities in both current and older stories.

Cyberpunk

Open Road Media, who has brought back many older titles including Jo Clayton's

An earlier episode discussing my beloved Princes of Amber series. (We did not discuss the ways the books assume that princesses cannot rule)

Joe Abercrombie's reaction to criticisms of misogyny in the First Law.  

A further discussion of Grimdark and author reactions to critiques.  

Mark Charan Newton on "avoiding Racefail" including Jesse Bullington on learning from critiques of his novel.

Amazon review of The Enterprise of Death that Bullington is responding to

Transcript here.

The amazing art which inspired me to actually get this project off the ground was created by  @etrandem

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Music - Jazzy Ashes by The Underscore Orkestra

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This episode I am joined by Ziv Wities (@QuiteVague), host of the SFSqueeAndSnark short story discussion site, to discuss Jo Walton's The Just City.  We covered our different reactions to the story, the elevation of Plato's Republic to a holy text, and the problems of privilege and how it is portrayed in The Just City.  In addition, Brandon O'Brien returns for the second installment of Black Star Cruises, a review of Maurice Broaddus' forthcoming novella Buffalo Soldier.

Transcript here. Text of review here.

The amazing art which inspired me to actually get this project off the ground was created by  @etrandem

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Music - Jazzy Ashes by The Underscore Orkestra

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This episode I'm joined by Jared Shurin (@straycarnivore) of the award-nominated genre site Pornokitsch (@pornokitsch), and editor with Mahvesh Murad of the upcoming anthology The Djinn Falls in Love.  We discuss the Sword & Sorcery subgenre, and an old quote from Lin Carter defining the genre.

In addition, Charles Payseur joins us to recommend short fiction centered around falling.

Jared & Mahvesh's (now-completed) Dragonlance Reread

The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (#SPFBO)

• "What Glistens Back" by Sunny Moraine (Lightspeed)
• "The Sky, Falling" by Anton Rose (Terraform)
• "One Giant Leap" by Jay Werkheiser (Strange Horizons)
• "Vernal Fall" by Edward Ashton (Flash Fiction Online)

Transcript here.  Transcript of Charles' review here.

The amazing art which inspired me to actually get this project off the ground was created by  @etrandem

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Music - Jazzy Ashes by The Underscore Orkestra

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Back in December 2015, Renay (of LadyBusiness and Fangirl Happy Hour, among others) joined me to talk about Naomi Novik's Uprooted.  In this episode - fanfiction, Uprooted, and surprisingly timely recommendation for Black Wolves.

Written by the Victors

Transcript for the episode

The amazing art which inspired me to actually get this project off the ground was created by  @etrandem

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Music - Jazzy Ashes by The Underscore Orkestra

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The concluding episode in the Grace of Kings podcast series - author Ken Liu (@kyliu99) joins @afishtrap and me to discuss technology and gods in the novel, as well as structure.  And I am very pleased to announce a new review series - Brandon O'Brien (@therisingtithes on Twitter & Tumblr) begins "Black Star Cruises" with a review of Kai Ashante Wilson's A Taste of Honey.

The amazing art which inspired me to actually get this project off the ground was created by  @etrandem

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Music - Jazzy Ashes by The Underscore Orkestra

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Transcript (Google Doc), Review (Google Doc)