Welcome to Episode 152 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our triptych of shows on the work of Katherine Addison, focusing on her novel The Goblin Emperor, as we talk to the author herself (real name Sarah Monette).  Among many topics, Sarah talks about her academic background, her engagement with fans on and offline, the nature of social change in her fantastic world, and what inspires her about her characters–and why she thinks an alternative to grimdark fiction can be a reasonable approach, at least once in a while!  We really enjoyed this chat about a really intriguing book, and we hope you find it as interesting as we did.  If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back next week for our final show of the triptych as we look at some of the writing techniques used in the novel–and if you’d like access to that show and our Good, Bad, and Ugly segments (including a new one from Sarah), please head to our Patreon page and support us at the $5 or higher level.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!