Sci-Fi Saturday Night

V.S. Holmes

In this first ‘Cast of 2022 we get to talk with one of our favorite author friends, V.S. Holmes. It is always wonderful to welcome Them home and catching up with one of our oldest author friends and oner of our fondest protagonists is always fun, so we spent the time reminiscing about V and Nel, where they had been, where they are now and where they are going because in a very real sense they are inextricably bound together. The essential bond between a recurring main character and their author grows over time and it is so wonderful to see Nel’s evolution and depth in book four of the series Heretics (Stars Edge).

This is a special series of books about a special character in a special universe. Welcome back, Nel. Welcome back, V.

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Heretics (Stars Edge: Nel Bently Book 4)

Paul Bahou

So, there  was this guy, a more eclectic guy you are never going to meet, I think. His name is Paul Bahou and , among other things , he is a writer and judging from his book, Sunset Distortion: The Pyramid At The End Of The World, a damn good one. He is also a musician, an ecologist, an entrepreneur and environmentalist, but this is about his writing …. or is it?

The talented and very funny Mr. Bahou brings us an intergalactic buddy comedy staring Lazer and Streek, which asks some amazing questions along the way not the least of which is “How many humans does it take to build a pyramid?” This story is a wonderfully wacky convoluted cautionary tale  that begins with alien abduction and ends…….Paul is a wonderfully diverse guy and this novel and our interview is kind of a mirror of that diversity. It was fun for us and we hope it will be fun for you.

Enjoy the chaos!

Sunset Distortion: The Pyramid At The End Of The World

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Edward M. Lerner

When you read science fiction or fantasy or for that matter anything within the entire collective mish-mash genre, as a reader you tend to “give up” certain things; you simply accept  “givens”. Lobsters from Andromeda speak with English accents, generation ships will actually work, FTL travel must work. Why? In this Cast  remarkable writer, physicist and computer scientist Edward M. Lerner talks about his book Trope-ing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction. This book peels back much of the silliness to look at the science necessary to make the fiction work. Based in large part on a series of his essays For Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine, this book is a trove of wonderful information about the why and how of the science in the fiction. The more we talked, the more fascinating the conversation became though we barely scratched the surface of the many topics in the book. It is described as a must read for any science fiction writer, I disagree, it is a must read for any science fiction fan.

Enjoy the chaos

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Dr. Bruce Olav Solheim

Having been on the ‘Cast a number of times, Dr Bruce Olav Solheim joins us again, this time to talk about UFO’s, life in the universe and his unique and personal perceptions of the paranormal which began at the age of 4 and have continued throughout his life. We got the opportunity to speak about his many experiential instances as well as his research and work with CERO, his numerous books and appearances on Coast to Coast and Alien Encounters Declassified. And just when you thought you had heard it all, he has a new comic coming out soon (see the cover below),  so we got to talk about that as well.

So many places to go, Join us for and interesting time.

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Tracy and Laura Hickman

In this very special edition we get the chance to reconnect with dear friends Tracy and Laura Hickman as they are in the middle of their phenomenal Kickstarter, a simply amazing new game which was funded in 88 minutes, and is now skyrocketing  with over 2,500 backers. Who are they? What have they done?  Well, sit back, relax and enjoy an hour or so of conversation that includes an explanation of Skyraiders including the work on the project done by Joe Manganiello, Larry Elmore, Matt Stawicki and Karl Pruesser, an explanation of what the heck AR integration with the Living Tome mobile app means and what it brings to the game (trust me, it’s a lot). We also chatted about how covid affected The Void, the probability of a New Drangonlance series coming very soon with Margaret Weis and Tracy’s adventures with Dan Aykroyd.

All that and more, because Tracy and Laura are more fun than a Barrel of Elephant!

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Skyraiders of Abarax

Thor Nesch

Thor Nesch is by any definition multifaceted . The many styles of books as well as his other endeavours makes him “interesting” to say the least. When you have a writer, who amongst his many offerings has books that could qualify as Sci Fi, Fantasy, horror, crime drama, and thrillers, with subjects ranging from killer bears, beings trapped in a train underwater, finding your animal totem and in tonight’s offering a body switch comedy that is one part Disney Freaky Friday and one part Twain Prince and the Pauper with a liberal dash of Jackie Collins thrown in, the reader doesn’t  know what to expect, and that’s not a bad thing at all in an ostensibly  YA novel.  His book I Am You Am I (confusing title isn’t it) is a body swapping comedy but it also allows the author a chance to look at being a teenager in our present times.  Equal parts funny and poignant, it made for a very compelling read.

Thorsten himself is an interesting person. He writes in both German, his native language and English. He is also a storyteller, photographer, singer and film maker. We never got around to finding out why he moved from Europe to Canada but evidently that’s another story for another time in the sage of an international storyteller, the chronicle of Thor Nesch.

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I am You Am I

Melissa Yi

After a few weeks on hiatus for a number of issues, we’re back, and this ‘casts guest is just wonderful. Melissa Yi is a gifted writer and if that was all she was it would be plenty,,,,but she is also an ER Doctor with a special interest in health education, a world traveler and a joy to talk to on a myriad of subjects so we sent the interview flitting from topic to topic and had one hell of a time. The Commander and I wanted to talk about her werewolf novel Wolf Ice , in large part because it was so good and so much fun to read and also because to my mind anyway, I thought it was interesting that a doctor had such an affinity with werewolves but as usual I was proven wrong. What made the interview more interesting was all the tributaries we seemed to go off on and how interesting it became and she was.

We got to talk about her adventures in the Galapagos and Giza and a few other places that began with G as well, but most importantly we got the chance to meet Melissa, a rare treat which the staff here hopes to do again as soon as possible. Enjoy

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Wolf Ice

Tonight we take a look back with some of our friends. In a very special  episode we reminisce with Zombrarian, Kriana, Illustrator X and Commander Cam and talk about some off their memories of the past 500 episodes: the good, the bad and the ridiculous. From Doug Jones to Dr. K. and almost everywhere in-between, this is 500 episodes of us.

Enjoy the fun

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Zombrarian

Kriana

Illustrator X

Commander Cam

Garon Whithed

One might reasonably ask what these two things have in common?  The quick answer is of course Garon Whited. The not so quick response is also Garon Whited. Garon and The Commander talk about one of his hard SF books, Luna. and its roots in Plato’s republic and Lord of the Flies and seem to have a genuinely good time in paralleling the origin of the hero quest from Joseph Campbell. The conversation then moves into the commercial as Garon gets to discuss his “day one exploits” at DragonCon and expectations there. Ever the pithy conversationalist, Garon never fails to entertain.

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Luna

Dan Abella joins us once again to talk about the Philip K Dick Science Fiction FIlm Festival to be held at the Producers Club Theater and Cinema In New York City on September 17,18 and 19. As usual we have no idea where the interview is going to end up because that’s how it goes whenever Dan is on the show and that’s just fine. We did however get a chance to discuss a bit of back history of the past years lockdown and what it meant to the festival and how it affected this tear in terms of both physical events as well as the types of films that came to the table.

You can find the list of Friday, Saturday and Sunday events and times here but what is as important is the texture and flavor of the events, both in person and virtually. This year is an especially vibrant year for content and the  participants ability to access and interact with it. Enjoy the wonderfulness that is PKD

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