For our March 2026 episode of Starship Alexandria – and the first our our new season – Emma puts forward the novel The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester.

Other talking points:

The perils of returning to past reads

Difficult books to summarise

Cunning schemes for the perfect murder

Psychic earworms

Psychotherapy in science fiction

Particularly big warts

(not) the Time Machine Factory

Heroes and anti-heroes

The Poochy effect

Skeezy gender dynamics

Eugenics

Contradictory attitudes towards murder

Typographical games

Inadvisable titles

Media Mentions:

The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, novel by Douglas Adams

The Lathe of Heaven, novel by Ursula le Guin

The Simpsons TV series (twice!)

Gormenghast, series by Mervyn Peake

Babylon 5, TV series

Illuminati, card/board game

Star Trek: The Next Generation, TV series, particularly "Remember Me"

The Life of Chuck, movie dir. Mike Flanagan (based on the work of Stephen King)

Next month we look at the movie Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Emma's music recommendation: Punk Tactics by Joey Valance & Brae https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OklSZmIx9-o&list=RDOklSZmIx9-o&start_radio=1

Emma's latest writing is included in Creative Futures (Beyond and Within) https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/creative-futures-allen-stroud/7847161 which was recently shortlisted for a BSFA Award

Adrian's most recent book: Pretenders to the Throne of God https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/pretenders-to-the-throne-of-god-adrian-tchaikovsky/7953437

If you'd like to support the show, and get an additional monthly patrons-only episode, you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/c/starshipalexandria/home

You can buy our official t-shirts and mugs at https://starshipalexandria.teemill.com/

Follow us at:

Emma: @[email protected] and www.enewman.co.uk

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and www.adriantchaikovsky.com

For our February 2026 episode of Starship Alexandria, Adrian puts forward the novel A Sword of Bronze and Ashes by Anna Smith Spark for Emma to consider.

Other talking points:

Potato Guys

Getting old as a female fantasy hero

Marriage and long term relationships in fantasy fiction

Amazing prose styles

Being brought up by buccas in a tin mine

Levelling up as a reader

Media Mentions:

The work of Haruki Murakami

The work of KJ Parker (particularly the Scavenger trilogy)

Legend, novel by David Gemmell

The Conan stories by Robert E Howard

The Discworld books by Sir Terry Pratchett

Planetfall, novel by Emma Newman

Excalibur, movie dir. John Boorman

This marks the end of season 1 of Starship Alexandria! Season 2 will commence in March with a look at Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man. (For the curious, the seasons are mostly to do with our bulk recording of the regular episodes in advance.)

Adrian's music recommendation: '39 by Queen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE8kGMfXaFU&list=RDkE8kGMfXaFU&start_radio=1

Emma's latest writing is a short story included in the Creative Futures (Beyond and Within) anthology: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/creative-futures-allen-stroud/7847161

Adrian's most recent book: Starseer's Ruin https://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/ebook-starseers-ruin-eng-2025.html

Follow us at:

Emma: @[email protected] and www.enewman.co.uk

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and www.adriantchaikovsky.com

For our January 2026 episode of Starship Alexandria, Emma puts forward the movie Godzilla Minus One directed by Takashi Yamazaki for Adrian to consider.

Other talking points:

A monstrous regiment of Godzillas

Survivor's Guilt

Redemption arcs

Found boat family

The Unbearable Weightiness of Kaiju

Convenient mattress factories

Godzilla amplification

Media Mentions:

Godzilla (Gojira), movie dir Ishiro Honda

Subsequent Godzilla movies, dir. various

Pacific Rim, movie dir. Guillermo del Toro

Jurassic Park, movie dir. Steven Spielberg

Back to the Future, movie dir. Robert Zemeckis

Oppenheimer, movie dir. Christopher Nolan

Our next regular episode will look at the novel Sword of Bronze and Ashes by Anna Smith Spark.

Emma's music recommendation: The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWz0JC7afNQ&list=RDLWz0JC7afNQ&start_radio=1

Emma's latest book: The Vengeance https://geni.us/thevengeance

Adrian's most recent book: Starseer's Ruin https://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/ebook-starseers-ruin-eng-2025.html

Follow us at:

Emma: @[email protected] and www.enewman.co.uk

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and www.adriantchaikovsky.com

Merry Christmas! This is the twenty-fifth, and final, episode of the 2025 advent calendar. We share some news, a gift and something that will hopefully make you laugh!

If you'd like to support the show, you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/c/starshipalexandria/home

Emma's latest book: The Vengeance https://geni.us/thevengeance

Adrian's most recent book: Starseer's Ruin https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/hb-starseers-ruin-eng-2025

Follow us at:

Emma: @[email protected] and www.enewman.co.uk

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and www.adriantchaikovsky.com

For the Christmas Eve episode of the 2025 Starship Alexandria advent calendar, Adrian shares why Andor is so special for him.

If you'd like to support the show, you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/c/starshipalexandria/home

Emma's latest book: The Vengeance https://geni.us/thevengeance

Adrian's most recent book: Starseer's Ruin https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/hb-starseers-ruin-eng-2025

Follow us at:

Emma: @[email protected] and www.enewman.co.uk

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and www.adriantchaikovsky.com

For the twenty-third day of the 2025 Starship Alexandria advent calendar, Emma shares her deep love for the show Detectorists.

If you'd like to support the show, you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/c/starshipalexandria/home

Emma's latest book: The Vengeance https://geni.us/thevengeance

Adrian's most recent book: Starseer's Ruin https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/hb-starseers-ruin-eng-2025

Follow us at:

Emma: @[email protected] and www.enewman.co.uk

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and www.adriantchaikovsky.com

For the twenty-second day of the 2025 Starship Alexandria advent calendar, Adrian makes a bold declaration about the show Farscape.

If you'd like to support the show, you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/c/starshipalexandria/home

Emma's latest book: The Vengeance https://geni.us/thevengeance

Adrian's most recent book: Starseer's Ruin https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/hb-starseers-ruin-eng-2025

Follow us at:

Emma: @[email protected] and www.enewman.co.uk

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and www.adriantchaikovsky.com

For the twenty-first day of the 2025 Starship Alexandria advent calendar, Emma talks about another cosy murder mystery show, this one set in 1920's Melbourne: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

If you'd like to support the show, you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/c/starshipalexandria/home

Emma's latest book: The Vengeance https://geni.us/thevengeance

Adrian's most recent book: Starseer's Ruin https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/hb-starseers-ruin-eng-2025

Follow us at:

Emma: @[email protected] and www.enewman.co.uk

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and www.adriantchaikovsky.com

For the twentieth day of the 2025 Starship Alexandria advent calendar, Adrian shares his love of the ultimate low budget british science-fiction show Blake's 7.

If you'd like to support the show, you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/c/starshipalexandria/home

Emma's latest book: The Vengeance https://geni.us/thevengeance

Adrian's most recent book: Starseer's Ruin https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/hb-starseers-ruin-eng-2025

Follow us at:

Emma: @[email protected] and www.enewman.co.uk

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and www.adriantchaikovsky.com

For the nineteenth day of the 2025 Starship Alexandria advent calendar, Emma talks about why Avatar: The Last Airbender (the original animated series!) is such a joy to watch.

If you'd like to support the show, you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/c/starshipalexandria/home

Emma's latest book: The Vengeance https://geni.us/thevengeance

Adrian's most recent book: Starseer's Ruin https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/hb-starseers-ruin-eng-2025

Follow us at:

Emma: @[email protected] and www.enewman.co.uk

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and www.adriantchaikovsky.com