For our third episode of Starship Alexandra, Emma puts forward Ursula K le Guin's fascinating SF novel The Lathe of Heaven for Adrian to read and consider.

Other talking points:

• Reality-bending in SF

• Unusual power relationships

• Tech billionaire problem solving

• The perils of having superpowers

• Inadvertent puns

Media Mentions:

The Fifth Element, film, dir. Luc Besson

Eye in the Sky, novel, Phillip K Dick

It's a Good Life, short story, Jerome Bixby

Young Americans, film, dir. Danny Cannon

Dancer in the Dark, film, dir. Lars von Trier

Our next episode will look at: Top Ten volumes 1 and 2, graphic novels by Alan Moore, Gene Ha and Zander Cannon.

Emma's music recommendation: Play Dead by Björk https://youtu.be/cw09VTTDRRo?si=WAaY0qeb7cC4OH12

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

Adrian's most recent book: Bee Speaker https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/bee-speaker-adrian-tchaikovsky/7741036

Follow us at:

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

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

For our second episode of Starship Alexandria, Adrian puts forward KJ Bishop's weird fantasy novel The Etched City (2004) for Emma to read and consider.

Other talking points:

• A short discussion about spoilers and different thresholds depending on the work being considered

• The challenges involved with reading and writing secondary world fantasy due to vocabulary

• Adherence to historical accuracy when writing historical fantasy

• Adrian's manifesto for the unacknowledged sub-genre "fantastical realism"

Media Mentions:

Dungeons and Dragons, tabletop role-playing game, Gygax et al

Perdido Street Station, book, China Mieville

Ambergris series, books, Jeff Vandermeer

Viriconium series, books, M John Harrison

A Man of Shadows, book, Jeff Noon

Tyrant Philosophers series, books, Adrian Tchaikovsky

Our next episode will look at:

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin (1971)

Adrian's music recommendation:

Minus Sixty-One by Woodkid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHcJepz3QW0

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

Adrian's most recent book: Shroud https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/shroud-adrian-tchaikovsky/7656869

Follow us at:

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

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

For this very first episode of Starship Alexandria, Emma puts forward John Wyndham's classic SF novel The Kraken Wakes (1953) for Adrian to read and consider (published in the US as Out of the Deeps.)

Other media mentions:

The War of the Worlds, HG Wells

Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Aliens franchise, dir. Ridley Scott, James Cameron et al

The Quatermass franchise, dir. Various, written by Nigel Kneale

A Mission of Gravity, Hal Clements

Blackgate Adventures in Fantasy blog https://www.blackgate.com/2020/07/16/these-two-books-are-not-the-same-john-wyndhams-the-kraken-wakes-and-out-of-the-deeps/

That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote, KJ Bishop

Our next episode will look at:

The Etched City, KJ Bishop (2004)

Emma's music recommendation:

Jennifer, by Everything Everything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEIhJM-atiI&ab_channel=EverythingEverything

Emma's upcoming book: The Vengeance https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-vengeance-emma-newman/7713374

Adrian's most recent book: Shroud https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/shroud-adrian-tchaikovsky/7656869

Follow us at:

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

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