It’s a new year, and we have a lot of new and exciting SF in translation coming out. Chinese fantasy, Czech space opera, Argentine surrealism…Daniel and I tell you all about it. We also take a look back at November and December and briefly summarize what you might have missed when our beloved podcast took a brief wintry haitus. Daniel also talks about the wide variety of short fiction in January and why you should get excited about reading these stories from the Polish, Japanese, Spanish, and more.

Extra exciting is the fact that you can also hear Rachel’s interview with the talented author and translator Andy Dudak. Translating Chinese SF, living abroad, how reading and writing and translating influence one another: it’s all covered.

Remember: with new stories and books coming to our attention each week, make sure to check the SFT website for updates. Enjoy, and keep reading!

A bientôt!

Show notes:

Feel free to shoot us an email at skiffyandfanty [at] gmail [dot] com! You can also leave a comment on our website.

Our new intro and outro music comes “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Paul talks to T. Frohock about her new Los Nefilim series novella, Where Oblivion Lives. T. treats us to a glimpse of what life was like just prior to the Spanish Civil War, how she deals with the trauma of World War I, the queer relationship between Diego and Miguel, the villainy of humanity, and more! T. is a long time friend of the show, and we’re so glad she finally got to join us!

Then Jen interviews Alex Harrow about their new science fiction novel, Empire of Light! Alex tells us about the complicated relationships between the characters, the importance of queer representation and how they specifically try to combat many of the negative queer tropes, why the super powers that they created for Empire of Light (the Voyance) comes with consequences, the importance of finding community, and more!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Show Notes:

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Family, bagels, and toe-shoes, oh my! Our first 2019 episode of At the Movies is basically Becca, Alex, Julia, and Stephen doing a lot of squeeing, shedding a few tears, but mostly just the squealing. I’m pretty sure Alex actually squeaks with joy at one point. That’s how much they loved Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. And despite trying really hard to get Stephen to play the villain, he just can’t get into destroying the multi-verse. Just trust us when we say that this is just under an hour of pure love and happiness, and we hope you enjoy it.

Show Notes:

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Angry unions, shifty colonialism, and Vorlon jokes, oh my! The Babylon 5 re-watch finally returns with Season 3! Shaun, Mike, and Paul talk about the first four episodes of the season, tackling the way this new season brings back to familiar ground, the continuing mysteries and unveiling of the Shadows, the strangeness of Vorlons, the delightfulness of Marcus, the development of our favorite characters, and so much more! So climb on board the the White Star and join us on our adventures in the B5 universe!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Murderous status, dragons, and culinary competitions, oh my! For our first interview of 2019, we’re excited to bring to you the fantastic S.A. Chakraborty. Paul and Elizabeth chat with S.A. (Shannon) about book two of the Daevabad Trilogy, Kingdom of Copper. They explore why the second book is set a good five years after the first one, how the characters deal with the political turmoil of a land divided, why being a good person is completely subjective, how language and cooking help set the tone for the worldbuilding, and a heck of a lot more! Minor spoilers lie ahead, but this interview is absolutely brilliant!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Show Notes:

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Well, folks. It’s 2019 and time for our first episode of the year! Shaun, Paul, Julia, and Stephen get down to business with all their faves from last year and what will probably be faves this year! Then Cam, Kerry, Elizabeth, David, Trish, and Jen throw their hats into the ring, so make sure you stay until the end! 2018 might not have been a great year for the world, but it was a great year in speculative fiction, which is why there’s still plenty for us to talk about as we look back on everything we did. Who knows what 2019 will bring? It seems as if speculative fiction is at least one area that definitely won’t disappoint us.

For the last month we’ve been sharing our joys through our #MonthofJoy posts and BookTube videos, and we refuse to lose sight of those joys as we plow headlong into an amazing year of podcasts, blog posts, videos, newsletters, Patreon exclusives, merchandise, and more! So to quote Paul:  keep your eyes on the skies and your ears to the ground, because we’re coming for all the specfic!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

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If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Darkspawn, shiny noses, and a new sex term, oh my! This one is DEFINITELY NSFW folks! Somehow the team, comprised of Shaun, Jen, Paul, and Becca, managed to turn this family friendly film into a total raunch fest. Proceed with caution. You have been warned!

As with every Holiday Special, the crew brings a heavy dose of absurd and downright silly comedy to an otherwise totally normal discussion of film. They list the virtues and miraculousness of eye-liner, tackle some racist fantasy tropes, rip into a few dropped plot-lines, and wander aimlessly through the confusing logic behind the dragons in a movie about Scottish Santa and his almost-Johnny-Depp son.

We hope you enjoy the episode and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Show Notes:

Feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Dimension” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Elizabeth talks to Steph Matuku, author of the debut novel, Flight of the Fantail, and the children’s book, Whetū Toa and the Magician. Both are out from HUIA Publishers in New Zealand. The two talk about how Steph treated the environment as a character, the influence her Maori culture has on her books, how she was sponsored (and published!) through the Te Papa Tupu writing program, the tough reality of writing, and more!

Then Jen reminisces about UCSC (GO SLUGS!) with author Bethany C. Morrow for hours and hours. Kidding! The two explore Bethany’s historical fantasy science fiction novel, MEM, her YA debut novel, A Song Below Water, and her upcoming YA anthology, Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance. They discuss the effect that omitting whiteness has upon a story, the importance of resistance to her writing, the sinister reality of west coast liberal racism, and much more.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Show Notes:

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Dimension” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Rangers Trish, Brandon, and Daniel are back this month to discuss the English translation of the Brazilian Anthology, Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories in a Sustainable World edited by Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro and translated by Fábio Fernandes. The anthology includes Brazilian and Portuguese stories by Carlos Orsi, Telmo Marçal, Romeu Martins, Antonio Luiz M. Costa, Gabriel Cantareira, Daniel I. Dutra, André S. Silva, Roberta Spindler, and Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro.

The team discusses the anthology’s exploration of the political nuances of sustainable futures, the inevitability of political corruption, and the relationship between power and energy. The episode includes both a broad overview and specifics about each of the stories in the Anthology, so tune in and learn more about Brazilian concepts of a sustainable world!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Show Notes:

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Dimension” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Crime, creepy Gremlin elves, and Marxist critiques of late capitalism, oh my! It’s the holidays, and that means it’s time to wax lyrical about holiday movies. This year, Shaun, Paul, Alex, and Mike join forces to discuss the brand new smash hit, The Christmas Chronicles. They talk about Netflix’s approach to the holidays, the film’s treatment of Christmas and Santa, the terrors of bad CG, and the cliched sappiness that makes the holidays as good as a nice warm cup of cocoa!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Dimension” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.