Three Hoarsemen

The dreaded Holiday season, with its attendant joys and anxieties, seems to fall upon us earlier with each advancing year. Once again we hear the fretful murmurs that Science Fiction and Fantasy fans are notoriously difficult to buy presents for.

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson.

Parables of Science Fiction, edited by Brian Attebery and Veronica Hollinger

Spectrum 20: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, edited by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner

Diableries: Stereoscopic Adventures in Hell, by Brian May, Denis Pellerin and Pual Fleming

The Interpretation of Zines: A Pictorial History of Science Fiction Fanzines, by Luis Ortiz

Fables Encyclopedia, by Jess Nevins, Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham

The Art of Ian Miller, by Ian Miller

Starfall, by Stephen Baxter

Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond, edited by Bill Campbell and Edward Austin Hall

Explorer (The Mystery Boxes 01), by Kazu Kibuishi

Sci-Fi 2014 Vintage Calendar, from Asgard Press

Syd Mead’s Sentury, by Syd Mead

The Sandman Omnibus Volume 1, by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Colleen Doran

The Art of John Harris, by John Harris

The Art of Richard Powers, by Jane Frank, Richard Grid Powers and Vincent Di Fate

Additional Show Notes:

2013: The Year in Books

2013: The Year in Shorts

What It Means to be a Writer, by Doris Lessing

On Reading Doris Lessing, by James Lasdun

Weightless Books

Snow Monkeys! by Heather Angel

Love is the Law, by Nick Mamatas

A Pretty Mouth, by Molly Tanzer

The Science Fiction Book, by Franz Rottensteiner

Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time

Alternate Worlds, by James Gunn

Fantastic Science Fiction Art, 1926-1954, edited by Lester Del Rey

Ogre Designers’ Edition

The Xeelee Omnibus, by Stephen Baxter

The London Stereoscopic Company

Asgard Press

Asimov’s Science Fiction, January 2014 (PDF of Index)

It is an allegorical tale of interstellar adventure, a quest that is part Moby Dick and part revolutionary act. It is about confluence, archetypes, obsession, seeking the future, and the creative process itself. It is the story that marked the transition from Delany’s more straightforward genre explorations to the maturation of his career when he returned to the field with Dhalgren. It is the book that critic Algis Budrys said “…right now, as of this book…not as of some future book or some accumulated body of work, [Delany] is the best science-fiction writer in the world, at a time when competition for that status is intense.”

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson.

Nova, by Samuel R. Delany

The Violent Century, by Lavie Tidhar

Member, by Michael Cisco

Additional Notes:

2013: The Year in Books

2013: The Year in Shorts

The SF Encyclopedia entry on Samuel R. Delnay

Worlds Without End on Nova

ISFD on Samuel R. Delany

Jo Walton at Tor Dot Com: Overloading the Senses

Jo Walton at Tor Dot Com: Scintillations of a Sensory Syrynx

The Polymath (film)

Weird Fiction reviews Michael Cisco

Notes on The Violent Century, by Lavie Tidhar

The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Cowl, by Neal Asher

Arrow

The Hollow Crown

Open Road Media to Publish Nine Books by Samuel R. Delany

As Summer is relegated to the vaults of imperfect memory, the occasionally venerable John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson pull their cloaks tight against the mounting Autumn chill. Listen as they gather around the flame, pass the jug and Ibuprofen, and speak of a road trip through the American South, LoneStarCon, revisiting reviews of old, reading with one’s daughter, the books that sustain them, and other mortal matters.

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson.

Borrowed Tides, by Paul Levinson

What Makes This Book So Great. by Jo Walton

Legends of Zita the Spacegirl, by Ben Hatke

Additional Notes:

2013: The Year in Books

2013: The Year in Shorts

Harlan Ellison’s YouTube Channel:

Benchmarks: Galaxy Bookshelf, by Algis Budrys

Bookmarks Continued, by Algis Budrys

Welcome to Night Vale (feed)

Amulet, by Kazu Kibuishi

Becoming Ray Bradbury, by Jonathan R. Eller

The Song of Synth and Absinth, by Sebastien Doubinsky

Rayguns Over Texas

Marvel Infinity

Hyperbolism podcast

Jeff’s Post Road-trip Thoughts

The Moon Pie General Store and Book Warehouse

And so, having proven their mettle in the harsh environs of podcastery, John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson were cast out from the shelter of the venerable SF Signal Podcast, armed only with wit, canes, and beta blockers, to forge their own path. Here they discussed the utility and relevance of awards, the return of the dreaded online SF books list, how no reading plan survives contact with the enemy, and the culture they have recently consumed.

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson.

The Vorrh, by Brian Catling

Such Stuff as Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction, by Keith Oatley

Becoming Ray Bradbury, by Jonathan R. Eller

Additional Notes:

2013: The Year in Books

2013: The Year in Shorts

Locus Awards Database

Flavorwire: 50 SF/F Books Everybody Should Read

Science Fiction Studies

The Ghost Light, by Fritz Leiber

The Gilbert study on reading

Trillium, by Jeff Lemire

Survival of Freedom

The Prometheus Awards

And so it was that, during the brutal heatwave of July 2013, Fred Kiesche, John Stevens, and Jeff Patterson did re-convene to swelter and bemoan the state of things. Thrill as they endure cicadas and noisy fans! Listen to them discuss Readercon, the irrelevance of poorly-researched reviews, comic books, noir, specious definitions of the “canon,” and other sundry subjects. It’s like visiting three cranky uncles in a run down retirement home…

(Originally SF Signal Podcast Episode 198)

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson.

Harlan Ellison’s Dream Corridor, Volume 1, by Harlan Ellison

Dread Brass Shadows, by Glen Cook

Salsa Nocturna, by Daniel Jose Older

Monstrous Regiment, by Terry Pratchett

Black Brillion, by Matthew Hughes

Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, by Mike Carey and Glenn Fabry

Additional Notes:

2013: The Year in Books

2013: The Year in Shorts

Lavie Tidhar on Central Station

Blastr: Are These 14 SF Books Really Not Worth Reading?

Reddit: What are some SF books you have read that you would warn others not to read and why?

Fox Meadow’s column at Black Gate

Interzone: Issue 244

Salsa Nocturna

Garrett P.I.

The Archonate

C.L. Moore

In the long and storied history of the SF Signal Podcast, never had the powers-that-be deigned it safe to allow John H. Stevens, Fred Kiesche, and Jeff Patterson to appear on the same panel discussion. “It would be like crossing the streams,” they said. “Violent weather would sweep the land, and cicadas emerge from the depths!”

Ah, well…

In this inaugural episode of The Three Hoarsemen we discuss Iain M. Banks, how our book format preferences dictate our reading (and buying) habits, and recommend some books and stories we’ve recently enjoyed.

(Originally SF Signal Podcast Episode 193)

Hosts Fred Kiesche, John E.O. Stevens, and Jeff Patterson.

American Elsewhere, by Robert Jackson Bennett

The Jewel-Hinged Jaw, by Samuel R. Delany

The Hypernaturals, by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

The Gunslinger (Dark Tower 1), by Stephen King

Prince Valiant Volume 2: 1939-1940, by Hal Foster and Mark Schultz

The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks

2013: The Year in Books

2013: The Year in Shorts

“City of Chrysanthemum”, by Ken Liu at Daily Science Fiction

“Wavefronts of History and Memory”, by David D. Levine in Analog

“You First Meet the Devil at a Church Fete”, by Shannon Fay in Interzone

Bloom County, Volume 1

Pogo, The Complete Syndicated comic Strips, Volume 1