Fantasy Book Swap

A bumper episode of 1 hr 20! Matt and Nina from Even the Trunchbull come to mine, after I guested on their podcast discussing Joan Aiken's Nightbirds on Nantucket and the lovely picture book Peggoty Po. Matt and Nina’s book: Slaves of the Mastery by William Nicholson Ali’s book: City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda Book covers - compare Slaves of the Mastery with The Hunger Games The cover that...

This episode was recorded live at FantasyCon 2022 so the sound is a little echoey Laura is a games writer, Manga translator and the award-winning author of Sing Your Sadness Deep (2019) among other wonderful things. You can follow her on Twitter here , and find out more at LauraMauro.com Laura’s choice: Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson Ali’s choice: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by K...

Two quick warnings: This episode contains mentions of sexual assault and abduction. Please proceed with care. It was recorded over the bank holiday in Brighton. Caroline and I attempted to find a quiet corner of a pub to record in during a day out, and despite fiddling with editing there is background noise. Caroline’s choice: The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley . Sadly, it seems to be out of print i...

The Anti-Reepicheep League shownotes Ang’s choice: Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien Ali’s choice: The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett Ang and Ali are book twins How I imagine Sardines doing his dance Reepicheep: ugh The Secret of NIMH is very weird The Trailer for the upcoming animated film of Amazing Maurice Follow Ang on Twitter @ang_grrr Thank you...

Show notes ep 26 Fairies and witches and toads, oh my! Kit’s choice: The Stream that Stood Still by Beverley Nichols (who is a man! And he had quite the life). Ali’s choice: Otherland by Louie Stowell . Louie’s very funny The Dragon in the Library was one of the books discussed in Episode 1, with Helena McCallum Kit’s book,   In the Heart of Hidden Things, can be bought as a hardback or ePub. Kind...

Apologies for the sound: it was incredibly hot in the kitchen in Hove so we recorded with the window open, so there is some traffic noise in the background. Tony’s choice: Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce Ali’s choice: The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman Tony mentions the difference in portrayal of Roman slavery in Spartacus and Gladiator ; can we only empathise if the protagonist is enslave...

Russell’s book: The Demon Headmaster by Gillian Cross Ali’s book: Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston Catherine Butler wrote a paper about mind control in children’s literature and you can read it here Russell and I talk about the new series of The Demon Headmaster. You can watch it on BBC iPlayer . Information about the 1990s series can be found here There is a second Amari book on the wa...

Spoilers for Monstrous Regiment in this episode!  Please note that some women who went to war disguised as men lived as men for the rest of their lives (such as James Barry ) while others returned to living as women after their service. Sergeant Jackrum may be considered the former; he may have considered himself a trans man, if such terms were available to him in Discworld. Alistair’s choice: Sha...

I recorded this episode after having Covid, which affected my asthma. Apologies for the audible wheezing.   Scott’s choice: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin Ali’s choice: Sabriel by Garth Nix Buy from your local bookseller, such as Bert’s Books in Swindon! The awful adaptation of A Wizard of Earthsea: Legend of Earthsea and a much better one: Tales from Earthsea Vetch is indeed a plant. HP L...

Shownotes Recorded at Reclamation 2022, the British Science Fiction and Fantasy Fan convention. Join us next year with Conversation 2023! With guest Tasha Suri Tasha’s pick: Alanna, The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce Ali’s pick: Utterly Dark and the Face of the Deep by Philip Reeve Follow Tasha on Twitter and Instagram Many thanks to everyone who got up before 10:30am on Bank Holiday Monday to b...

A very short emergency podcast due to life, the pandemic and the general state of things that have disrupted my recording schedule. How rude. This episode is inspired by Octothorpe’s episode 54, Embrace the Sweat , where in discussion about Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education Alison suggested that it was the first book to challenge the classism of the Harry Potter series. I disagree! You can find out...

Please note that there is mention of transphobia in this episode. Warning: there is mild swearing and a lot of cackling.  Ali Williams’s book: Beauty by Robin McKinley Ali Baker’s book: Magyk by Angie Sage Robin McKinley’s website here Angie Sage’s website here This is Laurie Pink, Angie Sage’s child, who is an artist: https://mobile.twitter.com/lauriepink     Ali Williams’s website: https://www.a...

Aisha’s book: Is by Joan Aiken Ali’s book: A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge You can find out about all of Joan Aiken’s books here and follow her daughter, Lizza on Twitter . Aisha mentions The Harp of Fishbones, The Kingdom under the Sea and A Necklace of Raindrops with Jan Pienkowski’s illustrations, such as these ones You can hear LeVar Burton reading ‘Furry Night’ from The People in the Ca...

Damien’s choice: Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver Ali’s choice: Asha and the Spirit Bird by Jasbinder Bilan Jasbinder Bilan wrote about the inspiration she got from a trip to India here You can find Damien Hine on Twitter here and Facebook . The audiobook of  Out of Atlas can be bought here . Damien will be at the British SFF convention, EasterCon. You can buy membership here, but do it soon as pric...

This episode has a very special guest… my dad, Michael Baker, who was 84 yesterday. You can see him wearing his favourite hat here . This photo was taken last May, on my sister Kate’s belated 50th birthday. It was absolutely freezing! Our choices were: John Masefield's The Midnight Folk Chris Riddell's Ghost Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse During the podcast I mention John Masefield’s poem Sea Fever...

Alice’s choice: Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones Ali’s choice: Who Let The Gods Out? by Maz Evans You can find Alice on Twitter , read her on Book Riot and read her webcomics here The most obvious example of an Agatha Christie novel with an unreliable narrator is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd . Alice mentions Robin Steven’s wonderful Murder Most Unladylike books, which I can’t recommend enough. Do...

Thank you, dear listeners, for your support and interest. Fantasy Book Swap has had 1000 downloads on Podbean! Look, I have the badge to prove it! This episode has the favourite winter reading of: Nicholas Jackson Danny DC  so thank you all for your contributions! I very much enjoyed listening to them. Fantasy Book Swap is taking a break until the end of January, when I will be back with Fantasy B...

Stef’s choice: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper . Ali’s choice: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu. See one of Erin McGuire's illustrations for Breadcrumbs here You can find Stef on Twitter and Instagram , and buy her books here https://www.cynefinroad.co.uk/shop The next episode will be the last for a bit; I’m taking a break in January and will be back in early February. Do you use Storygraph to log your...

You can find Fiona on Twitter , and her blog here , where you can find links to her fiction and other work. You can buy Fiona’s book on Doctor Who: The Robots of Death here . Fiona’s tiny buildings can be found on Instagram and Beau Paddington’s wardrobe on Twitter . Fiona’s choice was Edward Eager’s Knight’s Castle , which easily available in secondhand editions. However, N. M. Bodecker’s illustr...

Get involved! Email your voice recording introducing your favourite winter reads to fantasybookswap@gmail.com . 

Follow Farah on Twitter . Farah is also a co-chair for the Eastercon 2024 bid Farah co-authored Children's Fantasy Literature: An Introduction with Michael Levy, and is the author of The Intergalactic Playground: A Critical Study of Children's and Teens' Science Fiction Farah recommends The Tea Dragon Society Farah's choice: Fattypuffs and Thinifers by Andre Maurois Ali's choice: Lightfall by Tim...

Rebecca’s World by Terry Nation  As John states, there is an Audible audiobook of Rebecca’s World , read by Paul Darrow, who was indeed Avon from Blakes 7. Flora and Ulysses by Kate di Camillo . There is a Disney film based on the book; see the trailer here The Tale of Despereaux trailer on YouTube John mentions Groosham Grange by Anthony Horowitz Ali mentions The Eighteenth Emergency by Betsy Bya...

Guest: my colleague Ruth Hunt. Find out more about Ruth and her research here Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce The Tortall universe in chronological order - though new readers would be best off starting with Alanna: The First Adventure Tamora Pierce’s thinking about gender identity and sexuality has changed over time An interview with Tamora Pierce on Beyond the...

Antonia Forests’s The Cricket Term Daisy May Johnson’s How To Be Brave Fantasy Book Swap episode with Daisy The Dickens novel that we couldn’t remember was Dombey and Son, where an annoying child does indeed die The Worst Witch - Mildred unmasking the evil witches Eva Ibbotson’s books : The Journey to the River Sea is set in the Amazon rainforest Many of Angela Brazil’s books are on Project Gutenb...

Content warning for non-explicit discussion of sexual violence and mental health crises including sectioning. Recorded live at FantasyCon , so there is background noise of 3D humans, including some sound bleed of the panel in the room next door. Let's call it atmosphere! Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave - it is in fact a quintet, not a trilogy James Clammer's Why I Went Back I got Steve and Jimmy's...