A Meal of Thorns

Banks’ Culture novels, about a utopian space-faring civilization, are hugely influential in both SF literature and the tech industry. Award-winning critic Abigail Nussbaum joins us to discuss Excession , a Culture novel about proxy conflicts and interventionist politics, existential threats, and…problematic exes? Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review o...

Cherryh’s influence on speculative fiction is vast but, some would say, under-acknowledged. Author Arkady Martine joins to help rectify that situation, with a discussion of 40,000 in Gehenna , an anthropological, generational science fiction story about realpolitik, language, cloning, giant intelligent lizards, and gender—and that’s kind of just the top notes. Casella also provid...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: andré m. carrington Title: Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough Transcribers: Kate Dollarhyde and John WM Thompson R...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Roseanna Pendlebury Titles: The 2025 Hugo Novel & Novella List Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough Transcribers: Kate Dollarhyde and John WM Thompson...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Maia Gil′Adí Title: The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Palgrave SFF: A New Canon The Zombie...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Sean McTiernan Title: Dreams of Amputation by Gary J. Shipley Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough Transcribers: Kate Dollarhyde References: The SFUltra p...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Christian P. Haines Titles: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein, and The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz  Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Marita Arvaniti Title: Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: A Meal of Thorns and the Ancillary Review of Book...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Archita Mittra Title: Among Others by Jo Walton Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Eliza Chan’s Fathomfolk & Archita’s review Sue Lynn T...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Dan Hartland Title: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Gautam Bhatia's The Sentence Alex Pheby's Waterbla...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Eden Kupermintz Title: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: anarchySF , heavy blog is heavy , Eden’s work a...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Benjamin Rosenbaum Title: Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Ben’s novel, The Unraveling , and latest game, Th...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Hilary Strang Title: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Marooned on Mars , a podcast about the works of KSR U...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Jared Pechaček Title: Mistress of Mistresses by E.R. Eddison Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Jared’s book, The West Passage By-the-Bywate...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Roseanna Pendlebury Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough In Memoriam: Alan Jeffrey & Cameron Estrich-Watson References: Tor’s The Most Iconic Speculat...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Anna McFarlane Title: The This by Adam Roberts Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Anna's books, including Cyberpunk Culture and Psychology ,...

Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Jon Greenaway Title: Melmoth by Sarah Perry Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Jon's latest books: Capitalism: A Horror Story and A Primer O...

More podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Garrett Bridger Gilmore Title: The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: “ The Horror At Redhook ” b...

More podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Shinjini Dey Title: Tainaron: Mail From Another City by Leena Krohn, translated by Hildi Hawkins Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Geo...

More podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Sunny Moraine Title: Pattern Recognition by William Gibson Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Your Shadow Half Remains Long Hidden: Spe...

More podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Juan Martinez Title: Gilded Needles by Michael McDowell Host: Jake Casella Brookins Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Juan’s collection Best Worst American &...

More podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: Amal El-Mohtar Title: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera In Universes by Emmet North...

More podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Host: Jake Casella Brookins Guest: Dan Hartland Title: The Passion by Jeanette Winterson Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: This blog has a round-up of articles and comme...

More podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books . Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon ! Credits: Guest: A.V. Marraccini Title: The Employees by Olga Ravn, translated by Martin Aitken Music by Giselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork by Rob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough References: Vladimir Nabokov’s Ada, or Ardor Anton Hur’s Towa...

Taylor Driggers joins us to talk about the second volume in C.S. Lewis's SPACE TRILOGY. A richly-described and philosophical science fiction story, PERELANDRA has a lot that's interesting and a lot that's pretty weird when you think about it. A Meal of Thorns is a podcast from the Ancillary Review of Books . Credits: Guest: Taylor Driggers Title: Perelandra by C.S. Lewis Music by Giselle Gabrielle...