Book Club (from The Incomparable Mothership)

William Gibson Book Club reconvenes to close out the legendary Sprawl trilogy with “Mona Lisa Overdrive,” a book in which there are lots of vibes from a lot of people who are secondary characters in a story being driven by an AI that we never really meet. Robot art projects! Many overlapping jackets, none of them the same size! And a car ride to… the future?! We break it all down. Host Jason Snell...

Our survey of award-nominated novels rolls on with “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter,” “When We Were Real,” and “Sour Cherry.” Not gonna lie: we’re struggling with the reading a bit this year. But at least one of these novels threw us a lifeline. Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms, Heather Berberet and Paul Weimer.

Awards Book Club reconvenes for 2026, as we discuss Nebula-nominated novels “Katabasis” by R.F. Kuang, “Wearing the Lion” by John Wiswell, and “Death of the Author” by Nnedi Okorafor. The mood of the panel is… cautious. Also: What else are we reading? Host Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, Erika Ensign, Heather Berberet, Scott McNulty and Paul Weimer.

A special Book Club panel provides an overview of Lois McMaster Bujold’s excellent Penric & Desdemona series of fantasy novellas (plus one novel). This series gives its characters time to learn, grow, and age. It’s got some perspectives you don’t see very often in fantasy fiction. We love it and think you will, too. Host Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, Erika Ensign, Kat Benesh and Dan Moren.

Charge up your cyberspace deck and avoid all slamhounds! It’s time for us to discuss the second book in William Gibson’s famed Sprawl trilogy, “Count Zero.” Of course, Count Zero is the name of a great hacker… wait, it’s this kid? This is a book that defies audience expectations, from the title character to the way it follows up—or doesn’t, really—the events and characters in its famous predecesso...

Our Book Club reconvenes to discuss Emily Tesh’s “The Incandescent,” which offers a teacher’s perspective on a magical school (that’s mostly not magical, but infested by demons), an interesting story structure, and some very well-drawn characters. Plus: What else are we reading? Host Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, Erika Ensign, Joe Rosensteel, Heather Berberet, Paul Weimer and Scott McNulty.

If you’ve been thinking of reading Science Fiction and Fantasy but had no idea where to start, we’re here to help. Our panel of longtime SF/F readers has some suggestions just for you! Host Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, David J. Loehr, Erika Ensign, Heather Berberet and Sandra Wong.

It’s autumn, things are turning dark and gray, and that puts us in the mind of… (fictional) murder! Want a mystery novel, or series, to read? Our expert readers have many, many suggestions for you. Host Jason Snell with Jean MacDonald, Antony Johnston, David J. Loehr, Scott McNulty, Sandra Wong and Annette Wierstra.

Grab your cyberspace deck and prepare to jack in—it’s time to discuss William Gibson’s groundbreaking classic novel, “Neuromancer.” We’ve got a panel of experts—and a first-timer!—ready to discuss how 1984’s future looks from the perspective of 2025’s present. Host Jason Snell with Antony Johnston, Lisa Schmeiser, Glenn Fleishman and Erika Ensign.

Our Awards Book Club closes up shop for 2025 with a final set of rankings, the presentation of an award we made up, and an overview of all the Hugo-nominated short fiction. Host Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Scott McNulty, Aleen Simms and Heather Berberet.

2025 Awards Book Club nears the end with award nominees “Asunder,” “The Ministry of Time,” and “The Tainted Cup.” Plus: What else are we reading? Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms and Heather Berberet.

Our Awards Book Club continues its run through the roses with a tougher than expected review of Vajra Chandrasekera’s “Rakesfall,” Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Alien Clay,” and Kelly Link’s “The Book of Love.” Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Aleen Simms and Erika Ensign.

Our walk through the 10 different novels nominated for the Hugo and Nebula awards in 2025 begins! In this episode we discuss “Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory” by Yaroslav Barsukov, “A Sorceress Comes to Call” by T. Kingfisher, and “Someone You Can Build a Nest In” by John Wiswell. Host Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms, Scott McNulty and Heather Berberet.

Book Club travels to the far future for the sci-fi/fantasy mash-up “Moonbound” by Robin Sloan. Here be dragons! Not to mention wyrd multidimensional witches at the bottom of a pool, Arthurian proto-heroes, friendly sentient robot hive minds, and plucky talking beavers! Host Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, Erika Ensign, Scott McNulty, Joe Rosensteel and Heather Berberet.

It’s the end of the world and a robot apocalypse has happened, so what are the robots up to now? One robot butler takes an unusual journey through the darkly absurd world of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Service Model.” All bytes will be sorted and preserved, Uncharles. Host Jason Snell with Joe Rosensteel, Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms, Scott McNulty and Katie Mack.

The writers of “The Expanse” are back with a new series, and “The Mercy of Gods” is an alien invasion story that goes to some extremely dark places. But sometimes, dark is good… right? Right?! Plus: What are we reading? Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Heather Berberet and Aleen Simms.

Our Book Club wraps up its 2024 walk through nine shortlisted SF/F novels with our overall rankings, some short fiction recommendations, and a quick dip into what we’ve read recently and really enjoyed. Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms and Heather Berberet.

Our Book Club convenes for its final set of shortlisted novels, including “The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi,” “The Water Outlaws,” and the Nebula-winning “Saint of Bright Doors.” Plus: What are we reading? Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms and Heather Berberet.

Our 2024 book club shortlist read continues with “Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon”, “The Terraformers,” and “Some Desperate Glory.” We enjoyed them all, to varying degrees! Plus: What else are we reading? Host Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign and Heather Berberet.

We begin our walk through the 2024 nominees for Best Novel from the Hugo and Nebula Awards. First up: “Starter Villain” by John Scalzi, “Translation State” by Ann Leckie, and “Witch King” by Martha Wells. Host Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms, Scott McNulty and Heather Berberet.

Our book club reconvenes to discuss the “Shades of Magic” series by V.E. Schwab, as well as the start of a second trilogy, “The Fragile Threads of Power.” Before the spoilers begin, we’ll explain the parallel fantasy world structure and explain why it’s such a great series. Then we’ll discuss the newest book in the series. Plus: What are we reading? Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Erika Ensig...

Dan Moren’s new novel ‘All Souls Lost’ is a departure from his previously published work, but not as much as you might think. Antony talks to him about the book, how it came to be, and why it was a long time in the making. Host Antony Johnston and Dan Moren.

The Book Club closes the door on this year’s awards shortlist with some lively book ranking and a tour of the nominated short fiction. Host Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, Erika Ensign, Scott McNulty and Heather Berberet.

Our Book Club concludes its reading of the Hugo and Nebula shortlist novels with “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and “The Spare Man” by Mary Robinette Kowal. One’s an homage to H.G. Wells (sort of?) and the other plays like “The Thin Man” in space. Plus: We debate the meaning of star-rating systems, and what else are we reading? Host Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Aleen Sim...

Our book club reads two Hugo nominees, “Nona the Ninth” and “The Kaiju Preservation Society.” One’s the third book in a series that’s a real departure from what has came before, and whether that’s good or bad depends on how you were feeling about the series! The other is a standalone novel that’s perfectly fine, from an author who we think could be a better student if only he applied himself. And...