Fantasy Book Swap

Elen’s choice: A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley Ali’s choice: The Haunting of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes Elen’s recently-published text book: Writing for Young People: Critical Readings and Discussion on Craft Alis on Uttley’s diaries were published in 2009 The history of the Babington plot Books mentioned in this episode: Charlotte Sometimes, Tom’s Midnight Garden, The Borrowers , Tyger . T...

Hello friends! Fantasy Book Swap has been nominated for a British Fantasy Society Award for Best Audio- Non-Fiction. The others in the shortlist are: Breaking the Glass Slipper , a previous winner and Hugos nominee The Folklore Podcast, hosted by folklorist and author Mark Norman Uncanny, a BBC podcast hosted by comedy writer and performer Danny Robins, investigating supernatural happenings.  It i...

Chris’s choice: Mossflower by Brian Jacques Ali’s choice: The Spick and the Span by Pil Van Martin , longlisted for the Carnegie award Mossflower cover art for the 1989 Red Lion edition by Pete Lyon Castaways of the Flying Dutchman by Brian Jacques Robin Hood and Maid Marion Warrior Cats by Erin Hunter . I met Cherith Baldry , one of the Erin Hunter writers, at Glasgow WorldCon. Alex Rider by Anth...

Stewart Hotston is the chair of the BSFA . Stewart’s choice: Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams (First in the Dragonbone Chair trilogy. It is 5 1/2 cm deep. You can see the original cover on Tad Williams’s website Ali’s choice: Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa . It is considerably less thick.   The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey . A novel about a child, but not a children’s book. Al...

Emily’s choice: Briar’s Book/ The Healing in the Vine by Tamora Pierce Ali’s choice:   A Snake falls to Earth by Darcy Little Badger EasterCon- the annual British fan-run Science Fiction and Fantasy convention Emily was on a panel celebrating the centenary of Anne McCaffrey Scholastic Book Fairs are still going! Tamora Pierce’s books have been challenged and removed from libraries. Attempts at cen...

Anna’s book choice: The Moon of Gomrath by Alan Garner   Ali’s book choice: Vivi Conway and the Sword of Legend by Lizzie Huxley-Jones . Sadly, I have just found out that Knights Of publishers have gone out of business, so Vivi’s trilogy is out of print. Hopefully you will be able to find them at online second hand book stores.    Find out more about Anna Smith Spark    The Bread Horse by Alan Gar...

Robert's choice: The Marvellous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum Ali's choice: Wynd book 1: The Flight of the Prince by James Tynion IV and Michael Dialnyas Robert is 1/4 of wonderful Bona Books! The Wrath Month kickstarter is still open for stretch goals backing. Return to Oz (1985) trainer here : relive your childhood trauma! I still can't find the Arena documentary, but here is a PBS one Robert's fa...

Ep 48 Shownotes   Sandra’s book: The Wind on the Moon by Eric Linklater Ali’s book: The Wild Robot by Peter Brown . It’s also a film The Politics of Fantasy by Brian Attebury Catherine Crumb on her bicycle Nicolas Bentley’s illustrations Rudyard Kipling’s Just-So Stories Murderbot by Martha Wells . It’s also a TV series The Martian by Andy Weir Tik Tok by John Sladek Peter Brown’s website Sandra i...

Caroline's choice: Dawn Wind by Rosemary Sutcliff Ali's choice (first read in 2022, not 2002!): The Short Knife by Elen Caldecott. Tir na n'Nog book award  Ken Slater and fan ac Some books where a “commoner” becomes a prince: The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain The Prisoner of Zenda and Rupert of Hentzau by Anthony Hope The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett The Horse and his Boy by C. S....

Jim’s book (with Twilight-style cover); with Alison Moyet cover Ali’s book Stars and Sabers publishing Ferengi “Human female” Murderbot trailer Dave McKean’s website SF Said’s website Alfred Bester: The Stars my Destination There are two sequels to War of the Worlds: the straight to DVD adaptation and Stephen Baxter’s The Massacre of Mankind Material Girls podcast episode discussing Romantasy Term...

Kylie Ding’s choice: The Rains of Eridan by H.M. Hoover Ali’s choice: The Zombie Project by Alice Nuttall M. Hoover on the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Alice Nuttall’s Linktree The Hugo and Lodestar finalists Other books for children with adult protagonists (off the top of my head!): Professor Branestawm by Norman Hunter Mrs Pepperpot by Alf Prøysen Mr Benn by David McKee Mrs Armitage on Wheels...

Meg’s choice: The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge Ali’s copy of the book Ali’s choice: The Beginners Guide to Curses by Lari Don More about Elizabeth Goudge More about Lari Don Heliotrope flowers Lari Don on Rhianna Pratchett’s BBC radio show about British mythical creatures talking about kelpies The legend of Gelert and Greyfriars Bobby Kate Crackernuts Whuppity Stoorie Mairi Hedderwick Ka...

Recorded live at EasterCon in Belfast at 9:30am on Easter Sunday! Please forgive my wheeziness; I was coming down with a chest infection. Catriona’s choice: The Silver Crown by Robert C. O’ Brien Ali’s choice: Dread Wood by Jennifer Killick We discuss Robert C. O’ Brien’s better-known books, Z for Zachariah and Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. You may like to listen to the episode The Anti- Reepic...

Ida’s choice: The Man whose Mother was a Pirate by Margaret Mahy Ali’s choice: The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall . The sequel has just been published: The Siren, the Song and the Spy Ida had a different edition from mine Other books we mention in this episode: Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty The Little Mermaid by Hans Christi...

Katie’s choice: C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Ali’s choice: David A. Robertson’s The Barren Grounds Katie is just back from FantasyCon ! Next year Brighton hosts World FantasyCon 2025 ; come and join us! Neil Gaiman’s short story is called ‘The Problem of Susan’ and is in the collection Fragile Things (it is of course entirely up to you whether or not you wish to support Gaima...

In today's episode I'm joined by Una McCormack, New York Times best-selling author and member of Gold SF editorial board. Una’s choice: Lucy M Boston’s The Children of Green Knowe . This is the Puffin edition Una has . The 70th anniversary edition is available from Hemingford Grey shop. The TV adaptation Ali’s choice: Pádraig Kenny’s The Monsters of Rookhaven Illustrations here and here Una mentio...

Ep 39- Writeopolis v Fantasy Book Swap, but no dance-off In today’s episode, I am joined by Scott K.  Andrews and Kit Power from the Writeopolis podcast. We have a lovely chat, and then Fantasy Book Swap proper starts at 12 minutes in. Scott’s choice: The Devil on the Road by Robert Westall Ali’s choice: Unraveller by Frances Hardinge The Lodestar award finalists - scroll to the bottom of the page...

Firstly, huge apologies for the delay in this episode, which was recorded live at EasterCon, Levitation 2024. Life got in the way. Tade Thompson’s Bluesky: @tadethompson.bsky.social Tade’s award-winning novel Rosewater is the New Scientist’s July book club pick. Tade’s pick: The Masters of Solitude by Marvin Kaye and Parke Godwin. It’s out of print, but widely available second hand with absolutely...

Ali’s choice: The Boggart by Susan Cooper . Ali’s edition with cat tax . Esther’s choice: Like a Charm by Elle McNicoll Elle’s novel A Kind of Spark was adapted by CBBC . Several members of the cast are neurodiverse. Information about dyspraxia here Elle McNicholl’s website Esther and Ali mention a lot of books and other media! Hilary McKay’s Casson family books , Terry Pratchett’s Only You Can Sa...

Kit’s choice: The Tripods by John Christopher Ali’s choice: Wildspark by Vashti Hardy Kit’s Patreon Kit’s page on Amazon   Kit reads his essay on The Tripods on his podcast feed The British Fantasy Society award shortlist Thanks as always to Steve Vapour Trails. Check out his radio show on Radio Lewes here! Thank you to Danny for the fresh new idents, and to Jack Sadler-Johnson for the use of his...

Juliet’s choice: We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea by Arthur Ransome. There is a small display related to the Swallows and Amazons at the Ruskin Museum in Coniston, in the Lake District. It’s not far from Hill Top , Beatrix Potter’s house near Ambleside. Ali’s choice: The Strangeworlds Travel Agency: The Edge of the Ocean by L. D. Lapinski . I talked to Phil Dyson about the first book in the series, way...

Trip’s choice: Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville Ali’s choice: How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell The full list of Magic Shop books here Cressida Cowell’s Wizard of Once books and new book, Which Way to Anywhere have more diverse casts. My now 14-year-old as Hiccup when he was 5. He cosplayed Hiccup at his first Eastercon. The note that Mr Elives gives Jeremy and the magica...

Episode 33- A refreshing lack of Wizard Dads with S.J. Groenewegen   SJ’s choice: Andra by Louise Lawrence, with the ABC TV cover   Ali’s choice: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao   SJ’s website: https://www.sjgroenewegen.co.uk  Pre-order The Disinformation War here     @nyssa1968 – twitter Reachingforthevoid - tumblr https://mitpress.mit.edu/9781913380809/  - links to pre-orders/orders for the Disinfo...

Kari’s choice: The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell This is the edition that Kari has We talk about the illustrations, by Ralph Thompson: Kookaburra and Wombat Ali’s choice: Abyssinia by Ursula Dubosarsky A doll’s dress at Rouse Hill Farm Estate, New South Wales Other books mentioned in the episode Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague The Pullein-Thompson sisters Ruby Ferguson’s Jill books and...

Kate’s choice: The House of Arden by E. Nesbit Ali’s choice: Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi The Mahabharat has been dramatized twice for TV. This is the one I watched in the 1980s. If you want to read the other great Sanskrit epic, the Ramayana, I recommend this graphic novel version told from Sita’s perspective. A new biography of Edith Nesbit was published in 2019. The House of...