Fiction Fans

The people have spoken! Your hosts let their patreon subscribers choose the book for this episode, and they chose "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin. Your hosts discuss narrative voice, Fantasy tropes from the mid 20th century, and how an author's reputation may affect the reader's experience. They also talk about coming of age stories, warm mentor figures, and depicti...

Your hosts are joined by S.T. Gibson to talk about her new novel, Evocation. They discuss religious characters from all over the spectrum, occult research, and the allure of secret societies. They also talk about headlight writing, flexible series arcs, and the challenges around writing a polyamorous romance plotline. Find more from S.T. Gibson: https://www.instagram.com/stgibsonauthor/   https://...

Your hosts read Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, and they ask: Is this the best place to start in Discworld? 1 out of 2 Fiction Fans hosts agree. They also talk about reformed conmen, the intricacies of golem gender, and are hesitantly cautious about the romantic interest’s future in the series. Find us on discord   or support us on Patreon Thanks to the following musicians for the use of their so...

Your hosts are joined by Bryan S. Glosemeyer to talk about Beyond the Gates Infernal, volume 2 in his Shattered Gates series, but Sara and Lilly can’t resist asking a few questions about volume 1 anyway. They discuss SciFi slang, cute alien creatures, and the unsettling familiarity of the slavery system our main character grew up in. They also bring up character agency, heartbreaking romances, and...

Your hosts are joined by KRR Lockhaven to talk about The Grimoire, the Gods, and the Girl, the final novel in his Azure Archipelago series. They discuss ending a series vs starting one, re-emerging villains, and love quadrangles. They also bring up Mrs Covington's, a standalone but related novel that adds an extra layer of coziness to the series as a whole. Find more from K.R.R. Lockhaven: ht...

Your hosts read A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett. They talk about young witches, metaphors for puberty, and theoretical nostalgia. They also discuss how this Tiffany Aching YA novel fits in to the larger Discworld series. Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fictionfanspod Thanks to the following musicians for the use of their song...

Your hosts are joined by author Krystle Matar and Taylor from Maed Between the Pages for a follow up conversation about genre and everyone's weird emotions about them. They wonder how much kissing makes Fantasty Romantasy, the difference between 'feel good' and 'cozy,' and what drives us to define the things we love.  You can find the rest of this episode on our Patreon Fi...

Your hosts are joined by Chris Panatier to cover his latest novel, "The Redemption of Morgan Bright." They talk about maintaining mystery in a past tense 1st person POV, suspect character motives, and incredible marketing websites. They also discuss the allure of asylum stories, weaponized "healthcare," and how distressingly close to reality this horror scenario is. https://wel...

For national poetry month, your hosts discuss the Selected Works of Audre Lorde, edited by Roxane Gay. They talk about the autobiographical nature of poetry, how the collection was organized, and Lorde's occasionally depressing ability to predict the future. This episode also features a Pet Peeve segment. Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or support us on Patreon: https://www....

Your hosts are joined by Andrew Cartmel to talk about "Noise Floor," the most recent addition to his Vinyl Detective series. They discuss keeping an ongoing series fresh, managing overlapping storylines, and poly relationship dynamics. They also go over the inherent (or not so much) personality traits of musical genres, and the mystery surrounding Princess Seitan. Find more from Andrew:...

This week your hosts discuss Sidle Creek, a very good but also extremely sad collection of short stories taking place in Appalachia. They talk about content warnings (many), privilege (theirs) and heartbreak (lots). They also debate genre for a bit, and argue about whether a sense of horror makes a story Horror. Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or support us on Patreon: https://ww...

Your hosts continue their journey to center of the Discworld with Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett. They discuss performative gender, unexpected allies, and supportive camraderie. They also talk about a character's near miss with fatphobia, underexplored backstories, and overexplored hair. This episode contains a hat-centric words are weird. Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWV...

Your hosts had the opportunity to chat with Nevena Andrić, who works as a translator at one of the biggest Serbian publishing houses. They discuss the joys of translating beloved works like Night Watch from Discworld and The Song of Achilles. They also talk about the different challenges of translating fantasy vs scifi vs nonfiction, works with nonbinary characters and how languages incorporate ge...

Your hosts are joined by Premee Mohamed to talk about her novella The Butcher of the Forest and her novel The Siege of Burning Grass. They discuss moral ambiguity, relatable antagonists, and the horrors of war. They also bring up how much they want to give Alefret a hug, even if it wouldn't actually solve any of his problems. Find more from Premee: https://www.premeemohamed.com/   https://bsk...

Your hosts enter the Fungalverse as they speak with Adrian M. Gibson about his upcoming novel "Mushroom Blues." This episode gives a sneak peek of the fungalpunk detective novel that features an older female main character, noir inspiration, and cultural fusions. They discuss Adrian's writing process, literary influences, and most of all, mushrooms. Find more from Adrian https://adr...

Your hosts are joined by Gabriela Houston to talk about her novel The Bone Roots. They discuss beauty bias in fantasy, older female protagonists, and portrayals of healthy relationships. They also talk about Polish mythology, and the lengths people will go to to protect the people they love. More from Gabriela: https://www.gabrielahouston.com/   https://www.youtube.com/@TheGabrielaHoustonProject/f...

This was originally streamed live during TBRCon 2024 Your hosts were joined by author Krystle Matar to talk about genre conventions, definitions, and rule breaking. They discuss genre terms used for marketing vs reviews. Lilly introduces a REVOLUTIONARY 3 Pillar Theory for categorizing works and genres. They play a quick round of Shoot, Screw, or Marry that totally makes sense trust me. Find more...

Your hosts discuss The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. They compare it and its main character to The Amazing Maurice, the first YA Discworld novel. Tiffany Aching proves to be the podcast fav. They debate what qualities a book must have to be considered "Discworld" (and in doing so they might accidentally turn "Discworld" into a genre). Witches are evaluated, the Wee Free Men...

Your hosts speak with author Deborah Wilde about her newest urban fantasy novel, Big Demon Energy. The conversation ranged from Jewish culture to vampire mythology to three dimensional hunky love interests (with some detours into knitting, fantastical places on our earth, and complex mother figures) Find more from Deborah here https://deborahwilde.com/ https://www.instagram.com/wildeauthor/ https:...

Your hosts are joined by P.L. Stuart to talk about A Drowned Kingdom, the first book in his epic fantasy The Drowned Kingdom series. They talk about the pace of worldbuilding, unlikeable main characters, and unreliable points of view. Find more from P.L. Stuart https://twitter.com/plstuartwrites https://www.plstuart.com/ Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or support us on Patreon: h...

Dr Kat Day joins your hosts to talk about Night Watch by Terry Pratchett. They discuss where the novel fits into The City Watch subseries and Discworld as a whole. They somehow manage to agree to disagree about Carrot. There’s conversation about anti heroes, lampshades, and sexy lamps (some more metaphorical than others). This episode features a semi-British Words are Weird. Find more from Kat: ht...

This week your hosts discuss Poor Things by Alasdair Gray. Lilly only compares it to the movie a few times. They talk about the book's "found manuscript" framing device, satirizing gothic novels, and sex positivity in fictional victorian Glasgow. They also use the word "Frankenstein" as an adjective to what is hopefully a hilarious degree. Instead of an actual Words are We...

Your hosts discuss Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock by Maud Woolf. They talk about tragedy, self sabotage, and the worth of a person's life. The book doesn't actually feel that sad though, they swear. Lilly also has beef with the word quash in a mini Words are Weird segment. Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fictionfan...

Your hosts absolutely loved the film noir, lesbian novella Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk, which you can tell by how distracted they get and how much they argue over vaguely related topics. They throw out a few comparisons, some more justified than others. Your hosts also discuss how expectations can change how readers feel about an ending (and then argue over their personal emotions surr...

Your hosts talk about the year including some changes to the podcast, reading metrics, and good old fashioned nostalgia. They give out some superlatives, like "best trash villain" and "best debut novel," both of which were, unfortunately, rigged. Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fictionfanspod Thanks to the foll...