The Coode Street Podcast

This week we are delighted to be joined by Lavie Tidhar, whose Jerwood Fiction Underwood Prize Award winning novel A Man Lies Dreaming  has just appeared in the U.S., and whose fix-up science fiction novel Central Station  is set to appear in May, with the reissue of the  Bookman  novels and nonfiction book Art and War  scheduled as well this year. We discussed his sometimes controversial approach...

Welcome to the third episode of The Coode Street Roundtable. The Roundtable is a monthly podcast from Coode Street Productions where panelists  James Bradley ,  Ian Mond , and  Jonathan Straha n, joined by occasional special guests, discuss a new or recently released science fiction or fantasy novel. Patricia A. McKillip’s Kingfisher This month Tiptree Award winning writer  Nike Sulway  and Coode...

On our 270th episode, we immediately distracted ourselves from our planned topic of catching up on news, awards nominations, etc., and instead rambled on about various matters of literary influence, of writing sequels or revisionist fictions based on the works of writers ranging from Arthur C. Clarke to H.P. Lovecraft, and other topics neither of us clearly remember.  We did get around to discussi...

Welcome to the second episode of The Coode Street Roundtable. The Roundtable is a monthly podcast from Coode Street Productions where panelists  James Bradley ,  Ian Mond , and  Jonathan Strahan , joined by occasional special guests, discuss a new or recently released science fiction or fantasy novel.  Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky This month Coode Street co-host Gary Wolfe joins u...

Last year, at the World Fantasy Convention held in Saratoga Springs, a panel was presented on 'Creating the Fantasy Canon'.  The panel description was: There are some books we all agree on as fundamental to the genre, but can we agree on a canon of twenty stories? Our panelists will discuss which twenty books are essential reading for understanding the genre and how this list has changed over time...

This week we are joined by World Fantasy Award Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and long-time friend of the podcast Peter Straub, to discuss his brand new short story collection  Interior Darkness , writing, genre, music, and much, much more. As always, we would like to thank Peter for making the time to join us on the podcast and hope you enjoy the episode.

This week we are joined by multiple award-winning editor and publisher Neil Clarke of  Clarkesworld  magazine, discussing his provocative  October 2015 editorial  concerning the state of short fiction venues in SF, the question of whether so many venues dilutes the quality of fiction in the field or simply broadens its base, and how conditions today compare with the SF world of the 1980s as descri...

Tonight we discuss, as we do all too often, the beginning of the awards season, as well as the sometimes problematical Hugo category of Best Related Work, the question of authors who are so prolific that new readers may feel intimidated, and some of the parameters of who and who should not be covered in the  Modern Masters of Science Fiction  series of books, of which Gary has recently assumed edi...

Welcome to the first episode of The Coode Street Roundtable. The Roundtable is a new monthly podcast from Coode Street Productions where panelists  James Bradley ,  Ian Mond , and  Jonathan Strahan , joined by occasional special guests, discuss a new or recently released science fiction or fantasy novel. Adam Roberts' The Thing Itself This month James, Ian, and Jonathan discuss  The Thing Itself ,...

For our first podcast recorded in 2016, beginning our sixth year, we discuss the remarkable career of  David G. Hartwell , the role of editors in shaping science fiction, the forthcoming Hugo Awards nominations and MidAmericon , the  World Fantasy Convention , and the significance of science fiction of the the 1980s—both as it appeared then and as it appears to us now. We spoke to  David Hartwell...

Continuing the series of podcasts we recorded in Saratoga Springs at the World Fantasy Convention, we sat down with distinguished fantasy writers Glen Cook and Steven Erikson, discussing the genesis of Cook's influential Black Company and Dread Empire series and other novels, and Erikson's hugely popular Malazan Book of the Fallen. In addition to their approaches to character and world-building, t...

Two of the powerhouse writers of their generation, bestselling fantasy novelist Scott Lynch and award-winning science fiction and fantasy author Elizabeth Bear, sat down with us in a noisy hotel room in Saratoga Springs, New York to discuss their mutual love affair with the genre, their shared awareness of the history of the field and how it influences their work, and much more. We would, of cours...

One of the highlights of the 2015 World Fantasy Convention in November was when Gary and Jonathan got to sit down with Guest of Honor Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and io9 editor-in-chief Charlie Jane Anders to discuss their respective careers, their experiences working in science fiction and fantasy as women, and much more. This episode was recorded live on 6 November 2015 in from an enthusiastic audience...

Welcome to the first of Coode Street’s seasonal hiatus episodes. This November Gary and Jonathan were in Saratoga Springs for the World Fantasy Convention. Over the weekend they recorded several conversations that will come out over the coming weeks. In this first podcast, they sit down with living legend Gene Wolfe to discuss his latest novel, A Borrowed Man. The publisher describes the book like...

Welcome to the final episode of the Coode Street Podcast to be recorded for 2015. This week  Gary and Jonathan are joined by award-winning writers and critics Charlie Jane Anders and Nisi Shawl in the Gershwin Room to discuss more of the best science fiction and fantasy books of the year. As with last week, you'll need to listen to the episode to hear what’s recommended, but there are a good handf...

The year is fast running out, but with the holiday season approaching Gary and Jonathan invited award-winning writers and critics Paul Kincaid and Adam Roberts to join them in the Gershwin Room to discuss a small sampling of the best science fiction and fantasy books of the year. They also discussed some of the most interesting and important trends in science fiction during 2015. What books are re...

With the year coming all too quickly to a close, this week we are joined by distinguished veteran editor Jim Minz, who discusses his career from his University of Wisconsin days to working for Tor Books in Wisconsin and New York, Ballantine Del Rey, and currently Baen Books in North Carolina. We touch upon the various market segments of different subgenres of SF and fantasy, the various ways in wh...

This year isn't over yet, but we can just see the end of it over the horizon. Back in Chicago and Perth after their visit to Saratoga Springs, Gary and Jonathan sit down to deliver a classic rambling discussion of science fiction, fantasy and other stuff. They discuss the World Fantasy Awards, lifetime achievement and much more.  As always, we hope you enjoy the episode!

And we're back with a new episode!  This week, from the World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga Springs, we are joined by the genuinely iconic Pamela Sargent, author of many novels including The Shore of Women and editor of the legendary Women of Wonder anthology series, and Suzy McKee Charnas, author of the classic feminist SF series The Holdfast Chronicles and the equally classic The Vampire Tapest...

This week, in our continuing series of discussions about the experiences of women writers in the science fiction field, we are fortunate to be joined by Eleanor Arnason and Linda Nagata.   Linda, whose Going Dark appears next week from Saga Press is the third volume in her trilogy that began with the Nebula-nominated The Red, began publishing novels twenty years ago with the nanotech series that s...

This week Gary and Jonathan are back in the Gershwin Room, killing time and talking about Jonathan's new anthology Meeting Infinity , which we discuss in some detail. It leads on to a conversation about our perceptions of 'the alien' and 'the other' in science fiction (and how that has changed over time), and quite a lot more in what is a classic Coode Street ramble. As always, we hope you enjoy t...

This week Gary returns from the wilds of Virginia or Washington DC or somewhere or other on the US Eastern seaboard. We discuss his experience writing and performing a series of lectures on science fiction; the strengths and weaknesses of Ridley Scott’s The Martian; compiling Gary’s Library of America volumes, and whether or not we kid ourselves on whether a work really is canonical.  All of that...

This week we welcome distinguished historical novelist Cecelia Holland back to the podcast to discuss her new fantasy novel Dragon Heart , her classic SF novel Floating Worlds, the relationships between SF, fantasy, and historical fiction, and historical and political themes in the work of writers like Kim Stanley Robinson and George R.R. Martin. As always, our thanks to Cecelia for making time to...

This week we are joined by multiple award winning writer and editor  Kristine Kathryn Rusch  who discusses her long and diverse career in science fiction, as a writer,  as editor at Pulphouse then at F&SF, and her more recent experiences as a writer working in both mainstream and independent publishing. We also discuss her 'Retrieval Artist' saga, including the eight novel 'Anniversary Day' series...

The glory days of 2003 when I was going to review every short story that I read and publish it at The Coode Street Review of Science Fiction. Sanity prevailed, but reviews did appear.  During 2003 I reviewed Howard Waldrop's "A Better World's in Birth", Ellen Klages' "Basement Magic", and Lucius Shepard's "Liar's House". During the podcast I recommend the following books: Portable Childhoods , Ell...