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- 🇳🇿NZ · Books#183500 to 3K
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250 to 1.5K🎙 Weekly cadence·39 episodes·Last published 2w ago - Monthly Reach
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500 to 3K🇳🇿100% - Active Followers
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150 to 900
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Recent episodes
Ep 53: Lord of the Rings, but with mice with C. L. McCartney
May 17, 2026
1h 21m 53s
Ep 52: Team Binabik with Stewart Hotston
May 3, 2026
1h 11m 06s
Ep 51: A snake out of water with Emily Tesh
Apr 11, 2026
1h 01m 50s
Ep 50: Demon horses and ghost dogs with Anna Smith Spark
Feb 22, 2026
1h 18m 03s
Ep. 49: When magic isn't a metaphor with Robert Berg
Sep 11, 2025
1h 03m 53s
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| Date | Episode | Description | Length | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/17/26 | ![]() Ep 53: Lord of the Rings, but with mice with C. L. McCartney | 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 Anthony Horowitz; Young James Bond by Charlie Higson I made a recipe from the Redwall cookbook A journal article by Christopher Quah Wai Kheong and Anita Harris Satkunananthan on othering in Outcast of Redwall Professor Dimitra Fimi ‘Was Tolkien really racist?’ Cluny the Scourge. The first two episodes of the Redwall cartoon series feature Cluny. Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley Marvel: Damage Control was a limited series of comics, a TV show was in development but never made. The Superhero Clean Up Squad was a comedy series from 2015. The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness is the story of the other students of the high school infested by zombies and vampires, not the chosen ones; the ones who just want to graduate before school blows up again. Check out Bona Books Follow Chris on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/chrismccartney.bsky.social | 1h 21m 53s | ||||||
| 5/3/26 | ![]() Ep 52: Team Binabik with Stewart Hotston | 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. Aliette de Bodard’s essay On Motherhood and Erasure. Anna Smith Spark’s A Sword of Bronze and Ashes is one of the few fantasy books where a mother is the protagonist. Catherynne M. Valente’s excellent The Refrigerator Monologues addresses the phenomenon of fridging women characters as a plot device and motivation for male superheroes. Stewart recommends Richard Swan, David Wragg and Neal Stephenson’s Baroque cycle for interesting takes on mythology and folklore. Wuxia such as Monkey adapted from Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en. Zen Cho’s novelette The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water. Historical C-dramas are very big on yearning glances. Stewart is currently watching Veil of Shadows. Stewart recently read The Library of Broken Worlds by Alaya Dawn Johnson. The most challenged books. The CLPE’s Reflecting Realities report demonstrates that the number of children’s books with protagonists of colour published in 2025 was lower than in previous years. Stewart wrote a blog about representation and the Clarke Awards. EasterCon is the British SFF fan-run con that travels around the UK. Next year it is in Glasgow! Find Stewart online! Website, Bluesky, Nerds of a Feather. Read Project Hanuman. | 1h 11m 06s | ||||||
| 4/11/26 | ![]() Ep 51: A snake out of water with Emily Tesh | 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 Darcie Little Badger's website 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 censoring reading are rising in the UK. If you want to read to support authors, please bear in mind that LGBTQ+ authors and authors of colour are more likely to be under threat of having their books removed from libraries and schools. See the list of books removed from Lowry Academy in Manchester where a librarian has lost her job and is unlikely to work with young people again. For more information on the effects of book banning on authors, listen to this episode of Our Opinions Are Correct with Maggie Tokuda-Hall. Food in SFF- Dr Fiona Moore cooks recipes from SFF cook books so we don’t have to. She found this recipe for cherry tarts inspired by Alanna: The First Adventure. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones has been nominated for several awards. Stephen Graham Jones is also a Native American (Blackfeet) author who writes mostly in horror. I also really enjoyed Monoquill Blackgoose’s To Shape a Dragon’s Breath. Darren Chetty’s ‘You can’t say that! Stories are supposed to be about white people!’ from Nikesh Shukla (Ed) The Good Immigrant. This book was published by Unbound, which has collapsed. The amazing Petronella Breinburg, who was born in Suriname, not the Caribbean. You didn't hear it from me, but Emily's website is https://emilytesh.net/ and you can follow her on Bluesky @emilytesh.net. You should definitely listen to Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones, though. Thank you as always for listening, sharing and engaging! | 1h 01m 50s | ||||||
| 2/22/26 | ![]() Ep 50: Demon horses and ghost dogs with Anna Smith Spark | 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 Garner- front cover. Boneland, which I intend to read. The Ceffyl Dwr, the wild hunt, Afanc. Rhianna Pratchett’s podcast on British mythology, Mythical Creatures, discusses water demons in episode 3. Herne the Hunter. Herne features in The Box of Delights by John Masefield, Silver in the Tree by Susan Cooper and (foreshadowing!) Tad Williams’s Memory, Shadow and Thorn series. Angharad Golden-Hand. Rhiannon. Epona, the Celtic horse goddess, who has nothing to do with Sulis/ Aquae Sulis/ Bath. Hobby Horse- a May Day tradition, originally associated with Morris dancers. The Mari Lwyd is a Christmas tradition, first referenced in the early 19th Century. Gelert the wolfhound; of course Gelert's grave isn't real. Nina Beachcroft, an excellent children’s author of spooky stories. Anna discusses Cold Christmas, which is the name of a hamlet in Hertfordshire, Nina Beachcroft’s home county- and mine, though I grew up near Watford rather than Hertford. The Stephen Collins cartoon on Netflix exposition Nancy Drew, The Chalet School- there are 58 books in the original series, but it was incredibly difficult to read them in order in the 1970s and 1980s! I encountered the wonderful Scrivener’s Books when in Buxton for Novacon. It’s a wonderful place, and that perfect shop for stumbling over that elusive third book in an out of print series! I remembered Pat O’Shea’s The Hounds of the Morrigan and Aliette de Bodard on Motherhood and Erasure in speculative fiction- Aliette talks about this blog on the Breaking the Glass Slipper podcast. Seanan McGuire’s wonderful The Wayward Children series | 1h 18m 03s | ||||||
| 9/11/25 | ![]() Ep. 49: When magic isn't a metaphor with Robert Berg | 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 favourite Oz retelling is Wicked by Gregory Maguire Mine is Was by Geoff Ryman Pride is a wonderful film about solidarity and intersectional identity Boom! Studios comics For other episodes on "race/ ethnicity" in fantasy, check out this episode with Russell Smith; for queerness in fantasy, this one with Juliet Kemp. Follow Rob on Bluesky and Instagram Bona Books' Instagram Follow me on Instagram for gorgeous images from Wynd and more! | 1h 03m 53s | ||||||
| 8/22/25 | ![]() Ep 48: The anti-authoritarian politics of naughtiness with Sandra Bond | 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 is not a dog groomer from the US Thanks as always to Steve Vapour Trails for production support. Why not go and give his radio show a listen? | 1h 05m 15s | ||||||
| 7/27/25 | ![]() Ep 47: Worldbuilding Britain in historical fiction | 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. Lewis Caroline’s Rosemary Sutcliff books Elen Caldecott’s website and Leaf, the journal of writing for young people Caroline’s fan writing Reflections in the Shards edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer Thanks as always to Steve Vapour Trails for production support. Why not go and give his radio show a listen? | 1h 45m 03s | ||||||
| 7/1/25 | ![]() Episode 46: In Space, nobody provides childcare | 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 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles trailer. This is what the first couple of chapters of Phoenix is like. It doesn’t end up like this. Jim’s website, Worrad Enterprises Thanks as always to Steve Vapour Trails, Jack Sadler-Johnson and Danny! | 1h 15m 45s | ||||||
| 6/16/25 | ![]() Episode 45: Rainy season at the Hotel Romero | 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 by Quentin Blake George Romero’s The Night of the Living Dead- trailer First Thursday fandom drinks in London | 47m 56s | ||||||
| 5/19/25 | ![]() Ep 44: Horses and curses and home, but not at home | 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 Katie Morag TV series Glasgow Worldcon 2024 Presents on Youtube LACon V: Worldcon 2026 Follow Meg on BlueSky | 1h 31m 59s | ||||||
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| 5/3/25 | ![]() Ep 43: Uncontextual pineapple with Catriona Silvey | 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- Reepicheep League with Ang Rosin about Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents here. We also mention The Demon Headmaster by Gillian Cross; Russell Smith selected it as his Fantasy Book Swap choice. Jennifer Killick was a guest on the fantastic podcast about children’s books, The Island of Brilliant. I am not a shill for The Phoenix Comic, I promise. Catch up with Catriona via her website, https://catrionasilvey.com/index.html Join us at EasterCon next year in Birmingham! | 59m 53s | ||||||
| 10/26/24 | ![]() Ep 41: Narnia Business with Katie Bruce | 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 Gaiman’s work by buying it new or second hand.) Katie couldn’t continue with Robin Hobb’s Soldiers Sons trilogy because the food descriptions brought on morning sickness Fiona Moore’s blog, where she cooks from SFF cook books so we don’t have to! Lovely Gili Bar-Hillel introduced me to this brilliant piece of fan fic where Anthony Bourdain reviews Narnian hospitality. Read it, it’s perfect! https://archiveofourown.org/works/137185 The BBC 1988 adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Leeds Playhouse’s adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe runs from 18th November 2024- 25th January 2025 Trailer for Greta Gerwig’s adaptation Tilda Swinton’s White Witch tempts Edmund I delivered a paper on orientalism in the Chronicles of Narnia at a Historical Fictions Network conference. You can read it here David A. Robertson’s website Scottish bannock recipe. Canadian First Nations Bannocks were adapted from Scottish recipes. I have not found a bison chili recipe; I assume that you first catch your bison. The Little Bookshop, Leeds City Books, Brighton Find Katie online AuthorAssist.co.uk @Katiebruce.bsky.social on BlueSky @Katiebrucecake on Instagram I was a guest on Steve Vapour Trail’s radio show many moons ago with a selection of fantasy and science fiction-themed music. Enjoy the playlist here. Thank you to Danny for the idents, and to Jack Sadler-Johnson for the use of his beautiful track Bliss. | 59m 20s | ||||||
| 10/15/24 | ![]() Ep 40 Mansfield Park in Space with Una McCormack | 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 mentions Tom’s Midnight Garden. You can listen to Episode 25 with Tony Keen, where we discuss the book here. Books mentioned in this episode: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Mansfield Park by Jane Austen The Spire by William Golding Red Shift by Alan Garner The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal Meg and Mog by Helen Nicoll, illus Jan Pienkowski Thornhill by Pam Smy Isadora Moon by Helen Muncaster Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke Earthsea and Annals of the Western Shore by Ursula Le Guin Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander Authors mentioned in this episode: Catherine Cookson, who is still in print Helen Forrester Una’s most recent book: Doctor Who: Caged Follow Una on Bluesky @unamccormack.bsky.social 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 beautiful track Bliss. | 1h 03m 33s | ||||||
| 7/28/24 | ![]() Ep 39: Writeopolis v Fantasy Book Swap- not a dance off | 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. My copy of The Devil in the Road. Note the cat’s eye, and the gibbet with the executed witch’s body. Children of the Stones on YouTube, and the trailer for the adaptation of Red Shift Robert Westall’s official website Frances Hardinge’s official website Frances Hardinge conference, Saturday 11th July 2026, Aston University, Birmingham. As Kit mentions, he was on Fantasy Book Swap before! We discussed The Tripods by John Christopher and Wildspark by Vashti Hardy. A Wikipedia summary of Hans Christian Andersen’s story The Wild Swans A list of Joan Aiken’s Wolves books Leon Garfield Find out more about Scott here, Kit here and join the Writeopolis patreon here. 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 beautiful track Bliss. Until next time, bye! | 2h 03m 59s | ||||||
| 7/9/24 | ![]() Ep 38: Is that Conan in space? With Tade Thompson | 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 dreadful covers like this and this, the Conan in Space one. Ali’s pick: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. 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 beautiful track Bliss. Until next time, bye! | 45m 46s | ||||||
| 9/27/23 | ![]() Ep 37: Totally Elemental with Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Chair of Glasgow 2024 WorldCon | 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 Save Mankind, the spinning room in Poltergeist, You’re Wrong About… podcast on the Amityville horror and the CBC podcast on the satanic panic. The history of Castle Stalker with photos Greyfriars Bobby monument and the story Candlemakers Row. I think the red shop is the bookshop. Glasgow Necropolis Mary King’s Close, Edinburgh which features in Lari Don’s book First Aid for Fairies. It’s an injured centaur that Helen looks after first. Andy The Highlander Romance book recommendations Olivia Dade Talia Hibbert Helen Hoang Thanks so much to Esther! Find out more about Glasgow 2024 Worldcon here. Thanks for listening! Thanks to Steve for the production assistance. Steve’s band, The Late Returns, are playing a gig supporting Bone Records at The Brunswick, Hove on Friday! Unfortunately, it’s sold out. Thanks to Danny for the idents and to Jack Sadler-Johnson for the use of his beautiful track Bliss. Follow me on Instagram and Bluesky @alisonbaker01. | 1h 06m 16s | ||||||
| 8/15/23 | ![]() Ep 36: Ghosts, machines and aliens with Kit Power | 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 beautiful track Bliss. I have signed up for Ko-Fi. For the month of September I have pledged to walk for 30 minutes a day in aid of the Trussell Trust, who both provide food banks and campaign for the end of food poverty. If you’d like to support me, please donate at https://ko-fi.com/alibb. I will post a screenshot daily from my Active 10 app onto my Instagram, and on 30th September will share how much I am donating! | 1h 29m 58s | ||||||
| 7/28/23 | ![]() Ep 35: A Confusion of Susans with Juliet Kemp | 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 back in episode 2! Find links to Juliet’s social media and information about their books from their website. Check out their short fiction via the link, and also their non-fiction writing: I love this essay on capitalism in worldbuilding. I talk about the amazing South Riding by Winifred Holtby. Read it; it’s an amazing piece of writing with an strong sense of place. Please do like, review and recommend! It does satisfy my vanity- but it’s also great to know that people enjoy what I do. And it helps to bring in new listeners. Thanks as always to Steve Vapour-Trails for production assistance and to Jack Sadler-Johnson for the use of his track Bliss. Why not check out Steve’s radio show, Vapour Trails on Radio Lewes? | 1h 01m 44s | ||||||
| 7/14/23 | ![]() 34: Dragons and radical empathy with Trip Galey | 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 magical librarian Hyacinth Priest from the US edition of Jeremy Thatcher. Illustrator: Gary A. Lippincott. How To Train Your Dragon, the book within the book. For more information about research into boys and reading, I recommend Boys Don’t Try? by Matt Pinkett and Mark Roberts. It’s available as an e-book as well as a paperback. I recommend the audiobook of How To Train Your Dragon, read by David Tennent. Try using your local library app to borrow it! Trip’s social media links here and Bona Books here As always, thanks to Steve Vapour-Trails for production assistance. Check out his latest show on Radio Lewes! | 1h 03m 30s | ||||||
| 5/23/23 | ![]() Ep 33: A refreshing lack of Wizard Dads with SJ Groenewegen | 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 Disinformation War, out on 13 June. SJ will be at Super Relaxed Fantasy Club on 13 June at Star of Kings, London, for readings and Q&A. https://www.facebook.com/groups/srfclondon/about 1990 was the dystopian TV series SJ couldn’t remember the title of, not 1991. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075469/ Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985 Edited by Andrew Nette and lain McIntyre © 2021 PM Press ISBN: 9781629638836 Mentions Andra on a few pages, including the TV series. It quotes Kari Sperring about Louise Lawrence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Wu_(TV_series) the TV show on SBS in the late 1980s in Australia. The Untamed was my first Chinese drama show, and Ali kept thinking of it when reading Iron Widow. | 57m 01s | ||||||
| 4/11/23 | ![]() Ep 32 Imaginary horse husbands with Kari Sperring | 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 sequels by Jane Badger, righting the wrongs of Jill being exiled from the world of ponies The Follyfoot books by Monica Dickens. Please enjoy the brilliant TV show theme tune! K.M. Peyton’s Flambards, which was also televised Walter Farley’s Black Stallion books Mary O’Hara’s My Friend Flicka Rumer Godden’s Miss Happiness and Miss Flower Helen Clare’s Five Dolls series Enid Blyton’s Amelia Jane Kari on Facebook and website. Buy her new book! | 57m 01s | ||||||
| 11/5/22 | ![]() Ep 31 Getting rid of parents and grumpy magical helpers with Kate Towner | 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 Arden was dramatized for BBC radio in 1989. You can buy an audiobook collection of Nesbit adaptations here. Follow Kate on Twitter at @katepreach and @fantasybookclu3, and on Instagram, where she posts pictures of her artwork and cats @kate.towner. Thanks as always to Steve Vapour Trails and Jack Sadler-Johnson. | 1h 04m 37s | ||||||
| 10/11/22 | ![]() Ep 30: Hot Gladiators and Plague Gods | A bumper episode of 1 hr 20! Matt and Nina from Even the Trunchbull come to mine, after I guested on their podcast discussing Joan Aiken's Nightbirds on Nantucket and the lovely picture book Peggoty Po. Matt and Nina’s book: Slaves of the Mastery by William Nicholson Ali’s book: City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda Book covers- compare Slaves of the Mastery with The Hunger Games The cover that would have put Matt off, which reminded me of Stephen Pearson’s classic posters Follow Even the Trunchbull podcast on Twitter @Trunchbullpod, on Instagram @eventhetrunchbull and follow at your favourite podcast emporium, and look out for Nina's new podcast with Dave Pickering, The Podgoblin's Hat! Thanks as always to Steve Vapour Trails for production assistance and to Jack Sadler-Johnson for the use of his beautiful track Bliss. | 1h 22m 56s | ||||||
| 9/25/22 | ![]() Moomintroll and a china rabbit with Laura Mauro at FantasyCon 2022 | This episode was recorded live at FantasyCon 2022 so the sound is a little echoey Laura is a games writer, Manga translator and the award-winning author of Sing Your Sadness Deep (2019) among other wonderful things. You can follow her on Twitter here, and find out more at LauraMauro.com Laura’s choice: Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson Ali’s choice: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo We mention Tove Jansson’s biography by Boel Westin I really love Kate DiCamillo’s work, and John Coxon read Flora & Ulysses for the podcast back in November 2021. You can listen again here. The trailer of The Tale of Despereaux adapted from Kate DiCamillo here Laura remembers the Japanese cartoons of the Moomins. I love the German stop motion animations. I mention the Moomins on the Riviera film Thanks as always to Steve Vapour Trails for production assistance and to Jack Sadler-Johnson for the use of his beautiful track Bliss. Thank you to the committee for giving me a programme slot, and to the audience for coming along and asking questions! See you at FantasyCon 2023! | 45m 19s | ||||||
| 9/1/22 | ![]() Ep 28: Two horse girls’ training montages with Caroline Mersey | Two quick warnings: This episode contains mentions of sexual assault and abduction. Please proceed with care. It was recorded over the bank holiday in Brighton. Caroline and I attempted to find a quiet corner of a pub to record in during a day out, and despite fiddling with editing there is background noise. Caroline’s choice: The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. Sadly, it seems to be out of print in the UK, and it doesn’t appear to be available as an audio book or in ebook format, which is a real shame. Ali’s choice: A Wind in Cairo by Judith Tarr. You can find the link to the Kindle edition, the audio book and paperback via Amazon here or a Kobo ebook here. Caroline mentions Katherine Kerr, author of the Deverry series and more. Judith Tarr on Tor.com. Her column on what C.S. Lewis gets wrong about horses here. Enjoy this video of Lipizzaner horses, the breed that Judith Tarr keeps. You can see some of the tricks that Khamsin performs in A Wind in Cairo. Caroline’s Twitter. Her bio includes links to her blog and Super Relaxed Fantasy Club- enjoy the videos recorded during lockdown here! | 1h 02m 09s | ||||||
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