The Coode Street Podcast

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. World Fantasy Award winner Tobias S. Buckell talks with Gary about life in a small town during the lockdown, the terrific South Korean TV series The Kingdom, the advantages of audiobooks and graphic novels, new stories coming up in Escape Pod ("The Machine That Would Rewild Humanity"), Slate ("Scar Tissue"), and Motherboard ("Zombie Capitalism"), and the problems of dealing with wild boar. Books mentioned include: The Tangled Lands by Paolo Bacigalupi & Tobias S. Buckell The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien The Aeneid by Vergil The Gentleman Bastard Series by Scott Lynch      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan spends about thirty minutes talking to Dave Hutchinson about reading and writing during the Great and Terrible Pause, the novels of Len Deighton, an unexpected follow-up to The Fractured Europe Sequence, a brand new Fractured Europe novelette "Nightingale Floors" (from Ian Whates's forthcoming anthology London Centric: Future Tales of London), and much more. Books mentioned include: The Return of the Incredible Exploding Man by Dave Hutchinson The Fractured Europe Sequence by Dave Hutchinson The Thomas Cromwell Trilogy by Hilary Mantel The Martian by Andy Weir The Bernard Samson Series by Len Deighton      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan spends ten minutes or so with Hugo and World Fantasy Award-nominated writer and artist Kathleen Jennings to discuss reading and working in the time of the pandemic, the comfort of regency romances, illustrating The Tallow Wife, watching Hamish Macbeth, her new short novel Flyaway, and much more. Books mentioned include: Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer  Chalk by Paul Cornell Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens Witchmark by C. L. Polk Alternate Routes by Tim Powers      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Ellen Datlow joins Gary to discuss her 40-year career, the longevity of earlier editors, her reasons for doing best-of-the-year anthologies and year-in-review essays, favorite writers like William Gibson and Jonathan Carroll, the recent Shirley Jackson biography, and the appeal of dark fiction. Books mentioned include: Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories edited by Ellen Datlow Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles edited by Ellen Datlow Edited By edited by Ellen Datlow Bathing the Lion by Jonathan Carroll Mr. Breakfast by Jonathan Carroll Flicker by Theodore Roszak Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson Raising Demons by Shirley Jackson Worse Angels by Laird Barron The Deep by Alma Katsu Th

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan fires up Skype and call Dhaka in Bangladesh so he can talk to Saad Z. Hossain, the wonderful author of Escape from Baghad, Djinn City, and Locus Award nominee The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday about living and working in Dhaka at a time like this, the state of genre fiction, what he's been reading, his upcoming new novella Kundo Wakes Up and more. Books mentioned include: Djinn City by Saad Z. Hossain The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Z. Hossain The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas One Piece, Volume 1: Romance Dawn by Eiichiro Oda Miles Cameron series The Novels of Jane Austen The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan spends a bit more than ten minutes talking to literary agent and editor DongWon Song of the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency -- whose newsletter Publishing is Hard is essential reading -- about publishing during the pandemic, coping with being an involuntary voluntary shut-in, what he's reading and working on, and much more. Books mentioned include: The Sin in the Steel by Ryan Van Loan Savage Legion by Matt Wallace The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan fires up Skype and points it towards Kolkata to talk to Lambda Award winner and Crawford, Otherwise, and Shirley Jackson nominee Indrapramit Das about getting through the Great and Terrible Pause, what books he is reading and recommends, and his new story, "Incarnate", which appears in Ann VanderMeer's Avatars Inc.  anthology. Books mentioned include: The Devourers by Indrapramit Das Chosen Spirits by Samit Basu The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories edited by Ellen Datlow "The Mist" by Stephen King My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup Stories by Gilbert Hernández      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Gary is joined by multiple award-winning author Nicola Griffith and they discuss the less-than-satisfactory challenges of the virtual cocktail party, the more satisfactory challenges of researching historical fiction and of reading Patrick O’Brian and others, the advantages of using genre as a set of tools rather than a container, her own So Lucky, her forthcoming sequel to Hild, and an exciting new as-yet-untitled book. Books mentioned include: Nicola Griffith, So Lucky Nicola Griffith, Hild Nicola Griffith, The Aud Torvingen mysteries Sigrid Undset, Olav Audunssøn: The Vow, translated by Tiina Nunnally Maggie Brookes, The Prisoner’s Wife Octavia Butler, Kindred Patrick O’Brian, The Aubrey/Maturin novels Mary Stewart, The Crystal Cave Rosemary Sutcliffe, Sword at Sunset Mary R

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan sits down to chat with Aurealis and Ditmar Award-winning writer Lisa L. Hannett about reading, writing and life during lock-in, the joy and challenges of suddenly being home all the time, her brand new book, and much more. Books mentioned include: Songs for Dark Seasons by Lisa L. Hannett Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Elizabeth Tan Her Perilous Mansion by Sean Williams Network Effect by Martha Wells Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian The Ruth Galloway Novels by Elly Griffiths Galore by Michael Crummey      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Gary joins Hugo and Nebula-winning author Terry Bisson to talk about historical fiction, R.A. Lafferty’s most important novel, James Salter, reading Shakespeare’s history plays, the Globe Theater, Cecelia Holland, The Blair Witch Project, Terry’s own classic short stories "Bears Discover Fire" and "They’re Made of Meat," and his brilliant but overlooked novel of the 1960s, Any Day Now. Books mentioned include: Any Day Now by Terry Bisson The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel Okla Hannali by R.A. Lafferty Last Night: Stories by James Salter      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. World Fantasy and Shirley Jackson Award-winner Daryl Gregory comes on board for a discussion with Gary about how distracting the news can be from real work, reading manuscripts for blurbs or for friends, the new Lavie Tidhar novel, Island of Dr. Moreau movies, the virtues of Iain M. Banks, the occasional pleasures of locked-room murder mysteries, and Daryl’s own forthcoming but not yet titled novel. Books mentioned include: Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells The Culture novels by Iain M. Banks The Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Gary is joined by fellow Locus reviewer and author Adrienne Martini, whose recent book on participating in local politics has gained sterling reviews and even a shout-out from Hillary Clinton. They discuss the importance of local politics, the fate of the famous explorer ship Erebus, and the appeal of Mary Robinette Kowal and Robert A. Heinlein. Books mentioned include: Somebody's Gotta Do It: Why Cursing at the News Won't Save the Nation, But Your Name on a Local Ballot Can by Adrienne Martini Erebus: The Story of a Ship by Michael Palin The Terror by Dan Simmons The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal Friday and the Lazarus Long novels by Robert A. Heinlein Books mentioned include:      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. All the way from Barbados, multiple award-winning author Karen Lord chats with Gary about how the lockdown is affecting life there, how the whole worldwide experience is liking moving into a new country where you don’t quite know all the rules, what reading to return to in such times, and her own new story "The Plague Doctors” (and discussion of the story) from the free anthology, Take Us to a Better Place: Stories. Books mentioned include: Unravelling by Karen Lord The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton The City Watch, Witches, and Tiffany Aching novels by Terry Pratchett Take Us to a Better Place: Stories       

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. If his recent conversation with John Berlyne saw Jonathan embrace the fact that Coode Street's ten minutes was at a best theoretical, then today's conversation blows that out of the water extending beyond 35 minutes, and still only being just barely long enough. Today Jonathan talks to writer and editor Simon Ings about art, despots, fabulous books, and unexpected experiences. Utterly essential listening. It's the most fun you'll have with earphones in for ages! Books mentioned include: We Robots edited by Simon Ings Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson  The Plague by Albert Camus The Pike: Gabriele d'Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War by Lucy Hughes-Hallett Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman    

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Jonathan spends ten minutes talking with Claire McKenna about working, reading, and writing during difficult times, pirate utopias, the joys of old bestsellers, and her debut novel, Monstrous Heart. Books mentioned include: Monstrous Heart by Claire McKenna Monsoon by Wilbur Smith Gondar by Nicholas Luard    

Jonathan and Gary are back with a socially-distanced full-hour podcast. Since last time, Jonathan actually went and read the reviews for the podcast on the iTunes Podcast app where one listener described the Coode Street as being occasionally enlightening, saying when: "the two hosts are left to their own devices (which is most of the time) they testily chew over a handful of pet topics, usually debating who should win each year's awards and then whether or not awards mean anything".  and rated the podcast Three stars. Perfectly fair. Today's episode was recorded during the Nebula Awards presentation and days after the announcement of the Locus Awards shortlists. Both feature briefly, but our main topic was not awards. Rather we turned to more fundamental questions involving reasons to be optimistic about science fiction, the role of entertainment in reading SFF, what each of us values most in what we read, and, almost accidentally, some brief previews of exciting novels coming up later this year. Hopefull

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan spends ten minutes or so talking with the Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning 'Hermit of Binghampton", Jack Dann, who checks in from his home in coastal Victoria to talk about life, art, books, and more. Books mentioned include: Shadows in the Stone by Jack Dann Pluche or the Love of Art by Jean Dutourd The Best of R.A. Lafferty by R.A. Lafferty Masters of Science Fiction: Kate Wilhelm (2 vols.) by Kate Wilhelm Marque of Caine by Charles E. Gannon The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr by John Crowley A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce  

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. This is the point where, at least for Jonathan, it all went off the rails and the 'ten minutes with" became a purely aspirational thing, losing any connection with chronological reality. In a fascinating, sprawling conversation Jonathan spends half an hour or so talking to agent, editor, bibliographer, and reluctant shut-in, John Berlyne of the Zeno Literary Agency, about reading, books, agenting and how to get an agent, how the current situation may affect publishing, and much more. Books mentioned include: Mr Breakfast by Jonathan Carroll The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson Railsea by China Miéville Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman Eig

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Scholar, photographer, editor, artist, author, and winner of many Ditmar and Aurealis Awards Cat Sparks joins Gary to discuss the comparative experience of Australia vs the US in the current crisis, her own doctoral research in SF and climate fiction, missing out on ICFA this year, the attractions of comfort-reading mysteries, the virtues of Paul J. McAuley, and her forthcoming collection of stories. Books mentioned include: Dark Harvest by Cat Sparks The Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths The Quantum Magician by Derek Kunsken War of the Maps by Paul McAuley Monstrous Heart by Claire McKenna Repo Virtual by Corey J. White The Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French Photography mentioned: Cat’s nature photography:  Wall Safari!    

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. This time out, Gary talks with fellow Locus reviewer Karen Burnham, author of Greg Egan in the Modern Masters of Science Fiction series, and occasional pieces for The Cascadia Subduction Zone. We touch upon having kids at home during the lockdown, finding time to do our own reading in between reading for reviews, and favorite literary comfort foods such as Terry Pratchett and Gail Carriger. Books mentioned include: Greg Egan by Karen Burnham The Revenger Series by Alastair Reynolds Horizon by Barry Lopez Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez The Lives of a Cell and the Medusa and the Snail by Lewis Thomas Small Gods by Terry Pratchett The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett Soulless by Gail Carriger The Order of the Stick by Rich Burlew