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Discussion and digression on science fiction and fantasy with Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan.
Episodes
Friday Nov 14, 2025
Friday Nov 14, 2025
The World Fantasy Convention was held in Brighton, England two weeks ago. Gary and Jonathan both attended, so we shouldn't be surprised that they were jetlagged and not making to much sense when they recorded this ramble a week ago. As always, we hope you enjoy it!
14 days ago
It was great listening to Johnathon and Gary’s dulcet tones. TBH I sometimes find your meandering and rambling discussions to be your best podcasts. I have a request for a future discussion. Actually maybe two. I just turned 71 and hen I walk into Dymocks at Westfield Chermside in Brisbane I am saddened when I go to the Science Fiction/Fantasy island. One side is entirely filled with Romantisy. The other side has the rest of SF and Fantasy which appears to me to be 20% SF and 80% Fantasy. My question to you is SF dying. And if it is why? My other question related to BookTube. I’m a sucker for lists and I find myself going down rabbit holes of SF and Fantasy booktubers. TBH most of them focus on epic fantasy with a splash of grim dark. Again they appear to exist in an echo chamber in which their best, greatest and favourite lists seem to repeat the same 20-50 books. Most from the last 25 years. It frustrates me that outside Dune, Fahrenheit 451, Dune and Hyperion always appear. The only adventurous SF booktubers appear to be Bookpilled, Outlaw Bookseller (he is a tad grumpy and he really doesn’t like space opera), Feral Historian, Words in Time, and recently discovered, Masked Manga. I do like Words in Time and he is growing in knowledge. But the best are Bookpilled and Grumpy, sorry, Outlaw Bookseller. Maybe you can chat with one or the other sometime? But I’m his leads me to another thought. I love your podcast and your the books you discuss but I’m 71 and although I still enjoy a guilty pleasure, at my age I do seek SF novels with literary oomph. But are you forgetting the young entry level readers still seeking that sense of wonder and adventure in their storytelling? Or, because of gaming and social media those young readers are not there anymore?