The Coode Street Podcast

Episode 645: Jack Dann and Fifty Years of Wandering Stars

On the fiftieth anniversary of his groundbreaking anthology Wandering Stars: An Anthology of Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy, we’re joined by the terrific author and editor Jack Dann.

During our conversation, we mention his new collection Islands of Time—published almost exactly 50 years after his first book— as well as his The Fiction Writer’s Guide to Alternate History and some of his classic novels like The Memory Cathedral and The Rebel.

Mostly, though, we discuss how that classic anthology evolved, in part from his friendship with Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski, what the anthology meant in 1974, and how the nature of Jewish science fiction has evolved over the decades.

Episode 644: Cozy books and a prickly writer

This time out, Jonathan and Gary consider the meaning of "cozy" (or "cosy") SF and fantasy, and whether cozy horror is even a thing. We trace the term back to cozy mystery novels and Brian W. Aldiss’s characterization of certain British writers of the 1950s—especially John Wyndham—as "cozy catastrophes".

Not surprisingly, this doesn’t lead to any meaningful conclusions, but we do touch upon whether the notion of cozy has to do with the fiction itself, or just the reader's experience of it. Authors mentioned include Travis Baldree, Becky Chambers, Peter S. Beagle, Martha Wells, and Terry Pratchett.

Then, with our usual lack of grace, we transition awkwardly into a discussion of the new Harlan Ellison’s Greatest Hits, how well Ellison’s fiction holds up, and some brief previews of forthcoming episodes.

Episode 643: All Time Top 5s

Somewhat hesitantly, Jonathan and Gary return to the mics, sans guests, and somehow get into a discussion of various SFF listicles—partly because of Gary’s recent contribution to fivebooks.com of a list of five novels about science fiction. Why are such lists so appealing and so ubiquitous these days, and who are they for?

By the time we're done, Jonathan begins musing on a possible list of the top five most disappointing SF novels of all time. You'll have to tune in to see what’s at the top of that list—and get ready to argue!

Episode 642: Premee Mohamed and The Butcher of the Forest

This week Nebula and World Fantasy award winner, Premee Mohamed, joins Gary and Jonathan from somewhere in the wilds of Canada to discuss writing, reading, building a career, and her fabulous new novella, The Butcher of the Forest. We also discuss the projects Premee has planned for the rest of the year, including forthcoming new novel  The Siege of Burning Grass, which you can pre-order now.

As always, we'd like to thank Premee for making time to join us, and hope you enjoy the episode.

Episode 641: Kelly Link and the love of books

For our second episode of 2024, we’re joined by the inimitable Kelly Link, whose forthcoming first novel The Book of Love is already receiving stellar advance reviews (including one from Gary in Locus). Kelly explains how the novel evolved, it connections to various genres from romance to supernatural horror, the importance of valuable encouragement from friends such as Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, the challenges of shifting from short fiction to a long novel, managing multiple narrative viewpoints, and maintaining the balance between the interiority of the characters and the large-scale history and spectacle of the fantasy elements. She also updates us a bit on Small Beer Press and her own plans for future work.

As always, our thanks to Kelly. We hope you enjoy the podcast!

Eating the Fantastic: Episode 217: Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan

All round good guy Scott Edelman was at the recent World Fantasy Convention, and took Gary and Jonathan out for lunch and a chat. That chat became the latest episode of Eating the Fantastic, Scott's terrific podcast.

If you're interested, you can hear the episode here.

Episode 640: A new year begins. Shenanigans ensue?

And just liked that, our end of year hiatus is over and the Coode Street Podcast is back! Gary and Jonathan return from their annual break and kick off a brand new year with discussions of recent news events in science fiction, how our thoughts about books and ideas change over time, 50th anniversaries, the delightfully happy news that Gary got married(!!!), and the sad news about the passing of several friends of the podcast, including Howard Waldrop, Terry Bisson, and Rick Bowes.

As it always is at the start of a new year, it's great to be back and we're filled with optimism for the year ahead. We hope to get at least our scheduled 26 episodes out this year, to do some special episodes, and to travel to Scotland for the 2024 World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow.

For now, though, we hope you enjoy the new episode!

Episode 639: A Very Coode Street Gift Guide Roundtable 2023

For the 2023 instalment of the Very Coode Street Gift Guide, we invited some old friends to share their recommendations of books read in 2023:  Alix E. Harrow (whose very worthy Starling House was a favorite, officially excluded from discussion because of her participation in the episode), award-winning Locus reviewer Ian Mond, and distinguished novelist James Bradley, whose nonfiction Deep Water: The World in the Ocean will be out next year.  

The books mentioned during the podcast are listed below.

 

James Bradley recommended:

• The Deluge, Stephen Markley
• Chain-Gang All-Stars, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
• White Cat, Black Dog, Kelly Link
• Translation State, Ann Leckie
• Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh

Alix E. Harrow recommended:

• Menewood, Nicola Griffith
• The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, Roshani Chokshi
• He Who Drowned the World, Shelley Parker-Chan
• The Magician's Daughter, H.G. Parry
• Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett

Ian Mond recommended:

• Conquest, Nina Allan
• Terrace Stories, Hilary Leichter
• In Ascension, Martin MacInnes
• Him, Geoff Ryman
• I am Homeless if this Is Not My Home, Lorrie Moore

Gary recommended:

• Mr. Breakfast, Jonathan Carroll
• The Essential Peter S. Beagle (2 vols.), Peter S. Beagle
• Airside, Christopher Priest
• Lost Places,Sarah Pinsker (and also Monstrous Alterations, Christopher Barzak; Jewel Box, E. Lily Yu; & The Privilege of a Happy Ending, Kij Johnson)

Jonathan recommended:

• The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, Garth Nix
• Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, Wole Talabi
• The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera
• The Crane Husband, Kelly Barnhill
• Hopeland, Ian McDonald

As always, our thanks to Alix, James, and Ian for making time to talk to us. We hope you enjoy the podcast and that the guide is of some help at this time of the year.