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. Today Jonathan spends ten minutes with bestselling, multiple award-winning author of Space Opera, Catherynne M. Valente, who joins him from an island of the northeastern coast of America, to talk about reading, writing and working during these strange times and trying to do so with an infant in the house, the work of Hank Green and Jenny Slate, her love of Dune, her upcoming short fiction, the return of Tetley Abdnego, and much more. Books mentioned include: Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente A Perfect Host by Catherynne M. Valente A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green Little Weirds by Jenny Slate Station Eleven by Hilary St. John Mandel Dune by Frank Herbert The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie Exhalat

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. Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning G. Willow Wilson chats with Gary about what living in Seattle has felt like during the plague time and the city’s characteristically progressive politics, the fascination of listening to Proust on Audible, the remarkably prescient writing of James Baldwin and the literary innovations of William Makepeace Thackeray, and what it’s like to write in the Sandman universe after having been enthralled by it when younger. Books mentioned include: The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson The Dreaming: Waking Hours by G. Willow Wilson & Nick Robles The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin A Rap on Race by James Baldwin & Margaret Mead Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray      

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 talks with writer, professor, critic, editor, and Shirley Jackson Awards board member F. Brett Cox about the Jackson Awards, the early days of punk, Andy Duncan, Elizabeth Hand, the mysterious Jack Parsons, Anthony Boucher, Daniel Defoe, the Strugatsky brothers, Octavia Butler, and Brett’s own short fiction (including new story "Bend in the Air" in Patricia Bray & S.C. Butler's Portals). Books mentioned include: The End of All Our Exploring and Other Stories by F. Brett Cox Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture by Grace Elizabeth Hale Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons by John Carter The Last Days of New Paris by China Mieville Rocket to the Morgue by Anthony Boucher A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe Ro

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 ten minutes or so talking to Nebula Award-winning writer P. Djèlí Clark about reading, writing, and working during these strange and difficult times, what he's been reading and what you might read, his novella The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (and accompanying story "A Dead Djinn in Cairo"), his upcoming novel, and much, much more. Books mentioned include: The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden A Handful of Earth, a Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia Butler by Lynell George      

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 to international bestselling writer and creator of the Riftwar Cycle, Raymond E. Feist, about Shakespeare; reading, writing, and working during this strange and difficult time and; briefly, that time he saw The Beatles.  Books mentioned include: King of Ashes by Raymond E. Feist Queen of Storms by Raymond E. Feist Master of Furies by Raymond E. Feist (forthcoming in 2021) Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt      

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 calls Adelaide to chat to one of Australia's best and most adept writers of speculative fiction, Sean Williams, about reading, writing and working during the pandemic, what he's reading, what he'd recommend, what he's working on, and his terrific new middle grade novel, Her Perilous Mansion. Books mentioned include: Her Perilous Mansion by Sean Williams Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers Deeplight by Frances Hardinge Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Songs for Dark Seasons by Lisa L. Hannett      

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 calling farthest Brisbane to talk to national treasure and author of the Obernewtyn Chronicles, Isobelle Carmody, about reading and writing during the pandemic, the creative challenges of writing, what she's been reading, and much, much more. Books mentioned include: Evermore by Isobelle Carmody Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon Grass by Sheri S. Tepper Raising the Stones by Sheri S. Tepper Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins The Jack Reacher Series by Lee Child The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination by Urs

Left once again to their own devices, Jonathan and Gary turn to the question of what was science fiction’s real golden age—not in terms of overall literary history or the old cliché that “the golden age of science fiction is twelve,” but rather what seemed like a golden age in terms of reading habits: when you fell in love with SF, how the genre continued to be rewarding during that time, and what was especially important about it. For Jonathan, that looked more like the 1980s, while for Gary it was basically the 1950s. Both agreed, however, that the current era might itself be seen as a golden age, for many reasons.

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 more (somewhat more) talking to Adam Roberts about the joys and challenges of reading every single H. G. Wells book ever written (there were a lot!), being a judge for the World Fantasy Awards, reading and writing during these strange and difficult times (even when you usually stay in a bit), and much more. Books mentioned include: H G Wells: A Literary Life by Adam Roberts Purgatory Mount by Adam Roberts (forthcoming in 2021) The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow‎ Ghost Species by James Bradley The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie The Devil's Blade by Mark Alder By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar Paradise Lost by John Milton    

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 award-winning author and ILM filmmaker Gregory Norman Bossert to talk about how the changes facing the movie industry may actually help new voices and new forms, the appeal of not-quite-classifiable stories of the New Weird and other contemporary movements, a new anthology in support of the nonprofit RAICES, podcasts and movies, and his own new short fiction. Short fiction mentioned includes: "The Night Soil Salvagers" by Gregory Norman Bossert (Tor.com, July) "Dear Boy" by Gregory Norman Bossert (Weird Fiction Review #10) "The Hearts of All" by Gregory Norman Bossert (Black Static #73) "Zima Blue" by Alastair Reynolds (and its TV adaptation on Love, Death, and Robots) Books mentioned include: The Unnamed Country by Jeffrey Thomas The Punktown series by Jeffrey Thomas

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 calls Stoker and British Fantasy Award winner Usman T. Malik to discuss living in Lahore during the current times, how it impacts reading, writing and the ability to work, classic horror, the tales of your culture, and much more. Books mentioned include: The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn by Usman T. Malik The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights (in 3 vols) translated by Malcolm Lyons  The Merman and the Book of Power: A Qissa by Musharraf Ali Farooqi      

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 multiple award winner Aliette de Bodard about reading and writing during these difficult and distracting times, the joys of reading romance novels, pirates and the South China Sea, and much more. Books mentioned include: The House of Sundering Flames by Aliette de Bodard Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight by Aliette de Bodard Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders by Aliette de Bodard Like Froth Floating on the Sea: The World of Pirates and Seafarers in Late Imperial South China by J. Antony Robert She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan Lord of the Last Heartbeat by May Peterson      

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 takes ten minutes or so to talk with Hugo and British Fantasy Award winner Zen Cho about reading and writing during the time of the pandemic, the comforts of British wartime children's stories, Murderbot, the perennial attraction of Jane Austen, and her upcoming novella, The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water. Books mentioned include: The Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho The True Queen by Zen Cho The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian  The Skylarks' War by Hilary McKay The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells The Novels of Jane Austen       

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