A Meal of Thorns

A Meal of Thorns 61- REVENANT GUN with Alexandra Pierce

"I don't know what planet they're on, but I know about the earrings!” We’ve got a very unusual space opera to read through this time around, one that takes questions of e

A Meal of Thorns 60- 2026 UKLG List with Roseanna Pendlebury

Only in its 5th year of operation, the Le Guin Fiction prize has already become something of a critical darling, with very interesting shortlists and winners that rarely

A Meal of Thorns 59- OF ONE BLOOD with Garrett Bridger Gimore

Out of print for the greater part of the 20th century, Hopkins’ Of One Blood looks a lot like Afro-futurism, using ancient Ethiopian technology and the new science of mes

A Meal of Thorns 58- LACON V

Worldcon episode time: we’ve got interviews, we’ve got a coffee report, we’ve got an only-mildly chaotic group podcast attempt! Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, an

A Meal of Thorns 57- THE WATER STATUES with Langdon Hickman

A deeply strange and arresting short novel, The Water Statues defies easy categorization but has a powerful and cerebral atmosphere, putting us in mind of a lot of other

A Meal of Thorns 56- KILLER, COME BACK TO ME with Aigner Loren Wilson

More famous for his science fiction and dark fantasy, Ray Bradbury also tried his hand at crime fiction, with often-fascinating results. Writer, critic, and editor Aigner

A Meal of Thorns 55- Readercon & the PSRB

In this con-coverage episode, Casella talks to folks at Readercon in Boston, including Lisa from Narrated, author Sara S. Messenger, and editor Carl Engle-Laird. We also

A Meal of Thorns 54- SUNSHINE with Laura Zats

Literary agent and Print Run podcaster extraordinaire Laura Zats is on to talk about a novel that is the most urban fantasy you can imagine, and yet seems to run towards

A Meal of Thorns 53- TINY DEATHS with Ian Mond

Critic & reviewer Ian Mond talks us through Tiny Deaths, a very funny and frequently morbid collection. We also think bigger: about the place and status of humor and seri

A Meal of Thorns 52- STAND ON ZANZIBAR with Dan Hartland

Brunner’s prescient classic about overpopulation: is it about overpopulation? Was it prescient? And, for that matter: what does it mean to be a classic? Reviewer and edit

A Meal of Thorns 51- THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS with Premee Mohamed

Science fiction readers love a mechanism, they love a bit of world-building and mystery-solving. Premee Mohamed joins us to discuss Gene Wolfe's The Fifth Head of Cerberu

A Meal of Thorns 50- SISYPHEAN with Gareth Watkins

A rain of corpses is falling from the sky, insectoid femme fatales are setting their compound eyes on our tender thoraxes, and our cattle drive across an expanse of nanot

A Meal of Thorns 49- MOONGATHER with Molly Templeton

Stop explaining and start exploring: critic & reviewer Molly Templeton walks us through this gem of 1980s mass market fantasy, with many asides and theories on shifting p

A Meal of Thorns 48- READY PLAYER ONE with Matthew Leggatt

The pleasures and perils of nostalgia & reference, the importance of identifying real play versus gamified labor, and whether the internet used to be fun: Matthew Leggat

A Meal of Thorns 47- CLOUD ATLAS with Abigail Nussbaum

A nested novel that very pointedly bridges the litfic/specfic divide, David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas takes some big swings at tricky topics. Abigail Nussbaum returns to the

A Meal of Thorns 46- THE BIG SLEEP with Max Gladstone

We’re leaving speculative genres for just a moment! Author Max Gladstone joins to discuss style & structure in Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled classic The Big Sleep, a work

A Meal of Thorns 45- THE DEEP SEA DIVER’S SYNDROME with Alexander Dickow

In this science fiction novel, translated from the French, dreamers “dive” into their own subconscious and return with mysterious & valuable objects. Translator, author,

A Meal of Thorns 44- PALADIN OF SOULS with Liz Bourke

Reviewer and historian Liz Bourke joins to discuss religion, historical overlaps, and examinations of gender in Paladin of Souls and fantasy more generally. Podcasts, re

A Meal of Thorns 43- DIASPORA with Eden Kupermintz

Greg Egan’s work exemplifies a certain kind of “hard” science fiction: not that it’s obsessed with big manly space battles, but rather that it’s using science to really d

A Meal of Thorns 42- IMARO with Jon Tattrie

Charles Saunders’ sword and soul narratives, pulp-fantasy-inspired tales of Black and African heroes, helped blaze a trail for the genre—but, like Saunders himself, they