New Books in Science Fiction
Episodes
Stephen Baxter, “The Massacre of Mankind,” (Crown, 2017)
24 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Rob Wolf speaks with Stephen Baxter, author of The Massacre of Mankind (Crown, 2017), the alliteratively titled sequel to H. G. Well...
Julie E. Czerneda, Ed., “Nebula Awards Showcase 2017,” (Pyr, 2017)
31 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Since their establishment, the Nebula Awards have proven a trusty guide to what the next generation will consider a classic. Take for example, the in...
John Rieder, “Science Fiction and the Mass Cultural Genre System” (Wesleyan UP, 2017)
19 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A deft and searching exploration of genre theory through science fiction, and science fiction through genre theory, John Rieder‘s Science Fiction an...
PJ Manney, “(ID)entity,” (47North, 2017)
09 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Artificial intelligence has long been a favorite feature of science fiction. Every robot or talking computer or starship operating system has contribu...
Malka Older, “Null States,” (Tor, 2017)
18 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Malka Older‘s Centenal Cycle is set in the latter half of the 21st century and yet, like all good science fiction, it speaks to the current moment. ...
Ben H. Winters, “Underground Airlines” (Mulholland Books, 2016)
13 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Underground Airlines (Mulholland Books, 2016) is a ground-breaking novel, a wickedly imaginative thriller, and a story of an America that is more like...
Claudia Casper, “The Mercy Journals,” (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2016)
25 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Mercy Journals (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2016) is the third novel by Claudia Casper and her first work of science fiction. Set in 2047, it tells the st...
Patrick S. Tomlinson, “Trident’s Forge: Children of a Dead Earth, Book Two” (Angry Robot, 2016)
24 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Patrick S. Tomlinson is a stand-up comic, political commentator, and the author of the Children of a Dead Earth series. In this interview, we discuss ...
Linda Nagata, “The Last Good Man” (Mythic Island Press, 2017)
20 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In The Last Good Man (Mythic Island Press, 2017), Linda Nagata uses a brisk and bracing writing style to immerse us into the lives of private militar...
Nicky Drayden, “The Prey of Gods” (Harper Voyager, 2017)
13 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Prey of the Gods, published by Harper Voyager on June 13th, is Nicky Drayden‘s debut novel, though she’s published many short stories. It’s ...
Aliette de Bodard, “The House of Binding Thorns” (Ace, 2017)
07 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The House of Binding Thorns (Ace, 2017), Aliette de Bodard‘s novel set in a turn-of-the-century Paris devastated by a magical war, is the follow up ...
Andre Carrington, “Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fiction” (U. Minnesota Press, 2016)
03 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever watched a futuristic movie and wondered if there will actually be any black people in the future? Have you ever been surprised, disappoi...
Ada Palmer, “Too Like the Lightning” (Tor, 2016)
23 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Cory Doctorow has described Ada Palmer’s Too Like the Lightning (Tor, 2016) as a book “more intricate, more plausible, more significant than any d...
Eliot Fintushel, “Zen City,” (Zero Books, 2016)
20 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
“The future begins with a traffic jam.” This is how Eliot Fintushel describes the setting of Zen City (Zero Books, 2016), his science fiction nov...
Dave Hutchinson, “Europe in Autumn” (Solaris, 2014)
29 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Do not call Dave Hutchinson prescient. Even though his Fractured Europe Sequence envisions a continent crumbling into ever-smaller countries, the idea...
Ramez Naam, “Apex” (Angry Robot, 2015)
02 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the fictional battles between humans and machines, the divide between good and bad is usually clear. Humans, despite their foibles (greed, impulsiv...
Adam Rakunas, “Windswept” (Angry Robot, 2015)
27 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Padma Mehta, the hero of Adam Rakunas’ Philip K. Dick Award-nominated novel Windswept, is part Philip Marlow, part Norma Rae, part Jessica Jones. T...
Marguerite Reed, “Archangel” (Arche Press, 2015)
30 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Marguerite Reed‘s Archangel (Arche Press, 2015) introduces a hero not often found at the center of science fiction: a mother, who takes cuddling res...
PJ Manney, “(R)evolution” (47North, 2015)
14 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
PJ Manney‘s fast-action novel (R)evolution (47North, 2015) has all the ingredients of a Hollywood thriller: a terrorist attack using nanotechnology,...
Brenda Cooper, “Edge of Dark” (Pyr, 2015)
16 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This episode features author and futurist Brenda Cooper and is the second of my conversations with nominees for the 2016 Philip K. Dick Award. Cooper...
Douglas Lain, “After the Saucers Landed” (Night Shade Books, 2015)
03 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, I talk with Douglas Lain, one of six authors whose works were nominated for this year’s Philip K. Dick Award. Lain’s novel,...
David B. Coe, “His Father’s Eyes,” (Baen, 2015)
05 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
David B. Coe just finished a busy year in which he published three novels, two of which we discuss in this episode of New Books in Science Fiction and...
Katherine Addison, “The Goblin Emperor” (Tor Books, 2014)
08 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Katherine Addison‘s The Goblin Emperor has earned what might be termed a fantasy Grand Slam: the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and nominations ...
Jane Lindskold, “Artemis Invaded” (Tor, 2015)
05 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
At a time when science fiction is more likely to portray ecosystems collapsing rather than flourishing, Jane Lindskold‘s Artemis series is an anomal...
Melinda Snodgrass, “Edge of Dawn” (Tor, 2015)
04 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
What do the jobs of opera singer, lawyer and science fiction writer have in common? Answer: Melinda Snodgrass. The author of the just published Edge...
James L. Cambias, “Corsair” (Tor Books, 2015)
17 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
For his second novel, James L. Cambias chose one of the most challenging settings for a science fiction writer: the near future. Unlike speculative f...
Peter Oberg, ed., “Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep” (Affront Publishing, 2015)
31 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
There’s far more to Swedish literature than Pippi Longstocking and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. That’s the message Anna Jakobsson Lund and Osk...
Porochista Khakpour, “The Last Illusion” (Bloomsbury USA, 2014)
17 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Porochista Khakpour moved to an apartment with large picture windows in downtown Manhattan shortly before September 11, 2001, giving her a painfully p...
Ferrett Steinmetz, “Flex” (Angry Robot 2015)
23 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ferrett Steinmetz first built an audience as a blogger, penning provocative essays about “puns, politics and polyamory” (among other things) with ...
Meg Elison, “The Book of the Unnamed Midwife” (Sybaritic Press, 2014)
07 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Despite the odds, Meg Elison did it. First, she finished the book she wanted to write. Second, she found a publisher–without an agent. Third, she w...
Ken Liu, “The Grace of Kings” (Saga Press, 2015)
02 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Short story writing, novel writing, and translating require a variety of skills and strengths that are hardly ever found in a single person. Ken Liu i...
Claire North, “The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August” (Redhook)
28 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
When an author creates a character, she can churn through as many re-writes as she’d like until she gets it right. This, of course, is in stark cont...
Chris Morgan, “The Comic Galaxy of Mystery Science Theater 3000” (McFarland, 2015)
17 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
While there are many well known cult television shows still revered by fans, MST3K continues to have an incredibly large following with a thriving fol...
Jennifer Marie Brissett, “Elysium, or the World After” (Aqueduct Press, 2014)
30 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Jennifer Marie Brissett‘s first novel, Elysium, or the World After (Aqueduct Press, 2014), portrays a fractured world, one whose seemingly irreversi...
Rod Duncan, “The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter” (Angry Robot, 2014)
04 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
While science fiction often seeks to imagine the impact of new science on the future, Rod Duncan explores an opposite: what happens when science remai...
Ben H. Winters, “World of Trouble” (Quirk Books, 2014)
03 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It’s no surprise that when scientists in Ben H. Winters‘ The Last Policeman series declare that a 6.5-mile asteroid is going to destroy life as we...
Kameron Hurley, “The Mirror Empire” (Angry Robot, 2014)
05 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Kameron Hurley has been honored for her mastery of numerous forms. Her first novel, God’s War, earned her the Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcom...
Alex London, “Guardian” (Philomel, 2014)
09 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s podcast was an experiment. Rather than record the conversation with author Alex London over Skype, I decided to take the subway to Brook...
Lydia Netzer, “How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky” (St. Martin’s Press, 2014)
21 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Astronomy and astrology once went hand in hand: people studied the location and motion of celestial bodies in order to make astrological predictions. ...
Kathryn Cramer and Ed Finn, “Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future” (William Morrow, 2014)
05 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Before Apollo 11, there was Jules Verne’s novel From the Earth to the Moon. Before the Internet, there was Mark Twain’s short story From the ‘Lo...
Brian Staveley, “The Emperor’s Blades” (Tor, 2014)
21 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
What does it take to be an emperor? That question is at the heart of Brian Staveley‘s debut novel The Emperor’s Blades (Tor, 2014). In this firs...
Robert Silverberg, “Science Fiction: 101” (Roc, 2014)
07 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Science Fiction: 101 (Roc, 2014) isn’t just an “exploration of the craft of science fiction” as its subtitle says; it’s also about the impact ...
Max Gladstone, “Full Fathom Five” (Tor, 2014)
22 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Full Fathom Five (Tor, 2014) the third and most recent novel in Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence, features dying divinities and depositions, idols an...
Andy Weir, “The Martian” (Crown, 2014)
06 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Strand a man on Mars with only a fraction of the supplies he needs to survive and what do you get? A bestseller. Andy Weir‘s The Martian (Crown, 20...
James L. Cambias, “A Darkling Sea” (Tor, 2014)
19 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
History is shaped by cultures interacting either peacefully (through trade or art, for example) or violently, through war or colonialism. There doesn’...
Shelbi Wescott, “Virulent” (Arthur Press, 2013)
04 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
It wasn’t until Shelbi Wescott was deep into her career as a high school teacher that she published her first novel, Virulent: The Release (Arthu...
Emmi Itaranta, “Memory of Water” (Harper Voyager, 2014)
22 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
It’s clear to most scientists that human activity fuels climate change. What’s less clear is global warming’s long-term impact on geography, eco...
Greg van Eekhout, “California Bones” (Tor Books, 2014)
07 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Southern California can seem magical, thanks to sunny skies, warm weather, orange groves and movie stars. In Greg van Eekhout‘s California Bones (To...
Chuck Adler, “Wizards, Aliens, and Starships: Physics and Math in Fantasy and Science Fiction” (Princeton UP, 2014)
14 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
[Re-posted with permission from Wild About Math] I’ve admitted before that Physics and I have never gotten along. But, science fiction is something...
Ben Hatke, “Legends of Zita the Spacegirl” (First Second, 2012)
02 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
In this sequel to Zita the Spacegirl, Zita faces the perils of being a famous space hero. Ben Hatke once again combines whimsical and lovely drawings ...
Hugh C. Howey, “Wool” (Simon and Schuster, 2012)
17 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Hugh C. Howey, author of the award-winning Molly Fyde Saga, is best known for his self-published and bestselling series Wool. This post apocalyptic ta...
Patrick James and Abigail Ruane, “The International Relations of Middle-Earth: Learning from the Lord of the Rings” (University of Michigan Press, 2012)
06 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Patrick James is the Dornsife Dean’s Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California. A self-described intellectual “...
R.S. Belcher, “Six-Gun Tarot” (Tor, 2013)
04 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
R.S. Belcher‘s first book, Six-Gun Tarot (Tor, 2013), has receive widespread praise in the online reviewing community. It tells the fantasy-western-...
Ramez Naam, “Nexus” (Angry Robot, 2012)
18 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Ramez Naam is a computer scientist who lives in the pacific northwest. His debut novel, Nexus (Angry Robot, 2012), has received an impressive level of...
Felix Gilman, “The Rise of Ransom City” (Tor, 2012)
08 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
I first learned about Felix Gilman‘s work from the influential academic blog Crooked Timber. I proceeded to read Thunderer, Gears of the City, and H...
Michael Gordin, “The Pseudoscience Wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth of the Modern Fringe” (University of Chicago Press, 2012)
19 Dec 2012
Contributed by Lukas
When I agreed to host New Books and Science Fiction and Fantasy there were a number of authors I hoped to interview, including Michael Gordin. This mi...
Alastair Reynolds, “Blue Remembered Earth” (Gollancz, 2012)
31 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Blue Remembered Earth (Gollantz, 2012) takes place roughly 150 years in the future. Climate change, as well as the political and economic rise of Afri...
Madeline Ashby, “vN: The First Machine Dynasty” (Angry Robot Books, 2012)
19 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Peterson is a five-year old self-replicating android who lives with her synthetic mother and human “father.” Her struggles might be that of an...
Meagan Spooner, “Skylark” (Carolrhoda Books, 2012)
03 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Lark Ainsley lives within a near-hermetically sealed city located in a world scarred and depleted my magical wars. The Architects, who oversee the Cit...
D.B. Jackson, “Thieftaker” (Tor Books, 2012)
19 Sep 2012
Contributed by Lukas
“D.B. Jackson” is David B. Coe’s pen name for his new historical-fantasy series, The Thieftaker Chronicles. Thieftaker (Tor Books, 2012) center...
Ken MacLeod, “The Night Sessions” (Pyr, 2012)
05 Sep 2012
Contributed by Lukas
I met Ken MacLeod when we participated in a sequence of “Science Fiction and International Orders” panels at the London School of Economics in the...
Alison Miers, “Charlinder’s Walk” (CreateSpace, 2011)
31 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
In our very first fiction-book interview on New Books in Secularism, we chat with Alyson Miers, author of Charlinder’s Walk (CreateSpace, 2011). In ...
Frederic Krome, “Fighting the Future War: An Anthology of Science Fiction War Stories, 1914-1945” (Routledge, 2011)
05 Dec 2011
Contributed by Lukas
It is not often that fictional accounts might warrant serious consideration by military historians, but in the case of Frederic Krome‘s recent book,...
Mark Stephen Meadows, “We Robot: Skywalker’s Hand, Blade Runners, Iron Man, Slutbots, and How Fiction Became Fact” (Lyons Press, 2011)
06 Jul 2011
Contributed by Lukas
If technology is the site of digital culture, then robots are the future platforms of our social projections and interactions. In fact, that future is...