Send us a text I promise this week isn’t a pandemic novel. I know … we all need a break. No, Malcolm Devlin’s And Then I Woke Up IS about a disease, but not one that makes you cough, vomit or melt. Instead it’s a disease (drum roll), OF THE MIND!! But even then, it’s not what you think – no rage monsters here. Well, not really. Instead, this novella is a perfect allegory of how narratives can infect, distort and corrupt. How reality is contingent, and how the truth is more elusive by the day. All that, with zombies (sorta) Malcolm is a very polite man. So polite that he lets me use his book as a jumping-off point for all manner of cracked pseudo-philosophical theories. I basically forget the first rule of podcasting – DON’T talk more than the guest. Sorry. But when I give Malcolm chance to speak, he says great things. We talk about everything from the power of story and culture, to the problems with zombie narratives and how, in times of horror, Left and Right wing doesn’t necessarily mean what you think. Plus, we reminisce about the blue/gold dress illusion, the Bath Salts Cannibal, and other great noughties memes. Enjoy! And Then I Woke Up is published on April 12th, by Tor. Other books mentioned in this episode include: Unexpected Places to Fall From, Unexpected Places to Land (2021), by Malcolm Devlin The Wake (2013), by Elizabeth Knox “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”, by Ted Chiang – found in Exhalation (2019) Support Talking Scared on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, and TikTok or email direct to [email protected] Download Novellic on Google Play or Apple Store. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.