Category Archives: Focus on Speculative Fiction

Focus on Speculative Fiction: Cory Doctorow’s “Walkaway” and John Kessel’s “The Moon and the Other”

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Cory Doctorow and John Kessel [broadcast 2017-04-24] — UTOPIAN FUTURES! Both Doctorow (Walkaway, Tor Books) and Kessel (The Moon and the Other, Saga Press) posit quasi-utopian futures stemming from responses to our current socio-economic-political climate. In Doctorow’s Walkaway, this comes in the form of literally “walking away” en masse from modern society and setting up new forms of living in the blighted post-industrial wildernesses. In Kessel’s novel, this comes in the form of the creation of colonies on the moon, with various structures and cultures, including his “Society of Cousins”, where women hold nearly all political power. Doctorow joins co-hosts Mur Lafferty and Samuel Montgomery-Blinn via phone, ahead of his now ongoing book tour which brings him to Chapel Hill’s Flyleaf Books on Friday, May 5, before we are joined in studio by Kessel at around the 24 minute mark for a good amount of overlap between our guests. Enjoy!

Kessel and Lafferty in studio.

Kessel and Lafferty in studio.

Focus on Speculative Fiction: Rysa Walker, “The Delphi Effect”

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Rysa Walker [broadcast 2016-10-17] — Cary author Rysa Walker joined co-hosts Mur Lafferty and Samuel Montgomery-Blinn in studio to talk about her new book The Delphi Effect, the first in a new series from the author of the ABNA winning and bestselling CHRONOS Files, that series also being the basis of a new comic book series The Chronos Files: Time Trial.

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Focus on Speculative Fiction: Sabaa Tahir (A Torch Against the Night) and Renée Ahdieh (The Rose and the Dagger)

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Sabaa Tahir and Renée Ahdieh [broadcast 2016-09-05] — San Francisco author Sabaa Tahir (in studio) and North Carolina author Renée Ahdieh (via phone) discuss their latest young adult fantasy novels, A Torch Against the Night and The Rose and the Dagger, ahead of their joint appearance at Raleigh’s Quail Ridge Books on Tuesday, September 6. For some background on Tahir and Ahdieh and their books, see my article in this week’s Indy Week.

In studio at WCOM: co-host Mur Lafferty (left) and guest author Sabaa Tahir (right).

In studio at WCOM: co-host Mur Lafferty (left) and guest author Sabaa Tahir (right).

Focus on Speculative Fiction: John Claude Bemis, “The Wooden Prince”

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John Claude Bemis [broadcast 2016-08-08] — Hillsborough author John Claude Bemis joined co-hosts Mur Lafferty and Samuel Montgomery-Blinn in studio to talk about The Wooden Prince, the first in his new Out of Abaton series which re-casts the story of Pinocchio in a Steampunk/alchemical/magical Venetian Empire. We also talked about his Clockwork Dark trilogy for young readers, his background in teaching, and his time as the Piedmont Laureate.

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Focus on Speculative Fiction: Jay Posey, “Outriders”

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Jay Posey [broadcast 2016-07-11] — Posey was last in studio for his “Legends of the Duskwalker” series, returning to talk about his new military science fiction novel Outriders (Angry Robot Books, May 3) as well as his work on the forthcoming virtual reality game Star Trek: Bridge Crew (Ubisoft/Red Storm).  Co-hosts Mur Lafferty and Samuel Montgomery-Blinn. Runtime: 68 minutes.

Mur Lafferty (L) and Jay Posey (R) in studio.

Mur Lafferty (L) and Jay Posey (R) in studio.

Focus on Speculative Fiction: 2015 in Science Fiction and Fantasy with Ursula Vernon

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Ursula Vernon [broadcast 2016-02-01] — Discussion of the best of 2015 in science fiction and fantasy literature, movies, comics, stories, and more, with an eye on Hugo Award categories, the Nebula Suggested Reading List, and the just-released Locus Recommended Reading List. Co-hosts Mur Lafferty and Samuel Montgomery-Blinn. Runtime: 01:59:29. Also mentioned that nominations are open for the 2016 Manly Wade Wellman Award and a pair of upcoming events at Flyleaf Books (Thursday, February 5) and Quail Ridge Books (Friday, Feburary 6) with Lawrence M. Schoen for his new science fiction novel Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard.