Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast

We've finally done it! Sorry for the late episode, a few real life considerations got in the way of editing. 

We're joined again by Ben Roswell (@roswellwrites on twitter & roswellian.itch.io) to discuss Catie Disabato's postmodern novel of celebrity & architectural cults, The Ghost Network (https://amzn.to/2VtAhVc). 

We all had a lot of thoughts on this book, and for any given one two of us agreed and a third didn't, in various combinations, like a big fun podcast triangle! It was a lovely conversation, about a great book to discuss with others.

Stuff we mentioned:

* Fight Truck: https://pantamalion.itch.io/fight-truck

* Trash Theory on FKA Twigs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oXADE5bzZI

* Roxane Gay on Janelle Monáe: https://www.thecut.com/2020/02/janelle-monae-afrofuture.html

* Lady Gaga Isn't Done Shape-Shifting Yet by Rachel Symes: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/03/magazine/lady-gaga-movie-star-is-born.html

* The Wikipedia page on Selena (cw domestic violence): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena 

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As always, we'd love to hear from you! Chat with us on twitter at @spectologypod, send us an email at mailbox@spectology.com, or submit the episode to r/printSF on reddit. We'll reply, and shout you out in the next podcast when we talk about your comment.

And if you like the episode, subscribe at spectology.com or whever you listen to podcasts, and share it with your friends!

Many thanks to Dubby J and Noah Bradley for doing our music and art.

Matt & Adrian sit down for a chat looking back at 2019—which books ended up being our favorites, which episodes did we like, and how did we do in terms of diversity of authors, genres, and guests?

A big thanks to everyone who has stuck with us for two years now! Or who have just begun listening—we hope you'll stick around.

In addition, we were asked by a listener on Twitter (@spectologypod) to talk a bit about our favorite fantasy books, so we do that at the end. Here's a list of everything we mention (amazon links are affiliates):

* Bear Daughter by Judith Berman (now back in print!)

* The Steerswoman series by Rosemary Kirstein

* The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

* Finna by Nino Cipri 

* The Deep by Rivers Solomon

* The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

* The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip

* The Dying Earth (now published as Marizan the Magician) by Jack Vance 

* The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolf

* Lord Dunsany

* Arthur Machen

* The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers

* The Cradle series by Will Wight

* Jade City by Fonda Lee

* The Tensorate series by JY Yang

* Monkey (an abridged translation of Journey to the West) by Arthur Whaley

* The Worm of Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison 

* The Ghormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake

* The Nightland by William Hope Hodgson

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As always, we'd love to hear from you! Chat with us on twitter at @spectologypod, send us an email at mailbox@spectology.com, or submit the episode to r/printSF on reddit. We'll reply, and shout you out in the next podcast when we talk about your comment.

And if you like the episode, subscribe at spectology.com or whever you listen to podcasts, and share it with your friends!

Many thanks to Dubby J and Noah Bradley for doing our music and art.

New month, new book, new guest! This week we welcome Ben Roswell (@roswellwrites on Twitter) to discuss The Ghost Network by Catie Disabato (https://amzn.to/2uXSeA2). The novel takes the form of a fictitious non-fiction book about the disappearance of a young pop star & her entourage who tries to find her amongst hidden underground spaces in Chicago. 

In this episode, we discuss other experimental narratives, from role-playing games to postmodern novels like House of Leaves or Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

Works mentioned (as always, links at spectology.com if they don't show up for you, and all Amazon links are affliates):

* Ben's Itch.io, where you can find his games mentioned

* Ben's new serialized fantasy novel

* Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Suzanna Clarke 

* House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

* Fire on the Velvet Horizon by Patrick Stuart & Scrap Princess

* Hardboiled Wonderland & the End of the World by Haruki Murakami 

* Rupetta by N.A. Sulway (also episodes 9.1 & 9.2 of this podcast)

* Fight Truck (the unplayable? LARP)

* Especially Heinous: 272 Views of Law & Order SVU by Carmen Maria Machado

* Ben's essay on Jeff VanderMeer's blog

If I missed anything, tweet @spectologypod and I'll drum up the link for you.

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As always, we'd love to hear from you! Chat with us on twitter at @spectologypod, send us an email at mailbox@spectology.com, or submit the episode to r/printSF on reddit. We'll reply, and shout you out in the next podcast when we talk about your comment.

And if you like the episode, subscribe at spectology.com or whever you listen to podcasts, and share it with your friends!

Many thanks to Dubby J and Noah Bradley for doing our music and art.