New Books Network Podcast

Fantasy September 17, 2023

Godkiller

Hannah Kaner

Hosted by A. E. Lanier

Hannah Kaner’s debut novel Godkiller (Harper Voyager, 2023) takes place in Middren, a country where gods have been banned as the result of a brutal civil war. The novel follows …

Recall This Book September 7, 2023

Earthsea, and Other Realms

Ursula Le Guin as Social Inactivist

John Plotz and Elizabeth Ferry

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz

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To mark the publication of John's book Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea (My Reading), with Oxford University Press (2023), John and Elizabeth take to the airways to share their love of …

Fantasy August 28, 2023

The Phoenix King

Aparna Verma

Hosted by A. E. Lanier

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Aparna Verma’s debut novel The Phoenix King (Orbit, 2023) takes place in the desert kingdom of Ravence as war brews on its borders and the king is set to step …

Fantasy August 23, 2023

Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz

Stories of the Witch Knight and the Puppet Sorcerer

Garth Nix

Hosted by A. E. Lanier

Garth Nix’s new collection Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: Stories of the Witch Knight and the Pupper Sorcerer (Harper Voyager, 2023) gathers together stories written over more than fifteen years for …

Historical Fiction August 18, 2023

The Witch and the Tsar

Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

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Any novel set in Russia during the reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533–1584) is an instant draw for me; that is, after all, the setting for most of my own …

Fantasy August 12, 2023

Labyrinth's Heart

M. A. Carrick

Hosted by A. E. Lanier

M. A. Carrick’s newest novel Labyrinth’s Heart (Orbit, 2023) is the culmination of their Rook and Rose trilogy, which chronicles the life of the thief Arenza Lenskaya after she returns …

Fantasy August 3, 2023

Thornhedge

T. Kingfisher

Hosted by A. E. Lanier

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T. Kingfisher’s newest novel Thornhedge (Tor, 2023) is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty that follows Toadling, the person in charge of keeping the fair maiden asleep inside her tower and …

Fantasy June 22, 2023

Dragonfall

L. R. Lam

Hosted by A. E. Lanier

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Today I talked to L. R. Lam about Dragonfall (DAW, 2023). Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship …

Fantasy May 4, 2023

Loki

A Novel

Melvin Burgess

Hosted by Latoya Johnson

In his new novel Loki (Pegasus Books, 2023), Melvin Burgess follows the antics of Norse mythology’s trickster god as he takes the reader on a wild ride through legendary stories …

Fantasy April 18, 2023

The Warden

Daniel M. Ford

Hosted by A. E. Lanier

Daniel M. Ford’s new novel The Warden (Tor, 2023) follows Aelis de Lenti, a young necromancer in her first year as the Warden of Lone Pine—a small frontier village surrounded …

Fantasy March 26, 2023

The Crane Husband

Kelly Barnhill

Hosted by Gabrielle Martin

Today I talked to Kelly Barnhill about her book The Crane Husband (Tordotcom, 2023). Our unnamed narrator, a fifteen-year-old girl, manages to care for her six-year-old brother and creative but irresponsible mother …

Fantasy February 24, 2023

Half a Soul

Olivia Atwater

Hosted by Gabrielle Martin

Today I talked to Olivia Atwater about her new book Half a Soul (Orbit, 2022). When a nasty fairy Lord tries to take young Dora’s soul, her doting cousin, Vanessa, fights him …

Fantasy January 10, 2023

The Daughters of Izdihar

Hadeer Elsbai

Hosted by Gabrielle Martin

The Daughters of Izdihar (Harper Voyager, 2023), like last year’s A Master of Djinn, is set in a world similar to Egypt, during the time of the suffragette movement. American-Egyptian …

Fantasy November 7, 2022

The Revivalists

Christopher M. Hood

Hosted by Gabrielle Martin

A road trip novel, The Revivalists (Harper, 2022) is intimate, funny, and at times, shocking. It has only the dystopian setting in common with Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. While Cormac’s characters are …

Fantasy October 14, 2022

Monsters Born and Made

Tanvi Berwah

Hosted by Gabrielle Martin

Today I talked to Tanvi Berwah about Monsters Born and Made (Sourcebooks Fire, 2022). In our narrator Koral’s world—an oceanic world full of sea monsters, brutal heat, and only a few islands—choices …

Fantasy September 14, 2022

Comeuppance Served Cold

Marion Deeds

Hosted by Gabrielle Martin

A clever magical mystery which needs your full attention, Comeuppance Served Cold (Tordotcom, 2022) challenges this podcaster to write a review without a spoiler. The novella begins with what appears …

Literature August 18, 2022

Babel

Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution

R. F. Kuang

Hosted by Jennifer Lee

In R. F. Kuang’s Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution (Harper Voyager in 2022), we meet Robin Swift. Orphaned by Cholera in Canton …

Fantasy August 8, 2022

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance

Foz Meadows

Hosted by Gabrielle Martin

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance (Tor, 2022) is marketed as a historical fantasy novel, but its subtle and humane sweetness set it aside from most examples of the genre. Though it offers …

Fantasy June 27, 2022

The Justice of Kings

Richard Swan

Hosted by Gabrielle Martin

The Justice of Kings (Orbit, 2022) opens with our young narrator, Helena, traveling from town to town as clerk to the King’s Justice, a learned and idealistic man called Vonvalt …

Fantasy May 26, 2022

The Beholden

Cassandra Rose Clarke

Hosted by Gabrielle Martin

Today I talked to Cassandra Rose Clarke about her book The Beholden (Erewhon Books, 2022). Two impoverished sisters, one with magical gifts and one with ladylike manners and pretty dresses, brave the …