New Books Network

About Rob Wolf

Rob Wolf is the host of New Books in Science Fiction and the author of The Alternate Universe and The Escape.

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NBN Episodes hosted by Rob:

Science Fiction November 25, 2020

The Once and Future Witches

Alix E. Harrow

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Alix E. Harrow’s The Once and Future Witches (Redhook, 2020) begins with the familiar phrase “Once upon a time” but the novel is anything but a traditional fairytale. Yes, there are witches. But there are also suffragists. Yes, there are spells. But there are also women who fall in love with each other. While Harrow loves fairytales “because they give us this shared language,” she hates them for the limits they …
Science Fiction October 29, 2020

Ring Shout

P. Djèlí Clark

Hosted by Rob Wolf
P. Djèlí Clark’s new novella, Ring Shout (Tordotcom, 2020) is a fantasy built around an ugly moment in American history—the emergence of the second Ku Klux Klan in the early …
Literature October 8, 2020

The Constant Rabbit

Jasper Fforde

Hosted by Rob Wolf
In Jasper Fforde’s The Constant Rabbit (Viking, 2020), residents of the United Kingdom live among human-sized anthropomorphized rabbits. The rabbits make fine citizens—more than fine, in fact. They in live …
Literature September 17, 2020

The New Wilderness

Diane Cook

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Diane Cook’s The New Wilderness (Harper, 2020) is a poignant portrait of a mother and daughter fleeing the polluted cities of a near-future dystopia for a hand-to-mouth existence in the …
Literature August 27, 2020

ReV

The Machine Dynasty, Book III

Madeline Ashby

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Writers and readers of science fiction love stories about artificial intelligence, robots, and mechanical beings whose sentience mirrors, matches or exceeds that of humans. The stories stay fresh for the …
Literature July 30, 2020

Beneath the Rising

Premee Mohamed

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Premee Mohamed’s debut novel, Beneath the Rising (Solaris, 2020) came out in March, but don’t call her a new writer. “I find it funny that people refer to people who …
Literature July 9, 2020

The Down Days

Ilze Hugo

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Few science fiction writers have their vision of the future tested upon publication. But that’s what happened to Ilze Hugo, whose novel about a mysterious epidemic, The Down Days (Skybound …
Literature June 18, 2020

Riot Baby

Tochi Onyebuchi

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Tochi Onyebuchi’s Riot Baby (Tor.com, 2020) tells the story of two siblings—Ella, who is gifted with powers of precognition and telekinesis, and her younger brother Kevin, whose exuberant resistance to …
Literature May 28, 2020

Velocity Weapon

The Protectorate, Book 1

Megan E. O'Keefe

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Velocity Weapon (Orbit, 2019) by Megan E. O’Keefe centers on siblings: Biran, a member of an elite cadre that controls the interstellar gates by which humans travel among star systems …
Literature May 7, 2020

Goldilocks

Laura Lam

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Laura Lam’s new book Goldilocks (Orbit, 2020) takes readers into space with an all-female crew bound for a distant Earth-like planet. The all-female crew isn’t the only twist; there’s also …
Literature April 16, 2020

The Imaginary Corpse

Tyler Hayes

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Tyler Hayes's The Imaginary Corpse (Angry Robot, 2019) offers an escape from the unending stress of the Covid-19 pandemic with three simple words: plush yellow triceratops. Nothing could be farther …
Literature March 26, 2020

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories

Ken Liu

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Ken Liu’s second collection of speculative stories explores migration, memory, and a post-human future through the eyes of parents and their children. Whether his characters are adjusting to life on …