Today Adrian is joined by Will Frank, this year's Hugo Awards Administrator, to talk all things Hugos. We discuss why you might want to nominate and vote for the Hugos, how exactly to get membership to do so (anyone can do it!), the special Vid

Announcement: Spectology "series finale" and the future of the podcast

Oct 23rd, 2020 13m 11s

Soo.... we've had a hard time keeping to a regular schedule recently, so Matt, Bee, & I (Adrian) have been discussing what we want the podcast to look like in the future.In this episode, I just talk openly about those thoughts, our plan throug

28.2: Do You Dream of Terra-Two? post-read: Belief, Depression, and Courage in Sociological Hard SF

Oct 16th, 2020 1h 24m

Bee is back (although Estelle could not join us due to IRL events) to discuss Temi Oh's wonderful debut novel, Do You Dream of Terra-Two? (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9781534437401). With hints of Dark Eden, Semiosis, and Unkindness of Ghosts,

Digital Book Tour: Kathleen Jennings on Flyaway: Small Towns, Fairytales, and Linguistics

Sep 29th, 2020 1h

This week Bee is joined by writer & artist Kathleen Jennings to talk about her book Flyaway.Flyaway is a fairy tale-influenced (or structured?) Australian Gothic novel (or novella?). Small town landscapes and linguistics, productive misinterpr

Digital Book Tour: Somaiya Daud on Mirage & Court of Lions: Body doubles, court politics, and historical science fantasy.

Sep 15th, 2020 38m 53s

This week, Adrian is joined by Somaiya Daud to discuss her new book, Court of Lions, the 2nd in the Mirage Duology (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9781250126450). Somaiya and Adrian discuss genre mash-ups, body doubles, court politics, the legac

28.1: Do You Dream of Terra-Two pre-read w/ Bee & Estelle: Alternate History, Destiny, and Space Travel

Sep 9th, 2020 1h 6m

This month Adrian is joined by Bee & Estelle to talk about Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by new British author Temi Oh (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9781534437401). Bee of course is from the Spectology podcast, where they run our Digital Book Tou

27.2: The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull post-read w/ Lydia: Colonial Power in SF and Rural & Island Culture.

Aug 27th, 2020 1h 34m

Lydia joins us again as we discuss The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull! We absolutely loved this novel, which details the life of island inhabitants living under a passively repressive regime of extra-terrestrials, who are here on Earth for unspe

Digital Book Tour: WM Akers on Westside Saints, detective novels, RPGs, and sequels

Aug 18th, 2020 50m 8s

This week we're joined by WM Akers to promote his new novel, Westside Saints (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9780062854049). Bee and WM talk Westside Saints (and its predecessor, Westside), an alternate history detective novel about a woman who

Digital Book Tour: Nick Mamatas on Move Under Ground, a novel of Beat literary figures fighting Lovecraftian monsters

Aug 13th, 2020 45m 16s

Today Bee is joined by Nick Mamatas, Bram Stoker award-winning editor & author of the just-re-released novel Move Under Ground. (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9780486841861)Bee & Nick talk about writing modern Lovecraftian stories & his looming

27.1: The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull pre-read w/ Lydia: Alien invasion and a history of capitalism & colonialism.

Aug 4th, 2020 1h 20m

We're back? We're back. Mostly.This month Matt is still out, and Adrian is joined by Lydia, a childhood friend of his from Homer, Alaska, to talk about the post-colonial alien invasion story The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull (https://bookshop.or

Digital Book Tour: Nino Cipri on Finna, a story of parallel universes as found in low-wage furniture stores

Jun 30th, 2020 52m 36s

Sometimes a book comes along that is both so unlike anything that came before it, but also so vital & perfectly voiced that once reading it, it's impossible to imagine a world where that book hasn't always existed. Nino Cipri's novella Finna (b

Digital Book Tour: SA Jones on The Fortress, a book about restorative justice inside an all-women society

Jun 23rd, 2020 41m 17s

For our fourth Digital Book Tour episode, Adrian is joined by Serje Jones, whose new book The Fortress (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9781645660026) has been published by our friends at Erewhon books. Serje & Adrian discuss restorative justice,

26.2: The True Queen post-read w/ Reading the End: Inclusion in Historical Fantasy, Comfort Reads, Sisterhood, and more

Jun 9th, 2020 1h 53m

Hey all, a few things: 1. This is really late. Sorry about that! It's because of: 2. The audio quality is really bad. Matt's computer essentially crashed during recording, so we had to use the back-up recording which was also screwed up by the

Digital Book Tour: Melissa Caruso on The Obsidian Tower, a story of a young woman on the run from her own magical power

May 26th, 2020 51m 34s

Bee is joined by Melissa Caruso, author of the Sword & Fire trilogy, and the upcoming Obsidian Tower, available June 2nd. One woman will either save an entire continent or completely destroy it in a captivating epic fantasy bursting with intri

Digital Book Tour: Veronica Roth on Chosen Ones, a story of what happens after the "chosen ones" have saved the world

May 19th, 2020 36m 22s

Bee is joined this time by Veronica Roth, bestselling author of the Divergent series, to discuss her new adult novel, Chosen Ones. Chosen Ones takes place after a group of people has saved the world from the Dark One.After the Dark One fell,

In Conversation: Our Favorite Underrated SF Movies, with Seth Heasley of the Hugo's There podcast

May 12th, 2020 1h 4m

Once again we're joined by Seth Heasley of the Hugo's There podcast (https://hugospodcast.com) to talk about science fiction films! This time, we're talking about our favorite SF movies we think are underrated in some way. Maybe they bombed at

26.1: The True Queen pre-read w/ Reading the End: Historical Fantasy, Trash Birds, and Chaotic Quarantine Brain

May 5th, 2020 1h 32m

Adrian + Matt are joined once again by our favorite podcast duo, Gin Jenny & Whiskey Jenny from the Reading the End blog & podcast. They've selected Zen Cho's Malaysian-inspired novel of magical Regency England, The True Queen. This episode i

Digital Book Tour: Laura Lam on Goldilocks, a scifi thriller where a group of women steal a spaceship to save humanity

Apr 28th, 2020 33m 42s

Welcome to our inaugural Digital Book Tour, featuring Laura Lam, author of Goldilocks. Five women steal a space ship to save a human race beset upon by climate change, even while society doesn't believe they should be able to work due to their

Announcing the Digital Book Tour, hosted by Bee

Apr 27th, 2020 9m 43s

Hi everyone! We're excited to announce a project we've been working on to help tide everyone through the lockdown. Friend of the podcast & former guest Bee is joining us to interview SF authors with new books out. They will be bonus episodes ha

25.2: The Tea Master & The Detective post-read w/ Julia Rios: Cozy Murder Mysteries in Space!

Apr 24th, 2020 1h 23m

Julia Rios of the This is Why We're Like This podcast is back for our post-read discussion of Aliette de Bodard's wonderful space murder mystery novella, The Tea Master & the Detective (https://amzn.to/3aD8cOU). In this episode we discuss pow

In Conversation: Our Favorite Aliens in Science Fiction

Apr 15th, 2020 45m 40s

A quick bonus episode this week, with Matt & Adrian discussing their favorite Aliens in science fiction and beyond. We revisit some books we've read for the pod, talk about some classics, and hit on a few under-represented gems. We hope you lik

25.1: The Tea Master & the Detective pre-read w/ Julia Rios: Domestic Cozy Detective Fiction, in Space!

Mar 31st, 2020 1h 2m

This month we're joined by special guest Julia Rios! Julia is a Hugo-award winning Editor & Podcaster, host of the This Is Why We're Like This podcast (which Matt has been a guest on!), and can be found at @OMGJulia on twitter. She edited the M

24.2: Wittgenstein's Mistress post-read: In February reading this seemed like a good idea.

Mar 24th, 2020 47m 36s

This is a somewhat personal & sometimes somber episode, recorded while the world was changing rapidly around us due to the global COVID-19 outbreak. We do our best to discuss the novel, Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Markson, although neither

Things We Like: Quarantine Edition! What to do, watch, and play while you're stuck inside.

Mar 17th, 2020 36m 9s

Last week, anticipating this week's shutdown of major US cities, Matt & Adrian sat down to talk about the ways we're working through our own social distancing boredom for a special edition of "things we like".What are some of the best movies,

24.1: Wittgenstein's Mistress pre-read: Philosophical Science Fiction & being lonely at the end of the world

Mar 3rd, 2020 1h 6m

This March, Spectology brings you a discussion on the little-known but largely influential novel by David Markson, Wittgenstein's Mistress (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9781564782113). Written from the perspective of the last woman on Earth, it'