Books

Harry Potter – From Page to Screen and Beyond

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We’ve been promising you this for ages, and here it is at last – an in-depth discussion of the boy wizard.

Our resident expert Sarah Burrow is joined by special guest Suzie Nockles (last heard in our Hunger Games episode) to assess the sprawling universe that is the Harry Potter phenomenon.

Just what made J.K. Rowling’s books so successful and did their big screen adaptations actually improve on them?  Could the Pottermore website have yet more surprises in store for fans? Hogwarts may have conquered Florida’s theme parks but will it fare as well in Japan? And was Dumbledore gay just because J.K. Rowling says he was?

All this and more, in the latest Impossible Podcast!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:24 — 50.7MB)

Game of Thrones – From Page to Screen

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Join Caleb Woodbridge, Sarah Burrow and – making his debut on the podcast – Kieran Mathers as they tackle George RR Martin’s epic fantasy sequence.

After an in-depth discussion of the books, including their use of history and magic, the team turns a ciritcal eye on the smash hit HBO series. Where did it succeed? Where did it fail? And how should Season 2 (and Season 3) move forward? All this, plus the burning question: do too many lesbian prostitutes spoil the broth?

PLEASE NOTE: The first 30 minutes of the podcast are spoiler free, but there are significant spoilers for the rest of the running time. You have been warned!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:47 — 45.6MB)

The Hunger Games – From Page to Screen

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Sarah Burrow and special guests Suzie Nockles, Charlotte Marchant-Jones and Alex Gatherer discuss the new film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ book The Hunger Games!

Join us as we compare the book and the film, and give you our thoughts on the casting choices and how the film was shot. We also discuss our favourite characters and how they’ve translated to the big screen. And interestingly we see what differences arise when you put two Team Peeta and two Team Gale supporters together in front of a microphone!

The first three minutes contain a quick spoiler free review while the rest of the podcast contains spoilers for the film and first book (with very minimal spoilers for the two other books in the series).

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:39 — 52.8MB)

What did you think of the film? Are you happy with what they did with the book and the characters? Has seeing the film made you want the read the book? And are you Team Peeta or Team Gale or are you more TeamWhatAreAllTheseTeamsAbout? Head over to Facebook or Twitter and let us know what you think.

"Rayguns and Rocket Ships" – Can Books Save Space Opera?

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When you think of sci-fi, the chances are you’re thinking of Space Opera. But as television turns its back on tales of “shooty-death-kill in space”, will the sub-genre continue to thrive on the printed page?

A stunning line-up of top sci-fi authors assembled at the recent SFX Weekender to confront this very question. Paul McAuley, Peter F. Hamilton, Alastair Reynolds, Dan Abnett, Jaine Fenn, Mike Cobley and Aaron Dembski-Bowden reviewed the current state of literary science fiction and raised some tantalising questions of their own. Have the harsh realities of modern life killed our dreams of exploration? Does it still count as Space Opera if the story’s set on Earth? And just what the frack is Space Opera anyway? All this and more, in the latest Impossible Podcast!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:36 — 50.0MB)

Book Review – ‘The Whisper Jar’ – Carole Lanham

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Some secrets are kept in jars – others, in books.

It’s book review time again, so join P.G. Bell and Olivia Cottrell as they tackle a collection of short fantasy tales from acclaimed author Carole Lanham. In The Whisper Jar, you will encounter a Blood Digger who bonds two children irrevocably together; a young woman who learns of her destiny through the random selection of a Bible verse; and a boy whose life begins to reflect the stories he reads…

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:38 — 12.5MB)

Author Interview – Simon Kurt Unsworth – FantasyCon 2011

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Hundreds of fantasy, sci-fi and horror fans descended on Brighton last weekend for the British Fantasy Society‘s annual convention. Our reviews editor, P.G. Bell, was one of them.

There are lots of good reasons to attend the annual FantasyCon. Free wine is one. The chance to meet your favourite writers and publishers in the flesh is another. And that’s why I was there. (Well, also for the free wine. But definitely not for Saturday night’s tentacle burlesque show. Honest).

I got to chat with World Fantasy Award nominated writer Simon Kurt Unsworth, who was in town to launch his new book, Quiet Houses. (If you haven’t heard our review of Quiet Houses yet, you can download it here). He told me how the book came into being, how a series of long bus journeys led to him becoming a writer, and why he likes his characters to be “baffled”. Click the link below to hear the full story, and read on after the break for some photos of the launch and the rest of the weekend!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:30 — 20.6MB)

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