Stories in Print

Whether novels, short stories, graphic novels or comics, science fiction and fantasy has a long history on the printed page, and now in ebooks and other digital equivalents. We review and discuss fantastic fiction past and present!

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)

Trials & Triumphs – A Review of the SFX Weekender 3 Event

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The dust has settled, the hangovers faded and the cosplay has been packed away for another year. But was this year’s SFX Weekender – one of Britain’s biggest sci-fi and fantasy conventions – worth the trip?

It’s safe to say that not everything went according to plan, but did the stellar guest list make up for the freezing temperatures and interminable queues? P.G. Bell shares the high and low points with Caleb Woodbridge and Sarah Burrow. PLUS! a report on the inaugural cosplay competition and interviews with a few of the participants. Click on the jump below to find photos of some of the people we spoke to, but head on over to our Facebook page to see a complete gallery of the weekend’s events!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:15 — 41.4MB)

(right click and “Save Target/Link As…”)

P.S. The excellent ‘Transdimensional Mix’ of the Doctor Who theme music comes courtesy of HardWire.

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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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Book Review – ‘Quiet Houses’ – Simon Kurt Unsworth

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“Do you live in a haunted house? Have you ever been to a place and had an experience that you cannot explain? Do you have a story to tell? Serious researcher wants to hear from you. Must be prepared to go on record. No timewasters. Tel:01524 500 501 ext 23 and leave a message.”

Simon Kurt Unsworth is one of the rising stars of horror and dark fantasy fiction, and we’ve got our hands on his new book, Quiet Houses – a reinvention of the classic English ghost story. Our reviews editor P.G. Bell gives us his verdict with the help of a genre-appropriate (and slightly ghostly) guest star. Click below to find out what they thought!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:45 — 11.7MB)

Title: Quiet Houses
Author: Simon Kurt Unsworth
Publisher: Dark Continents Publishing
Format: Paperback (£9.99)
ISBN: 9780983624516
Published: October 2011