Fictitious

I'm joined in this episode by Joshua Phillip Johnson, author of THE FOREVER SEA. This startlingly unique fantasy novel takes place in a water-scarce world completely covered by endless vegetation, where—instead of oceans—magically powered ships sail seas of miles-tall prairie grass. Kindred Greyreach is a sailor and young apprentice hearthfire keeper, using fire and bone fueled magic to power a harvesting vessel. But Kindred's deep understanding of the fire's own mystic language is unique...

Greta Kelly is the author of the debut fantasy novel, THE FROZEN CROWN. Violently displaced from the wild beauty of her homeland by a ruthless conqueror, the young princess Askia seeks support from a neighboring nation to the south. But in sun-soaked Vishir, where nobles live lavishly while refugees starve, Askia finds herself a blunt object amongst a court of delicate manners and fragile alliances. The princess urgently needs Vishir's armies to intervene before her country burns. Yet...

In this episode I’m talking with Cass Morris, author of GIVE WAY TO NIGHT, the sequel to the historically-inspired fantasy FROM UNSEEN FIRE. This series, called the AVEN CYCLE, explores a Roman-esque empire filled with divine and elemental magics, dangerous political machinations, and rising war between cultures and territories. Several years of harsh dictatorship have unbalanced the powerful city of Aven. But now, the Dictator is dead, and the resulting power vacuum draws in the...

BLACK CANARY: BREAKING SILENCE author Alexandra Monir talks about writing for the DC Icons young adult series, adapting the fan-favorite Black Canary and Court of Owls in a prose novel, and how she got the job of writing a major media tie-in. This DC Icons young adult novel reimagines the fan-favorite DC comics superhero Dinah Lance as a teenager living in a near-future dystopian Gotham City. Decades ago, Gotham and its vigilante heroes fell to a violent shadow organization called the...

WE HEAR VOICES author Evie Green talks about creating her new horror / science fiction novel. We discuss her leap into horror after writing many thriller and YA books, juggling complicated thematic elements, and why readers love the "creepy kids" trope. In near-future England, the economy is collapsing, humanity makes plans to leave earth for other worlds, and a deadly pandemic steals the lives of children. But, when some kids manage to survive, they return from the brink of death with new...

MONSTRE VOL. ONE author Duncan Swan talks about launching his debut sci-fi/horror thriller via a successful Kickstarter campaign, the decision to split the long dual-narrative novel into two volumes, and writing for multimedia adaptability. In this genre-blending action adventure, a catastrophic event at a research installation unleashes a slowly advancing worldwide apocalypse. A squad of marines are sent on a desperate mission into The Cloud, a dark wave of devastation swallowing Europe,...

Essa Hansen is the author of NOPHEK GLOSS. This debut science fiction adventure follows Caiden, a teenage mechanic who discovers his simple but highly regimented life is actually one of servitude on a hidden slave planet. When his entire colony is sent to slaughter, Caiden alone survives, fleeing the vicious creatures who devoured his people. After taking refuge in a strange, abandoned vessel, he is saved from capture by a band of explorers, and whisked off planet—with only trauma and...

I’m pleased to welcome author Alix E. Harrow back to the show. Alix’s debut fantasy novel, THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY, got nominated for—like—all the major awards, was on all of the best-of lists, and was basically a "whole thing". Her new novel, THE ONCE AND FUTURE WITCHES, follows three estranged sisters as their lives uncomfortably re-entwine in late 1800’s New Salem. A patriarchal society has stamped down women’s magic as taboo in the name of control and moral purity. But the...

In this episode, I’m pleased to be joined again by author Leigh Bardugo. She's well known for her expansive Grishaverse series of young adult fantasy novels, including the original Shadow & Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, and the King of Scars duology. Outside of the Grishaverse, she has also released an official Wonder Woman novel, and the supernatural thriller Ninth House. Today we’ll be talking about her latest release, THE LIVES OF SAINTS. This lavishly illustrated collection...

In this episode, I’m joined by Ryan Van Loan, author of THE SIN IN THE STEEL. This debut Fantasy adventure sets a Sherlockian teenage street rat investigator and her troubled ex-soldier partner against political intrigue and violent piracy. In a world where pistoles and steel compete with mad mages and vengeful gods, Buc and Eld are sent to solve a tangled mystery that threatens to destabilize trade and society. But each are haunted by failures from their pasts, and their present—full of...

I’m joined in this episode by Andrea Stewart, author of THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER. This outstanding Fantasy debut novel features seafaring adventures, a unique and cruel magic system, an ambitious Emperor’s daughter with holes in her memory, a wanted smuggler chasing a specter from his past, magic animal companions, creepy mystical constructs, and so much more. THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER arrived in stores on September 8th from Orbit Books. About Andrea Stewart Andrea Stewart is the daughter of...

I’m joined in this episode by Richard Kadrey, author of the long-running urban fantasy series, SANDMAN SLIM. These novels follow the paranormal misadventures of James Stark, a hard-to-kill, half-human magician who spent 11 years stuck in Hell as an arena gladiator and pet hitman for his demon masters. After carving a bloody path back to earth, Stark re-emerges in Los Angeles, hellbent on killing the circle of humans who sent him to suffer Downtown. But to live and avenge in LA requires...

Peng Shepherd is the author of THE BOOK OF M. This debut speculative fiction novel examines a near future world, fallen to an inexplicable epidemic called The Forgetting. All around the world, people have lost their shadows, and soon after, their memories incurably erode as well. Society has collapsed as the Shadowless spread, and their Forgetting warps aspects of reality in alarming and unexplainable ways. Hidden away at a secluded resort hotel, Ory and his wife, Max, have survived...

In this episode, I’m excited to welcome Martha Wells, author of THE MURDERBOT DIARIES. This award-winning science fiction series features the introverted, cynical, and frequently hilarious security robot that thinks privately of itself as MurderBot. It's a half-machine, half-organic construct, corporate owned and rented out to space-exploring organizations. There’re plenty of SecUnit’s just like it, except MurderBot hacked its systems to allow greater autonomy — which mostly consists of...

Emily B. Martin is the author of SUNSHIELD (HarperVoyager, available now), an adventurous eco-fantasy that weaves together the lives of a desert outlaw, a young ambassador, and a political prisoner. Known as the Sunshield Bandit, a former slave named Lark roams desolate canyons, attacking the wagons of human traffickers, and taking from the rich to feed her team and their rescued captives. Translator and minor noble Veran has journeyed to a foreign court in hopes of halting injustices...

In this episode by debut author Alina Boyden. Her new historically-inspired Fantasy novel is STEALING THUNDER, available May 12th from ACE Books. It follows Razia, a sought-after dancer and courtesan with a wealthy and powerful clientele. She is also a thief, stealing from clients in cooperation with her found family of hijras. But though her late night thievery poses constant danger, her greatest fear is the reveal of her past identity. Because Razia was once the crown prince of a...

Menna van Praag is the author of THE SISTERS GRIMM (available now from HarperVoyager Books). It's a dark and evocative tale of four seemingly unrelated young women united by a surreal, supernatural origin. Goldie, Liyanna, Scarlet, and Bea are all on the cusp of 18, each burdened by complicated family relationships, and all filled with a deep sense of longing for something they can’t quite remember. As children, they found each other in Everwhere, an unchanging world outside of their...

This episode features my first return guest — Dan Stout! His new novel, TITAN'S DAY (DAW Books) is the sequel to one of my favorite books of 2019, TITANSHADE. TITAN’S DAY returns us to the city of Titanshade, our police investigator protagonist Carter, and his two-mouthed, mandibled partner, Ajax. Their discoveries in the first novel have changed the fate and fortunes of their dirty, cold and crime-ridden city — whether for good or ill, who yet can say? But bodies are still showing up in...

Tricia Levenseller is the author of THE SHADOWS BETWEEN US (available now from Feiwel & Friends). It’s a young adult fantasy novel that’s been quite accurately described as a “Slytherin romance”. It follows the charming and cunning Alessandra, the second daughter of mid-level nobility, for years left to pursue her own lusts and liaisons while her favored older sister awaited a suitor. Now of age and availability to be brought to society, Alessandra has her sights set on a singular target —...

K.B. Wagers is the author of A PALE LIGHT IN THE BLACK (HarperVoyager). It’s a good vibes military space opera that follows the Near Earth Orbital Guard, essentially a spacefaring Coast Guard protecting humanity within our solar system. The Neo-G crew of the Interceptor ship Zuma’s Ghost prepares for the annual Boarding Games — a multi-military competition which carries huge prestige, bragging rights, and useful inter-branch clout. But this tight-knit found family faces destabilization as...