Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Worldbuilding 101 with bestselling author Martha Wells. During the episode, Martha unravels the intricacies of worldbuilding, including what it means, why well-crafted worlds are important for stories, first steps for worldbuilding, research vs. creativity, keeping track of details, how to convey information through description, avoiding infodumping, drawing maps, naming shit and more.
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SFF Addicts Ep. 55: Martha Wells talks Witch King, The Murderbot Diaries, Hard Lessons & More
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they chat with award-winning/bestselling author Martha Wells about her new novel Witch King, her acclaimed The Murderbot Diaries series, hard lessons from her decades-long publishing career, re-releasing old works (and confronting her younger self’s writing), writing both science fiction and fantasy, demons, The Untamed, Mr. Snuffleupagus and much more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 48: Morally Gray Characters with Fonda Lee (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Morally Gray Characters with award-winning SFF author Fonda Lee. During the episode, Fonda shares her “problematic faves” and untangles the moral complexity that we often find in fictional stories, including what draws us to morally gray characters, what compels authors to write them, stories that lend themselves well to moral grayness, the fine line between morally gray and evil, incorporating moral frameworks into worldbuilding and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 47: Fonda Lee talks Untethered Sky, Green Bones, Falcons & More
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they chat with award-winning SFF author Fonda Lee about her new novella Untethered Sky, her series The Green Bone Saga, writing both sci-fi and fantasy, TV adaptations, the corporate vs. publishing worlds, falconry, manticores, worldbuilding and much more.
Author Chat: Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki & Zelda Knight (Editors of Africa Risen)
Join host Adrian M. Gibson and award-winning editors/authors Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Ekpeki and Zelda Knight for a chat about their new anthology Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, as well as the evolution and meaning of the anthology’s title, the story selection process, offering a platform for new African and diaspora authors, storytelling traditions, community building and much more.
Author Chat: Becky Chambers
Join FanFiAddict’s Adrian M. Gibson and award-winning author Becky Chambers for a chat about fictional comfort foods, her journey writing the Wayfarers series, transitioning to the Monk & Robot novellas, tea, video games, hopeful science fiction and much more.
Author Chat: Samit Basu
Join FanFiAddict’s Adrian M. Gibson and author Samit Basu for a chat about his new novel The City Inside, how he got into writing, screenwriting and filmmaking, comic books and superheroes, surveillance and technology, the current state of South Asian fantasy and science fiction, representing India and New Delhi in his work and much more.
Review: The City Inside by Samit Basu
The City Inside is a tricky novel to review. On one hand, I enjoyed it a lot—its characters, world, technology and atmosphere. On the other, the narrative structure is strange, and the real story takes a while to coalesce and impress. That said, it’s also a short book, and author Samit Basu manages to pack in a ton of great ideas, character development and worldbuilding. It’s also a book that contains a heaping pile of heart, humor and positivity, offering up some much-needed levity in these strange times we are in.
Review: Defekt (LitenVerse #2) by Nino Cipri
Finna introduced the sardonic-yet-lighthearted world of LitenVärld, an IKEA-like corporation rife with wormholes and other multi-dimensional oddities. While Finna was a delightful adventure, rich with emotion and sarcastic, relatable characters, it felt like it was just the beginning of something, opening a wormhole to a broader literary world of potential. Now, with Defekt, the potential established in Finn takes a big step forward into the multiverse, in every possible way. And at its core is the one character from Finn that I never thought I would connect with: the hardworking and dedicated (albeit lonely and emotionally lost) Derek. Fucking Derek…
Review: A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
There’s something truly special about finding a novel that speaks to you, the words flowing from page to mind in a symbiotic creative fusion. That feeling of connecting so deeply with a book is priceless, something to be cherished, and it’s even better when that book becomes an author. For me, that author is P. Djèlí Clark. Ever since reading his short works A Dead Djinn in Cairo and The Haunting of Tram Car 015, I was enamored with his blending of the fantastical and historical. That connection deepened when I read some of his short stories, and then even more when I tore through last year’s Ring Shout. Count me lucky when his first full-length novel comes out a mere seven months later—in A Master of Djinn, Clark’s magically-infused Cairo is back and better than ever.