Episode 309: Epic fantasy, Campbell Awards and more

Gary and Jonathan are back with a rambling conversation that touches on epic fantasy and its relationship to privilege, the recently announced Campbell Award ballot, Gary’s theory on perspective, recent books they’ve read and more. They also discuss hiatuses, missed episodes and how to subscribe to the podcast.

As always, we hope you enjoy the episode!  

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Greg Egan’s Uncanny Valley

Uncanny Valley, Greg Egan (Ilustration by Mark Smith).
Uncanny Valley, Greg Egan (Ilustration by Mark Smith).

I have been acquiring original fiction for Tor.com for a while now, both for the website and for their novella program.  The latest, and one of my favourites, is a new science fiction novelette by Greg Egan.

This is the blurb for “Uncanny Valley”:

Immortality, but at what price, in what form, and how could you be you? In the near future it’s possible to build a new you, a better you, one that could carry on forever.  But if you could carry on, if you could make choices about who you would be forever, how much of your past would you bring with you? Would you be tempted to maybe…edit? Adam isn’t all that he used to be, but he wants to be.

It’s classic Egan, powerful and challenging. The terrific artwork is by Mark Smith (another inspired choice by Irene Gallo), and the story will be out to read and own in August of this year.