In this week’s episode, we sort of turn the tables on Jonathan to discuss the art of assembling anthologies, and in particular no fewer than four books he has coming out over the next few months: Revolution in the Heart: Stories Inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin, The Book of the Dead, Vaster Than Empires:, Speculative Fiction of the Eternal and the Ephemeral , and The Locus Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume 1.

Not surprisingly, there is a story behind each of these. One honors one of our greatest writers, another continues a popular series that began with The Book of Dragons and The Book of Witches, a third comes from MIT Press, and the fourth includes stories voted on by jurors at Locus magazine. Along the way we both get to mention some of our favorite writers, along with new discoveries and other surprises—in other words, why anthologies are almost always fun to read.

Order links:

• Revolution in the Heart, Titan Books, September
• The Book of  the Dead, Harper Voyager, October 2026
• Vaster than Empires, MIT Press, November 2026
• The Locus Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume 1, Locus Press, November 2026

This week, Jonathan and Gary are joined by multiple award winning writer and critic Amal El-Mohtar, whose first story collection Seasons of Glass and Iron appeared earlier this year, and whose novella The River has Roots has won Nebula and Locus awards for 2026.

We talk about our favorite stories in the collection, a diverse range of writers including Patricia McKillip, J.R.R. Tolkien, Hope Mirrlees, Virginia Woolf, and Charle de Lint, and about Amal’s own experiences as a writer of Lebanese descent living in Canada and Glasgow.

We hope that what the discussion lacks in focus, it makes up with Amal’s sharp insights as a writer of fiction, poetry, and criticism (in her occasional New York Times Book Review columns).