Welcome to the third episode of The Coode Street Roundtable. The Roundtable is a monthly podcast from Coode Street Productions where panelists James Bradley, Ian Mond, and Jonathan Strahan, joined by occasional special guests, discuss a new or recently released science fiction or fantasy novel.
Patricia A. McKillip’s KingfisherThis month Tiptree Award winning writer Nike Sulway and Coode Street co-host Gary K. Wolfe join Jonathan and Ian to discuss Kingfisher, the latest novel from World Fantasy Award and Mythopoeic Award winner Patricia A. McKillip. It’s a lyrical, funny, and sometimes challenging novel about family and destiny described by its publisher as follows:
In the new fantasy from the award-winning author of the Riddle-Master Trilogy, a young man comes of age amid family secrets and revelations, and transformative magic.
Hidden away from the world by his mother, the powerful sorceress Heloise Oliver, Pierce has grown up working in her restaurant in Desolation Point. One day, unexpectedly, strangers pass through town on the way to the legendary capital city. “Look for us,” they tell Pierce, “if you come to Severluna. You might find a place for yourself in King Arden’s court.”
Lured by a future far away from the bleak northern coast, Pierce makes his choice. Heloise, bereft and furious, tells her son the truth: about his father, a knight in King Arden’s court; about an older brother he never knew existed; about his father’s destructive love for King Arden’s queen, and Heloise’s decision to raise her younger son alone.
As Pierce journeys to Severluna, his path twists and turns through other lives and mysteries: an inn where ancient rites are celebrated, though no one will speak of them; a legendary local chef whose delicacies leave diners slowly withering from hunger; his mysterious wife, who steals Pierce’s heart; a young woman whose need to escape is even greater than Pierce’s; and finally, in Severluna, King Arden's youngest son, who is urged by strange and lovely forces to sacrifice his father’s kingdom.
Things are changing in that kingdom. Oldmagic is on the rise. The immensely powerful artifact of an ancient god has come to light, and the king is gathering his knights to quest for this profound mystery, which may restore the kingdom to its former glory—or destroy it...
If you're keen to avoid spoilers, we recommend reading the book before listening to the episode. If you don't already have a copy, Kingfisher can be ordered from:
We encourage all of our listeners to leave comments here and we will do our best to respond as soon as possible.
Next monthThe Coode Street Roundtable will return at the end of April with a discussion of Paul McAuley's Into Everywhere (his second Jackaroo novel).
Episode 310: The Years Best Books So Far, the XPrize and more
Episode 309: Epic fantasy, Campbell Awards and more
Episode 308: Paul Kincaid, Ken Macleod, and the works of Iain (M) Banks
Episode 307: Theodora Goss and the Alchemist's Daughter
Episode 306: Geoff Ryman and 100 African Writers of SFF
Episode 305: Kim Stanley Robinson and the Drowning of New York
Episode 304: A New Theory of Science Fiction
Episode 303: John Kessel and James Patrick Kelly at ICFA
Episode 302: The State of Short Fiction
Episode 301: On Literary fiction and genre, the moon and more
Episode 300: Kij Johnson Exploring Old Worlds
REPOST: Coode Street Roundtable 4: Paul McAuley's Into Everywhere
REPOST: Coode Street Roundtable 3: Patricia A. McKillip's Kingfisher
REPOST: Episode 299: Liza Groen Trombi and the Locus Year in Review
Episode 299: Liza Groen Trombi and the Locus Year in Review
REPOST: Coode Street Roundtable 2: Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky
Episode 298: Lisa Yaszek, Kathleen Ann Goonan and Sisters of Tomorrow
Episode 297: Politics and science fiction
Episode 296: A Return to Normal Programming
Episode 295a: Ellen Klages reads from Passing Strange
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