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 224: Kelly Link Gets in Trouble
Episode 223: Alisa Krasnostein, Sean Wright, Tehani Wessely and the Aurealis Awards
Episode 222: Forthcoming Books with Liza Trombi
Episode 221: Joe Abercrombie and Sean Williams at the Perth Writers Festival
Episode 220: William Gibson, Eileen Gunn, and Chris Brown
Episode 219: On Short Story Collections and such
Episode 218: Harlan Ellison, Bill Schafer and the Volcano
Episode 217: James Morrow, SF, Satire, Religion, and Other Matters
Episode 216: Guy Gavriel Kay and the Legend of the Lost Podcast
Episode 215: On Short Stories, the Possibility of Ruts and other matters
Episode 214: Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois Live in DC!
Episode 213: Helen Marshall and Robert Shearman
Episode 212: James Bradley and the Year in Review
Episode 211b: Kij Johnson and Reimagining Genre’s Past
Episode 210: Genevieve Valentine and all the things
Episode 209: The Beginning of the End of 2014
Episode 208: Caitlin R Kiernan, Peter Straub and the literary uses of fantasy
Episode 207: Kameron Hurley and The Mirror Empire
Episode 206: Peter Halasz, Robert J. Sawyer and Canadian SF
Episode 205: Ken Liu and Chinese Science Fiction
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