Two Chairs Talking

Episode 28: Mastering the Dragons

Perry and David discuss the upcoming Hugo Awards, and David discusses with Rob Gerrand their mutual love of the work of Jack Vance.
Hugo Award nominees 2020 (34:18)
Fiction categories (01:24)
Novel category (00:28)
The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley (03:33)
The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders (04:26)
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire (03:11)
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (03:43)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (00:45)
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (00:48)
Hugo Voting Package (00:31)
The Deep by Rivers Solomon (01:01)
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers (01:23)
Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom by Ted Chiang (01:23)
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark (01:09)
In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire (01:10)
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (03:17)
David's Reading (08:23)
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (04:04)
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philipa Pearce (04:03)
Interview with Rob Gerrand (35:02)
About Jack Vance (01:37)
Rob's introduction to Vance (00:27)
Tschai tetralogy (00:37)
Demon Princes novels (04:30)
David's introduction to Vance (00:29)
The Dragon Masters (01:31)
Demon Princes series (02:37)
Bad Ronald (00:16)
The View from Chickweed's Window (02:08)
Big Planet (01:05)
Emphyrio (00:23)
The Blue World (00:45)
Lyonnesse (04:14)
Vance Integral Edition (05:38)
Ebooks based on the VIE (01:53)
The Languages of Pao (01:44)
Lyonnesse (01:21)
Vance's Crime Novels (01:46)
SF Writers and crime writing (00:16)
Frederick Brown (00:19)
Madball~Frederick Brown (00:15)
Night of the Jabberwock~Frederick Brown (00:03)
The Screaming Mimi~Frederick Brown (00:16)
The Fabulous Clipjoint~Frederick Brown (00:13)
Windup (02:41)
Image based on the illustrations by Jack Gaughan to “The Dragon Masters” by Jack Vance, Galaxy August 1962.

Episode 27: TV or Not TV?

David and Perry talk about science fiction on television, picking out a few favourites among a vast array of available material:
The Expanse (Amazon Prime) (16:33)
The Outsider (HBO/Foxtel) (07:40)
For All Mankind (Apple TV+) (12:01)
Star Trek: Picard (Amazon Prime) (30:55)
Interview with Rose Mitchell and Andrew O'Rorke (26:37)
Tales from the Loop (Amazon Prime) (02:12)
Next episode (00:34)
Wind-up (00:29)
Photo by Burak K from Pexels

Episode 26: Now We Are One

Perry and David celebrate the first anniversary of this podcast by each talking about the best five books they've ever read.
Our podcast anniversary (01:18)
Tribute to Mervyn Binns (02:51)
Choosing our five favourite books (00:33)
Visited by the Suck Fairy (01:18)
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (12:47)
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (08:27)
How we chose these books (02:00)
The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (07:22)
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (08:19)
The Tango Briefing by Adam Hall (09:20)
The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett (09:06)
Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond(07:13)
The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough (06:38)
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles (09:29)
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (08:46)
Honourable mentions (03:27)
Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

Episode 25: Kings of Infinite Space

David and Perry, together with special guests W. H. Chong and Paul Carr, talk about how they first started to become SF/Fantasy readers, and in Paul's case, how he got into the space industry.
Coping with social distancing (01:38)
New Zealand World SF Con goes virtual (02:25)
Hugo Awards short list (02:07)
How we became SF/Fantasy readers (00:40)
Perry's introduction to the field (05:27)
Secret Seven and Famous Five by Enid Blyton (00:35)
Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting (00:24)
Astounding/Analog magazine (03:44)
David's introduction to the field (08:06)
The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton (01:04)
The Story of the Amulet by Edith Nesbit (02:18)
Cities in Flight by James Blish (00:55)
Kings of Space by W. E. Johns (00:44)
Edgar Rice Burroughs (00:39)
The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke (00:20)
Isaac Asimov (00:58)
Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg (01:01)
Our next episode (01:58)
Interview with W. H. Chong (50:50)
Interview with Paul Carr (24:13)

Episode 24: Noir is the New Black

In a special Crime episode Perry and David, with special guest Dr. Lucy Sussex, discuss:
Social distancing
Clarification
Follow-up - Nebula Awards Voting
Gone By Midnight by Candice Fox
Hades, Eden, Fall by Candice Fox
The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
November Road by Lou Berney
Peace by Garry Disher
Books we're looking forward to
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
Hugo nominated novellas and novels
A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler
Our plans)

Episode 23: Stocking up for the Apocalypse

David and Perry discuss:
The Coronavirus Epidemic
How we rate books
Touch~Claire North
Hugo Awards for 2020
A Memory Called Empire~Arkady Martine
Infinite Detail~Tim Maughan
The Wicked Girls~Alex Marwood
The Mermaids Singing~Val McDermid
The Ten Thousand Doors of January~Alix E. Harrow
Daemon Voices~Philip Pullman
Clockwork~Philip Pullman
I Was a Rat~Philip Pullman
Blue Moon~Lee Child
Interview with Lucy Sussex
The Arsonist~Cloe Hooper
Kinglake-350~Adrian Hyland
The Wasp and the Orchid~Danielle Clode
Viv Albertine
Patrick Parker's Progress~Mavis Cheek
Farthing, Ha'Penny, Half a Crown~Jo Walton
Swastika Night~Katharine Burdekin
Generation Loss~Elizabeth Hand
Peace~Gary Disher
Interview with W. H. Chong
Black Leopard, Red Wolf~Marlon James
Red Moon~Kim Stanley Robinson
Lanny~Max Porter
Grief is a Thing With Feathers~Max Porter
Best SF of the Year~Strahan
Blackfish City~Sam J. Miller
The Wandering Earth collection~Liu Cixin
On the Beach~Neville Shute
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel~Alexander Chee
In the Garden of Beasts~Eric Larsen
Agency~William Gibson
The Rain Heron~Robbie Arnott
Windup.

Episode 22: The best publishing house in Old North Australia

In this special episode, Perry and David speak to Rob Gerrand, Bruce Gillespie and Carey
Norstrilia Press Interview
How Norstrilia Press got started
Coming up with the name
Philip K. Dick - Electric Shepherd
Stanislaw Lem article sets off controversy
The Altered I (workshop book)
Rob Gerrand's involvement
The View From the Edge
Moon in the Ground by Keith Antill
Other SF publishers in Australia
Typesetting
Sales and Distribution
Roles of Carey, Bruce and Rob
Dancing Dragons by Damien Broderick
Transmutations
Stellar Gauge - Dreaming Dragons - Roger Zelazny poems
Academic studies of SF in the U.S.
Dreaming Dragons
Lavington Pugh by Jay Bland
Getting Reviews
The Plains by Gerald Murnane
Dreamworks anthology
An Unusual Angle by Greg Egan
In the Heart or in the Head by George Turner
Landscape with Landscape by Gerald Murnane
Funding problems
Down Deep scandal
Looking back on it
The role of Hyland House
Wind-up
Image: the logo of Norstrilia Press against a starry background (composite created by David Grigg).

Episode 21: A beautifully illuminated blueprint

David and Perry discuss 1961, an amazingly good year for science fiction:
Hugo Time Machine (1961)
Novel nominees
Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys
The High Crusade by Poul Anderson
Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon
Deathworld by Harry Harrison
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jnr
Other books which might have been nominated
Short Fiction nominees
Need by Theodore Sturgeon
The Lost Kafoozalum by Pauline Ashwell
Open to Me, My Sister by Phillip Jose Farmer
The Longest Voyage by Poul Anderson
Other possible nominees
Windup

Episode 20: Don’t need no Saturn V rockets

Perry and David discuss:
Follow-ups
What we've been reading
Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
The Lost City of Z by David Grand
Nova Mob - Ian Mond's recommendations
Infinite Detail by Tim Maughan
Ordinary People by Sally Rooney
Voices by Ursula Le Guin
The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
The Shelflife of Zora Cross - Interview with Lucy Sussex
Interstellar - the movie
What we have planned
Image from Interstellar movie poster. Copyright Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros Pictures. Used here for review purposes only (fair use).

Episode 19: Perplexed by hailstones

David and Perry discuss:
Best movies 2019 -- Perry
Avengers - Infinity War
Captain Marvel
All Is True
Knives Out
John Wick Chapter 3
Best Movies 2019 -- David
Mortal Engines
First Man
Re-watched movies
Best TV 2019 --Perry
Game of Thrones
For All Mankind
Mr Mercedes
Best TV -- David
For All Mankind
Morning Wars
Good Omens
The Boys
Goliath
Trying to keep up
The Hugo Time Machine -- 1960
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine
Short Fiction nominees
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Twilight Zone
The Outsider by Stephen King
Wind-up
Photo of hailstones by Hornbeam Arts on Flickr.