I’ve discovered a new podcast and I love it because it reviews science fiction novels. It’s called Hugonauts: The Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time. Two guys named Brent and Cody discuss the things they like and didn’t like about well known sci-fi books from over the years.
It’s fairly new, so there are enough episodes to binge, but not so many that the listener would never catch up. I am listening to the episodes related to novels I’ve read, and I found it exciting to hear people talk about SF novels I’ve loved so much over the years, but haven’t really discussed them with anyone. I loved their review of Vernor Vinge’s A Fire Upon the Deep. Probably one of my all time favorite space operas.
They are pretty positive about the books they review, but do throw in caveats when they deemed necessary. For example, when they reviewed Hyperion by Dan Simmons–another favorite of mine–Brent said he had read it when he was younger and then more recently for this podcast episode. He recounted how he found one of the character arcs to be sexist. He didn’t see it when he was younger. Both of them agreed that the sexist overtones didn’t ruin the story and actually kind of fit the point of this particular character.
I had the same experience. I read Hyperion again last year and I remember thinking how several of the situations seemed more cheesy and sexist than I remember from twenty years ago. But our society has changed in that area since then and I agreed with their assessment.
I listen to it on Spotify, but it is also available on most of the regular podcast platforms.
Andrew M. Friday 