Fantasy Book Swap

26/10/2024

New episode! Narnia Business with Katie Bruce

Katie’s choice: C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Ali’s choice: David A. Robertson’s The Barren Grounds Katie is just back from FantasyCon! Next year Brighton hosts World FantasyCon 2025; come and join us! Neil Gaiman’s short story is called ‘The Problem of Susan’ and ...

16/10/2024

New Episode!

In today's episode I'm joined by Una McCormack, New York Times best-selling author and member of Gold SF editorial board. Una’s choice: Lucy M Boston’s The Children of Green Knowe . This is the Puffin edition Una has. The 70th anniversary edition is available from Hemingford Grey shop. The TV ad...

06/10/2024

Recording on Tuesday! Have you read either of them? What do you think?

06/08/2024

Upcoming!

28/07/2024

New epidode! In which Kit Power and Scott K. Andrews from Writeopolis join me to discuss Robert Westall's The Devil on the Road and Frances Hardinge's Unraveller. Warning- sweary

09/07/2024

Finally! A new episode with Tade Thompson, recorded at Levitation 2024

Firstly, huge apologies for the delay in this episode, which was recorded live at EasterCon, Levitation 2024. Life got in the way. Tade Thompson’s Bluesky: .bsky.social Tade’s award-winning novel Rosewater is the New Scientist’s July book club pick. Tade’s pick: The Masters of S...

29/03/2024

https://glasgow2024.org/hugo-awards/2024-hugo-award-finalists/

What a brilliant shortlist for the Lodestar! I’m going to try to read them all and talk about them on the podcast.

Glasgow 2024, the 82nd World Science Fiction Convention, is honoured to announce the finalists for the 2024 Hugo Awards, Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult

15/08/2023

New Fantasy Book Swap episode with Kit Power!

Kit’s choice: The Tripods by John Christopher Ali’s choice: Wildspark by Vashti Hardy Kit’s Patreon Kit’s page on Amazon Kit reads his essay on The Tripods on his podcast feed The British Fantasy Society award shortlist Thanks as always to Steve Vapour Trails. Check out his radio show on Rad...

28/07/2023

New episode!

Juliet’s choice: We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea by Arthur Ransome. There is a small display related to the Swallows and Amazons at the Ruskin Museum in Coniston, in the Lake District. It’s not far from Hill Top, Beatrix Potter’s house near Ambleside. Ali’s choice: The Strangeworlds Travel Age...

14/07/2023

New episode time! Trip Galey talk dragons, magical shops and the ickiness of forcing gender norms on children

Trip’s choice: Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville Ali’s choice: How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell The full list of Magic Shop books here Cressida Cowell’s Wizard of Once books and new book, Which Way to Anywhere have more diverse casts. My now 14-year-old as Hiccup when...

23/05/2023

New episode, with author SJ Groenewegen. We discuss Louise Lawrence’s Andra and Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow https://alibaker68.podbean.com/e/ep-33-a-refreshing-lack-of-wizard-dads-with-sj-groenewegen/

Ali Baker and a guest discuss children's fantasy fiction. The guest chooses a favourite for Ali, and Ali chooses a complementing contemporary book. Jokes and the occasional swear word may ensue. Please contact [email protected], on Twi...

11/04/2023

I have fixed some gremlins and updated the podcast reading list. It's here:

The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton and The Dragon in the Library by Louie Stowell Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones and The Strangeworlds Travel Agency by L. D. Lapinski Marianne D…

11/04/2023

Episode 32 recorded at Conversation 2023 with Kari Sperring

Kari’s choice: The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell This is the edition that Kari has We talk about the illustrations, by Ralph Thompson: Kookaburra and Wombat Ali’s choice: Abyssinia by Ursula Dubosarsky A doll’s dress at Rouse Hill Farm Estate, New South Wales Other books mentioned in the epi...

10/11/2022

https://twitter.com/alisonbaker01/status/1590617647078871041?s=46&t=tqjcRgQGj04q6ZuDdHomIQ

Children’s author Maisie Chan recently experienced racism on a school visit. It’s very distressing. just inviting authors of colour to literary events of all kind isn’t enough. We need to set out and reinforce codes of conduct before we start trying to change attitudes.

“An important piece of preparation when inviting an author of colour into schools: what must be done to avoid experiences of racism? That pupil should have been removed.”

05/11/2022

New episode, with Kate Towner

Kate’s choice: The House of Arden by E. Nesbit Ali’s choice: Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi The Mahabharat has been dramatized twice for TV. This is the one I watched in the 1980s. If you want to read the other great Sanskrit epic, the Ram...

05/11/2022

I’m editing the next episode with Kate Towner! So sorry for the delay.

11/10/2022

New episode! https://alibaker68.podbean.com/e/ep-30-hot-gladiators-and-plague-gods/ With Matt and Nina from the excellent Even the Trunchbull podcast on William Nicholson's Slaves of the Mastery and Sarwat Chadda's City of the Plague God

A bumper episode of 1 hr 20! Matt and Nina from Even the Trunchbull come to mine, after I guested on their podcast discussing Joan Aiken's Nightbirds on Nantucket and the lovely picture book Peggoty Po. Matt and Nina’s book: Slaves of the Mastery by Willia...

25/09/2022

New episode with writer of games and novels, Manga translator and all-round excellent person Laura Mauro

This episode was recorded live at FantasyCon 2022 so the sound is a little echoey Laura is a games writer, Manga translator and the award-winning author of Sing Your Sadness Deep (2019) among other wonderful things. You can follow her on Twitter here, and ...