How do you begin your epic sci-fi, fantasy, or horror story? How do you grab a viewer or reader’s attention, introduce your characters and world, and avoid the dreaded infodump? To discuss these questions and much more, we talk to Shiraz Janjua, host of the YouTube channel How the Novel Starts. Show Notes: How the Novel Starts Shiraz's website Shir…

In this episode, we interview absolute legend Ken MacLeod about utopias in science fiction. And yes, we're talking about the Culture. Of course we're talking about the Culture. Show Notes: The Early Days of a Better Nation Russian Cosmism Utopia and the Return of History Postwar as the war generation's utopia China 2019, just before the pandemic Re…

In this episode, we talk about meeting sentient extraterrestrials: The challenges of communication, what first contact stories say about our own Earthbound society, and why the aliens won't return our texts. David's recommendations: "Darmok" (Star Trek TNG) "The Inner Light" (Star Trek TNG) The Day the Earth Stood Still Arrival The Sparrow, Mary Do…

In this episode, we're talking about the Space Western! Was Firefly cancelled too soon or is it massively overrated? Why does it continue to grip the Nerd Imagination? Is it even okay to use Western elements in SFFH? Credits: Shamelessly stolen from Star Trek's "Spectre of the Gun," the Expanse Season 1 trailer, UFO Cowboy's official trailer, and F…

Welcome to Wizards & Spaceships, a podcast that's about both wizards and spaceships, featuring poet David L. Clink and novelist Rachel A. Rosen. In this episode, we introduce ourselves, talk about our favourite media, and explain why genre snobs need to get a lot less snobby. Do infodumps have a place in literature? Do all fantasy novels need to be…