Welcome to the seventh 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. With James busy with housemoving and such, we're joined by award-winning critic Gary K Wolfe.
Lavie Tidhar’s Central StationThis month we discuss Central Station, the latest book from Lavie Tidhar. It’s described by publisher Tachyon as follows:
A worldwide diaspora has left a quarter of a million people at the foot of a space station. Cultures collide in real life and virtual reality. The city is literally a weed, its growth left unchecked. Life is cheap, and data is cheaper.
When Boris Chong returns to Tel Aviv from Mars, much has changed. Boris’s ex-lover is raising a strangely familiar child who can tap into the datastream of a mind with the touch of a finger. His cousin is infatuated with a robotnik—a damaged cyborg soldier who might as well be begging for parts. His father is terminally-ill with a multigenerational mind-plague. And a hunted data-vampire has followed Boris to where she is forbidden to return.
Rising above them is Central Station, the interplanetary hub between all things: the constantly shifting Tel Aviv; a powerful virtual arena, and the space colonies where humanity has gone to escape the ravages of poverty and war. Everything is connected by the Others, powerful alien entities who, through the Conversation—a shifting, flowing stream of consciousness—are just the beginning of irrevocable change.
At Central Station, humans and machines continue to adapt, thrive...and even evolve.
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, Central Station 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 June with a discussion of Claire North’s The Sudden Appearance of Hope.
PS: During the recording Jonathan incorrectly states this is the sixth Roundtable. It is the seventh. Apologies for any confusion.Episode 472: Ten Minutes with Kij Johnson
Episode 471: Ten Minutes with Alaya Dawn Johnson
Episode 470: Ten Minutes with Premee Mohamed
Episode 469: SF, 2020, and the Anxiety of Influence
Episode 468: Ten Minutes with Tad Williams
Episode 467: Ten Minutes with Stefen Brazulaitis and Tim Thomas
Episode 466: Ten Minutes with Ursula Vernon
Episode 465: Ten Minutes with Walter Jon Williams
Episode 464: Ten Minutes with Derek Künsken
Episode 463: Ten Minutes with Sam J. Miller
Episode 462: Ten Minutes with Catherynne M. Valente
Episode 461: Ten Minutes with G. Willow Wilson
Episode 460: Ten Minutes with F. Brett Cox
Episode 459 Ten Minutes with P. Djèlí Clark
Episode 458: Ten Minutes with Raymond E. Feist
Episode 457: Ten Minutes with Sean Williams
Episode 456: Ten Minutes with Isobelle Carmody
Episode 455: Almost Outta Gas, But We Can See The Golden Age...
Episode 454: Ten Minutes with Adam Roberts
Episode 453: Ten Minutes with Gregory Norman Bossert
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
50 Tastes Of Gray
Dear Alice | Interior Design
Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Anne of Green Gables
The Magnus Archives
The Moth