For our fourth Digital Book Tour episode, Adrian is joined by Serje Jones, whose new book The Fortress (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9781645660026) has been published by our friends at Erewhon books.
Serje & Adrian discuss restorative justice, writing trans-inclusive feminist science fiction, and feeling emotions in the body instead of in the mind. She also performs two readings from the book.
As a personal asside, I think this is the best novel I've read so far this year, and I really hope folks enjoy this episode & pick up the book. It's a startling, difficult, and radical look at another possible world.
Description from Erewhon:
Jonathon Bridge has a corner office in a top-tier software firm, tailored suits, and an impeccable pedigree. He has a fascinating wife, Adalia; a child on the way; and a string of pretty young interns as lovers on the side. He’s a man who’s going places. His world is our world: the same chaos and sprawl, haves and have-nots, men and women, skyscrapers and billboards. But it also exists alongside a vast, self-sustaining city-state called The Fortress where the indigenous inhabitants—the Vaik, a society run and populated exclusively by women—live in isolation.
When Adalia discovers his indiscretions and the ugly sexual violence pervading his firm, she agrees to continue their fractured marriage only on the condition that Jonathan voluntarily offers himself to The Fortress as a supplicant and stay there for a year. Jonathon’s arrival at The Fortress begins with a recitation of the conditions of his stay: He is forbidden to ask questions, to raise his hand in anger, and to refuse sex.
Jonathon is utterly unprepared for what will happen to him over the course of the year—not only to his body, but to his mind and his heart. This absorbing, confronting, and moving novel asks questions about consent, power, love, and fulfillment. It asks what it takes for a man to change, and whether change is possible without a radical reversal of the conditions that seem normal.
Content notice: The Fortress contains references to objectification of and violence against women, pedophilia, sexual assault, submission, and toxic masculinity.
---
Make sure to follow Bee at their twitter & patreon. (They didn't do this interview, but have several already recorded & others in the making.)
As always, we'd love to hear from you! Chat with us on twitter at @spectologypod, send us an email at spectologypod@gmail.com, or submit the episode to r/printSF on reddit. We'll reply, and shout you out in the next podcast when we talk about your comment.
And if you like the episode, subscribe at spectology.com or whever you listen to podcasts, and share it with your friends!
To find links to all the books we've read, check us out on Bookshop.
Many thanks to Dubby J and Noah Bradley for doing our music and art.
Interview w/ the Hugo Administrator, Will Frank, on how & why to get involved with the Hugos
Announcement: Spectology "series finale" and the future of the podcast
28.2: Do You Dream of Terra-Two? post-read: Belief, Depression, and Courage in Sociological Hard SF
Digital Book Tour: Kathleen Jennings on Flyaway: Small Towns, Fairytales, and Linguistics
Digital Book Tour: Somaiya Daud on Mirage & Court of Lions: Body doubles, court politics, and historical science fantasy.
28.1: Do You Dream of Terra-Two pre-read w/ Bee & Estelle: Alternate History, Destiny, and Space Travel
27.2: The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull post-read w/ Lydia: Colonial Power in SF and Rural & Island Culture.
Digital Book Tour: WM Akers on Westside Saints, detective novels, RPGs, and sequels
Digital Book Tour: Nick Mamatas on Move Under Ground, a novel of Beat literary figures fighting Lovecraftian monsters
27.1: The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull pre-read w/ Lydia: Alien invasion and a history of capitalism & colonialism.
Digital Book Tour: Nino Cipri on Finna, a story of parallel universes as found in low-wage furniture stores
26.2: The True Queen post-read w/ Reading the End: Inclusion in Historical Fantasy, Comfort Reads, Sisterhood, and more
Digital Book Tour: Melissa Caruso on The Obsidian Tower, a story of a young woman on the run from her own magical power
Digital Book Tour: Veronica Roth on Chosen Ones, a story of what happens after the "chosen ones" have saved the world
In Conversation: Our Favorite Underrated SF Movies, with Seth Heasley of the Hugo's There podcast
26.1: The True Queen pre-read w/ Reading the End: Historical Fantasy, Trash Birds, and Chaotic Quarantine Brain
Digital Book Tour: Laura Lam on Goldilocks, a scifi thriller where a group of women steal a spaceship to save humanity
Announcing the Digital Book Tour, hosted by Bee
25.2: The Tea Master & The Detective post-read w/ Julia Rios: Cozy Murder Mysteries in Space!
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
Anne of Green Gables
The Count of Monte Cristo
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends