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 437: Ten Minutes with Karen Lord
Episode 436: Ten Minutes with Simon Ings
Episode 435: Ten Minutes with Claire McKenna (corrected audio)
Episode 435: Ten Minutes with Claire McKenna
Episode 434: Occasionally Enlightening - Three Stars
Episode 433: Ten Minutes with Jack Dann
Episode 432: Ten Minutes with John Berlyne
Episode 431: Ten Minutes with Cat Sparks
Episode 430: Ten Minutes with Karen Burnham
Episode 429: Ten Minutes with Fonda Lee
Episode 428: Ten Minutes with Corey J. White
Episode 427: Ten Minutes with Lois McMaster Bujold
Episode 426: Ten Minutes with Ann VanderMeer
Episode 425: Ten Minutes with Jeremy Szal
Episode 424: Ten Minutes with Eileen Gunn
Episode 423: Ten Minutes with Theodora Goss
Episode 422: Ten Minutes with Robert Shearman
Episode 421: Ten Minutes with David Thomas Moore
Episode 420: Not Locked Down, Locked Up
Episode 419: Ten Minutes with Kelly Robson
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