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 418: Ten Minutes with Joe Monti
Episode 417: Ten Minutes with Alyx Dellamonica
Episode 416: Ten Minutes with Brian Evenson
Episode 415: Ten Minutes with Rick Wilber
Episode 414: Ten Minutes with Elizabeth Hand
Episode 413: Ten Minutes with Joe Abercrombie
Episode 412: Ten Minutes with Michael Swanwick
Episode 411: Ten Minutes with E Lily Yu
Episode 410: Ten Minutes with Elizabeth Bear and Scott Lynch
Episode 409: Ten Minutes with Kelly Barnhill
Episode 408: Ten Minutes with David Pomerico
Episode 407: Thirty Minutes with Nnedi Okorafor
Episode 406: On the Ten Minutes With Experience and more [REPOST]
Episode 406: On the Ten Minutes With Experience and more
Episode 405: Ten Minutes with James Patrick Kelly
Episode 404: Ten Minutes with Nalo Hopkinson
Episode 403: Ten Minutes with Kim Stanley Robinson
Episode 402: Ten Minutes with Kate Elliott
Episode 401: Ten Minutes with M. Rickert
Episode 400: In which we turn 400...
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