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 555: Catherynne M. Valente and Telling Tales
Episode 554: Zen Cho and Finding Black Water Sister
Episode 553: Daryl Gregory and The Album of Doctor Moreau
Episode 552: Nghi Vo and The Chosen and the Beautiful
Episode 551: Sarah Pinsker and We Are Satellites
Episode 550: P. Djèlí Clark and A Master of Djinn
Episode 549: Lockdown, science fiction, and more
Episode 548: Kelly Robson and Alias Space
Episode 547: Nominating for the World Fantasy Awards
Episode 546:Veronica Schanoes and Burning Girls and Other Stories
Episode 545: Aliette de Bodard and Fireheart Tiger
Episode 544: Ten Minutes with Max Gladstone
Episode 543: The Year in Review and Other Digressions
Episode 542: Ten Minutes with Jason Sizemore
Episode 541: John Clute and Science Fiction Repeating the Future
Episode 540: The Last Official One for 2020
Episode 539: A Very Coode Street Gift Guide
Episode 538: Sheree Renée Thomas, Charles Coleman Finlay and F&SF
Episode 537: Ten Minutes with Charlie Jane Anders
Episode 536: Time for another list
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