Welcome to the third 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.
Patricia A. McKillip’s KingfisherThis month Tiptree Award winning writer Nike Sulway and Coode Street co-host Gary K. Wolfe join Jonathan and Ian to discuss Kingfisher, the latest novel from World Fantasy Award and Mythopoeic Award winner Patricia A. McKillip. It’s a lyrical, funny, and sometimes challenging novel about family and destiny described by its publisher as follows:
In the new fantasy from the award-winning author of the Riddle-Master Trilogy, a young man comes of age amid family secrets and revelations, and transformative magic.
Hidden away from the world by his mother, the powerful sorceress Heloise Oliver, Pierce has grown up working in her restaurant in Desolation Point. One day, unexpectedly, strangers pass through town on the way to the legendary capital city. “Look for us,” they tell Pierce, “if you come to Severluna. You might find a place for yourself in King Arden’s court.”
Lured by a future far away from the bleak northern coast, Pierce makes his choice. Heloise, bereft and furious, tells her son the truth: about his father, a knight in King Arden’s court; about an older brother he never knew existed; about his father’s destructive love for King Arden’s queen, and Heloise’s decision to raise her younger son alone.
As Pierce journeys to Severluna, his path twists and turns through other lives and mysteries: an inn where ancient rites are celebrated, though no one will speak of them; a legendary local chef whose delicacies leave diners slowly withering from hunger; his mysterious wife, who steals Pierce’s heart; a young woman whose need to escape is even greater than Pierce’s; and finally, in Severluna, King Arden's youngest son, who is urged by strange and lovely forces to sacrifice his father’s kingdom.
Things are changing in that kingdom. Oldmagic is on the rise. The immensely powerful artifact of an ancient god has come to light, and the king is gathering his knights to quest for this profound mystery, which may restore the kingdom to its former glory—or destroy it...
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, Kingfisher 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 April with a discussion of Paul McAuley's Into Everywhere (his second Jackaroo novel).
Episode 591: The Coode Street Advent Calendar: Nicola Griffith
Episode 590: The Coode Street Advent Calendar 2022
Episode 589: Announcing a Coode Street Advent Calendar
Episode 588: Let’s Talk About Space (Opera), Baybee...
Episode 587: Eileen Gunn and the Night Shift
Episode 586: Ray Nayler and Breaking Down Communicating
Episode 585: Caution - May Contain Traces of Kitten
Episode 584: Back on the ramble
Episode 583: John Kessel and a Life in Science Fiction
Episode 582: Rachel Swirsky and the Universality of Caring
Episode 581: Kate Heartfield and The Embroidered Book
Episode 580: Christopher Rowe and the Instrumentality of Influence
Episode 579: Remembering Patricia A. McKillip
Episode 578: Kind of dull, but it’s something
Episode 577: Books, classics, and collecting
Episode 576: Nicola Griffith and Spear
Episode 575: New books, old readers, and such
Episode 574: Kickstarters, communities, and more
Episode 573: The 2021 Locus Recommended Reading List
Episode 572: Genre, change, and the passage of time
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
50 Tastes Of Gray
Dear Alice | Interior Design
Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast
The Federalist Papers
Anne of Avonlea
The Magnus Archives
The Moth