Episode 377: Books in the Time of Coronavirus

This week, Jonathan and Gary are back together (with no guests) for the first time in several weeks, and we discuss the inevitable: the current pandemic, and the various ways in which it was and was not anticipated by past science fiction narratives—not only of worldwide plagues but of alien invasion stories and tales of isolation. But we also find time to touch upon the reading we’ve both been up to, including Gene Wolfe’s final novel, Lavie Tidhar’s reinvention of the Arthurian tales By Force Alone and some recent titles edited by Jonathan himself, including Zen Cho’s The Order of the Full Moon Reflected in Water and Alex Irvine’s Anthropocene Rag. We also encourage listeners to check out our newly launched series of short "Ten Minutes With . . ." podcasts, and to support not only their local bookstores, but independent publishers, including our beloved Locus magazine, who like so many people are facing unprecedented stresses in the current economic environment.