Comic book artist Dan Schoening joins us for this episode of the Invasion. Dan talks about some of his genre first loves that influenced his decision to become an artist, including the 1980s video game Dragon's Lair, Disney's Alice in Wonderland, and various Saturday morning cartoons. He discusses how he initially studied animation before turni ...…

Sad news: Mike Cleaver, a veteran broadcaster and the man who provided the opening voiceover for the Invaders From Planet 3 podcast — becoming the herald for our Invasion — died on Sunday, February 10, 2019. In this episode, we pay tribute to a good friend.

Author, editor and professor Nalo Hopkinson joins us for our first episode of 2019. Nalo talks about her first loves in speculative fiction, including Harlan Ellison's "Shattered Like a Glass Goblin", Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain, and Kurt Vonnegut's "Welcome to the Monkey House". And she shares what it was like having the freedom to ...…

In this episode, we're joined by author Charles Stross who talks about discovering his love of sf when he was 5 and started reading Andre Norton's books at his local library. By the time he was 15, he'd read everything in the genre. Charlie also reflects on how growing up in Britain of the 1970s — a place he describes as a "malfunctioning socie ...…

We're joined by author and editor Matthew Hughes in this episode. Matt talks about his first love in sf: Jack Vance's "The Dragon Masters", as well as Galactic Derelict by Andre Norton, along with his discovery of Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury and AE van Vogt. He also discusses some of the historical fiction novelists who influenced him, such as G ...…

Author, editor and kung-fu mathematician James Alan Gardner joins us in the latest episode of the podcast! Jim starts off by talking about how comics were his first speculative fictional love, especially Marvel's The Avengers and DC's Crisis on Earth One! and Crisis on Earth Two!, leading eventually to science fiction like Heinlein's juveniles, ...…

Author Mark Barrowcliffe (also known under his pen names MD Lachlan and Mark Alder) joins us in this episode. Mark tells us about his first loves in sf, including Alan Garner, Ursula K Le Guin's Earthsea series, Tolkien, Moorcock, and Andre Norton. He talks about his enjoyment of Tolkien and Garner injecting mythology into their fantasy, and Mo ...…

Comedian, author, podcaster and performer Sean Cullen joins the Invasion for this episode. Sean talks about how his love for speculative fiction started with works such as Tolkien's The Hobbit, Mr Bass's Planetoid by Eleanor Cameron, Stephen R Donaldson's Lord Foul's Bane, and Asimov's Foundation and Robot stories. We discuss the ups and downs ...…

Author Chris Beckett joins us in this episode, where he talks about his first loves in sf, including Heinlein's Starman Jones, CS Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and CM Kornbluth. He describes the importance of being able to explore his father's book collection and coming from a family with a scientific ...…

The Invasion has resumed! Season three of the Invaders From Planet 3 podcast kicks off with a new Voice of the Fans episode, where I interview a group of fans about their first loves in science fiction, fantasy, video games, comics, movies, TV — whatever! My guests include Ryneld Starr, Sarah Corbeil, Jose Palacios, and Sam McCreath. Our interv ...…

For the final episode of season 2 of Invaders From Planet 3 (posted on the final day of 2017) we're joined by author, editor, columnist, podcaster and musician Spider Robinson. As we jump into our conversation, already in progress, Spider shares his thoughts about the loss of his wife and sometime collaborator, Jean; the passing of his daughter ...…

We're joined by author John Jantunen in this episode. John starts off by telling us about his early influences, including David Gerrold's War Against the Chtorr series, Stephen King, old Hammer horror vampire films starring Peter Cushing, and post-apocalyptic movies like The Road Warrior, Escape from New York, A Boy and His Dog, The Quiet Earth ...…

Author Alyx Dellamonica joins us in this episode of the podcast. She tells us about her first loves in the genre, including Spider-Man comics, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, and Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man. We'll also talk about how she grew up in a home where, from a very young age, she was free to read anything, from children's ...…

In this episode, we're joined by author Kelly Robson. We talk about her first love in the genre, Star Wars — how it was big, exciting and sexy, but also an escape from family drama at home; and what it's like to look back on the movie now as an adult and a professional speculative fiction writer. We talk about other early sf pleasures, like the ...…

Author and editor David Nickle joins us for this episode. He tells us about works of speculative fiction that influenced him early on, including the TV series Lost in Space (and what it has in common with Larry Niven's Ringworld), Lester del Rey's novel The Runaway Robot, and the stories of Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Richard ...…

In this episode, we're joined by author and editor Silvia Moreno-Garcia. She tells us how HP Lovecraft and Peter S Beagle were among the English language authors who made an early impression on her. Silvia then goes on to discuss what it was like coming back to Lovecraft while doing thesis work, analyzing the attitudes towards race and sex in h ...…

Author Matt Ruff joins us in this episode, where he talks about how books like Bertrand R. Brinley's The Mad Scientists' Club made him fall in love with scientific thinking and science fictional ideas. He also tells us how being given a box of Robert A. Heinlein's adult books at the age of 9 got him thinking critically about stories, and how th ...…

In this episode, we're joined by author Robert Charles Wilson, who tells us about how he fell in love with speculative fiction — including stories such as Louis Slobodkin's The Space Ship Under the Apple Tree, the Mushroom Planet books by Eleanor Cameron, and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time — as soon as he learned to read. We'll learn how ...…

Sebastien de Castell, author of the Greatcoats fantasy series, joins us in this episode. We talk about how his love of fantasy started with CS Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and the importance of the story to him at a time when he was dealing with one of the toughest experiences a child can face. As well, he shares his thoughts ab ...…

The invasion resumes! In this episode, bridging season 1 and 2, we hear from a group of fans about their first loves in science fiction and fantasy. Our guests include the owners of Vancouver's White Dwarf science fiction bookstore, Jill Sanagan and Walter Sinclair; Vancouver film critic Thor Diakow; and fans-about-town Geordie Howe and Brandon ...…

In this episode, we're joined by author, podcaster, and video game dialogue & plot writer Minister Faust. Minister tells us how his love of speculative fiction started with the original Star Trek series and Robert A. Heinlein's Red Planet. We also talk about Frank Herbert's Dune as one of his early influences, along with the merits and faults o ...…

In this episode, we're joined by author Kit Reed, who tells us how the Oz books — the ones penned by Ruth Plumly Thompson, rather than the originals by L. Frank Baum — were her gateway to speculative fiction. She'll talk about other early influences, like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ray Bradbury, Theodore Sturgeon, and John Collier, and how her readin ...…

In this episode, we'll chat with author Joe Haldeman. We're also joined by Joe's wife, Gay — and the resident murder of crows at the hotel hosting the convention. Joe shares some of his early sf favourites with us, including Lester del Rey's Rocket Jockey, Robert A Heinlein's Red Planet, and the TV series Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. He talks abou ...…

In this episode, we're joined by author, podcaster and scientist Kristi Charish, who tells us about how important the Indiana Jones movies were to her as a young fan — especially The Temple of Doom — and why they still resonate so powerfully in pop culture and sf. She'll talk about reading Heinlein and Asimov, and some of her favourite Marvel C ...…

Author and editor Melinda Snodgrass joins us in this episode, telling us how she began her journey into speculative fiction with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. She'll talk about how Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom books, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Heinlein's juveniles were important to her as a smart kid who wanted adventure and escapism, why ...…

In this episode, author & editor Robert J. Sawyer tells us about getting an early start in adult-level science fiction reading books by David Gerrold and Isaac Asimov. He'll talk about why the original Star Trek was such a great TV series, and share his opinions about how science fiction has evolved and sometimes taken steps backward over the y ...…

In this episode, we'll talk with author and editor Alex Renwick (a.k.a. Camille Alexa) about how Watership Down, Childhood's End, and A Canticle for Leibowitz switched her on to literature and speculative fiction when she was a child. She'll tell us about her love for the TV shows The Bionic Woman and Ark II, and how she later discovered the Re ...…

In this episode, author and editor Claude Lalumiere talks about his love of the TV show Ultraman and comics like The Avengers during his formative years. We'll also hear about the importance of Interzone magazine, and the influence of Philip Jose Farmer, Robert Silverberg, Roger Zelazny, and others on his development as a writer. He shares his ...…

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Invaders From Planet 3, a bi-weekly podcast about science fiction, fantasy, and all points in between. In this episode, you'll get a quick overview of what we'll be talking about with our guests, and why the name Invaders From Planet 3 was chosen. I look forward to hearing from you on this page, on bloginhood ...…