104: Groundbreaking and Great

Octothorpe

John, Alison and Liz discuss what SF they enjoyed from 2023.

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Content warnings this episode: None

• Fanzine
  • The Ancillary Review of Books
  • IDEA
  • Nerds of a Feather
• Fan Artist
  • Alison Scott
  • España Sheriff
• Fan Writer
  • Camestros Felapton
  • Paul Weimer
  • Sandra Bond
• Fancast
  • Going Rogue
• Game/Interactive Work
  • Video games
    • Baldur’s Gate 3
    • Chants of Sennaar
    • Dredge
    • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
    • Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
  • Tabletop games
    • Apiary
    • Earthborne Rangers
    • Moon
    • Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game
    • INELIGIBLE: Hegemony
  • Galactic Starcruiser
    • Adrian Hon’s write-up
    • Cass Morris’s write-up
• Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)
  • Blue-Eyed Samurai (Netflix)
  • Doctor Who (BBC iPlayer, Disney+)
  • For All Mankind (Apple TV+)
  • Foundation (Apple TV+)
  • The Last of Us (Now)
  • The Mandalorian (Disney+)
  • Poker Face (Now)
  • Silo (Apple TV+)
  • Star Trek: Lower Decks (Paramount+)
  • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+)
  • The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Netflix)
• Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)
  • Asteroid City (Now Cinema)
  • Barbie (rent or buy)
  • Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (Paramount+)
  • Ghosts, series 5 (BBC iPlayer)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Disney+)
  • The Marvels (Disney+)
  • Nimona (Netflix)
  • Polite Society (Now Cinema)
  • Poor Things (rent or buy)
  • Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Now Cinema)
• Best Related Work
  • 50 Years of Text Games by Aaron A Reed
    • Silverwolf
  • A City on Mars by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith
  • All These Worlds: Reviews and Essays by Niall Harrison
  • A Traveller in Time: The Critical Practice of Maureen Kincaid Speller, ed. Nina Allan
• Best Graphic Story
  • Moon Knight, volume 9 by Jed MacKay, Alessandro Cappuccio, and Rachelle Rosenberg
  • Why Don’t You Love Me? by Paul B Rainey
• Best Series
  • Dune by Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson
  • Elric by Michael Moorcock
  • Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie
  • The Final Architecture by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  • The Tyrant Philosophers by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Best Short Fiction
  • “Spring Woods Spring” by B Pladek
  • “The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer
  • Find stories to read at Rocket Stack Rank
• Best Novella
  • A Theory of Haunting by Sarah Monette
  • Walking Practice by Dolki Min
  • “On the English Approach to the Study of History” by E Saxey
• Best Semiprozine
  • Giganotasaurus
  • Strange Horizons
    • wot, no https?!
• Best Novel
  • Bridge by Lauren Beukes
  • The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
  • The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
  • Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez
  • Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway
  • Orbital by Samantha Harvey
  • In Ascension by Martin MacInnes
  • Hopeland by Ian McDonald
  • Julia by Sandra Newman
  • Him by Geoff Ryman
  • Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford
  • City of Last Chances and The House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  • Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
  • The Year in Review 2023 by Graham Sleight
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Favourite Reading Positions” by Sue Mason
    • Alt text: John is in the bottom-left, sitting in a chair, wearing a blue shirt and purple trousers, holding a can, and reading an ebook. Alison is in the upper-middle, lying down upside down, wearing a purple shirt and stripy trousers, and reading an ebook. Liz is in the bottom-right, wearing a pink shirt with green trousers, holding a mug of a hot beverage, and reading a physical book. They are surrounded by floating beer bottles, books, the Moon, a mug with a moose on it, and two cats. The word “Octothorpe” appears in scattered letters around the artwork, against a pinky-purple background.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)