A critical book club from the Ancillary Review of Books. Host Jake Casella Brookins invites writers, scholars, and critics to discuss thorny works of science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative genres.
Site
RSS
Apple
Data updated on 18/07/2026
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
Literary agent and Print Run podcaster extraordinaire Laura Zats is on to talk about a novel that is the most urban fantasy you can imagine, and yet seems to run towards different traditions and ideas the closer you examine it—Robin McKinley’s award-winning but under-discussed Sunshine.
Critic & reviewer Ian Mond talks us through Tiny Deaths, a very funny and frequently morbid collection. We also think bigger: about the place and status of humor and seriousness in genre literature, and why non-genre imprints and translated literature might be places to look for this energy.
A Meal of Thorns 52- STAND ON ZANZIBAR with Dan Hartland
Monday, June 15, 2026 • Duration 01:13:02
Brunner’s prescient classic about overpopulation: is it about overpopulation? Was it prescient? And, for that matter: what does it mean to be a classic? Reviewer and editor Dan Hartland joins to discuss these questions and more.
A Meal of Thorns 51- THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS with Premee Mohamed
Monday, June 1, 2026 • Duration 01:05:13
Science fiction readers love a mechanism, they love a bit of world-building and mystery-solving. Premee Mohamed joins us to discuss Gene Wolfe's The Fifth Head of Cerberus, a book that asks: what if a science fiction book intentionally avoided all of that?
A Meal of Thorns 50- SISYPHEAN with Gareth Watkins
Monday, May 18, 2026 • Duration 01:11:39
A rain of corpses is falling from the sky, insectoid femme fatales are setting their compound eyes on our tender thoraxes, and our cattle drive across an expanse of nanotech goo is starting to go off the rails. So we ask ourselves: do we still have to go to work tomorrow? Critic, author, & podcaster Gareth Watkins joins to discuss Dempow Torishima’s delightfully strange Sisyphean.
A Meal of Thorns 49- MOONGATHER with Molly Templeton
Monday, May 4, 2026 • Duration 01:04:36
Stop explaining and start exploring: critic & reviewer Molly Templeton walks us through this gem of 1980s mass market fantasy, with many asides and theories on shifting patterns of publishing and reading patterns. Plus, we spill the beans on the most fun book club, also known as the most fun cult.
A Meal of Thorns 48- READY PLAYER ONE with Matthew Leggatt
Monday, April 20, 2026 • Duration 01:10:39
The pleasures and perils of nostalgia & reference, the importance of identifying real play versus gamified labor, and whether the internet used to be fun: Matthew Leggat of the Utopian & Dystopian Fictions podcast joins to discuss Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One.
A Meal of Thorns 47- CLOUD ATLAS with Abigail Nussbaum
Monday, April 6, 2026 • Duration 01:10:53
A nested novel that very pointedly bridges the litfic/specfic divide, David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas takes some big swings at tricky topics. Abigail Nussbaum returns to the podcast with some thoughts on how the novel has aged, and how it’s still relevant to genre thinking today.
A Meal of Thorns 46- THE BIG SLEEP with Max Gladstone
Monday, March 23, 2026 • Duration 01:01:26
We’re leaving speculative genres for just a moment! Author Max Gladstone joins to discuss style & structure in Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled classic The Big Sleep, a work that’s been massively influential across SFF literature, games, & film.
A Meal of Thorns 45- THE DEEP SEA DIVER’S SYNDROME with Alexander Dickow
Monday, March 9, 2026 • Duration 01:03:30
In this science fiction novel, translated from the French, dreamers “dive” into their own subconscious and return with mysterious & valuable objects. Translator, author, & scholar Alexander Dickow joins to discuss Francophone SF, weird fiction, and artistic allegories & analogies.
Discover shows related to A Meal of Thorns, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
