March 18, 2022
Please note that there is mention of transphobia in this episode.
Warning: there is mild swearing and a lot of cackling.
Ali Williams’s book: Beauty by Robin McKinley
Ali Baker’s book: Magyk by Angie Sage
Robin McKinley’s website here
Angie Sage’s website here
This is Laurie Pink, Angie Sage’s child, who is an artist: https://mobile.twitter.com/lauriepink
Ali Williams’s website: https://www.aliwilliams.org/ where you can find links to her lectures, Romancing the Discourse, her editing and writing. You can find the booklist for her paranormal romance lecture here.
You can follow Ali on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok @claficionado
Ali’s paranormal romance novel, Forged in Flames, is published later this year. You can see the gorgeous cover here
Thanks to Ali for being an emergency stand-in guest!
February 23, 2022
Damien’s choice: Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver
Ali’s choice: Asha and the Spirit Bird by Jasbinder Bilan
Jasbinder Bilan wrote about the inspiration she got from a trip to India here
You can find Damien Hine on Twitter here and Facebook. The audiobook of Out of Atlas can be bought here. Damien will be at the British SFF convention, EasterCon. You can buy membership here, but do it soon as prices will be rising at the end of the month.
Fantasy Book Swap is Hugo-eligible! If you’re a member of Discon 3 or Chicon 8 you can add the podcast to the longlist. Help more people read fantastic British children’s fantasy fiction!
Thanks as always to Steve Vapour-Trails for production assistance, and Jack Sadler-Johnson for the use of his beautiful track Bliss.
February 13, 2022
This episode has a very special guest… my dad, Michael Baker, who was 84 yesterday. You can see him wearing his favourite hat here. This photo was taken last May, on my sister Kate’s belated 50th birthday. It was absolutely freezing!
Our choices were:
John Masefield's The Midnight Folk
Chris Riddell's Ghost Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse
During the podcast I mention John Masefield’s poem Sea Fever. You can read it here. I just found this poem, The Ship and Her Makers, which seems closer to his prose, somehow.
The sketch Chris Riddell gave me is here and look at the shiny!
My dad is a published author! His book, The Mountain and the Summer Stars, was published the year I was born. Dad continued to write stories for my sisters and me, and Father Christmas left us some brilliant letters thanking us for the mince pies, sherry and glass of whisky that we left out for him.
Fantasy Book Swap is Hugo eligible! If you’re a member or supporting member of Chicon 8, this year’s WorldCon, and you enjoy the podcast, please do consider a nomination for the long list.
December 29, 2021
Thank you, dear listeners, for your support and interest. Fantasy Book Swap has had 1000 downloads on Podbean! Look, I have the badge to prove it!
This episode has the favourite winter reading of:
Nicholas Jackson
Danny
DC
so thank you all for your contributions! I very much enjoyed listening to them.
Fantasy Book Swap is taking a break until the end of January, when I will be back with Fantasy Book Swap 2: Swap Harder.
Thanks, as always, to Steve Vapour Trails for production support, and for Jack Sadler-Jackson for the use of his beautiful track, Bliss.