Long Story Short: The Official Podcast of The British Fantasy Society

Was it only seven weeks ago that 1,100 fantasy fans gathered in Brighton on the south coast of England for the World Fantasy Convention? If you made it there, here’s a podcast that might help to relive that happy time; and if you didn’t, maybe this offering can tempt you to the next Fantasycon in glorious Glasgow (it’ll be 2026 before you know it!) https://britishfantasysociety.org/blog/bfs-podcast-long-story-short/ Are you a member of the British Fantasy Society yet? Join us here: https://britishfantasysociety.org/about-the-bfs/become-a-member/ Visit Robin’s website: https://robincmduncan.com/ Or David’s: https://www.davidgreenwriter.com/ And you can still visit the WFC 2025 website: https://worldfantasy2025.co.uk, Perhaps even book for Glasgow in 2026, here: https://britishfantasysociety.org/events-calendar/fantasycon-2026/   TIME STAMPS (00:38) Thursday – Robin and David; (02:10) Adrian Fletcher, BFS reviews editor; (02:55) Susan J. Morris, author; (03:40) Jenni Coutts, WFC art lead, artist and author; (04:29) Oliver Arditi, author, red cloak and lead ukulele; (05:50) Katie Bruce, writer, virtual assistant to authors, and LSS book reviewer; (06:15) Allen Stroud, WFC co-vice chair; (07:02) Noor A Jahangir, author and podcaster (Fantasy & Faith podcast); (10:28) David with Laura Bennett, Mike Hollows, Sofia Vahdati, Adrian, Karen Frazier, Helen Lane; (13:13) Saturday Friday – Andrew Knighton, author; (16:27) David Thomas Moore, editorial director, and Laura Bennett, agent; (18:04) Frasier Armitage, author and Paige; (18:51) Author Alexandra Beaumont sings “Down By The Acorn Tree”; (20:43) Stewart Hostson, author, BSFA Chair, and BFS treasurer; (21:52) David with Ella Crean, author and BFS roving reporter; (23:36) Andrew Hook, author; (25:28) Saturday – E Saxey, author; (27:05) Juliana Holzhauer-Barrie, author; (27:47) Steve Toase, author; (29:32) Karen Fiskwick, WFC Chair; (31:10) Alex Makepiece reading at the Elsewhen Press book launch; (37:16) the British Fantasy Awards, compered by Joanne Harris, author; (39:18) Joanne’s words of thanks; (40:18) BFS for Best Anthology, presented by Joanne Harris; (42:32) BFA for Best Audio, presented by David Green, author and Secretary of the BFS; (45:47) BFA for Best Novella, presented by Jonathon Oliver, freelance editor; (49:40) Joanne Harris closing remarks; (51:22) Sunday – Goodbye and goodnight from Rob and Dave.

Robin and David are joined by Samatha York, whose debut historical novel The Foreshore released in August. Discussion ranges far and wide into matters of language, myth versus reality, also history and who gets to write it. There are shoutouts for local bookshops, and discussions on popular islands like Atlantis and Númenor. https://britishfantasysociety.org/blog/bfs-podcast-long-story-short/ Are you a member of the British Fantasy Society yet? Join us here: https://britishfantasysociety.org/about-the-bfs/become-a-member/ Learn more about Samantha here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-foreshore/ Visit Robin’s website: https://robincmduncan.com/ Or David’s: https://www.davidgreenwriter.com/   Time stamps (01:02) Samantha’s publishing journey; (04:05) learning writing through reading; (04:33) lockdown novels; (10:12) finer details; (12:43) the balance between myth and reality; (18:44) how much history? (22:33) Samantha’s next projects; (24:30) historical fiction readers’ tolerance; (28:40) a fictional background location; (32:22) Katie’s review: That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf, Kimberly Lemming; (34:34) planner vs Discovery Writer; (38:05) the sausage behind the curtain: what is Robin trying to say? (Answers on a postcard); (39:10) an island called Eilean Eòin; (42:08) audiobook? (43:15) bookshops, local and national; (47:15) [contractually mandated] Tolkien chat; (49:35) …eventually, Robin arrives at a question – authors changing history? (53:16) the Return of the Rings (of Power).

Robin and Dave dress up as writers to chat with Stewart Hotston about his latest novel, the magnificent space opera Project Hanuman. We ramble far and wide to chat about LARPing, bookshelves, reading recs, the British Science Fiction Association, and much, much more, but most importantly, we touch on some weighty topics that need to be discussed, like why SF authors write about politics, and what happens if we don’t. https://britishfantasysociety.org/blog/bfs-podcast-long-story-short/ Are you a member of the British Fantasy Society yet? Join us here: https://britishfantasysociety.org/about-the-bfs/become-a-member/ Learn more about Stewart here: https://stewarthotston.com/about/ Visit Robin’s website: https://robincmduncan.com/ Or David’s: https://www.davidgreenwriter.com/ Time stamps: (01:16) Project Hanuman; (02:15) A quiet collapse; (02:45) Inspirations for Project Hanuman; (05:20) Iain M. Banks; (05:45) Background physics; (07:15) ** INTERLUDE ** (08:55) The Science-y Bit; (18:10) Managing story scope vs word count; (22:45) Writing out the Internet (Mission: Impossible); (26:10) The experience of writing Project Hanuman; (28:30) The book glossary in your head; (31:15) Katie’s review: Peter Darling, by Austin Chant; (33:00) Obscure punctuation / The Secret Code; (35:20) BSFA Chair / helping fans do what they love; (37:10) Challenges / the Cloak of Boring Politics; (39:10) Work on your craft; (40:40) Stewart’s recommendations:             - The Future, Naomi Alderman (2023)             - Exordia, Seth Dickinson (2024)             - The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson (2015)             - The Proof of My Innocence, Jonathan Coe (2024)             - Judith Butler, feminist philosopher (43:25) SFF and Politics; (49:18) LARP; (57:00) What are you up to next?             - The Next Enemy Will Be the Last (due 2026)             - Epic fantasy duology (2027/2028?)             - Portal fantasy…

The BFS are very pleased to support the Best Audiobook: Science Fiction & Fantasy category at the inaugural British Audio Awards, the ceremony for which takes place on 24th November. To mark the event, Long Story Short presents our very first Podcast Special. https://www.thebookseller.com/the-british-audio-awards/the-british-audio-awards https://britishfantasysociety.org/blog/bfs-podcast-long-story-short/ Are you a member of the British Fantasy Society yet? Join us here: https://britishfantasysociety.org/about-the-bfs/become-a-member/ Visit Robin’s website: https://robincmduncan.com/ And Pam’s: https://www.pslivingstone.com And also David Green’s: https://www.davidgreenwriter.com/   Time stamps (01:05) The Speakies organisers’ statement; (01:40) summary of the award categories; (02:05) “And the nominees are…”  (Best Audiobook – SF & Fantasy); (03:10) some words from Juno Dawson (read by PS Livingstone); (04:57) Steve Lyons and Nicholas Briggs chat Agent of the Daleks; (08:20) the evolution of audio drama; (11:16) Nick and Steve’s processes; (15:27) how important are audiobooks in your own reading? (17:20) reading in the bath (+Nick’s recommendations): The Intruder, John Rowe Townsend (1969) First Light, Geoffrey Wellum (2020) Rogue Male, Geoffrey Household (1939) (21:06) the value of (audio drama) awards; (25:00) revisiting books, but in audio: praise for Ian Holm and Peter Kenny; (27:35) reading Revenge of the Cybermen; (28:35) how does it feel to be nominated for a British Audio Award? (32:12) some other nominations of potential interest.

Robin & David were joined in the run up to World Fantasy in Brighton (UK) by Joe Hill, whose new novel, King Sorrow, is his first in nine years. This episode is a real doozy, with the chat ranging far-and-wide. Not to be missed! Check out our new detailed timestamps at the bottom of these notes. https://britishfantasysociety.org/blog/bfs-podcast-long-story-short/ [There are handful of F-bombs in the episode] Are you a member of the British Fantasy Society yet? Join us here: https://britishfantasysociety.org/about-the-bfs/become-a-member/ Learn more about Joe here: https://www.joehillfiction.com/#intro Visit David’s website: https://www.davidgreenwriter.com/ And Robin’s: https://robincmduncan.com/   Time stamps (with about 30s lead-in) (03:06) a home in the British Fantasy community (05:35) 2000AD (06:52) King Sorrow (11:49) other kinds of peril (13:48) Better Call Saul (15:03) Dark Academia (16:48) a Ken Follet epic (21:29) the Broken Binding special edition (24:20) illustration and physical books (27:02) the Orwellian thing (28:17) the pain is the point (32:26) themes in King Sorrow (36:40) dragon tattoos (37:47) dragons like cats (38:39) emptying the full magazine (41:01) Stephen King (48:52) King Sorrow; horror or fantasy? (51:23) how terrible to live in Middle Earth (53:26) banned books / we're all f**ked (56:10) World Fantasy (57:21) Locke & Key (66:38) Return of the Jedi is not very good (69:30) Hunger, a novel (2026)