Long Story Short Ep-18: A Meeting in Information Space, with Stewart Hotston

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…