Show Notes
There are big books and big books. This week we cover a HUGE book.
China Miéville is the guest. The award-winning author of Perdido Street Station, Embassytown, The City & the City, and other modern speculative classics – and he’s back with a book two decades in the making.
The Rouse is an epic of true proportions, a 1300-page saga of the twentieth century, rife with war, atrocity, tragedy, and a secret war fought with ghosts?? That’s the premise but it barely touches the sides of this ginormous undertaking.
This is not just a conversation, it’s a search for answers – in which we plumb the personal, political, and supernatural influences behind this story of shady military conspiracy and ghosts of many strange kinds.
I hope you enjoy, ‘cos I worked my ass off for this one!
Other books mentioned:
King Rat (1999), by China Miéville
The City & The City (2009), by China Miéville
Ducks, Newburyport (2019), by Lucy Ellman
Gravity’s Rainbow (1973), by Thomas Pyncheon
Against the Day (2006), by Thomas Pyncheon
House of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. Danielewski
“The Ash Tree” (1904), by M.R. James
A Dark Corner (1971), by Celia Dale
Support Talking Scared on Patreon
Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch
Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from Talking Scared
The 300th author interview is here. And I’m delighted it’s with a debut author, about a truly wonderful book.
In Solace House, Will Maclean takes us back to the 90s for a drug-fuelled trip through some mindbending architecture. It’s a chance to get nostalgic for a more innocent time, when the clothes were baggy, the music was better, and you could spend a summer spent renovating an old asylum without needing to put in on TikTok.
This episode needs no attempt at a witty introduction. Stephen King is back to talk about Other Worlds Than These – the concluding volume of The Talisman saga, begun with Peter Straub 45 years ago.
Leaning into absolute high geekery this week – with Kyle Winkler’s novel of how family game night can go badly wrong!