V.E. Schwab talks vampirism on our first ever Science Fiction and Fantasy episode.

On this special episode of Fully Booked, V.E. Schwab joins us to discuss Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (Tor, June 10), in celebration of the Science Fiction and Fantasy issue of Kirkus Reviews.

Schwab is theNo. 1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 20 books, including the Shades of Magic series, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and The Fragile Threads of Power. She splits her time between Denver, Colorado, and Edinburgh, Scotland.

In Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, three distinctive women from different historical periods seek “love, recognition, and wholeness, growing fangs and defying mortality in a world that would deny them their very existence,” Kirkus writes. Here’s a bit more from our starred review:

“In 16th-century Spain, Maria seduces a wealthy viscount in an attempt to seize whatever control she can over her own life.…In the 19th century, Charlotte is sent from her home in the English countryside to live with an aunt in London when she’s found trying to kiss her best friend.…In 2019, Alice’s memories of growing up in Scotland with her mercurial older sister, Catty, pull her mind away from her first days at Harvard University. And though she doesn’t meet any mysterious widows, Alice wakes up alone after a one-night stand unable to tolerate sunlight, sporting two new fangs, and desperate to drink blood.…Schwab delicately intertwines the three storylines, which are compelling individually even before the reader knows how they will connect.…A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernatural backdrop.”

Schwab shares why she wanted to ensure every first edition of Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil got signed—and the logistics of autographing 300,000 tip-ins in two and a half months. We identify the book as a meditation on queer identity and vampirism, and discuss its three main characters and the eras they represent. We talk about female rage, the inherent violence of vampirism, immortality, interwoven narratives, and much more.

Then editors Mahnaz Dar, John McMurtrie, and Laurie Muchnick share their top picks in books for the week.

EDITORS’ PICKS:

The Best Worst Summer of Esme Sun by Wendy Wan-Long Shan (Scholastic)

Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dreamby Megan Greenwell (Dey Street/HarperCollins)

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater (Viking)

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Hemlock by Philip Holland

Smoke and Mirrors by Aaron Stander

Proxy War by S.W. Michaels

ABCs of the World’s Religions by Vicki Michela Garlock, illus. by Raman Bhardwaj

The Unsent Letters of Lucy Prior by Beka Wueste

Fully Booked is produced by Cabel Adkins Audio and Megan Labrise.