Podcast Spotlight: Beneath Ceaseless Skies Podcast
Beneath Ceaseless Skies is an online literary adventure fantasy magazine focusing on secondary-world or historical settings. New issues go live every two weeks that generally include two stories in text and one in audio. Since the audio stories are posted at a lower frequency, if you like what you hear in the podcast you can always consider reading all the rest in text. The hosting on the podcast is very light compared to some other podcasts, generally only being a brief bio for the author and then right into it, with no editorializing before or after the story.
They have run enough Weird Western stories that they’ve even decided to compile them into a themed anthology titled Ceaseless West.
If you like secondary-world fantasy or historical fantasy, this is a great and regular source of it.
HISTORY
The first issue of BCS was published in October 2008 and the magazine has been running continuously since then. Issue #3 marked the beginning of the podcast, with “Architectural Constants” by Yoon Ha Lee which had been published in text in Issue #2. The magazine has published without interruption since then, with a brief break in the podcast a couple times a year. Scott H. Andrews is the founder, editor, and host of the podcast. It has gotten a lot of positive attention, including both Hugo and Nebula award nominations, and hopefully they will continue to succeed.
BEST EPISODES
- “The Three Feats of Agani” by Christie Yant
- “Mr. Morrow Becomes Acquainted with the Delicate Art of Squidkeeping” by Geoffrey Maloney
- “No Sweeter Art” by Tony Pi
- “The King in the Cathedral” by Rich Larson
- “Father’s Kill” by Christopher Green
- “Architectural Constants” by Yoon Ha Lee
- “Sekhmet Hunts a Dying Gnosis: A Computation” by Seth Dickinson
- “The Breath of War” by Aliette de Bodard
- “Alloy Point” by Sam J. Miller
- “Preservation” by Jonathan Wood
- “Waiting for Number Five” by Tom Crosshill
- “The Clockwork Trollop” by Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald
- “The Penitent” by M. Bennardo
- “Worth of Crows” by Seth Dickinson
- “Ill-Met at Midnight” by David Tallerman
NEXT MONTH
Next month I will be shining the podcast spotlight on the podcast of the award-winning online magazine Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke and hosted/narrated by Kate Baker.
