This week’s episode begins with a mystery worthy of its own novel: Hannah tells the tale of a traffic-calming mannequin installed outside her cottage… only for him to be stolen within six hours.

Meanwhile, Nikki has been out and about, enjoying a packed week that included a visit to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, a humanist wedding and the Ramses exhibition in Battersea. There was also plenty of excellent food involved, which is always a bonus.

A quick note: you may hear Hannah’s dog Bertie making his feelings known in the background. He was simply determined to join the conversation!

This episode’s buddy read is The Measure by Nikki Erlick.

Spoilers ahead!

We discuss the novel’s irresistible premise and why it makes for such a compelling thought experiment.

• Would you open the box if it arrived on your doorstep?

• How much would you want to know about your future?

• What would you do with that knowledge?

We also compare The Measure with Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang, the novella that inspired the film Arrival (and was recommended by a listener - thank you!), and discuss why one felt more firmly rooted in science fiction than the other.

Our conversation wanders through questions of fate, free will, prejudice, and what really makes a science fiction novel. We compare The Measure to several other books that tackle big ideas in very different ways, and debate whether the novel delivers on the possibilities of its central concept.

Join us to hear what worked for us, what didn’t quite land and where we ultimately placed The Measure on our ever-growing list of buddy reads.

Books We Reference

• The Martian — Andy Weir

• Culture novels — Iain M. Banks

• The Immortalists — Chloe Benjamin

• Stories of Your Life — Ted Chiang

Next buddy read: Essays! We've settled on Feel Free by Zadie Smith. We'll be talking about our thoughts on that book in the next episode in two weeks time, so plenty of time to join us!