Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times.

Award-winning novelist and critic Nina Allan talks with Gary about what the lockdown has been like on a Scottish island almost devoid of the usual seasonal tourists, the appeal of golden age crime novels, the fascinating exercise of seeing how contemporary SFF works sometimes map onto older or classic works, the reissue of her collection Stardust (with a new story added!), and her forthcoming novels.

Books mentioned include:

Ruby by Nina Allan

The Good Neighbors by Nina Allan (forthcoming 2021)

The Last Astronaut by David Wellington

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

Engine Summer by John Crowley

Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh