241. Finnish SF w/ Jukka Halme, Maria Turtschaninoff, Tero Ykspetäjä, and Janos Honkonen (the World SF Tour)

Moomins, symphonic metal, and Worldcon bids, oh my! In this special World SF Tour episode, we’re joined by Jukka Halme, Maria Turtschaninoff, Tero Ykspetäjä, and Janos Honkonen to discuss Finnish SF and fandom, the Helsinki Worldcon bid (VOTE), Finnish film and literature, and a whole lot more!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

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Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Episode 241 — Download (MP3)

Show Notes:

Panelist Sites and Plugs:
- Janos Honkonen:
  - Älymystö (Janos’s band, in which he plays the theremin)
  - Janos’s personal site & blog
- Torsobear —Fluffy Noir!
- Osuuskumma —Publishing in Finnish
- Helsinki in 2017: the Finnish WorldCon Bid
- Jukka Halme:
  - Jukka Halme’s Blog
- Maria Turtschaninoff
  - Maria’s Website
  - Maresi (Maria’s Finlandia Junior Award-winning novel)
- Tero Ykspetäjä:
  - Tero’s blog
Recommendations from our Panelists:
- Irmelin Sandman Lilius —- Finnish Fantasy Maria lovedT A Engström — Space Ball – Tero and Janos loved this
- The Dragon Mountain is the FIRST Finnish translation of The Hobbit
- Stanislaw Lem (Polish writer, but Janos loved the Finnish translations of his books)
- Moomintroll books by Tove Jansson
- Hannu Rajaniemi
- Johanna Sinisalo
- Leena Krohn
- Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen
- Tiina Raevaara
- J. Pekka Mäkelä
- Sari Peltoniemi
- Emmi Itäranta (Hear our Interview with her)
- Jyrki Vainonen
- Viivi Hyvönen
- Maarit Verronen
- Boris Hurtta
- The Summer Book by Tove Jansson is Maria’s recommendation for the first Finnish book a person should pick up.
- Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta is Tero’s pick because it is a lyrical dystopia and beautiful and eligible for a Hugo this year.
- Comet in Moominland is Janos’s recommendation because the atmosphere of SF themes is very strong.
- Leena Krohn (anything by her) is Jukka’s recommendation because reading her books gives you a reward of knowing you have done something worth your while.
- Rare Exports is a new and Finnish take on Santa Claus that’s wonderful and heartwarming—ha no, it is a horror movie.
- Janos was involved in the making of The Iron Sky. Achtung, baby
- Finnishweird.net
- It Came From the North (Cheeky Frawg, anthology of Finnish stories)
- Archipelacon — mostly in English, taking place next August with Karin Tidbeck, George R. R. Martin, and Johanna Sinisalo as guests of honor.