Annalee Newitz joins us on the show to talk about her new novel Autonomous. We discuss indentured robot servitude, the archaeological digs she's digging right now, and what the future of our economy could look like!
The Martin Studies International Network will help you study Westeros better, Scott Lynch gives hope for the next Locke Lamora book and sadly, we lose a great one in Jerry Pournelle,
QUICK BURNS
Silvana: The Martin Studies International Network is launched! Yes, that Martin. I might join just for the heck of it. (and comments about The Winds of Winter in three....two....one....)
Terpkristin: Dragon Awards for 2017 were announced over the weekend.
Some books that I'm sure people around here liked.
Andy: Scott Lynch updates the Helsinki Times on the status of The Thorn of Emberlain (via The Wertzone) Looks like we may get The Thorn of Emberlain in 2018 and the Scott Lynch lets us know some interesting details moving forward. Emberlain will be Locke and Jean's new base for a few books and we have a clue to the story. Enjoy. Click through to the Helsinki Times, it has a new photo of Scott with his magnificent beard"
Clyde: Jerry Pournelle has died. He is one of my favorite writers, and he will be missed.
BARE YOUR SWORD
Coinage of the Realm - cool words from SFF stories
What are the darkest sci-fi/ fantasy stories not including Dystopias and post apocalyptic stories?
Obama and The Witcher (Veronica sez "TIL!")
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
September Pick: Helliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss
Book briefing
From Dara: What about his brother, Ryan Alldat? (I hate myself) đ
ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show and if you would like to support the show that way head to patreon.com/swordandlaser .
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com/picks,
Â
We say goodbye to Brian W. Aldiss by reading one of his books. We respect Terry Pratchett's Steamroller wishes. And why Hey Jude is not an anachronism.
Download directly here!
QUICK BURNS
Nick: British SF author Brian Aldiss, author of the Helliconia Trilogy and Super-Toys Last All Summer Long (which became the film AI Artificial Intelligence), has died. Three of his books appear on the Gollancz Sci-fi Masterworks list.
Iain: BBC Obituary for Brian Aldiss
Nekroskop: Terry Pratchett's unfinished works got steamrollered.
Aaron: San Diego (California) has decided to start a book festival.
Silvana: Kameron Hurley offered to write the now-dead reboot of Xena: Warrior Princess. While I don't see any need to reboot this classic series, I'd love to see Kameron Hurley's take on it.
Veronica: Super-interesting article about buying your way onto the NYT best seller list.
Shad: The Oathbringer prologue is up on tor.com. Wasn't expecting the prologue to be that POV. Answers a few questions and poses quite a few more.
Genesee: Another trilogy in the Shades of Magic world by VE Schwab.
BARE YOUR SWORD
On book reviews: Is Goodreads that bad?
Sword & Laser's 100 Books: The Stats
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
September Pick: Helliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss
Book briefing
David: Adam Whitehead (of Wertzone) just posted an article about Helliconia, comparing it a bit to Game of Thrones
Wrap-up
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
What's the deal with "Hey Jude"?
ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show and if you would like to support the show that way head to patreon.com/swordandlaser
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com/picks.
Â
All the best books are being adapted into TV shows and movies including Good Omens, The City and the City, Dawn, and The Fifth Season! Plus we dive into the Gunslinger and talk mostly spoiler-free about fantasy westerns. And BONUS song about our Goodreads moderator, Rob.
Download directly here!
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: UCC Green Tea
Veronica: Nothing :(
QUICK BURNS
Louie: The Hugo Awards have been announced. N K Jemisin takes the top prize for her novel, The Obelisk Gate. And The Expanse wins Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, for its Season 1 finale episode "Leviathan Wakes," written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, directed by Terry McDonough.
Via N.K. Jemisin on Twitter: N.K. Jemisinâs âThe Fifth Seasonâ Book To Be Developed As TV Series At TNT.
Jen: In case this hasn't been posted yet, nominees for the Dragon Awards.
Robert: Octavia Butler's Dawn is being adapted as a television series. Attached to co produce is Ava DuVerney, director of Selma, 13th, and the upcoming A Wrinkle in Time. Hopefully the adaptation is for the whole of the Lilith's Brood Trilogy.
Lauren: China MiĂŠville's The City & the City is being adapted for BBC Two as a 4-part drama series, starring David Morrissey from The Walking Dead as Borlu and Mandeep Dhillon as Corwi. I'm really interested to see how they show the "borders" of the city (and the consequent "unseeing") on screen.
Robert: David Tennant and and Michael Sheen have been cast in the adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens a six part series produced by BBC and Amazon.
Shad: Tor.com will be putting the first 32 chapters of Oathbringer online starting with the prologue "To Weep" on August 22 and the first three chapters on August 29.
BARE YOUR SWORD
Hello Tom and Veronica,
I know you said you were done talking about butterscotch, but I have to send this in because I keep yelling at my speakers. Butterscotch does not contain scotch. There are a few theories about the origin of the word, but two more common ones are that it comes from ""score"" (to break the candy into pieces after it's done) or "scorch" (as the sugar has to be cooked). Recipes depend on whether you're making candies or sauce, but common ingredients are brown sugar, heavy cream, butter, and salt and vanilla for flavour. Here's a good article on the etymology and the difference between butterscotch and caramel, and here's the recipe for butterscotch sauce that I use, which is fantastic and unbelievably easy and will impress anyone you feed it to.
Also a few recommendations for local beers, while you're up in Canada. We have tons of smaller breweries around! Most of these are fairly easy to find in stores, and some will be on tap in some places:
-Parallel 49 makes a nice grapefruit radler called Tricycle, and they have a fab dark beer called Salty Scot, but it can be hard to find at this time of year.
-Bridge's Lemon Gin Saison is super refreshing
-Hoyne's Dark Matter is a really nice dark beer
-Dead Frog's Nut Brown is yummy and a little lighter than the Dark Matter
Erin
I should add: this is not saying that putting scotch in butterscotch would be wrong, as I'm sure it would be delicious. Just that it's not a required ingredient.
---
Misty, water-colored memories
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Book Briefing
TGS: Llut
TGS: Other Fantasy Westerns?
What's your favorite Dark Tower connection to other Stephen King Novels? (Minor spoilers)
ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show and if you would like to support the show that way head to patreon.com/swordandlaser.
Welcome to Susanna, James Freeman, Jessica Alter, Stephen Crawford
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com/picks.
Stay tuned after the show for Tanya's rendition of Smooth Roberator!
A license to read, forums to patrol
Guards all our threads with a sword for the troll
His eyes are like lasers but what he wants is control
No need to ask
He's a smooth Roberator
Smooth Roberator, smooth Roberator
Smooth Roberator
We talk with author Daniel H. Wilson about his book, Clockwork Dynasty and why we might not need to fear the robots.
Hot Pie has a bakery! Ready Player One has a trailer! The Rook has a TV show! This episode has a final word on butterscotch! And the man in black has a gunslinger following him!
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Forgot.
Veronica: Driftwood Crooked Coast Altbier
QUICK BURNS
Trike: The most pleasant surprise is the Ready Player One trailer. I started a thread in the Movie/TV section, but here it is.
Trike: Arrival screenwriter Eric Heisserer is adapting another story from Ted Chiang's collection Stories of Your Life and Others for AMC: "Liking What You See: A Documentary."
David: The 2017 World Fantasy Award nominees have been announced.
Stephen: Do not know how serious this is, but Hot Pie has opened a bakery called, are you ready for this, " You Know Nothing Jon Dough "
David: And Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad wins this year's Arthur C. Clarke Award!
Robert: It looks like Daniel O'Malley's The Rook is coming to Starz. It is being Executive Produced by Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight series. So of course her name is overshadowing the book's author.
Nokomis.FL: Rob Reid releasing excerpts for his upcoming book, After On.
BARE YOUR SWORD
I have to raise the name of David Eddings, I read these books in the 1980s. I found it very hard to buy new copies in Brighton uk . I manages to buy complete set on eBay and started reading, wow, the books are still great and I find it very strange that these books have not been made into a movie or to series. Please could you remind your followers about David Eddings. Would you consider a review of one of his books on your show.
Mike
---
The final word in BUTTERSCOTCH
OkayâŚ
So this began when you guys were talking about adding whiskey to butter beer, which is like butterscotch soda (according to what Tom said, Iâve never had any) and my comment was simply goofing off about adding scotch to a drink that, should it be using authentic ingredients, would already have scotch, because butterscotch is traditionally made with scotch. So I called the redundant concoction Scotch Butterscotch.
This isnât helping, is it?
Anyways. I think we can agree that butterscotch, because itâs made with scotch, is the better version of caramel.
JF Dubeau
(and yeah, donât waste good scotch. Just use Johnny Walker Red.)
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
The Gunslinger Patreon Book Briefing
ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show and if you would like to support the show that way head to patreon.com/swordandlaser.
Welcome to Chris Hyde, Jessica Crawford, Steve Coghlan and more!
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com/picks.
Hey kids, Nnedi Okorafor has an HBO show coming, EW and Tor have LOADS of book recommendations and we love the world created by Ursula K. Le Guin.
QUICK BURNS
Allison: HBO has optioned Nnedi Okoraforâs World Fantasy Award-winning novel Who Fears Death to be a TV series with George R. R. Martin attached as executive producer. The novel is about a woman with magical abilities living in post-apocalyptic Sudan where light-skinned Nuru oppress darker-skinned Okeke people.
Silvana: So, according to EW, these are the 27 female authors who RULE scifi and fantasy. I can't even...Who are half these people? Who the heck is Rainbow Rowell? Apparently I was not aware of the genre rulers.
- AND Melanie added: Seems more like a list of 27 books not authors. Rainbow Rowell is a pretty famous realistic YA author who wrote ONE fantasy book as a spin off of one of her normal books. She does not belong in this list.
Stephen: Tor.com reviewers gives us "The Best Of 2017 So Far" list. Nice list, so take notes.
BARE YOUR SWORD
A few things about KU.
A. It is a pay service. 10/month allows you to read as many KU titles as you can consume.
B. You can have up to 10 books in your library at a time.
C. The audio portions still cost full price.
D. Each KU author gets a pittance per page read.
E. There are a lot of books that would never get a wide distribution. Some deservedly so.
F. If you don't read several books a month, the $10 probably isn't worth it. I read 10/20 books a month and have a constantly full backlog and have not purchased a full price boom in months. At three to five dollars a book I am spending 10 bucks to consume 30 to 100 dollars worth of media.
There are however nuggets of gold among the dross. My favorite is Glynn Stewart. He has 3 series and 2 stand alone books. All of which are as good or better than traditionally published works. One series in particular that I recommend to S&L is Starship Mage. A political action romp set in a universe where space travel is possible because of magic. It is epic fantasy political space opera at its finest.
There are of course other good KU authors and books, but a lot of them are mental floss and not like the high faluting books you generally pick.
-Joel
---
Scotch butterscotch is just butterscotch @swordandlaser . Butterscotch is essentially caramelized scotch, sugar and cream. ;) @jfdubeau
---
@Veronica @acedtect I am binge-listening to all of @swordandlaser -
This podcast makes me feel better about being me. #yaynerds #thankyou @epjwrites
---
That looks more like a bear romance novel cover @swordandlaser https://twitter.com/tamahome02000/status/885143125542481920/photo/1 @tamahome02000
@swordandlaser Also @librivox has tons of PD sci-fi/fantasy read by great narrators. Great stuff. @joeljadamson (or as I like to call him, Joel J, son of Adam)
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show and if you would like to support the show that way head to patreon.com/swordandlaser.
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com/picks.
It's windy but in among the breeze, N.K. Jemisin shares wisdom about writing, characters and wrapping up the Broken Earth Trilogy. Plus she accidentally brings up FanFic and talks about why, even though it can be more than practice, it's really good for honing your writing.
George R. R. Martin has even more money coming his way, public domain books clean up nice, we love the Locus Award winners, and why Veronica is not allowed to let a bear eat her.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Schilling Hard Cider: Rhubarb Lumberjack
Veronica: Bulleit Rye
QUICK BURNS
Trike: Syfy to adapt (ordered a pilot) George R.R. Martin's short story Nightflyers into a series. Seems like not a lot of material to support a series, since it's basically his version of Alien.
Silvana: Locus Award Winners
Have not read the novel winners (not really interested as I am one of the very few not impressed with Three-Body Problem) but I read the novelette winner (Alyssa Wong has a unique style) and plan to read the novella winner too.
Special mention to Kameron Hurley for best nonfiction work.
Iain: Just found the Standard E-Books, which are Project Gutenburg books that have been type set and cleaned up to make them easier to read.
I have found the Princess of Mars and Armageddon 2419 A.D. (aka Buck Rogers) and many other cool old SF and fantasy. This is a treasure trove of free books (Dracula, Frankenstein, etc...).
Nathaniel: Just seen this, a Foundation TV Series?
(( Skydance Television is closing a deal with the Asimov estate to try turning Foundation into a sprawling TV series.))
Call for submissions for science fiction and utopian imaginaries
BARE YOUR SWORD
Post-Science / Next Age Fantasy
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show and if you would like to support the show that way head to patreon.com/swordandlaser
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com/picks
Review us on iTunes!
feedback@swordandlaser.com
(415) 779-6736 or (415) 7SWORD6
New Game of Thrones Trailer! AHHHHH! Levar Burton reading stories on a new podcast! AHHHH! Haint plot hole in the Hum and the Shiver-- ahhhhhâ maybe not that big a deal?
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Butterbeer
Veronica: Margs
QUICK BURNS
New Game of Thrones Trailer (Returns July 16)
Christos: Levar Burton is finally making Reading Rainbow for adults and it's free. In each weekly podcast he reads a popular short story in full adds sound effects for atmosphere and gives a little background on it. He said he's going to read Sci-fi and Fantasy short stories but also non genre stories. He only released one episode so far (Kin by Bruce McAllister) but it's great, can't wait to hear more, I never watched Reading Rainbow as a kid because I never heard of it until I was adult, but I am a fan of him.
Sandra and Jessica: The title of the third installment in Becky Chambers' Wayfarer series has been announced: Record of a Spaceborn Few. The release is slated for June 14, 2018.
BARE YOUR SWORD
I love it when I'm totally wrong about a book in all the best ways. Usually, I have @swordandlaser to thank.
— Sue â ď¸đđ°đđť (@spaltor) June 21, 2017
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The Hum and the Shiver: A Novel of the Tufa by Alex Bledsoe
The Painting in the Cricket Library (Slightly Spoilery)
ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show and if you would like to support the show that way head to patreon.com/swordandlaser
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com/picks
We talk to Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham, the authors that make up James S. A. Corey, about coffee, distilled and fermented beverages and, making The Expanse a TV show.
The Hugo nominees are out and we love them all, we kick off the Hum and the Shiver with music, and a spider that looks like a sorting hat.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Lifeway Kefir
Veronica: Hirsch Small Batch Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
QUICK BURNS
terpkrisin: Hugo nominees are out, including some books S&L has read or authors and series that we've read.
Books include:
All the Birds in the Sky
A Closed and Common Orbit
Death's End
The Obelisk Gate
More interesting to me, I actually *know* one of the editors nominated. I'm very happy for a friend to be nominated. :)
Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials 'Equel' Gets a Title, New Hero, and Excerpt
Aaron: This year's Geeks Doing Good campaign just went up (6 days). mong the swag is stuff for the Iron Druid Chronicles, The Kingkiller Chronicles, The Dresden Files, and a JoCo cruise ticket raffle.
BARE YOUR SWORD
What is the most dangerous city in fiction?
@swordandlaser @acedtect IIRC, generally itâs whiskey for American and Irish. Whisky for those others. My mnemonic? Itâs booze: Americans and the Irish want more! via @BrentWeeks
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The Hum and the Shiver: A Novel of the Tufa by Alex Bledsoe
ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show and if you would like to support the show that way head to patreon.com/swordandlaser.
Welcome to Peter Gee and El_Comutador
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com/picks
We are excited about the winner of this year's Nebula, the finalists in the Locus awards, and so many TV shows coming from our favorite books. Plus, why Neil Gaiman will read a Cheesecake Factory Menu on stage.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Veronica and Tom (Thanks to Robert!): Michter's Limited Release Toasted Barrell Finish Bourbon
QUICK BURNS
Louie: The Nebula Award winners announced. Congrats to Charlie Jane Anders on winning the Best Novel award for All the Birds in the Sky.
Rob: Locus Finalists Announced
terpkristin: So, apparently GRRM has said that the HBO GoT spin-offs will NOT include Robert's Rebellion nor Dunk & Egg. I'm perplexed but intrigued as to what they will be.
Trike & Rob wrote: Recent S&L pick and popular video game series The Witcher is being made into a TV show by Netflix: With Andrzej Sapkowski as a consultant.
David: Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff is coming to HBO, with Jordan Peele & JJ Abrams as executive producers. Magic and racism in '50s America (despite the name, it's not really a Lovecraftian novel). I think the book had some potential issues, but Peele's studio involvement makes me beyond excited.
Alex: Neil Gaiman agreed to read entire Cheesecake Factory menu, with a catch if $500,000 has been raised for a charity of his choice, which happens to be the United Nations Refugee Agency.
BARE YOUR SWORD
I'm on the literature division for Worldcon 75, held in Helsinki this year, and a huge fan of Sword and Laser. I wanted to let you know that I will be hosting book club meetups for Sword and Laser and Vaginal Fantasy as part of the Worldcon program. The meetups will be open to anyone attending the con and will be discussing the August picks for each club. I can't wait to meet all the fellow genre book fans from around the world! We haven't finalized the schedule yet so I can't tell you the days for the meetups but the con is from August 9th to 13th and it's going to be a fantastic lineup.
Kind regards
Liz Loikkanen
Live Audience questions!
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
June Book
The Hum and the Shiver: A Novel of the Tufa by Alex Bledsoe
May Book Wrap Up
The Long Way to A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Colin: Discussion seems to have dried up quite early for this book. Is that because so many of you had read it before this month?
Drew: I'm almost done (I have about 15% left) and I think I have figured out what has been bugging me.
ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show and if you would like to support the show that way head to patreon.com/swordandlaser.
Welcome to Larry Lein, Sean Sandulak, Gloria Renna.
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com/picks
We chat with author Cory Doctorow about his new novel Walkaway, which is post-apocalyptic, but not dystopian. It's also DRM-free!
We've got more of Game of Thrones TV coming, the Arthur C. Clarke Award nominees, and our thoughts on why The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is the opposite of epic in the best way possible.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Orange Juice with Mango
Veronica: Robert Hall 2015 Rose de Robles
QUICK BURNS
Silvana: Another TV series we can wait for: The Black Company
Danielle: Don't know if anyone has posted about this yet or not, but Persepolis Rising, book 7 of the Expanse has a release date of Dec 5, 2017 per Amazon. Just in time for Christmas. ^.^
David: The ceremony for the Parsec Awards for podcasts has been hosted by Dragon Con for a decade, but the organizers recently announced plans to begin holding a livestreamed virtual ceremony instead sometime in November (date TBA).
David: The Arthur C. Clarke Award nominees have been announced. The Clarke Award is given for the best science fiction novel published in the UK (judged by a panel).
Nokomis.FL: HBO has signed on four writers to begin development of four different Game of Thrones spinoffs.
Conal and Nokomis.FL: Hereâs What Andy Weirâs New Book ARTEMIS is All About (United States and Canada on November 14, 2017. )
BARE YOUR SWORD
What are the coolest and most powerful handheld weapons in sci-fi and fantasy
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The Long Way to a A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show and if you would like to support the show that way head to patreon.com/swordandlaser
Welcome to Jenna Woginrich, Tanya Dawn, Liz U
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com/picks
We talk with M. R. Carey about his new book The Boy on the Bridge and how The Girl with All the Gifts became a movie!
Neil Gaiman makes sure the American Gods TV show is prepared for the sequel he hasnât even written yet, why the Invisible Library doesnât need to change the world to be awesome, and a plea for regular folks to get back to Fantasyland.
QUICK BURNS
Silvana: BBC is going to adapt China Mieville's The City and the City. Noir thriller in a Mieville world. Sold.
David: The 2016 BSFA Award winners were announced this past weekend at Eastercon: (BSFA is the British Science Fiction Association, and Eastercon was held in Birmingham, England, this year.) Europe in Winter by Dave Hutchinson won Best Novel, and "Liberty Bird" by Jaine Fenn won Best Short Fiction.
Michele: New update on Wheel of Time tv show
Aaron: Independent Bookstore Day is Sat April 29
Independent Bookstore Day is a one-day national party that takes place at indie bookstores across the country on the last Saturday in April. Every store is unique and independent, and every party is different. But in addition to authors, live music, cupcakes, scavenger hunts, kids events, art tables, readings, barbecues, contests, and other fun stuff, there are exclusive books and literary items that you can only get on that day. Not before. Not after. Not online."
Nokomis.FL: Neil Gaiman isn't letting Starz spoil the sequel to his book, American Gods with their television adaptation, though the book won't be available soon.
Matthew: I really enjoyed this and all of Joe Hills work so far so hope a show based on it is good as well (Hulu doing a Pilot based on Joe Hill's comic Locke & Key)
BARE YOUR SWORD
What's your favorite scientific explanation of magic in fiction?
Why Doesn't Anyone Get Stuck in Fantasyland Anymore?
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
May Book will be:
The Long Way to a A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
May Book Briefing on Patreon
WRAP UP
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
TIL: The Ending (Full Spoilers)
Late to the party
Come meet us at Baycon!
ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show and if you would like to support the show that way head to patreon.com/swordandlaser
Welcome to Jennifer WIlkinson, Eric Pulvermacher, and Christopher Schroeder
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com/picks
Matthew Isaac Sobin tells how his desire to write a beautiful story about the solar system, and the aggressive encouragement of a friend led to the story of Jonathan, the Last Machine in the Solar System.
Hugo Nominees are in! The African Speculative Fiction Society nominees are in! People pressuring you to read 200 books a year are in. But us slow readers draw the line.
Download directly here!
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Some of his wife's soda from Fatburger
Veronica: Petite Syrah
QUICK BURNS
Nokomis.FL : 2017 Hugo Award Finalists Announced on April 4th
Sandra: Well that was fast, Scalzi's new book The Collapsing Empire tv rights have been bought.
David adds: Scalzi gives an update of all the TV/movie stuff here.
Sandra: Piers Anthonyâs long-running âXanthâ fantasy series may soon become a feature film and a TV series. Variety has the full story. And holy crap this series has 42 books!
David: The African Speculative Fiction Society just announced their short list nominees for the Nommo Awards. Folks may recognize Nnedi Okorafor's Binti on the list for "Best Novella"
Warren: No one wished Leon a happy birthday. Why is that?
Shelfaware giving away 10 signed copies of Pilot X
We will be special podcast guests at Baycon May 26 - May 29, San Mateo Marriott San Francisco Airport. Daniel Abraham is the guest of Honor and Ty Franck is the toastmaster so James SA Corey will be there! Daniel Dociu is the artists guest of honor and Dr. Christine Doyle is the fan guest of honor. Come join us!!
BARE YOUR SWORD
From Alan:
I have no patience for reading. I'm a doer, I do things. So I thought the perfect way to get around this was to use Audible. This worked for a long time. I listened to most of the Dresden series, the Song of Fire and Ice (2 credits a pop there), Name of the Wind, and the random book here and there. But now I realize I have 6 unused credits. I need to use them up or lose them. Could you send me a list of your top 10 picks for "swordy" or "lasery" books? No research required. Just a list of the 10 you can think of that are worth the time. I'm sure I haven't read most of what you have in a brain dump. Thanks.
The Simple Truth Behind Reading 200 Books A Year
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show and if you would like to support the show that way head to patreon.com/swordandlaser http://patreon.com/swordandlaser
Welcome to.Dr. Jason L. Garner, Luciana Vigil-Holterman, Heather Miller
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com/picks
A SciFi book is mysteriously returned after 35 years, at the same time a billionaire suddenly invests in brain implants and a skull begins to talk. Are these events connected somehow? Yes. They're all discussed in this episode along with Gateway by Frederick Pohl.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Orange Juice
Veronica: Ipswitch Ale
QUICK BURNS
Sean: âThe Expanseâ Renewed for Season 3 at Syfy
AndrewP: Some guy made a talking skull using Amazon Alexa. Should be something for all Dresden fans who want their very own Bob!
Joseph "Cover reveal & synopsis for Ann Leckie's new book, due out in October."
TRP: I think Elon Musk has been reading his Iain M. Banks Culture novels. The book Surface Detail has quite a bit on neural laces
Nokomis.FL: Case of the purloined library book solved 35 years later, restored with $200 tucked inside. âItâs one of the, if not the greatest sci-fi/romance stories ever written; itâs absolutely fascinatingâ and the swiped edition is now a highly sought-after collectible."
Darren: Bernie Wrightson passed away this week. A huge loss. It's hard to pick a work he's most famous for, but his illustrations for Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein are never to be equalled, in my opinion.
AndrewP adds "My personal anecdote. I met Bernie several times at Con's and one time my wife asked him how she could inspire me to do more artwork. He replied with a grin "Spend all his money." :)
BARE YOUR SWORD
Hey,
I haven't heard you mention this book/series yet and i wanted to throw the name your way, just on the off chance it can be added to the (very) long list.
The Screaming Staircase : Lockwood and Co
I have listened to the audio book and the entire series to date and I have to say it's one of the more interesting new series.
It's a fabulous fantasy horror / young fiction series and i strongly suggest the audio book, the narrator really makes it. Plus it's relatively short especially compared to certain other authors #sanderson# *cough* , i love the value of 60 hour audio books but sometimes 10-15 hours is cool too. đ
Anyways thanks for the epic podcast.
Mat
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
The Invisible Library Book Briefing
Wrap Up
Gateway by Frederick Pohl
ADDENDUMS
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