S&L Podcast - #195 - Why It's OK to Hate My Favorite Book

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It's a jam-packed episode this week with great news for Ann Leckie and Andy Weir, our wrap-up of Alif the Unseen, kickoff of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and the determination that it's OK to hate the book I love.

Download episode here or in the embed below!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Coffee. We’re both drinking coffee because we did this show in the morning. 

QUICK BURNS

Sandra: Ann Leckie announced on her website that her novel Ancillary Justice has been optioned for television by Fox Television Studios     
    
Tamahome: G. Willow Wilson takes over (all female) X-men after her successful Ms. Marvel stint 
    
Joe Informatico: The already stellar cast of The Martian adaptation gains Chiwetel Ejiofor, officially making it the greatest film in the annals of celluloid.     
    
Nick: The Hemingwrite   

PICKS    

Book Discussion: The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May suggested by Ralff Windwalker    
    
Next time we'll discuss The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Leguin suggested by Carrie Smith. Post your thoughts to the thread and we'll discuss more about them next time!     
    
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar    
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Will: Amazon wants your vote on which books to publish. Amazon introduces the Kindle Scout program    
    
Trike: Counting With Covers!    
    
Nick: I tell the previous story as a metaphor(is that the right word?) for the times when a book is really really loved and popular and you read it and don't like it but feel something must be wrong with you because you don't get it.   

Dara: I recently finished reading Nexus and Crux by Ramez Naam.    
    
David: eBook-only series    
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Kickoff: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick        

    
Wrapup: Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson    
  
ADDENDUMS    
    
Support our show on Patreon    

S&L Podcast - #193 - Kiss from a Queen (on the Face)

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In Neil Gaiman’s new book, The Sleeper and the Spindle, Sleeping Beauty gets woken by a Queen’s kiss. And there’s pictures so it did happen. Fictionally speaking. We also discuss The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan, and find out people are pleasantly surprised by the techno-thrilling coming of age fantasy that is Alif the Unseen. 

Download podcast direct here!

QUICK BURNS  

Neil Gaiman's upcoming children's book, The Sleeper and the Spindle 
Winners of the 2014 Aurora Awards for best Canadian SciFi    
    
Mark wrote:  "In partnership with Ideate Media, IDW Publishing is proud to announce that Dirk Gently will be appearing in his first-ever comic-book series in 2015, helping to prove the interconnectedness of all things, the precept by which Dirk Gently, Douglas Adams’ beloved fictional “holistic detective” lives. Written by Chris Ryall with art by Tony Akins. A cover for issue #1 is by Chew co-creator Rob Guillory."

PICKS   
Book Discussion: The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan suggested by Vaughn.     

Next time we'll discuss The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May suggested by Ralff Windwalker. Post your thoughts to the thread and we'll discuss more about them next time!   
  
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar    
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
Best use of Time Travel in a novel?    
It's the end of the world as we know it    
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson    
AtU: Religion in AtU - Net Positive or Negative by Hack    
AtU: The character of Vikram (spoilers) by Joanna    
AtU: Finished and Pleasantly Surprised? by Buzz    

ADDENDUMS    
Support our show on Patreon    

S&L Podcast - #192 - Sexual Experiences with Robert Jackson Bennett

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Robert Jackson Bennett joins us on the show this week to talk about his new book, City of Stairs!

Download link here, or watch the video!

The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world’s new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself—first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it—stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy.

Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov’s oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country’s most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem—and that Bulikov’s cruel reign may not yet be over.

We also take questions from you, the audience, and ask him what the heck was going on with the video below: