We wrap up How to Live in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu, but there's so much more! We look back on all the books from this year, both our book pics and your favorites you read. we also look ahead to the most anticipated books of 2011. It's our year-end spectacular. Break out your favorite sparkling beverage and enjoy.
Year in Review --Books we read-- Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctrow The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregellis World War Z: An oral history of the zombie war by Max Brooks The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein The Once and Future King by T. H. White The Princess Bride by William Goldman How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A Novel by Charles Yu
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UPDATE: Sorry if you only got the flash file in your RSS feed, we've since updated the blog entry to include the MP3 link! Here it is if it doesn't push out automatically.
This week we officially kick off How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A Novel by Charles Yu, even if half of us are halfway through it. That's got to be some kind of asymptote. We also discuss a little Terry Pratchett, a dash of Joe Abercrombie and a helping of Patrick Rothfuss.
Hi Veronica & Tom, I was very excited when my friend told me about your show. I'd been looking for a podcast about written science fiction and had started to despair. (We are, of course, awash in those discussing movies and TV, but as science fiction goes, that's a different animal altogether. So when my friend Chris told me about you, I was very happy, and so far, you have not disappointed.
That said, I'm sure you get all kinds of book suggestions, but I just have to throw my 2¢ in here. Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy is an amazing set of books. His descriptions are precise and vivid, his characters are involving, and his plotting is stunningly intricate. I got to the end and was shocked looking at how well he had planned the whole thing, and how tiny things that have been present from the start become of amazing significance in unexpected ways.
Since you've already had Mr. Sanderson on for an interview, I thought you might be receptive to this suggestion. I hope you pick this one soon, and if not . . . well, I'll probably still keep listening anyway.
Shawn Smith a.k.a. Zaklog the Great
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About a month ago I found http://www.fictfact.com/ , see print screen below. It tracks the series you are reading. Once you mark the books in the series you have read or are following it sets up a list for the next book in the series. If will show a list of the books that will be released soon. They will email you if a book is added to a series you are following. You can sort your Next Books in any order you prefer. One other interesting thing, you can view your friends books if they use fictfact as well. They just need to have a public profile.
I like it and I think you will too.
Thanks,
Craig, a S&L fan
ADDENDUMS
This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 75,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature and featuring audio versions of many New York Times Best Sellers. For listeners of this podcast, Audible is offering a free audiobook, to give you a chance to try out their service. For a free audiobook of your choice go to audiblepodcast.com/sword.
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