We had a lovely time chatting with author Delilah S. Dawson about her struggles with Ikea furniture, brilliance on Twitter and the coining of Whimsydark. There's also a fair amount about blud and humans.
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.
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
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:
From excitement about a new book in the Old Man's War series, to a rising demand for SciFi, things are looking up on the laser side. We also find out that Tom doesn't use a Kindle and Veronica's opinion on spiders.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Yorkshire Gold Tea
Veronica: Hendricks Gin and Tonic
QUICK BURNS
Joanna: Next Old Man's War book from John Scalzi announced.
The End of All Things
SporadicReviews: Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy optioned for TV!
Joe Informatico: FOX has committed to a put pilot* for a TV series based on the DC Comics (former Vertigo imprint) version of Lucifer, Lord of Hell. Lucifer first appeared in the Neil Gaiman-written Sandman comics before later featuring in his own Vertigo series.
*I had to look this up. Apparently a ""put pilot"" means the network/channel agrees to air the pilot with substantial financial penalties to the development studio if they back out. This is generally a sure sign the network will pick up the pilot.
SporadicReviews pointed out Pyr books in a blog post wrote: "We’ve recently heard from independent booksellers that their customers are hungry for science fiction again, despite the predominance of fantasy over these last several years.
Paul: New Kindle Voyage looks cool.
PICKS
ShadowShow by Brad Strickland
Book Discussion:
Next time we'll discuss The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan 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
Good books that are driven distinctly by outstanding dialogue?
What's with the giant spiders?
Peter V. Brett Calls Out DC Comics on Sexism
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
Kick Off Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
S&L Podcast - #112 - Interview with G. Willow Wilson! — Sword & Laser
Wrap-Up
Stories of Your Life and others by Ted Chiang
SoYLaO: The Common Thread of the Stories (Mild Spoilers) - Carolina
ADDENDUMS
Support our show on Patreon
We chat with Timothy Zahn about his new book Soulminder. What happens when you can store a person's life essence separate from their body? And yes, we get in a little talk about Star Wars and the prospects for Grand Admiral Thrawn and Jaina Solo too.
We dig into the first four stories from Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others, and boy do we learn a lot about ourselves and others. Plus you'll want to take your vitamins since Margaret Atwood's latest novel won't be available to read for 100 years and we explore the idea of regaining your literary virginity.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Lipton Diet Citrus Green Tea
Veronica: B12 in water
QUICK BURNS
From Sandra: Legendary TV has acquired the rights to John Scalzi’s novel “Lock In” to adapt into a pilot for a potential series.
Legendary TV Buys John Scalzi Novel ‘Lock In’
From Joe Informatico: The Man in the High Castle TV series has cast its lead actress. Alexa Davalos, of Angel and Chronicles of Riddick fame, will play Juliana.
Also from Sandra the newshound! - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s 1990 novel Good Omens is to be adapted for Radio 4 by Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy director Dirk Maggs.
Margaret Atwood is writing a new book, but you won't be able to read it this century. She will be storing her next novel for 100 years in a library in Norway as part of a project organized by Scottish artist Katie Paterson.
PICKS
For the next six weeks we'll be highlighting picks from supporters of our Kickstarter. Look for threads to be posted in the Goodreads Group once every two weeks. We'll collect your thoughts and comments on the books then toss one around on each show until we've covered all six. These aren't official book club picks, just a way to expose folks to a few more options for things to read. We'd especially love to hear from folks who've already read these!
Our first pick comes from Jonathan Strickland. Post your thoughts to the thread and we'll discuss more about them next time
Book Discussion: ShadowShow by Brad Strickland
BARE YOUR SWORD
What do you want to see in the store?! Also, we have a store!
Litterarius Virginitas – what?
For the love of Stanislaw Lem
---
Hey guys! I'm a fan of your work and I recently subscribed to the podcast. I was wondering if you have already read ""The Commonwealth Saga"" by Peter F. Hamilton. I found it to be a great read (or listen, since I consumed it through Audible).
The whole universe it portrays is fascinating and I found myself devouring all 5 books as fast as I could. The last three books ("The Void Trilogy") combine sci-fi and fantasy in a great way and I think you will enjoy it.
Thanks and keep up what you're doing with S&L and your other projects because they are great.
Rodrigo
---
I'm writing to plug an anthology that I helped put together along with the rest of my Clarion Workshop class (UCSD 2012). We released it yesterday, we worked hard on it, and we're proud of it. It has 17 stories, one from nearly every person in my class, and they run the gamut from dark to light, satire to serious, sf to horror to fantasy. Several of the authors are award-winners, including Sam J. Miller, who won this year's Shirley Jackson Award for his story ""57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides."" Our Week 1 teacher Jeffrey Ford graciously provided the foreword.
It's a diverse tome that was more than a little inspired by the success you guys had with the S&L Antho. We're trying to do our own little Humble-Bundle-style, pay-as-you-can thing with this. 100% of the net proceeds are going to the Clarion Foundation to support future workshops. There's more info at http://awkwardrobots.org.
Luke Pebler
---
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
For next month: Veronica started a thread to brainstorm
Stories of Your Life and others by Ted Chiang
We talk with Naomi Novik, fanfic writer, Ruby on Rails coder and author of the Temeraire series, from DragonCon 2014 in Atlanta! Then, we wrap up Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Dos Perros
Veronica: Blackstone Pumpkin Ale
Naomi: Hap and Harry's Original Tennessee Ale
Thanks to Les for bringing us the beer!
Blood of Tyrants came out in mass market paperback July 29 and look for Uprooted coming June 30, 2015.
ADDENDUMS
We time travel and wrap up The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Next time we'll kick off Stories of Your Life and others by Ted Chiang
And check out our new STORE!
We congratulate all the winners of the Hugos and chat with Aidan Moher about how he took home the best fanzine Hugo for A Dribble of Ink. Veronica milks him for info on how to win, and then we learn a way you can help more people become better writers and win more Hugos!
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Third Shift Amber Lager
Veronica: Hell or High Watermelon
QUICK BURNS
Louie: Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice (Orbit) took the top prize of Best Novel. No surprise there. I believe Veronica called this result, months ago. What do you think about the other winners? How many of the nominees have you read?
Best Related Work: We Have Always Fought: Challenging the Women, Cattle and Slaves Narrative by Kameron Hurley (A Dribble of Ink) and Best Fanzine: A Dribble of Ink edited by Aidan Moher
Alain: The class of 2012 Clarion writers work shop is raising money for the non-profit Clarion Foundation. The Clarion workshop is a six week course/session where aspiring writers who want to write Science Fiction and Fantasy can hone and improve their craft. Many now famous writers in the field have attended here is a far from exhaustive list. Anyway the class of 2012 have put together an anthology to raise funds. It's a name your price kinda of thing for .99 cents upwards. Luke R. Pebler who appears in the S&L anthology has a story in here as well as 16 other writers. A very cheap way to check out some up and coming writers.
Paul: July is biggest comic month in history making $53 million and the number one selling comic? Rocket Racoon #1. Rack up another one for the "Unknown Property" of Guardians of the Galaxy. P.S. Groot debuted in November 1960 in Tales to Astonish #13. Years Before Spider-Man, The X-Men or every one of the Avengers except for the original Captain America series (March 1941). Just For Posterity Ronan The Accuser (August 1967). The Original far future Guardians of the Galaxy which was a completely different team (January 1969). Adam Warlock (The already announced GotG 2? :) (April 1972) Drax (1973) Gamora (1975) Star Lord and Rocket Racoon both (1976)
terpkristin: Jennifer Lee, who co-wrote Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen, has been tapped to work on the screenplay for a live-action version of A Wrinkle in Time. I loved loved loved loved this book when I was a kid and am cautiously optimistic about this project...
George R.R. Martin Says Game of Thrones Readers Have Already Predicted the Series Ending
Syfy's Childhood's End Adaptation Gets Closer and Closer to Happening
PICKS
Lindsay writes: Prior to reading The Name of the Wind, I read: Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis: Picked it up after listening to an interview with the author on the Skiffy and Fanty show and it was excellent YA Fantasy. Every time the main character blinks his perspective switches to a girl in a secondary fantasy world.
August 26 - The Broken Eye (Lightbringer) by Brent Weeks and Echopraxia by Peter watts (continuing on from Blindsight) Lock in by John Scalzi
September 2 - Sleeping Late on Judgement Day (Bobby Dollar) by Tad Williams
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar
BARE YOUR SWORD
Sword and Laser do #LonCon3 ! @swordandlaser http://t.co/ahzB5y3SXf
@swordandlaser Just got this. Looks like a fantastic lineup. http://t.co/V2Bg71q3qJ
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
Next Month's book pick! Stories of Your Life and others by Ted Chiang
This month's Pick:
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The always important casting thread
Theories from: The Re-Readers' Thread posted by Jack
ADDENDUMS
Sign up for the newsletter to enter to win a copy of Half a King by Joe Abercrombie! See form on the right-hand nav on the website here!
Almost every book is becoming a TV show or movie. Also we tell you how to be a part of a living creation of Alice in Wonderland and we kick off Patrick Rothfuss’s Name of the Wind.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Smithwick's Irish Ale
Veronica: 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon
QUICK BURNS
ALAIN writes: Ghost Brigades part of the John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War Series is going to air on SyFy. If they keep the tone of the novels it should be pretty cool. It's nice to see the SyFy channel air more Science Fiction and Fantasy. The irony is it took other cable channels to show them that the genre is viable if done properly. Scalzi has a self-interview about the news.
Dara: A Dragonriders of Pern movie is totally happening. Probably. Maybe.
Michele: So this might make Tom happy, or not ;) Amazon Studios picks up The Man in the High Castle.
Rob: Syfy will be adapting the magicians. That's right, not HBO, not showtime, not AMC. Syfy. Hurray?
Nokomis.FL: Starz is previewing the first episode of Ron Moore's depiction of Diana Gabaldon's 'Outlander' on their website. You don't need to be a subscriber, but you do need to be in the US.
Ben: Jonathan Pryce and Alexander Siddig (among others) have been cast for Season 5 of Game of Thrones. No sign yet of Victarion Greyjoy and unfortunately it doesn't look good for fans of Arianne Martell, so let's all revisit her picture from the Fantasy Flight Games board game and pretend.
Aubrey: There's a Kickstarter for temporary literary tattoos. "Litographs Tattoos: Wearable Tributes to Iconic Books" - I like the designs and they have a tattoo chain idea for the first 2500 pledgers to get a tattoo with a quote from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" so the whole book would be ""worn"" by all the backers. Pretty nifty idea, I think.
Sony stops selling ereaders
PICKS
Kaleb: Deadly Class by Rick Remender has to be the most dark and twisted comic I've ever read! Anyone who reads this comment, I highly recommend you read it.
Half A King by Joe Abercrombie just arrived at my library! I'm excited to read my first book by Abercrombie.
Out today August 5th! The Magician's Land: A Novel by Lev Grossman, Severed Souls by Terry Goodkind, The Widow’s House (The Dagger and the Coin) by Daniel Abraham
NEXT Week: August 12: Fool's Assassin (Realm of the Elderlings: Fitz and the Fool Trilogy) by Robin Hobb
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar
BARE YOUR SWORD
Thane: Author or Book-Related Dreams?
Dave: SDCC Epic Fantasy panel: Putting the Epic in Epic Fantasy
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
We chat with Steven Paul Leiva, author of Traveling in Space and his audiobook narrator Jeff Cannata, about aliens, the beauty of language and avoiding death.
There’s so much you can do with us this week, including bringing Neil Gaiman to the stage, discovering 20th century high fantasy, and saving humanity. And how we can save humanity makes Tom blush. Plus, we wrap up this month's pick, Dawn by Octavia Butler!
Download direct link here!
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Original Sorghum Malt Beer - Bard's Tale Beer Company, LLC
Veronica: Racer5
A TV series based on The Elfstones Of Shannara has been greenlit.
Daniel Abraham has an update on The Expanse TV show, including first casting news and the creative team behind the television adaptation.
There is currently a kickstarter campaign for a theatrical adaptation of 5 of Neil Gaiman's short stories, a bunch of the backer rewards are various books and things signed by Neil Gaiman and he's in the video so check it out if you're a fan.
World Fantasy Award nominees were announced, as were two Lifetime Achievement Award winners.
PICKS
Killian: Finished The City and the City by China Miéville earlier today and was absolutely blown away by it. Here's my review: I think I'll read a Feist book next for some light, mindless fun.
Rabindranauth - Finished Royal Assassin earlier, dived headlong into Assassin's Quest immediately. I will forever kick myself for not reading these incredibly brutal books before now.
Here's my review.
COMING SOON
July 29
Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch is out in paperback
July 31
Equoid: A laundry Novella by Charles Stross
August 6
The Widow’s House (The Dagger and the Coin) by Daniel Abraham
Rise of the King: Companion Codex, II (Companions Codex) by R. A. Salvatore
The Magician's Land: A Novel by Lev Grossman"
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar
BARE YOUR SWORD
A Suggestion for New Topics on Club Picks
Are there any "high fantasy" books that take place in the 20th century?
Local Group Meetups
Amazon Unlimited
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
Wrap-up Dawn by Octavia Butler
What did you think? (full spoilers)
What Makes Us Human?
Ending issues (here be spoilers)
Next Month's Book: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is our August book
We ponder on Matt Damon's role in The Martian, why we love to hate villains, and the role of philosophy and ideology in Octavia Butler's Dawn. Join us, before Veronica falls into the hellmouth.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Red Stripe
Veronica: 2011 Canoe Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon The Expedition
QUICK BURNS
And the Martian is...
The Wertzone: Update on Scott Lynch's THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN
WINNERS: 2014 Locus Awards - SF Signal
J.K. Rowling has released a new 'Harry Potter' story online
S&L and Open Road heading to Loncon 3!
PICKS
FEATURED REVIEW: Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar
BARE YOUR SWORD
Tor founder Tom Doherty on publishing without DRM
Do we love to hate villains?
Duty to self-publishing authors?
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
Ken Liu's short story "The Paper Menagerie" swept the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards. His short story, "Mono no aware" won the 2013 Hugo, and his novella "The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary" was also nominated for a Hugo. We caught up with him at this year's Nebula awards and asked him if he takes writing-enhancement supplements.
Download direct here!
We break down our June book pick, Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan, and find out why its actually four or five books and its gods are not what they seem. Also we set up our July pick from Octavia Butler and decide whether warp speed is actually coming or not.
Download direct here!
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Boddington's Pub Ale
Veronica: Earl Grey Tea
QUICK BURNS
3 more Expanse novels announced - Ben
IXS Enterprise (IXS-110) - Bookshelf
Every Game Of Thrones Scene Broken Down By Book, Chapter And Episode
WINNERS: 2014 Campbell and Sturgeon Awards
PICKS
Tom: Cibola Burn by James S A Corey, Traveling in Space by Steven Paul Leiva
Veronica: Shattered by Kevin Hearne, though I'm still a book behind!
Sandi - I finished listening Hollow World this morning. I really liked it. Kind of a modern H.G. Wells/Jonathan Swift vibe. I'm now starting On the Steel Breeze. I love the narrator, Adjoa Andoh. She played Martha's mother on Doctor Who and was one of the narrators of Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor.
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar
BARE YOUR SWORD
Monthly meetups!
Uncharted-esk Books by Josh
How do you find new books to read? by Alexander
Should We Read Comics/Graphic Novels As Group Reads by Killian
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
July Book is Dawn by Octavia Butler
Wrap up Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
"The revolution will not be...?" by Sean
Let's talk about the ending by Joanna
ADDENDUMS
Looking for something ELSE to read? Wish you could read 20 books in the space you usually read one? Can't decide between scifi and fantasy? WE HAVE SOLVED ALL YOUR PROBLEMS. The Sword and Laser Anthology combines 10 great scifi and 10 great fantasy stories from new authors found RIGHT HERE in our audience. And the stories are fantastic. Even Patrick Rothfuss thinks so. Head on down to your favorite online bookseller and search Sword and Laser Anthology or point your favorite Web browser to swordandlaser.com/store.
Listeners who complete the survey will be entered in an ongoing
monthly raffle to win a $100 Amazon Gift Card.
Survey!
Take the listeners survey at podsurvey.com/laser.
We talk to Emily Jiang at the Nebula Awards about her book Summoning the Phoenix, her foray into children's books and what she has planned for a full novel. Hint, it involves magic and spies.
Download direct here!
Would you like to be in a George R. R. Martin Book? Got $20K? Don't mind being killed? Good. You can help wolves. Also we give our first impressions of Brian McClellan's The Promise of Blood and talk Geekomancy with Michael Underwood.
QUICK BURNS
Maddadam TV Series - Chris
2014 Audie Winners (Audible) - Daniel
WINNERS: 2014 Ditmar Awards
Author Jay Lake has passed away - Joe Informatico
GEORGE R.R. MARTIN WILL KILL YOU GAME OF THRONES-STYLE FOR $20,000
PICKS
Tom's Reading On The Steel Breeze by Alistair Reynolds
Veronica is reading Marie Brennan's The Tropic of Serpents (a Memoir by Lady Trent) and just finished Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig, and Lions of Al-Rassan by GGK.
What Else Are you Reading June
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar
BARE YOUR SWORD
Anyone else find reading about sex (in fiction) and/or reading profanity to be awkward? - Eric
Summer climate fiction – "cli fi" for short – genre reading list - Nokomis.FL
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
July book pick is up for a vote. We're reading Octavia E. Butler. Voting ends June 22.
The Promise of Blood
WARNING: Hachette and Amazon are having a fight which may affect shipping times for print copies. Might want to buy print copies elsewhere for the time being.
Everyone's favorite hobby: casting - John
People and Places for $200, Alex - Daniel (rhymes with Taniel)
First Impressions - Rabindranauth
ADDENDUMS
Buy the Sword and Laser Anthology!
Cross-promo Boing Boing podcast
David Weber joins Tom Merritt at BayCon to talk about the origins of his writing, the journey of Honor Harrington and how he relies on his fans.
We intersect with Mr. Samuel R. Delany at the Nebula Awards to talk about his writings, old and new, and the role of science fiction, plus more stimulating conversation.
Download the podcast here!
Samuel R. Delany's Facebook page.
Veronica is back from China to regale us tales of motorboating pandas, but first we announce our June book pick and wrap-up The Martian by Andy Weir. Is it as scientifically accurate as so many say? We get an aerospace engineer's perspective.
Veronica is back from China to regale us tales of motorboating pandas, but first we announce our June book pick and wrap-up The Martian by Andy Weir. Is it as scientifically accurate as so many say? We get an aerospace engineer's perspective.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Smithwick's
Veronica: Anchor California Lager
QUICK BURNS
So what do you think of this year's winners?
Nebula Winners
Former PC Gamer editor Gary Whitta is writing a Star Wars film
LOCKE LAMORA TV series in the works: update
FINALISTS: 2014 John W. Campbell Memorial Award
H.R. Giger passes away
PICKS
Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi
Dreams of Gods & Monsters
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar
BARE YOUR SWORD
Godzilla (2014)
Fan-Made Trailer For Jim Butcher's Next Dresden Files Book
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
June book: Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
WARNING: Hachette and Amazon are having a fight which may affect shipping times for print copies. Might want to buy print copies elsewhere for the time being.
Order Promise of Blood from Powell's
Order Promise of Blood from Amazon
Brian McClellan interview on Sword and Laser
Wrap-up the Martian
Peril overload.
think a movie adaption is possible?
-- Ridley Scott in talks to direct Matt Damon in The Martian
What does NASA think about The Martian?
We chat with Ann Leckie mere hours before she wins a Nebula award, about what it's like to get so many awards, and what's coming next for fans of her award-winning novel, Ancillary Justice.
Ancillary Sword arrives October 7.
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