S&L Podcast - #294 - Live at BayCon with Whiskey!

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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. 

Download directly here.

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

S&L Podcast - #292 - Cozy Space Opera

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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.

Download directly here!

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: Here’s What Andy Weir’s New Book ARTEMIS is All About (United States and Canada on November 14, 2017. )

BARE YOUR SWORD

First ever Lem

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

The Opposite of Epic

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

Review us on iTunes!

S&L Podcast - #290 - Let’s Get Stuck in Fantasyland!

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Neil Gaiman makes sure the American Gods TV show is prepared for the sequel he hasn’t even written yet, why the Invisible Library doesn’t need to change the world to be awesome, and a plea for regular folks to get back to Fantasyland.

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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
    

S&L Podcast - #288 - Slow Readers Unite!

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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 Anthony’s long-running “Xanth” 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
    

S&L Podcast - #287 - You Do Like Your Alternate Londons

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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.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Orange Juice    
Veronica: Ipswitch Ale    
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Sean: ‘The Expanse’ 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. “It’s one of the, if not the greatest sci-fi/romance stories ever written; it’s absolutely fascinating” 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. 😉

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    
    
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 Gillaume Rossolini, Skeeter Murphy and Jessica! 
    
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
    

S&L Podcast - #285 - Why You Should Like Bad Characters

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Sometimes a character does stuff you hate. And that’s OK! We explain why. Plus: great space opera, women writer picks, and some guy named Tom wrote a book too. 

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Orange Juice    
Veronica: Pain Killers (and not the tiki drink!)    
    
QUICK BURNS

Rob "Ars Technica has an article up about Fireside Fiction, calling it "Science Fiction's Best Kept Secret" As a SW Engineer/Git user I find the details about their use of GitHub to automate the process pretty interesting.
    
Lauren "Nice set of very short sci-fi and fantasy stories for International Women's Day inspired by the phrase "Nevertheless, she persisted." Lots of big names here, Seanan McGuire, Catherynne Valente, Jo Walton, etc. "  
    
Liz "Just in case anyone missed the emails, Tor sent out its March free eBook download. This month is Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolfe."    
    
David "Anna-Marie McLemore wins the 2016 Tiptree Award for When the Moon Was Ours"
    
David: "Some guy named Tom is on the Functional Nerds podcast talking about his new book, but more importantly his work as a DJ playing the Beastie Boys. " 
    
Nokomis.FL "Nielsen survey finds UK ebook sales declined by 4% in 2016, the second consecutive year digital has shrunk as younger generations drive appetite for print "
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
International Women's Day 2017
    
Space Opera Book Recommendations
    
Thoughts on differences between The Magicians book and TV show

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Check in on March Madness
    
Check in on March Pick: Gateway by Frederick Pohl
  
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
    

S&L Podcast - #283 - The Madness Begins

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The Nebula Award Nominees are out, the Gateway is in and we’re glad we traveled The Salt Roads. But most of all we’re geared up for the March Madness tournament of fantasy. Get your voting fingers clicking folks!    

Download directly here!
    
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Water    
Veronica: Arcadia Ales IPA    
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Sandra: The 2016 Nebula Award Nominees have been announced    
    
Dara: Neil Gaiman's next novel will be a sequel to Neverwhere titled The Seven Sisters.
    
Nokomis.FL: Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods' gets poster, premiere date"    
    
Sandra: Gerard Butler, yes that Gerard Butler and Neal Moritz will produce an adaptation of V. E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic for the big screen.
    
Michele: Bill Paxton has died. RIP Hudson - Game over :(
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Books that make you cry
    
March Madness 2017: Round 1 (Voting Ends March 8th)
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
March Pick: Gateway by Frederick Pohl
        
Wrap-up    
February Pick: The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
    
TSR:I have no real idea what I think of this book
    
TSR: Saint Mary the Dusky
    
ADDENDUMS    
    
You can order Pilot X!
    
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    
 

S&L Podcast - #282 - Where The Salt Roads Lead

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We check in on our reading of The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson, get some hints on the progress of the next Kingkiller Chronicle, and find another way to track author releases.

Download directly here!
    
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Laguvulin 16    
Veronica: Arcadia Ales IPA    
    
QUICK BURNS
    
David: The movie rights to Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin have been purchased.
    
Greg: The Name of the Wind 10th Anniversary edition as well as some non-spoilery info on book 3
    
David: Goodreads is now adding a "reread" function. Until now, they'd only allow one ""date read"" per book, but now we'll be able to add multiple dates. (According to the Goodreads blog post, they're rolling out this feature, so it may not show for everyone just yet.) This will make it easier for us folks who reread a lot or do yearly reading challenges."    
    
Martin: The Thorn of Emberlain Teaser Update on Scott Lynch's tumblr.  
    
Mark: An interesting reading list for fans of The Man in the High Castle, the book and/or the tv show.  
    
Atasteforbooks: A release date has been announced for the follow up trilogy to His Dark Materials! Philip Pullman shared that the first book, The Book of Dust, will be out (in the UK) on October 19, 2017! 
    
Louie: Read Chapter One from John Scalzi's upcoming novel, The Collapsing Empire. Available March 21st.
    
We'll be doing March Madness for the April book again. Get your nomination in! Tournament starts March 1
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Data:

On episode #280 Adam H asked about "a way of tracking upcoming releases" 
from authors. You noted a few services that try. Adam had noted "Amazon
does for stuff from authors I've previously purchased, but..."

Amazon does send some emails automatically for those authors, yes. But
you can explicitly "Follow" any author on Amazon to opt-in to
notifications about all of their new releases. Search for the author, 
click through to their page, hit the ""Follow"" button.

It's an automated system, so it can only be as smart as the data - but
most authors and their agents are pretty good at keeping their Amazon
data clean[*], and there is some human + machine-learned curation to
make sure that any book you get notified about really is a new one, not
just a reprint, a book by an author with the same name, etc.

Meta:

Formally I should say that although I work for Amazon, I'm not speaking
officially for them - this is just me telling you what I know.

(But in this particular case: I work on the team that runs this system, 
so what I know ought to be reliable!)

[*] I dunno about that B00EYUJ8F0 guy though. I just cleaned up his
bibliography, but why someone who knows how information on the Net
stales would years ago put things like ""has written two novels"" into a
bio is beyond me. :-)

Anthony
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
February Pick: The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
    
Recommended: A podcast history of the Haitian Revolution
    
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

S&L Podcast - #280 - Good Omens for 2018

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Neil Gaiman is running a new TV show and we're excited! Plus the Arrival folks are making a Larry Niven short story into a show, and indie bookstores are booming! We also kick-off Nalo Hopkinson's The Salt Roads.

Download directly here!
    
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Nothing     
Veronica: Ipswitch Original Ale    
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Dara and Robert: Good Omens is coming to Amazon Prime as a limited 6 episode event with Neil Gaiman as showrunner.
    
Nokomis.FL: Indie bookstores are booming thanks to Amazon
    
Phil: It looks like the producer of Arrival (21 Laps) will be making a movie based on Inconstant Moon by Larry Niven.
It's one of my favorite Niven stories and I look forward to this. It was previously made into an episode of the Outer Limits in the 90's.
    
Nokomis.FL: Peter Capaldi to bow out from Doctor Who at the end of 2017
    
Dara and Silvana: The new ASoIAF story in Gardner Dozois's The Book of Swords will be titled The Sons of the Dragon, a story of Aenys I and Maegor the Cruel. Fans speculation that this will be about the Targaryen era is correct.    David: This is also the same anthology that will contain Ken Liu's "The Hidden Girl," which was optioned by Studio 8 last May. "The story is about a team of assassins who are able to navigate between dimensions."    
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Hello Veronica and Tom. Love the show, one of the few I support via patreon. On a recent episode of Cord Killers Tom mentioned a service called Sidereel. I got this app and love it, but would like something like it for books, authors. Goodreads doesnt seem to have way of tracking upcoming releases. Amazon does for stuff from authors Ive previously purchased but Id like to add a list of authors to track. Thanks, Adam H    

Author Alerts
Track New Book - New book notification by author, subject, or keyword
    
Sci-fi and Fantasy Magazines. Anyone subscribe? Can you give me a rundown?
    
On Fantasy and Utility... (A Rant for your Consideration/Critique)

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
February Pick: The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
Book Kick-off
    
BLOG INTERVIEW: Nalo Hopkinson releases two e-books with Open Road Media
    
Final Wrap Up    
January Pick: Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
    
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.

BIG thank you to all the people who support us, including Katie Gross, Jay Johnson and Dan Griffin!
    
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.   

S&L Podcast - #279 - Myke Cole, Man Hunter

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Person hunter, really! He's an equal-opportunity ass-kicker. Author and fighter of crimes, Myke Cole, tells us how he got involved in the new CBS show Hunted! And, what Sam Sykes has to do with any of it. 

This episode was recorded before the Sunday, Jan 22nd premiere, but new episodes are out on Wednesday nights at 8/7c!

Download directly here!

S&L Podcast - #278 - Don’t Trust Turkey Data

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A hot new approach to a fantasy trilogy, the real drama of rocket scientists involves cake, and why you can’t trust turkeys to rigorously use data to predict future results.

Download directly here!
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Geoff: Marlon James announces Dark Star fantasy trilogy: 'I hope 12-year-olds read this book' 
    
Nokomis.FL "Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies and more Lies" 
On his LiveJournal Martin wrote, “Not done yet, but I’ve made progress,” he wrote. “But not as much as I hoped a year ago, when I thought to be done by now. I think it will be out this year. (But hey, I thought the same thing last year).”    
    
Fresno Bob: Some random guy got the cover for this article on top SF+F for 2017 over on Kirkus Reviews 
Publishers Weekly calls it "Appropriately convoluted!"
Pilot X
    
Silvana: More books coming out from the amazing NK Jemisin, including a contemporary fantasy dealing with themes of race and power in New York City. It has a projected publication date of April 2019.
    
Sporadicreviews and David: Neil of the online magazine Clarkesworld finally quit his day job and is going to be an editor full time (see here: http://neil-clarke.com/frankly/) He changed the Patreon goals for direct salary & healthcare though.
    
Louie: CBS orders pilot for Andy Weir's NASA set drama, Mission Control 
Terpkristin: My coworkers and I are having a good laugh over this. Some of the comments on Facebook today:
"I like staying awake and eating M&Ms"
"I bet the CBS version will have way more explosions..well, OK, maybe not."
"Also probably not as many expletives."
"They have producers to make it more high drama. We just have I and T managers..."
"Oh, the I&T managers make it high drama"
"You forgot about the cake. Or, knowing there's cake but having to be on console and getting last picks from the seagulls who come to watch"

Definitely a couple of inside baseball jokes there, but also what it's really like. For the record, on the cake, if the launch scrubs, they put it in the freezer for the next attempt. This lead to what is now known where I work as "cakegate" and many "the cake is a lie" jokes. 
    
Lauren:  James Cameron is apparently working on a "History of Science Fiction" series for AMC.
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Hey guys,

I was listening to your latest on the Three Body Problem - episode 277 - and thought you might be interested in a recent interview with Ken Liu on Chinese sci-fi. Check out the January 13 episode of the Sinica podcast, a podcast which primarily discusses topics related to contemporary China, but this time overlaps with the January read on S & L. Link here: Sinica Podcast: Ken Liu on Chinese science fiction
https://overcast.fm/+GuZKG8KEI

Regards,

David

---
    
If the phrase "her eyes were bigger than her stomach" equates to getting too much food and not being able to eat it all, then in my case, "my eyes were bigger than my...mind?" I did not make it through the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy during my holiday break - I only made it through The Dark Forest and am now reading the third book, Death's End. Really liking the series! And I couldn't get into Stiletto, so I haven't picked that one back up yet.

Robyn

--- 
    
When/How did you find Sword & Laser?
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
January Pick: Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

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


    
    

S&L Podcast - #277 - The January No-Beer Problem

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We commend Terry Brooks' foresight, possibly convince Veronica to watch the Man in the High Castle some more, and give you important information to get the most of The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu.    

Download directly here!
    
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Dry January!
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Alex: with a new quadrilogy, titled The Fall of Shannara, Terry Brooks is bringing the series to a close --- TERRY BROOKS: Well, my original plan was to live forever, but I’m discovering that’s probably not going to happen, and I don’t want to be one of those authors whose series, after going on such a long time, gets written by somebody else at the end. So I decided it was time to at least write the ending, because I’ve had it in mind for many, many years.  --- The Black Elfstone (out June 13, 2017)
    
Nokomis.FL: The Man in the High Castle Gets A Third Season and New Showrunner
    
Sporadic Reviews: From Galaxy's Edge magazine :
We have a new blog called Signals from the Edge managed by Lezli Robyn. Check it out...we plan to develop it as a general site for all SF/Fantasy news and to have discussion on stories published by us (with author participation). We'd love to hear your feedback on what you would like to see.
   
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Music
 

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So to share some holiday reading, I have completed ""The Girl With Ghost Eyes"" by M.H. Boroson and I wanted to put it on your radar. It's an awesome urban fantasy set in 1800's San Francisco Chinatown. The setting felt really well researched and historical San Francisco Chinatown really comes alive in the same way historical New York comes alive in ""The Golem and the Jinni. 

A Closed and Common Orbit"" by Becky Chambers is also great. Without mentioning spoilers, it very much has the same hopeful and humanist tone of ""The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet"". The setting of these books feels really unique. It obviously draws a degree of inspiration from Star Trek and Star Wars but takes ideas from those universes and does it's own distinct thing with them.

Currently I am working on "Wake of Vultures" by Lila Bowen.

MP

---
So in sync with Sword and Laser lately! I was on page 110 of The Three Body Problem when I heard the podcast and that that would be the January pick! I am planning to read the whole trilogy over my holiday break (off work until January 3rd - woo hoo!). I had The Rook on my shelf for a while to read and so when that was December's pick, I read that and liked it so much I bought the sequel on Kindle and have started that, too. Like Veronica, I am hoping more Myfawny shows up.

Robyn  

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In Episode #276, you excoriated us for not responding with our holiday reading list.  Shamefacedly, I began writing this email - and was stunned when Tom announced the book for January.  I have just finished ""The Three-Body Problem"" and I'm currently reading book #2, ""The Dark Forest.""  I had some attention deficit issues during some sections of the first book that I ascribe to the cultural differences between my background and the author's.  Nonetheless, I'm enjoying the story. The translator managed to make it understandable for Americans while still retaining some of the Chinese flavor.

Thanks for the podcast,
Gregg
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BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
January Pick: Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Book briefing

ADDENDUMS    
Tom and Veronica will be at Baycon!

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 Brand new patrons Karen Turner, Paul, Peter DeCastro and more! And huge thanks to Andrew for raising his pledge!
    
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
    

S&L Podcast - #276 - By Hook or by Rook

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We discuss whether the central plot device (the hook!) of the Rook is a cliche or clever. Plus, how to find the best stories in SciFi and Fantasy and help authors get exposure at the same time.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Irish Egg Nog    (Carolan's Irish Creme, Bulleit Bourbon, Coffee, Nutmeg)
Veronica: Red blend    
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Full trailer for The Expanse Season 2, with a new premiere date (a week earlier). Season 2 of The Expanse premieres on February 1, 2017 on Syfy.
    
Louie: Cover reveal for book #7 in The Expanse series, Persepolis Rising
    
Kenley: For the first time, Wired magazine's is all fiction written by science fiction authors. January 2017 issue. "15 fantastic tales from an uncertain future."  Available now for digital subscribers. Probably on the newsstand soon. Hat tip to Tassie Dave for the link
    
Ten of 2016's most notable African science fiction and fantasy stories
    
Shad: The first draft of Brandon Sanderson's Oathbringer (Stormlight #3) is done and set for a November 2017 release date.
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
2016 Year in Review

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Hi Tom and Veronica

You asked on episode 275 for us to write in with what we will be reading over the holidays. I'm most excited to read A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers, which I ordered from the UK. I wanted the pretty cover and to read it before March! I loved the first book (A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet) so much. And I will also read The Rook.

Happy Holidays!
Jenny Colvin (@readingenvy)

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BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
January Pick: Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
    
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley    
    
Story setup: Clever or cliched?
    
TR: Easter eggs - no plot 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
    
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
    
    
    

S&L Podcast - #275 - Get Hip With the Rook

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We kick off our December book, the Rook by Daniel O’Malley and we are so excited for Lin-Manuel Miranda to team up with Patrick Rothfuss.

Download directly here!
    
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Bowmore 15-year Islay Scotch
Veronica: Water    
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Sandra: Lin-Manuel Miranda will be the creative producer for Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicle adaptions!
    
Sandra: Here's a handy list of almost every SFF adaption that's coming to TV and film, via Tor. 
    
Silvana: There will be 8 or 9 more Dunk and Egg stories, said GRRM recently in an interview in Mexico. 
Full interview here (fast forward to 3rd minute). He also recommends people to read books from Daniel Abraham, Patrick Rothfuss, Scott Lynch and Robin Hobb. And of course Tolkien and Vance. Lots of interesting questions and answers in there.
    
Alex: Found via tor.com; an interview with Brandon Sanderson at He talks about several things (writing characters, writing different genres, and more writing). But the best part for me is that the next stormlight is almost done.
And Julio adds: The first draft is 99% done, to be precise. In his website he has progress bars for his many projects.     
    
Aaron: Ann and Jeff Vandermeer have announced The Big Book of Classic Fantasy.   
    
terpkristin: Peter Vaughan, Maester Aemon in HBO's GoT, has passed away at the age of 93. 
Silvana: RIP Ron Glass
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
Book briefing for The Rook
    
Tassie Dave: This book has been on my radar for a few years. I hope it lives up to the wait. This is also our first ever Aussie S&L book :-) and only our 3rd ever book by a Southern Hemisphere born author (We had an alternate pick by Kiwi Adam Christopher in 2012) and Tolkien (The Hobbit) was born in South Africa. It is also the 100th book we've read for S&L (91 official picks and 9 alternates).

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 new patron Keith Olson and thanks to Robin Hill who raised their pledge!   
    
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