S&L Podcast - #367 - Shitposting Stephen King with Sam Sykes

We explain why the Tiptree Award is now the Otherwise award, welcome the casting of Apple's Foundation TV show, and Sam Sykes has a message for Stephen King (and Myke Cole).

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Thomas Allen Selections Generations Red Blend 2016

Veronica: Water

QUICK BURNS

Mark: New Expanse novella coming in December Auberon by James S.A. Corey

TRP: Stephen Moore, the original voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android on radio and TV, has died.

Joanna: The Foundation series for Apple TV starts filming on November 11th in Ireland.

Louie: Lee Pace and Jared Harris join the cast of Foundation, a 10 episode adaptation of the Isaac Asimov classic from Apple TV+. Harris will be Hari Seldon, the psychohistorian who foresees the fall of the galactic empire, while Pace will play Brother Day, the current Emperor of the Galaxy.

Tassie Dave: This years Booker Prize has gone to a SFF book.

It was won jointly by Margaret Atwood for The Testaments and Bernadine Evaristo for Girl, Woman, Other

This is Atwood's 2nd Booker Prize. She also won in 2000 for The Blind Assassin

Bernadine Evaristo is the first black woman to win the award.”

Seth: Another speculative fiction award has elected to change its name. The James Tiptree Jr. Award will now be the Otherwise Award.

James Tiptree Jr. was the pen name of Alice Sheldon

On May 19, 1987, she shot first her husband, Huntington Sheldon, and then herself. He was 84 years old; she was 71. He was blind and disabled.

It has been described by some including members of the family as a suicide pact.

Others have come to see it as possibly caregiver murder.

The Tiptree Jr award was started in 1991

To remind audiences of the role gender plays in both reading and writing, the award was named in Sheldon's honor at the suggestion of Karen Joy Fowler.

Otherwise Award, drawing on Black queer feminist scholarship around what is termed ""otherwise politics".

BARE YOUR SWORD

"Sal vs Mags

Wrapping up Trail of Lightning, you compared Mags and Kate Daniels. Would like to hear your thoughts comparing Sal the Cacophony with Mags, since the fall theme seems to be bad-ass women mage/witch/monster hunters.”

Dale

—

280 Character Book Review by Beth Mitcham:

TRAIL OF LIGHTNING, Rebecca Roanhorse. I loved the complex characters in this. The heroine and her friends did some bad stuff and the villains could be sympathetic. And sometimes it was tough to say which were which. Looking at you, Kai.

I'm a big fan of the re-read. I just finished LotR, for the 6-7th time, read the Silo series again, and have started Kingkiller, and Expanse is next up. I intersperse between new reads, though. I have @Veronica's same guilt about not reading ALL my many books.

Sometimes rereading an old favorite the best way to get over a bad read

Listening to your new episode. I love to re-read is "Lightning" by Dean Koontz. I also like to re-read "Duma Key" and "From a Buick 8" by Stephen King. On the nonfiction front, I like to re-read "The Island of the Seven Cities".

would you ever bring any of the other former hosts of Vaginal Fantasy onto the podcast as guest stars or stage a mini reunion?It'd be great fun to hear what they think about the latest Sword picks.

Next month:

The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge

INTERVIEW WITH SAM SYKES

Sam Sykes Website

@samsykesswears

Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes

S&L Podcast - #366 - Just Crack Me Open and Take a Look

Should you feel guilty for re-reading? The answer is no. But you shouldn't feel guilty for not re-reading too. Plus our fantasy casting of A Darker Shade of Magic is pretty much all Keanu.

Download directly here!

QUICK BURNS

Dara:

Chris Kluwe (former kicker for the Minnesota Vikings) announced his new book, a scifi novel that is a, "love/hate letter to gaming." Otaku will be out in March and published by Tor Books. The cover is excellent.

Joanna: Bloomsbury announced Piranesi , a new novel by Susanna Clarke.

Ruth: This Reddit thread is an absolute delight

William: The third book in the Athena Club series which began with the S&L pick The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter is now out. It has the wonderful title of The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl.

Dara: John Wick Writer to Bring V.E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic to Film. Derek Kolstad will be writing the adaptation for Sony

Joanna: The Hunger Games prequel is called The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and it’ out on May 19, 2020.

Seth: It's not terribly often a sword or laser book shows up on short-lists for big literary awards, but Marlon James's Black Leopard, Red Wolf made the short-list for this year's national book awards.

Get new episodes of Orphan Black! Sword and Laser listeners get a discount on Orphan Black: The Next Chapter from Serial Box Audio Click here.

BARE YOUR SWORD

How do you visualize stories?

10 Free Audiobook Sites

In defense of reading the same book over and over again

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

October Pick!

Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes

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

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 - #365 - But Lin-Manuel Miranda!

Targaryen TV show possible? Check. Clifford Simak movie on Netflix? Check. Far Side back? Check. Showtime turns down The Kingkiller Chronicle TV show? WHAT?! BUT LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA!

Download directly here.

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: St. Francis Old Vine Zinfandel

Veronica: McKenzie Bourbon

QUICK BURNS

Dara: HBO is close to ordering a Targaryen-centric prequel to Game of Thrones. It is reportedly set "300 years before the events in Game of Thrones and tracks the beginning of the end for House Targaryen."

Tamahome: Io9: Clifford Simak's Way Station to be adapted for Netflix

TRP - This has been mentioned elsewhere in the Sword and Laser group but not here so ...

Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion in Game of Thrones) has been announced as Sam Vines in the tv series The Watch based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld books.

Sam Vines is the commander of the Ankh Morpork City Watch...

The TV series is based on characters from the City Watch rather than any individual book"

Dara: Unfortunately Showtime has passed on the Kingkiller adaptation from Lin-Manuel Miranda. The show will be shopped to other networks but as for now, the project isn’t happening.

Mark: S&L Murderbot fans can enjoy the cover reveal and read a much too brief excerpt of the forthcoming full-length novel, Network Effect by Martha Wells, over at io9

Mark: Brian McClellan is Kickstarting his next urban fantasy novel, Blood Tally
He has finished writing the book, a followup to Uncanny Collateral. The Kickstarter will fund production costs for self-publishing the book"

Dara: V.E. Schwab's The Archived is being adapted for the CW by the team that made Jane the Virgin. From Variety:
In the series, the eldest child in a family of ghost hunters, Bex has trained her entire life for the day she’ll take up the mantle of “the chosen one.” But when her dad dies and her local-weather-girl sister wakes up with the familial powers instead, these night-and-day sisters will have to figure out how to work together and save the world"

BARE YOUR SWORD

HT to @swordandlaser for the recommendation of volume 1 - Theft of Swords. My first read along with one of their picks and it was a home run. - Chris Beverwyk

The Far Side

What villain has caused the most damage?

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

October Pick!

Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes

Book Briefing

WRAP UP

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

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

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 - #364 - Kick Your Problems in the Face

Fran Wilde's op-ed from the future sounds hilarious. N. K. Jemisin's new novel sounds awesome. And Andy Weir's short story has been adapted into a cool short film. So much good reading out there! Plus our thoughts on why Trail of Lightning has us thinking that sometimes you just have to kick your problems in the face.

Download directly here!

QUICK BURNS

Mark: The New York Times is publishing Op-Eds from the future. The latest was written by a S+L author. The comments are entertaining too.

AN OP-ED FROM THE FUTURE

Please, Stop Printing Unicorns
Bioprinters are not toys, and parents shouldn’t give them to children.
By Fran Wilde

Update: There are links to more Op-Eds from the future in the article, including some written by other familiar authors: Ted Chiang, Hannu Rajaniemi, and Steven James.

Dara: Entertainment Weekly has a preview of N.K. Jemisin's upcoming novel, The City We Became. The story is an expansion of her short story The City Born Great, which you can read on Tor. You can also find the story in How Long 'til Black Future Month?.

From the article:

"The city of New York comes to life — literally, as in, the city has developed sentience and an ability to act on its own,"" Jemisin teases to EW. ""And because there’s a dangerous otherworldly tourist lurking about, trying to supernaturally gentrify the city to death, New York chooses five human champions to fight for it. Problem: they don’t know they’ve been recruited for a magical, interdimensional battle, although they figure it out pretty quickly when possessed toilet stalls attack, backyard pools turn into portals to monsterville, and traffic on the FDR becomes a literal, tentacled, killer."

Louie: Andy Weir's story, The Egg, gets adapted into a short film by Munich-based animation studio, Kurzgesagt (translation- In a Nutshell).

Anne: Bustle has a list of 20 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books From The 2010s That You Definitely Shouldn't Miss. It‘s focused on female and LGBTQ writers from what I can gather, though it doesn’t say so specifically

Dara: Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle is being adapted for tv. A24 and producer Jennifer Fox will be adapting it with Le Guin's blessing, which she gave before she passed. This will be the first adaptation with her approval.

@charliejane: YES IT'S TRUE. Now it can be told! The incredibly smart humans who translated all of the coolness of The Expanse to the screen are now turning their giant brains to my book The City in the Middle of the Night. I'm so glad I no longer have to freak out in silence! )exec producer Sharon Hall)"

Stubble: Earlier in the week Daniel Henney, known for his roles in Criminal minds, Hawaii five-o and several other roles joined the cast of Amazon's Wheel of Time series. He's going to be playing the stoic Warder and Blademaster Lan Mandragoran.
He'll be joining the other cast which as of yet consists of Rosamunde Pike as Moiraine and five unknown young actors who's shown great acting skills in the few projects they've been part of so far.
You can see @WoTonPrime's twitter announcement of Daniel Henney's casting here.
You can see "The Hollywood Reporter's" article about the upcoming Wheel of Time series here.
Filming is expected to start on the 16th of September. It's exactly 12 years after Robert Jordan passed away.

Sponsor: Orphan Black the next chapter from Serial Box.

BARE YOUR SWORD

Gary, @seniorgeek49 sez: Reading Trail of Ligtning for @swordandlaser? Want your own Böker? Better hurry:

Review of The Poppy War, by S&L SF group member Robert!

What is the average sword to sorcery ratio in fantasy?

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Book Briefing

Sword and Laser interview with Rebecca Roanhorse.

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 - #363 - Extremely Unbalanced

The Hugos have come and gone, and they were awesome. Audible's in trouble for speech-to-text. But they're right, it's an accessibility issue. Also, the publishers are right, it's a copyright issue! Tell it to the judge, both of you! Plus, we kick off our September pick, Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse.

Download directly here!

QUICK BURNS

Iain: The Hugo Award for Best Novel goes to The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal

The Hugo Award for Best Novella goes to Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells

The Hugo Award for Best Novelette goes to “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again,” by Zen Cho

The Hugo Award for Best Short Story goes to “A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies,” by Alix E. Harrow

The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form goes to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Iain: Retro 1944 Hugos

BEST NOVEL: Conjure Wife, by Fritz Leiber, Jr. (Unknown Worlds, April 1943)

BEST NOVELLA: The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Reynal & Hitchcock)

BEST NOVELETTE: “Mimsy Were the Borogoves,” by Lewis Padgett (C.L. Moore & Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science-Fiction, February 1943)

BEST SHORT STORY: “King of the Gray Spaces” (“R is for Rocket”), by Ray Bradbury (Famous Fantastic Mysteries, December 1943)

TRP: I realise that this is not really the place to mention theatre productions but given the ""importance"" of the author is to this community I thought I'd mention it.

The Lyric Theatre Hammersmith in London is putting on an adaptation of Solaris by Stanisław Lem in October.

It is adapted by leading British (Scottish) playwright David Grieg and arrives after previous visits to Edinburgh and Melbourne (Australia)

The cast includes a certain Hugo Weaving (yes, that Hugo Weaving)

I know this is only of limited availability to the people who can get to London in October but I'm definitely not going to ""Lem"" this play. In fact I'm going on the 15th October."

Dara:
Publishers are taking issue with Audible’s new Captions feature, introduced last month. The feature uses machine learning to transcribe spoken words into written ones, so users can read along while they listen to an audiobook. The issue, however, is that Audible is doing this based on audiobook recordings, which have separate licenses to physical books and ebooks. The company is not apparently obtaining the necessary licenses to reproduce the written versions of these works.

The lawsuit was filed by the big 5 publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster) along with Chronicle Books and Scholastic.

Shad: Stormlight Archive 4 is 50% done! There is an update on tor.com.

Mark: The Astounding Award for Best New Writer is the new name for The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

BARE YOUR SWORD

@RMarpole says:

Shout out to @swordandlaser

Listening to this epic #SFF podcast led me to @BrianTMcClellan 's Uncanny Collateral which I really enjoyed and reviewed over on Fantasy Faction. If you want the latest SFF news then you need The Sword and Laser in your life!

@ScottPantall says:

@swordandlaser By the time I got to the end of Episode 361 had forgotten that @Veronica had promised to share the astronaut space pee song and I was very confused about what my podcast app was doing. Thanks for the laugh!

Veronica asked for some "what to read next" suggestions on Twitter, and here are some good ones:

@hoopmanjh says: far-future neo-Victorian space pirates? (and recommended Alastair Reynold's Revenger and Shadow Captain)

@wadebryanr says (after recommending V.E. Schwab): Well she’s basically written nothing but masterpieces so anything you haven’t yet read gets my highest recommendation.

@KeithDDale says: Have you read Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames? It’s fantastic!

@allofmyhopes says: Elizabeth Wein’s “Code Name Verity” and Jonathan L. Howard’s “Johannes Cabal the Necromancer” are my two go-to recommendation.

Also, anything by N.K. Jemisin, but I think you’ve got that covered.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

ANNOUNCEMENT

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Book Briefing

Sword and Laser interview with Rebecca Roanhorse.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

S&L Podcast - #362 - Live from Dublin WorldCon 2019!

We had SO much fun at WorldCon in Dublin. We were blown away with how many people came out to see us!! We were literally prepared with plans for if the room was empty, but no, Ireland filled our room and our hearts. We got some great conversations and book recommendations from folks in the crowd too! Go raibh maith agaibh! The craic was grand!

Download directly here!

Veronica is in love

Thanks for the amazing adventures, GOT Direwolves!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Orchard Thieves Cider

Veronica: Orchard Thieves Cider

QUICK BURNS

Dara

The Magicians is starting over and becoming as a comic book series. The 5-issue miniseries will focus on a new class at Brakebills. It will be written by Lev Grossman, Lilah Sturges and Pius Bak. The first issue will be available November 6th digitally and in stores.

The Hollywood Reporter has more.

—-

Dara

Barack Obama revealed the books he's been reading all summer. There's a nice variety of genres including science fiction. He recommends Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang. Obama says, ""Exhalation by Ted Chiang is a collection of short stories that will make you think, grapple with big questions, and feel more human. The best kind of science fiction.""

You can check out his full list on his Facebook page.

—-

Mark

The Supreme Sword has begun marshalling her forces...

No word on what the Supreme Laser is up to.

—-

Priscilla (link from Mark)

The multi-award-winning author of The Left Hand of Darkness is now the subject of PBS’s American Masters documentary series. ‘Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin’ explores the life and literature of the influential feminist author whose groundbreaking novels and stories brought science fiction and fantasy fiction mainstream recognition.

—-

John Taloni

Gail Carriger's Reticence is out. This is the fourth and final book in the ""Custard Protocol"" series, the second generation following the five books of the ""Parasol Protectorate."""

—-

Green Ronin will be publishing a Fifth Season RPG. N.K. Jemisin will be working along side them to bring the game to life.

—-

Mark

Tweet from Mary Robinette Kowal about The Relentless Moon, the third Lady Astronaut novel...

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

Book briefing

S&L Podcast - #361 - My Little Space Brain Friends

Are we excited for The Witcher? Probably? Are we excited for the Hitchhiker's Guide Hulu TV series? Maybe? Are we excited for Vessel? In some ways? Is Tom excited for The Poppy War? YES!

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Hudson Four-Grain Bourbon

Veronica: Old Potrero

QUICK BURNS

Joanna: One of the many news from Comic-Con: The Witcher teaser is here

Dara: The British Fantasy Award nominees were announced.

Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award):

The Bitter Twins, by Jen Williams (Headline)

Empire of Sand, by Tasha Suri (Orbit)

Foundryside, by Robert Jackson Bennett (Jo Fletcher Books)

The Green Man’s Heir, by Juliet E McKenna (Wizard’s Tower Press)

The Loosening Skin, by Aliya Whiteley (Unsung Stories)

Priest of Bones, by Peter McLean (Jo Fletcher Books)

Dara: The World Fantasy Award Finalists were announced.

Novel

- In the Night Wood by Dale Bailey (John Joseph Adams/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

- The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley (MCD/Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

- The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang (Harper Voyager)

- Witchmark by C. L. Polk (Tor.com)

- Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga Press)

The winners will be announced at the convention October 31st to November 3rd and will be held in Los Angeles.

TRP: Hulu are planning a HitchHikers' Guide To The Galaxy series.

Dara: BookRiot compiled a list of 50 Must-Read Fantasy Books by Women. There are quite a few S&L picks, including August's pick, The Poppy War. As always, no list is definitive but I always appreciate them because I end up with more books on my never-ending TBR list."

Trike: Amazon has renewed The Expanse for a fifth season: Season 4 debuts Dec 13.

Sean Lookielook: HBO Max is ready to explore Greek mythology.

The forthcoming streaming service has handed out an eight-episode, straight-to-series order for Circe, a modern take on the world of Greek mythology based on Madeline Miller's best-seller of the same name."

BARE YOUR SWORD

How many S&L books had you read this year before they were announced as picks so far?

My library has fallen victim to ransomware

Astronaut Pee Pee

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Next Month: The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

Book briefing

WRAP UP

Vessel by Lisa Nichols

Book briefing

Aooogha! Whoo whoo! Bad science alert!

VSL: (Spoilers) was anyone else underwhelmed by the

VSL: Characterization

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 - #360 - Cuddling with Direwolves

Veronica is definitely not meeting direwolves in Ireland and stealing them and smuggling them back into the United States. Definitely not. Tom likes the Rook. A great database for finding queer SF/F books. And our thoughts so far on Vessel by Lisa Nichols.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Water

Veronica: pink wine

QUICK BURNS

Any news or announcements

Congratulations to Mary Robinette Kowal for winning the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel The Calculating Stars, a previous Sword and Laser pick.

And Ursula K. Le Guin continues to make her presence known to us after she is gone as Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing won best Non-fiction book and The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition with Charles Vess wins Best Art Book

The complete list of winners is listed here on Tor's site

Clyde: The Rook has started on Starz. I reckon the first episode hit all the right notes.
I wonder how closely they will follow the book. Might be difficult to do it all in eight episodes.Mark: What to Read this Summer Based on Your Favorite 'Star Trek' Character. Many of the recommendations will be familiar to S&L readers!

Dara: George R.R. Martin revealed some tidbits about the new Game of Thrones series, including which Houses fans can expect to see. Yes, the Starks and direwolves. No Lannisters.

You can read more at Entertainment Weekly.

David: The US TV broadcast of the Le Guin documentary, "Words of Ursula K. Le Guin" will finally air August 2 on American Masters (on PBS):

taeli: Sarah Waites created a database for Queer SF/F. It's only got about 70 entries now, but she's taking suggestions.

Mark: Jade War Swag!
Release day for Jade War is July 23

BARE YOUR SWORD

Feedback from the audienceWhat it's like to read 1950s science fiction

Hi, Tom and Veronica. Just listened to the latest podcast, in which you
were speculating about Rosamund Pike, who has been tapped to play
Moiraine Damodred in the TV series of The Wheel of Time. According to
IMDB, she wasn't in any of the Twilight Saga movies, which you had
thought she was. But it's interesting that you tagged her as the "Cool
Girl" Cullen sister in those films, because her big breakthrough was
starring as Amy Dunne in "Gone Girl" - and both the book and film are
known for her "Cool Girl" rant.

Dave W.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Vessel by Lisa Nichols

Book briefing

Aooogha! Whoo whoo! Bad science alert!

@El_Commutador
Some thoughts about #Vessel @swordandlaser :wink:

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

Thanks to Chris Darnell, Kristin Pilotte, and Judi Serrato

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 - #359 - We Have Literary Opinions

We’re so excited about our guest pick! It’s the kickoff for our July book, and the first ever-not-in-any-way chosen by Tom or Veronica. Also we love XKCD and we love Station 11. Also Dara and Terpkristin. So much love!

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Agua

Veronica: Fancy aqua

QUICK BURNS

Dara: Rosamind Pike has been cast as Moiraine in Amazon's adaptation of The Eye of the World.

Dara: Stan Lee's first adult novel is going to be released on September 17, 2019.
A Trick of Light, co-authored by Lee and Kat Rosenfield, is the first chapter in Lee’s planned “Alliances” universe.
Readers can start following the Alliances story starting June 27th on Audible as read by Yara Shahidi (black-ish, grown-ish)

Dara: Via Entertainment Weekly, Maniac showrunner Patrick Somerville will be adapting former book pick Station Eleven for WarnerMedia's streaming service. Hiro Murai will direct to 10-episode limited series.

BARE YOUR SWORD

Feedback from the audienceLiterary Opinions (xkcd comic)

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

It is time to kick off our July book pick, and while close followers of the Goodreads and Patreon already know this, neither one of us made the pick this month! We took some time to chat with our guest about the book she picked. Who could it be? let's find out. Vessel by Lisa Nichols

Book briefing

Our next episode is July 17!

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.

Thanks to www.patreon.com/notificationsYou 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 - #358 - Greg van Eekhout at the Nebulas!

Tom talks with Greg van Eekhout, author of Voyage of the Dogs and California Bones about dogs, writing from local influences, and what the Nebulas mean to him. Also Tom embarrasses himself at least twice!

Download directly here!

S&L Podcast - #357 - The Last Beagle

We're excited for a trip to the Hunger Games' past and to hear Tatiana Maslany show us her Orphan Black chops again. Plus, Veronica takes on a Jim Butcher challenge and our final thoughts on The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle.

Direct download here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: The Force

Veronica: Golden State Cider

QUICK BURNS

Rob: Jim Butcher is nearly done with Peace Talks!!

Hopefully this means we get the book sometime next year...

Dara: Suzanne Collins is releasing a prequel novel to the Hunger Games series. The untitled Panem book will be set 64 years before the events of the original trilogy and will be about a failed rebellion. You can read more about it on US News.

Rob: Tatiana Maslany is going to narrate a 10 part book series of Orphan Black that picks up after the show end

Tamahome: Quentin Tarantino to make a Star Trek, probably with piles of blood. Get these motherfucken tribbles off my ship!

Dara: Terry Pratchett's The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is set to be adapted into an animated film. According to Variety: They hope to release the film in early 2022.

Dara: George R.R. Martin has written a video game called Elden Ring with Hidetaka Miyazaki. The game is from the same studio that made Dark Souls and Bloodborne. The game is an RPG and Martin created the mythos. From the Polygon article:

BARE YOUR SWORD

THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, Ray Bradbury. I read this #book when I was young and loved the powerful evocation of place and loss. Reading it again decades later is like revisiting my childhood by meeting myself on the desolate hills of lost Mars. Hey, Mars needs women. @swordandlaser

From JP: My wife and I were shopping at a used bookstore today, and this was outside the store. Thought of you and @swordandlaser.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Book Briefing

TLU: Reads Like a Parable

TLU: Poor Mr. Beagle!

Snopes article

Next week: We announce the guest pick! Be the first to know by joining the Patreon... .or you can just wait for Rob to announce it in Goodreads too. That also works.

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 - #356 - Greetings from Tom Merritt, Illinois

We’re cautiously pessimistic about Winds of Winter, but hey wouldn’t that be cool? Also we discover what famous authors we live in (yes, you read that right, live in) and our initial thoughts on The Last Unicorn. PLUS an astonishing announcement about next month’s pick!

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Strawberry Ramune

Veronica: Glory Juice Company #19

QUICK BURNS

Air New Zealand offered to give George R. R. Martin a free vacation to help him find peace and quiet to finish the Winds of Winter. In reply Martin wrote "As for finishing my book… I fear that New Zealand would distract me entirely too much. Best leave me here in Westeros for the nonce. But I tell you this — if I don’t have The Winds of Winter in hand when I arrive in New Zealand for Worldcon, you have here my formal written permission to imprison me in a small cabin on White Island, overlooking that lake of sulfuric acid, until I’m done. Just so long as the acrid fumes do not screw up my old DOS word processor, I’ll be fine."

Rob: Things are looking up for The Thorn of Emberlain.
Scott Lynch just posted a photograph of what I appears to be the finished draft on his tumbler.

Mark: Eight science fiction stories to read now before seeing them on TV & Film

Dara: Marvel is adapting a bunch of their comics in to audiobook format. They'll be in a "read-to-me" style (I'm not entirely sure what that means) and will be available in September. The Verge has the list of books being adapted.

Tassie Dave "Read-to-me" means there will be also be a book for children to read along with while they listen to the story.

BARE YOUR SWORD

Do you live in a SF or F author?

I've Done It !! I'm the greatest un-Lemmer in the history of the world!
That's hardback people, thats 800 pounds of Murakami gg

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

NEXT MONTH'S PICK - We're not announcing it yet but next month will be our first ever GUEST PICK! Something we'd like to do from time to time to help vary up our picks even more. We're very happy that Brea Grant, writer filmmaker actor and host of the Reading Glasses podcast will be choosing our July book! Stay tuned for more

JUNE: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

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

Thanks to Adrian Sarmiento

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 - #355 - Rebecca Roanhorse at the Nebulas!

Tom catches up with Rebecca Roanhorse, author of Trail of Lightning to talk about writing native cultures in genre fiction and what she gets out of the Nebula conference.

Download directly here!

S&L Podcast - #354 - More Than a Bookstore to Me

Tom had fun at the Nebulas, and we’re excited about the winners. We also kick off a new book, wrap up the last one and give our thoughts about the Game of Thrones finale.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Les Portes de Bordeaux 2017

Veronica: Nothing, still hungover from last weekend

QUICK BURNS

Nebula Winners

Novel: The Calculating Stars

Novella: The Tea Master and the Detective

Novelette: The Only Harmless Great Thing

Dramatic: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Dara: The Folio Society is releasing a beautiful edition of A Game of Thrones in July. The book will come with original artwork by artist Jonathan Burton and an introduction by Joe Abercrombie. It will be in two volumes and it won't be cheap - $195 for the set. You can read more at The Verge.

Tamahome: Incomparable podcast read all the nebula nominees and have an episode about them. They'll do the Hugo noms too.

BARE YOUR SWORD

Buzz says: Great time at the Los Angeles Sword and Laser (@swordandlaser) meetup in North Hollywood with Kelly, Lisa and Ali. Next one on Jun 15 or Jun 29. We put the LA in Sword and Laser! See you soon! #swordandlaser #SandLLA

Benedict says I haven't read many sci-fi books BUT I am thoroughly enjoying 'the long way to a small angry planet' by Becky Chambers. I believe it was mentioned on @swordandlaser not that long ago, possibly a monthly read? Anyway, sorry you two, I've only just got round to it.

Nancy says: Today I switched things up on my blog by posting about my favorite podcasts. Includes @BlastBurnRadio @thecreativepenn @deletethispod @swordandlaser @todayexplained and @writingexcuses (among others!)

Sword and Laser is the podcast that I’ve been listening to the longest. Honest by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt, The Sword and Laser is a fantastic resource for news related to science fiction and fantasy books and authors. They also run a monthly book club with some wonderful choices. If it hadn’t been for The Sword and Laser, I surely would have missed out on some fantastic books."

♫ More than a bookstore! ♪♪ More than a bookstore to meeeee....

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Book Briefing

WRAP UP

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Book Briefing May 2019 - The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

How we felt about Game of Thrones TV show

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 - #353 - Whiskey by Bob

Locus Award finalists! Great supplementary material for the Martian Chronicles! Why we need utopias! AI Whisky! ALL THAT AND MORE! Sorry. We're really excited about this episode. We hope you will be too.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Water

Veronica: Golden State Cider

QUICK BURNS

Nokomis.Fl Dennis E Taylor's rewrite of Outland coming to Audible on May 16th.

Dara 2019 Locus Awards finalists announced

CY: My wife and I went to see "Exploring Mars," by National Geographic, the day before I began Martian Chronicles. If it's going to be in city close to you, it's worth the ticket price.

Mark: Dedication of Ray Bradbury statue planned for August 2019 in his hometown, Waukegan, Illinois.

William: On Thursday the 16th of May the BBC podcast/radio show In Our Time will be about Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein.

They have discussions on 853 other topics to download including the famous “Year Without Summer” that sparked the writing of Frankenstein.

The format of the show is that several leading experts are invited to discuss the topic in a sort-of narrative style. You feel as if you are listening to a story even though you’re really listening to top experts having a discussion. The host, Melvyn Bragg, deserves a lot of credit for keeping things flowing and understandable.

Trike: NASA has officially named the 2024 moon landing after Artemis, the sister of Apollo. It will include the first woman to walk on the moon. I think the entire crew should be women astronauts.

William: The Guardian has published an article advocating for the writing of more positive Science Fiction.

It briefly looks through the history of both dystopian and utopian fiction and considers why we are so suspicious of utopias.

It argues that while the world is far from ideal, many of us are in what others would call a utopia to the extent that rather than most people dying before adulthood we even ""have time to be outraged that chickens are ill-treated"". Positive visions of the future can allow us to build a better world.

BARE YOUR SWORD

Mel says: Joining in with @swordandlaser as they’re finally reading The Martian Chronicles. I’ve been voting for it for years and had this copy waiting the whole time!

Scott says: Hey folks - saw this and instantly thought of the distillery business in the Bobiverse!

—-

David says: Catching up on sword and laser podcast, saw that Veronica is looking for comic book recommendations.

Echo by Terry Moore or Rachel Rising by Terry Moore.

Scooby-doo Team up is a great book, I like it because it's one book = one adventure

Batman: Long Halloween

RASL by Jeff Smith

Sam and Fuzzy by Sam Logan (www.samandfuzzy.com) a fun web comic

Best,

David

—-

"Jenny says: Hi Tom and Veronica,

It's your loyal librarian, bringing you the OED entry on ""scrumpy.""

I also wanted to say that I know I read Rivers of London because of others in Sword and Laser and was surprised to realize it was never an official pick! That series is amazing in audio.

Thanks,

Jenny"

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Book Briefing May 2019 - The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

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 - #352 - The Sword Conspiracy

To Gene Wolfe! Thank you for Shadow and Claw and Pringles. Plus, William Gibson’s Alien 3, what you need to know before reading The Martian Chronicles, and our final thoughts on the vast conspiracies that make up Theft of Swords….and OUR SHOW?!!! DUH DUH DUH!

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Strongbow

Veronica: Stoked Cider in "Scrumpy"

QUICK BURNS

Dara and AndrewP: Author and SFWA Grand Master Gene Wolfe passed away on April 14th at age 87.

Robert: Coincidentally, shortly after hearing the news, I was snaking on some Pringles chips and looked them up on Wikipedia to see how they were made. And according to Wikipedia:
Gene Wolfe, a mechanical engineer-author known for science fiction and fantasy novels, developed the machine that cooks them.

Our interview with Gene Wolfe

Dara: Tor announced the British Science Fiction Association winners on their website.

Dara: Titan Books is publishing The Art and Making of The Expanse in October.

Nokomis.FL - William Gibson’s Unproduced ‘Alien 3’ Script Getting an Audio Drama Featuring Michael Biehn as Hicks! Offered on Audible!

TRP: As previously mentioned as a possibility round here
Aaronovitch Ben has just tweeted that the TV series adapted from his Rivers of London books are to be made by Simon Pegg & Nick Frost’s Stolen Picture production company

TRP: Circe by Madeline Miller has been shortlisted for the 2019 (UK) Women's Prize for Fiction

TRP: Tom Merritt (yes, that one) said on Cordkillers (a podcast apparently) that Laura Donnelly has been cast in Joss Whedon's The Nevers
According to IMDB The Nevers is "An epic science fiction drama about a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world."
Sounds a bit like The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss which is also in development

Nokomis.FL - A manuscript in author Anthony Burgess's archives appears to be a follow-up to the book A Clockwork Orange. The 200-page work is titled The Clockwork Condition and contains thoughts on the human condition and moral panic in reaction to the release of the film adaptation of A Clockwork Orange.

BARE YOUR SWORD

—-

Thea says: Hi, I recently discovered your podcast and am working through the archive. Back in 2009, Tom mentioned he was reading Evelyn Waugh's The Sword of Honour Trilogy. Currently a bit disappointed with the SF and fantasy books I've been reading, I decided it was time to switch genres. I'm enjoying it immensely, so thanks.

—-

New Twitter Review from Beth Mitcham! She says "HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE, J. K. Rowling. Had fun rereading this #book with @swordandlaser. Great kids eye view of the world and clearly made for reading aloud. I had more sympathy for Malfoy this time round; he’s a good Harry foil."

—-

@sblackmoore (a.k.a author Steven Blackmore) says: "I would like to publicly say, and this might be the only time I say it or he'll get a swelled head, but @BrianTMcClellan is awesome.

So awesome that he gave me a shout out on @swordandlaser for the Eric Carter books.

Thank you. Your check is in the mail"

—-

@El_Commutador says: "@swordandlaser I like the sense of humor in this one! :wink:

I'm listening to "Theft of Swords: Riyria Revelations, Volume One" on @Scribd!

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Book Briefing May 2019 - The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Wrap Up

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

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 - #351 - Uncanny Collateral Brian McClellan

Brian McClellan is the author of the Powder Mage Universe books as well as essays on the life and business of being a writer. He describes himself as living on the side of a mountain in Utah where he writes books and nurses a crippling video game addiction. His most recent book, Uncanny Collateral, is described (on Brian's Twitter) as "Harry Dresden meets Dog the Bounty Hunter in a fast-paced urban fantasy about a collection agent who works for the supernatural."

Download directly here!

Brian McClellan

@briantmcclellan

Stephen Blackmoore

S&L Podcast - #350 - Rye-ear-ah

So many great books are nominated for Hugos. Independent Bookstore Day is coming up and the proper pronunciation of Riyria! and we kick off our impressions of the refreshing and comfy feelings we’re getting from the thoroughly enjoyable Theft of Swords.

Direct download here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Smithwick's Red Ale

Veronica: Bulleit Rye

QUICK BURNS

The finalists for the Hugo Awards have been announced.

"Mark: It’s that time of year again - that’s right, Independent Bookstore Day is almost upon us! Celebrations will be held on Saturday, April 27th in locally-owned and operated bookstores across the US (I couldn’t find any information on international participation, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still support your local bookstores across the globe regardless). To find out more info, you can visit the official Independent Bookstore Day website:

In particular, if you want to find out which stores near you are participating, you can search for them via this interactive map.

Dara: Patrick Rothfuss was on the The B&N Podcast and talked a bit about progress on The Doors of Stone and the Kingkiller TV adaptation. Newsweek has the story if you're not interested or able to listen to the podcast.

From the article:

'Kingkiller, my work on the books, is—again, it might seem strange for people to hear—but nobody laments the lack of tangible progress more than me, in terms of the next Kingkiller book,' Rothfuss said. 'But things are moving forward, if not fast—again I’ve never promised fast, ever since I knew what I was good at professionally.'

'But I am moving forward,' Rothfuss told B&N’s blog editor Joel Cunningham. 'More importantly, I’m finally getting my life sorted out so that I can go back and approach my writing and my craft with the joy that I used to feel back in the day, when I was just an idiot kid playing D&D or working on my unpublishable fantasy novel.'"

Take your time, Pat. We'll be here when you're finished. <3

Dara: Via Barnes & Noble SFF blog, Catherynne Valente Is Writing a Sequel to Space Opera. Yes, it Is Called Space Oddity. Expected release date is Spring 2021.

Mark: Fonda Lee's first podcast short story is up at The Overcast.

Julie and Tamahome: N. K. Jemisin makes her comics debut (with artist Jamal Campbell) with Far Sector, a unique Green Lantern story for DC’s Young Animal imprint.

John and Seth: Vonda McIntyre has died.l

BARE YOUR SWORD

"I know mispronouncing things is a cornerstone of Sword and Laser, but when its the name of the entire series, I though I could provide the suggestion.

Michael J. Sullivan says the official way to say it is:

Rye-Ear-Ah

Rye as in the grain

Ear as in the body part

and ah, that's how you say Riyria." William Keaton

—-

Just finished the enchanting Kingdom of Copper (sequel to City of Brass) by @SAChakrabooks, which has had me under its spell for weeks. The Daevabad trilogy is absolutely worth your time, as is her interview on @swordandlaser. Can’t wait to see how it ends. Peter V. Brett

The book shop that wasn't quite just a book shop

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

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

Thanks to Andor Andorson, Ethan Poole and all the folks who support us at 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 - #349 - Sit Down Kid, I Got This

So many books became options! We’re hopeful. Also we’re excited to read our March Madness winner, Theft of Swords. And why Dumbledore may or may not be an irresponsible headmaster.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Yes Way Rosé

Veronica: Pacific Coast Bone Dry Hard Cider

Thanks to everyone who took part in March Madness!

QUICK BURNS

Joe: Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series of novellas has been optioned for television.

There are four novellas published so far, more on the horizon, and it is legitimately one of my favorite things. The first, Every Heart a Doorway, won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award for Best Novella. I wrote in my review at Nerds of a Feather that "Every Heart a Doorway is a beautiful and heart wrenching story of kids who don't belong anywhere except perhaps the one place they can't get back to." It is a story that feels like coming home.

Tamahome: Love, Death & Robots has been released on Netflix. It's a series of animated shorts. A lot of them are adapted genre short stories by John Scalzi, Alastair Reynolds, Ken Liu, Joe Lansdale, Marko Kloos, and Peter F. Hamilton. ... The tone is kind of like Heavy Metal (It has some roots in it). Plenty of sex and violence. Of course the Scalzi ones are more humorous.

Mark: Brian McClellan's new self-published fantasy novel, Uncanny Collateral, is available direct from the author before official release date.

Adrian: The Laundry Files by Charlie Stross has been optioned for a TV show. This time it's by an English producer so the author is more optimistic

Dara: Nnedi Okorafor is set to write the Wild Seed series adaptation for Amazon Prime. Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions will be producing and Wanuri Kahiu will direct.

"Wild Seed is a love (and hate) story of two African immortals who travel the ages from pre-Colonial West Africa to the far, far future. "

BARE YOUR SWORD

Started from the first one again a few days ago for the @swordandlaser and as a warm up for @readathon :) re: Harry Potter. Readathon is a twice-yearly 20 hour readathon, happening again on April 6th. Learn more here! http://www.24hourreadathon.com/

Read all the books! (From the S&L bookshelf)

Subject: Tom pronounces something wrong shocker
Message: Berwick-upon-tweed
ˌberɪk əˌpɒn ˈtwiːd
See OED.
You can try the Geordie of Newcastle as well but that isn't standard.
Superhero bit of bullet dodging Veronica.
pob

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

Book briefing

Final stats:

Final Thoughts onHarry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone

HP: Dumbledore Is a Horrible Teacher (spoilers for the end)

A Star Wars Is Born – “Shallow” Parody (Nerdist Presents) - YouTube

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

Thanks to Erin, Scott and Juliana

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 - #348 - Book Battle Royale

We review the final four books in our Mad March Tournament. Plus lots of great new award-winners and nominees to fill your to-read list and our continuing thoughts on our re-read of Harry Potter.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Regret

Veronica: Despair

QUICK BURNS

Ruth: Michael B Jordan's production company and Warner Bros have scooped up the movie rights to Black Leopard, Red Wolf.

Dara: March is Women's History Month and Syfy's Fangrrls is celebrating women with a limited podcast series called Forgotten Women of Genre. The first episode is about Carol Clover and the Final Girl.

ALSO: It’s early morning. You’re tired. You were up late listening to the latest episode of the Sword and Laser podcast. You look in the mirror as you brush your teeth. Your reflection is Sam Sykes.

"Good morning! I bet you think I’m going to tell you to buy my book. I’m not. I’m here to tell you that nominations for the 2019 Hugo Awards are open and you should nominate Sword and Laser. I know I am! (Also buy my book.)"

How he managed to get all of that out through a mouthful of toothpaste, you’ll never know.

---------------
Instructions on how to vote can be found here. Check your email for individual links for online nominating. Voting ends Friday 15 March, 2019, 11:59 PDT.

Silvana: Circe, a past S&L pick, is included in the long list for the 2019 Women's prize for fiction, along with some other writers, such as the one highlighted in this article, a non-binary trans author from Nigeria Akwaeke Emezi with her novel Freshwater.

Stubble: The episode titles for the first four Wheel of Time series episodes have been revealed and seems to indicate that the first season will be based on book 1 and 2. The titles have been revealed by images of each script's first page.

The episode titles are
1 Leavetakings
2 Shadow's waiting
3 A place of safety
4 Dragon reborn

On the fourth script image there's a faint trace of episode 6 being named The flame of Tar Valon which indicate events in the beginning of book 2.

You can find information about this on the Daily Trollock

Dara: Martha Wells's Murderbot will return in a full-length novel in 2020 called Network Effect.

TRP: Trailer is out for the Starz adaptation of The Rook by Daniel O'Malley It all looks a bit dark and serious. I seem to recall the book had a lighter touch. Probably worth a watch

Game of Thrones' Final Season Trailer: Be Prepared for Death

Amazon revealed a finalized map for its Lord of the Rings series March 7 with the island of Númenor in the lower left hand corner, which confirmed the Amazon show’s Second Age setting. In “The Lord of the Rings,” trilogy, Númenor has been destroyed for thousands of years and serves as a lost city in Middle-Earth’s history. (Hat Tip to Stubble who noted this as well)

BARE YOUR SWORD

I am committed to reading every single @swordandlaser starting from the beginning. And if I like the first book, I’ll continue with the entire series. -- From Priscilla Basilio

Mark Ferrando has our old set! It's amazing! "I'm a former employee of Pixel Corps, the company which used to shoot the video episodes of Sword and Laser. After the show wrapped the company had to dismantle the set, but it had nowhere to store it and was just going to throw it out. I managed to arrange it so that the set elements were transported to my parents' home in Petaluma where we rebuilt it in their garage (with some modifications to fit the geometry of the available space). Ever since we have used it to host community games nights, family reunions, and other festivities, and we have added our own embellishments over the years, including a custom carbonite statue of my sister, mementos from various conventions, and a menagerie of dragons to take the place of Lem (I'm not quite sure where he ended up, although I think we might have the smoke machine and tubing that was used to help bring him to life)."

Just found the new episode for @swordandlaser , thank GOD. It’s Tuesday evening but this is like audio CRACK. :pray::+1::heart: -- Benedict

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

MARCH MADNESS CHECK-IN

Theft of Swords by Michael J Sullivan

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

BOOK CHECK IN

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone

Book briefing

HP: The Dursleys were kind of right

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/