S&L Podcast - #507 - Book Goblin
/Tom forgot to write the intro to the show this week, so you’re stuck with the Veronica Edition. March is still full of madness, which makes sense because it’s a full moon eclipse coming up and Venus is in retrograde. Or something! We check in on The City and The City by China Miéville, and we see and unsee your perspectives on the book thus far.
WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Egg Frittata and Fried Potatoes, Mochi Cake
Veronica: Vegetarian cottage pie
"Cottage pie is Shepherd's pie without lamb" - Elizabeth
QUICK BURNS
March Madness Update
Round of 4: March 9th - 15th, 11:59 PM ET
Final Round: March 16th - 22nd, 11:59 PM ET
Goodreads Poll
March Madness 2025 - Round 1 Voting
terpkristin: Amal El-Mohtar and her sister played music that will be used in the audiobook of Amal El-Mohtar’s new book (The River Has Roots). Not sure this is really worthy of Quick Burns, but I thought it was cool.
Instagram Reel
Mark: WHOA! Justin Lin will direct Keanu Reeves in BRZRKR. BRZRKR is the story of a violent half-god who stomps around doing a lot of violence. Keanu Reeves co-writes the comics featuring BRZRKR with Matt Kindt. Reeves and this month's author, China Miéville, co-wrote a novel, The Book of Elsewhere, set in the world of the BRZRKR comic book.
Read more
Seth: Terry Brooks announces that, at age 81, he's ready for semi-retirement. He’s handing head-writer duties for his 50-year-old Shannara series to Delilah Dawson.
Instead of feeling like Sanderson finishing The Wheel of Time, this seems to me more like what's happened recently with some suspense authors becoming brands. Like Lee Child turning over his character to his brother, or how Clive Cussler or Robert Ludlum’s characters just keep going despite their authors' deaths.
Jan: The winners of the 2025 Libby Awards, chosen by librarians and library workers across North America, have been announced.
Winners of genre interest:
Science Fiction and Debut Author of the Year: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Sword & Laser pick!)
Best Fantasy: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst (romantic cozy fantasy about stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, and sweet jams)
Best Romantasy: House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas (totally unexpected)
Best Young Adult Fiction: Heir by Sabaa Tahir (romantic fantasy following an orphan, an outcast, and a prince in a world on the brink of chaos)
Best Middle Grade Book: Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (a race to save the world’s last magical place)
Seth: Publisher’s Weekly reports that the book jobber who distributes to mass retailers (bookstores and big-box stores) is going to cease working with books in mass-market paperback size.
I have many memories of combing used-bookstore shelves for mass-market sci-fi titles as a kid—reading lots of Star Wars and Star Trek paperbacks, some until they fell apart. Recently, I figured it was mostly for the romance genre, so I was surprised to learn that last year’s best-selling mass-markets were 1984 and Animal Farm.
Trike: Analog, Asimov’s, and F&SF Under New Ownership
All three magazines have been bought by the same outfit, which also purchased Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
BARE YOUR SWORD
Stephen: I really wanted the Murderbot series to be done in the animated style of some of the episodes in Love, Death & Robots. Oh well.
Trike: Veronica can’t get to the Book Briefing because she’s a working mother. Like she said in this episode, she had to drink and nap until the kid got home. That cuts into your reading time.
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The City & the City by China Miéville
Bookshop Link
Amazon Link
Book Briefing
TCatC: Unseeing Goodreads Discussion
TCatC: Miéville has got to be taking... Goodreads Discussion
The City and the City (2018) IMDb
ADDENDUMS
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