S&L Podcast - #514 - The Rebirths of Wesley Chu


Wesley Chu joins us to talk about The Lives of Tao and Jan is back, so we have loads of news including Locus Award Winners and the British Fantasy Society shortlist. Plus Tom sings. We're all sorry about that. Also, we almost named this episode The Lives of Wesley Chu until we realized we had already done that in 2014.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Spinach Ravioli
Veronica: Straight and Narrow, the gross Black Currant flavor

QUICK BURNS

Jan: Blinks Well, damn, I finished The Inevitable Ruin — seems I am out of the Dungeon. sigh
On the other hand, this means I can start posting Quick Burns again! SO...

It seems our Romantasy Overlady is continuing to conquer the world: Or as The Hollywood Reporter puts it: Sarah J. Maas has signed a worldwide deal with IMG Licensing for "apparel, beauty, lifestyle, home décor, wine and spirits, food and beverage, toys and games, collectibles, cosplay, and immersive fan experiences" for her entire fictional universe. But this notably excludes film and TV rights.

Jan and The Lives of JasonReads:
The 2025 Locus Awards Winners have been announced!

Winner for SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL: The Man Who Saw Seconds, Alexander Boldizar
FANTASY NOVEL: A Sorceress Comes to Call, T. Kingfisher
DEBUT NOVEL: Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell

Jan: Locus Mag reports:
The British Fantasy Society has announced the shortlist for the 2025 British Fantasy Awards:

Nominations for Best Fantasy Novel:

  • Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

  • Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan

  • A Shadow Over Haven by David Green

  • The Green Man’s War by Juliet E. McKenna

  • Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi

Jan: There is a trailer for Momo – the new English-language movie adaptation of the hugely successful children’s fantasy novel by German author Michael Ende (The Neverending Story) about a little girl living in an amphitheater, fighting with the help of a turtle and the power of friendship against the Grey Men – who literally steal time from all adults around her (in this adaptation, by distributing some sleek technological gadget that all the adults are linked to – which is definitely NOT a very heavy-handed metaphor...)
Watch the trailer — release date in Germany is October this year. No international release dates announced yet.

Jan: Two Romantasy novels are coming this July on the same day that are both reworks of successful Dramione fanfics:

Jan: From LocusMag and The Guardian:
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer has won the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2025 for best science fiction novel first published in the UK in the past year.
The Guardian describes Annie Bot as an "‘Intense’ novel about [a] robot abused by her boyfriend."

Jan: Amazon MGM released the first trailer for Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling and based on the novel by Andy Weir.
US release date: March 20, 2026.

Trike: The home of Alfred Bester, winner of the first Hugo Award for The Demolished Man, is for sale. His wife Rolly, by the way, was the first actress to portray Lois Lane on the 1940 Superman radio show.

Seth: Romantasy is such a cultural force that Jimmy John’s created a miniature romantasy audiobook read by Walton Goggins. It's part of their "S.M.U.T." summer menu promotion and available to Freaky Fast Rewards members through July 6.

Mark: The Faith of Beasts, the next book in the Captive's War series by James S.A. Corey, has a release date of April 2026.

BARE YOUR SWORD

Seth: I got nervous when I saw the episode title — I share the last name Warburton with Patrick (sadly, no relation). Glad I didn’t do anything to cause the name drop!
Also: Please use company funds to watch Murderbot. It’s excellent.

Ruth: Disappointed by Tom’s weak rendition of Jisoo’s “All Eyes On Me.” I expect full Korean lyrics next time. Also, Murderbot is great! I’ve been secretly watching ahead of my husband.

Tassie Dave: Yes to S&L funds bypassing the Patriarchy 😜 and supporting Murderbot! 😊

Stephen: I wish Murderbot episodes were an hour long. Half-hour dramas just feel incomplete to me.

John (Taloni): Kurt Vonnegut once shared a quote from an archaeologist:
"I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”

Jan: Clarification from a past episode: The bonus chapters in the Dungeon Crawler Carl hardcovers are not the same as the extras in the audiobooks. They’re part of a standalone novella called Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Kick Off:
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

Wrap Up:
The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu

Questions for Wesley Chu:
See the full Goodreads thread

Seth: How does Mr. Chu feel about his debut now? Would he revise it, or is it in the past?

Trike: Did City of Heroes inspire the Prophus and Genjix dynamic?

Mark: Any other sci-fi/fantasy/horror franchises you’d love to write for?

Veronica: Were there other Lives of Tao that didn’t make the final book?

  • How did you decide which historical events to reference?

  • How did you come up with Genjix and Prophus names?

  • The alien possession angle is fascinating — what inspired that structure?

ADDENDUMS

Our show is funded entirely by our patrons. Thank you!
Support us on Patreon

You can also support us by buying books through our links.
Find them at swordandlaser.com

S&L Podcast - #386 - Interview with L. E. Modesitt Jr

We talk with L. E. Modesitt Jr, the bestselling author of two science fiction series and four fantasy series, who has published more than seventy novels. His latest book, Quantum Shadows is described as blending science fiction, myth, and legend in an adventure that pits old gods and new against one another in a far-future world.

Download directly here!

S&L Podcast - #379 - Interview with Veronica Roth

Veronica Roth is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Divergent series, the Carve the Mark duology, The End and Other Beginnings collection of short fiction, and most recently her newest novel, Chosen Ones. We talk to her about the new novel, and what it’s like doing a virtual book tour!

Download directly here!

saveindiebookstores.com

Veronica Roth Books

Veronica Roth on Instagram

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 http://swordandlaser.com/picks.

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 - #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 - #345 - Math as a Magic System w/ Mary Robinette Kowal

We chat with Mary Robinette Kowal, the author of this month’s pick, The Calculating Stars. From acknowledging and learning from your biases, to de-stigmatizing mental illness, to using math as a magic system, we had a lovely time and don’t care WHAT people would think.

Download directly here!

March Madness is upon us! Nominate books for the tournament next month in our Goodreads forum until 8 PM Eastern February 25.

Hugo-award winning author, Mary Robinette Kowal is a novelist and professional puppeteer.

Sword and Laser video episode

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

Book Briefing