S&L Podcast - #267 - We Pick the Best Wizard School

The Hugos are in, for 2016 and 1941! And although the Thorn of Emberlain is delayed, we understand. We also pick our favorite wizard school and wrap up The Last Wish. 

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WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: In n Out
Veronica: Piederosso
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Rob: The Fifth Season won the Hugo! And the rest   
    
Clyde: The 1941 Worldcon did not present Hugo Awards. MidAmeriCon II elected to present Retro-Hugo Awards for works first published in 1940 that would have been eligible for the 1941 Hugo Awards had there been Awards presented in 1941.
    
Silvana: Publication date of The Thorn of Emberlain, 4th novel of the Gentlemen Bastard series, is delayed again. It is okay, Scott, we'll be waiting. And congrats for your upcoming marriage to Elizabeth Bear!
    
Mark: For Douglas Adams fans, a TV series based on Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, coproduced by Netflix and BBC America [[The show will premiere on BBC America on October 22 and all eight episodes will launch on Netflix outside the U.S. in December]]
    
Silvana: James Purefoy aka Marc Anthony has been cast in Altered Carbon adaptation. Now I may need to read the book.
    
Nick: For fans of The Clockwork Dagger, there's the release of Beth Cato's Breath of Earth. It's a steampunk alt history set in 1906 San Francisco featuring magic, geomancy and a heroine who sounds and looks truly badass.
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Alex: I'll have you know, me and my friends still use live journal daily! So it's not only GRRMartin who's keeping the site afloat xD
     
What's your favorite Wizard School?
    
Kindle (and other ebooks!) Daily Deal  
       
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Wrap up:     
Last Wish: The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski
    
TLW More Stories, Less Filling
    
TLW: Geralt Cosplay
    
Next Month: A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
Book notes for patrons here.
    
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 - #266 - Are You Reading Too Much?

This week we dive into our (non-spoilery) thoughts on the Witcher and get excited about a movie based on Ted Chiang's story and a TV series based on George R. R. Martin's Wild Cards. But Brad poses a question about how one tells if they're reading too much.

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WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Water

Veronica: Omission Lager

QUICK BURNS

Stephen and Louie: First Arrival trailer (Based on The Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang)

Mark: George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards is coming to television.

Tamahome: Help Decide Which Characters Will Be in GRRM’s Wild Cards TV Show

Robyn: StoryBundle is currently offering a space opera themed bundle

Tamahome: The Self-Published Scifi Sensation Zenith Is the Latest eBook to Make the Jump to Physical Media

Amy: Vote for DragonCon awards! Nominees

Sandra: Announcing the 2016 Aurora Awards Winners!

BARE YOUR SWORD - add time stamp!Feedback from the audience

Trouble Reading At Times

Lots of you wrote in with suggestions about the angel noir author that Rob started a few weeks ago. Well, none of us were right! Rob himself says that he was mis-remembering the whole situation... but he told us in the best way possible:

"I was back in my office by five. It'd been a case with as many turns as a lost millenial playing Pokemon Go while driving. As dangerous too. And now that it was finally closed, I wondered if it was worth it. Turns out that what I was looking for? It didn't even exist. All I'd done was proven I'd gotten old. I'd forgotten things. I'd warped them to fit my own twisted narrative. I pored myself a slug and didn't bother to taste it as it went down, then left my office again to go home. It was late.

The streets were darker with something more than night."

Rob says he can't, of course, take credit for the last line: "To be clear, that last line isn't me, it's my favorite Chandler quote"

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Polish TV series

Poland Stuff

Next episode: Thursday 8/25, then the next episode after that: Tuesday, 9/14

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 - #264 - Will the Real Witcher Please Stand Up

We have an excellent conversation about great character names and revel in the news of rising print book sales. But the big question is, which Witcher is canon?

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WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Sonoma Cider: The Anvil: Bourbon
Veronica: Water    
    
QUICK BURNS
    
eStories launches an alternative source for audiobooks
    
Surprise revival in UK printed book sales, with ebooks dipping / Boing Boing
    
Louie: Akiva Goldsman attempts to adapt Asimov's The Caves of Steel. He previously brought I, Robot to the big screen. Let's hope previous results are not a sign of future results.
    
Alex: The Economist has an interesting article on how the Discworld novels have resisted adaptation
    
Alex: Small follow up to the post on the Big Book of Science Fiction. In this interview Ann and Jeff Vandermeer mention they also want to do a Big Book of Fantasy.
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Great Character Names
    
Fantasy Westerns/Weird West suggestions?
    
Please help, listeners with good memories! What was that book/author....
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Kickoff:  The Last Wish: Introducing The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski
    
Patron Book Notes
    
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