Good news, everyone!
Kristian Nairn, who plays Hodor on the HBO series Game of Thrones, will be joining us on the podcast next week! If you have any questions for him, please let us know over on the Goodreads thread!
In the meantime, make sure to follow him on Twitter!
We're stoked about more than just A Dance with Dragons this week. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction is going online for free next year! Comic-Con is coming, which means awesome YouTube videos! And we sing a welcome to the newbies in our GoodReads forum. But you should listen anyway.
QUICK BURNS
George R.R. Martin confirms 'Dunk and Egg Vol I'
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction online and free
All the Coolest Events You Can’t Miss at Comic-Con 2011
CALENDAR
7/19/2011 - Star Wars: Choices of One By Timothy Zahn
7/26/2011 Ghost Story (Dresden Files, No. 13) by Jim Butcher
7/31/2011 Troika by Alistair Reynolds
8/2/2011 The Diviner by Melanie Rawn
8/2/2011 Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
BARE YOUR SWORD
From Singularity into La-La Land?
BOOK CHECK-IN
Veronica is at 36%. Tom is significantly behind her.
EMAILS
Starting at about 11:00 in the S&L podcast number 68, Tom said something like, "Those are three book trilogies, there's lots of examples of those. Addams is at least a five book trilogy." All with a straight face. Have fun, Rob
NEW MEMBER HELLOS
Don, Don, James, Sarah, Melissa, Jenny, LordofSquirrels, Maranas, Tom, Ricardo, Mike, Dave, Grant, Scott, Nix, Costa, Mario, Peter, Gheric, Robert, Mojo, Ian, Jim, Slowfox, Zach.
ADDENDUMS
This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 75,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, non-fiction and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to audiblepodcast.com/sword.
We start dancing about dragons, face an uprising from the listeners, and talk with David Peterson. As the creator of the Dothraki language, he advises us to tell the audience "Anha ochomok yeraan kijinosi."
BARE YOUR SWORD
The thread from episode 67, AKA "Let's blame Tom"
INTERVIEW - Starts at 22:01
David Peterson - LCS President (Language Creation Society), creator of the Dothraki language.
David was nice enough to translate the passage on the show and pointed us to this link for an example of some diagramming of Dothraki:
"I will not have your body burned. I will not give you that honor. The beetles will feed on your eyes. The worms will crawl through your lungs. The rain will fall on your rotting skin... until nothing is left of you but bones."
Ánha vazhók khadoés yeroón virsalát. Ánha ochomók yeraán kíjinosi. Ínte vádakhie tíhoa ma khéwo áfilki vi gadimaán. Eyél várthasoe she ilekaán ríkhoya arrekaán vékha vósi yeroón vósma tolórro.
ADDENDUMS
This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 75,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, non-fiction and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to audiblepodcast.com/sword.
We kick off A Dance with Dragons a week early with a quick summary of the important stuff that happened in the last book, A Feast for Crows. Don't worry if you don't want to be spoiled, we save it all to the very end and give lots of warnings. But you have to tune in for some great Goodreads discussions, quick news, and of course the Calendar.
QUICK BURNS
Steven "Jumper" Gould's new novel 7TH SIGMA: genre-busting science fiction/western kicks ass
Neil Gaiman Reveals the Future of American Gods
Machine of Death deadline approaches
CALENDAR
7/12/2011 A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
7/19/2011 Star Wars: Choices of One By Timothy Zahn
7/26/2011 Ghost Story (Dresden Files, No. 13) by Jim Butcher
7/31/2011 Troika by Alistair Reynolds
BARE YOUR SWORD
Dance with Dragons accidentally ships early
Gateway Books for Future Scifi/Fantasy Lovers
BOOK PREVIEW
A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Speculative World Map for A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE
The Song of Ice and Fire So Far: Part 1 - Ancient History
The Song of Ice and Fire So Far: Part 2 - The Dragon Kings
A Song of Ice and Fire So Far Part 3: Thrones and Kings
A Song of Ice and Fire So Far Part 4: Swords and Crows
EMAILS
I have to say that I'm very curious about the sound effects others are offering for the calendar & book check-in. I'm not very creative & don't expect to win. However I did come across some effects that I'd like to share from www.audiomicro.com. For the calendar the only thing I can think of is 'page flip by Soundjay'. For the new member 'reaction cheer by Blastwavefx'. For the book check-in 'foley book grab by Blastwavefx'. All of these are wav format & very brief. Because it's someone else's work, I don't know the legal issues for me to grab their work & send it to you for possible use. What got me curious the most is the sound effects people are choosing for calendar & book check-in. That curiosity is what lead me to see what sound effects are out there.
Robert M.
NEW MEMBER HELLOS
Austin, Brian, David, PanamaJack, ViolinKnitter, Johanna, BravePixels, Frank, Leavey, Lynn, Dinre, Lorenzo, Ian, Ashley, Tero, Alex, Raul, Edvardas, Colin, Gumberkules, John, new Michaels 1, 2, and 3, aaaaand Jason.
John -- Long time listener, first time caller. First let me say I love the 'cast. I especially love the pace and format Veronica and Tom have adopted. (Note: As I listen, I like to picture them as the VeroniTom, a two-headed book-hoarding winged creature. Try it yourself, it gives the podcast that added extra flair.)
ADDENDUMS
This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 75,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, non-fiction and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to audiblepodcast.com/sword.
S&L Podcast - #67 - Previously, on A Song of Ice and Fire...
Today we check in on Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Little Fuzzy power ballad, and get Tom to hold off on his Game of Thrones TV talk until the bitter end.
63 S&L Podcast - #63 - Save it for the end by swordandlaser 63 S&L Podcast - #63 - Save it for the end by swordandlaser
QUICK BURNS
Power-ballad for John Scalzi's new Little Fuzzy novel
Use of Weapons declared best sci-fi film never made
GRRM gives a final status report on A DANCE WITH DRAGONS
CALENDAR
5/24/2011 The Falling Machine, Andrew Mayer
5/25/2011 Chasing the Moon, Lee Martinez (Orbit)
6/3/2011 The Book of Transformations by Mark Charan Newton Tor
6/7/2011 Robopocalypse: A Novel by Daniel H. Wilson
6/7/2011 Hot and Steamy: Tales of Steampunk by Jean Rabe
6/7/2011 Jim and the Flims, Rudy Rucker (Nightshade Books)
BARE YOUR SWORD
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms > On spellings and pronunciations
BOOK CHECK-IN
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
We'll be interviewing NK Kemison on next week's episode, post your questions for her on our Goodreads forum.
EMAILS
Hi!
I just wanted to say that I love the Game of Thrones discussions on your Sword and Laser podcast! I really like to hear a discussion of the show, and I think you guys do a good job of reviewing the episode, while still being mindful of those who haven't read the book (like me!). I don't really have people to discuss this with around me, and I don't have time to hunt down some discussion group on the internet, so your discussions are perfect for me.
Also, I agree with Veronica. I felt a lot of the past few book picks haven't been ""engrossing."" Sometimes, I just want to read a book that you can't put down, and that draws you in. (That would NOT be Blindsight.) I'm fine if it's not considered ""high brow"" science fiction.
Thanks for putting on the podcast!!
Paul
***
Tom and Veronica,
Had an idea for how you could cover some of the big releases coming up without having to read them as the official book. I listen to a video game podcast (Gamespot presents the Hotspot if you want to plug) that is a weekly show about the news and latest releases. In their main show they cover very generally the new releases but when there is a big release, most recently Portal 2, they put out an entirely separate episode they call a spoilercast. This way the listeners have a choice to listen or not listen and avoids the whole pesky fast forwarding through spoilers or even having to warn about spoilers at all because its the purpose of the show. Doing this allows those reading the book along with you to listen should they want or if any pick up the book later to go back to the episodes and listen along. I know Tom and Veronica, you guys are often taxed for recording time but I don't think that this ""spoilercast"" would have to be anymore than 10-15 minutes a week, or maybe just a one off 30 minute episode to recap the book when you've both finished. Let me know what you think.
Follow both of you religiously and love all your shows, Sword and Laser especially.
Alex
This week we discuss how the Game of Thrones series is shaping up, how we make mental pictures of characters when we read, and the meaning of Hodor.
QUICK BURNS
Book Publishers, AOL To Launch New Book Recommendation Site
CALENDAR
5/10/2011 Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
5/10/2011 The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi (Tor)
5/17/2011 Embassytown by China Mieville
5/19/2011 The Order of the Scales by Stephen Deas
5/24/2011 The Falling Machine, Andrew Mayer (Pyr)
5/25/2011 Chasing the Moon, Lee Martinez (Orbit)
BARE YOUR SWORD
How do you imagine characters when you read a novel?
BOOK CHECK-IN
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
N. K. Jemisin is an African-American female writer of speculative fiction. Her 2010 debut novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award and the 2011 Hugo Award, and was ranked #5 on Amazon's "editors' pick" list of the year's best ten works of science fiction and fantasy.
The Inheritance Trilogy
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (2010)
The Broken Kingdoms (2010)
The Kingdom of Gods (forthcoming in 2011)
We get excited about the reality of George R. R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons and the scariness of a movie based on Ender's Game. We discuss how much vampires distracted from the concepts of Blindsight. And Veronica expresses her frustration at books without clear, satisfying endings.
QUICK BURNS
ENDER’S GAME WILL BECOME A LIVE-ACTION FILM
George R. R. Martin has delivered A Dance with Dragons to the publisher
...and another less vague post
Pre-order A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Bantam confirms that ADWD will NOT be split
How to remember and discover Joanna Russ
CALENDAR
5/3/2011 The Inheritance by Robin Hobb
5/5/2011 The Deserter by Peadar Ó Guilín
5/10/2011 Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
5/10/2011 The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi (Tor)
5/17/2011 Embassytown by China Mieville
5/19/2011 The Order of the Scales by Stephen Deas
BARE YOUR SWORD
BOOK WRAP-UP
Two Word Reviews of Blindsight
NEW BOOK PICK!
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
Discussion of the new book on GoodReads.
ADDENDUMS
This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 75,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, non-fiction and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to audiblepodcast.com/sword.
We discover a whole new world of books to add to our reading lists thanks to the Hugo award nominations, and we dive into further discussion about what makes for hard scifi. The answer is, well, difficult.
QUICK BURNS
THE HUGO AWARD NOMINEES YOU CAN READ RIGHT NOW — FOR FREE
The GAME OF THRONES title sequence
10 of the most badass dragons ever
CALENDAR
4/26/2011 Will Super Villains Be On the Final? Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
4/28/2011 Titus Awakes by Mervyn Peake and Maeve Gilmore
5/3/2011 The Inheritance by Robin Hobb
5/3/2011 Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris - A Sookie Stackhouse Novel
5/10/2011 Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
5/10/2011 The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi (Tor)
5/17/2011 Embassytown by China Mieville
BARE YOUR SWORD
How did you like the new Doctor Who show?
BOOK CHECK-IN
EMAILS
I'm glad that I listened to your podcast. I also expected more out of the 1st episode, but welcomed the confusion/unanswered questions. I look forward & hope future episodes will fill in those blanks to keep me interested with new confusion/unanswered questions. I also agree about the 15 minutes before the premiere, what was that supposed to be anyway? LOL
I was about to get the books or ebooks to read, seriously thinking about it anyway. After listening to your podcast & hearing about the differences, I think that would add unwanted confusion. I'm not a S&L frequent listener or fantasy book reader, I wanted to hear about Game of Thrones. I may decide to hold off on the show & decide to read the book anyway. Then watch the series. Not sure yet. Probably normal having differences between the book & series, but it's new to me. At least I know not to read while watching.
Thanks for the education.
Robert
***
Hey, V&T...
Hate to sound like a PR flack (I'm not...just a reader) but I stumbled upon a real gem of a story at the Kindle store called ""Out Of The Dark"" by first-time author Lee Doty, and was impressed enough to write to you guys about it.
I took away hints of Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson, a big helping of Jim Butcher, a pinch of Tim Powers, and some essence of Elmore Leonard (all favorite authors), but this rookie manages to retain his own strong voice...and with humor no less!
Mr. Doty displays the writing chops of a veteran...pacing, character development, dialogue...all first class. No lasers, but swords, martial arts, and unconventional firearms are all employed to great effect without overwhelming the storyline.
According to his Kindle page he's a certified geek (programmer) who wrote this novel during the daily train commute to and from his day job, and he's self-published on the Kindle (good angles for an interview?)
Judging by the Kindle discussion board he's still enthusiastic enough to answer all his readers' emails personally.
Read the book for sure, but think about getting him on the podcast as well.
Cheers. Jon
ADDENDUMS
This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 75,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, non-fiction and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to audiblepodcast.com/sword.
As you all know, HBO is doing a huge push for The Game of Thrones miniseries (YAAAAY!!) on The Maester's Path, an interactive website where you can solve puzzles to obtain exclusive early looks and info about the show.
The third puzzles came out this week, and it deals with a very important task: defending the Wall.
Join me here, and discuss the puzzles on our GoodReads page.
Well folks it's wrap-up time for The Moon is Harsh Mistress and... sadly... Veronica hasn't finished. But we wrap up anyway and Tom makes a shocking revelation that lets Veronica off the hook. And he finished Moon, so it's not that.
QUICK BURNS
New ‘Game of Thrones’ teaser (video)
Why a universe-hopping entrepreneur may be your next big hero
William Gibson reveals a "secret experiment" in his Bridge Trilogy, and ponders A.I.
Gibson dropped some hints about a little stealth tie-in to Zero History that's going to happen on Twitter soon. Let's just say that you should keep an eye on the Twitter accounts @gaydolphin1 and @gaydolphin2 - those of you who've read the novel know what those accounts are related to.
BARE YOUR SWORD - feedback from the audience
Why did he die? (SPOILERS)
Human Judgment vs. Machines
The City & The City is a missed opportunity (SPOILERS)
BOOK WRAP-UP
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Veronica still has not finished, she's prepared for her flogging. Tom's thoughts?
NEW BOOK
We're taking suggestions from Classic Fantasy on Goodreads then we'll put it up to a vote.
EMAILS
Hi Veronica, Tom
I will try and keep it pithy but I get "wordy" sometimes. :) I asked
the question at dragon con if future podcasts could contain a 5 minute
segment looking back at classic epic fantasy of the 70s and 80s when
readers were starving for good reads. I was thinking of producing my
own podcast on this subject but you guys have built a nice listener
base so you can do more with this than I.
In October, Stephen R. Donaldson will be releasing his newest novel,
"Against All Things Ending", the third book in a four book series that
completes the tale of Thomas Covenant he began in 1977 with the book
"Lord Foul's Bane". In the 70s & 80s Donaldson sold over 40 million
copies and was second only to Tollkien at one time. These books are
GOLD.
Another retro author with an impending release is Katherine Kurtz, who
will soon release the third book of her "Chylde Morgan" trilogy. This
is also a tale that began back in the 70s.
These two great authors have been overshadowed by Jordan and Martin
but are easily their equals or better. Please put these on your
reading list and introduce this generation's readers to some classic
epic fantasy.
If I can be of any assistance in the production of this segment please
don't hesitate to let me know.
Regards,
Roman Thompson
************
Veronica and Tom,
A late addition, but just finished reading Accelerando by Charles Stross. The Earth and the inner planets are completely deconstructed and rebuilt into data storage and processing power for the digital needs of the human race. So, voluntary, resource savvy, non-Armageddon style Earth recycling.
Regards,
Peter Hourigan
The following is an excerpt from the Wikipedia page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerando_(novel)
Plot concepts
In Accelerando, the planets of the solar system are dismantled to form a Matrioshka brain, a vast computational device inhabited by minds inconceivably more complex than naturally evolved intelligences such as human beings. This proves to be a normal stage in the life cycle of an inhabited solar system; the galaxies are filled with Matrioshka brains, communicating via wormhole networks. Lesser intelligences may live unmolested around brown dwarf stars.
************
I just listened to #40. I highly recommend Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in the audio version. I got this at my library and it was very good. Don't give up on the somewhat boring beginning, it's a superb story.
Thanks for the great podcasts!
Peggy Poellot
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS
This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 75,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, non-fiction and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to audiblepodcast.com/sword.
We suggested:
The City and The City, by China Mieville, read by John Lee
Zero History, by William Gibson Narrated by Robertson Dean
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