S&L Podcast - #332 - Losers and Lovin' It

We lost the Hugos and it was AWESOME!  Plus we have great news about a new novel coming from Rivers Solomon, and a new ebookstore from Wal-Mart. Plus we kick off Slan by A. E. van Vogt and our final thoughts on Jade City.

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WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Nothing    
Veronica: La Croix MANGOOO    
    
QUICK BURNS

Silvana: Hugo winners: Next year for S&L!  
    
Joe: Rivers Solomon (author of the brutally awesome An Unkindness of Ghosts), a finalist for the John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer, will be writing a novel inspired by / based on Clipping's Hugo Award nominated song "The Deep".  The novel will be out June 2019. This will be a major, major book for the year.

Mark: Walmart has opened an ebook/audiobook storefront (including audiobook subscription). Service is linked with the Kobo ecosystem. US only for now. Audiobook subscription option provides one audiobook per month for $9.99. Free 30-day trial for the subscription. First-time customers signing up get $10 off their first eBook or audiobook purchase. 
    
Mark: Random Penguins is reissuing books that were adapted as movies. Vintage Movie Classics spotlights classic films that have stood the test of time, now rediscovered through the publication of the novels on which they were based.

One of the first titles in the series is Logan's Run by William F. Nolan. So far its the only SF&F title but there are many classic SF&F films based on books, so probably more to come.
    
Mark: Another digital doomsday article. Are we skimming our way to idiocracy? Soon to be followed by a doomsday article about all the S&L 2.5x audiobook speed readers ;-) 
    
Louie:  Tiamat's Wrath, Book 8 of The Expanse delayed to March 2019. "We know that you have been looking forward to TIAMAT’S WRATH this December. But because we are now entering the home stretch of this amazing series and we all want to make sure we get it right, we have asked the authors to give our editorial and sales teams some extra time to prepare for the launch."    
    
Nokomis.FL: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: 17,500 Entries on All Things Sci-Fi Are Now Free Online.
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Two new S&L book reviews in 280 characters from Beth Meachum:    

CIRCE, Madeline Miller. This @swordandlaser #book had a great feel of Ancient Greece and also an engaging character arc from wishful passivity to dynamic strength. The ending with the tough women swapping kids worked really well - letting go is hard. 

MORTAL ENGINES, Philip Reeve. In my youth I appreciated how everyone in a Reeve #book faces jeopardy, even kids, pets, MC’s. In my feeble middle age it hits me in the feels. Good pick, @swordandlaser I am now ready for the movie. (Was the scar in the preview? I missed it.) 
    
Lovecraft: The good, the bad, and the sometimes really awesome!
    
SFWA Grand Masters and S&L

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Kick Off    
Slan by A. E. van Vogt    
Book Briefing
    
    
FINAL THOUGHTS?    
Jade City by Fonda Lee
    
    
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 - #331 - Where Have All the Good Guys Gone?

SFF readers have more mature relationship views. It's science. And hey! We're still Hugo-nominated! Will we stay that way or become winners? Who can say? But we have other things to say, like what we think of Jade City by Fonda Lee.

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WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Templeton Rye    
Veronica: WATERLOOOOO    
    
Worldcon meetup at 2 PM Sunday in front of hall 1
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Mark: Text-based live coverage of the 2018 Hugo Awards Sunday Aug 19 8:00 PM PDT (UTC-7) will be available at. If you have good bandwidth, details about live-streaming coverage will be available at the Worldcon76 website.    
    
Dara: New research suggests SFF readers make good romantic partners. Apparently SFF readers "have more mature beliefs about romantic relationships than readers who gravitate toward suspense, romance, or even highbrow literature."

Only 404 adults were surveyed so take of this what you will. 

Trike: Statistical correlation not found.
    
Dara: AMC is developing an animated series called Pantheon based on the short stories of Ken Liu. Craig Silverstein, who created and produced AMC’s American revolution drama Turn, will serve as showrunner, producer, and writer. The network has a writer's room turning out a a whole season of scripts before deciding to green light or not.
    
Tomp: Rafe Judkins who is the screenwriter for the (possible) Wheel of Time series on Amazon Prime has posted images of the front pages of the first two scripts on twitter.  So far it has been posted on Mondays but they will shift it to Wednesdays. The first script is not under this hashtag but can be found on Rafe's twitter history.    
    
Dara: New “Deleted” Wheel of Time Novella to Appear in Unfettered III in 2019 written by Brandon Sanderson, this story was apparently on the cutting room floor for A Memory of Light.    
    
Dara: Announcing Three New Novels From Annalee Newitz. The link has details for 2 of the 3. I'm on board for all 3. Autonomous is excellent. 
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Frankenstein-related news and creations,
    
Favorite Book Loglines

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Jade City by Fonda Lee!
Book Briefing
    
JC: Where are the good guys?
    
JC: Inspirational Viewing
    
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 - #330 - Best Jade Plans

The Tor vs. Library saga continues, we're pumped for the World Fantasy Award nominees, and the serendipity of reading a book about the place you are at while you're reading it. Trust us. It will make sense in the show.    

Download directly here!
    
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Strongbow Gold Apple Cider
Veronica: Una Lou Rosé
    
QUICK BURNS
    
UPDATE via Joe Informatico: Following reports that Tor Books, a division of Macmillan publishers, was scaling back library access to it's frontlist e-books, the American Library Association, and the Canadian Urban Library Council have both issued public statements protesting the move.
    
Iain: Just out: 2001: An Odyssey in Words: Celebrating the Centenary of Arthur C. Clarke's Birth where a bunch of great writers celebrate by writing SF stories that are exactly 2001 words long. Enjoy.
    
David: 2018 World Fantasy Award finalists announced--awards to be given at Baltimore in November. I hope to see some of you there since I'm going!"    
    
Dara: The final season of Game of Thrones will premiere in the first half of 2019.
    
ATalkingDogMovie: Charlie Jane Anders posted cover art and a blurb for a new SFF book "The City in the Middle of the Night" to be released February, 2019.
    
Dara: Altered Carbon was renewed for season 2 with Anthony Mackie in the lead role as Takeshi Kovacs.
    
Scott: Hugh Howey's WOOL is getting a new adaptation - 20th Century Fox had previously acquired the movie rights to “Wool,” with Ridley Scott and Steve Zaillian attached as producers.(apparently that didn't get off the ground, bummer)

Now: LaToya Morgan will executive produce the project in addition to writing the pilot. Howey is also attached as a producer. Morgan, who is currently under an overall deal with AMC, is no stranger to the dystopian genre. She currently serves as writer and co-executive producer on AMC’s “Into the Badlands.” She previously worked as a co-executive producer and writer on AMC’s “Turn: Washington’s Spies.” Her other television credits include “Shameless” and “Parenthood.”
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
"Hi Guys

I’m writing in support of double speed.

I subscribe to 110 podcasts. I listen to almost everything between 2x and 3x. Pocket casts also strips out silence for me.

You get used to it. Sometimes I have to slow down foreign accents. There are two comedy podcasts that I listen to at 1x because otherwise it ruins the timing.

This allows me to squeeze in over 5 hours of podcasts per day. I also subscribe to quite a few YouTube channels which also must be watched at double speed.

Cheers

Will"    

----
    
"i hope #jadecity is a good book as @AmazonUK seems to have sold out of #paperback since you chose it as book of the month" @bomwan
    
Another Twitter book review from Beth Mitcham: "NIGHT’S MASTER, Tanith Lee. I suspect @swordandlaser is getting more followers at @KCLS because it is taking me longer to get their picks. Good thing podcasts wait for me. This was a hazy, lyrical dream of a #book but with a lot of depressing sexism."
    
Reading Where it Happens 
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Kick Off Jade City by Fonda Lee!
Book Briefing