S&L Podcast - #255 - Just the One Planet

We are excited for a new space opera from John Scalzi, not new but awesome Nebula Award winners, and we get teary-eyed over an A.I. as we wrap up Kim Stanley Robinson's Aurora.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Jameson's
Veronica: Omission Lager
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Louie: Details on John Scalzi's new book (due out March 2017), a space opera set in a brand new universe, and the start of a new series.
    
Clyde:  Scalzi got another award -- a somewhat unusual one. Well deserved say I.
    
Silvana: Nebula Award Winners
    
Sean: The Thorn of Emberlain by Scott Lynch finally has an official drop date - September 22
    
Dara: NK Jemisin has set up a Patreon to help her quit her day job so she can focus full time on writing.
    
Louie: Spielberg wants your 3D avatars to appear in Ready Player One.
    
SporadicReviews: Audiobooks keeping publishing afloat
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Hi,
I wanted to submit to you my first album "Cadence" a cyberpunk concept album due out June 7th at neonshudder.bandcamp.com/album/cadence

It's a bit different from typical concept albums in that it's almost completely instrumental.  The actual story component is an included 100+ page PDF that contains chapters corresponding to each track on the album along with artwork to add even more life to the  story. The album itself is like a soundtrack to the included story.

It's a completely original cyberpunk story set on the fictional island of "Cadence." It follows a group of couriers/detectives who are hired to find the culprit of a series of high profile murders in the cyberpunk city of Cadence.

I also wanted to shoot you some download codes in the event that you do dig it and wanted to pass it around to other people or whatever.

-jhm

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Next month: Updraft, Fran Wilde (Audible version)    

WRAP UP

Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
    
AUR: The Voting    
    
AUR: The last section? (Spoilerish)
    
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 - #254 - Wheel of Boobies?

Wheel of Time is getting a TV series and Veronica has one thing (well, more than one thing) that she expects to see. Would that make it the "boob tube?" (Ed. note -- Jesus, Tom... c'mon) Meanwhile we discuss how Aurora masterfully balances hard science and literary storytelling.

Download directly here!
    
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Jameson's    
Veronica: Old Potrero    
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Mark: SFSignal says goodbye
    
Sandra: The Wheel of Time Is Going to Be a TV Series After All
    
Serendi: George R. R. Martin commissioned a trompe l'oeil mural for his Jean Cocteau Cinema. It's finished, and it's gorgeous!
    
Terpkristin: Cheapass Games is doing a Kickstarter for the game Tak, the game that they played in Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles books.
    
Anne: Bookriot has compiled a list with 100 must-read Sci-Fi Fantasy Novels by Female Authors
    
Tamahome: George R. R. Martin rap battles J. R. R. Tolkien on Youtube. Who's to say who won?
    
Sandra: Locus Award Finalists
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Afternoon, Tom and Veronica!

I know you've already mentioned on the podcast about the first -ever- Dragon Awards from Dragon*Con, but would you mind mentioning that all of the published books from the first Inkshares contest are eligible for that award?

An Unattractive Vampire - Jim McDoniel
Practical Applications for Multiverse Theory - Nick Scott & Noa Gavin
Ageless - Paul Inman
The Life Engineered - JF Dubeau
Asteroid Made of Dragons - by me

You don't need to buy a D*Con badge to nominate or vote, and it would be exceptionally cool to see any of us be nominated, let alone win. With horror I heard your announcement that you would be skipping Atlanta this year as i was looking forward to finally seeing your human faces, but if one of your books makes the cut - maaaaaybe reconsider?

If any S&L listeners have read the books and think they're worthy of nomination, here's a quick link: http://awards.dragoncon.org/

Thank you
Derek
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
    
Book details in Patreon
    
Coming Soon:
Hardcore Game of Thrones
    
ADDENDUMS    
    
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons at patreon.com/swordandlaser 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 - #129 - Interview with Kim Stanley Robinson

​He's a nice guy, seriously. Photo by joelmeadows1

Veronica and Goodreads moderator Josh Lawrence headed to the Nebula Awards to chat with some great authors. We'll be posting these interviews in our off weeks from the regular episodes. This week it's the legendary (and Nebula award-winning) Kim Stanley Robinson. His latest book 2312 won the Nebula award for Novel.  Enjoy!

Direct download link!​

Congrats to the Nebula Award winners!

This past weekend, Josh Lawrence and I went down to San Jose for the Nebula Awards. While there, we interviewed several attendees, including Kim Stanley Robinson, Gene Wolfe, and Joe Haldeman. Those interviews will be coming up as podcasts soon, so stay tuned!​

​Best Novel winner Kim Stanley Robinson with Joe Haldeman.

In the meantime, let's congratulate the winners of the 2012 Nebula Awards!, as posted on Tor.com! Winners in bold.

Novel:

• 2312, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed (DAW; Gollancz ’13)
• Ironskin, Tina Connolly (Tor)
• The Killing Moon, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
• Glamour in Glass, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)

Novella:

• After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, Nancy Kress (Tachyon)
• On a Red Station, Drifting, Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press)
• “The Stars Do Not Lie,” Jay Lake (Asimov’s 10-11/12)
• “All the Flavors,” Ken Liu (GigaNotoSaurus 2/1/12)
• “Katabasis,” Robert Reed (F&SF 11-12/12)
• “Barry’s Tale,” Lawrence M. Schoen (Buffalito Buffet)

Novelette:

• “Close Encounters,” Andy Duncan (The Pottawatomie Giant & Other Stories)
• “The Pyre of New Day,” Catherine Asaro (The Mammoth Books of SF Wars)
• “The Waves,” Ken Liu (Asimov’s 12/12)
• “The Finite Canvas,” Brit Mandelo (Tor.com 12/5/12)
• “Swift, Brutal Retaliation,” Meghan McCarron (Tor.com 1/4/12)
• “Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia,” Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com 8/22/12)
• “Fade to White,” Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld 8/12)

Short Story:

• “Immersion,” Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld 6/12)
• “Robot,” Helena Bell (Clarkesworld 9/12)
• “Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes,” Tom Crosshill (Clarkesworld 4/12)
• “Nanny’s Day,” Leah Cypess (Asimov’s 3/12)
• “Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream,” Maria Dahvana Headley (Lightspeed 7/12)
• “The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species,” Ken Liu (Lightspeed 8/12)
• “Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain,” Cat Rambo (Near + Far)

Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

• Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin (director), Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Abilar (writers), (Journeyman/Cinereach/Court 13/Fox Searchlight)
• The Avengers, Joss Whedon (director) and Joss Whedon and Zak Penn (writers), (Marvel/Disney)
• The Cabin in the Woods, Drew Goddard (director), Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard (writers) (Mutant Enemy/Lionsgate)
• The Hunger Games, Gary Ross (director), Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins, and Billy Ray (writers), (Lionsgate)
• John Carter, Andrew Stanton (director), Michael Chabon, Mark Andrews, and Andrew Stanton (writers), (Disney)
• Looper, Rian Johnson (director), Rian Johnson (writer), (FilmDistrict/TriStar)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book

• Fair Coin, E.C. Myers (Pyr)
• Iron Hearted Violet, Kelly Barnhill (Little, Brown)
• Black Heart, Holly Black (McElderry; Gollancz)
• Above, Leah Bobet (Levine)
• The Diviners, Libba Bray (Little, Brown; Atom)
• Vessel, Sarah Beth Durst (S&S/McElderry)
• Seraphina, Rachel Hartman (Random House; Doubleday UK)
• Enchanted, Alethea Kontis (Harcourt)
• Every Day, David Levithan (Knopf)
• Summer of the Mariposas, Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Tu Books)
• Railsea, China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan)
• Above World, Jenn Reese (Candlewick)

Solstice Awards were awarded to editor Ginjer Buchanan and astronomer and entertainer Carl Sagan, the latter of which was accepted by his son Nick Sagan.

The Kevin O'Donnell Jr. Service Award was awarded to Michael Payne.

The winners are announced at SFWA’s 48th Annual Nebula Awards Weekend, held Thursday through Sunday, May 16 to May 19, 2013 at the San Jose Hilton in San Jose, California. Borderland Books hosted the mass autograph session from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 17th at the San Jose Hilton.

As announced earlier this year, Gene Wolfe was the recipient of the 2012 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for his lifetime contributions to, and achievements in, the field. Founded in 1965 by the late Damon Knight, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America brings together the most successful and daring writers of speculative fiction throughout the world.​