S&L Podcast - #495 - All The News That's Fit to Squee

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We have Dragon Awards and Hugo Awards, we kick off Some Desperate Glory, and wrap up our final thoughts on The Spear That Cuts Through Water. Also, we determine we might need to squee more.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Truffle Mac and Cheese with broccoli
Veronica: Wit beer


QUICK BURNS

Chris K.
From Locus: 2023 Dragon Awards Winners

Best Science Fiction Novel
WINNER: Starter Villain, John Scalzi (Tor; Tor UK)

  • The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport, Samit Basu (Tordotcom)

  • The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)

  • Theft of Fire, Devon Eriksen (self-published)

  • These Burning Stars, Bethany Jacobs (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

  • Beyond the Ranges, John Ringo & James Aidee (Baen)

  • System Collapse, Martha Wells (Tordotcom)

Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)
WINNER: Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros (Red Tower)

  • Three Kinds of Lucky, Kim Harrison (Ace)

  • The Water Outlaws, S.L. Huang (Tordotcom; Solaris UK)

  • He Who Drowned the World, Shelley Parker-Chan (Tor; Mantle)

  • My Brother’s Keeper, Tim Powers (Baen; Ad Astra)

  • House of Open Wounds, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Ad Astra)
    Source

Trike:
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, theaters December 13

  • AKA The War between Rohan and Dunland, taking place +/-180 years before the War of the Ring, the sealing of the legend of the Riders of Rohan, the ascension of the heroes of Gondor, the breaking of the old alliance, and the forging of a new path. In other words, a day that ends in Y in Middle-Earth.
    Watch trailer

Seth and JasonReads:
Universal International Studios Buys Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl with Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door & Chris Yost Attached
Source

Paul:
George R.R. Martin hosted his very own Alfie Awards in Scotland on Friday to honor excellence in writing in 2023, specifically for people who were deleted from the 2023 Hugo Awards. Congratulations to:

  • RF Kuang for Best Novel (Babel)

  • Xiran Jay Zhao for New Writer

  • Sandman for Dramatic Presentation

  • Paul Weimer for Fan Writer

Kuang said she will cherish her hood-ornament-turned-award forever in a fun and slightly cheeky Instagram post.
See post

AFallenAngel and John:
Hugo 2024 Award Winners
(Also posted in Discord Quick Burns channel)

  • Best Novel: Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (Tordotcom, Orbit UK)

  • Best Novella: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (Tor, Titan UK)

  • Best Novelette: “The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine, November-December 2023)

  • Best Short Story: “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, May 2023)

  • Best Series: Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie (Orbit US, Orbit UK)

  • Best Graphic Story or Comic: Saga, Vol. 11 written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

  • Best Related Work: A City on Mars by Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith (Penguin Press; Particular Books)

  • Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

  • Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: The Last of Us: “Long, Long Time”

  • Best Game or Interactive Work: Baldur’s Gate 3

  • Best Editor Short Form: Neil Clarke

  • Best Editor Long Form: Ruoxi Chen

  • Best Professional Artist: Rovina Cai

  • Best Semiprozine: Strange Horizons

  • Best Fanzine: Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together

  • Best Fancast: Octothorpe

  • Best Fan Writer: Paul Weimer

  • Best Fan Artist: Laya Rose

  • Lodestar (Best YA Book): Moniquill Blackgoose

  • Astounding Award for Best New Writer: Xiran Jay Zhao
    Source


BARE YOUR SWORD
Feedback from the audience

  • Seth: "There’s the book we read last year, The Empress of Salt and Fortune. Maybe it’s more of a dual-timeline story, but there’s action in the present with Chih talking with the older Rabbit, and then the bulk of the story is Rabbit's history."

  • Oaken: "Heroes ON THE half-shelf makes me think of oysters on the half-shell. And while those are yummy, turtles that way would not be good."

  • Katie: "I LOVED A Spear Cuts Through Water, and it confirmed that stories within framing stories are one of my wheelhouses."


BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Kick Off
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Bookshop | Amazon

Wrap Up
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
Bookshop | Amazon
Goodreads Wrap Up Thread


ADDENDUMS

Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show. If you'd like to support the show, head to Patreon.

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 Sword and Laser Picks.

S&L Podcast - #494 - Wheel of Thyme

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This is not a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles podcast but it sure does end like one. But before it comes to that we boggle at all the awesome award winners, and talk about our good first impressions of The Spear That Cuts Through Water. Oh, and we have an idea for a cafe filled with Brandon Sanderson puns. Oh the puns!

Download directly here!


WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: 19 Crimes Cabernet
Veronica: Ardbeg


QUICK BURNS

Jan: The winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award for the best science fiction novel published in the UK has been named! It's In Ascension by Martin MacInnes. Read more here.

Jan: Winners for the 2024 Imadjinn Awards have been announced.
Best Science Fiction Novel: Prince Liberator by Fred Hughes
Best Fantasy Novel: Heart Master by Nikolas Everhart. Read more here.

TRP: As mentioned here back in January, The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville has been published.
It is based on Reeves' BRZRKR, Volume 1 comic books that feature an 80,000-year-old god who walks on Earth.
So, autobiography then.

Seth: It's official, Fourth Wing is the international TikTok book of the year. Read more here.

Ruth: Reactor Magazine is releasing preview chapters of Wind and Truth, the fifth book in the Stormlight Archives series, starting on Monday, 29th July (today as I’m writing this). The book will be published in December, but if you need your Brando Sando fix sooner, check out the preview here.

Oaken: The Booker longlist is out. View the list here.
The Booker is one of the more prestigious awards in literary fiction. It’s interesting how some of these novels dance with SF but never really commit to more than a two-step:
Orbital by Samantha Harvey takes place on the ISS. “Six astronauts observe Earth’s splendour while navigating bereavement, loneliness, and mission fatigue.” Ok, there are no lasers or FTL travel.
Enlightenment by Sarah Perry, a story of love and astronomy.
Playground by Richard Powers covers “… humanity’s next great adventure: a plan to send floating, autonomous cities out into the open sea.”

Paul: Bad news for Maas fans in Utah (and for access to literature in general) as 13 books have been banned from all public schools and public libraries in the state, including six of Sarah J. Maas' books:
From the article: "Twelve of the 13 titles were written by women. Six books by Maas, a fantasy author, appear on the list, along with Oryx and Crake by [Margaret] Atwood, milk and honey by Kaur, and Forever… by [Judy] Blume. Two books by Ellen Hopkins appear, as well as Elana K. Arnold’s What Girls Are Made Of and Craig Thompson’s Blankets." Read more here.

BARE YOUR SWORD
Add timestamp! Feedback from the audience

Stephen: I kind of had higher expectations for Cursed Bunny when I read that Bora Chung translates Russian classics into Korean. Some of the most famous short stories are from Russian authors. For example, The Nose by Nikolai Gogol is a short story about a bureaucrat's nose who leaves his face to have a better career in the new Russian bureaucracy. Sounds familiar?

Trike: I had high expectations because I previously read Chung’s other collection, Your Utopia, and liked it quite a lot. Those stories are all science fiction, whereas these are mostly fantasy. The ick factor was too high for my enjoyment, though.

Calvey: I thought it was interesting that niche bookstores are opening. In this day and age, for any physical bookstore to open surprises me. As I am not far from Steamy Lit in Deerfield Beach, I’m going to check it out. I will be curious if Romantasy makes the cut!
Props to a physical bookstore being opened. I’d like a Sci-Fi niche bookstore, please! Read more here.


BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

CHECK IN
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
Buy on Bookshop.org
Buy on Amazon

Bill:
What an interesting structure of a play within a dream. The chorus commenting throughout really sells that presentation.
Excited to tackle the next chapter.

Iain Bertram:
Yes, hearing from the witnesses and the victims adds to the depth of the world-building and the storytelling.


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.

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 Sword and Laser Picks.

feedback@swordandlaser.com
swordandlaser.com
We are on Instagram, X (Twitter), and Mastodon @swordandlaser
goodreads.com

S&L Podcast - #493 - Bunny Lamps and Bad Decisions

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Oh, Hugos. Also, the best Sci-Fi books of all time, and will AI kill the planet? We kick off our August book The Spear that Cuts Through Water, and wrap up our last thoughts on Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?

Tom: Shrimp Burrito
Veronica: Mac and Cheese bites

QUICK BURNS

John: The Glasgow 2024 Hugo Awards subcommittee has identified that someone has been trying to unfairly influence the vote and has issued a statement about the matter.
Jan: 377 votes have been disqualified for this year's Hugo Awards by the Glasgow WorldCon team. It seems there have been attempts to push for one specific finalist through memberships that were canceled and refunded after votes had been cast. The Glasgow team will not identify who this finalist is as there is no evidence they were involved in the scheme.
Source 1
Source 2

terpkristin: In other Hugos news, Glasgow 2024 has told Chengdu Worldcon co-chair Ben Yalow and Chengdu Worldcon Hugo Administrator Dave McCarty they will not be allowed to attend the convention. McCarty says he did not receive an explanation why; Yalow says he did not request one.
Source

Colin: Just in case anyone is using Goodreads on a Fire Tablet, Amazon has removed the Goodreads app from the Kindle Fire. That may make things like keeping up with the reading challenges a little more challenging.

Mark and Seth: Here's the shortlist for the LeGuin Prize for Fiction:

  • The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom Publishing)

  • The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher (Ballantine Books)

  • It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over by Anne de Marcken (New Directions)

  • Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Grove Press)

  • Sift by Alissa Hattman (The 3rd Thing)

  • The Library of Broken Worlds by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Scholastic Press)

  • Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson (Del Rey)

  • The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed (Solaris)

  • Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (Tordotcom Publishing)

  • Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom Publishing)
    Source

Pilchie and Seth: The 100 greatest books of the century (so far, according to the NYTimes), and not much in the way of sci-fi or fantasy. I do like that they offer read-alikes for their picks, and I like that they used pictures of well-loved copies of the books. I noticed Station Eleven, Exit West, and The Fifth Season.
Source

Mark: Esquire has selected quite a few Sword & Laser picks for their 75 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time.
Source

Spriggana: A graphic adaptation of A Wizard of Earthsea is coming on March 11, 2025. No examples of internal art are shown, but Fred Fordham already adapted three other novels: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and Brave New World. And while reading about this, I had a thought that if someone would adapt The Left Hand of Darkness, the snow scenes drawn by the right person could be stunning.
Source

Mark: Malka Older announced that Mossa and Pleiti (the main characters of S&L pick The Mimicking of Known Successes) will return for three more books! Follow-up: Malka Older's next Mossa and Pleiti novel is titled The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses.
Source

Tamahøme: The first two chapters from Peter F. Hamilton's game-related next space opera novel (~45 pages): Lots of tech and royalty politics.
Source


BARE YOUR SWORD

Sean Lookielook: Veronica Belbot will read all the books and mispronounce all the names. Seriously though, it seems like everyone's first reaction to anything AI these days is abject horror. I remember when the Star Trek TNG holodeck recreated famous people and we all thought it was amazing. Well, now we're one step closer and suddenly it's creepy? It'll be fine. Culture tends to preserve value. We still have TV despite the Internet, we still have radio despite TV, we still have live plays despite radio. The forms and uses change over time, but it can be argued that they would have changed anyway. That's just the nature of human beings to reinvent old ideas to fit changing circumstances. AI will find its place in the scheme of things, although there may be growing pains along the way. Granted, profiting off someone without their or their estate's permission is a heinous act of piracy. Still, it raises the question—when does a person become public domain?

Iain Bertram (iain_bertram): Like all of these large-scale AI projects, it is based on theft. The estates of the famous dead actors are paid while the audiobook narrators that have their work stolen to train the AI on how to read the books get nothing. The idea that it will be fine in the future ignores the quite real effects of the implementation of new technologies that can disadvantage large swathes of society for the benefit of the very few. It can take decades for these changes to start to benefit the masses. ALSO some people are worried about the environmental effects of datacenter usage.

AI seems destined to play a dual role. On the one hand, it can help reduce the effects of the climate crisis, such as in smart grid design, developing low-emission infrastructure, and modeling climate change predictions. On the other hand, AI is itself a significant emitter of carbon. This message reached the attention of a general audience in the latter half of 2019 when researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst analyzed various natural language processing (NLP) training models available online to estimate the energy cost in kilowatts required to train them. Converting this energy consumption in approximate carbon emissions and electricity costs, the authors estimated that the carbon footprint of training a single big language model is equal to around 300,000 kg of carbon dioxide emissions. This is of the order of 125 round-trip flights between New York and Beijing, a quantification that laypersons can visualize.
Source

Peter: Regarding reading Seanan McGuire or Mira Grant. I found Feed on the books almost chosen page on the wiki as it was in the 2017 March Madness tournament. She was also interviewed way back on episode 103.

Sean Lookielook: I don't mind series. What I don't like are books that claim to be part of a series, but have at best a passing relationship to the others—be that the story of a very minor character from another book or just being set in the same universe, for example. Sometimes, you want to see the perspective of a supporting character and read their story, but all too often this winds up being two entirely different books crammed together for marketing purposes. (Romantasy is the worst offender.) Similarly, I actively hate books that don't end properly because the story continues in the next book. That's not a cliffhanger; it's a cop-out. And it always feels like a cash grab. Make your damn book 800 pages if it needs to be 800 pages. If you don't think you can sell a book that long, you haven't met GRRM or Sarah Maas.


BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

KICK OFF

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
Bookshop
Amazon

WRAP UP

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung
Biroso
Bookshop
Amazon