The Sword and Laser Podcast
By Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont
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Podcast Description
Discussions of science fiction and fantasy books being read by the Sword and Laser online book club.
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S&L Podcast - #90 - Fake Being an Expert | Do you want to know how to fake being an expert on something geeky? We examine some tips from io9 on folling the geeks, plus Tom explains how he's legally reading a book that won't be sold in the US until the summer. And Veronica has some kind words for John Scalzi. One of those words is boobies. WHAT ARE WE DRINKING? Veronica: 2007 Alois Lageder Pinot Noir Alto Adige Tom: Courvoisier VSOP Cognac QUICK BURNS Another Chain Says It Won’t Carry Amazon Books, But Does It Matter? “Provacative” Publisher Creates Book That Lets You Talk Back To The Characters How to Fake Being An Expert in Any Major Media Character, In 7 Easy Steps CALENDAR BARE YOUR SWORD Buy some John Scalzi books, support breast cancer screenings! The strangest thing found left in a book? Eastercon 2012 TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES New GAME OF THRONES trailer Hunger Games Trailer 2 is out - Super Bowl Trailer Sugar Inc. Launches DistrictSugar, their portal for all things Hunger Games BOOK CHECK-IN Tom finished Rule 34 - liked it much better the last 2/3 Veronica is about 65% of the way through, is enjoying it much more now as well. Officially wrap-up coming next week. Tom obtained UK version of Blue Remembered Earth by Alistair Reynolds through Amazon. Veronica is also reading Silent in the Grave, by Deanna Raybourn, for Vaginal Fantasy EMAIL I have always loved to read, but ten years ago I lost my sight andhave since become a voracious audiobook listener. I use the term“read” when discussing books all the time which has on occasion causedsome to try to correct me by telling me that I did not read the book Ilistened to it. For which I always reply… The eyes are a medium inwhich the brain reads they’re merely a way to input externalinformation not the body part that reads it and yes I understand thatdifferent parts of the brain are used to identify such externalinformation, but in the end it is the brain that reads no matter theway in which one obtains the information. So when a blind person oraudiobook listener says that they’ve read a book it doesn’t matterwhether they used their eyes, ears or fingers because no matter theway they did it it is still their brain that read it. Love the podcast and keep up the good work! -Aaron --- Dear Veronica and Tom, I was catching up on my Sword and Laser listening last night and two of the conversations in the last podcast inspired me to write in with a book suggestion. Another Email mentioned On Basilisk Station, first book in the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. We're big Weber fans in my household, and most recently my husband and I have been working through Weber's Safehold Series, which begins with Off Armageddon Reef. In this series Weber has combined his typical Military Sci-fi setting with a Historical setting. There are swords, and yes, there are lasers, though there is no magic (but there are dragons, kinda) so your mileage may vary. Unfortunately Off Armageddon Reef is not available as part of the Baen Free Library, but it is available on Audible. I've read it and listened to it, and enjoyed it greatly both ways. I know it's not the only book out there to tackle a fantasy styled setting from a sci-fi point of view, but I think it'd be a great way to introduce some David Weber to Sword and Laser. Thanks as always for the great podcast, I'm excited to see what book you all pick next! Cheers, Jenn NEW MEMBER HELLOS Cristian AKA Grizz, BillTheBloody, Leo, Matthew, Dean, Joe, Phillip, Greg, Andrew, Zack, Steff, Aimee, James, Gregg, Brian, Julia, Luca, Mike, Morgan, Lucas, Jason, Patrick, TJ, John, Megan, Dan, Jordan, Matt, Jake, Marcus, Mick, Paul, Craig, Brad, Stephanie, Doug, Euan ADDENDUMS This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 100,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature and featuring audio versions of many New York | 2/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #89 - What Kind of Fantasy Again? | We do it all in this episode, from congratulating grand masters, to debating the powers of the mind, to talking about sexy fantasy. Hopefully that last is not too shocking. WHAT ARE WE DRINKING? Veronica: 2007 Banrock Station Shiraz Tom: 2009 Bitch Aragon Grenache QUICK BURNS Charles Stross’ latest novel is coming true over on The Pirate Bay SFFWRTCHT: An Interview With Joe Haldeman Connie Willis is the 2011 Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master Get writing advice from Lev Grossman in your inbox CALENDAR BARE YOUR SWORD Reading versus Listening Veronica's Straw Poll What is the coolest library you've ever read in? TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES Warner Brothers developing OTHERLAND movie Game of Thrones will return for its second season in the USA on 1 April 2012. This has now been backed up by Sky Atlantic saying the season will start airing in the UK on Monday, 2 April 2012, less than 24 hours after US transmission. "Blackwater" episode May 27th, written by GRRM BOOK CHECK-IN Rule 34 EMAIL Hi Tom & Veronica, I've enjoyed listening since I picked up on it last fall. Keep up the good work. On your last podcast, an email mentioned On Basilisk Station, the first book of the Honor Harrington series. You may be interested that infomyth.com has the first ten books of the Honor Harrington series in ebook form available for free download. They are presented in only lit and rtf formats, but since there is no DRM, I converted them to epub using calibre. Naoki ----- Not really feedback, but I love both authors and found the interview really interesting. George R. R. Martin Interviews Bernard Cornwell Linda NEW MEMBER HELLOS Emily, Dennis, Corey, Richard, Bobby, Gareth, Michael, Justin ,Shayne, Joel, Andrea, Eleanor, Lindsay, Benel, Katherine, Amanda, Mike, Larissa, Micheal, David,Rich ADDENDUMS Join Veronica for some vaginal fantasy! This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 100,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature and featuring audio versions of many New York Times Best Sellers. For listeners of this podcast, Audible is offering a free audiobook, to give you a chance to try out their service. For a free audiobook of your choice go to audiblepodcast.com/sword. | 1/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #88 - Titillate the Audience | The wine sort of gets to Veronica and she says some outrageous things, but not nearly as outrageous as what's going on in Rule 34. What up with that? Ah well. If it's not Scottish it's crap. WHAT ARE WE DRINKING? V: 2005 Toasted Head Cabernet Sauvignon T: 2009 Les Portes de Bordeaux QUICK BURNS Distrust That Particular Flavor: William Gibson's long-overdue essay collection Photos from the first science fiction convention, 1937 Science Fiction’s predictions for the year 2012 Beyond the Wall exploring George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire CALENDAR BARE YOUR SWORD Sexist Fantasy Book Covers Who would you pick to make first contact? TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES WB Sets Up ‘Ready Player One’ Rewrite From Eric Eason - Thanks Kev! Masterpiece Mystery! - new Sherlock Holmes BOOK CHECK-IN First Impressions of Rule 34 Scottish accent EMAIL I may be old fashioned, but I have a pretty hard distinction between reading and listening. I have listened to quite a few books but I always stumble over saying that I ""read"" the book. I always say I ""listened to"". Yet, when I listen to S&L, it seems like you interchange these terms. Tom has mentioned that he is ""x"" hours in to a book, does that mean that he is not reading it but listening to it? Is there / should there be a distinction between these two mediums? If I listen to a podcast, can I say I read it? What if it had a transcript but I listened to the podcast? Would it count then? I recently finished reading The Hunger Games, which I did on the Kindle Fire. I don't have an issue with digital books; actually I found out that I prefer it. I recently heard 2 Jim Butcher books, which I also enjoyed. However I would not say that I read the Butcher books or state that I listened to The Hunger Games. Am I goofy on this or do others have the same reaction? Thank you, Steven K --- Hey guys, Just started listening to you guys recently and I like what I hear. I am impressed by how many books you guys can read so quickly. I do have a question for you. Most of my ""reading"" is done through audible.com and just made a startling discovery!!! My audible library is made up of ALL male authors. Each one is great and I am not lacking in Genre diversity, only in gender diversity. Being Female myself, it would be nice if my library would reflect that. So, with the exception of Anne McCaffrey ( i have plenty of her paperbacks), what female authors would you recommend? Spy thrillers is my favorite genre, but, I will take anything in the science fiction or fantasy novels. Classics are welcome too!! Please help before someone accuses me of being a sexist!! MR Veronica's Answer: Laurie R. King, Gail Carriger, Robin Hobb, Jacqueline Carey, Octavia Butler, N.K. Jemisin Tom Adds: Andre Norton, Ursula K. LeGuin --- Hey Tomronica and Veronitom! Just thought I'd ramble at you for a bit. Where to start? I've been listening to your podcast for a couple of weeks now and I love it! I remember someone making the comment about the magic systems of Brandon Sanderson being similar in his books. There's a good reason for it. All his books are in the same universe and each is a ""shard"" as he puts it. I have a couple of book suggestions. On Basilisk Station by David Weber. It's the first book in the Honor Harrington series. Also Live Free or Die by John Ringo. It's the first book in the Troy Rising trilogy and they are all hilarious! You can get this book and all the others from the publisher Baen for free. I have no idea how that is pronounced. I have a leftover gift membership to Audible and I have no one to give it to. I thought you guys could use it for a contest. The offer expires February 28th. All I need is the email address of the winner. Have doing everything you are doing! Michael NEW MEMBER HELLOS Joseph, Andy, Bob, Shaline, Adam, Ca | 1/16/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #87 - Kick-off Rule 34 by Charles Stross | It's a quick episode to kick off our new book selection, Rule 34 by Charlie Stross. We find we have a lot in common with Mr. Stross. And yes Rule 34 is the meme you're thinking it might be. QUICK BURNS 2012 Hugo Award and John W. Campbell Award Nominating Ballot CALENDAR BOOK KICK-OFF Rule 34 by Charles Stross Charles Stross We'll wrap it up on Feb. 13th. NEW MEMBER HELLOS Ian, Robert, Eric, Liam, Walker, Michelle, Tanvir, Brad, Javier, Martin, Michael, David, Adrienne, Noomniman, Joe New email address! feedback@swordandlaser.com | 1/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #86 - Elantris Wrap-up | Veronica is on a "cleanse". I think she may have suffered from the sheod and just doesn't want to admit it. But we review some of the best books of 2011, look at some hot new ones coming out soon, and wrap-up our final thoughts on Elantris. QUICK BURNS George R. R. Martin posts excerpt from Winds of Winter The Wertzone Awards 2011 The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Comics Of 2011 THE WHEEL OF TIME is completed Empire State: a phildickian noir detective/superhero/pocket universe novel CALENDAR The Ultimate Guide to January’s Science Fiction and Fantasy! BARE YOUR SWORD Hobbit eggs What Else Are You Reading - January 2012 Sword & Laser Anthology TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES The Making of “The Hobbit” — Part Five BOOK WRAP-UP Elantris Check in on 1Q84 EMAIL Hey, Can't sleep so listening to S&L and you guys are talking about the interminable 1Q84 and I just had to ask if you're listening at 1X or 2X? I've got a post coming up about how 2x saved my sanity and makes me impatient with normal speaking humans so would love to hear how you listen to audiobooks and podcasts. Have a Merry! Jason D. --- Hello Tom and Veronica. I wanted to let you guys know that the whole series of the chronicles of narnia is available for free in audio for at this link. The best thing is that it has the authorization from CS Lewis State, so download for the win! Love the podcast. Keep up the good work. Yannis from Chicago --- Veronica and Tom, I read an interesting post: Lovecraft’s racism & The World Fantasy Award statuette, with comments from China Miéville It's an interesting account of accepting an award when the name on the award is that of a blatant racist.,p> What are your thoughts on this? How could anyone take any pride in accepting an award with Lovecraft's (or, for that matter, Hitler's or Stalin's) name on it. I know that I'd find it hard to have my name associated with anything ""Lovecraft"". Excellent shows. I'm definitely a "laser" guy and I eagerly await each laser-centric read. Mike from Fremont NEW MEMBER HELLOS Chad, Meripen, Richard, Charlie, Blaine, Chad, Russell, Casey, Drew, Chris, Aloha, Lorie, Jason, Jim, Nels, Kerry, Kdiggity, Raymond, Brad, Daniel, Alex, Brianna, Danny, Lee, Ray, Norman, Nathan, Dave, Ryan, Jolea, John, Cap'n Jack, Ryan, Chris, Brian, Rachel, Chuck, eHawk, Marcus, Shannon (Morse! Snubsie!!), Vid, Matthew, Mike aka mezmo, Khalil | 1/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #85 - Bookmark this | We find out Lev Grossman's picks for the best SFF of the year, as well as welcome a new speculative fiction mag to the scene and review good things to use as a bookmark. WHAT ARE WE DRINKING? Veronica: 2008 Legón Ribera del Duero Roble Tom: 2009 Les Portes de Bordeaux QUICK BURNS Fired Up: The Year's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy SFSite reports The Center for the Study of Science Fiction (CSSF), in association with the University of Kansas, will launch James Gunn’s Ad Astra, an online resource for authors, scholars and all those who are interested in speculative fiction in the summer of 2012. CALENDAR BARE YOUR SWORD What Else Are You Reading - December 2011 Edition What do You Use as a Bookmark? TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES Worst movies you've paid to watch on the bigscreen BOOK CHECK-IN Elantris 1Q84 EMAIL Hi Tom and Veronica, On the last S&L I listened to you were talking about Roy Dotrice recording A Feast for Crows to complete his narration of the Song of Ice and Fire series. Veronica mentioned that she had been lucky enough to have the same narrator in all of the multi-book series she has read via Audible. That is great as I can attest from much experience to how disconcerting that can be. I am legally blind, and as such can download digital or borrow cassette audio books from the Library of Congress' National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. (http://www.loc.gov/nls/) This is an awesome service that I have been using for over 30 years. Yes I used to borrow records. While they also try and use the same narrators within series, the problem is I am not a patient man. Since they do their own recordings new titles often take a good while to show up on the service. When you guys recommend a series that has been around for a while I will often start reading if via the NLS, but then I just can't wait when the newest edition comes out. Then I find myself turning to Audible for my fix. This happened recently with A Dance with Dragons, and I am now looking at my credits trying to decide if I should get the latest in the Kingkiller Chronicles series. The problem is it takes me probably 25 of the book to get over the difference in narrator's interpretation of the characters. Sorry this is longer than I had anticipated, but I just wanted to weigh in on the issue and let you know about the NLS in case you weren't already aware of it and have other handicapped listeners who might be able to take advantage of it. -Steve ---- After listening to the two of you on some of your more recent podcasts and discovering that you also like games, I thought you might be interested in a five minute documentary that my daughter did as a grade 12 media project. It's based on the community of gamers at my store ""The Sentry Box"". We have about 7000 SF&F titles as well as the games which is why I thought of you. Since you are in the warm south, I figured you might be interested in what we do in the cold Canadian north in Calgary for fun. I actually had nothing to do with anything in the video which is probably why it turned out so well. She just posted it and has had 500 views in four days so I'm pretty impressed and in awe of her skills. Keep up the great work. Gordon Johansen ------- Hey Tom and Veronica, I know you were both on the mailing lists for the GoT press kits when the series debuted, but I haven't heard you mention anything about the DVDs. My husband is a film & TV critic and he brought home a big box o' swag today, so with his permission, I thought I'd share some unboxing pics. Here's a link to the whole set on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alterjess/sets/72157628490860895/ In the box: House Baratheon seal & sealing wax DRAGON EGG House Baratheon notecards press photos DVD of first ep I don't know if everyone got House Baratheon, or if HBO made up kits for other houses as well - I have to admit, I was a little disappointed to see a stag instead of a direwolf or dragon on the outsid | 12/19/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #84 - Metric is for SciFi, Imperial is for Fantasy | We discuss the meaning of religion in Elantris, whether 1Q84 is boring or not, and why Ray Bradbury is so darn crotchety. QUICK BURNS Roy Dotrice records new edition of FEAST FOR CROWS audiobook Rudy Rucker's autobiography: Nested Scrolls Fahrenheit 451 becomes e-book despite author's feelings CALENDAR BARE YOUR SWORD Elantris - Anyone else feel guilty? Elantris - Favorite POV Units of Measure in Fantasy TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES Westeros: Total War needs some help GAME OF THRONES Season 2 trailer Lost Doctor Who Episodes Surface With Chumblies, Fish People BOOK CHECK-IN Elantris 1Q84 EMAIL Hello Veronica and Tom, I have been a long time listener to FrameRate on the TwiT network and have only recently been listening to The Sword and Laser, episode number 82 to be precise. Both this and the later episode have been enjoyable to listen to whilst on long plane journeys and idle time whilst building booths and trade shows. I must admit I finished the Elantris book in a few days and agree with Veronica when she stated this has a first book feel to it. Towards the end I found Sarene to be slightly grating and almost put the book down, but I am glad I pushed through the last twenty or so pages. I was wondering if you had a few seconds to answer a question so I may learn from people possessing greater knowledge than I? I find myself with a two week break over Christmas and I was wondering if you could suggest any major series I could start getting into? (I have never read the Mistborn, the Way of Kings or Games of Thrones series, but really enjoyed the Dark Tower books.) I hope you manage to find sometime during your busy schedules to answer my question and I look forward to the next episode. Kind Regards, Wilton --- Did you guys see this? A grad student of mine sent me the links and I though Tom in particular might enjoy it: Part 1 Part 2 -- Dr. Timothy R --- Veronica and Tom, I wanted to reach out to you guys and let you know about our e-zine Flagship. Every other month (soon to be every month) for the last fifteen months we've put out an anthology of positive science fiction and fantasy short stories in both electronic text and audio formats. We were recently featured in Wired magazine's Geekdad blog and are looking for more places to get the word out about what we're doing. -- Scott Roche CALLS NEW MEMBER HELLOS Chris (Cogitator X), Harm, Kieran, Tim, Urg, Dave, Emma, Brandon, Armando, Kristin, William, Darren, Michael, Marissa, Joe, Jon, Quinn, Chris, Dana, Stephen, Diego, Brandon, Jonathan, Chrys, Alex, Ruth, Shaun, Rob, Melissa, Patrik, Dirk, Link, Leslie, Tom, Peter, Amanda, Mel, Trey, Harry, Bob, Mecque (muh-kay), Kelly, Jack, Charles, Gary, Glenn, Codered, Bryan, Jonathan. 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. | 12/12/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #83 - Lady Lair | We bid adieu to one of the great fantasy writers of all time, bit off more than we can read, and learn how to pronounce Elantris properly. Sort of. Also we rename Veronica's Lady Cave. QUICK BURNS Anne McCaffrey, 1926-2011 Science fiction author Anne McCaffrey dies at 85 First woman to win a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award, as well as a Grand Master of science fiction. Tailchaser’s Song Animated Feature Norwegian bookseller begins selling e-books on memory cards, for some reason Martin Fan Letter in Fantastic Four Comic CALENDAR BARE YOUR SWORD Why do people write fantasy? Biting off more then you can read TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES Skyrim, the black hole of time Neil Gaiman On The Simpsons GAME OF THRONES Season 2 behind-the-scenes vid A first look at GAME OF THRONES Season 2 BOOK CHECK-IN The Elantris Portal on Brandon Sanderson's website Sanderson's Female Protagonists Early thoughts on 1Q84 EMAIL Hello! My name is Sean Hollenhors and I work at a bookstore in Salem, OR (The Book Bin). I'm a regular Sword & Laser listener and heard you mention collecting first edition hardcovers. We recently revamped our rare book room and put out a plethora of new signed, first edition and rare hard covers. I'm attaching some photos to show off the space as well as some of the titles we have. Give me holler if there are titles you're having trouble finding...we might be able to help! We have an ever expanding selection of Sci-Fi and Fantasy books. Cheers! --Sean The Book Bin --- Hey fellas, love the show, I adore you guys. So I totally missed the release of Christopher Paulini’s final book of the Inheritance series 10 days ago. It was totally off my radar. I couldn’t believe you guys hadn’t mentioned it because it’s, like, the 2nd biggest fantasy release this year (by biggest, I mean commercial sales). So I went back and listened to the last 3 podcasts and realized it was never mentioned in any of the upcoming release calendar announcements. Apparently it was off your radar too. Now, I’m pretty certain you guys aren’t some kind of fantasy snob elitist hipsters that dismissively blow off commercial juggernauts for more underground indie stuff. Perhaps you just didn't care much for the other books in the series. To me they’re a bit meh, but still quite enjoyable. Maybe the Eragon movie abomination left you emotionally so scarred that discussion of the upcoming book in the series would dredge up too many horrible memories. Whatever the case, I would’ve thought that you’d at least mention the thing. After all, talking about fantasy books is like, your job ;o) ß this is a very tongue in cheek winky smiley, FYI. david C Voicemail from Jenny! She tells us about a cool podcast hosted by Brandon Sanderson at Writing Excuses. NEW MEMBER HELLOS Nadine, Duncan, John, Kendrick, Jason, Al, Isaiah, Roman, Robert, Sarah, Mary, Ed, Michel, John Paul, Justyna, Chip, Davis, Austin, Mitch, Beelissa, Brian, Eric A., Ryan, Lexy, Martin, Joey, Fiona, L.S., Nicholas, Suhail, Joe, Chris, David, Phil, Brandon, Michal, Kim, Tora, Ryan, Gresst, Claudio, Scott, Kendra, Lloyd, Mike, Kurt, Stephen, Michael, Matthew, Andres, Chris, Matt, Luke, Scott, Graham, Paul, Morgan, Chris, Brett, David, Colin, Shawn, Lore, Terry, Nick, David, Malachi, Azizul, Zaid, Graham! | 11/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #82 - On Fire | This week we talk about the newest eReader from Amazon, as well as why we hold on to those old paper books, and we wrap-up Reamde (spoiler alert!) and kick off a new book! QUICK BURNS Kindle Fire is out! - our thoughts on e-readers Keeping Physical Books in a Digital Age Fiction can possibly alter personality CALENDAR BARE YOUR SWORD Did you list past reads when you joined Goodreads? Biting off more then you can read TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES Everything You Missed in the Hunger Games Trailer: 40 Awesome Images! BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT Elantris by Brandon Sanderson Tentative Finish Date: January 2 BOOK WRAP-UP (Kind of) Reamde by Neal Stephenson EMAIL Hi Tom & Veronica, A few weeks ago, Ian Tregillis wrote an interesting blogpost about the upcoming publication of his second book "The Coldest War". Here's the link to his blog for the full story. To sum it all up, he announced that the audiobook would be released on December 20, 2011 on audible.com. So I thought we could add it the calendar. For the ebook and ""dead-tree"" editions however, we will have to wait until June or July 2012. - Nicolas NEW MEMBER HELLOS Nadine, Duncan, John, Kendrick, Jason, Al, Isaiah, Roman, Robert, Sarah, Mary, Ed, Michel, John-Paul, Justyna, Chip, Davis, Austin, Mitch, Beelissa, Brian, Eric A., Ryan, Lexy, Martin, Joey, Fiona, LS, Nicholas, Suhail, Joe, Chris, David, Phil ADDENDUMS This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 100,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, non-fiction and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to audible.com/NGP | 11/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #81 - Elephant paper | Is Neal Stephenson fantasizing revenge? How does Patrick Norton read so preternaturally fast? Can you really make paper out of elephant dung? All these questions and more exlpored on this episode of Sword and Laser. QUICK BURNS Art of the Hobbit: Never-Before-Seen Drawings by J.R.R. Tolkien Terry Pratchett on Snuff Mark Charan Newton's THE REEF released as an ebook 10 Debut Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels That Took the World by Storm The Victorian Hugos: 1885 The Victorian Hugos: 1886 CALENDAR BARE YOUR SWORD 1Q84 paper texture Reamde : Why terrorists? TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES Grimm - the other fairy tale show The 1986 infomercial for the Neuromancer movie that never was BOOK PICK Vote for the next book! NEW MEMBER HELLOS Sam, Sheala, Jared, Michael, Bree, Kristin, Kodai, Tracy, Reuben, Christina, Mark, Joshua, Chip, Everitt, Emma (aka Liliy), Jonathan | 11/7/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #80 - All Hallow's Read | We wrap up Ready Player One, give away a Kindle, get psyched up for NaNoWriMo, and discuss whether virtual worlds will lead to the decline of cvilization. Ready Player One spoiler's ahead! QUICK BURNS These Are the Greatest Geek Books of All Time, Readers Say WINNERS: 2011 World Fantasy Awards and Lifetime Achievement Winners CALENDAR See what's coming up. Sean sent in an email and an MP3 with some books to add to the calendar. Hey T&V, Here are a few upcoming books that would make interesting additions to the calendar: 15 November - Ten Billion Days and a Hundred Billion Nights by Ryu Mitsuse 13 December - Spice and Wolf Novel 5 by Isuna Hasekura 24 January - Book Girl and the Corrupted Angel by Mizuki Nomura BARE YOUR SWORD Virtual Reality and the end of Civilization Was I-rok underused, or overused? All Hallow's Read TV, Movies and video games James Cameron's Fantastic Voyage is a doomed 'love story' WILD CARDS optioned for a movie BOOK Wrap-up Ready Player One Giveaway Announcement? Winner! Icelord! NEW MEMBER HELLOS Casey, Amanda, Michael, Ian, Erik, Scotty, MonkeyButler, Michael, Michael, Alan, Rich, Ben, Noel, Jay, NCGrimbo, Robert, Micah, Philip, Vaugh, Andy, Zach, Stephen, Nathaniel, Domenico, Ken, Joshua, Sean, Matthew, Bill, Kyle (aka Khet), Nick, Eric, Erica, Ed, Quasar, Richard, Jon and Maxwell! 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. | 11/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #79 - Sell me this Doctor | Wherein Tom decides to spend $1,000 on an Alastair Reynolds book, Veronica decides to become an author, and we remember "that comedian". It's a chatty episode, a little longer than some have been, but we hope you find it chock full of goodness. QUICK BURNS The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (3rd Edition) goes live Agatha H and the Airship City: Girl Genius book is a cross between a comic and a prose novel Cover art for BLUE REMEMBERED EARTH by Alastair Reynolds --- Tom's excited about this series SF Authors Predict Computing's Future CALENDAR Oct. 18 2011 Aloha from Hell, Richard Kadrey (Harper Voyager) Zone One by Colson Whitehead Oct. 20 2011 The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding Oct. 25 2011 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami Oct. 27 2011 The Kingdom of Gods, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit) Initiate’s Trial by Janny Wurts Nov. 8 2011 The Alloy of Law: A Mistborn Novel by Brandon Sanderson Stands a Shadow by Col Buchanan Endurance, Jay Lake (Tor) Get the full calendar BARE YOUR SWORD Neal Stephenson - Feminist? Siri brings nerd humor to iPhone NaNoWriMo 2011 TV and Movies Sell me on Dr. Who Who watched The Walking Dead? Giveaway Announcement Write a pitch for a NaNoRiMo story, we'll pick a winner randomly from this thread. You have until October 31st to post, and you could win a Kindle! EMAIL Tom and Veronica, Every once in a while Tom mentions that he's always looking for books. I've also come to the conclusion from a few subtle hints that have been dropped here and there that he's a baseball fan. So I'd like to add the following to Tom's reading/listening queue (as the Audible version of this is a fine performance: Summerland by Michael Chabon, winner of both a Hugo and a Pulitzer (not too shabby and a thoroughly uncommon combination). YA fantasy (though as a middle-aged geek, I enjoyed the heck out of it as well) about trans-dimensional travel, elves, dwarves, magic, good, evil, and baseball. Not just baseball, but baseball as a metaphor for life. Who knows, it might even be an excellent selection for S&L. Love the podcast, even though I can't always keep up on the reading. Yours in geekdom, George Van Wagner, occasionally known as GVDub in various places on teh intarwebs. NEW MEMBER HELLOS Dave, David, Louise, Mike, Amir, Jason, Ben, Cappy, Rebecca, Gregory 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. | 10/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #78 - I fixed it! | It's time for SciFi writers to get up and help science, according to Neal Stephenson. We also seem to have had the idea of starting a wiki for Ready Player One. Now if we only had the energy to do it. And one broken link gets two podcast hosts into an epic battle of fixing. QUICK BURNS Science fiction writers have a job, and it’s time to do it, says Neal Stephenson TV and Movies Ready Player One to become a movie? Downton Abbey Game of Thrones casting: Ygrette CALENDAR Oct. 18 2011 Aloha from Hell, Richard Kadrey (Harper Voyager) Zone One by Colson Whitehead Oct. 20 2011 The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding Oct. 25 2011 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami The Kingdom of Gods, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit) BARE YOUR SWORD Steve Jobs/James Halliday Virtual Online Schools .. Why not? Play Ready Player One online (quest spoilers) BOOK CHECK-IN Looks like we'll wrap up Ready, Player ONe either next week or the week after. Which would you rather? And Tom gives a quick review of The Magicians by Lev Grossman. EMAILS Hi, I just discovered your podcast and I'm listening from the first episode. It's full of geeky goodness and I've enjoyed every episode so far. However, I discovered that the MP3 for podcast 25 is unavailable. Would you be able to check the link in your spare time or perhaps send the MP3 via email? Thanks, Chris ____________ Macrologia: @Veronica I think that, whenever on @swordandlaser, you should be referred to as Deathstalker Commander by @acedtect. NEW MEMBER HELLOS Jim, Franck, Wes, Corey, Garrett, Gordon, Ramon, Anthony! 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. | 10/10/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #77 - Ready Player One and Reamde Kick-off | It's an episode chock full of twists and turns with an incredible ending you won't see coming. Unless you've listened before. We end with the email address. But HOW do we get there? Well for one, we talk about video games as storytelling. For another we kick off Ready Player One and Reamde as our new books. And finally..... well that would be a spoiler. QUICK BURNS FLOWCHART: Navigating NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Ursula K. Le Guin has a brand new reason to be scared of immortality The Top 10 Books Lost to Time CALENDAR 10/4/2011 Salvations Reach by Dan Abnett Infidel, Kameron Hurley (Night Shade Books) 10/7/2011 Heirs of the Blade by Adrian Tchaikovsky 10/11/2011 The Children of the Sky, Vernor Vinge (Tor) Snuff, Terry Pratchett (Harper Collins) The Cold Commands, Richard K. Morgan (Del Rey) 10/18/2011 Aloha from Hell, Richard Kadrey (Harper Voyager) 10/20/2011 The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding 10/25/2011 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami PS The calendar is now available on the website. BARE YOUR SWORD Most accessible Stephenson book? Games as Storytelling Jason from Bethesda comments TV and Movies The Enders Game movie puts out casting calls for 10 characters — including Ender! GAME OF THRONES Season 2 promo BOOK Kick-Off Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Reamde by Neal Stephenson EMAILS Hey Veronica and Tom, The reason I'm writing is because after 2 years, I finished my 3rd book, first fiction, a novella titled Trapped in My Zombie Body. The cover is being designed now, and I will have it going out digitally in mid-October, paperback in November. Moreover, I'm donating 50% of royalties to Child's Play Charity. Synopsis: Imagine your body no longer listened to you. You were trapped, experiencing the world in a new way: without any control over your actions. It's a world filled with sleep deprivation, mind games, and unthinkable acts. Welcome to my world. By the way, I publish under my legal first name, Mario, rather than my nickname, Andy, just FYI. I look forward to hearing from you guys! Cheers, Mario Lurig, aka Andy in Colorado NEW MEMBER HELLOS York, Brandon, Kyle, Matt, Joshua, Another Brandon, Lindsey, Rob, Walter, Simon, Esther, Joe, Brian, The Duchess, Adiel, Sophie, Another Joshua 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. | 10/3/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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S&L Podcast - #76 - Interview with Tad Williams | Subtitle: Veronica goes "SQUEEE!!!" Since practically the first moment we discussed doing the book club, Veronica has told me how Tad Williams was the foundation of her fantasy reading history. Today, we get the pleasure of talking with Tad about what he writes, how he writes, and why he's become the godfather of Sword and Laser. QUICK BURNS Congrats to Peter Dinklage! The Mountain is recast, plus some new villains for THRONES German student creates an illuminated edition of THE SILMARILLION AN EVENING WITH NEAL STEPHENSON CALENDAR 9/20/2011 Reamde, Neal Stephenson 9/20/2011 Goliath, Scott Westerfeld 9/22/2011 The Islanders by Christopher Priest 9/27/2011 Ganymede, Cherie Priest (Tor) 9/27/2011 The Hum and the Shiver, Alex Bledsoe 9/27/2011 The Immorality Engine by George Mann 10/1/2011 Manhattan in Reverse by Peter F. Hamilton INTERVIEW Bay Area-based Tad Williams is the author of many outstanding books, including several series, such as Memory Sorrow and Thorn, Otherland, and Shadowmarch. On a personal note, his novel Tailchaser's Song was the book that basically got Veronica interested in fantasy in the first place! Follow him on Facebook! BARE YOUR SWORD In your discussion on the use of German in FlashForward, I cringed when you pronounced “jawohl”. It is pronounced like “yah-VOLE”, and is something you would expect to hear on Hogan's Heroes reruns, or in the phrase ""Jawohl, mein Herr!"", but I never heard it in Germany when I lived there for several months in the mid 80's. I love your podcast, Kevin Hansen ---- Hi Tom and Veronica, As promised, here's a small pronounciation lesson for some of the German words that you talked about in the last episode. If you have any more questions, just ask. Have a great day and looking forward to the next podcast, Anne. ---- "Sword and Laser" in different languages NEW MEMBER HELLOS Gantt, AJ, Michael, Joseph, Adam, and Daric! BOOK PICK Next time we'll kick off: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. And Reamde, if you're so inclined! 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. | 9/19/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 15 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
Superb
Are you kidding me? I would listen to these two reading the Yellow Pages. Great podcast!
A great half and hour from two podcast veterans
This podcast is great! The show focuses on a few chapters each episode for a particular science fiction or fantasy novel (voted on over at swordandlaser.com...join up!), allowing you to read along or just take in the hosts' thoughts on a book you may have already read. Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt cetainly don't hurt as hosts, with their experience working together on Buzz Out Loud. Check it out!
Interesting and well produced
Been listening to these two for years now and this is another one that you just shouldn't miss.
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