The Sword and Laser

We're excited and fearful about a new chapter from George R.R. Martin's Winds of Winter, we're hopeful about new books from John Scalzi and Ann Leckie and we're just a little wistful and/or angry about the Hugos. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We give our last thoughts on The Goblin Emperor, kick of our April pick, Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett and discuss why some author names are bigger than their titles. But what really gets this episode going is the debate about whether a reader has the right to "clean up" an author's language. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk with Peter V. Brett about his new book, cool tattoos and the last enjoyable book he read. The Skull Throne, 4th in the Demon Cycle series, comes out March 31, 2015. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Created by Scott Johnson!http://www.myextralife.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We bid adieu to Terry Pratchett and commemorate him with one more book pick next month. We cheer for Chuck Wendig being picked for the next Star Wars novel. And we wonder if we are too much like the Goblin Emperor. Are you? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah Monette, a.k.a. Katherine Addison, tells us why you’re all right about the Goblin Emperor, why the wizards in the book are so stubborn about using magic, and shares tips for inventing a language. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So much good news! Some of our favorite stories are becoming movies and TV shows and we even have good news of a popular indie author getting picked up by Tor. And we even make a stab at predicting the Nebula winner. Yet controversy rages in the Untheileneise court. Especially about how to pronounced Untheileneise. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gary Whitta is an award-winning screenwriter who wrote The Book of Eli and worked on the first Star Wars standalone film. So when he had an idea for a dark historical fantasy story he wrote a book. Why? We ask him that, about successfully crowdfunding his novel, and much more on this episode! Oh, and yes. We ask him about Star Wars too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have a whole Wheel of Time pilot mystery to solve and then on top of it George RR Martin says any character in the Game of Thrones series could be killed even if they’re safe in the book. WHAT?! Hands off the Imp! Also we explore the mystery of why Tom didn’t like Annihilation more, even though he wanted to. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you rule the world of powder mages you can do what you want. Brian McClellan wields his powder for good. In addition to delivering us the complete Powder Mage trilogy with the third book Autumn Republic, Brian is going to bring us a second trilogy in the same universe, all while growing his own spaghetti sauce and keeping bees. Impressive. Most impressive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...

Veronica REALLY wanted to make the title of this episode "Tom Merritt is a sexist pig." But Tom doesn't need that kind of grief. And besides he has promised to read even more female SciFi/Fantasy authors going forward. But if you want to hear Veronica giggle at the notion-- as well as defend our book pick, Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, and wax eloquent about the need for varied perspectives in...

We welcome back the amazing Myke Cole to talk about how he finds time to write great books, fight crime, and decorate his apartment with even more books. We also pressure him into a startling revelation about unicorns. And of course, talk to him about his new book, Gemini Cell: A Shadow Ops Novel which is out now! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We wrap up The Sparrow. We loved it and it made us sad. We're also blown away at the quality of books being made into TV shows. Well, only a pilot and a trailer but so far so good. But should you risk reading a book and seeing a movie or TV show too? Maybe not! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author and robotics engineer Daniel H. Wilson chats with us about his new story/app called Mayday: Deep Space about a person trapped on a ship full of monsters. Only you can help him survive! But of course we have to ask Daniel when the robots will rise up and kill us all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well we're here to kick off the new year AND celebrate our 200th episode so we gathered drinks and cheer and your favorite books of 2014 as well as our own and a few others. You'll never guess which one everybody picked! That's not true. You'll totally guess. You probably already guessed. But listen to the show anyway, OK. For us? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we almost wrap up The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, discuss the intricacies of eBook DRM and try to decide just how high a price our integrity would fetch. We also wonder the same about Neal Stephenson and Steven Hawking. Join us, won't you? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're busy. We congratulate the winners of several year-end awards. We kick off our December book pick, The Night Circus, a beautiful novel by Erin Morgenstern. And we dive into some of the most wretched and hated terms and phrases in the professions of authorship. Mary Sue is under siege! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We sing the praises of Ursula K. Leguin, marvel at the casting of HBO's Westworld, announce our December book pick and wrap up Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick. Also, Veronica admits she would eat people. Ed. note: I would eat people -V Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have some awesome World Fantasy winners to talk about, some exciting casting news for The Magicians and The Expanse, but it really gets interesting when our “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” check-in turns into an ethics of meat-eating discussion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a jam-packed episode this week with great news for Ann Leckie and Andy Weir, our wrap-up of Alif the Unseen, Kickoff of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and the determination that it's OK to hate the book I love. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We had a lovely time chatting with author Delilah Dawson about her struggles with Ikea furniture, brilliance on Twitter and the coining of Whimsydark. There's also a fair amount about blud and humans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Neil Gaiman’s new book, The Sleeper and the Spindle, Sleeping Beauty gets woken by a Queen’s kiss. And there’s pictures so it did happen. Fictionally speaking. We also discuss The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan, and find out people are pleasantly surprised by the techno-thrilling coming of age fantasy that is Alif the Unseen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Jackson Bennett joins us on the show this week to talk about his new book, City of Stairs! The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world’s new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself—first shape...

From excitement about a new book in the Old Man's War series, to a rising demand for SciFi, things are looking up on the laser side. We also find out that Tom doesn't use a Kindle and Veronica's opinion on spiders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We chat with Timothy Zahn about his new book Soulminder. What happens when you can store a person's life essence separate from their body? And yes we get in a little talk about Star Wars and the prospects for Grand Admiral Thrawn and Jaina Solo too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.