The Sword and Laser

We had SO much fun at WorldCon in Dublin. We were blown away with how many people came out to see us!! We were literally prepared with plans for if the room was empty, but no, Ireland filled our room and our hearts. We got some great conversations and book recommendations from folks in the crowd too! Go raibh maith agaibh! The craic was grand! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...

Are we excited for The Witcher? Probably? Are we excited for the Hitchhiker's Guide Hulu TV series? Maybe? Are we excited for Vessel? In some ways? Is Tom excited for The Poppy War? YES! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Veronica is definitely not meeting direwolves in Ireland and stealing them and smuggling them back into the United States. Definitely not. Plus, our thoughts so far on Vessel by Lisa Nichols. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re so excited about our guest pick! It’s the kickoff for our July book, and the first ever-not-in-any-way chosen by Tom or Veronica. Also we love XKCD and we love Station 11. Also Dara and Terpkristin. So much love! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom talks with Greg van Eekhout, author of Voyage of the Dogs and California Bones about dogs, writing from local influences, and what the Nebulas mean to him. Also Tom embarrasses himself at least twice! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're excited for a trip to the Hunger Games' past and to hear Tatiana Maslany show us her Orphan Black chops again. Plus, Veronica takes on a Jim Butcher challenge and our final thoughts on The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re cautiously pessimistic about Winds of Winter, but hey wouldn’t that be cool? Also we discover what famous authors we live in (yes, you read that right, live in) and our initial thoughts on The Last Unicorn. PLUS an astonishing announcement about next month’s pick! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom catches up with Rebecca Roanhorse, author of Trail of Lightning, to talk about writing native cultures in genre fiction and what she gets out of the Nebula conference. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom had fun at the Nebulas, and we’re excited about the winners. We also kick off a new book, wrap up the last one and give our thoughts about the Game of Thrones finale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Locus Award finalists! Great supplementary material for the Martian Chronicles! Why we need utopias! AI Whisky! ALL THAT AND MORE! Sorry. We're really excited about this episode. We hope you will be too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To Gene Wolfe! Thank you for Shadow and Claw and Pringles. Plus, William Gibson’s Alien 3, what you need to know before reading The Martian Chronicles, and our final thoughts on the vast conspiracies that make up Theft of Swords. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brian's most recent book, Uncanny Collateral, is described (on Brian's Twitter) as "Harry Dresden meets Dog the Bounty Hunter in a fast-paced urban fantasy about a collection agent who works for the supernatural." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So many great books are nominated for Hugos. Independent Bookstore Day is coming up and the proper pronunciation of Riyria! and we kick off our impressions of the refreshing and comfy feelings we’re getting from the thoroughly enjoyable Theft of Swords. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So many books became options! We’re hopeful. Also we’re excited to read our March Madness winner, Theft of Swords. And why Dumbledore may or may not be an irresponsible headmaster. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We review the final four books in our Mad March Tournament. Plus lots of great new award-winners and nominees to fill your to-read list and our continuing thoughts on our re-read of Harry Potter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author S.A. Chakraborty joins us on the show to talk about the inspiration for her two recent books: The City of Brass and The Kingdom of Copper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So many good TV shows based on books that we love are coming, and we even got a movie with a casting announcement that made Tom very excited! Plus, our final thoughts on The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal and the kick off of what we assume is a re-read for most of you, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling. Come on. Read it again! It’s fun! We are GO for M...

We chat with Mary Robinette Kowal, the author of this month’s pick, The Calculating Stars. From acknowledging and learning from your biases, to de-stigmatizing mental illness, to using math as a magic system, we had a lovely time and don’t care WHAT people would think. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So many news stories! We have to speed through them but there’s some good picks from lots of award winners in there. Plus, the best pajamas ever and whether Calculating Stars is steamy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re very pleased that the Hugo Nominations are open and we’ll keep reminding you. Also we’re pleased to discuss pairing beer with novels and pleased to look over the new Philip K. Dick award nominees. We’re pleased to be reading Ninefox Gambit too, even if it makes our brain hurt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re SO excited for books coming out this year, AND we award our favorite Sword and Laser reads for 2018! We finish with our final thoughts on Crows. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sword and Laser bump returns! Also, Veronica wants to start reading comics. And we realize we need brain, but that’s all we need. Isn’t that festive! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Verge is writing SciFi for a better tomorrow, plus is Roald Dahl Fantasy? Is It's a Wonderful Life SciFi? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve got options! For TV shows! Well we don’t but Annalee Newitz, Mira Grant and Kristine Kathryn Rusch do! Plus our feelings on Zeroes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom inadvertently affects a listener feud, the truth about George R. R. Martin and why we think Zeroes is number 1. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.