Vote for the next book!
/See the discussion on the forums if you need some help deciding!
The Mists of Avalon Recap – The S&L Podcast #026
/Heads up! We know Veronica said it was episode 27 (en español) but that’s because she was working with Tom’s bad episode number intel. We’re really on #26, and we’ve finally made it through Mists of Avalon and have a recap for you. Overall we liked it, and Tom gets into some of the Arthurian Legend underpinnings.
QUICK BURNS – unrelated news of the month
Sci-Fi Author Peter Watts Beaten, Charged During Border Crossing
20 Best Science Fiction Books Of The Decade
Extinct Bees and Drugs Haunt Douglas Coupland’s “Generation A”
BARE YOUR SWORD – feedback from the audience
Josh Lawrence’s pics for the Sword and Laser song
What’s next? One of the Top 20! But which one? Make your nomination persuasively on the Ning forum.
New partner Sticker Fu. Use the code Sword1 and get 10% off the stickers at http://www.stickerfu.com/
Interview with Brandon Sanderson– The S&L Podcast #025
/We had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Brandon Sanderson, co-author of the next installment of the Wheel of Time Series; The Gathering Storm. Brandon told us how he got into writing, what books he likes to read and how he ended up with the honor of finishing the work of Robert Jordan.
Quick Burns
JC Hutchins’s sf novel 7TH SON serialized here on Boing Boing, Part 1
Colfer’s Hitchhiker’s Guide Sequel Will Be His Last
Mists of Avalon
We’re still rolling! Expect a wrap-up episode in December.
Join the Mists of Avalon Group on Ning!
Join the Club!
In the Ning forums there are active conversations about Dragon*Con 2010, EBook Readers, Movie recommendations and more.
ADDENDUMS
Don’t forget out new partner Sticker Fu. Use the code Sword1 and get 10% off their awesome nerd/geek stickers!
The Forever War – The S&L Podcast #024
/It’s time to wrap up Haldeman’s The Forever War, but we still haven’t finished talking about Songs of Ice and Fire. So we start with a quick recap of our thoughts up through A Feast for Crows, then intro our new book choice, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon.
QUICK BURNS – unrelated news of the month
Octavia Butler’s Papers Preserved For Future Generations
Mary Russell has been Twittering at Veronica
October 27th will be a HUGE day for book releases
THE FOREVER WAR – Wrapup
Was it dated by having a date?
Nick W. – What did you think of the ending?
Mists of Avalon – Kickoff
1982 novel. It’s a re-telling of the Arthurian legend from a female point of view.
The book follows the trajectory of Morgaine (often called Morgan Le Fay in other works), a priestess fighting to save her matriarchal Celtic culture in a country where patriarchal Christianity threatens to destroy the pagan way of life. The book follows the lives of Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), Viviane, Morgause and other women who are often marginalized in Arthurian retellings. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are supporting rather than main characters. A lot of people accuse the book of being anti-Christian. (Via Wikipedia)
“About the time I began work on the Morgan le Fay story that later became Mists, a religious search of many years culminated in my accepting ordination in one of the Gnostic Catholic churches as a priest. Since the appearance of the novel, many women have consulted me about this, feeling that the awareness of the Goddess has expanded their own religious consciousness, and ask me if it can be reconciled with Christianity. I do feel very strongly, not only that it can, but that it must.” – Marion Zimmer Bradley
Isaac Asimov called it “the best retelling of the Arthurian Saga I have ever read”
Turned into a miniseries on TNT in 2001.
BARE YOUR SWORD – feedback from the audience
Animated Feature-Length Film Suggestions
ADDENDUMS
Say hello to our new partner Sticker Fu. Use the code Sword1 and get 10% off the stickers.
#023 – The S&L Podcast: Live from Dragon*Con with Timothy Zahn
/We had a fantastic time at Dragon*Con! Thanks to everyone who showed up for the recording, and Timothy Zahn for being an outstanding guest. Special thanks to Swoopy and Derek for inviting us in and helping us out tremendously, Jon for running about the room with a mic so we could the excellent audience feedback, and to all the folks in the Dragon*Con podcasting track who helped us sound perfect. Plus a SUPER thanks to Kathryn for designing and obtaining the t-shirts and Kim for helping us drag them around and distribute them.
QUICK BURNS
New Hitchhiker’s Guide book “not very funny”
Ariel: post-apocalyptic sword-and-sorcery adventure
Casting for Game of Thrones HBO pilot!
BARE YOUR SWORD – feedback from the audience
Mixing Media Alters My Brain – Posted by aldenoneil on September 2, 2009 at 12:22pm A phenomenon occurs occasionally, where I’ll be reading a book concurrently with playing through a videogame, and my reading of the novel is effected. This time around it’s Warcraft III and The Forever War. Reading through a description about a certain base under construction, all I could envision was little soldiers with low polygon counts and blocky grey buildings rising whole from the surface. I don’t believe that was the author’s intention.
Of course it occurs with movies – reading through The Lord of the Rings will never be the same for any of us, for example – but videogames present a more stylized vision, which really f*cks my sh*t up, for lack of a better phrase. It really points to how subjective an experience reading a novel is.
Does this happen to anyone else? Milder forms include casting actors or friends in roles, or envisioning natural settings as versions of places that you’ve actually been to. That’s why descriptions of nature scenes have always been difficult for me; I live in a bubble.
http://swordandlaser.ning.com/group/videogames/forum/topics/mixing-media-alters-my-brain
District 9
Posted by Chris M: Okay, maybe I’m jaded but I don’t get it. District 9 was a complete let down to me. I left the theater feeling like I’d seen that theme done a dozen times, usually more successfully . I don’t want to drop any spoilers, so I won’t go into detail, but for someone who is into sci-fi, District 9 presents well trod themes in a typical, unimaginative manner. The CGI was pretty interesting, but that’s about the only notable thing for me. I didn’t dislike the movie, but jeeze I’ve seen people raving about it like it’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I’d rather watch a rerun of Enemy Mine or Alien Nation.
http://swordandlaser.ning.com/forum/topics/district-9
ENGAGE – Interviews with interesting characters
Timothy Zahn – Our guest is SciFi author Timothy Zahn. He won the Hugo award in 1984 for his novella Cascade Point but is best known for the very popular Star Wars sequels known as the Thrawn Trilogy. They were authorised by Lucas and took place after Return of the Jedi. He has also written the Dragonback series and the Conquerors Trilogy, about a war between humans and aliens.
Listener Questions
What would the galaxy be like if Grand Admiral Thrawn had won? Would it be better or worse than how its turned out under the New Republic?
I’d like to know what he’s reading, and what he’s read this year. I know I bought the first Dresden Files book on Michael Stackpole’s recommendation after he read the galley.
ADDENDUMS
T-Shirts: We’re desciding the best way to distribute them on the Internets, but everybody who attened our panel at Dragon*Con got one.
Tagline: Different worlds, different discussion
Designer: Kathryn Parker
Next episode – Forever War recap and kickoff of the next book, which will be Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
#023 – The S&L Podcast: Live from Dragon*Con with Timothy Zahn
S&L at Dragon*Con!
/Hey everyone! We’re going to be recording a live episode of The Sword and Laser at this year’s Dragon*Con in Atlanta! The live recording is at 8:30pm on Friday night; check your schedule for more details.
We’re also planning a little meetup for Saturday evening! We’re still working out the details for that, so make sure you check Veronica and Tom’s Twitter pages for updates. We’ll probably also post the info here.
Hope to meet some of you there!
UPDATE: Meetup will be at 5pm on Saturday the 5th at the Pulse Bar & Loft at the Atlanta Marriot Marquis.
#022 – The S&L Podcast: George R. R. Martin is not your bitch
/It's time to pick a new book, but for some reason we just can't stop talking about George R. R. Martin. And in some cases singing about him. But we DID pick a new book and it's The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. It involves relativity, interstellar war and sad soldiers. In fact it's sometimes thought of as an anti-Starship Troopers. We think this book is a timely choice as Ridley Scott is making a 3D movie out of it. More on that in this and future episodes. If you want a sneak peek, take a look at this Forever War' Concept Art .
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Also don't forget we're doing a live Sword and Laser in Atlanta at Dragon*Con! The show takes place Friday evening, September 4 at 8:30 PM in Hilton room 204. It will be Veronica, me and special guest Timothy Zahn. Other guests may be announced as well.
BARE YOUR SWORD - feedback from the audience.
Audio books are no good for SF
Do you like your endings with everything-wrapped-up or open-ended?
Hi Tom and Veronica,
John Anealio' George R. R. Martin is not your bitch.
QUICK BURNS - unrelated news of the month
Robo-Ethicists Want to Revamp Asimov’s 3 Laws
A Game Of Thrones pilot script leaked
A brief history of SteamPunk
Personal Effects: Dark Art by JC Hutchins. The book with a lot of cool extra materials.
Tagline Contest
Congratulations Barry O'Neil "Different worlds - different discussion"
Read More#021 – The S&L Podcast: A Game of Thrones
/We loved A Game of Thrones, but you'll have to listen to find out why. We also get into fantasy metal songs with a metal expert, and report some news on the Game of Thrones on HBO.
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ADDENDUMS
Game of Thrones Wikis
Unnoficial Songs of Ice and Fire
A Wiki of Ice and Fire
But Tower of the Hand is much much better! Thanks Padwen!
Game of Thrones being shot for HBO Sean Bean cast as Lord Eddard.
A Game of Thrones card game.
BARE YOUR SWORD - feedback from the audience
What Was Robert's Rebellion Really About (Minor Spoilers, Major Speculation)
Check out these lizards they've discovered that swim through sand in the Sahara. They didn't mention it, but I'm guessing they smell like cinnamon. :)
Love the Show,
Dave in Portland
Abner Senires sings amazing parody songs... this one is about the Kwisatz Haderach.
ENGAGE - Interviews with interesting characters
Talking to Charles Davis, from Metal Gamer and the Chizzle and Dizzle show.
Holy Thunder Force: Charles dares you not to air guitar to this one.
Rain of a Thousand Flames: This the one that has a nude woman in it, but Charles assures us, it is definitely the most ridiculous one they have made.
Unholy WarCry: 10 minutes long and the one that has Christopher Lee dressed in a giant king costume.
Magic of the Wizard's Dream: Charles says it's not that interesting of a music video, but it's the one he mentioned that has Christopher Lee singing on it.
QUICK BURNS - unrelated news of the month
Download DroidMaker for free
1969 Hugo Awards. Neil Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin and Michael Collins received a Hugo Award in 1969 for The Best Moon Landing Ever. Also Novella "Dragonrider" by Anne McCaffrey [Analog Dec 1967,Jan 1968]
Tagline Contest
Come up with a tagline for The Sword and Laser! The winner will have their words emblazoned on the back of our new t-shirts, which will be making their debut at Dragon*Con this September!" Email theswordandlaser@gmail.com by Wednesday July 29.
Read More#020 - The S&L Podcast: Here There Be Dragons
/While we're kicking off reading A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, we're also proud to announce we're going to Dragon*Con in Atlanta to do a live episode of Sword and Laser! We're very excited about that, especially because Veronica has been reading a book about dragons and is hoping to meet one.
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WHY WE PICKED A GAME OF THRONES
Rick on May 22, 2009 at 9:22pm
I third "Game of Thrones". It is sitting on my shelf waiting for me to finish the China Mieville book I'm in the middle of. Also, for those upset with Mr. Martin's lack of new bookage, you should go read the comments by Niel Gaiman on his blog concerning exactly what George R. R. Martin is and is not to his readers.
C on May 23, 2009 at 9:39pm
Game of Thrones is fantastic, the only problem I can see with it is that anyone who reads it will be completely hooked for the rest of the series. As long as people don't mind that then it's great. I would also be interested in reading something else (as in something outside Song of Ice and Fire) by him though. Armageddon Rag is supposed to be really interesting and Fevre Dream is about vampires which is always fun. Both of those are standalone books (I think) so they might be better than starting a series?
terpkristin on May 26, 2009 at 4:10am
The reader for books 1-3 (Roy Dotrice) is great. I purchased the 4th book but haven't listened to it yet (read that one in hardcover on an import version), though John Lee is the narrarator, and some have said that they don't like him as much as they like Dotrice.
ABOUT A Game of Thrones
A Game of Thrones is the first of seven planned novels in A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on 6 August 1996. The novel was nominated for the 1998 Nebula Award and the 1997 World Fantasy Award, and won the 1997 Locus Award. The novella Blood of the Dragon, comprising the Daenerys Targaryen chapters from the novel, won the 1997 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
The novel lends its name to several spin-off items based on the novels, including a trading card game, board game and roleplaying game, and HBO has authorized the filming of a pilot episode based on the novels.[1]
WHAT WE'VE BEEN READING
Tom - Heretics of Dune
Veronica - Black Powder War, Book 3 in the Temeraire series (Book 1 is here)
ESSENTIAL NERD VIEWING
John Hodgman administers a nerd test to President Obama. Do you know the answers?
MOVIES
Moon - A Film By Duncan Jones; Starring Sam Rockwell.
Read MorePardon our dust!
/We're working on a fix for why the full podcast listings don't show up with our old theme (previously, you could only see the last ten or so podcast entries). We're also migrating our feedburner stuff, so if you see anything wonky, let us know in the comments!
Read More#019 - S&L Podcast: Talking Daemon with Rick Klau!
/We're very pleased this week to have Rick Klau, product manager at Blogger, as a guest to talk about the book Daemon. Rick is friends with author Daniel Suarez and gives some insight into the books creation and the long road to publishing.
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We also give our impressions of the book. Which we probably didn't make clear enough, that we absolutely LOVED it. There are some good threads discussing Daemon in our Ning group. If you want to jump in try the "How would you have ended it differently?" thread or the thread discussing the encrypted text at the end of the book.
Congrats to Mark who may have accidentally won our copy of Dune. Although it looks like he actually meant to enter after I'm looking at the thread post-show.
Next book will be by George R. R. martin. But which one? You can weigh in on our pick the Martin book thread.
Read MoreExactly how our book cover would look!
/
#018 - The S&L Podcast: Kwisatz and the Haderachs
/It was Dune time and we found out how much of nerd I (Tom) am for Frank Herbert's stuff and how hard it is to pronounce pretty much anything he wrote when you try to say it out loud.
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We also found out that there are Dune influences all over popular culture including Films, spinoffs, and metal. In fact there are all kinds of heavy metal scifi influences. Including, apparently this podcast. You must listen to the end to hear the rockingest book club rock anthem ever to rock. And we also form a new band based on Dune.
More info, including club members thoughts on Dune, in the podcast and after the jump.
Dune comments
Hard to get into - Terpkristin
Bizarre early attempt to make a film of Dune - Josh Lawrence
Great lines - Sean o'Hara
One thing I love about Dune is the great quotes it provides.
- A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.
- Mood's a thing for cattle or making love or playing the baliset. (For some reason I imagine Gurney sounding like Groundskeeper Willy when he says this)
- I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
What are the ones that stand out to you?
Comment by Sh1mm3r
Does anyone else find the sentence structure a little wacky? I find myself having to re-read some to understand what is being said. I'm in the first few pages though. I might just need to get into the rhythm.
Tom's currently reading the Butlerian Jihad by K. Anderson (one of the extended universe novels - a prequel actually)
Thread of the month
Books with both Sword and Lasers
Next Book: Daemon (buy here)
Read MoreJoin this Internet band or perish in obscurity
/The Clive Royal Project is looking for new members, and they want you! All you have to do is remix some of the tracks on the site, and you're in. We're kind of emotionally invested in this band, since one of their epic songs is inspired by The Sword and Laser!
That song is so going in the podcast next time!
Thanks to @aldenoneil for the tip!
Read More#017 - The S&L Podcast: Let's talk about ...er... sex?
/Really, most of the episode is about The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan:
UPDATE: Hopefully the file will work now in iTunes!
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We disucssed the paralells to other fantasy worlds like Lord of the Rings and even World of Warcraft. We also passed along Randy's post from the Ning site about the Robert Jordan convention which you can find out more about by visiting
www.AgeofLegends.net.
But then we got to talking about Watchmen near the end and one thing led to another. It all came back around to Robert Jordan though as we discussed Sean O'Hara's Ning thread called Sexbots and dragons.
Speaking of the Ning group, we called out a couple of user-created groups that aren't related to official book club selections. Take a gander at the Alternate History group if you like to pretend things are different than they way they really are. And a really cool group that crosses TV fandom with literature, The Lost literary references group.
Finally we settled on Frank Herbert's Dune as the next book. We'll kick it off in the April episode, so if you have any questions, or non-spoiler thoughts for newbies to the book, let us know here in the comments
Read MoreThe IRC channel is up!
/As promised in the most recent podcast, our good friend Ryan (a.k.a. TuxOtaku) has set up a Sword and Laser IRC channel! Here are the details:
Server: irc.revision3.com
Room: #swordandlaser
We'll be doing some scheduled chats soon, but otherwise feel free to pop in and say hello from time to time! Just be mindful of spoilers (in fact, let's keep current book discussion to a minimum unless otherwise noted).
Read More#016 - The S&L Podcast: Pants!
/This week we check in on the beginning of the Wheel of Time series. Veronica's ahead of me and says the thing really picks up right after the point I stopped. Which makes me think she's just trying to get me to start reading again. Which is fine. One of the problems is I'm reading Watchmen at the same time in advance of the movie. I'll share a few impressions about that with you as well. We also discuss the book Daemon as reviewed on Slashdot. Should it be our next book choice?
Finally we take some reader comments, including a Wheel of Time Drinking Game and someone calling the last book "pants." We're pretty sure that means he didn't like it. Welcome to the wonderful world of monthly Sword and Laser! Woo-hoo! Pant
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Special thanks to Jonathan Coulton for the use of his song, Mr. Fancy Pants! Go buy it here!
Read More#015 - The S&L Podcast: We disagree!!
/Turns out that just because Tom likes a book, doesn't mean Veronica will (she kinda hated it). But we learned a lot about paranoia, and Polish communism. So it's not a total loss. Meanwhile we have determined that the podcast should be a once a month affair. So get ready for regularity! We'll be like the monthly bran in your reading diet. And we hope to have interviews. With real people. And some robots.
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What we're reading
Tom is busy reading some not sci fi book by Evelyn Waugh (Officers and Gentlemen) and still making his way through Droidmakers.
Veronica is busy with David Eddings "Belgarath the Sorcerer" which is a continuation of the Belgariad and Malloreon.
News
Battlestar Galactica coming back tomorrow night!
Wheel of Time video game appears to be rolling onto the scene.
Our book pick
In honor of the WoT video game, we'll read the first in that series.
Eye of the World
Read More#014 - S&L Podcast: Not a "Dick" Move
/Tom has picked our next book! It is Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Stanislaw Lem. Here's a bit of a summary:
Read MoreSet in the distant future, Memoirs Found in a Bathtub is the horrifying first-hand account of a bureaucratic agent trapped deep within the subterranean bowels of a vast underground military complex. In a Kafkaesque maelstrom of terrifying confusion and utter insanity, this man must attempt to follow his mission directives of conducting an "on-the-spot investigation. Verify. Search. Destroy. Incite. Inform. Over and out. On the nth day nth hour sector n subsector n rendezvous with N."[display_podcast] But we have more than just that to talk about this week! Tom and I have also been reading Pattern Recognition and Spook Country, both by former S&L author William Gibson. Have you read either of them? What are your thoughts? And we have sad news... author Michael Crichton has passed away. Join the discussion on the forums about his life and works. ______ Check out Audible! Journey to a world beyond words with Audible Sci-Fi & Fantasy. Check out Audible for exclusive access to your favorite sci-fi and fantasy authors and exclusive commentary. In addition, the new imprint, Audible Frontiers features new and sometimes previously unavailable audio books made available for the first time in audio. Click here for a free trial offer and get your first audio book free.
