S&L Video REWIND – #09B – Assassin's Apprentice Kick-off
/Download the episode here.
Subscribe to the video encores as a podcast, and in iTunes!
And of course get all the show notes at the original post from last year.
S&L anthology acceptance emails have been sent!
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Hello everyone!
After many months of reading, arguing, fighting, blood oaths, sacrificing to the gods of literature, shoot-outs at dawn, etc... we have picked our twenty selections for the Official Sword & Laser Anthology!
If you have received an email from us, congrats! If you have not (by the time of this blog posting) then you didn't make this round. But let us just say that this task was nearly impossible, considering the amazing talent and writing skills that so many of you exhibited with your submissions. We are truly awed by all of you, thank you.
Also thanks to our crew of intrepid submission readers, including Josh, CJ, Becca and Aaron. The final judgments came down from Tom and me, so please direct all of your hate mail to us specifically ;)
Again, I can't stress enough how difficult it has been to make these choices. We all became very protective over our favorites!
If you want to discuss more, please head over to Goodreads. Congrats again to our anthology contributors!
Catch Tom on the SF Signal podcast!
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Patrick Hester from SFSignal was nice enough to have Tom on the excellent (and Hugo-nominated!) SF Signal podcast this week. we had a fun time talking about what you'd expect, science fiction and fantasy, and a few things you might not expect!
Get the episode here.
S&L Video REWIND - #09 - Interview with John Scalzi
/Download the episode here.
Subscribe to the video encores as a podcast, and in iTunes!
And of course get all the show notes at the original post from last year.
S&L Podcast - #138 - Why Scott Lynch and Neil Gaiman are awesome
/We give our final views on Ringworld, and Veronica reveals her secret love at the end of the show. Plus we kick off our August pick, the Curse of Chalion. Nothing very shocking there. BUT we DO deliver a Yet-sized serving of news about books becoming movies. Don't sasquatch our dreams. Bigfoot your way into the show now.
*(editor's note: Tom is no longer allowed to write show descriptions after beer)
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Fuller's ESB
Veronica: 2011 Hangtime Cellars Pinot Noir California
QUICK BURNS
Sneak Peek: Cover art for Hang Wire by Adam Christopher
Scott Lynch auctioning REPUBLIC OF THIEVES for charity
Cover art for Brandon Sanderon's WORDS OF RADIANCE
One of the world's most popular SF novels finally coming in English
172 Reasons To Read Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror in August 2013 (A GIANT Book Cover Gallery)
TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES
Disney wants to turn Artemis Fowl into the new Harry Potter
GAME OF THRONES finds its Mace Tyrell (plus a general series update)
Bridge Of Birds Movie being made by Vispop
David Weber's 'Honorverse' books to be turned into movies
Sandman author Neil Gaiman ventures into gaming with Wayward Manor
BOOK KICK-OFF
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Curse of Chalion Wikipedia article
Lois McMaster Bujold interview on Sword and Laser
BOOK WRAP UP
BARE YOUR SWORD
I have never finished the Dune series due to dislike.
What's so wrong about giving up on a book?
New comment from Francisco on S&L Podcast - #137 - A rasher of Abercrombie.
On race and genre novels:
I know that Pratchett has his characters (in the City Watch novels) reference the problems of policing in a muli-vital society.
Here's a question for you:
If you assume that race is not going to be an issue in the future do you mention it?
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 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.
This episode is brought to you by Squarespace, the all-in-one platform that makes it fast and easy to create your own professional website or online portfolio. For a free trial and 10% off, go to squarespace.com and use offer code SWORD8.
Sneak Peek: Cover art for Hang Wire by Adam Christopher
/We're big fans of Adam Christopher here at Sword and Laser and he's buttering us up some more (as if he needs to) by giving us a sneak peek at the cover for his next book, Hang Wire (Coming January 28th from Angry Robot Books).
He mentioned the book took place in San Francisco the last time we talked. Here are some more details. Poor Ted Hall's Chinatown birthday dinner ends in an explosion. It gets worse. Ted finds fortune cookies from the exploded restaurant with personalized messages scattered around his apartment. There's also a Celtic circus, some immortals searching for an ancient power, and your basic primal evil lurking beneath the San Andreas fault which might destroy the world. Sounds like good fun.
Will Staehle (Empire State, Kavalier & Clay) did the cover and it's stellar. Christopher said Staehle surprised him with something "entirely unlike anything I had imagined, for any of my books."
For his part Staehle said the cover was "a tough one" with all the disparate elements in the book. He played with several styles including Chinese brush illustrations, victorian circus signage and ended up with, "a graphic circus ringleader puppet hung up by strings."
So take a look for yourself. You can see the different approaches in the gallery below. It starts with the main black book cover, then the limited edition in red and a few book posters showing the circus images and the Chinese brush strokes.
Just click the image to flip through the different examples.
Enjoy!
S&L Video REWIND - #8B - 'Leviathan Wakes' Wrap-up
/Download the episode here.
Subscribe to the video encores as a podcast, and in iTunes!
And of course get all the show notes at the original post from last year.
S&L Video REWIND - #08 - Interview with Daniel Suarez
/Download the episode here.
Subscribe to the video encores as a podcast, and in iTunes!
And of course get all the show notes at the original post from last year.
S&L Podcast - #137 - A rasher of Abercrombie
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The Iron Throne, by Marc Simonetti.
It's a day filled with George Martin's real iron throne and Joe Abercrombie's new empires. Plus Veronica reveals the August book pick!
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Slurm
Veronica: Romulan Ale
QUICK BURNS
Amazon launches graphic novel imprint, with George R.R. Martin among first authors
George R.R. Martin: This is what the Iron Throne REALLY looks like
George R.R. Martin smashes up a guitar; Neil Gaiman approves
Trailer for debut novel TERRA features some famous faces
Book Trailer: MADDADDAM by Margaret Atwood
A glimpse of a FIRST LAW world map
Joe Abercrombie sells new fantasy series to HarperCollins Voyager
J.K. Rowling quietly published a crime novel—all the way back in April
Your Semi-Obligatory Reminder Regarding Hugo Voting
Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicles books are getting a TV show!
BOOK CHECK-IN
Ringworld by Larry Niven
Redshirts by John Scalzi
Wrap up Ringworld and Redshirts August 6.
August book pick!
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
BARE YOUR SWORD
How much should an author consider race?
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 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.
This episode is brought to you by Squarespace, the all-in-one platform that makes it fast and easy to create your own professional website or online portfolio. For a free trial and 10% off, go to squarespace.com and use offer code SWORD7.
S&L Video REWIND – #07 Part 2 – Leviathan Wakes kick-off.
/Download the episode here.
Subscribe to the video encores as a podcast, and in iTunes!
And of course get all the show notes at the original post from last year.
George R. R. Martin destroys Paul and Storm
/If you haven't seen it yet, you must enjoy this video Veronica shot of George R. R. Martin interrupting Paul and Storm as they sing "Write Like the Wind." (If you don't know, the song lyrics start "George R. R. Martin please write and write faster, you're not going to get any younger you know--") Martin smashes Storm's guitar and then a surprise guest appears.
S&L Video REWIND - #07 - Interview with Rob Reid
/Download the episode here.
Subscribe to the video encores as a podcast, and in iTunes!
And of course get all the show notes at the original post from last year.
S&L Podcast - #136 - Nerdtacular 2013!
/We record an episode live in front of an audience of awesome folks from at Nerdtacular 2013. Since we're still just getting into Ringworld, we save more substantive discussion of that for later this month and talk about what else we're reading. get ready to enlarge your reading lists because we had some amazing suggestions from the audience!
QUICK BURNS
Help Seattle to name a park after Octavia Butler
You Can Explore Harry Potter's Diagon Alley on Street View Now
Iain M. Banks Gets Asteroid Named After Him
BOOK CHECK-IN - What else we're reading!
Veronica
Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis
Tom
Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton
Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey
*****
Direct file download for this show!
S&L Video REWIND - George R.R. Martin - Bonus interview!
/Download the episode here.
Subscribe to the video encores as a podcast, and in iTunes!
And of course get all the show notes at the original post from last year.
S&L Podcast - #135 - Wrap-up Among Others, Kick-off Ringworld
/Tom blows Veronica's mind, she implies dirty things, I imply them back and we all look forward to Ringworld. It's like going to camp.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Murphy's Irish Stout
Veronica: Hendry Ranch Pinot Gris
QUICK BURNS
Science Fiction and Fantasy Author Richard Matheson Dead At 87
2013 Science Fiction Hall of Fame Inductees
Your First Look at the Epic Fantasy Novel Everybody's Raving About
Neil Gaiman's 'Sandman' prequel launching October 30th, first image and plot details emerge
Online Voting is Open for The 2013 Hugo Award and John W. Campbell Award
Why Big Publishers Think Genre Fiction Like Sci-Fi Is the Future of E-Books
Pop Culture References You Probably Didn’t Know Were Created by Science Fiction Writers
TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES
William Shakespeare's Star Wars: exclusive excerpt
BOOK KICK-OFF
Kick-off Ringworld by Larry Niven
Larry Niven Wikipedia Article
The Guide to Larry Niven's Ringworld
Interactive guide to Ringworld (includes a kind of Google Maps for the Ring)
Don't forget : 'Ringworld' miniseries in the works at Syfy
Alternate Pick - Redshirts by John Scalzi
BOOK WRAP-UP
Wrap-up Among Others by Jo Walton
Anyone else get this through Interlibrary loan? - Erik
Who Died? - Paulo
Magic In the book - Nathan
The books! All those books! - Rob
Novels mentioned in Among Others
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 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.
And by: Squarespace, the all-in-one platform that makes it fast and easy to create a professional website, blog, portfolio, or online store. For a free trial and 10% off your first purchase on new accounts, go to Squarespace.com, and use offer code SWORD7.
S&L Video REWIND - #06 - George R. R. Martin Game of Thrones Special!
/Download the episode here.
Subscribe to the video encores as a podcast, and in iTunes!
And of course get all the show notes at the original post from last year.
July Book Pick: Because you are so awesome
/Wow. That was a more exciting election since Iran's last week. We even got insinuations of voter fraud! We've made it!
So right down to the wire Larry Niven's Ringworld just barely edged out John Scalzi's Redshirts.
Neither is a perfect choice for everyone. We've done Mr. Scalzi's books as a main pick recently and as an alternate book previously so he's had lots of coverage. on the other hand there does not seem to be a legit ebook of Ringwolrd (there are print copies and audio copies) which is a deal killer for some.
So here's what the electoral commission has decided. Ringworld got the most votes. It's our pick for July. But for the first time since before we went to a strict monthly schedule, we will have an OFFICIAL alternate pick. The votes were just too damn close.
So get out there and read whichever one you like. I'll be diving into both and I know Veronica already has read Redshirts.
And remember no book pick is ever going to please everyone in this club. It's not meant to. It's meant to expose you to books you might not pick up otherwise. And if you're grumbling about not having an ebook, remember the people who often grumble that the book is not in the library and they don't have ereaders. We're all in this together.
Now go enjoy some reading!
*In absence of Veronica who is on vacation electroal commission consisted of Tom and his two dogs.
S&L Podcast - #134 - Interview with Gene Wolfe
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Sketch of Gene Wolfe by Murray Ewing
Were you expecting a wrap-up episode for Among Others? Sorry kids, Veronica decided to go on vacation, and all you get is this lousy interview with legendary author Gene Wolfe. Just kidding, the interview is awesome.
We'll be back next week with our wrap-up and kick-off for the July pick! Hope you voted!
Download the direct link for this episode!
S&L Video REWIND - James S.A. Corey - Bonus interview
/Download the episode here.
Subscribe to the video encores as a podcast, and in iTunes!
And of course get all the show notes at the original post from last year.
S&L Podcast - #133 - Interview with Joe Haldeman
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It's part two of three of Veronica and Goodreads moderator Josh Lawrence's adventures from the Nebula Awards! Our intrepid heroes chat with the author of The Forever War, Joe Haldeman. We're posting these interviews in our off weeks from the regular episodes. Please enjoy.
