S&L Podcast - #522 - Punchin' Shrimp and Grits

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Robert Jackson Bennett deserves more kudos. We clarify it's a tapas bar, not a topless bar. And our thoughts on the new book, Floating Hotel, and the wrap-up of Interview with the Vampire.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?

Tom: Shrimp and Grits
Veronica: Orange Gin Sour


QUICK BURNS

Chris K - Via Locus:
2025 British Fantasy Awards Winners

Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award)
WINNER: Masquerade, O.O. Sangoyomi (Forge)
Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan (Orbit)
Fathomfolk, Eliza Chan (Orbit)
A Shadow Over Haven, David Green (Eerie River)
The Green Man’s War, Juliet E. McKenna (Wizard’s Tower)

Other winners (and nominees) at the link.

Chris K - Via Reactor:
2025 World Fantasy Awards Winners

Novel
WINNER: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey/Hodderscape)
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo (Henry Holt & Co./Quercus)
The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister (Counterpoint Press/Titan Books)
The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman (Viking/Del Rey)
The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills (Tachyon Publications)

Other winners (and nominees) at the link.

Seth: The Ignyte Awards have been announced, honoring “the vibrancy and diversity of the current and future landscapes of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.”

Lots of interesting winners and finalists, many familiar from S&L picks.

Outstanding novel, adult:
The Sentence – Gautam Bhatia (Westland IF)

Outstanding novel, young adult:
Heir – Sabaa Tahir

Outstanding middle-grade:
The Last Rhee Witch – Jenna Lee-Yun

There are lots of other categories too, including Outstanding Artist, Tran Nguyen, who did cover art I recognize from Sanderson’s Yumi and the Nightmare Painter and Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim.
Link

Aaron Bell: DCC is getting a “graphic novel expansion” centered around Florin DuPont.
Link

Tamahome: Netflix adapting Philip K. Dick’s The World Jones Made in Spanish. It’s called The Future is Ours and will be an 8-episode limited series.
Link

Mark: Mr. Tchaikovsky is adding a volume to the Children of Time series, March 2026...
Children of Strife
“The far future. After Earth fell, ark ships had hunted for a new home. They sought lost worlds terraformed in Earth’s forgotten past. A ship crewed by maverick humans, spiders and a spectacularly punchy mantis shrimp captain is about to rediscover one such world, and an ark.”
Link

And Fredurix notes — Adrian Tchaikovsky is writing lizardfolk in Warhammer Age of Sigmar.
Link

Scott M: The 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction goes to Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera.
Link

Jason: Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree is out November 11. I love this series.
Link


BARE YOUR SWORD!

Feedback from the audience

This was your reaction to the last episode:

Tamahome: Tapas bar, not topless bar.

John (Taloni): Why not both?

Trike: Because no one wants to see my he-hooters.

Pumpkinstew: Because my patatas are bravas enough, thanks!

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Kick Off
Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis
Amazon link
Bookshop link

WRAP UP

Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice
Amazon link
Bookshop link

Ricardo:
NPR just the other day dropped an episode on reading Interview today, and their takes, I think, run the spectrum of others on here. I for one thoroughly enjoyed my rereading. But now I see it’s because I was also a sad emo goth boy who was probably annoying the hell out of everybody. Also, I thought the zombie vamps were pretty cool.

Scott C:
Really appreciated the opportunity to read this! I have not consumed much vampire content, so this was fun to dive into. It is pretty crazy how the end definitely tees up future books, but then it took YEARS for her to publish more stories.

The one thing I really disliked about the book was Part III and the overall style of it. Such a departure from the rest of the book, and there were not even periodic pauses in “the interview.” I found myself skipping large sections to figure out where the next action took place. I'd have probably Lem’d this one if Part I was same style.

Anyway, overall I was satisfied with how everything tied up and I'll definitely be seeking out the movies and shows based on the book.

Thanks for this pick!
Discord link

SeréTW:
Sigh. Ok, I finished. That was a very, very sad story. So sad that I just had to put it down for a week or two. This took me a pretty long time to get through because it was just one tragedy after another. After a while I was rooting for the sun or fire, or any other means that would bring this misery to an end. And I don't mean just Louis; I wanted ALL those vampires to die. I think I felt this way because all the vampires were different shades of immortal persistent misery, and I don't know, human blood is a hell of a drug. Perhaps that's a bit reflective on my part. In any event, this is probably the wrong time in my life to be able to receive this story well.

That being said, when the reporter demanded to be made a vampire, that made me laugh out loud. What story did he hear that made him say, “sign me up, immediately!” That felt like if teenagers in a Scared Straight program said, “actually, no need to bus me back home, I'd like to stay in maximum security prison. Please, take me directly to the hole, right now.”

I've always wondered about Interview with the Vampire and I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it. I don't think I'm interested in any sequels, at the moment. However, I DO think it could be interesting to see what could happen if Louis got a really good therapist and worked on his relationships. I suppose Therapy with the Vampire is more my speed these days.
Discord link

IwtV: Claudia
Goodreads link


ADDENDUMS

Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show, and if you would like to support the show that way, head to patreon.com/swordandlaser.

You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com.

S&L Podcast - #521 - The Portions Are Too Big!

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We revel in the Lammy Awards, follow the tale of root beer, and discuss our first, or most recent, impressions of Interview with the Vampire.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Westward American Single Malt Whisky
Veronica: Jamón Ibérico??

QUICK BURNS
Any news or announcements

Chris K. & Seth: 2025 Lammy Awards were just announced and some finalists and winners are SFF:

Bisexual fiction winner: How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster // Muriel Leung

Gay fiction finalist: Napalm in the Heart // Pol Guash

Transgender fiction finalists:
All Things Seen and Unseen: A Novel // RJ McDaniel
Yellow Barks Spider // Harman Burns
Trans Femme Futures: Abolitionist Ethics for Transfeminist Worlds // Nat Raha and Mijke van der Drift

And there's a whole category for LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction:
Finalists:
Bury Your Gays // Chuck Tingle
Markless // C.G. Malburi
The Sunforge // Sascha Stronach
The Palace of Eros // Caro De Robertis

Winner:
Metal From Heaven // August Clarke
Lambda Literary 2025 Lammy Awards

Seth: Baker & Taylor Prepares Plan to Shut Down. Baker and Taylor is the book jobber many US libraries use to get books and many of those libraries are now scrambling to get with another company (there are really only 1–2 viable alternatives) for physical books. They've also been in the library ebook game, so some libraries are facing their entire electronic collection going dark.
Publishers Weekly

Tamahome: Trailer out for The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, an upcoming sci-fi action RPG developed by Owlcat Games. Players will be taken on an original story as a member of Pinkwater Security mercenary at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Watch on YouTube

BARE YOUR SWORD
Feedback from the audience

Jan:
My bare your scone:

I don't get root beer. Do some international shields feel the same? I mean, root beer tastes exactly like the mouthwash you get at the dentist (at least in Germany), so I have a problem associating that taste with something edible or fun...

And on a separate note to native speakers: what's the difference between a cake and a pie? I thought I understood the difference, but then there came cheesecake...

Phil attempts to answer:
A cake is like a big muffin and usually taller than a pie and can be any shape and sometimes has frosting. A pie has a crust and, if it's dessert, usually has a fruit or other sweet filling. A cheesecake usually has a crust on the bottom and the filling can be anywhere from fairly firm to mousse-like, depending on the type. There's also ice-cream cake.

Seth adds on:
After you mercantilist imperials over in England attempted to suck as much money out of the New World as possible, us poor colonists had to resort to getting creative when it came to brewing and borrowed (stole) some native traditions like brewing bark and roots from sassafras, sarsaparilla, and birch trees and drinking it. Sugar and carbonation were added later. The medicinal (but wonderful) taste is sort of a feature since it was often marketed as healthful.

John (Taloni) weighs in:
It's hard to describe if you've never had it. I guess... start with Ginger Ale. Then subtract most of the sweet. Add a sharp taste like tea brewed from bark or a tangy root. It goes well with ice since the slow melt cuts the sharp taste. I'm sure you could find some in the UK if you looked long enough.

Jan does his own research:
A short search seems to suggest that modern root beers use as one flavoring the same stuff that is used in Listerine and medications. And as root beer is not very common outside the US, people there associate the taste with those things, while people in the US know that flavor since childhood from root beer and don't associate the flavor per se with toothpaste, etc.

On the other hand, the tendency to use artificial cherry flavor to cover the taste in medicine in the US means Americans associate that flavor now more with medicine and dislike all the artificially cherry-flavored candy that is common elsewhere.

Stephen adds:
I am so glad A&W is available in Bangkok, Thailand. Root Beer Floats hanging by the condo pool on those incredibly hotter-than-hot summer days... heaven. My local A&W kiosk at my local mall did not survive the COVID shutdown years.

Tassie Dave:
The worst US soda I have tried was Dr. Pepper. I describe the flavor as what I imagine floor polish tastes like. 😜

Paul:
Just FYI, Nalo Hopkinson is Canadian. Just one of many excellent Canadian SFF writers, such as:
Premee Mohamed
Xiran Jay Zhao
Guy Gavriel Kay
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
William Gibson (moved here in the 60s)
Amal El-Mohtar
Fonda Lee

And many more, of course. And I know nobody asked for this list, but one of the most Canadian things a person can do is interrupt a conversation to point out that someone is Canadian. So when you were debating whether Nalo Hopkinson was Canadian or if it was like the British Fantasy Awards, my Canadar was going crazy and I wanted to yell into my podcast feed, “YES SHE'S CANADIAN!”

Stephen:
Personally, I loved The Hexologists. It has so many nice touches. The crumpet? Warren is an amateur baker. If you know one as such, you know they will gift you cookies, brownies, and all sorts of baked goods because that is what they do. Also, I used the dictionary function of my Kindle version of the tale multiple times. Always nice to expand one's VOCABULARY.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice
Amazon Link
Bookshop Link

crochetchrisie📚:
Well, 95 pages at the break that's not really a break, and I think my teenage self was enamored with poor tortured Louis.

Adult me thinks omg get over it, Louis. Put on your big boy vampire pants and suck it up.

But no, the man who became a vampire after being so depressed that he wanted to die did not magically become happy.

“He couldn't bear it.”

Dude, choose better, Lestat.

And I get it, the book was the author working through her grief and I can appreciate that.

But I just want to slap Louis almost every single page. And I would love to actually remember how my teenage self felt about him.
Discord Discussion

Iain Bertram:
Reading this for the first time since the eighties, I am struck at the volume of killings that occur in this book. Each vampire is killing at least one person per night and often more. This leads to about 500 per vampire per year which, in 100 years, is a huge number. (3 vampires leads to about 150k deaths).

This is just monstrous.

I couldn’t work out how no one noticed the killing until I looked up mortality rates in New Orleans. In some years, nearly half the people who moved there died from Yellow Fever. Plagues with thousands of deaths. I still think 1500 corpses with teeth marks on the neck should have been a bit of a giveaway.

If I am being generous, the book might be an illustration of the banality of evil as Lestat, Louis, and Claudia are three of the most mediocre characters to be protagonists in a book. Dull, boring people with no redeeming features. The rich supping on the poor for their prosperity. Given the flowery language, it is a stretch though.
Discord Discussion

ADDENDUMS

Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show, and if you would like to support the show that way, head to patreon.com/swordandlaser.

You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com.

feedback@swordandlaser.com
swordandlaser.com
We are on Instagram, X, and Mastodon @swordandlaser
goodreads.com

S&L Podcast - #520 - Alternate Batman

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Tom reports from the Matt Dinniman book event in LA, we kick off our Interview with the Vampire read, and share our last spoilery thoughts on The Hexologists and why we think the writing doorway is the strongest one for this book.

Download directly here!


WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?

Tom: Chicken McNuggets
Veronica: Apple cake


QUICK BURNS — add time stamp!

Any news or announcements

Tamahome: A full-scale National Novel Writing Month 2025 event will be hosted this November on FicFan. Please welcome NewNoWriMo 2025!

trpw: Jill Bearup, author of the meta-fantasy Just Stab Me Now (based on her YouTube shorts), has started a new series of shorts based on a Sci-Fi heroine. Watch here.

Jan: From Locus Mag: 2025 Sunburst Award
Nalo Hopkinson has won this year’s Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic for her novel Blackheart Man.

From Goodreads:
Veycosi, a scholar of folklore, is put in charge of the situation when conquerors appear on the magical island of Cynchin to force a trade agreement, but quickly finds himself in way over his head.

Bad turns to worse when malign forces start stirring. Pickens (children) are disappearing, and an ancient invading army, long frozen into piche (tar) statues by island witches, is stirring to life—led by the fearsome demon known as the Blackheart Man.

Read more at Locus Mag.

Trike: Crowdfunding for the graphic novel expansion of Dungeon Crawler Carl begins October 1st on Backerkit.

Written by Matt Dinniman and Michael Moreci (for V: pronounced like “Morrissey”), it’s canon.

The Dungeon Crawler Carl Universe is expanding!

Direct from the spectacular minds of series creator Matt Dinniman, writer Michael Moreci, and artist Brett Bean comes an explosive, brand-new, and 100% canon expansion to the DCC universe!

Featuring a fistful of your favorite characters (and some brand-new friends, enemies, and exceptionally concerning weapons), you’ll see the opening of the World Dungeon like you’ve never seen it before—from a new character’s perspective.

Support on Backerkit.

From the Monday conversation with Felicia and Matt Dinniman:

  • His Excel sheet is 208 pages long and has a second sheet to keep track of what’s in that one

  • Book 8: two floors. Book 9: one floor. The rest in Book 10

  • Book 8 is Mario Kart-ish

  • Book 9 is violent Stardew Valley with gods

  • Matt used to write Transformers and GI Joe fan fiction as a kid

  • He has a map of the Iron Tangle he made in the HTC Vive

I have a signed copy of Book 7 to give away that comes with a DCC bookmark and Princess Donut temporary tattoo. They encouraged us to do very short inscriptions, so I chose:
“New Achievement for Sword and Laser.”


BARE YOUR SWORD

Feedback from the audience

Ruth: On the question of books featuring married couples with healthy sex lives, I thought of the central couple from previous S&L pick The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal, who regularly have “rocket launches.” 🚀

Tamahome:
I hope they didn’t have too many “Apollo 13” mishaps.

Trike:
“We got a wicked shimmy!”


BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Kick Off
Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice — Amazon link | Bookshop link

Wrap Up!
Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft — Amazon link | Bookshop link

trpw:
In the novel, there is a “Crumpet” paragraph, where we are told that our lead male character presents his mother-in-law with a single crumpet, wrapped up with a nice bow.

  • Crumpets have a flat top with many small cylindrical holes and a spongy texture.

  • They are made from a batter (not a dough) and cooked on a griddle like a thick pancake.

  • They are not eaten right after cooking but are generally toasted to crisp and/or brown the flat surfaces.

  • While still hot, their top surfaces are generally spread with butter, which melts into the holes.

  • They should be eaten while still warm.

Learn more about crumpets.

The presented crumpet can’t be a toasted or buttered crumpet (too messy and not likely still warm). Also, my local cheap supermarket sells crumpets in packs of 4 for about 20 pence each (about a dollar for the pack of 4).

If you want an approximate US equivalent, it is like presenting someone with an unadorned, unfilled bagel, wrapped up with a nice bow. Not a particularly good gift for a mother-in-law.

This might have taken you a while to read; it is about as long as the “Crumpet” paragraph took me out of the story. Discussion link.

On “Alternate Batman”
So this drove me crazy. Apologies for the tl;dr.

A batman is a personal military servant to a military officer. Usually, they are a Private or Non-Commissioned Officer serving a senior officer, usually at or above the rank of Captain. The military here would usually be Army.

  • Lance-Corporal is the most junior Non-Commissioned Officer rank in the British Army (not sure of other armies). It is one step above a Private.

  • You do not pass successfully out of a Military Academy with a Non-Commissioned Officer’s Rank, especially one only one step above Private. The whole point of Military Academies is to produce Commissioned Officers, NOT Non-Commissioned ones.

  • A Batman’s job is very menial—preparing food, baths, and cleaning (lots of cleaning). It is a demeaning job, not meant for an Aristocrat.

I think the word(s) the author was looking for were either Equerry or Aide-de-Camp (ADC). That role is more like a personal assistant to a high-ranking (or royal) officer. It is not menial, works as a companion to a Prince or King, is done by a Commissioned Officer, and is more suitable for someone of Aristocratic (possibly minor royal) rank.
Discussion link.

Ricardo:
Just wanted to post some quotes that I found delightful.

“Isolde went on to explain, in explicit detail, that the marital act stimulated the mind and carried in its ecstasies epiphanies that cannot be summoned in the library or the laboratory. Sex helped her think. Their intimacies had a very different effect on Warren. He found their pairing to be akin to an emotional exorcism, as all the tangled and unsettled feelings, anxieties, and dread that had gathered in him during the course of the day were all at once blown to the ether, as undiluted serenity rushed in to fill the void..”

A very insightful (and mature) take on how a couple views sex.

“You remind me why echoes make the best houseguests: they only answer, never ask.”

“Fortunes are mostly made thanks to a surfeit of luck and a paucity of morals. Tenacity, talent, and principles are all common enough; it’s avarice that’s scarce.””

And I’m a sucker for mortals talking to eternal beings on the meaning of life:

“Is it satisfying, knowing all the secrets of the world? Is it enough? Are you content, or does the ever-swelling bubble of reality make fulfillment impossible? ... Do we need mysteries to survive?”
Discussion link.

Bill:
I raced to finish the last half, so I obviously enjoyed it. Oddly enough, I’m fixated on what I didn’t like.

  • The pacing feels off. The last 10% races through tying everything up.

  • Bancroft’s use of language is notable—lots of “dollar words.” (I kind of like this 🤭)

  • I love Iz being hyper-focused, blunt, unpleasant, but also loving with War. Their relationship is a highlight.

  • The magic system is different enough to be interesting.

  • And the sequel comes out next week!
    Discussion link.

Seth:
I started pretty late this month, but finally wound things up. It was perfectly pleasant to read, but not much more.

  • Setting: Fine, but very British. Maybe it should just have been British? A secondary world is fine, but I wondered if real-world historical weirdness would have been more effective.

  • Characters: Both main characters were great, if not terribly deep. Quippy and quick-witted, but very modern in their outlook.

  • Plot: With so few characters, by the end you know everyone must be involved—there’s basically a plot twist for each of them.
    Goodreads discussion.

ADDENDUMS

Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show—and if you would like to support the show, head to Patreon.

You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find links to the books we talk about and some of our favorites at swordandlaser.com.