S&L Podcast - #528 - Dazed and Crowfused

It's time for our March book tournament! Nominations are open. Also, Veronica and Tom have shocking revelations about books they have NOT read. Also, why is Tom having a hard time with this month's pick?

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WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?

Tom: Korean Fried Chicken

Veronica: Hot chocolate, obviously

SWITCHING TO MONTHLY BILLING. Details to come

QUICK BURNS

Our entirely mad March tournament has begun to take nominations! Information Thread Nomination Thread

Each year we take nominations from our members for the Sci-Fi and Fantasy books they think the group should read and narrow it down to 16. We create two brackets, one for each genre. That means there are 8 Sword picks, and 8 Laser picks.

The 16 books are selected by our benevolent leaders based on your suggestions in the nomination thread and a super secret criteria of their own making for seeding etc.

Once the brackets are set we have 4 rounds of voting. Rounds 1-3 will take us from 8 Sword books and 8 Laser books down to 1 of each that will go head-to-head to be our pick for April.

This single-elimination style tournament is inspired by some sporting event that takes place every year during the month of March. Does your nomination have what it takes to win 4 straight head-to-head matchups and become our April book pick? Let the madness begin!

Schedule & Details Here is the schedule for this year's tournament:

Nominations: February 5th - February 19th 7pm ET Round of 16: February 22nd - 28th 11:59 PM ET Round of 8: March 1st - 7th 11:59 PM ET Round of 4: March 8th - 14th 11:59 PM ET Final Round: March 15th - 21st 11:59 PM ET

jasonb - My local library now has its own version of March Madness!!!

Tamahome: Vote for the best books at Locus. I didn't realize it was an open poll. It's nice the winners are a long list: 2025 Recommended Reading

Tamahome: Eragon, Disney+’s live-action adaptation of Christopher Paolini‘s popular YA book series The Inheritance Cycle, has taken a major step in the development process, firming up its creative team and opening a writers' room. High Potential showrunner Todd Harthan has been tapped to co-create the series with Paolini, with Harthan and Todd Helbing (Superman & Lois) set as co-showrunners. Also boarding the project is Marc Webb (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), who has signed on as an executive producer. A writers' room for Eragon opened late last year and is currently ongoing. Source

Trike: Saw this pop up on Kickstarter — a new tabletop game is being created based on Naomi Novik’s Temeraire novel series, which is her “Napoleonic Wars with dragons” world. Way back in 2013 (holy cannoli!) Sword & Laser read the first book, His Majesty's Dragon.

Trike: Project Hail Mary final trailer, theaters, March 20.

BARE YOUR SWORD Feedback from the audience

Trike (new) Veronica canonized? Don’t shoot her out of a cannon! That’s mean!

Tamahome (new) Veronica should be Canadianized.

John (agni4lisva) I thought she already was :-D

Jan: The Sword & Laser genres are quite... flexible I feel. I mean if you want, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is fantasy—just like Grimm's fairy tales can be considered fantasy. Regarding science fiction, it's maybe a little more difficult because it can be quite difficult to define what science fiction is; it doesn't have to be about the future, it doesn't have to be about technology. The James Bond gadgets—at least in the movies—are basically sci-fi but aren't usually categorized as such. But alternate history is often considered science fiction and that is opening the possibility that anything that doesn't exactly replicate reality is science fiction 😉

Hi Tom, When Sword and Laser did Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in November 2024, I thought that I would do a video on the book and radio series to coincide with it. So much for planning. It has taken me far too long to get this finished, but it is now. Here's a link if you are interested — Tim Watson / TRPW (on Discord)

And the winner of the book was Jody! Hello, this may not be relevant, but I heard it on today’s Morning Stream from Wendy (knowbetteru.com), as people had hard times getting through this month’s book, Wendy says “don’t feel guilty with what you do with your time.” Don’t feel guilty if you choose to stop the book and do something else.

Also from Wendy — Gandalf: "I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

Paraphrase: All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

(Wendy) “You have the power and control over your life”; read books, be kind, paint a picture with your non-dominant hand, drift off, daydream, and do not feel guilty about what is not getting done. Just enjoy the time we have. Yes, this is coming from my privileged space, but don’t let the algorithm get you down; fight past it and help others, or help yourself until you feel ready to tackle the next adventure on your list. My next adventure is cleaning the bathroom while listening to The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin, the assigned book for February at Cleveland Library’s Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Club.

Take care and stay warm!! Sending this Friday, January 30th. 14°F/-10°C/263K expected -4°F/-20°C/253K.

BTW next week is preseason Aramco testing in Bahrain, a nibble to get me through to March 6th.

ALSO your team is amazing, Tom & Veronica of course!! But all of you who put this podcast on for us month after month and do other podcasts to fill our ears, thank you very, very much!

Jody

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Someplace to Be Flying by Charles de Lint Bookshop Link

Tassie Dave: This is our 200th Official Book Pick. More to come in another post. It is listed as Book 5 of the series, but a Google search tells me that they exist in the same universe and this is a standalone story. Sounds interesting. Our first Dutch-born author. He is a Canadian now. Goodreads Thread

Liquorice: No, there aren't long scenes with our main characters baking scones or making coff... wait, they do make coffee and sit around and drink it and just talk. I don't think there was a word for it back when this book was written but I like that it just sort of ambles along—okay, I dare say it—cozily. There is no huge plot reveal early on that sets up tension and activity and rallies the troops around it. We know something is blowing in on the wind; there are enough plot hints dropped to tell us that. Is anybody else getting prehistorical cozy vibes? Discord Conversation

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. 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.

Email Us Official Website We are on Instagram, X, and Mastodon @swordandlaser Goodreads Group

S&L Podcast - #527 - I'm Starting to Worry This Book Isn't Sci-Fi

Andrew Heaton from the Political Orphanage stops by to talk about "I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom" by Jason Pargin. Also, Veronica drinks in reverse. You'll understand if you listen.

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WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?

• Tom: Mushroom Gnocchi

• Veronica: Hamburger Night!

QUICK BURNS

Mike and the Centaur: Cover art for the hardcover edition of A Parade of Horribles is out! The eBook will release on 5/12/26, followed by the Audible audiobook on 5/26/26. Ace’s hardcover edition and a limited run of trade paperbacks from Grim Oak Press will both be published on 6/2/26. Full release dates here.

Roberator: You can now watch the Indie Author documentary free on YouTube. It features past S&L authors Michael J. Sullivan, Travis Baldree, Andy Weir, M.L. Wang, and many others.

Tom: Apple has signed a deal with popular fantasy author Brandon Sanderson for film and TV rights to Sanderson's "Cosmere" universe, according to The Hollywood Reporter. While he has a large body of work, reports suggest Mistborn could be turned into a movie series, while The Stormlight Archive is also in consideration.

Seth: Library awards came out for all sorts of books this week. Here are the genre-fiction selections for the The Reference and User Services Association 2026 Reading List.

Fantasy Winner: The Knight and the Moth: The Stonewater Kingdom: Book One by Rachel Gillig (Orbit).

• Read-alikes: The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow, Godkiller by Hannah Kaner, The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri.

• Short List: Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill, The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson, Red City by Marie Lu, and The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar.

Science Fiction Winner: Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom).

• Read-alikes: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, The Year Without Sunshine by Naomi Kritzer, and You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo.

• Short List: The Heist of Hollow London by Eddie Robson, Hole in the Sky by Daniel H. Wilson, When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory, and Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler.

BARE YOUR SWORD

The Goodreads thread is some excellent meditation on the definition of generations. Tamahome ended the thread nicely with: "I like a rock song with some boomer bends."

On DRM and E-books:

• Anonymous: "At the risk of admitting to something illegal, I buy epubs from ebooks.com, strip the DRM with Calibre, and email them to my Kindle."

• Anonymous: "Yeah I do the same, or did the same with Kindle purchases so I could keep a DRM-free backup... until they nipped the manual download feature in the bud. Haven't felt the need to purchase a Kindle book since then. And AFAIK for US people, the DMCA allows stripping DRM for backup purposes."

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Kick Off: Someplace to Be Flying by Charles de Lint (Bookshop link)

Wrap Up: I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin (Bookshop link)

From Discord:

• Tassie Dave: "At 20% in there is no indication that this book will ever become Sci-Fi or even Fantasy. I know we had the same worry with Reamde. I will hold out for something SFF-ish to happen later."

• John Nevets: "I've realized that while I don't think any one character is supposed to 'be the author', the whole story is supposed to convey the points he is trying to make. If one character is closer to that consciousness, it is Ether instead."

• John Taloni: (Full Spoilers) "I found it hilarious that there was no threat in the box and all the lurid ideas turned out to be completely false. It turns out the dull FBI agent was right all along. There was nothing there."

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 - #526 - Halfway Happy

LACon V(eronica) registration is open, the Philip K. Dick Award nominees are out, and we discuss why we're "halfway happy." Plus, we kick off I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom and wrap up The Book That Wouldn't Burn.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?

• Tom: Singapore Noodles

• Veronica: Olé!

QUICK BURNS

Clyde: There is a John Scalzi in the asteroid belt! He is rightfully chuffed. Link

Tamahome: The title for the sequel to The Strength of the Few was just announced. Hierarchy, Book 3: The Justice of One by James Islington. Link

Mark: More Sci-Fi TV from James S.A. Corey and friends. Prime Video is adapting The Captive's War series. Link

Mark: Registration for LACon V, where the next WorldCon is being held, ends January 31. If you want to nominate and vote for the Hugo Awards, a WSFS Membership is $50 and includes the Voting Packet with many nominated works. Link

Chris K (via Locus): The 2026 Philip K. Dick Award nominees have been announced:

• Sunward, William Alexander (Saga)

• Outlaw Planet, M.R. Carey (Orbit UK; Orbit US)

• Casual, Koji A. Dae (Tenebrous)

• The Immeasurable Heaven, Caspar Geon (Solaris UK)

• Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, Thomas Ha (Undertow)

• Scales, Christopher Hinz (Angry Robot UK)

• City of All Seasons, Oliver K. Langmead & Aliya Whiteley (Titan) Link

Tamahome: Books entering the public domain on Jan 1st, 2026 include Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon, Gladiator by Philip Wylie, and the first Tintin graphic novel. Link

JasonB: Cory Doctorow shared a list of 20 public domain books that have been beautifully reformatted by volunteers at Standard Ebooks. Link

trpw: The Guild is being adapted into a musical for MTFestUK 2026, with Felicia Day reprising her role as Cyd/Codex. Link

BARE YOUR SWORD

Stephen expressed skepticism that well-planned plots with twists could be written by "pantsers." Scott replied that Nnedi Okorafor is a pantser who executed the complex structure of Death of the Author largely as it emerged, rather than through heavy revision. Stephen King is another famous pantser with a prolific output.

Paul let Veronica know that Canada has several 4D theaters, including one in Burnaby. He also noted that Amazon Kindle AI likely restricts copying output to prevent academic dishonesty, a major concern in university settings.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Kick Off

I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin. (Bookshop Link)

• Iain & Judge Ruth: Both noted the book briefing has them curious, though the premise sounds somewhat similar to Pargin's previous work, Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits.

• Tassie Dave: Prepared to give the author a second chance despite mixed feelings on past reads.

• John Nevets: Excited to jump in after enjoying Tom’s previous recommendations.

Wrap Up (Spoilers!)

The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence. (Bookshop Link)

John Taloni enjoyed the connection to Teela (Livira's aunt) and the "three nickels" riff on the Phineas and Ferb meme.

ScottM praised the dual-perspective approach:

"The novel tackles some of the hardest questions we ever pose to the universe. Who do I hate and why? Who is my enemy? What does it mean to love? And at no point does it offer platitudes or easy answers."

ADDENDUMS

Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show! If you would like to support us, 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 - #525 - The Beans That Wouldn't Burn

It’s all about the beans on this Sword and Laser. Chili, chowder, and more. We also find time to talk about books, specifically Mark Lawrence’s book that wouldn’t burn. But we don’t want to burn the beans either.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?

• Tom: Mushroom Chicken

• Veronica: German cookies

QUICK BURNS

Tamahome: Lord of the Rings is returning in 4D (shaky chairs). The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and Return of the King will hit the big screen on Jan. 16-18 and Jan. 23-25, 2026. Extended editions will only be available during the first weekend.

hapahappiness: Book Riot just posted their 2026 Read Harder Challenge. I've participated in these challenges for a few years now and am pretty excited to see a square I'll get to check off immediately (aside from the "free square"). 😊

Tamahome: My Kindle iPhone/iPad app just got this "Ask this book" AI feature that lets you ask questions about the book you're reading (with or without spoilers). Authors will love it. (I don't know if it's actually trained on every ebook?). Please make a subthread!

Ziggy: TL;DR: The Denver Nuggets NBA team is hosting a Fourth Wing night on April 8th. Each ticket comes with a special Fourth Wing Nuggets jersey and custom Nuggets x Fourth Wing vellums. The VIP package includes a Wing & Claw book + a custom bookplate signed by @rebeccayarros, a live pre-game Q&A, and a live pre-game podcast with us—Fantasy Fangirls! A portion of each ticket package sold will be given to One October (@oneoctoberorg), which is a cause close to Rebecca's heart.

Mark: I'm not sure what the long-term impact this new Amazon policy may have. It seems like a good thing, but according to other articles, Amazon has also been strengthening DRM in Kindle devices.

Phil: John Varley passed away on Dec. 10th. I've enjoyed several of his books. The Ophiuchi Hotline, Red Thunder, The Barbie Murders, and Titan are all good reads in different ways. Titan is the first of a trilogy. The series is definitely SF but has a fantasy-type setting for part of it. Think Dream Park type of thing. It's been 40 years since I've read it, so don't hold me to details!

BARE YOUR SWORD

John: I am definitely part of the "beans in chili" brigade—usually both haricot and kidney beans. Nom nom. :-)

Stephen: In my wild club days when I was a young university lad, Tom's #1 World Famous Chili Burgers was my late-night meal. I prefer the no-bean chili but I'm not adamant about it.

Paul: I learned something about chili today. I always assumed that chili had beans in it by definition, and without beans, it's basically just a meat sauce. Where is this crazy alternate reality where beans in chili is sacrilege?? I guess I should thank S&L for expanding my horizons yet again. Usually, it's through the cool mind-expanding books, but every now and then, it's the food talk! Actually, come to think of it, finding out that there is root beer-flavored medicine in Europe was another recent mind-expanding moment. Thanks for breaking me out of my cloistered life of only chili with beans and only grape-flavored children's medicine!

SeréTW: I find it really interesting when needlecraft gets mentioned in books, particularly sci-fi. Does anyone have any favorite examples of needlework/art mentioned in sci-fi or fantasy?

crochetchrisie: Sort of SFF, but the Outlander series (especially the first season) has some awesome pieces... I still remember in the first book them using pee. So there's that.

SeréTW: There's a sci-fi book by Scott Meyer called Grand Theft Astro where the main character uses her sweater made from nanofiber as a tool. It's a very creative use of how "under the radar" skills and crafts can be subversive when used in untraditional ways.

tilltab (Judge Ruth): I haven’t read them yet, but these were two books mentioned in the Cut From Whole Cloth panel at the Glasgow Worldcon that I noted down: Torn by Rowena Miller and The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence (Bookshop.org link)

Stephen: Mark Lawrence also has a blog where he explains the ins and outs of publishing economics. He started the Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) that just finished its 10th year. Highly successful! All three books in the Library Trilogy are out. Book 2, The Book That Broke the World, took the series to another level. In fact, in April, Mark will have the first in a new series come out, Daughter of Crows.

John Taloni: Seems like this author knows science fiction history pretty well. The title reminded me of Fahrenheit 451, and the library echoes Bradbury's love for them. Overall, the book is giving me a Piranesi feel for the library itself. Also, Teela is an unusual enough name to make me think of Teela Brown from Ringworld. See the full discussion on Discord.

John Taloni: Also, I don't know where the magic school trope "Outsider better than children of stratified classes, deemed failure but picked by iconoclastic powerful professor" came from. But if I had a nickel for every time I saw it in an S&L book, well, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

Tamahome: I don't really understand the point of the quotes that begin each chapter. I hear some of them are from the author's previous books. (John has lots of theories, but I don't want to give them away just yet...)

ADDENDUMS

Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show! If you would like to support the show, 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 - #524 - 4 Stars: Clean, Not Cozy!

The Floating Hotel was a great deal, and we really enjoyed it when we checked in. During our stay we met some really interesting folks, and the staff was fabulous. There was some murder, but in the end we were more concerned with the identity of the Lamplighter. And the cocktails were quite delicious. We enjoyed the continental breakfast, because it included so many continents.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: White Chili
Veronica: Bailey's on the Rocks

QUICK BURNS
Any news or announcements

Apple Makes ‘Pluribus’ Character’s ‘Bloodsong of Wycaro’ Book Available for Download
Deadline

Tamahome:
The Strength of the Few will become the moviegoers of the few, or the many. (James Islington's best-selling fantasy book series, Hierarchy, has landed at Sony for a feature film adaptation.)
ScreenRant

Dwango:
It's all about the bling bling and Romantasy... Romantic Fantasy leads SFF to its best-ever year. In 2024, NielsenIQ BookData’s Science Fiction & Fantasy (SFF) category secured its biggest year since records began when total sales came in at just under £84m – a massive 41% jump compared with its previous best of just a year earlier, when 2023 bagged £59.4m.
The Bookseller

BARE YOUR SWORD
Feedback from the audience

Ruth:
I’m glad to hear that Tom and I will be able to hang out and discuss our shared love for Casablanca, just before Veronica and I have our fight to the death.

John (Taloni): Touching moment
"We'll always have Worldcon."
Both lift swords
KLANG!!

Tamahome:
Will the fight be streamed?

John:
Thanks for reading out my comment about Robert Jackson Bennett.

My bad for spelling it RJK rather than RJB. I am tripping over my fingers again. :-(

I agree with the sentiment that you expressed – it would be very well deserved if he was more well known.

I am doing my bit – I am planning to recommend The Tainted Cup to the lovely ladies at my local book club – they have a penchant for murder mysteries and first and foremost that is what it is. Slowly but surely, one book at a time, I am converting them to SFF :-D

"I read this book briefing after I finished The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence, mostly because I'd already started reading it before the briefing was available. But I fully enjoyed not knowing a thing about the book or the author before I started. It was a great discovery experience. Since I finished technically before the month started, I'm going to do a little rereading to detect foreshadowing/clues to outcomes. I've already purchased the sequel.

Seré

Name: Drake Tungsten
Subject: Huh?
Message: Just finished reading Floating Hotel. I don't get it. The overall story of the book never came into focus for me.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

KickOff
The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence
Amazon
Bookshop

Final Spoilery Thoughts
Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis
Amazon
Bookshop

Robyn R:
I really liked the first half when it was cozy slice-of-life in space. The second half dropped the book to just an okay 3 star. The rather abrupt change from a Vibes novel to a Plot novel halfway through felt like the author changed their mind in the middle of writing, leaving the book with the feeling of a project scrambled together one minute before the deadline.

Jan:
So what are we nomming in the cocktail bar of a floating hotel "smelling tartly of lime and gin" where servers carry "salt-crusted glasses" and guests get served "oysters, garnished in butter and parsley, with a side of buttered bread" and get to enjoy "chocolate richer than molten gold and almost as hot" with a "bite of cinnamon, a twist of orange"?

Ruth:
I have just finished reading this book and thought I would share a few thoughts here before the end of the month and the wrap-up.

This was a charming book in many ways, with its varied cast of characters and nicely drawn setting. I enjoyed seeing how the different tales of the guests and staff of the Abeona were woven together, with characters disappearing from one story only to pop up again later (view spoiler).

The writing felt deft, with touches of humour (especially with Ooly Mall and his gross eating habits) as well as moments of genuine peril — Mrs. Appleseed was scary! — and pathos.

The way the book was structured did make it feel weirdly slow, and it took me much longer to read than I expected, as it isn't a long book. Skipping from one character and one story to another meant that it didn't really build up much momentum, and the actual ending did feel rushed to me, with the reveal of the Lamplighter's identity leaving me feeling a bit... meh? Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but it definitely felt like I enjoyed each section individually and then found the book as a whole less than the sum of its parts.

The other thing that was slightly "off" about this book was that the space setting felt not just un-science-y (which I don't mind — I'm not a stickler for hard SF rules) but un-space-y. There wasn't much sense of scale and the vastness of the galaxy. In fact, I often found I was slipping into imagining the Abeona as, not so much a modern cruise ship, as some kind of giant luxury steampunk airship traveling around a world that was vaguely reminiscent of the 1930s or 1940s. Then there'd be a reference to stars and the possibility of aliens and I'd be jolted back into the "reality" that this was supposed to be a spaceship.

I guess the Casablanca influence came through in the end with the resistance and the general retro vibes. And all the drinking while someone plays piano.

This wasn't a perfect book by any means, but it was one that charmed me, and I will look out for more by this author.
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 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 - #523 - Ship Happens

swordandlaser · #523 - Ship Happens

Should the Floating Hotel be called a “space cruise ship”? Why Veronica can't make change. Tom tries not to insult Stephen's intelligence. And hoorah for N. K. Jemisin!

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?

Tom: Garlic butter shrimp mashed potatoes
Veronica: Protein Latte from Timmy's

QUICK BURNS

Any news or announcements

Paul:
The Goodreads Choice Awards are up, as anyone currently on Goodreads probably already knows. I was going to share the links but that seems pointless.
There's only 1 S&L pick up for an award this year: The Devils by Joe Abercrombie. I guess that means the lists have a lot of potential future S&L picks. I personally haven't read any of the Sci-Fi books, which is a first for me in many years.

I noticed some prominent themes though: The Fantasy section has at least 5 books with an academic setting (the Harry Potter generation is all grown up now, after all) and the sci-fi section has at least 5 books to do with manipulating memories, and if we want to speak more generally about not having control over our minds, then there's even more (maybe because the zeitgeist these days is “Am I losing my mind?”)

Here's the school books:
• Katabasis
• Alchemy of Secrets
• The Incandescent
• The Raven Scholar
• King Sorrow

Memory books:
• Dissolution
• These Memories Do Not Belong to Us
• The Memory Collectors
• The Merge
• The Book of Lost Hours

Additional titles alluding to memory themes:
• The Once and Future Me
• I Think We've Been Here Before
• The Dream Hotel

Goodreads Choice Awards

Seth:
The Science Fiction Writers Association names N. K. Jemisin as their 2025 Grand Master.

Mark notes:
We read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms as a regular pick and The Fifth Season as an alt pick. The last seven Grand Masters are all women. William Gibson was the last man to receive the award.

N. K. Jemisin — SFWA Grand Master

Mark:
China Miéville has a new book, The Rouse, coming September 2026. Haven't we read it?

Picador unveils China Miéville’s new novel

Matt Dinniman:
New book Operation Bounce House coming February 10, 2026 — and it's not about Carl and Donut!

A man must fight for his planet against impossible odds when gamers from Earth attempt to remotely annihilate it...

Operation Bounce House

Mark:
Fonda Lee discusses her forthcoming novel The Last Contract of Isako, available for pre-order and coming May 5, 2026.

A battle-worn corporate samurai undertakes one last mission on a merciless planet where death is always a mere breath away, in this standalone dystopian epic from the author of Jade City.

TO SERVE IS TO LIVE. TO LIVE IS TO DIE.
I'm all in on this one.

Fonda Lee — Instagram Reel

BARE YOUR SWORD

Feedback from the audience

Tamahome:
The Tainted Cup has the most Goodreads ratings of Robert Jackson Bennett’s books.

Jen:
I just got back from a mini vacation where I started reading The Tainted Cup and I am loving it too. The world is so wonderfully weird and I am loving the dynamic between the two main characters.

John:
RJB is one of my favourite authors — I was introduced to him when this group read City of Stairs and for that I owe you a big thank you.
It is worth noting that The Tainted Cup won the Hugo for Best Novel in 2025 — that is a big ol' dollop of kudos from the community. :-)

Papa MRF:
I am probably in the small minority who squealed when Veronica shouted out Jonathan Coulton, the musician who sings “Tom Cruise Crazy,” but is probably better known for co-hosting the long-running NPR podcast Ask Me Another, where he composed quiz-show questions mostly in the format of musical parodies.

As for his songs, his top 2 most popular are “Re: Brains” and “Code Monkey.”

Tamahome:
Coulton also created the song for Portal in the voice of GLaDOS, “Still Alive.”

Jesse:
Hi,
Wondering if the RSS feed is no longer utilized. I was able to download episode 522 directly but do not see it in my refreshed feed.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis
Amazon link
Bookshop link

Ruth:
I was interested by Tom's description of the influences on TFH. I am a huge fan of Casablanca, but I'm not really feeling the influence on TFH. I am noticing the influence of Girl, Woman, Other though.
(Explanation of the novel and similarities preserved exactly as written.)

Stephen:
I am 70% in and I get the Casablanca vibe. What I do not get is the concept. Are not Floating Hotels really just Cruise Ships? And that aspect is completely ignored. Maybe the last 30% will save it for me.

SeréTW:
I fully intended to check in mid-read, but this was such a cozy read that before I knew it I was done.
When you're done and you're ready to discuss the book overall, come back here and let's chat.

Questions included:
• Who were your favorite characters?
• Did anything surprise you?
• How do you feel about the ending?
• Do you think there will be a sequel?
• Would you like one?

Discussion thread

John Taloni:
Who else has worked in restaurants? I did for years in high school/college. It was overall a bad experience. This book is giving me flashbacks. Anyone else out there?

Discussion thread

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 - #522 - Punchin' Shrimp and Grits

swordandlaser · #522 - Punchin' Shrimp and Grits

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!

swordandlaser · #521 - The Portions Are Too Big!

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

swordandlaser · #520 - Alternate Batman

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.

S&L Podcast - #519 - No Stomach for Old Salad

swordandlaser · #519 - No Stomach for Old Salad

Veronica entertains suggestions for spooky October picks, and likes them all. How can she choose? And our non-spoilery thoughts on The Hexologists.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Whitefish Tacos
Veronica: Old Salad

QUICK BURNS

Aaron: I don’t recall this release being discussed on the show and, as it happens, one of my favorite local shops is hosting Martha Wells for the launch of her upcoming fantasy title, Queen Demon in October. I feel like this and the first book in the series, Witch King, are a bit eclipsed by the Murderbot series, but are definitely worthy of some additional attention.
Iron Dog Books Event

BARE YOUR SWORD

Ruth: I have a suggestion for a potential October pick: Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio. It’s a spooky (and seasonal, it’s explicitly set in October) novella about a group of misfits who encounter a mysterious freshly dug grave in an old churchyard and unravel the mystery over the course of a single night. Without giving anything away, there is some science-y stuff going on, so it’s a bit science fiction as well as suitably spooky.

Tamahone: Solaris by Stanislaw Lem is considered spooky.

John (Taloni): I have mad love for Chuck Tingle’s Bury Your Gays, which absolutely deserves all the awards it’s getting. That is plenty spooky, but might be a better pick for Pride month. And I know Our Hosts like to mull over picks, so next June would provide time to think it over. For October I’ll be rereading A Night in the Lonesome October and probably whatever T & V pick.

Robert: As far as suggestions for an October pick that is not too scary but still hits a spooky vibe, I do have a few:

• Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

• In the same sort of nostalgic small-town feel, there’s also Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon

• Another Robert McCammon book with a very interesting take on the werewolf legend has said werewolf as a secret British agent fighting Nazis in The Wolf’s Hour

• For some great vampire fiction we have Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin and Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite, Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler, and of course Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire

• On lighter notes, Grady Hendrix has several horror-comedy novels.

Mark: For October, we could scratch the spoopy itch and the Miéville effect in one swell foop with Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire).

Jan: How about The Once and Future Witches? I am told it has cozy horror vibes…

Jan: As we haven’t done any ChatGPT stuff lately, here’s what it gave me when I asked for an ultra-violent cozy fantasy scene:

Mist still clung to the cobbled lane when the bandit stepped from the shadows, dagger glinting. He opened his mouth — but before the words came, the little grandmother with the wicker basket of herbs whipped her knitting needle straight into his eye.

It was quick, efficient. A crunch, a startled scream, then a gurgle as he collapsed like a sack of flour. She tsked, pulling the needle free and wiping it neatly on her apron.

“Terribly sorry, young man,” she murmured, as though the twitching corpse could still hear. “But I’ve no patience for ruffians before breakfast.”

I don’t know, but that’s probably more a cheap Pratchett knockoff, I feel…

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft
Amazon | Bookshop

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.

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 Sword & Laser.

S&L Podcast - #518 - Hugo Bump Yourself

We talk about our thoughts on the Hugo Award winners and the Dragon Award winner and devise a fiendish plan to win a Hugo. Also, Tom buys a ticket to see Matt Dinniman while doing the show.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?

Tom: Pork and Noodles
Veronica: Fresh garden tomatoes!

QUICK BURNS

Any news or announcements

Iain: The Hugos have been announced

Hugo Winners announced.

The winners are:

BEST NOVEL
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey, Hodderscape UK)

BEST NOVELLA
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler (Tordotcom)

BEST NOVELETTE
“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” by Naomi Kritzer (Asimov’s, September/October 2024)

BEST SHORT STORY
“Stitched to Skin Like Family Is” by Nghi Vo (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 57)

BEST SERIES
Between Earth and Sky by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga Press)

And then Mark chimed in: Wait! The most astounding Hugo is the one for best graphic novel by Ryan North and Chris Fenoglio…

LOWER DECKS! LOWER DECKS! LOWER DECKS!

Mark also pointed out:
We read City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett.
We read Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse.
We read The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo.

The Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book was awarded to Darcie Little Badger for Sheine Lende, a prequel to a book we read, Elatsoe.

Paul: Attention Martha Wells fans / Murderbot fans or people curious about what the fuss is all about:
Martha Wells has a HumbleBundle fundraiser going for the World Central Kitchen. You can get All Systems Red for $1, the first three novellas for $10, or 14 titles including The Witch King and some of her pre-Murderbot fantasies for $19 or so.

That’s a pretty amazing deal, so I bought the set even though I’ve read 3 of the 14 books already. Plus, considering the man-made famine going on (not to mention the genocide), I couldn’t think of a better cause. Martha Wells rules!
You can also donate extra and/or reallocate more of your money to go to the charity, for those interested.

(Warning: I don’t actually know if my dollar values are accurate, because my values are in Canadian dollars, but for me it’s 14 titles for $24.83.)

Seth: It’s Fourth Wing night at Fenway Park. (written September 3)

Rebecca Yarros will throw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game tonight! Sorry to all those in the Boston area, it’s already sold out. Besides the game, other fantasy features include cosplay, themed concessions and giveaways (including a “flight jacket” that looks pretty cool).

News reports indicate it’s the largest promotion ever at Fenway Park and that more than half of tickets purchased for the event come from people who have never bought a baseball ticket before.

Calvey: Join us on Monday, September 22nd at 6:30 pm as we welcome Matt Dinniman to the Wilshire Ebell Theater to discuss and sign This Inevitable Ruin. Joining him in conversation will be Felicia Day.
(4401 West 8th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90005, Wilshire Ebell Theatre)

THIS IS A TICKETED OFF-SITE EVENT. A copy of This Inevitable Ruin must be purchased from DIESEL to be granted entry to the event. There are 3 ticket options for this event. Please look carefully at all of the options before purchasing.

jasonb: For those of us in NC next month, John Scalzi will be here signing his new book Shattering Peace! Guess where I’m going to be Saturday, September 27. If any Sword and Shielders are in the area – cocktails later that evening, IM me!

Mark: Coming May 2026… the eighth installment of the Murderbot Diaries, Platform Decay by Martha Wells.

CountZeroOr: The novel adaptations of the first season of Robotech (the Macross Saga) are getting an unabridged audiobook release.

As a quick reminder for those unfamiliar – Robotech was a fix-up of three anime series: Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeda. The three series had a general common thread of “Vehicles that transform into Mecha (generally designed by Shoji Kawamori)” and (in the case of the first and third series) “Major characters who were pop singers,” but little else. For their US releases as part of Robotech, they had some adjustments (Macross, Mospeda) to full rewrites (Southern Cross) done by the producer of Robotech, Carl Macek, to get them to fit together, and at a combined length that could be sold to local stations for syndication.

These novels were created to adapt the series for English-speaking audiences at a time when home video releases for television generally were not yet a thing. The novels had been out of print for years, and even when they were in print, they hadn’t received an audiobook release.

Mark: 2025 Dragon Awards Winners:

Best Science Fiction Novel
This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman

Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel
Sunrise of the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Best Alternate History Novel
The Martian Contingency by Mary Robinette Kowal

Best Horror Novel
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

BARE YOUR SWORD

Silvana: Another GR group did a Q&A with Shelley a few years back and she/they confirmed that the fantasy bit was added later.

Ruth: Interesting! Do you have a link to the discussion you could share or was it private?

Silvana: It’s public but maybe you need to become a member of the group to read the posts? Here’s the link: Goodreads interview

Ruth: Silvana, very interesting interview, I would recommend other Shields to check it out (although you do need to join the group first).
Also you are far too modest – “Another GR group did a Q&A” it was YOU who did the interview! And it’s a really good interview – well done!

Silvana: Aww thanks Ruth, hope it’s useful.

John (Nevets): That really is awesome @silvana. That had to be a very cool experience, and possibly a bit nerve-wracking as well.

By the way, while there were many reasons I wanted to attend Worldcon this year, your experience in attending a few years ago was definitely one of the influences. And I’m so glad I did, I had a great time and got to meet up with some other Shields.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Book Kickoff
Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft (Amazon)
Bookshop link

Book Wrap Up
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (Amazon)
Bookshop link

terpkristin: I really appreciated Tom telling the actual history that forms She Who Became the Sun. I wonder if it’s more historical fiction with magical realism or fantasy elements (not that I think it’s not a 100% good and valid S&L pick). But I wonder if people thought of more of it as historical fiction of real things if it would be easier for some to get into.

stephen: I finished the book and truly enjoyed it. The flow of the book was pitch perfect. I had a few long Skytrain trips to the Big Bad Wolf Book Fair where I found a graphic novel series based on Chinese history translated into Thai with 25 volumes. I was looking for something like this to help me in my goal of reading Thai quicker than I presently do.

SeréTW: Well how did you feel about the selection? What surprised you? Do you intend to continue the duology?
I’m still gathering my thoughts about the way the main character developed. While I wasn’t surprised at the fate of the Prince of Radiance, it was so heartbreaking that I don’t know if I want to continue the duology. I may change my mind about that and I’m really interested to hear other people’s take on the reimagining of this period of time in China’s history.

What surprised me was the introduction to the concept/euphemism of the business of rain and clouds (or clouds and rain). I went on quite the side quest trying to get the cultural significance that I was sure I was missing out on. It was giving me Demolition Man, The 3 Shells vibes.

CountZeroOr:
I finished the book, and I enjoyed it for most of it, except for everything related to the politics of the Mongol Court. It had a real “We only pay the Iron Price” vibe that frustrated me, as that’s something that didn’t work for me in Game of Thrones (and actively threw me from those books), and didn’t work here, as all the cultures are based on real world cultures – made worse by, well, having watched the Crash Course on the Mongols.

Crash Course on the Mongols (YouTube)

After thinking about it while reading, I came to the realization that part of my discomfort was because a real world culture was being depicted as one of the big archetypes for Orcs, and if someone wrote Orcs like that now, there would be Asian audiences that would be legitimately upset.

My next thought was maybe I’m supposed to be uncomfortable – this is playing off of genre conventions to comment on them and get the reader to rethink those stereotypes – except it didn’t do anything with them, it just played them straight. When I reached the end of the book, and the afterword mentioned influences from Wuxia novels and wanting to write something in that style, I had to stop and think: “Is this just playing a genre convention of Wuxia fiction, either past or present, straight? Perhaps perpetuating an internal, likely unexamined racial prejudice of those authors (and the historians they were referencing) that the author was perpetuating because they were more interested in sticking with genre conventions than examining potentially toxic tropes that could date back to the turn of the 20th century?”

In short, I found myself in a position where I didn’t want to move on to the next book because I found myself needing to know where this unexamined prejudice came from – the genre itself, official histories (that likely would have been written after the Mongols and were meant to depict them badly), existing cultural prejudices, or something added by the author based on their own internalized, likely unexamined (and not necessarily malicious, depending on the circumstances) bias about the history of Mongolian culture.

Iain Bertram:
I have just finished.

It is definitely SFF. The fantastic element is subtle and woven through real history but is there at all times.

It’s not often we get such an amoral protagonist. That first, brutal chapter is some of the most evocative writing about starvation and poverty I have ever read. That is the foundation that supports the development of the main character.

ScottM:
I wanted to start a topic because I was surprised that the novel actually included sex-favorable asexual representation. Ace representation itself isn’t especially common, but when it is included, it tends to be on the sex averse/repulsed side. My youngest falls firmly in that part of the ace/aro spectrum wheel and they describe it as the most important part of her queer identity. (Though as the first label they ever embraced, “bi” also holds a special place.)

But when I read this line in particular from Zhu’s perspective, I was stopped in my tracks:
“Desire, but another’s desire running through her body, until she was as breathless as if it’s been her own.”

I had to search for interviews and discussions with the author to see if I was reading too much into that larger section or if that was what they had intended. And it was exactly what they had meant. Long before I had any label for it, it’s an experience I remember trying to describe on numerous occasions to different people.

I also found the exploration of gender both through Zhu and Ouyang very interesting and in a manner that felt like it fit the setting, context, and culture. Given my own relationship with gender is … complicated, that was a compelling part of the storyline for me.

And the romantic tension between both the main perspectives and their complicated partner – Ouyang with Esen and Zhu with Ma – was well developed. I’m intrigued to see how Ma’s path plays out in the next novel.

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.

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

S&L Podcast - #517 - She Who Became Herstory

swordandlaser · #517 - She Who Became Herstory

We get a history listen and revisit accents. And the clean blade battle is confirmed for WorldCon 2029. Plus our non-spoilery first impressions of She Who Became the Sun.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Miso soup, egg and rice
Veronica: About to make some jalapeño jam

QUICK BURNS

specious_reasons
Less than one week to WorldCon!

Thursday, August 14th, 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM

WorldCon 2025 in Seattle, Ravenna Rooms, Sheraton
Sword & Laser WorldCon 2025 Meetup!
The Seattle and Tacoma local meetups are joining up to meet each other and other Shields attending WorldCon in Seattle. We have a private event in the Ravenna Rooms at the Sheraton on Thursday, 1:30–

Chris K. and John Taloni
Dragon Con has announced the ballot for the 2025 Dragon Awards.
And Dungeon Crawler Carl is on the list for Best SF Novel with This Inevitable Ruin! It's free to vote, so... whistles Oh yeh, and The Devils is in Best Fantasy. The S&L Effect continues!

Best Science Fiction Novel

• Nether Station, Kevin J. Anderson (Blackstone)

• The Folded Sky, Elizabeth Bear (Saga)

• Alliance Unbound, C.J. Cherryh & Jane S. Fancher (DAW)

• The Mercy of Gods, James S.A. Corey (Orbit)

• This Inevitable Ruin, Matt Dinniman (Ace)

• Extremophile, Ian Green (Head of Zeus)

• Absolution, Jeff VanderMeer (Picador)

Best Fantasy Novel

• The Devils, Joe Abercrombie (Tor)

• Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan (Orbit)

• Heart of the Mountain, Larry Correia (Baen)

• The Last Shield, Cameron Johnston (Angry Robot)

• Shadow of the Smoking Mountain, Howard Andrew Jones (Baen)

• The Black Bird Oracle, Deborah Harkness (Ballantine)

2025 Dragon Awards Ballot

BARE YOUR SWORD

Ruth:
Well, I think we’ve agreed that Veronica and I will meet at WorldCon in Dublin in 2029, she’ll buy me a drink, and then we’ll fight to the death.
Gives me four years to learn the blade…

Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth

I will judge the winner, naturally!

As in, “This one looks the deadest. This one is only mostly dead.”

Stephen:
I loved The Devils, but I am a big Joe Abercrombie fan. I read The Devils when it first came out and I re-read it again because I enjoyed it so much. It has so many nice touches.

CountZeroOr:
I've been looking up some stuff for Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire for a personal project, and ended up finding some of the commercials that aired on TV for the novel on YouTube, which reminded me of the fact that I remember seeing commercials for some of the Dark Tower novels on TV at the time as well – anyone else remember this era of the 90s when novels would get TV ads?
Shadows of the Empire TV Commercial

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

August Book Check-In
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan – Amazon
She Who Became the Sun – Bookshop

John Taloni:
Posting as I go, now at the 10% mark.
MAN this book starts hard! For peeps further on, does it get any... lighter?

Bill:
Lighter? Not really. In a different way? Yes.

Steve:
On the other hand, I found myself struggling with this book, though I suspect much of that was due to experiencing it as an audiobook. As someone unfamiliar with the pronunciation of Chinese names and terms, I quickly became disoriented – unsure of who was who or where the story was taking place. This confusion made it hard to connect with the characters, many of whom I found difficult to empathize with, or simply unlikeable.

That said, I don’t mean this as a criticism of the book itself, but rather a word of caution: some readers may have a smoother experience with the print version than the audio.
Goodreads Discussion Thread

Katie asked on Goodreads about any readable histories to make her more familiar with the era in the book. And Stephen responded with:
For $4.99 you can get Beginner’s Guide to the Ming Dynasty: A Clear and Engaging Introduction to Imperial China’s Most Powerful Era: Explore the Rise, Glory, and Fall of ... Readers. It is 80 pages so it is a drive-by but should give you the highlights.
Ming Dynasty – Wikipedia

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 - #516 - I Know What You Did Last Book Briefing

swordandlaser · #516 - I Know What You Did Last Book Briefing

Why taste in books is like taste in food. Plus, our final thoughts on Joe Abercrombie's The Devils. And the Ruth-Veronica feud heats up. Also, Tom likes fish sticks. Literally.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Fish sticks and leftover mac and cheese
Veronica: Sad Mediterranean

QUICK BURNS
Mark: A dramatized audio adaptation of Joe Lansdale's 1994 classic tale, Bubba Ho-Tep, is coming this August.

Elvis is spending his golden years at the Mud Creek Shady Grove Convalescence Home alongside a man claiming to be President John F. Kennedy. Strange sights and sounds lead the two to discover an ancient Egyptian mummy stalking the corridors of their retirement home. They soon face off against the monster...but will anyone believe their story or shrug it off as more tall tales?" — Bubba Ho-Tep

Tamahome: More awards. The winner has time travel and a mysterious realm.

Tamahome: New cover reveal of an upcoming Alastair Reynolds noir sci-fi on October 30th. I don’t think the detective’ll be carrying a whiphound.

Jan and CountZeroOr: The Dungeon Crawler Carl Webtoon has been released. The first three episodes can be read for free on webtoons if you are interested in seeing a (strangely young-looking) anime-style Carl enter the Dungeon — Dungeon Crawler Carl Webtoon

specious_reasons: has posted details of the WorldCon 2025 meetup in the WorldCon thread:

Sword & Laser WorldCon 2025 Meetup!
The Seattle and Tacoma local meetups are joining up to meet each other and other Shields attending WorldCon in Seattle. We have a private event in the Ravenna Rooms at the Sheraton on Thursday 1:30-3:00 PM. If you are in town, please join us!
Refreshments will be provided! We'll have ribbons! I'm actually very excited!

...and I created an event on Discord, too"

Seth: Not quite news, but cute and timely. Alexander Skarsgard tells an interviewer he ruined a few takes of the Murderbot finale because he kept breaking into tears. Happily, the show was renewed for Season 2, so we'll get more Murderbot and Alexander gets to hang out with the rest of the cast for another year (and, hopefully, we get to meet ART).

Note, this spoils the end of the last episode / the end of the first novella" — Murderbot finale item

BARE YOUR SWORD

Ruth: “Try to apologise to Ruth”?! But Veronica says she stands by what she said before! Talk about a nonpology.

FYI I have now finished watching the last few episodes of Murderbot with my husband and we both enjoyed it very much. I do however re-assert my right to watch whatever televisual entertainments I choose, in the company I choose.

If Veronica wants to make amends for her relentless Ruth-bashing, she can promise to buy me a drink as and when we’re ever in a bar together - possibly at WorldCon in Dublin in 2029

Alternatively, taking inspiration from previous Sword and Laser pick Jade City:

Veronica Belmont, I offer you a clean blade!

Scott: It was my first time joining a live recording that was mostly focused on a book I actively disliked. As was true all the years I just listened to the podcast after it was released, it was still a fun experience. The podcast is enjoyable whether or not you even read the book at all. Certainly there have been plenty of books over the years I didn't read. In fact, if I read a book club pick in the past, it was usually well after the podcast. (Or I had read it before it was a pick.)

I think it's pretty noteworthy that Tom & Veronica create a book club podcast that's always fun, engaging, and interesting whether a listener reads a particular book or not."
Terpkristin: I a bazillion % agree that even when I'm kind of ambivalent on the book, I LOVE the show and am totally engaged. I'm looking forward to the wrap-up episode, at which point I may decide to fully abandon the book. For now, it's cooling its heels in my queue while I read other things.

Anon: Apropos Ruth Bashing: I need advice from Veronica for a purely theoretic scenario: let's assume the girlfriend of someone named ... Uhmm ... Yann suggested watching Gilmore Girls and I ... I mean Yann .... Said yes but failed to tell her he has binged the whole series already two times. Is it too late to confess to her by season 4?!

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

August Book Kickoff
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan.
Bookshop link

Last Thoughts
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
– Bookshop link

Compared to the other books like First Law

Dreading the end?

Bill

Well, I enjoyed that. Definitely gives me Suicide Squad vibes (DC Comics and movie if you’re not familiar). Every book seems likely to me to have roster shuffling due to a death or two, and, apparently like the drummers of Spinal Tap, the frequent need to replace the priest.

I enjoyed the nuance to the characters…or as much nuance as a berserker werewolf can bring to the situation. Not sure nuance is the right word; perhaps playing with stereotypes, or giving them depth. Or, is it only the semblance of depth?

The final “cousin” surprised me in not being a psychopath like his brothers. I slept on the final twist re: Eudoxia but liked the future paths that opens up.

SeréTW
I didn't necessarily dislike it, but ultimately it was too much action for me. I felt similarly about the theatrical and extended releases of Return of The King; what do you mean another army has arrived?!? In the Devils I was like, Eudoxia really needs to stop popping out these babies. I probably won't continue with the series, as I'm not built for this extent of action.

DaveZ
I finished last night. I enjoyed the book. I will probably pick up the sequel when it comes out.

I agree that it was a lot of action and if I’m complaining it was action to action throughout the book. Most of the character development was either a function of the conflict or “off camera”. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but it did seem a bit long when it was one encounter into another one.

I enjoyed all the characters. Baptiste I felt was underutilized. In the Venice house she was the only one that didn’t have a memory hallucinations. I still liked her character but most of what she did was not the focus. I guess the issue might be too many character POVs.

Anyway. I gave it 4 stars. I find the small complaints I have remove a star.

AnijaCat
Just finished! It was a really fun read, I can’t remember the last time a book made me really laugh out loud 😁
I think this is a 3⭐️ for me. There were some great moments. But overall, the plot and characters seemed half developed. And the book seemed too long for the level of substance it offered.
But I really learned sth about how to write gore. A lot of authors make the mistake of writing suffering and gore that is over the top and way too sincere (Poppy Wars comes to mind), when it is painfully obvious that the author is an urban dweller who knows so little of physical suffering they probably complain about mosquito bites on a 5k hike 😆 Abercrombie writes theatrical gore that is totally insincere, and therefore far more authentic. The first proper fight scene was really masterful! I’ve never felt that the fight scene was my favourite part of a book before.

mantissa
This feels very much like a D&D campaign:
Vigga is a barbarian
Baptiste is a rogue
Balthazar is a sorcerer, er, magician
Jakob of Thorn is a paladin
Brother Diaz is a weak Cleric
Sunny is an elf with issues (VERY high stealth, I love how she has to hold her breath to stay stealthy)
Baron Rikard is a character with VERY high charisma (I don't know if you can be a vampire in D&D)
Alex is the MacGuffin and she is so much more.

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 - #515 - The Details in the Devils

swordandlaser · #515 - The Details in the Devils

We cast The Devils, try to apologize to Ruth, and recall other food-related romantasy. Plus, Veronica has a shameful tequila revelation.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Seafood Pad Thai
Veronica: Blueberries

QUICK BURNS

Chris K and Calvey: From the World Fantasy Convention website:
World Fantasy Final Ballot 2025 (for 2024)
Novel

• 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 Press)
  worldfantasy2025.co.uk/world-fantasy-awards-shortlists

CrochetChrisie: New Murderbot novelette, available after the season finale (this past Friday).
Read on Reactormag
Roberator: Apple has ordered a second season of Murderbot.
reactormag.com

Tamahome: New Dan Brown coming September 9th. It's called The Secret of Secrets.

hapahappiness: D Comic Conners x DCC fans: Matt Dinniman will be a panelist on Thursday, 2pm - Fantastical World Building.

From the panel description:
"History, geography, and culture are all crucial building blocks in creating some of your favorite reading experiences. Hear Falon Ballard (Something Wicked), Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl Series), Wendy Martin (Castle Swimmer: Volume 2), SenLin Yu (Alchemised), and Serena Valentino (Heartbroken) discuss how they use world-building to enhance the immersive nature and believability of their fantastical worlds."
comiccon2025.sched.com

Tamahome: The finalists for the annual Baen Fantasy Adventure Award were announced on July 9, 2025:

• “A Good Demon Hunter is Hard to Find”, Martina Anders

• “The Void Within”, Tyler Bourassa

• “The Teacher”, Sarah Hozumi

• “Staying Afloat”, Arthur H. Manners

• “Personal Demons”, Alex Minns

• “Gilded Dead”, April Pereira

• “A Game with Death”, Kathleen Powell

• “The Golem and The Goose”, Tony Robusto

• “Traitor to the Wolfguard’s Creed”, Gideon P. Smith

• “The Old Knight”, Jeremy Zentner
  locusmag.com

BARE YOUR SWORD

Robyn R – Speaking of the Jimmy John’s Romantasy:
Both parts are on YouTube and just as hilariously unnerving as you imagined.
Part 1
Part 2

Sean Lookielook – Jimmy John's? How soon we forget that it was KFC who jumped the shark in 2017 with their Tender Wings of Desire.
Not to mention the dating sim...
and the Lifetime movie starring Mario Lopez.
Trailer
Dating Sim
Lifetime Movie Wiki

Ruth: Wow, shamed in front of the whole world (well, that segment of it that listens to the Sword & Laser podcast) just because I couldn’t wait for the next episode of Murderbot! Tom’s spirited rendition of Jisoo’s “All Eyes On Me” is scant consolation…

Paul: Re: Ruth bashing. Veronica tried SO HARD not to Ruth-bash, but that sneaky watching was a tough pill for her to swallow and I LOVED that awkwardness.
Poor Ruth. I have also watched together-shows without my wife, because sometimes she's not in the mood to keep up with a show and I am.
I'll usually admit to it after I watched it, and volunteer to rewatch it when she's ready because I know I can't fake watching it as if for the first time 😆.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
Amazon
Bookshop

Hapahappiness:
I really love the iconography seen of our "devils" throughout the book. I am mostly reading The Devils on my Kindle Colorsoft and realized the icons were in black and white. A quick internet search yielded this collection of the colored versions.
I'm at 69% (nice) and look forward to going back to these images to see what imagery I missed.

It's especially good timing for me because I recently read Jeff Lemire's Minor Arcana: Vol 1: The Fool in which the story is inspired by the iconography of tarot, which feels similar or complementary to saint or religious icons.
Character Art
Discord thread

Ruth:
I'm about a third of the way through this book now and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Love a rag-tag band of misfits and a lost heir to a magical throne. But the part I'm enjoying the most is the world-building.

I'm finding Abercrombie's alternate-magical-history version of medieval Europe much more crunchy and compelling than many fantasy worlds.

I think part of it is that there's much more of a sense of the deep involvement of religion in every aspect of life. So many fantasy books just kind of skate over religion, when in fact it was absolutely central to life in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The religion in The Devils is recognisably similar to Christianity, but has key differences I'm really enjoying – like the lady Pope and lady Saviour, the 'circefix' instead of the 'crucifix'.

I also really like the way he's thrown in bits of actual alternate history – like Carthage being the ancient European super-power instead of Rome and everyone speaking a version of Punic. It's a concept that's very plausible (the Carthaginians did win some famous victories over the Romans – just ask your nearest Rome-nerd about the Battle of Cannae) even if the witch-engineers of Carthage aren't real (shame!).

The ways the Elves are kind of taking the place of the Islamic conquerors of the Middle East is intriguing, and I'm looking forward to seeing more as the characters travel Eastwards.

This book is a chonker so it's hard to carry my library hardback copy around but I'm getting through it pretty quickly and hope to join the discussion about the ending before the end of the month!

What do you all think of the alternate-history setting?
Goodreads Thread

Casting!
Goodreads Thread

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
📱 Instagram, X, and Mastodon: @swordandlaser
📚 goodreads.com

S&L Podcast - #514 - The Rebirths of Wesley Chu

swordandlaser · #514 - The Rebirths of Wesley Chu

Wesley Chu joins us to talk about The Lives of Tao and Jan is back, so we have loads of news including Locus Award Winners and the British Fantasy Society shortlist. Plus Tom sings. We're all sorry about that. Also, we almost named this episode The Lives of Wesley Chu until we realized we had already done that in 2014.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Spinach Ravioli
Veronica: Straight and Narrow, the gross Black Currant flavor

QUICK BURNS

Jan: Blinks Well, damn, I finished The Inevitable Ruin — seems I am out of the Dungeon. sigh
On the other hand, this means I can start posting Quick Burns again! SO...

It seems our Romantasy Overlady is continuing to conquer the world: Or as The Hollywood Reporter puts it: Sarah J. Maas has signed a worldwide deal with IMG Licensing for "apparel, beauty, lifestyle, home décor, wine and spirits, food and beverage, toys and games, collectibles, cosplay, and immersive fan experiences" for her entire fictional universe. But this notably excludes film and TV rights.

Jan and The Lives of JasonReads:
The 2025 Locus Awards Winners have been announced!

Winner for SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL: The Man Who Saw Seconds, Alexander Boldizar
FANTASY NOVEL: A Sorceress Comes to Call, T. Kingfisher
DEBUT NOVEL: Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell

Jan: Locus Mag reports:
The British Fantasy Society has announced the shortlist for the 2025 British Fantasy Awards:

Nominations for Best Fantasy Novel:

• Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

• Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan

• A Shadow Over Haven by David Green

• The Green Man’s War by Juliet E. McKenna

• Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi

Jan: There is a trailer for Momo – the new English-language movie adaptation of the hugely successful children’s fantasy novel by German author Michael Ende (The Neverending Story) about a little girl living in an amphitheater, fighting with the help of a turtle and the power of friendship against the Grey Men – who literally steal time from all adults around her (in this adaptation, by distributing some sleek technological gadget that all the adults are linked to – which is definitely NOT a very heavy-handed metaphor...)
Watch the trailer — release date in Germany is October this year. No international release dates announced yet.

Jan: Two Romantasy novels are coming this July on the same day that are both reworks of successful Dramione fanfics:

• The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigette Knightly

• Rose in Chains by Julie Soto
  Read about the fanfic-to-publishing trend

Jan: From LocusMag and The Guardian:
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer has won the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2025 for best science fiction novel first published in the UK in the past year.
The Guardian describes Annie Bot as an "‘Intense’ novel about [a] robot abused by her boyfriend."

Jan: Amazon MGM released the first trailer for Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling and based on the novel by Andy Weir.
US release date: March 20, 2026.

Trike: The home of Alfred Bester, winner of the first Hugo Award for The Demolished Man, is for sale. His wife Rolly, by the way, was the first actress to portray Lois Lane on the 1940 Superman radio show.

Seth: Romantasy is such a cultural force that Jimmy John’s created a miniature romantasy audiobook read by Walton Goggins. It's part of their "S.M.U.T." summer menu promotion and available to Freaky Fast Rewards members through July 6.

Mark: The Faith of Beasts, the next book in the Captive's War series by James S.A. Corey, has a release date of April 2026.

BARE YOUR SWORD

Seth: I got nervous when I saw the episode title — I share the last name Warburton with Patrick (sadly, no relation). Glad I didn’t do anything to cause the name drop!
Also: Please use company funds to watch Murderbot. It’s excellent.

Ruth: Disappointed by Tom’s weak rendition of Jisoo’s “All Eyes On Me.” I expect full Korean lyrics next time. Also, Murderbot is great! I’ve been secretly watching ahead of my husband.

Tassie Dave: Yes to S&L funds bypassing the Patriarchy 😜 and supporting Murderbot! 😊

Stephen: I wish Murderbot episodes were an hour long. Half-hour dramas just feel incomplete to me.

John (Taloni): Kurt Vonnegut once shared a quote from an archaeologist:
"I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”

Jan: Clarification from a past episode: The bonus chapters in the Dungeon Crawler Carl hardcovers are not the same as the extras in the audiobooks. They’re part of a standalone novella called Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Kick Off:
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

• Bookshop link

Wrap Up:
The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu

• Bookshop link

Questions for Wesley Chu:
See the full Goodreads thread

Seth: How does Mr. Chu feel about his debut now? Would he revise it, or is it in the past?

Trike: Did City of Heroes inspire the Prophus and Genjix dynamic?

Mark: Any other sci-fi/fantasy/horror franchises you’d love to write for?

Veronica: Were there other Lives of Tao that didn’t make the final book?

• How did you decide which historical events to reference?

• How did you come up with Genjix and Prophus names?

• The alien possession angle is fascinating — what inspired that structure?

ADDENDUMS

Our show is funded entirely by our patrons. Thank you!
Support us on Patreon

You can also support us by buying books through our links.
Find them at swordandlaser.com

S&L Podcast - #513 - A Civil War-burton

swordandlaser · #513 - A Civil War-burton

Everything is out of context. But we do have interesting thoughts about The Lives of Tao and lots of congrats for the winners and nominees of the Nebulas and more.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?

Tom: Garlic Shrimp and Tortellini
Veronica: Watermelon cooler

QUICK BURNS

The Lives of JasonReads and Geoff: 2025 Nebula Award winners have been announced:

• Someone You Can Build a Nest In by Jon Wiswell wins Best Novel.

• The Dragonfly Gambit by A.D. Sui wins Best Novella

• "Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being" by A.W. Prihandita scored Novelette

• And the Short Story award went to "Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole" by Isabel J. Kim
  2025 Nebula Award Winners

Seth and Tamahome:
Goodreads shares their most-read books of 2025 so far, broken down by category.
Most-Read Books of 2025

Trike:
Foundation Season 3, Apple+, July 11
The Mule has entered the chat. Dun dun dun. iykyk
Foundation S3 Trailer

Trike:
The finalists for the 2025 Ignyte Awards have been announced. The public can vote for their choices until August 15.
Ignyte Awards Info

Scott:
Storyteller, a Tanith Lee tribute anthology, is scheduled for release on July 1. It has quite a list of contributors.
Storyteller Anthology on Bookshop

ScottM:
The 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction shortlist has been announced.
Le Guin Prize Shortlist

CountZeroOr:
Seven Seas Entertainment has announced that their English translation of the first Record of Lodoss War novel, The Grey Witch, will be getting an audiobook release.
Record of Lodoss War Audiobook

BARE YOUR SWORD

Tamahome: Joe Abercrombie (adapting Bruce Sterling), Tamsyn Muir, and John Scalzi wrote some of the teleplays in Love Death + Robots Season 4.

Francis X: Just to let you know about the Amazon Prime Video animated series Murder Drones, and a reboot of The Librarian called Chapter 2 airing on TNT cable.

Ruth: I’m slightly amused that, shortly after I resolved to be more positive in my comments on the monthly book picks, we get a pick that I really enjoyed but that Tom and Veronica both thought was pretty mid. Oh well!
On a totally different topic, Tom will probably be pleased to hear that I’ve recently been getting into K-pop and I too thought of the Jisoo song when I heard “All Eyes On Me”.

John (Taloni): At about the 5:30 mark, Tom says "dark and spooky." That was my daughter's favorite phrase for any room less than fully lit when she was about eight: "It's dark and spooky!" she turns and runs off

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
Amazon
Bookshop

Wesley plans to join us for the July 2 episode!

Discussion Questions:

• How Plausible is the Cover-Up?
  Is it believable that this war has stayed hidden for millennia? What modern elements (e.g., social media, surveillance) make this harder?

• Dream Casting
  Who would you cast in a film adaptation? (Roen, Tao, Sonya, etc.)

• If You Had a Tao
  What kind of ancient alien mentor would you want in your head? What kind of advice would they give you?

• Quasing Among Us
  If Quasing were real, what historical figures do you think were definitely hosts?

ADDENDUMS

Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show. 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
📸/🐦/🐘 @swordandlaser
📚 goodreads.com

S&L Podcast - #512 - Deep Dish is SciPie

swordandlaser · #512 - Deep Dish is SciPie

We speculate on how James Cameron will make The Devils and whether Frankenstein will be too scary for Veronica. And we further kick off The Lives of Tao.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Orange Muffin
Veronica: PIZZAAAAA and ice cream

QUICK BURNS – add time stamp!
Trike: Frankenstein, Netflix, November
Guillermo del Toro is going for it. Looks gorgeous and scary. Watch clip

Liqorice: Filmmaker James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron, director of Aliens, Terminator and a couple of small indie films like Titanic and Avatar) is teaming up with author Joe Abercrombie to work on his latest book, The Devils. It’s a case of Blue Man Group meets grimdark fantasy. Can’t wait. Read more

BARE YOUR SWORD – add time stamp!
Ruth: I have to say, for me Mickey 7 didn’t feel like a one-off book that then had a sequel tacked onto it. For me, the ending felt like a suitable pause rather than a full conclusion, and the sequel felt like a conclusion to a duology.

Trike: I sampled some of the AI narration and currently it’s bad. But next year it will be on par with humans.
A recent estimate said AI will replace 10 million jobs in the next 3–5 years. That’s a lot and soon. AI could definitely do 80 % of my job at the TV station. Robots would be needed for the other 20 %. If the system powered up and down by itself and we switched from wireless mics to wired ones, AI could do 95 % of my job.
The recent Chinese robots I saw on YouTube last week are dangerously close to being able to do everything a person can. Fortunately we’re still years away from them being smart enough to do anything other than preprogrammed tasks, but it’s scary-slash-interesting how far they’ve come in just the last five years.

John (Taloni): I am not worried about AI.
My first job in the Entertainment Industry was doing Accounts Payable for a major indie. I quickly segued into Distribution Finance. In that timeframe an “analysis” was a data dump out of the mainframe by the IT Director, which we then added up by hand. Any other kind of analysis was a report followed by tick and tie. It took the whole department working in parallel to do any kind of major analysis.
Now everything is either available immediately from the ERP or on a short refresh into analysis databases/software. A single analyst can do what a whole department needed 35 years ago.
Finance departments have not gone down. Rather, they do more analyses and at a deeper level. I expect the same with AI. The work won’t go away. It will just change.

Tassie Dave: I’ll start off by saying, I’m against AI narration as a replacement for humans. It’s going to happen, but I’m not happy about it. I will always buy the human version versus the AI, if given a choice.
But will the AI be bad? It is now, but it’s only going to get better and I would assume the best companies will still have a human sound editor tweaking the audio to remove any ‘Uncanny Valley’ oddities and to smooth out the quality. I expect it will be indistinguishable from humans within a few years.
AI does have its use. For books that will never sell enough to warrant the cost of a human narrator.
Also for better, on-the-fly narration for the blind community.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu – Audiobook · Bookshop
Wesley plans to join us for the July 2 episode!

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 - #511 - Throw Me in the Corpse Hole

swordandlaser · #511 - Throw Me in the Corpse Hole

We discuss the return of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Frank Herbert’s posthumous SFWA Infinity Award, Audible’s AI narration plans and Amazon’s cancellation of The Wheel of Time—while nominating hamburg steak and vegan enchiladas and sharing listener stories from Matt Dinniman’s event. We round out the show with in-depth discussions of The Lives of Tao and Mickey 7.

Download directly here.

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Hamburg Steak
Veronica: Vegan enchiladas

QUICK BURNS – add time stamp!
Any news or announcements

Iain: 10 years ago the planet of the spiders was set loose.
Tchaikovsky’s publishers didn’t think it would amount to much. Creating something truly unique means you don’t fit in existing boxes.
Bsky post by aptshadow

Iain: Via Scalzi on Blue Sky.
Dresden is back. “12 Months” is coming out in January after Jim Butcher works through depression. Good read.
NYT: Jim Butcher on The Dresden Files

Mark: The SFWA announced that the recipient of the 2025 Infinity Award is Frank Herbert, author of Dune.
The Infinity Award posthumously honors acclaimed creators who passed away before they could be considered for a Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.
The Infinity Award will be presented at this year’s Nebula Awards Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
SFWA Infinity Award Recipient: Frank Herbert

Paul: Locus’ annual fundraiser is up, and the coolest-looking thing for sale this year is “A special luxe edition... of the Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee, signed & personalized, with printed edges in a gorgeous binding,” for $500 USD. I know Tom’s a big fan of the series (I’m on book 2 now and it’s pretty awesome), so just throwing it out there.
There’s also a signed Sando book plus a chull plushie for the bargain rate of $1,500, and for under $150, signed books from Corey Doctorow, Vajra Chandrasekera, Elizabeth Bear, and more, as well as other perks.
Locus fundraiser on Indiegogo

Chris K: The shortlist for the annual Arthur C. Clarke Award, celebrating the best science fiction novel published in the UK, has been announced.
• Private Rites, Julia Armfield (Fourth Estate)
• The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley (Sceptre)
• Extremophile, Ian Green (Ad Astra)
• Annie Bot, Sierra Greer (The Borough)
• Service Model, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK)
• Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock, Maud Woolf (Angry Robot)
The winner will be announced on June 25, 2025 and receives an engraved bookend and £2,025 in prize money.
The 2025 judges are Dolly Garland and Gene Rowe for the British Science Fiction Association, Nic Clarke and John Coxon for the Science Fiction Foundation, and Glyn Morgan for the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival.
Andrew M. Butler represented the Clarke Award directors as non-voting Chair of the Judges.
Locus: 2025 Clarke Award shortlist

John: Audible unveils plans to use AI voices to narrate audiobooks.
After all the recent praise for Jeff Hays’s narration of the DCC audiobook, this is a sobering reality check.
The Guardian: Audible’s AI narration plans

Phil On The Hill and JasonReads7:
Looks like Amazon has cancelled The Wheel of Time. Is this sad news? I only watched an episode or two and was not won over. The curse of long series is that we never reach the end when televised.
The Verge: Amazon cancels The Wheel of Time

BARE YOUR SWORD – add time stamp!
Feedback from the audience

Hapahappiness: Hey y’all. Matt Dinniman event was great! Some takeaways: writing awful things was easy because being an a-hole is the path of least resistance. Jeff Hayes made (and lost) a bet resulting in a donut tattoo on his butt. The tattoo session was recorded and posted online. Mr. Dinniman thinks the video resulted in the first DCC audiobook being on the NY Times bestsellers list for the first time. He has never watched Gilmore Girls or Gossip Girl; his daughters are his subject matter experts. He denied having a foot fetish. Lol. One of his joys with this series is when people tell him DCC has reignited their love of reading or got them to read for the first time since high school. When I met him he commented on my S&L hat and told me he recently learned about our book club. 😊 He stayed past 10 pm meeting with everyone and personalizing books (with a name). Overall, a really fun event.

Jan: For the New Dungeon Crawler Carl segment of the podcast 😉
I did not know that the hardcovers for the series had a bonus chapter at the end! I don’t know if I’d buy these just for the chapters, but it might be interesting for some!
Sorry if this had already been mentioned on previous episodes, but maybe these kinds of incentives are something we will be seeing more in the future...

Trike: Re: Ship of Theseus – comedian-juggler Michael Davis had a great joke on this topic. He said one of his axes used to be owned by George Washington. “I’ve replaced the head and the handle, but it occupies the same space.”

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
Kick Off
The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
Amazon audiobook link · Bookshop link

Wrap Up
Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton
Bookshop link · Amazon link

An SF “Adventure” about being hungry · How many times can an author use a big word? · The line between adaptation and “in name only” (spoilers abound)

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 - #510 - A New Theseus

swordandlaser · #510 - A New Theseus

From Hugo admins resigning over AI panel vetting to the latest award winners and a fresh Murderbot clip—to set the stage for our book club pick. Then we dig into Mickey 7’s Ship of Theseus dilemma, sharing listener takes (yes, even foot‑fetishting AIs) and the questions that keep us up at night.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Perilla Oil Buckwheat Noodles – Instagram
Veronica: Gin & Tonic, this time with elderflower syrup!

QUICK BURNS – add time stamp!
Any news or announcements

Dwango and Trike: Hugo Administrators Resign in Wake of ChatGPT Controversy
The upcoming Seattle edition of the World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, used AI to help vet program participants.

Basically the con used ChatGPT to help find a list of panel members, nothing to do with the awards themselves. But it’s very much a case of “read the room, guys” – people don’t like AI, especially the artists from whose work the LLMs have stolen to create their database.

Elizabeth: Looks like the difference between the con (Seattle Worldcon 2025) and the awards presented there (Hugo) needs to be highlighted. It seems the LLM use was by the Worldcon team, not the Hugo team, and the Hugo administrators resigned in protest of this.”
Gizmodo • File770 roundup

Stephen: SPFBO X (Self‑Publish Fantasy Blog Off 10) has a winner: By Blood, by Salt by J.L. Odom.
Facebook photo

ChrisK: 2025 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists

SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
The Man Who Saw Seconds, Alexander Boldizar (Clash)
Rakesfall, Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
The Mercy of Gods, James S.A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
The Bezzle, Cory Doctorow (Tor; Ad Astra UK)
The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, Malka Older (Tordotcom)
Kinning, Nisi Shawl (Tor)
Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK; Orbit US)
Service Model, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tordotcom; Tor UK)
Space Oddity, Catherynne M. Valente (Saga; Corsair UK)
Absolution, Jeff VanderMeer (MCD; Fourth Estate UK)

FANTASY NOVEL
I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons, Peter S. Beagle (Saga)
The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey; Hodderscape UK)
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom)
The Bright Sword, Lev Grossman (Viking; Del Rey UK)
Asunder, Kerstin Hall (Tordotcom)
A Sorceress Comes to Call, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)
Somewhere Beyond the Sea, TJ Klune (Tor; Tor UK)
The Siege of Burning Grass, Premee Mohamed (Solaris UK)
Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
The City in Glass, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)

For other categories, click the link.
Locus Mag – Top Ten Finalists

Seth: The dishonor of losing the Quick Burn battle to those Discord heathens must not continue.

The LA Times announced their winners of the 2024 Book Prizes, with the Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction award going to Kelly Link for The Book of Love.

Interesting choice because the Goodreads reviews are decidedly mixed.
LA Times Book Prize 2025

Paul: Some new clips of Murderbot with Skarsgård describing Murderbot’s deal.

Didn't really think of the crew as Space Hippies. I just thought they were good people. Does that make me a space hippy?”
YouTube

Iain: The final book in Pullman’s Book of Dust is coming out in October. The (possibly) last book in Lyra’s story, which started in Northern Lights. It’s been a long wait.
Reactor Mag

hapahappiness: Matt Dinniman will be at the San Diego Air and Space Museum for an event hosted by (my favorite) independent bookstore, Mysterious Galaxy, on May 15 at 7 pm!
Mysterious Galaxy event

BARE YOUR SWORD – add time stamp!
Feedback from the audience

Jan
Hi everyone.

Everyone: HI JAN!

My Bare Your Sword for the episode:
I am still here – I just don’t have time to scour the net for news and post them in the Goodreads Quickburns thread as all my waking moments are dedicated to listening to the master himself Jeff Hays reading the Dungeon Crawler Carl books to me! I am at “The Gate of the Feral Gods” and already dreading when I am through with the available books! Thanks for getting me hooked on the series! I think this is actually the first time I have continued after a Sword and Laser pick!”

Ruth: I actually really enjoyed the parts where the AI talks about feet. It’s just the right balance of gross humour with the underlying sense of “goddammit my whole planet has been destroyed, nearly everyone I know is dead, I have been forced into a deadly dungeon crawl for the entertainment of intergalactic sickos and to cap it all off, I’m being perved on by an artificial intelligence with a foot fetish.

terpkristin:
I’m glad that so many people enjoyed DCC. It wasn’t for me but I enjoyed listening to this episode. I also liked Tom’s impression of the “NEW ACHIEVEMENT!” sound bite.

Stephen: I ripped through all the books last year, one right after another, until I had a short wait for Book 7, This Inevitable Ruin. The series has surprising depth. There are some minor characters that are still a mystery even after seven books. Also, if you Laser folk don’t want to claim DCC, I will gladly put it on the Sword side. It’s just I have so few science fiction writers I eagerly await their next book, I thought you would like one more.

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton – Bookshop • Amazon

Philosophical job training – Goodreads

“The Ship of Theseus from Liqorice
Ok, so we need a SoT discussion. The book asks whether or not the Expendables are effectively immortal (“Is it really you if you die and are recreated?”) As a reminder, Theseus was a Greek king who took a ship on a pilgrimage to honor Apollo. By the end of his journey he had replaced all of the original components on his ship, so was it still the same ship?

I think the book glosses over some very important points that don’t fit into the typical SoT philosophical discussion. As @Iain Bertram points out in another thread, only one scan is ever made of Mickey’s body, and it is done at the start of the journey. So, er, how exactly would that work? Your brain would have changed considerably in the intervening years. In SoT terms, you build a ship. Then you take it to other ship builders and have it modified. Then over the course of intervening years you replace all the parts but do it in a way that makes it identical to the original ship, not the modified one.

Discord SoT thread

Early impressions about Characters (No Plot Spoilers) from Roberator
I’m about nine chapters in and I don’t find any of the characters likable, including Mickey. Am I the only one?

I am interested in the story though, so it’s keeping my interest, but typically my favorite books have memorable characters that I’m rooting for (or rooting against). I don’t dislike anyone enough to be rooting for their demise, but I don’t really care who lives or dies at this point.”
Discord character thread

Replication from Iain Bertram
The method of replicating Mickey is analogous to the transporter in Star Trek (think transporter buffers) which has all sorts of implications. It’s supposed to be an exact copy from when the first scan takes place which means Mickey 8 has a body that is a decade younger than when he started the journey which is going to be weird as his girlfriend gets older.

What happens to the memories of trauma when the body has no scars? That would have to be disconcerting.

Can you imagine hitting the gym for six months and then being stuck back in your flabby body which hasn’t worked out?

Not sure how the tech actually works (I know it’s hand‑wavy but my brain won’t leave it be). Does it need all the proteins and other material used to build the body or does it create it from atoms? I mean, how could you feed it exactly the right proportion of proteins each time? If it builds from atoms why not take a scan of a cow sans personality and just print loads of cows and have a BBQ? Probably the same tech as a Star Trek replicator.

Instead of shipping colonists just ship the scans of the colonists and a nanotech self‑assembly plan to minimize weight.
Discord replication thread

ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show; if you’d like to support the show that way 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 Sword & Laser

S&L Podcast - #509 - New Achievement!

swordandlaser · #509 - New Achievement!

We wrap up Dungeon Crawler Carl, including our horrible imitations of Jeff Hays. Plus, we announce the next pick for May and ponder data-driven determinations of the best SFF books of Tom’s life.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE NOMMING?
Tom: Gnocchi Bolognese
Veronica: Gin and tonic

QUICK BURNS – add time stamp!
Any news or announcements

We have to change from per-episode to subscription billing. That means a flat monthly fee for supporting the show instead of only paying when there is an episode.

Tamahome: Brandon Sanderson’s Isles of the Emberdark available for preorder. That’s quite an early preorder for February 2026: Isles of the Emberdark

Iain: Children of Strife is on the way. Tor UK acquires four stellar novels by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Liqorice: Cassidy Beeve-Morris, er, not sure what to call him, a “data scientist and blogger,” was doing an analysis on the best sci-fi and fantasy of the last 50 years based on the major awards (Hugo, Nebula, etc.). He noticed a curious thing: there is a very distinct trend where Sword has started to outperform Laser in awards over time. Speaking as an armchair economist who fails to understand that correlation does not imply causation (I’m referring to myself, not the author), my first impulse was to attribute the change to Veronica’s influence. But then I realized that S&L has only been in production for 15 of the 50-plus-year trend, which means it’s more likely that Veronica is a product of her times while Tom is a relic of the golden age. Where Has All the Sci-Fi Gone? (Reddit)

Okay, I should probably follow up with a summary of the top ten according to awards received that spurred the observation of Sword trending over Laser. Personally, I’ve read all of them except for The Yiddish Policemen’s Union and Blackout/All Clear. To be honest, I’ve never heard of either of them. Say what?

Note that March’s S&L pick The City & the City shows up at the #18 spot. And I’m sure Princess Doughnut missed getting onto this list by a whisker. Meow.

The details, with all of the grisly math, are here (did I mention the author was a data scientist?): Determining Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels Since 1970

Tamahome: Mike Flanagan’s Carrie TV series has been greenlit at Prime Video. The series will be eight episodes and begin filming this summer: Mike Flanagan’s ‘Carrie’ Greenlit at Prime Video

BARE YOUR SWORD

Ruth: I had never really considered before the impact of negative commentary on the morale of our overlords… I want T & V to feel enthusiastic about the book club, so I shall endeavour to make some more positive comments about our current and future picks!
I’m still not entirely convinced by Alexander Skarsgård as Murderbot, tbh. I saw someone suggesting that Gwendoline Christie would have been perfect for the role and now I can’t help wishing she had been cast instead! I’ll probably watch the show anyway, though, as the trailer looks good—it captures the snarky tone perfectly.

Stephen: Since Alexander put up the money to start the show and I’m sure having his name attached brought in more investors, I’m going in with a neutral mind. I really wanted an animated version like the ones in some episodes of Love, Death & Robots. I guess I’ll have to wait some more time for my vision to come true. Maybe DCC, but the character of Carl may be too tempting for some actors to pass up.

Paul: You know, his deadpan voice and subtle facial expressions actually really sold me. I had always imagined Murderbot as having a low female voice, but listening to him as Murderbot in the trailer, I thought “Yeah, this is what a SECU would be programmed to sound like.”
I’m sold. #TeamSkarsgardbot

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
May Book Advance Kick-Off
Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton
Amazon: Mickey 7

Wrap-Up
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Amazon: Dungeon Crawler Carl

Ruth: It was interesting to hear the clip of the fully dramatised audiobook, even though, tbh, my takeaway was that Jeff Hays’ performance is so good you don’t need anything else!

A Quick Note on Isekai—and Dungeon Crawler Carl’s flavor of portal fantasy: Discord Discussion
Why this book is awesome: Goodreads Discussion

ScottM: I feel like if I wanted to experience a level grind as a form of escape, I would rather play some WoW or another MMO. In novel form, it just doesn’t click for me. I expect I would feel similarly about most litRPG novels. I understand what the novel is doing and I don’t mind reading it. I’m just also not especially interested in what it’s doing. DCC Reaction: It’s Fine

ADDENDUMS
Our show is currently entirely funded by our patrons. Thank you to all the folks who back our show; if you’d 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 Sword & Laser.

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