We wrap up The Sparrow. We loved it and it made us sad. We’re also blown away at the quality of books being made into TV shows. Well, only a pilot and a trailer but so far so good. But should you risk reading a book and seeing a movie or TV show too? Maybe not!

Download direct here!
Watch the Google Hangout!
    
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Jameson’s Select Reserve Black Barrel    
Veronica: Hendricks Gin  
    
QUICK BURNS 
    
Yento: New trailer for The Expanse. I’m trying so hard not to get too excited about it because syfy but this looks like it could be pretty good.   
    
Louie: First look at The Man in the High Castle adaptation. (Israel also alerted us)
    
Dara:  SyFy is really into adapting books. Now they’re turning Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin into a miniseries.     
    
Warren: Screenwriter Zak Penn, who’s written the Ready Player One adaptation, has revealed that Ernest Cline is currently working on a second novel.     
    
David: “Gollancz have acquired the English translation and publication rights to three further Witcher books by Polish fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski.” via The Wertzone   
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Steve: How to dislodge the movie from the book?  
    
Jonathon: Big, Long Series to Fill Gap Left By WoT 
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Next month’s pick: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (We’ll formally kick off next episode)    
    
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell    
    
TS: Disappointed With The Ending (full spoilers) 
        
ADDENDUMS

We have a new producer! Hi Jacob!

Author and robotics engineer Daniel H. Wilson chats with us about his new story/app called Mayday: Deep Space about a person trapped on a ship full of monsters. Only you can help him survive! But of course we have to ask Daniel when the robots will rise up and kill us all. 

Download direct link here!

Official Website of Daniel H. Wilson
Official Site of Mayday! Deep Space

 

Well we’re here to kick off the new year AND celebrate our 200th episode so we gathered drinks and cheer and your favorite books of 2014 as well as our own and a few others. You’ll never guess which one everybody picked! That’s not true. You’ll totally guess. You probably already guessed. But listen to the show anyway, OK. For us?
    
Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Mimosa with Veuve Clicquot    
Veronica: Bulleit Rye    
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Mark Zuckerberg started a book club on Facebook because books are good 
    
Rob and Chakara: TWO new Mistborn novels by Brandon Sanderson will be released in late 2015 and early 2016!    
    
Nick: A Library In Your Pocket: How Having an E-reader Has Changed My Reading Habits
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Your best of 2014    
The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Books Of 2014   
Top 5 Sci-Fi Books of 2014 – OMNI Reboot    
The Martian by Andy Weir    
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell    

 I want to have dinner with Anne and George!    
    
Final thoughts on The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern    
    
ADDENDUMS    
    
Support our show on Patreon
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find upcoming and past new releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar    

This week we almost wrap up The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, discuss the intricacies of eBook DRM and try to decide just how high a price our integrity would fetch. We also wonder the same about Neal Stephenson and Steven Hawking. Join us, won’t you?

Download direct here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Forgotten Fire 1871 
Veronica: Greyhound    
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Tamahome: Gotta love the NPR filter tool for the best books of 2014. Hat tip to Jenny. 
    
Shad: Interesting ruling on DRM. It might not hold up on appeal, but it would be great if stripping DRM to make a backup of books you bought stopped being illegal    
Related thread by Eric    
       
Daniel: Something I’ve noticed in my own personal tastes. All the best new books I’ve been reading have been firmly in the fantasy genre. For my sci-fi fix I’ve definitly been in comics and manga.     
    
Sci-Fi Author Neal Stephenson Joins Mystery Startup Magic Leap as ‘Chief Futurist’  
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Scott: 2014 Book Themes?    
    
Alex: Reading in 2015    
    
Andy: If you were able to take Veronica and Tom on an adventure (think RPG), what would their roles be?   
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Next Month’s Book Pick Poll    
    
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern    
        
ADDENDUMS    
    
Support our show on Patreon    
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find upcoming and past new releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar   

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This week we’re busy. We congratulate the winners of several year-end awards. We kick off our December book pick, The Night Circus, a beautiful novel by Erin Morgenstern. And we dive into some of the most wretched and hated terms and phrases in the professions of authorship. Mary Sue is under siege!

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Red Trolley Ale
Veronica: Red Branch Hard Apple & Honey Cider
Casey: What are YOU drinking?

QUICK BURNS

Tamahome: The Goodreads choice awards are in
Sky: Audible’s best of 2014 released. Sanderson managed to win out over UF/Paranormal 🙂
Dara: SyFy has cast the leads for The Magicians series. Jason Ralph will play Quentin Coldwater and Sosie Bacon (daughter of Kevin Bacon) will play Alice.
Nick pointed out the successful test flight of the unmanned Orion space capsule. 
Nick: Christopher Nolan rumored to be offered Ready Player One to direct
Fiona: The BBC adapted Good Omens as a 6 part audioplay. First part will air on Radio 4 on Monday 22nd December. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman have cameo appearances!
Tamahome: What James Cameron says you’ll do when you see the Avatar sequels. NSFW.http://boingboing.net/2014/11/26/james-cameron-on-avatar-sequel.html

PICKS

Andrew picked: The City and the City by China Mieville

BARE YOUR SWORD

Louie: Terms authors are tired of hearing: “Infodump,” “Mary Sue,” “Hard SF,” “Dystopian.”
What are some terms that you are tired of hearing/reading?
Marion: What Is The Strangest or Most Unique SF/Fantasy Novel That You Have Ever Read?

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Kick off: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Erin Morgenstern on The Night Circus – YouTube

the night circus | erin morgenstern

Erin Morgenstern – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ADDENDUMS

Support our show on Patreon

You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find upcoming and past new releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar

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We sing the praises of Ursula K. Leguin, marvel at the casting of HBO’s Westworld, announce our December book pick and wrap up Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick. Also, Veronica admits she would eat people. 

Ed. note: I would eat people -V

Download direct link!
 

    
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Milk (of human kindness)
Veronica: Tullamore Dew   
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Sandra: Philip K. Dick’s Short Story ‘The Crawlers’ Is Getting A Big Screen Adaptation     
    
David: Ursula K. Le Guin accepts the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the 65th National Book Awards on November 19, 2014.    
    
terpkristin: The follow-up to Brandon Sanderson’s first “Legion” novella (novelette? short story? something?) came out 11/24! It will be free from Audible for the first month, based on his blog post.   
   
Kvon: Pat Rothfuss’ Worldbuilders is once again running an sff lottery and auction to benefit Heifer Intl. 
    
David: Wesley Chu re-signs with Angry Robot Books  
    
Michele and Rob: Amazon and Hachette have reached an agreement  
    
Bookshelf: Next year HBO will have a new series.West world- With Anthony Hopkins- an adaptation of Michael Crichton’s 1973 novel of the same name.   
    
PICKS    
    
The Secret Root by D.S. Cahr suggested by Ira.      
    
Next time we’ll discuss The City and the City by China Mieville suggested by Andrew.  Post your thoughts to the thread and we’ll discuss more about them next time!     
    
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar    
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Marion: What is the one book or series you would give away to someone who is reading SF/Fantasy for the first time?   
    
Rob Secundus: Monstrously Long Audiobook Recs    
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Next month’s pick: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern    
    
Wrap up:  Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick    
    
Drew: The Toad
    
Jay: Is everyone a vegetarian or is meat only for the richest people?     
    
John: I find it interesting how Dick describes casual lack of empathy. 

ADDENDUMS    
    
Support our show on Patreon    

We have some awesome World Fantasy winners to talk about, some exciting casting news for The Magicians and The Expanse, but it really gets interesting when our “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” check-in turns into an ethics of meat-eating discussion. 

Download episode here!

 

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    

Tom: Talisker    
Veronica: Glenmorangie    
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Dara: Jonathan Nolan (Interstellar) will adapt Asimov’s Foundation trilogy for HBO.
    
Terpkristin: The 2014 World Fantasy Award winners were announced, you can read the list here. Best novel went to A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar. I think we should think about reading it sometime soon as a sword pick. 🙂 Saladin Ahmed agrees.

Sandra: Syfy’s adaptation of the ‘The Magicians’ series has cast Eliot, Penny and Julia’s roles      

Rob: Scribd is adding audio books to it’s monthly subscription service.   

Louie: Deadline reports more “”The Expanse”” casting

PICKS        

Book Discussion: The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Leguin suggested by Carrie Smith.    
    
Next time we’ll discuss The Secret Root by D.S. Cahr suggested by Ira.  Post your thoughts to the thread and we’ll discuss more about them next time!

Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar    
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
What hard science fiction do you like?    
    
Looking For Psychological Horror Recommendations    

LOCAL MEETUPS    
    
Terpkristin: MD/DC/NoVa: Looking for more members    

Stephen: Orange County: Nov. 24th 6:30 pm or so, at Barnes & Noble Booksellers    

Josh: The next San Francisco S&L meetup is Monday, Nov 24 from 6pm – 8pm at Borderlands Books!    

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION     

Check in on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep     

Bookshelf: The one thing missing in both the book and movie is the coffee.
They got the cigarettes but no coffee. (There should be at least one Night Hawks at the Diner kind of scene).

Jay: So… Why can’t empathy be programmed?     

ADDENDUMS     

Support our show at Patreon.com/swordandlaser    

It’s a jam-packed episode this week with great news for Ann Leckie and Andy Weir, our wrap-up of Alif the Unseen, kickoff of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and the determination that it’s OK to hate the book I love.

Download episode here or in the embed below!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Coffee. We’re both drinking coffee because we did this show in the morning. 

QUICK BURNS

Sandra: Ann Leckie announced on her website that her novel Ancillary Justice has been optioned for television by Fox Television Studios     
    
Tamahome: G. Willow Wilson takes over (all female) X-men after her successful Ms. Marvel stint 
    
Joe Informatico: The already stellar cast of The Martian adaptation gains Chiwetel Ejiofor, officially making it the greatest film in the annals of celluloid.     
    
Nick: The Hemingwrite   

PICKS    

Book Discussion: The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May suggested by Ralff Windwalker    
    
Next time we’ll discuss The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Leguin suggested by Carrie Smith. Post your thoughts to the thread and we’ll discuss more about them next time!     
    
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar    
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
    
Will: Amazon wants your vote on which books to publish. Amazon introduces the Kindle Scout program    
    
Trike: Counting With Covers!    
    
Nick: I tell the previous story as a metaphor(is that the right word?) for the times when a book is really really loved and popular and you read it and don’t like it but feel something must be wrong with you because you don’t get it.   

Dara: I recently finished reading Nexus and Crux by Ramez Naam.    
    
David: eBook-only series    
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Kickoff: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick        

    
Wrapup: Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson    
  
ADDENDUMS    
    
Support our show on Patreon    

We had a lovely time chatting with author Delilah S. Dawson about her struggles with Ikea furniture, brilliance on Twitter and the coining of Whimsydark. There’s also a fair amount about blud and humans. 

Download direct link here!

Buy Wicked As They Come!

In Neil Gaiman’s new book, The Sleeper and the Spindle, Sleeping Beauty gets woken by a Queen’s kiss. And there’s pictures so it did happen. Fictionally speaking. We also discuss The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan, and find out people are pleasantly surprised by the techno-thrilling coming of age fantasy that is Alif the Unseen. 

Download podcast direct here!

QUICK BURNS  

Neil Gaiman’s upcoming children’s book, The Sleeper and the Spindle 
Winners of the 2014 Aurora Awards for best Canadian SciFi    
    
Mark wrote:  “In partnership with Ideate Media, IDW Publishing is proud to announce that Dirk Gently will be appearing in his first-ever comic-book series in 2015, helping to prove the interconnectedness of all things, the precept by which Dirk Gently, Douglas Adams’ beloved fictional “holistic detective” lives. Written by Chris Ryall with art by Tony Akins. A cover for issue #1 is by Chew co-creator Rob Guillory.”

PICKS   
Book Discussion: The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan suggested by Vaughn.     

Next time we’ll discuss The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May suggested by Ralff Windwalker. Post your thoughts to the thread and we’ll discuss more about them next time!   
  
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar    
    
BARE YOUR SWORD
Best use of Time Travel in a novel?    
It’s the end of the world as we know it    
    
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson    
AtU: Religion in AtU – Net Positive or Negative by Hack    
AtU: The character of Vikram (spoilers) by Joanna    
AtU: Finished and Pleasantly Surprised? by Buzz    

ADDENDUMS    
Support our show on Patreon