In 1977 – NASA launched Voyager 1 after a brief delay. Although it was launched 16 days after Voyager 2, it’s faster flight path would take it past Jupiter first.
In 1980 – The last IBM 7030, AKA STRETCH, mainframe computer was decommissioned at Brigham Young University.
In 1984 – STS-41-D ends with the landing of the Space Shuttle Discovery after its maiden voyage.
In this episode, we learn how to control Veronica using the power of her “true name”: Nathan! Like the hot dogs! We also talk about the fine art of seducing writers.
In just a month I’ll be winging my way to Atlanta once again for Dragon*Con! This year my schedule has been spread out lightly like butter across the four days. If you’re going to be at the Con, here’s where you can find me if you’d like to say hey.
Friday August 31
Panel: Tech News
Tom Merritt discusses what it takes to keep up with the ever-changing tech news industry, and how they keep the hit podcast, ‘Tech News Today’ running.
Time: Fri 04:00 pm Location: Crystal Ballroom – Hilton (Length: 1 Hour)
FSL Tonight LIVE!
Justin Robert Young and myself will bring you the post-game wrap-up from the FSL championship. Vulcan vs. Lannisport? Coruscant vs. Rivendell? Whatever it ends up being, we’ll be there, with special guests.
Time: Fri 05:30 pm Location: 204 – Hilton (Length: 1 Hour)
Saturday September 1
Sword and Laser Podcast – LIVE
We’ll do a live version of our audio podcast with a special guest author and take your questions. So get to reading!
Time: Sat 02:30 pm Location: Crystal Ballroom – Hilton (Length: 1 Hour)
Parsec Awards
The Parsec Awards are the yearly awards for speculative fiction podcasts. I’ll be presenting, and Veronica Belmont will be hosting!
Time: Sun 04:30 pm Location: International North Room – Hyatt
Sunday September 2
Panel: Irrational and Mistaken
Brian Brushwood, myself and some other guests will discuss how public perceptions of science and scams and irrational and mistaken beliefs affect the ability to explain the world in news and entertainment.
Time: 5:30 PM 207 / 206 / 205 – Hilton (Length: 1 Hour)
Monday September 3
Geek & Sundry Panel!
Meet some of the minds behind Geek & Sundry including The Guild and Sword & Laser!
Time: Mon 10:00 am Location: Grand Ballroom A-F – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)
We wrap up the Shadow of the Torturer with special guest Josh Lawrence. And there’s a lot to chew on! Where did Dorkus come from? Is the botanic gardens a time travel device? Like a Tardis? And what’s with Severian’s Mommy issues.
QUICK BURNS
Publication delays for the next Ian Tregellis novel
More DANCE WITH DRAGONS and GAME OF THRONES news
Stephen King has a new “Dark Tower” book coming in 2012
Richard Morgan finishes the Cold Commands
Neal Stephenson’s gold farming thriller, REAMD
New Shel Silverstein book scheduled for September
CALENDAR
3/29/2011 “Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente Tor
3/29/2011 “Soft Apocalypse, Will McIntosh (Nightshade)
3/31/2009 “A Kingdom Besieged by Raymond E. Feist
4/1/2011 “Sea of Ghosts by Alan Campbell
4/12/2011 “After the Golden Age, Carrie Vaughn (Tor)
4/12/2011 “All the Lives He Led, Frederik Pohl (Tor)
BARE YOUR SWORD
Odd coincidences btw your SF/F reading and the real world
List of 12 recommended dystopian novels on HuffPost
What do you think the Claw is?
BOOK WRAP-UP
Shadow & Claw: The First Half of ‘The Book of the New Sun’ (Book of the Long Sun)
A comic book adaptation of Shadow
ADDENDUMS
This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 75,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, non-fiction and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to audiblepodcast.com/sword.
Partner Sticker Fu. Use the code Sword1 and get 10% off the stickers at stickerfu.com.
TWiT’s Brian Brushwood and myself are headed to Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia, September 3-5, streaming live from one of the biggest SciFi/Fantasy /Geekfests in the world. They’ll be streaming the parade of costumed awesomeness, walking through the hotels talking with cosplayers, and sneaking into parties where nobody should probably bring a camera.
If you’re going to be in Atlanta, be sure to head to our meetup on Saturday night at 6 PM Eastern at the Sundial Restaurant in the Westin Peachtree Hotel.
Coverage begins Saturday morning at 10 AM Eastern/7AM Pacific at live.twit.tv. Here’s the full schedule
Live on TWiT
Friday September 3
7 PM Eastern/4 PM Pacific NSFW Show Live – Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young bring their Internet madness and hilarity to Dragon*Con. Expect the unexpected and special surprise guests. (1 Hour)
Saturday September 4
10 AM Eastern/7 AM Pacific Dragon*con Parade – ever seen 20 wookies walk through the center of a major metropolitan area? Followed by a battalion of Stargate Officers, who are being chased by a dozen Boba Fetts? Well, then you haven’t seen the Dragon*Con parade. (2-3 Hours)
8 PM Eastern/5 PM Pacific Meetup and Party tour – Tom Merritt gives you a glimpse inside the TWiT meetup at the Sundial Restaurant, then heads out to Brian Brushwood’s magic show. Afterward they’ll sample some of the Dragon*Con nightlife. Geek parties! (2 hours)
Sunday September 5
12:00 PM Eastern/9 AM Pacific Dragon*con tour – Tom and Brian walk through the hotels meeting and chatting with stars and fans alike. You’ll get to hang out at Dragon*Con without ever leaving home. (2 hours)
Panels
In addition to the TWiT coverage, I’ll be participating in several panels. Here’s my scheduled appearances:
Friday 9/3 1:00 PM Podcasting Track Kick Off panel Hilton 204
Friday 9/3 2:30 PM Skepticism, Scams and Consumerism panel Hilton 207
Friday 9/3 7:00 PM Writing and Skepticism panel Hilton 207
Sunday 9/5 4:00 PM Sword and laser LIVE – International North Hyatt
And I’ll be recording an interview with the Tech Stuff podcast on Sunday morning.
It’s time to pick a new book, but for some reason we just can’t stop talking about George R. R. Martin. And in some cases singing about him. But we DID pick a new book and it’s The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. It involves relativity, interstellar war and sad soldiers. In fact it’s sometimes thought of as an anti-Starship Troopers. We think this book is a timely choice as Ridley Scott is making a 3D movie out of it. More on that in this and future episodes. If you want a sneak peek, take a look at this Forever War’ Concept Art .
Also don’t forget we’re doing a live Sword and Laser in Atlanta at Dragon*Con! The show takes place Friday evening, September 4 at 8:30 PM in Hilton room 204. It will be Veronica, me and special guest Timothy Zahn. Other guests may be announced as well.
BARE YOUR SWORD – feedback from the audience.
Audio books are no good for SF
Do you like your endings with everything-wrapped-up or open-ended?
Hi Tom and Veronica,
John Anealio’ George R. R. Martin is not your bitch.
QUICK BURNS – unrelated news of the month
Robo-Ethicists Want to Revamp Asimov’s 3 Laws
A Game Of Thrones pilot script leaked
A brief history of SteamPunk
Personal Effects: Dark Art by JC Hutchins. The book with a lot of cool extra materials.
Tagline Contest
Congratulations Barry O’Neil “Different worlds – different discussion”
We loved A Game of Thrones, but you’ll have to listen to find out why. We also get into fantasy metal songs with a metal expert, and report some news on the Game of Thrones on HBO.
ADDENDUMS
Game of Thrones Wikis
Unnoficial Songs of Ice and Fire
A Wiki of Ice and Fire
But Tower of the Hand is much much better! Thanks Padwen!
Game of Thrones being shot for HBO Sean Bean cast as Lord Eddard.
BARE YOUR SWORD – feedback from the audience
What Was Robert’s Rebellion Really About (Minor Spoilers, Major Speculation)
Check out these lizards they’ve discovered that swim through sand in the Sahara. They didn’t mention it, but I’m guessing they smell like cinnamon. 
Love the Show,
Dave in Portland
Abner Senires sings amazing parody songs… this one is about the Kwisatz Haderach.
ENGAGE – Interviews with interesting characters
Talking to Charles Davis, from Metal Gamer and the Chizzle and Dizzle show.
Holy Thunder Force: Charles dares you not to air guitar to this one.
Rain of a Thousand Flames: This the one that has a nude woman in it, but Charles assures us, it is definitely the most ridiculous one they have made.
Unholy WarCry: 10 minutes long and the one that has Christopher Lee dressed in a giant king costume.
Magic of the Wizard’s Dream: Charles says it’s not that interesting of a music video, but it’s the one he mentioned that has Christopher Lee singing on it.
QUICK BURNS – unrelated news of the month
Download DroidMaker for free
1969 Hugo Awards. Neil Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin and Michael Collins received a Hugo Award in 1969 for The Best Moon Landing Ever. Also Novella “Dragonrider” by Anne McCaffrey [Analog Dec 1967,Jan 1968]
Tagline Contest
Come up with a tagline for The Sword and Laser! The winner will have their words emblazoned on the back of our new t-shirts, which will be making their debut at Dragon*Con this September!” Email [email protected] by Wednesday July 29.