Well folks it’s wrap-up time for The Moon is Harsh Mistress and… sadly… Veronica hasn’t finished. But we wrap up anyway and Tom makes a shocking revelation that lets Veronica off the hook. And he finished Moon, so it’s not that.
QUICK BURNS
New ‘Game of Thrones’ teaser (video)
Why a universe-hopping entrepreneur may be your next big hero
William Gibson reveals a “secret experiment” in his Bridge Trilogy, and ponders A.I.
Gibson dropped some hints about a little stealth tie-in to Zero History that’s going to happen on Twitter soon. Let’s just say that you should keep an eye on the Twitter accounts @gaydolphin1 and @gaydolphin2 – those of you who’ve read the novel know what those accounts are related to.
BARE YOUR SWORD – feedback from the audience
Why did he die? (SPOILERS)
Human Judgment vs. Machines
The City & The City is a missed opportunity (SPOILERS)
BOOK WRAP-UP
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Veronica still has not finished, she’s prepared for her flogging. Tom’s thoughts?
NEW BOOK
We’re taking suggestions from Classic Fantasy on Goodreads then we’ll put it up to a vote.
EMAILS
Hi Veronica, Tom
I will try and keep it pithy but I get “wordy” sometimes. 🙂 I asked
the question at dragon con if future podcasts could contain a 5 minute
segment looking back at classic epic fantasy of the 70s and 80s when
readers were starving for good reads. I was thinking of producing my
own podcast on this subject but you guys have built a nice listener
base so you can do more with this than I.
In October, Stephen R. Donaldson will be releasing his newest novel,
“Against All Things Ending”, the third book in a four book series that
completes the tale of Thomas Covenant he began in 1977 with the book
“Lord Foul’s Bane”. In the 70s & 80s Donaldson sold over 40 million
copies and was second only to Tollkien at one time. These books are
GOLD.
Another retro author with an impending release is Katherine Kurtz, who
will soon release the third book of her “Chylde Morgan” trilogy. This
is also a tale that began back in the 70s.
These two great authors have been overshadowed by Jordan and Martin
but are easily their equals or better. Please put these on your
reading list and introduce this generation’s readers to some classic
epic fantasy.
If I can be of any assistance in the production of this segment please
don’t hesitate to let me know.
Regards,
Roman Thompson
************
Veronica and Tom,
A late addition, but just finished reading Accelerando by Charles Stross. The Earth and the inner planets are completely deconstructed and rebuilt into data storage and processing power for the digital needs of the human race. So, voluntary, resource savvy, non-Armageddon style Earth recycling.
Regards,
Peter Hourigan
The following is an excerpt from the Wikipedia page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerando_(novel)
Plot concepts
In Accelerando, the planets of the solar system are dismantled to form a Matrioshka brain, a vast computational device inhabited by minds inconceivably more complex than naturally evolved intelligences such as human beings. This proves to be a normal stage in the life cycle of an inhabited solar system; the galaxies are filled with Matrioshka brains, communicating via wormhole networks. Lesser intelligences may live unmolested around brown dwarf stars.
************
I just listened to #40. I highly recommend Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in the audio version. I got this at my library and it was very good. Don’t give up on the somewhat boring beginning, it’s a superb story.
Thanks for the great podcasts!
Peggy Poellot
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS
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.
We suggested:
The City and The City, by China Mieville, read by John Lee
Zero History, by William Gibson Narrated by Robertson Dean
And by our Partner Sticker Fu. Use the code Sword1 and get 10% off the stickers at www.stickerfu.com