The Sword and Laser

Read along with the Sword and Laser book club! From classic science fiction to the latest gritty fantasy, we cover it. Subscribe for book discussions, author interviews, hot releases, and news from the genre fiction world!<hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

#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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11-21
33:09

#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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11-07
48:23

#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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

10-10
35:01

#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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

09-25
52:40

#519 - No Stomach for Old Salad

#519 - No Stomach for Old Salad by Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

09-11
31:02

#518 - Hugo Bump Yourself

#518 - Hugo Bump Yourself by Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

09-05
55:00

#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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

08-15
36:45

#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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

08-03
53:26

#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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

07-17
39:51

#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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

07-04
01:09:39

#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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

06-19
40:36

#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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

06-05
31:39

#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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

05-28
47:21

#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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

05-10
36:00

#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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

04-25
52:04

#508 - Sexy, Sexy, Mind Palace

We have Murderbot trailer! And we like it! Plus, the Hugo nominees are out and we wrap up our thoughts on The City and the City and begin our April dungeon crawl. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

04-10
54:00

#507 - Book Goblin

Tom forgot to write the intro to the show this week, so you’re stuck with the Veronica Edition. March is still full of madness, which makes sense because it’s a full moon eclipse coming up and Venus is in retrograde. Or something! We check in on The City and The City by China Miéville, and we see and unsee your perspectives on the book thus far. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

03-13
40:49

#506 - SECs Unit

March Madness has begun, so get your votes in now. Plus do we like Alexander Skarsgard as Murderbot? And our final thoughts on Will of the Many and non-spoiler intro to The City and the City. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

02-26
58:30

#505 - The Roman Empire is My Roman Empire

The nominations have begun for our March Tournament! Why do we care if eBooks and print books are the same? And our first thoughts on The Will of the Many. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

02-13
50:35

#504 - The Miéville Effect

We have the best 25 books coming out in the next six months and the best 25 books of the last 25 years. Goodbye to the Science Fiction Book Club, our final thoughts on The Ministry of Time, and we kick off our read of The Will of the Many. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

01-30
58:58

Chris Perry

"stars my destination"

04-26 Reply

Shaun Hughes

the best genre fiction podcast around, can't recommend it enough

08-06 Reply

iTunes User

Very fun hosts for the show. Guest author interviews. New books and classics discussed. Production standards are top-notch. I cannot recommend this podcast enough.

08-30 Reply

iTunes User

Been listening to these two for years now and this is another one that you just shouldn't miss.

08-30 Reply

iTunes User

Are you kidding me? I would listen to these two reading the Yellow Pages. Great podcast!

08-30 Reply

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