tagged 
a game of thrones, blindsight, sciencefiction, scifi
a game of thrones, blindsight, sciencefiction, scifi Entries by Veronica (188)
S&L Podcast - #60 - SciFi is hard
Posted on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 12:05AM
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 12:05AM We discover a whole new world of books to add to our reading lists thanks to the Hugo award nominations, and we dive into further discussion about what makes for hard scifi. The answer is, well, difficult.
QUICK BURNS
THE HUGO AWARD NOMINEES YOU CAN READ RIGHT NOW — FOR FREE
The GAME OF THRONES title sequence
10 of the most badass dragons ever
CALENDAR
4/26/2011 Will Super Villains Be On the Final? Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
4/28/2011 Titus Awakes by Mervyn Peake and Maeve Gilmore
5/3/2011 The Inheritance by Robin Hobb
5/3/2011 Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris - A Sookie Stackhouse Novel
5/10/2011 Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
5/10/2011 The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi (Tor)
5/17/2011 Embassytown by China Mieville
BARE YOUR SWORD
How did you like the new Doctor Who show?
BOOK CHECK-IN
EMAILS
I'm glad that I listened to your podcast. I also expected more out of the 1st episode, but welcomed the confusion/unanswered questions. I look forward & hope future episodes will fill in those blanks to keep me interested with new confusion/unanswered questions. I also agree about the 15 minutes before the premiere, what was that supposed to be anyway? LOL
I was about to get the books or ebooks to read, seriously thinking about it anyway. After listening to your podcast & hearing about the differences, I think that would add unwanted confusion. I'm not a S&L frequent listener or fantasy book reader, I wanted to hear about Game of Thrones. I may decide to hold off on the show & decide to read the book anyway. Then watch the series. Not sure yet. Probably normal having differences between the book & series, but it's new to me. At least I know not to read while watching.
Thanks for the education.
Robert
***
Hey, V&T...
Hate to sound like a PR flack (I'm not...just a reader) but I stumbled upon a real gem of a story at the Kindle store called ""Out Of The Dark"" by first-time author Lee Doty, and was impressed enough to write to you guys about it.
I took away hints of Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson, a big helping of Jim Butcher, a pinch of Tim Powers, and some essence of Elmore Leonard (all favorite authors), but this rookie manages to retain his own strong voice...and with humor no less!
Mr. Doty displays the writing chops of a veteran...pacing, character development, dialogue...all first class. No lasers, but swords, martial arts, and unconventional firearms are all employed to great effect without overwhelming the storyline.
According to his Kindle page he's a certified geek (programmer) who wrote this novel during the daily train commute to and from his day job, and he's self-published on the Kindle (good angles for an interview?)
Judging by the Kindle discussion board he's still enthusiastic enough to answer all his readers' emails personally.
Read the book for sure, but think about getting him on the podcast as well.
Cheers. Jon
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.
S&L Podcast - #59 - Throne Games
Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 at 10:44PM
Monday, April 18, 2011 at 10:44PM We're still agog over the premiere of HBO's "A Game of Thrones" television adaptation, but we also both got suckered into being spoiled and we're intrigued by the sexual landscape of "Blindsight'.
QUICK BURNS
Game of Thrones recap
HBO option Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS
Win a speaking role in the American Gods audiobook
CALENDAR
4/19/2011 "The River of Shadows by Robert V.S. Redick
4/21/2011 "The Dragon’s Path by Daniel Abraham
4/26/2011 "Will Super Villains Be On the Final? Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
4/28/2011 "Titus Awakes by Mervyn Peake and Maeve Gilmore
5/3/2011 "The Inheritance by Robin Hobb
BARE YOUR SWORD
Did you ever read a book that you really hated?
BOOK CHECK-IN
Our iTunes app is live! Thanks to Nicole Spagnuolo!!
S&L Podcast - #58 - Blindsight Kick-off
Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 8:09PM
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 8:09PM We're kicking off our brand new book selection, Blindsight, by Peter Watts! We don't have too many Quick Burns today... mostly just GoT news. Would you expect anything less?
QUICK BURNS
OMG GAME OF THRONES STARTS APRIL 17
Map of the free cities.
CALENDAR
4/12/2011 After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughan
4/12/2011 "All the Lives He Led, Frederik Pohl (Tor)
4/19/2011 "The River of Shadows by Robert V.S. Redick
4/21/2011 "The Dragon’s Path by Daniel Abraham
4/26/2011 "Will Super Villains Be On the Final? Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
4/28/2011 "Titus Awakes by Mervyn Peake and Maeve Gilmore
5/3/2011 "The Inheritance by Robin Hobb
BARE YOUR SWORD
The Kingkiller Chronicles > Penny Arcade Comic
Novels About People Playing Videogames
Geek Smackdown: George R.R. Martin disses on Lost
sword and laser question ( sales credit)
BOOK KICK-OFF
Blindsight by Peter Watts
From Wikipedia: Blindsight is a hard science fiction novel by Peter Watts, published by Tor Books in 2006. On 29 March 2007, it was nominated for the Hugo Award in the Best Novel category.[1] Watts has also released the novel online under the by-nc-sa Creative Commons license.[2] The novel deals with a crew of astronauts investigating an extraterrestrial entity and explores the nature of identity and consciousness. The title refers to blindsight, a neurological condition with implications for philosophy of mind.
The Chinese Room scenario features prominently in the book.
EMAILS
Thanks to Harold for making us an Infostripe!
