The Sword and Laser

We kick off A Dance with Dragons a week early with a quick summary of the important stuff that happened in the last book, A Feast for Crows.  Don't worry if you don't want to be spoiled, we save it all to the very end and give lots of warnings.  But you have to tune in for some great Goodreads discussions, quick news, and of course the Calendar.

QUICK BURNS

Steven "Jumper" Gould's new novel 7TH SIGMA: genre-busting science fiction/western kicks ass

Neil Gaiman Reveals the Future of American Gods 

Machine of Death deadline approaches 

CALENDAR

7/12/2011 A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin

7/19/2011 Star Wars: Choices of One By Timothy Zahn

7/26/2011 Ghost Story (Dresden Files, No. 13) by Jim Butcher

7/31/2011 Troika by Alistair Reynolds

BARE YOUR SWORD

Dance with Dragons accidentally ships early

The most complex lore?

Gateway Books for Future Scifi/Fantasy Lovers

BOOK PREVIEW

A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin

Speculative World Map for A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE

The Song of Ice and Fire So Far: Part 1 - Ancient History 

The Song of Ice and Fire So Far: Part 2 - The Dragon Kings

A Song of Ice and Fire So Far Part 3: Thrones and Kings

A Song of Ice and Fire So Far Part 4: Swords and Crows

EMAILS

I have to say that I'm very curious about the sound effects others are offering for the calendar & book check-in.  I'm not very creative & don't expect to win.  However I did come across some effects that I'd like to share from www.audiomicro.com.   For the calendar the only thing I can think of is 'page flip by Soundjay'.   For the new member 'reaction cheer by Blastwavefx'.  For the book check-in 'foley book grab by Blastwavefx'.  All of these are wav format & very brief.  Because it's someone else's work, I don't know the legal issues for me to grab their work & send it to you for possible use.    What got me curious the most is the sound effects people are choosing for calendar & book check-in.  That curiosity is what lead me to see what sound effects are out there.

Robert M.

NEW MEMBER HELLOS

Austin, Brian, David, PanamaJack, ViolinKnitter, Johanna, BravePixels, Frank, Leavey, Lynn, Dinre, Lorenzo, Ian, Ashley, Tero, Alex, Raul, Edvardas, Colin, Gumberkules, John, new Michaels 1, 2, and 3, aaaaand Jason. 

John -- Long time listener, first time caller. First let me say I love the 'cast. I especially love the pace and format Veronica and Tom have adopted. (Note: As I listen, I like to picture them as the VeroniTom, a two-headed book-hoarding winged creature. Try it yourself, it gives the podcast that added extra flair.)

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 - #67 - Previously, on A Song of Ice and Fire...

This week we discuss how the Game of Thrones series is shaping up, how we make mental pictures of characters when we read, and the meaning of Hodor.

QUICK BURNS

Book Publishers, AOL To Launch New Book Recommendation Site

CALENDAR
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
5/19/2011 The Order of the Scales by Stephen Deas
5/24/2011 The Falling Machine, Andrew Mayer (Pyr)
5/25/2011 Chasing the Moon, Lee Martinez (Orbit)

BARE YOUR SWORD

How do you imagine characters when you read a novel?

Epic vs. Epoc

Hodor.

BOOK CHECK-IN

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

N. K. Jemisin is an African-American female writer of speculative fiction. Her 2010 debut novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award and the 2011 Hugo Award, and was ranked #5 on Amazon's "editors' pick" list of the year's best ten works of science fiction and fantasy.

The Inheritance Trilogy
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (2010)
The Broken Kingdoms (2010)
The Kingdom of Gods (forthcoming in 2011)

S&L Podcast - #62 - A blonde Gimli running through my head

We wrap up the Shadow of the Torturer with special guest Josh Lawrence. And there's a lot to chew on! Where did Dorcas 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

A Storm of HBO Videos

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.

Severian has mommy issues - The S&L Podcast #57