The Sword and Laser

Joe Abercrombie, author of The First Law trilogy, joins us to talk his fantasy western Red Country, letting go of fan favorite characters, and Logen Ninefinger's favorite whiskey.

More about our guest, Joe Abercrombie:
On the Web: http://www.joeabercrombie.com/
On Goodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/276660.Joe_Abercrombie

More on Joe's Works:

The First Law Trilogy: 
The Blade Itself: http://www.joeabercrombie.com/books/the-blade-itself/
Before They Are Hanged:http://www.joeabercrombie.com/books/before-they-are-hanged/
Last Argument of Kings:http://www.joeabercrombie.com/books/the-last-argument-of-kings/

Standalone Novels:
Best Served Cold: http://www.joeabercrombie.com/books/best-served-cold/
The Heroes: http://www.joeabercrombie.com/books/the-heroes/
Red Country: http://www.joeabercrombie.com/books/red-country/

"Morally Ambiguous Grey" by Aaron:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI9qDP3Biio

QUICK BURNS

Joe Abercrombie's next book gets a title

Can 32,000 Data Points Yield The Perfect Book Recommendation?

New China Mieville book gets a title 

Hugo winners, 2011

CALENDAR

8/23/2011 - The Measure of the Magic: Legends of Shannara By Terry Brooks
8/23/2011 - The Power of Six (I Am Number Four) By Pittacus Lore
9/6/2011 - Legacy of Kings by C. S. Friedman
9/6/2011 - Tears of the Sun: A novel of change by S. M. Stirling

TV and Movies

For Croatian ASoIaF and GoT fans

3 new actors for GAME OF THRONES, plus Hellboy wants a part

INTERVIEW

Kristian Nairn plays Hodor on the HBO series Game of Thrones. He's also a DJ and WoW player!

Did he ever just wish his character was mute so he could stop saying "Hodor!"? Also, did he answer a casting call? If so what was the character description? -- Nick

Since this is his first major role, I'd like to know a bit about the casting process. How did he land role? What was the audition like? (a lot of Hodoring one would expect) --  Tero

I'd like to know how much say he had in his dialogue. No, seriously. There was a distinct lack of Hodoring in the show and I'd really like to know if he was involved in any discussions on how much Hodor is too much Hodor. I'm wondering whether they were toning it down to not grate on people, or if they just didn't have time to explain his backstory and didn't want people wondering about it until they'd had a chance to. -- Been

As a fellow big guy (6'7"" and about 280) did he have problems walking around the castles? I almost knocked myself out walking through a castle in Wales wearing a baseball cap. I walked strait into a stone door frame I could not see b/c the hat bill blocked it. Can only imagine how tough that would be with someone riding piggy back. -- Alden

Do you think that Hodor has intense internal thought but is unable to communicate it effectively? He can clearly understand what other people expect of him and can look after himself in other ways. -- Michael

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 - #72 - Interview with Kristian Nairn (Hodor!)

Photo by Lou AbercrombieWe have the pleasure of talking with Joe Abercrombie, author of The First Law trilogy and his most recent book, set in the same world, The Heroes. We also delve into the darker nature of fantasy these days, how that thieving leech Tolkien stole all of Joe's ideas and then time traveled backwards to make them look like his own, and we take some questions from Twitter.

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 and featuring audio versions of many New York Times Best Sellers. For listeners of this podcast, Audible is offering a free audiobook, to give you a chance to try out their service. For a free audiobook of your choice go to audiblepodcast.com/sword. On Audible now: The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie.

Partner Sticker Fu. Use the code Sword1 and get 10% off the stickers at stickerfu.com.

Interview with Joe Abercrombie - The S&L Podcast #56