The Sword and Laser

We ponder on Matt Damon's role in The Martian, why we love to hate villains, and the role of philosophy and ideology in Octavia Butler's Dawn. Join us, before Veronica falls into the hellmouth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ken Liu's short story "The Paper Menagerie" swept the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards. His short story, "Mono no aware" won the 2013 Hugo, and his novella "The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary" was also nominated for a Hugo. We caught up with him at this year's Nebula awards and asked him if he takes writing-enhancement supplements. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We break down our June book pick, Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan, and find out why it's actually four or five books and its gods are not what they seem. Also we set up our July pick from Octavia Butler and decide whether warp speed is actually coming or not. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk to Emily Jiang at the Nebula Awards about her book Summoning the Phoenix, her foray into children's books and what she has planned for a full novel. Hint, it involves magic and spies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Would you like to be in a George R. R. Martin Book? Got $20K? Don't mind being killed? Good. You can help wolves. Also we give our first impressions of Brian McClellan's The Promise of Blood and talk Geekomancy with Michael Underwood. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Weber joins Tom Merritt at BayCon to talk about the origins of his writing, the journey of Honor Harrington and how he relies on his fans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We intersect with Mr. Samuel R. Delany at the Nebula Awards to talk about his writings, old and new, and the role of science fiction, plus more stimulating conversation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Veronica is back from China to regale us tales of motorboating pandas, but first we announce our June book pick and wrap-up The Martian by Andy Weir. Is it as scientifically accurate as so many say? We get an aerospace engineer's perspective. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We chat with Ann Leckie mere hours before she wins a Nebula award, about what it's like to get so many awards, and what's coming next for fans of her award-winning novel, Ancillary Justice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

N. K. Jemisin writes fiction that reads like history in the best way. But could it also be romance? We ask N. K. Jemisin that and how she's able to keep a day job and still write amazing fiction. We also find out what trope she'd like to give a rest. It's our season finale and we couldn't think of a better person to help us wrap things up in style! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.