The Sword and Laser

We're very excited about the Expanse coming back and Gail Carriger's plans and that the "What are we drinking" segment got a good review! Plus the different takes on mythology from our two latest book picks.

Brian McClellan joins us to talk about his latest book, Wrath of Empire (second book in the Gods of Blood and Powder series). Plus we find out why he may not want to time travel, and what his writing kryptonite is!

So many awards! Locus, Scribe, Parsec, oh my! Plus why we think maybe it's OK to read the 21 books you shouldn't read, and we kick off Tanith Lee's amazing Night's Master.

Have you ever walked into a book store and just froze? Us too. We'll talk you through it. Plus we announced the May book pick and Tanith Lee fans will be happy! Because it's by Tanith Lee! Also the wrap-up for We Are Legion (We are Bob).

We are SO excited to be nominated for the Hugos! Thank you! Also the return of the Expanse and why Amazon will spend $1 billion on a Middle Earth show.

The March tournament was so much fun, and in the end we'll read We Are Legion (We Are Bob) which is an appropriately fun book. We also talk about other podcasts that are cool to listen to, plus our last thoughts on the beautiful complexity of An Unkindness of Ghosts.

More Pratchett TV coming, and more Rothfuss books?  Plus more deep discussion about an Unkindness of Ghosts, including why blurbs may lead you astray.

Tom tries to convince Veronica to fight hate, but A Wrinkle In Time has her questioning love's power.

Hey the Hugo nominations are open and you can vote for us! Also Firefly is coming back as books. And the Hugo nominations are open and you can vote for us. Plus StoryBundle has an awesome set of books called Black Narratives! And the Hugo nominations are open and you can vote for us. Oh and the Locus Awards are open for voting. That one... you can't vote for us. But you can vote for us in the Hugos.

We share our memories and thoughts on the passing of Ursula K. Leguin. We also talk about how silly it is to think anybody but George R. R. Martin truly knows the release date for Winds of Winter, and discover the true villain of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.