The Sword and Laser

We talk with author Beth Cato, author of The Clockwork Dagger, about why healers are never the hero in genre fiction and how she decided to change that. We also press her for baked brie recipes and discover how the Foo Fighters helped shape Octavia Leander.

First off we now have a 100% record picking Nebula-award winning books for the club. That’s 100% of the last two years. So take note Nebula-wanters! Also we’re very excited about a new series from University of Illinois Press called the Masters of Science Fiction. You can find out William Gibson’s secrets!

Peter Orullian wears many hats. He is an author, musician, and has worked for many years at Microsoft on the XBox team. Today we talk about his series The Vault of Heaven, get the scoop on his all-time favorite music, and hear why Peter believes there is no such thing as writer's block.

We congratulate John Scalzi on his book deal (while Veronica teases about his Lock In Sequel’s title), applaud Ernest Cline’s choice of audiobook narrator and have polar opposite opinions about Leigh Brackett’s “Sword of Rhiannon.”

We talk with Rachel Aaron about why she doesn't worry about genre anymore and how she had to fight the siren song of Warcraft to become a professional writer.

Everything you’ve ever read seems to be coming to TV. Plus Veronica tries to uncover Tom’s secret political conspiracy, while Tom changes Veronica’s opinion of 1940s era swashbuckling.

Rucksack Universe Author and Pratchett Enthusiast, Anthony St. Clair joins us to wrap up our reading of Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters. Is Granny Weatherwax a conduit for Pratchett's righteous anger? Does Tom live next to Nanny Ogg? All these mysteries and more revealed.

We're excited and fearful about a new chapter from George R.R. Martin's Winds of Winter, we're hopeful about new books from John Scalzi and Ann Leckie and we're just a little wistful and/or angry about the Hugos.

We give our last thoughts on The Goblin Emperor, kick of our April pick, Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett and discuss why some author names are bigger than their titles. But what really gets this episode going is the debate about whether a reader has the right to "clean up" an author's language.

We talk with Peter V. Brett about his new book, cool tattoos and the last enjoyable book he read. The Skull Throne, 4th in the Demon Cycle series, comes out March 31, 2015.