The Sword and Laser

We've opened nominations for Mad Marchness!, our March tournament of book picks. Plus, the failure of the Hugos and the rise of Romantasy. And we begin our first impressions of Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne.

Surprise, there's a problem with hosting the Hugos in China. Plus: Keanu Reeves is co-writing with China Mieville, we kick off our February read, The Shadow of the Gods. And our spoilery thoughts on The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes.

Alternatives to Goodreads, and one of them is Amazon. Which owns Goodreads. What you can and can't do with Mickey Mouse. The "Who should play Murderbot" discussion continues. Typical human and augmented human stuff! Plus why Veronica should read this month's book pick.

Are there too many Nat 20s in Kings of the Wyld, our stance on Skarsgard as Murderbot, and we introduce the January pick (which has a lot of triggers).

All the end of year book picks are out with lots of great titles to add to your own list! Did Vonnegut think he was a genre writer? And our non-spoilery thoughts about Kings of the Wyld.

Veronica now knows how to catch up on Old Man's War. Should good books not be SciFi? Is "they said" saying too much? He “sucked his teeth” is not enough! We kick off Kings of the Wyld and wrap up Mimicking of Known Successes.

We're huge fans of mushrooms! Fourth Wing is EVERYWHERE. And remember, the very aspects of a novel you might not fancy could be the same ones that captivate someone else.

Awards season is here! We're celebrating deserving winners and discussing potential TV and movie adaptations of our favorite books. This November, we're diving into a novel about trains on Jupiter and concluding our October discussion on Father’s “5D chess.”

Best books of the year? Already? How Veronica got her k-wires out. And our non-spoilery thoughts on Library at Mount Char.

Veronica's state of K-wires, the most highly-rated books in the world, we kick off our read of The Library of Mount Char, and wrap up China Mountain Zhang.