The Sword and Laser

Mar 12 2025 370 ep. 38 mins 18.9k

The Sword and Laser Podcast artwork

Read along with the Sword and Laser book club! From classic science fiction to the latest gritty fantasy, we cover it. Subscribe for book discussions, author interviews, hot releases, and news from the genre fiction world!

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#507 - Book Goblin

Mar 12 2025 40 mins

Tom forgot to write the intro to the show this week, so you’re stuck with the Veronica Edition. March is still full of madness, which makes sense because it’s a full moon eclipse coming up and Venus is in retrograde. Or something! We check in on The City and The City by China Miéville, and we see and unsee your perspectives on the book thus far.

#506 - SECs Unit

Feb 25 2025 58 mins

March Madness has begun, so get your votes in now. Plus do we like Alexander Skarsgard as Murderbot? And our final thoughts on Will of the Many and non-spoiler intro to The City and the City.

#505 - The Roman Empire is My Roman Empire

Feb 12 2025 50 mins

The nominations have begun for our March Tournament! Why do we care if eBooks and print books are the same? And our first thoughts on The Will of the Many.

#504 - The Miéville Effect

Jan 29 2025 58 mins

We have the best 25 books coming out in the next six months and the best 25 books of the last 25 years. Goodbye to the Science Fiction Book Club, our final thoughts on The Ministry of Time, and we kick off our read of The Will of the Many.

#503 - Tapeworms and Time Travel

Jan 14 2025 46 mins

Tom is safe. Stephen has had three New Years, and we all love Graham Gore. But the best part of the show is Veronica's parade of diseases.

#502 - Rhubarb Abercrumble

Jan 05 2025 48 mins

We kick off our January read, wrap up Akata Witch, and welcome in new public domain characters. There's a new Lord of the Rings movie this year. Yay! Plus, Veronica had a rhubarb cider, and Joe Abercrombie looks great for 50!

#501 - One Missed S-Call-Zi

Dec 18 2024 42 mins

It's end-of-year book list time! And we have a list of our favorite end-of-year lists. Plus, our initial thoughts on Akata Witch!

#500 - 500 Gargle Blasters!

Nov 27 2024 60 mins

We celebrate our 500th episode in the best way we know how—by asking ChatGPT to get our stats wrong. PLUS, announcing the book pick for December and sharing our final thoughts on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

#499 - Hugs for Your Ears

Nov 12 2024 39 mins

We decided to take a break from the usual format and recommend some BIPOC and LGBTQIA authors. Plus, we kick off The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in case you need some comic relief.

#498 - Weird Things With Burritos

Oct 17 2024 43 mins

We wrap up our thoughts on A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. Tom lays down some very obscure hints about the next pick. And why we’re glad Andy Weir got fired.