The Sword and Laser

The Sword and Laser

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!

Episodes

#524 - 4 Stars: Clean, Not Cozy!

December 5, 2025 • 48 mins
The Floating Hotel was a great deal, and we really enjoyed it when we checked in. During our stay we met some really interesting folks, and the staff was fabulous. There was some murder, but in the end we were more concerned with the identity of the Lamplighter. And the cocktails were quite delicious. We enjoyed the continental breakfast, because it included so many continents.

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#523 - Ship Happens

November 20, 2025 • 33 mins
Should the Floating Hotel be called a “space cruise ship”? Why Veronica can't make change. Tom tries not to insult Stephen's intelligence. And hoorah for N. K. Jemisin!

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#522 - Punchin' Shrimp and Grits

November 6, 2025 • 48 mins
Robert Jackson Bennett deserves more kudos. We clarify it's a tapas bar, not a topless bar. And our thoughts on the new book, Floating Hotel, and the wrap-up of Interview with the Vampire.

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#521 - The Portions Are Too Big!

October 9, 2025 • 35 mins
We revel in the Lammy Awards, follow the tale of root beer, and discuss our first, or most recent, impressions of Interview with the Vampire.

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#520 - Alternate Batman

September 25, 2025 • 52 mins
Tom reports from the Matt Dinniman book event in LA, we kick off our Interview with the Vampire read, and share our last spoilery thoughts on The Hexologists and why we think the writing doorway is the strongest one for this book.

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#519 - No Stomach for Old Salad

September 11, 2025 • 31 mins
#519 - No Stomach for Old Salad by Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont

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#518 - Hugo Bump Yourself

September 4, 2025 • 55 mins
#518 - Hugo Bump Yourself by Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont

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#517 - She Who Became Herstory

August 14, 2025 • 36 mins
We get a history listen and revisit accents. And the clean blade battle is confirmed for WorldCon 2029. Plus our non-spoilery first impressions of She Who Became the Sun.

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#516 - I Know What You Did Last Book Briefing

August 2, 2025 • 53 mins
Why taste in books is like taste in food. Plus, our final thoughts on Joe Abercrombie's The Devils. And the Ruth-Veronica feud heats up. Also, Tom likes fish sticks. Literally.

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#515 - The Details in the Devils

July 17, 2025 • 39 mins
We cast The Devils, try to apologize to Ruth, and recall other food-related romantasy. Plus, Veronica has a shameful tequila revelation.

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#514 - The Rebirths of Wesley Chu

July 4, 2025 • 69 mins
Wesley Chu joins us to talk about The Lives of Tao and Jan is back, so we have loads of news including Locus Award Winners and the British Fantasy Society shortlist. Plus Tom sings. We're all sorry about that. Also, we almost named this episode The Lives of Wesley Chu until we realized we had already done that in 2014.

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#513 - A Civil War-burton

June 18, 2025 • 40 mins
Everything is out of context. But we do have interesting thoughts about The Lives of Tao and lots of congrats for the winners and nominees of the Nebulas and more.

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#512 - Deep Dish is SciPie

June 4, 2025 • 31 mins
We speculate on how James Cameron will make The Devils and whether Frankenstein will be too scary for Veronica. And we further kick off The Lives of Tao.

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#511 - Throw Me in the Corpse Hole

May 28, 2025 • 47 mins
We discuss the return of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Frank Herbert’s posthumous SFWA Infinity Award, Audible’s AI narration plans and Amazon’s cancellation of The Wheel of Time—while nominating hamburg steak and vegan enchiladas and sharing listener stories from Matt Dinniman’s event. We round out the show with in-depth discussions of The Lives of Tao and Mickey 7.

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#510 - A New Theseus

May 10, 2025 • 36 mins
From Hugo admins resigning over AI panel vetting to the latest award winners and a fresh Murderbot clip—to set the stage for our book club pick. Then we dig into Mickey 7’s Ship of Theseus dilemma, sharing listener takes (yes, even foot‑fetishting AIs) and the questions that keep us up at night.

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#509 - New Achievement!

April 24, 2025 • 52 mins
We wrap up Dungeon Crawler Carl, including our horrible imitations of Jeff Hays. Plus, we announce the next pick for May and ponder data-driven determinations of the best SFF books of Tom’s life.

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#508 - Sexy, Sexy, Mind Palace

April 9, 2025 • 54 mins
We have Murderbot trailer! And we like it! Plus, the Hugo nominees are out and we wrap up our thoughts on The City and the City and begin our April dungeon crawl.

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#507 - Book Goblin

March 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.

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#506 - SECs Unit

February 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.

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#505 - The Roman Empire is My Roman Empire

February 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.

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