Long show tonight, so I’ll keep the blog post short! In case you haven’t finished the book yet, there are SPOILERS in this podcast for Neal Stephenson’s Anathem, so beware! Don’t forget to take a look at the ever-growing Wikia page for Anathem.

We also want to congratulate Michael M., who won the last contest (and wins a Logitech headset!). Here is his winning closing sentence:

“With palpable relief Schuman slumped over the rail waiting for the pool of magma to close over the briefcase and reflected to himself that he still hadn’t had a cup of coffee.”

That’s a book I’d like to read! We also want to remind you of our special offer from Audible for the first story in the original audiobook, METAtropolis!

We’ll be going back to a regular weekly or bi-weekly format now, so look for Tom’s pick for the next book soon!

Check out Audible!
Journey to a world beyond words with Audible Sci-Fi & Fantasy. Check out Audible for exclusive access to your favorite sci-fi and fantasy authors and exclusive commentary.  In addition, the new imprint, Audible Frontiers features new and sometimes previously unavailable audio books made available for the first time in audio.  Click here for a free trial offer and get your first audio book free.

Tom and Roger try not to talk about politics and fail. But they do talk about pirates. So they have that going for them.

Listen to the show at this link: http://www.archive.org/download/RogerChangandTomMerrittEastMeetsWest138/eastmeetswest138.mp3

Between a sick dog, family visits, crazy work schedules, adn more, we may be skipping the episode this week. Assume we wont ave one and maybe we’ll surprise you later on. We should be back next week though!

While they aren’t a sponsor, Audible.com has been kind enough to treat Sword and Laser fans to a free download of the first story from their new Metatropolis series. So we said, why not?! METAtropolis is an interesting project. It’s an original audiobook, meaning there’s no print version. The stories are published directly to audio. The first story is entitled “In the Forest of the Night” written by Jay Lake (author of “Mindspring“) and features the voice of Michael Hogan better known to many of you as Colonel Tigh from Battlestar Galatica. The complete audio book, featuring five unabridged novellas will be released on Oct. 21, 2008.

Go here to download the first story of the audio book. No credit card required, though you will have to create an account. Hey they wanna get something out of you for free.

Don’t feel like registering for an account? No problem. Audible’s also throwing in a free sample of another story from METAtropolis called “To Hie From Far Cienia” by Karl Schroder (read by Stefan Rudnicki). This isn’t the whole story, but there’s nothing required except to click to download.

Download sample of “To Hie from far Ciena”

Let us know what you think of the series, and the idea of free stuff like this in the comments!

Tom and Roger talk finances, but this is not investment advice. They also take up the issue of Washington Insiders again.

Get the episode at this link: http://www.archive.org/download/RogerChangandTomMerrittEastMeetsWest137/eastmeetswest137.mp3

Roger and Tom talk more about the US presidential race and the criticism of professorial. They also muse on the financial crisis of course and even touch on secessionist states.

Play podcast at this link – http://www.archive.org/download/RogerChangandTomMerrittEastMeetsWest136/eastmeetswest136.mp3

Welcome back everyone! So, I’m still trying to figure out why my audio sounds like crap, while Tom sounds great. It’s especially grating since, you know, I’m supposed to be an audio producer and all. How embarrassing! We’ll work it out soon, I promise. Anyhow, here’s the show:

Book #8 is going to be Anathem, by Neal Stephenson. The two interesting things about this book are that a) it’s super long and b) it’s only available in hardcover and Kindle versions. We’re also going to give everyone some more time than usual to get through this 900-someodd page book.

CONTEST

Here’s the poll for the Best Closing Line Contest! Here are the choices:

1. Michael H. — A smile crept into his eyes and with his walking stick in one hand, and the orb faintly glowing in the other, Gabriel set off across the street, scanning the horizon for traffic, and making a mental note to take better care next time he bought a tchochki from a Devonian Barkeep.

2. Michael M. — With palpable relief Schuman slumped over the rail waiting for the pool of magma to close over the briefcase and reflected to himself that he still hadn’t had a cup of coffee.

3. Shane G. — And it came to pass in the last days of the lost colony that the swords were broken and the lasers died and the people cried out to the unhearing heavens from which they had come saying, “If any remain among the stars, for your lives, do not part the quantum jelly!”

4. Gregory F. — After the dust had settled and the sound of battle waned, Sabrina and Julia found each other amongst the ruins.  The sisters then knew they had won, and once again evil would sleep.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

The winner gets a Logitech USB Headset!

FROM THE NING GROUP

Music while reading

Frogg
Lately, I have been doing a good chunk of my reading on the bus on my way to work. Whenever I leave the house, I always have my iPod on me, so I find myself listening to music while reading. Does anyone else do this, and if so, what do you listen to?

I usually shy away from anything with lyrics. It makes it hard to concentrate if I get caught up listening to the words, so most of my reading is done listening to post-rock stuff like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Esmerine, etc. Recently I have been on a William Gibson kick, and ambient electronic music such as Boards of Canada or Apparat go very well with it.

terpkristin
I can’t listen to music while I read, even something without lyrics. If I try, I soon find myself humming along with what I’m listening to and not paying attention to what I’m reading.

I do write with music on, though, typically something electronic.

How Where Do You Like to Read


CHECK OUT AUDIBLE!

Journey to a world beyond words with Audible Sci-Fi & Fantasy. Check out Audible for exclusive access to your favorite sci-fi and fantasy authors and exclusive commentary.  In addition, the new imprint, Audible Frontiers features new and sometimes previously unavailable audio books made available for the first time in audio.  Click here for a free trial offer and get your first audio book free.

Stay tuned for more info on METAtropolis, from Audible!

Featuring:
Battlestar Galactica Cast Members:
Michael Hogan
Alessandro Juliani
Kandyse McClure

Legendary audiobook narrators:
Scott Brick (Frank Herbert’s Dune)
Stefan Rudnicki (Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game)