While we’re kicking off reading A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, we’re also proud to announce we’re going to Dragon*Con in Atlanta to do a live episode of Sword and Laser! We’re very excited about that, especially because Veronica has been reading a book about dragons and is hoping to meet one.

WHY WE PICKED A GAME OF THRONES

Rick on May 22, 2009 at 9:22pm
I third “Game of Thrones”. It is sitting on my shelf waiting for me to finish the China Mieville book I’m in the middle of. Also, for those upset with Mr. Martin’s lack of new bookage, you should go read the comments by Niel Gaiman on his blog concerning exactly what George R. R. Martin is and is not to his readers.

C on May 23, 2009 at 9:39pm
Game of Thrones is fantastic, the only problem I can see with it is that anyone who reads it will be completely hooked for the rest of the series. As long as people don’t mind that then it’s great. I would also be interested in reading something else (as in something outside Song of Ice and Fire) by him though. Armageddon Rag is supposed to be really interesting and Fevre Dream is about vampires which is always fun. Both of those are standalone books (I think) so they might be better than starting a series?

terpkristin on May 26, 2009 at 4:10am
The reader for books 1-3 (Roy Dotrice) is great. I purchased the 4th book but haven’t listened to it yet (read that one in hardcover on an import version), though John Lee is the narrarator, and some have said that they don’t like him as much as they like Dotrice.

ABOUT A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones is the first of seven planned novels in A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on 6 August 1996. The novel was nominated for the 1998 Nebula Award and the 1997 World Fantasy Award, and won the 1997 Locus Award. The novella Blood of the Dragon, comprising the Daenerys Targaryen chapters from the novel, won the 1997 Hugo Award for Best Novella.

The novel lends its name to several spin-off items based on the novels, including a trading card game, board game and roleplaying game, and HBO has authorized the filming of a pilot episode based on the novels.[1]

WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Tom – Heretics of Dune

Veronica – Black Powder War, Book 3 in the Temeraire series (Book 1 is here)

ESSENTIAL NERD VIEWING

John Hodgman administers a nerd test to President Obama. Do you know the answers?

MOVIES

Moon – A Film By Duncan Jones; Starring Sam Rockwell.

It was Dune time and we found out how much of nerd I (Tom) am for Frank Herbert’s stuff and how hard it is to pronounce pretty much anything he wrote when you try to say it out loud.

We also found out that there are Dune influences all over popular culture including Films, spinoffs, and metal. In fact there are all kinds of heavy metal scifi influences. Including, apparently this podcast. You must listen to the end to hear the rockingest book club rock anthem ever to rock. And we also form a new band based on Dune.

More info, including club members thoughts on Dune, in the podcast and after the jump.

Dune comments

Hard to get into – Terpkristin

Bizarre early attempt to make a film of Dune – Josh Lawrence

Great lines – Sean o’Hara
One thing I love about Dune is the great quotes it provides.

– A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.

– Mood’s a thing for cattle or making love or playing the baliset. (For some reason I imagine Gurney sounding like Groundskeeper Willy when he says this)

– I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

What are the ones that stand out to you?

Comment by Sh1mm3r
Does anyone else find the sentence structure a little wacky? I find myself having to re-read some to understand what is being said. I’m in the first few pages though. I might just need to get into the rhythm.

Tom’s currently reading the Butlerian Jihad by K. Anderson (one of the extended universe novels – a prequel actually)

Thread of the month
Books with both Sword and Lasers

Next Book: Daemon (buy here)

Really, most of the episode is about The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan:

UPDATE: Hopefully the file will work now in iTunes!

We disucssed the paralells to other fantasy worlds like Lord of the Rings and even World of Warcraft. We also passed along Randy’s post from the Ning site about the Robert Jordan convention which you can find out more about by visiting
www.AgeofLegends.net.

But then we got to talking about Watchmen near the end and one thing led to another. It all came back around to Robert Jordan though as we discussed Sean O’Hara’s Ning thread called Sexbots and dragons.

Speaking of the Ning group, we called out a couple of user-created groups that aren’t related to official book club selections. Take a gander at the Alternate History group if you like to pretend things are different than they way they really are. And a really cool group that crosses TV fandom with literature, The Lost literary references group.

Finally we settled on Frank Herbert’s Dune as the next book. We’ll kick it off in the April episode, so if you have any questions, or non-spoiler thoughts for newbies to the book, let us know here in the comments

In this installment of our new monthly format, we talk about our progress in the current book selection from Robert Jordan. We also touch on Watchmen, Daemon, and of course, pants.

Get the episode here.

Turns out that just because Tom likes a book, doesn’t mean Veronica will (she kinda hated it). But we learned a lot about paranoia, and Polish communism. So it’s not a total loss. Meanwhile we have determined that the podcast should be a once a month affair. So get ready for regularity! We’ll be like the monthly bran in your reading diet. And we hope to have interviews. With real people. And some robots.

Get the episode at Sword and Laser.com.