We hear a better version of the Pokemon cookbook than the real one, Veronica gets the tipoff for hot sauce, and our first cozy feelings about Legends and Lattes.

New books for spring, finalists for the Annual Lambda and Imadjinn Awards, and the Internet Archive’s e-book lending lawsuit. Plus, we kick off the March Madness winner!

The March Madness semifinals are here! And the race is TIGHT. Our first (non-spoiler) thoughts about Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings. Nomination lists are out for Nebulas and Bradbury’s, and nomming has begun for the Hugos (hint hint). Plus why everybody ate lasagna after our last episode!

Our “March that is Mad” tournament is live! 15 books enter, one gets to be the April pick, and everyone wins! Plus, please stop flooding Clarkesworld with AI-written manuscripts. Use ChatGPT for good! Also, we kick off our March read and wrap up our thoughts on Nettle & Bone.

Three Body Problem is coming to two platforms, so many beginning-of-the-year reading lists, and why we all love Bonedog (even Tom).

We may be getting some Zelazny TV, Murderbot is coming back, some ideas of non-fiction book picks we could try, and we kick off our February book pick, Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher.

We check in on how everyone is feeling about Brightness Falls From the Air. We also feel mildly optimistic about Apple’s digital narrators, and we discuss the best way to introduce someone to a series.

A very tense episode as Veronica and Tom violently agree about Elric of Melniboné. Plus, the most anticipated books of 2023, and how to take advantage of Novelist at your local library.

We properly credit the amazing Nancy Pearl and her four doorways into stories. And we want yours! Send them to feedback@swordandlaser.com. Plus our mid-read takes on Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné. Also, we break the news about Henry Cavill to Veronica live on the show.

We wrap up our thoughts on Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty and Tom tries out his 4-part way of evaluating books to explain why people enjoyed it differently. Plus we kick off our December pick, Elric of Melniboné, encourage you to save Locus Magazine and Veronica is IMPRESSIVE at reading author names now.