#364 - Kick Your Problems in the Face

[Veronica, Supreme Sword]

Fran Wilde's op-ed from the future sounds hilarious. N. K. Jemisin's new novel sounds awesome. And Andy Weir's short story has been adapted into a cool short film. So much good reading out there! Plus our thoughts on why Trail of Lightning has us thinking that sometimes you just have to kick your problems in the face.

http://swordandlaser.com/home/2019/9/...
https://soundcloud.com/swordandlaser/...
https://www.patreon.com/posts/29921322

[Trike]

Re: the sequel to Trail of Lightning: they *do* go outside the wall.

What they find there... may surprise you. Tune in to KREZ at 11 for all the details.

[Trike]

Also...

Swords in Contemporary/Urban Fantasy: Based on what I’ve read, it doesn’t seem they’re that common unless I’ve somehow missed entire swaths of books. (Which is entirely possible, given the sheer number of books available.) I’m looking at the list of Fantasy books I’ve read the past two years and few of the contemporary books have swords. (By “contemporary” I’m going to include books from about 1900 to the near-ish future.)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Gunslinger, Touch, Among Others, Bookburners: The Complete Season 2, A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe, When the English Fall, Lovecraft Country, Every Heart a Doorway, The God Wave, A Wrinkle in Time... not many swords. They certainly aren’t features.

It’s easy to look at 2018/2019 because of the S&L book challenges where I’ve separated out Fantasy and Science Fiction, but even a quick perusal of earlier years confirms to me that swords are relatively uncommon in Contemporary Fantasy. The Hum and the Shiver, The Only Child, Illusive, Zoo City, etc., just not many swords.

Maybe someone with more extensive reading in the subgenre can get a better fix on how common it is, since I freely admit I might be experiencing a statistical anomaly. I kinda doubt it, but one never knows.

Also...

Maybe Tom can clarify, but it sounds like he’s conflating Hard Fantasy with “low magic”-aka-Contemporary Fantasy. (Starts around the 19:00 minute mark.) These are separate things.

Hard Fantasy has rules which are clearly laid out, while Classic Fantasy does not. The Way of Kings is very much a Secondary World Epic Fantasy which is also Hard Fantasy. The Lord of the Rings is also Secondary World Epic Fantasy but it does not have rules to the magic. Similarly, Bookburners: The Complete Season 1 is Contemporary Fantasy with a kickass heroine protagonist that is Hard Fantasy. Trail of Lightning is Contemporary Fantasy without the hard-and-fast rules.

Generally speaking I tend to prefer Hard Fantasy over the regular kind, but that’s not always the case. I liked N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season (no explicit rules) just as much as I liked Peter V. Brett’s The Warded Man (explicit rules). I loved The Black Lung Captain (no rules) just as much as Jade City (specific rules).

[Mark]

Trike wrote: "Swords in Contemporary/Urban Fantasy: Based on what I’ve read, it doesn’t seem they’re that common unless I’ve somehow missed entire swaths of books. (Which is entirely possible, given the..."

Swords in urban fantasy seem pretty common. Several of Harry Dresden's companions live and die by the sword. Kate Daniels never goes anywhere without Slayer. Maybe they seem plentiful because the authors are prolific.

But my favorite urban fantasy blade is Ray Lilly's ghost knife.

[Mark]

I preordered Orphan Black: The Next Chapter a few weeks ago. Pretty cool that Tatiana Maslany reads the S&L ad. Can we get her to make a new intro for the podcast with the voice of a clone? Maybe we can vote on the clone! Which clone should voice a S&L intro?

Sarah
Cosima
Alison
Helena
Rachel
Krystal
Other

[We need a Roberator to create a poll ;-)]

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Mark wrote: "Which clone should voice a S&L intro?"

Meathead ;-)

I bought the Orphan Black series after hearing the ad. Using the code of course.

It's cool it gives you both an audio and text version for the one price.

[Trike]

Mark wrote: "Swords in urban fantasy seem pretty common. Several of Harry Dresden's companions live and die by the sword. Kate Daniels never goes anywhere without Slayer. Maybe they seem plentiful because the authors are prolific."

Quick, someone read all the Contemporary Fantasy books and give us a breakdown on the use of swords!

[Serendi]

I find the timing of this entertaining, because in the most recent Mercy Thompson novel the pack gave her a cutlass and have been training her in how to use it. So maybe it's becoming a thing?

ETA: Come to think of it, her stepdaughter Jesse already had a sword. And Mercy already had some training from her martial arts sensei. Still....

[Mark]

Trike wrote: "Quick, someone read all the Contemporary Fantasy books and give us a breakdown on the use of swords!"

Here's a Goodreads list to start with

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...

[Trike]

Mark wrote: "Trike wrote: "Quick, someone read all the Contemporary Fantasy books and give us a breakdown on the use of swords!"

Here's a Goodreads list to start with

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5......"

I did a random sampling of those and only a few are Contemporary Fantasy. Most seem to take place during Ye Olde Sworde Days.

[Mark]

Speaking of swords and by extension, swordfighting in fantasy, here's an interesting Twitter thread from a fellow who has studied his Agrippa...

https://twitter.com/dtmooreeditor/sta...

[Trike]

Mark wrote: "Speaking of swords and by extension, swordfighting in fantasy, here's an interesting Twitter thread from a fellow who has studied his Agrippa...

https://twitter.com/dtmooreeditor/sta......"

That’s pure awesome. William Goldman was a god among writers. ⚔️

[Ian (RebelGeek)]

The sword talk is reminding me of this awesome anthology The Book of Swords

[Fresno Bob]

Mark wrote: "I preordered Orphan Black: The Next Chapter a few weeks ago. Pretty cool that Tatiana Maslany reads the S&L ad. Can we get her to make a new intro for the podcast with the voice of ..."

100% Helena "Do you want Sword baby or Laser baby?"

[Fresno Bob]

Mark wrote: "Trike wrote: "Swords in Contemporary/Urban Fantasy: Based on what I’ve read, it doesn’t seem they’re that common unless I’ve somehow missed entire swaths of books. (Which is entirely possible, give..."

This reminds me of John Gaunt/Grimjack's quote "Magic works here, Science there. Swords work everywhere"

[Mark]

Fresno Bob wrote: "100% Helena "Do you want Sword baby or Laser baby?"

LOL! We need this.