The Sword and Laser discussion

From now through the 19th you can vote on which Connie Willis book we should read in November.

We're holding the vote over on Patreon. You don't need to be a patron of the show to vote but you will need to create a userid (to prevent botting).

https://www.patreon.com/posts/14865197

Darn, I just bought a beautiful copy of Crosstalk from Subterranean.

Oh, the Fire Watch collection? I haven't seen Sword & Laser do too many short story collections here before (were there others besides the Ted Chiang collection?).

No I think Ted Chiang may be the only one we've done.

Aren't Blackout and All Clear two separate books?

^Sort of. They are published in two volumes, but it is one story. Sort of like Lord of the Rings' broken up publishing.

I've read them all and To Say Nothing of the Dog is the strongest. Blackout/All Clear spoils the events of Firewatch, Doomsday Book, and To Say Nothing of the Dog and really should be read after the others. But the others are all stand alones.

Thanks for clarifying.

Just want to say I'm very excited that S&L will finally be reading Connie Willis!

Looks like a 2 horse race so far.

She likes writing about time travel

I dunno, Dave, her most popular books are related to time travel, yeah, but the summaries of her other books & stories don't really seem to have any time travel in them (except for *maybe* Lincoln's Dreams).

My comment was more about the books in the poll.

The 4 books and the title story of the anthology are all part of the wider "Oxford Time Travel Series"

Of what I've read, I most like her screwball comedies. Bellwether is a favorite (some people hate it, I forget why).

To Say Nothing of the Dog is the only one in my TBR so...yeah.

I voted for the story collection, mostly because I've already read Doomsday and To Say Nothing of the Dog. Looking a bit like a wasted vote though ....

So Blackout and All Clear is a two volume read? That's like 1,300 pages. Ouch.

This is tough. Doomsday Book was a great, a bit depressing. to Say Nothing of the Dog I remember as being more fun. But we also just read a book taking place in Victorian England too.

This is tough...

I read Passage on my wife's recommendation. Found the book so depressing that I haven't read any Willis since. That book has been well received in award nominations and wins so I concluded that I just don't like Connie Willis. Perhaps I'll join in and this one will be different. Or...perhaps not.

Crosstalk is suppose to be sci-fi romantic comedy, that’s so rare, which is why I bought it.

The Doomsday Book is one of the highest quality books I've ever read, but with recent talk on the show about having to keep our spirits up - be warned that this is the kind of book that will break your heart.

Tom wrote: "No I think Ted Chiang may be the only one we've done."
I guess it depends on how strict a definition you use for "collection of short stories". I'd consider The Last Wish to be one, albeit with a surrounding narrative. Honestly I would also say the same thing about Cloud Atlas, because despite the nesting doll structure and easter eggs, was really 6 distinct novellas.

Todd wrote: "Tom wrote: "No I think Ted Chiang may be the only one we've done."
I guess it depends on how strict a definition you use for "collection of short stories". I'd consider The Last Wish to be one, alb..."
Really good point about the Last Wish. And several novels we've read started as short stories in a theme that were then republished with more connective tissue as novels.

SO looks like Doomsday Book is going to win if all holds as it is this morning. I'll give it until this evening JUST to see before making it official.

I demand ranked choice voting! Haha.

(Anyone currently voting for Fire Watch or Blackout/All Clear, you can change your voooootes!)

To Say Nothing of the Dog is the best of the Oxford Time Travel books to date. Doomsday Book was good but frustrating. Won't say anything for spoilers.

Also Passage was depressing. Very different overall to the time travel books.

David wrote: "(Anyone currently voting for Fire Watch or Blackout/All Clear, you can change your voooootes!)"

Which is why polling should be kept secret until after it closes.
Vote for what you want to win. Not to stop something else winning.

I voted for Blackout/All Clear. But any of them will do for me.

The November Book Pick has been Officially Announced on Patreon

It's Doomsday Book. It won by 9 votes.

Read that last year so I can skip S&L's November pick and catch up on some urgent backlog books :)

AndrewP wrote: "Read that last year so I can skip S&L's November pick and catch up on some urgent backlog books :)"
I was thinking of that myself but it's been 20 plus years since I've read it so it's about due for a re-read for me.