Sword and Laser hosts Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt have crossed the bridge from audio to video as they take their four-year-old podcast and turn into a new series for the new Geek & Sundry YouTube channel.
I’ve never heard the Sword and Laser podcast before, so, I’m sure they’ve had to tweak their format a little but the segments are funny and clever. The first segment is called “Quick Burns” and the hosts discuss the new book Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones, a companion book written by Bryan Cogman that gives fans a new way to enjoy the fictional world of Westeros. They also talk about the Hugo Award nominations, the release of Harry Potter in E-book format, and how E-books are revitalizing science fiction by allowing authors to self publish their work.
A major part of the show is an interview with Scott Sigler about his new book, Nocturnal. Scott compares the book as a cross between Lethal Weapon and Hellboy, a police detective procedural that takes a monster genre turn. I have not read any of Sigler’s works but after watching the book trailer (I wasn’t aware that books had trailers) and listening to his plot description I will definitely be looking out for his books. In their third segment, Veronica and Tom pick The Magicians as their book of the month for April. The Magicians is a fantasy novel written by Lev Grossman and can be described as a more adult version of the Harry Potter books.
I really enjoyed this web show. Veronica and Tom have great chemistry together and they have filled the show with great segue pieces like “Alternate History”, where Apollo 13 was a successful mission creating a chain reaction that causes Tom Hanks to star in Waterworld since Apollo 13 would never become a film. The show is very clever and it is great to see a showcase for fantasy and science fiction novels. I will be looking forward to the next episode that will air on April 27th and any fantasy or science fiction fans should check it out, if only to see the adorkable Veronica Belmont.
