The Sword and Laser discussion

We wrap up Dungeon Crawler Carl, including our horrible imitations of Jeff Hays. Plus, we announce the next pick for May and ponder data-driven determinations of the best SFF books of Tom’s life.

http://www.swordandlaser.com/home/202...

I rip thru all the books last year. One right after another, until I had a short wait for Book 7, This Inevitable Ruin. The series has surprising depth. There are some minor characters that are still a mystery even after 7 books. Also, if you Laser folks don't want to claim DCC, I will gladly put it on the sword side. I have so few Science Fiction writers I eagerly await their next book, I thought you would like one more.

I'm glad that so many people enjoyed DCC. It wasn't for me but I enjoyed listening to this episode. I also liked Tom's impression of the "NEW ACHIEVEMENT!" sound bite.

I actually really enjoyed the parts where the AI talks about feet. It’s just the right balance of gross humour with the underlying sense of “goddammit my whole planet has been destroyed, nearly everyone I know is dead, I have been forced into a deadly dungeon crawl for the entertainment of intergalactic sickos and to cap it all off, I’m being perved on by an artificial intelligence with a foot fetish.”

^^I’ve just listened to a part in the fourth book that really hammers home (in an hilarious way) how gross and exploitative the AI is being with the foot fetish thing. I think that’s what’s so great about this series- you get things that start out as jokes and then get serious. The bathroom thing in the first book is another example.

Some random thoughts as I listen:

* I didn't like Red Mars either. Well, it was okay. I kept going on account of it being hard SF and it just got worse and worse. I found the finale in the third book to be so awful I threw the book across the room. (Grad school and I'd spent part of Spring Break reading it. Total waste!)

* Gotta love Skarsgard for making sure Martha Wells got a big payday. He wasn't my first choice for Murderbot (or even really my tenth) but perhaps like Keaton's Batman he will grow on us. Certainly he put his money where his mouth was and made it happen. That alone is worth a bundle of geek cred.

* Tom references someone as being his "external brain." Made me flash on the Perry Rhodan series, where one of the characters (Atlan) has an "extra brain" activated that functions as a strategic assistant. Kind of like an onboard computer, written in the days before that was a thing.

* On the subject of the "Transporter Paradox," I don't know that I feel like the same person from a year ago let alone a decade. Any clone with my memories will have as much claim to my identity as myself. Thomas Riker has as much claim to "Riker" as Will. (And so does "William" Boimler to the original Brad Boimler identity.) Further experiences will cause them to differentiate.

(posting halfway through so I don't accidentally lose this. May edit later.)
(okay, I'm done. not much else to add except that on reread when Carl has had enough of Donut bashing him and suggests they go their own way reminded me of a high school acquaintance/friend who bashed me as a potential date...then was distinctly miffed when I didn't ask her out. Donut is a girl's girl and maybe modeled herself on Beatrice too much at first. that part felt like it was taken direct from the author's life experience.)

Hi everyone!

My Bare Your Sword for the episode:

I am still here - I just don't have time to scourge the net for news and post them in the Goodreads Quickburns thread as all my waking moments are dedicated to listening to the master himself Jeff Hays reading the Dungeon Crawler Carl books to me! I am at "The Gate of the Feral Gods" and already dreading when I am through with the available books! Thanks for getting me hooked on the series! I think this is actually the first time I have continued after a Sword and Laser pick!

Apologies for the direct transactions from German to English that didn't work in English!

Hey, I'm still laughing over "scourge the net." (Was that supposed to be "gescour?")

Umm... Ohhh... I ... Well.. meant "scour"... 🫣

Achievement! *No chants in heel this gets munchied on the shoe*

You wrote a near incomprehensible post no sane Sword & Laser host would read on air! Nice try, buddy!

Reward: A Platinum "Maybe Next Time" Box!