The Sword and Laser discussion

Here are the MATCHUPS!


The Way of Kings v Theft of Swords
It's Sanderson vs. Sullivan. The Way of Champions is what Brandon feels after cruising to a round one win, but Sullivan hopes for the theft of a victory.
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Soulless v Shades of Milk and Honey
Gail Carriger was infallibly polite as she crushed the Last Unicorn's hopes but Mary Robinette Kowal may not be all milk and honey after her nail-biting squeaker in round 1.
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) v. Autonomous
We Are Legion is apparently also a description of Dennis E. Taylor's fans as he racked up the most votes in round 1. While Annalee Newitz mde it the House of the Setting Suns to move into round 2.
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Consider Phlebas v Oryx and Crake
People not only considered Phlebas but voted for it too but you can hear Vonnegut's warning to Banks not to underestimate Atwood or she will Oryx and Crake you in half.
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

I did done vote.

Interesting outcome from those previous brackets. Not exactly a lock as some thought in a couple cases.

The big 2 had comfortable wins "Way of Kings" and "We are Legion"

Favourites to win their genre :-)

My prediction is still on track: Way of Kings vs. Oryx and Crake.

Results from Round 1:

View the full bracket here


Round 1 Statistics
Total Votes Cast: 2,736
Average Votes Cast: 342
Book With Most Votes: The Way of Kings (222 Votes)
Match-up With Most Votes: The Way of Kings vs. All the Crooked Saints (351 Votes)
Largest Win: We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (99 Votes)
Smallest Win: Shades of Milk and Honey (3 Votes)
Average Win: 36 votes

Sword Bracket
---------------------------------

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (222 Votes)
vs.
All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater (129 Votes)

Winner: The Way of Kings
Total Votes: 351
Margin of Victory: 93

---------------------------------

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan (172 Votes)
vs.
Jade City by Fonda Lee (162 Votes)

Winner: Theft of Swords
Total Votes: 334
Margin of Victory: 10

---------------------------------

Soulless by Gail Carriger (183 Votes)
vs.
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (161 Votes)

Winner: Soulless
Total Votes: 344
Margin of Victory: 22

---------------------------------

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal (171 Votes)
vs.
Midnight Riot (aka Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovitch (168 Votes)

Winner: Shades of Milk and Honey
Total Votes: 339
Margin of Victory: 3


Laser Bracket
---------------------------------

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor (220 Votes)
vs.
The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet and Other Stories by Vandana Singh (121 Votes)

Winner: We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
Total Votes: 341
Margin of Victory: 99

---------------------------------

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz (184 Votes)
vs.
House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds (157 Votes)


Winner: Autonomous
Total Votes: 341
Margin of Victory: 27

---------------------------------

Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks (180 Votes)
vs.
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty (163 Votes)

Winner: Consider Phlebas
Total Votes: 343
Margin of Victory: 17

---------------------------------

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (179 Votes)
vs
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut (164 Votes)

Winner: Oryx and Crake
Total Votes: 343
Margin of Victory: 15

My votes went 4-4 in the first round. But Theft of Swords made it through! (Sorry Dara, I'll probably read Jade City soon anyways)

I don't like it's chances against the Juggernaut that is Way of Kings though.

I'm glad to see Bob win. I loved that book. It actually won by a slightly bigger margin than Way of Kings did, and only got 2 fewer votes (10 more people voted in the WoK's poll than Bob's poll)

Haha, I'm only 2-6 in the first round, and one of those only won by 3 votes. David does *not* have his finger on what the people want.

Oof. Only one that I voted for made it through to Round 2. Le boo!

Rob wrote: "My votes went 4-4 in the first round. But Theft of Swords made it through! (Sorry Dara, I'll probably read Jade City soon anyways)

I don't like it's chances against the Juggernaut ..."

It's all good! It was a close margin. Maybe the club will pick Jade City sometime in the future. I still highly recommend it! :-)

Rob wrote: I don't like it's chances against the Juggernaut that is Way of Kings though.

Despite being a great book, I think it will fall sooner or later due to its size. It is the only book in the brackets I've already read, and for that reason I'm voting against it.

Dara wrote: "It's all good! It was a close margin. Maybe the club will pick Jade City sometime in the future. I still highly recommend it! :-) "

I've been hoping that about Theft of Swords for 3 years. lol.

Nice writeup, Ro...er, Tom! I'm impressed to see the number of votes versus the people who post in the discussions. A big, mostly silent fan base.

Oh no! We won't get to hear Veronica try out different pronunciations of Ben Aaronovitch

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) v. Autonomous




I don't know who to vote.

TWOK is so boring and overrated but I guess I'll see it on the finals.

John (Taloni) wrote: "Nice writeup, Ro...er, Tom! I'm impressed to see the number of votes versus the people who post in the discussions. A big, mostly silent fan base."

Our voting is up this year too. Last year in round 1 we averaged 308 votes. So we're up about 36 people. Not a huge spike, but nice to see participation up.

Rob's been pushing hard for Theft of Swords for a long time. I'll vote with Rob. I don't want him to become despondent.

Unless Bob...

OK, Carriger vs. Kowal was a really, really difficult choice.

Mark wrote: "Rob's been pushing hard for Theft of Swords for a long time. I'll vote with Rob. I don't want him to become despondent.

Unless Bob..."

Haha. Yeah. I'm voting for Bob until/unless it goes against Theft. So it's possible in the earlier rounds I'm voting for my own demise. Although I'll be shocked if it makes it out of this round..

Better than last year, my votes went 5 through, 3 out. Next round I have one tough choice (#1) and 3 easy ones :)

I did not vote.

And thanks to Robe for the stats!! I miscounted and reported We Are Legion as most votes, but it was biggest margin. Round 2 is going to be exciting!! Early returns show some surprises in store indeed.

Joseph wrote: "OK, Carriger vs. Kowal was a really, really difficult choice."

It’s rather a case of “six of one, half-dozen of the other” in that match-up. I voted Carriger for the simple reason that I haven’t read her stuff yet and I have read a number of Kowal’s books, including one of that particular series.

Woo hoo! 7-1 for my choices. Only House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds failed to pass the first round.

Joseph wrote: "OK, Carriger vs. Kowal was a really, really difficult choice."

I feel your pain, Joseph. How do you choose between those two? I want to read them both.

Joseph wrote: "OK, Carriger vs. Kowal was a really, really difficult choice."

I know! I was the one that nominated Mary, and it was still a tough choice!

Only 1 book left that I don't want to win.

I won't say which. I got berated for bagging it out last time it was in a poll ;-)

For me there are 2 left that I don't want to win, not saying which either :)

Well, it is like March basketball. My favs did not make it, my bandwagon's did not make it past the Sweet sixteen. New bandwagon's.

Man I do not want Way of Kings to win... Too long for a pick (still mad about the whole 10 books thing... grumble Martin grumble)(....

I was bummed out that Atwood beat Vonnegut because I was certain we'd already read Handmaid's Tale - but I just checked and we haven't, so...I'm still kind of mad, lol.

I couldn't choose between Kowal and Carriger - I didn't like either book :( The only match I didn't vote for so far.

Silvana wrote: "We Are Legion (We Are Bob) v. Autonomous




I don't know who to vote. "

SAAAAME 😢

Weellll.... "We Are Legion (We Are Bob)" is gut-bustingly hilarious in spots, excellent on the geek references, solid plot, and relatively short at about 300 pages. The book comes to a decent end on its own, but is also the start of a trilogy that is already done and wraps things up pretty well.

7 for 8, nice 1st round, so here is where it falls apart

Oryx and Crake is the only one that pulled through for me from Round 1. Well, except I didn't vote between We Are Legion and it's rival, having no real preference either way (except that I tend to enjoy novels more than collections of short stories, so had I voted it probably would have been in favor of Bob)

Tom wrote: "Annalee Newitz mde it the House of the Setting Suns to move into round 2...."

I am really sorry to see House of Suns knocked out, but Tom's commentary is just so funny that it makes it all worthwile :-)

I am a fan of Sanderson and The Way of Kings. The first two books were very fun and interesting, and it is refreshing to have some epic fantasy without rape or excessive violence. That said, WoK is not a good month read, it can be slow and it is 1000+ pages in a series of 10 books each of which will match that page number.
I'm personally pulling for we are legion (we are bob). I''ve already read Autonomous, which was good but I think Our Lady of the Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke explored many of the same ideas in more depth with better characterization. Sad that Jade City didn't progress, and that my personal favorite Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald didn't make the cut, but it should be a fun tournament

Scott wrote: "That said, WoK is not a good month read, it can be slow and it is 1000+ pages"

I started it 4 days ago and am already 50% through. It makes up for being long, by being a hard to put down book. I always have to read one more chapter ;-)

Scott wrote: "I am a fan of Sanderson and The Way of Kings. The first two books were very fun and interesting, and it is refreshing to have some epic fantasy without rape or excessive violence. That said, WoK is..."

I was also rooting for Jade City and Luna: New Moon! And I read Autonomous after listening to the Sword & Laser interview with Annalee Newitz. I liked the book well enough, but didn't love it. And I kind of hated Eliasz.

I love all the love for Jade City <3

Scott wrote: "...I'm personally pulling for we are legion (we are bob)..."
It's not available in any of my local libraries so people who depend on the library might want to check availability before voting for it.

Tina wrote: "It's not available in any of my local libraries so people who depend on the library might want to check availability before voting for it. "

Any decent library should be able to get it for you.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) is barely one step above self-publishing (his publisher calls it "agent-sponsored publishing") which is rarely carried by the libraries I know of (I have cards to 6 different library systems in my metropolitan area--Washington, DC). It's not on Overdrive at ALL.

And sure, a decent library might be able to get it for me, but my local systems can be slow and I'd be surprised if they'd get it in time.

I definitely want to read We Are Legion, but I'm not kidding myself--I'll have to buy it if I want to read it with the group.

We Are Legion is reeealllllyyyy cheap. $3.99 US. And it's on KU if you have that.

It's also nice to support indie publishers. I'll take a major author's books out of the library, but was glad to give Dennis Taylor my money.

John (Taloni) wrote: "We Are Legion is reeealllllyyyy cheap. $3.99 US. And it's on KU if you have that.

It's also nice to support indie publishers. I'll take a major author's books out of the library, but was glad to g..."

Sweet, I will buy this one whatever the outcome