The Sword and Laser discussion

Round 1 is in the books and the field is down to 8 books. Round 2 begins now

Bracket: https://challonge.com/anqrgjo2


Round 2 will be February 27th - March 4th 11:59 PM ET

Sword Bracket
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Match 1:

(16) The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein

vs.

(8) Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Vote Here

Match 2:

(13) The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

vs.

(5) Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Vote Here

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

Match 1:

(2) The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

vs.

(7) Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Vote Here

Match 2:

(3) Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

vs.

(6) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Vote Here

Well these were total coin flips,

Come on Some Desperate Glory!

That’s two I’m rooting for through to the next round plus another I’d like to read, but my library hold is months away.

The one I least wanted to read is out, and the two others I don’t want are up against each other. Was tempted to vote tactically in that round and vote for the one I think is least likely to win overall, but decided to play it fair, and went for the best of those two.

RIP Black Company and Empire of Silence.

Yeah, some of my picks moved on

Cait wrote: "Round 2 voting ends February 26th? Are we expected to time travel to vote? 🤓🤪🧐"

Yet more copy/paste fail on my part. I'm sure it won't be the last time. I fixed it.

what an embarrassment of riches!

Can't choose between tMftF and SDG. I read Ministry, and think the conversations could be pretty fun (a nice mix of complaints and high praise, I'm sure), and while Glory is more run-of-the-mill sounding SF, it's on my TBR, and it would be nice to read with the group.
Doesn't really matter though, I guess, because I'm pretty sure HHGttG is going to put a galactic highway straight through the competition.

More tough choices. My nomination made it through but doubt it will continue given what it's up against.

Paul wrote: "Doesn't really matter though, I guess, because I'm pretty sure HHGttG is going to put a galactic highway straight through the competition."

I'm sure you mean a Hyperspace Bypass, but we all knew what you meant. Hard to look up the blueprints when they are stored at Alpha Centauri.

And yes, I agree with you, HHGTTG all the way.

Just beware of the Leopard, yeah?

Fun fact related to the series, everytime I make a sandwich, I try to make sure the pieces of meat fit together perfectly on the bread. I may not have enjoyed reading the books, but they certainly do continue to amuse me.

I did my bracket picks based on what I wanted, not what I thought would happen. Some of my favorites made it through, some didn't. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Hmm. Is there a typo in the number of votes for Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?

My faith in humanity will be restored! The Steerswoman!

And how is hitchhikers not the number one seed?

I just realized that I'm turning 42 in April, so it is the absolute perfect time for an H2G2 reread.

Eric wrote: "I'm sure you mean a Hyperspace Bypass, but we all knew what you meant. Hard to look up the blueprints when they are stored at Alpha Centauri..."
I appreciate the correction. It's been a good few years, so clearly my ability to casually reference the story is a little rusty! Maybe a re-read wouldn't hurt.
I'm not actually rooting for it though. There are 4 other books in the tourney I'd rather read, including it's match-up, Cordelia's Honor. I'm just accepting that it's the clear favourite.

Valerie wrote: "I just realized that I'm turning 42 in April, so it is the absolute perfect time for an H2G2 reread."

I’m turning 42 in March lol

Did I know we were the same age? I can’t remember if I knew that! I just turned 42 last Friday.

Let’s hear it for the ‘82 babies!!!

Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth wrote: "Did I know we were the same age? I can’t remember if I knew that! I just turned 42 last Friday.

Let’s hear it for the ‘82 babies!!!"

Happy birthday! ‘82 was the best year to be born, especially for Ruths and Valerie.

Yeah. I'm an 82 baby as well. So is Veronica.

But this is about March Madness so we can make another thread about birthdays if we want to.

Ruth wrote: "Valerie wrote: "I just realized that I'm turning 42 in April, so it is the absolute perfect time for an H2G2 reread."

I’m turning 42 in March lol"

Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth wrote: "Did I know we were the same age? I can’t remember if I knew that! I just turned 42 last Friday.

Let’s hear it for the ‘82 babies!!!"

You’re all just baby-babies. :p I’m 59 next week.

1982 was the best year for movies ever, so you’re all in good company.

Sorry Rob. I definitely didn’t google the ages of all the MM authors still in the running to make it relevant - all misses, except for Matt Dinniman and Emily Tesh, who’s ages I could not find. But I’ve decided they must have been born in 82!

Trike wrote: "You’re all just baby-babies. :p I’m 59 next week.

1982 was the best year for movies ever, so you’re all in good company"

I was thinking the same thing. I'm turning 59 next month although sometimes I act like I'm 12 but then I get out of my comfy chair and groan. LOL

Please can we stop with the age/birthday talk and stay on topic of the march madness round 2? I don't want to start deleting posts...

Thanks.

so personally I'm not sure who I'm pulling for, Maybe Dungeon Crawler Karl (which I may read eventually no matter what).

But my top 2 choices for Sci-Fi are head to head this round, so one of them will be eliminated. I wish that had been in the semi finals.

I wouldn't mind read HHGTTG again, but if Vorkosigan wins, I'd probably try to pick up where I left off in that series instead of doing the first 2 books again.

Of course both could end up losing to whoever comes out of the other matchup. Neither book are one I'm particularly interested in, but I've been surprised in the past.

Ok, only 121 people voted for She Wolf and Cub by Lilith Saintcrow in Round 1 and it lost to THGTTG. But, you can still read it! It's on sale for $1.99 right now!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BHL48T5C

Results from Round 2:

View the full bracket: https://challonge.com/anqrgjo2

Tournament Statistics
Total Votes Cast: 3,289
Average Votes Cast: 278
Book With Most Votes: Dungeon Crawler Carl - (163 Votes) (Round 2)
Match-up With Most Votes: Cordelia's Honor vs. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (299 Votes) (Round 2)
Largest Win: Cordelia's Honor - (45 Votes) (Round 1)
Smallest Win: Cordelia's Honor - (1 Vote) (Round 2)
Average Win: 24 votes

Round 2 Statistics
Total Votes Cast: 1,158
Average Votes Cast: 290
Book With Most Votes: Dungeon Crawler Carl - (163 Votes)
Match-up With Most Votes: Cordelia's Honor vs. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (299 Votes)
Largest Win: Dungeon Crawler Carl - (40 Votes)
Smallest Win: Cordelia's Honor - (1 Vote)
Average Win: 17 votes


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

Match 1:

(16) The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein - 138 Votes

vs.

(8) Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - 148 Votes


Winner: Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Total Votes: 286
Margin of Victory: 10

Match 2:

(13) The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez - 123 Votes

vs.

(5) Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman - 163 Votes


Winner: Dungeon Crawler Carl
Total Votes: 286
Margin of Victory: 40

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

Match 1:

(2) The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson - 135 Votes

vs.

(7) Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh - 152 Votes


Winner: Some Desperate Glory
Total Votes: 287
Margin of Victory: 17

Match 2:

(3) Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold - 150 Votes

vs.

(6) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - 149 Votes


Winner: Cordelia's Honor
Total Votes: 299
Margin of Victory: 1

Bracket check-in

https://challonge.com/anqrgjo2/predic...

Cordelia's Honor is busting brackets with their narrow win over The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Our top 3 brackets now are:

- Untitled - by Anonymous predicting: none - (I guess they forgot to choose a winner. oops)
- Because Bujold is Awesome - by Anonymous predicting Cordelia's Honor
- Silliest sounding book wins (and I’m okay with that!) - by Ruth(tilltab) predicting Dungeon Crawler Carl

So very different looking brackets. Who will have our winning bracket?

There are a handful of other brackets tied at 10 points, but all of the predicted a winner that have been eliminated.

Go Ruth

ヽ(•‿•)ノ
--does a little dance --

Oh DANG, Hitchhiker is beat out by a book that may or may not still exist! That's what I get for voting against my own Challonge bracket, because I'm also voting for Bujold, even though I predicted HHGttG to win.
But my bracket was predicting No Underdogs, and we all need an underdog win now and again, so I'm happy to no longer be a top contender!
Bujold for the win!!

Apparently the Bujold book nominated is available but as two separate novels.

Oaken wrote: "Apparently the Bujold book nominated is available but as two separate novels."

Yeah. I'm not entirely sure why the first book was nominated, then withdrawn in favor of the out of print omnibus of the first 2 books.

As someone whose read both, the 2nd is far better and a much better intro to the series. I think they are both shorter, but it's still 2 books.

If the second is a better intro to the series maybe if it wins Tom could put on his Dave McCarty hat and declare by fiat that we are reading the second book. Or do a quick vote on both books/first book/2nd book if he isn’t feeling like a SMOF that day.

Oh it's the first 2 in chronological order (Shards of Honour and Barrayar), not pub order (Shards + The Warrior's Apprentice).

Man it's all kinds of confusing. I'm stubborn so I started reading it in publication order even though the author herself recommends chronological I believe.

I don't think you can skip Shards and just read Barraryar, but I read that 7th, not 2nd.

While Shards isn't as good as Barrayar, you definitely need to read it first (and it is quite short). The Warrior's Apprentice is a decent starting point, but it has a lot of spoilers for Barrayar.

And since Barrayar is one of the best books in the series (IMO), it really shouldn't get spoiled.

Falling Free is also a great starting point to the series, and since it takes place before all the other ones we mentioned, it might be the best starting place. But as a stand alone, it doesn't have any spoilers to anything or tie into the rest other than taking place in the same universe.

Here's the thing. I've convinced a fair number of people to read Cordelia's Honor over Shards of Honor in the past, and they all present the same arguments above, before reading them. And then thank me for the advice afterwards.

J wrote: "The Warrior's Apprentice is a decent starting point, but it has a lot of spoilers for Barrayar.."

Blame the author then. She published the spoilers first. :-D

Rob wrote: "J wrote: "The Warrior's Apprentice is a decent starting point, but it has a lot of spoilers for Barrayar.."

Blame the author then. She published the spoilers first. :-D"

:-D True.

It is not surprising that Shards is the lesser book - it was her first! According to LMB, she overwrote it by 1/2 a book. After 7 books were under her belt, (and both a Hugo and Nebula) she went back and rewrote that half, continuing to the end.

Trike wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Valerie wrote: "I just realized that I'm turning 42 in April, so it is the absolute perfect time for an H2G2 reread."

I’m turning 42 in March lol"

Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth wrote: "Did..."

Rotten kid. (I'm turning 69) I HAD to read the series in publication order. Preordered all but the first three.

Rob wrote: "Oaken wrote: "Apparently the Bujold book nominated is available but as two separate novels."

Yeah. I'm not entirely sure why the first book was nominated, then withdrawn in favor of the out of pri..."

Yeah, my problem with it winning is that I like to choose if and when to read the second book. If I read the first then instantly want to read the second, great, and if I read the first and completely hate it and never want to continue, that’s fine too but if I read the first, and decide I like it enough to read the second, but after a few pallet cleansers, I lose, because then I either join in discussions and listen to the podcast and get spoiled, or I have to avoid these things, and neither of those options sounds fun for me. Also I’m a slow reader, but length of a book matters less to me than number of books, meaning I could slog on with the series against my desire, and still miss out on the discussions. I have frequently taken the same length of time to read a novella as I have a big chunky epic fantasy.

I found it a puzzling move to switch to two, and was surprised when it made it into the tournament. I would have voted for the first book, at least in some of the brackets. I own it, and would like to read it at some point. I’m honestly more likely to read it if the omnibus loses. If it wins, I may never read it due to the internal conflict risk mentioned above, and that would be sad.

I will note that I have, on occasion, listened to and read a bunch of spoilers when not reading with the group, and still picked the book up and given it a go, and one such example (hello Gideon) turned into a fav, but that is rare. Less common, is when I hear spoilers about a series I’ve already started, as these are far more likely to put me off continuing. So I think if it wins, my best option for still enjoying the series is to NOT read along.

I have a funny story to convey.

Back around 2013, I shot my friend (native to England) The Big Read list and asked him how many books he had read. When he mentioned that he had read all of the Discworld novels, I mentioned that I'd been thinking about reading them and didn't know where to start.

He said, "you have to start at the beginning and read them all. In order. The first couple books are not as good as the later ones, but you need them to get all the jokes."

I hated that answer. There are over 40 books in that series! I wanted a book to read not a plan for the rest of my life.

A year later, I had read all of the Discworld books. Picked up one, didn't stop till there were no more.

J wrote: "I have a funny story to convey.

Back around 2013, I shot my friend"


My brain saw this and went "OMG this guy thinks it's funny they shot their friend..." before reading the rest of that post..

Rob wrote: "J wrote: "I have a funny story to convey.

Back around 2013, I shot my friend"


My brain saw this and went "OMG this guy thinks it's funny they shot their friend..." "

Did exactly the same thing.

Same..It was so casual (Dick Cheney like)...I think we need to push for podcast title incorporation...I Shot my Friend...

Yep, I also thought we had a friend shooter in our midst.

J wrote: "I have a funny story to convey.

Back around 2013, I shot my friend (native to England) The Big Read list and asked him how many books he had read. When he mentioned that he had read all of the Dis..."

His answer is the only one I would consider.

Calvey wrote: "Same..It was so casual (Dick Cheney like)...I think we need to push for podcast title incorporation...I Shot my Friend..."

But I did not shoot the deputy. ;-)

Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth wrote: "Rob wrote: "Oaken wrote: "Apparently the Bujold book nominated is available but as two separate novels."

Yeah. I'm not entirely sure why the first book was nominated, then withdrawn in favor of th..."

The Vorkosigan books have distinct eras. If we look at in Universe Chronological order there are 3 groupings of books.

Falling Free which appears to be stand alone (I am only up to book 12)

There is Cordelia and Erol's story which is Shards and Barrayar (book 2 & 3).

Finally, there is Mile's story which is the rest of the books beginning with Warrior's apprentice. You can easily start here and read the others as prequels. The bulk of the story is about Miles and his misadventures so this would make a very good starting point.

If it was me I would have nominated Apprentice which leaves you a dozen or so books to read afterwards (which are mostly stand alone adventures).

I did a summer of Lois McMaster Bujold but only did her Fantasy books, so I will not mind to start the SF books. I still think it is a shame that the Sword and Laser bookshelf still will not have The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in its collection.