http://www.sfsite.com/ The new issue of the SF Site is now online. Copyright 1996-2007 SF Site en-us http://www.sfsite.com/images/sfspot1.gif http://www.sfsite.com/ http://www.sfsite.com/columns/audio276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT At times it's more convenient (and enjoyable) to hear the latest in science fiction and fantasy. Recent audiobook releases include works by Terry Brooks, L. Ron Hubbard, Peter F. Hamilton, Charles de Lint, Fritz Leiber and Kay Kenyon. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/ls278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT From the first page of this collection you are already immersed in one of the stories that made Lucius Shepard's name: "The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule." In many ways it seems a conventional fantasy; the setting somewhere imprecise in what appears to be Southern Europe, a dragon brooding high in the mountains over the remote town, a hero with an ingenious way to slay the dragon. But something separates this story from such apparent conventionality. Our central character means to kill the dragon by painting it, an act of slaughter that is also a work of art. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/bq278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Perfection isn't always good enough. With The Born Queen, the author delivers a stellar conclusion to his quartet The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone that nevertheless leaves the reader earthbound in an ultimately conventional, if unconventionally well written, epic fantasy. He executes each of the key elements of the genre as masterfully as his dessrata (fencing) champion Cazio dispatches enemies. He properly reconstructs rather than simply incorporates uncanny linguistic and anthropological sources from this world to breathe verisimilitude into his own. He deals, at a lethally brisk pace, hands of fate to his characters that no card-counting reader could anticipate. His prose hustles the reader forward into the story rather than the other way around. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/dc278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Some authors,admittedly, have taken fantasy in interesting new directions, but Georges must admit to looking more and more to pre-Tolkienian times for his fantasy reading. He grew up in a time when authors like J.B. Cabell, Lord Dunsany, E.R.Eddison, H.R. Haggard, R.E. Howard, W. Morris, T. Mundy and C.A. Smith had been rediscovered in the fantasy boom of the late 60s-early 70s and were widely available. As much as he might wish that any serious fantasy reader of today begin with the 'classics,' he realises that the vast majority don't. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/pd278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT In this eighth installment of the Women of the Otherworld series, Hope Adams is pressed into a service by Beneico Cortez the ruthless head of the Cortez Cabal. Hope goes undercover as a disgruntled rich girl looking for fun with a gang of dangerous supernaturals who have been giving the Cabals a bad time. While there, Hope, now called "Faith," becomes involved in more than just the robberies the gang is perpetrating. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/aa278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Alice's Adventures in Wonderland makes for great listening, and a reader's understanding of Lewis Carroll's language and humor can be greatly enhanced by hearing it interpreted by a talented performer. In this new audiobook edition, the wonderfully talented Jim Dale renders a memorable performance that gloriously delivers Alice to a new generation of reader-listeners. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/bf278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Who doesn't like a good, well told, piece of erotic fiction? And if eroticism blends with horror or science fiction that's even better, an exciting mix of strong emotions, a feast for the imagination, a load of adrenaline able to make us forget the grey colours of everyday's reality and to expand the boundaries of daily life. So here we have a promising anthology deceivingly named Best Fantastic Erotica. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/jt278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT On the city-planet of Coruscant, capital of the new Galactic Empire, no one is resting easy. The Clone Wars are still fresh in everyone's minds, with the fall of the Jedi and the ascension of Palpatine to the Emperor's throne still having far-flung repercussions. For not every Jedi is dead, and not all hope has been crushed. Plotting is afoot, and at the center of it all, unwittingly, is Jax Pavan, Jedi Knight turned bounty hunter, having fled into the worst parts of the city in an attempt to escape the fates of his brethren. The past, unfortunately, is about to catch up to him. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/gf278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT When most people get married, all they have to worry about are lost caterers, college buddies who get drunk and embarrass themselves, and relatives lost at the airport. However, when Joanne Baldwin and her lover David decide to get married, it opens up several cans of unpleasantness. You thought your family was bad? David may be the leader of the pro-human faction of the immensely powerful djinn, but there's an anti-human faction that objects to him tying himself to a human. You thought your co-workers were horrible? Joanne's just discovered the existence of a rogue group of Weather Wardens. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/bd278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Struggling musician Dante Shaw has his hopes pinned on a planned concept album based around a book on the occult written by reclusive academic Eliot Coltwell. With his friend and bandmate Tom in tow, Dante travels up to Scotland,accepting an invitation to work as Coldwell's research assistant at the University of St. Andrews. Coldwell proves reluctant to discuss his work with Dante, but is keen for the young man to meet his wild and beautiful associate, Beth -- leading Dante to suspect he has been lured to the town under false pretences. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/be278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Marla Mason comes across as part Zatanna part Elektra, with a dash of American Psycho. Tagging along with Marla is her associate, Rondeau, currently possessing the body of an average human male, which rather nastily, he has held since it belonged to a little homeless boy. The pair turn up in San Francisco looking for something called the Cornerstone, a rare, magic enhancing artefact. The last time Marla heard of the Cornerstone, it was in the care of an old ally, Lao Tsung, but he is dead, apparently murdered, and the only clue to his demise is a poisonous golden frog. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT In 1992, Rick Klaw appeared on his first Armadillocon panel along with Ellen Datlow and Gardner Dozois. In 1993 and at the majority of Armadillocons through the rest of the decade, artist Doug Potter and Rick were typically the only acknowledged comic book guests. In 2002, comic book contributors flooded the convention as the previous detractors embraced this newly discovered medium. My, how things have changed over the last 25 years. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/su278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT John Justin Mallory is a down-on-his-luck Private Investigator who is seeing the New Year in with a bottle of booze and a pocket full of regrets. The main one is Velma, the lush-bodied, loyal secretary who never was, but he has also been evicted from his apartment and been left to take the heat for a blackmailing scheme run by his ex-partner before he debunked with John Justin's wife. The knee-breakers are outside waiting for him and there's a sure loser waiting for him to bet on it at the track. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/hh278.htm Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Long before Frodo traveled to Morder to destroy the One Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote another tale of Bilbo, who traveled with the wizard Bladorthin to steal the treasure of the dragon Pryftan. If some of those names are not familiar, it is because Tolkien's The Hobbit went through numerous iterations before reaching its final version. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Speaking of summer travel, as noted at the end of the last column, Mark London Williams is back from the San Diego Comic Con. In some ways, there's not a lot to say about the Con anymore. This is because everyone else is already saying it. Which is to say: It has apparently become the mainstream America media/pop culture event of the year. http://www.sfsite.com/08a/ps277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT In the third novel in the Virga series, the focus is the Admiral himself, Chaison Fanning who is a prisoner of the nation he defeated in the first book until he is freed. But in the process Chaison gets lost again -- his sense of duty causes him to also help free a couple of other Slipstream natives -- and he and his friends, along with the mysterious "winter waif" Antaea Argyre, end up in a major city of the enemy Falcon Formation. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT This time, we're looking at the latest from Greg Bear, Harry Turtledove, Mark Chadbourn, Paul McAuley, Eric Brown, Steven Brust, Alastair Reynolds, Stephen Baxter, and many others. http://www.sfsite.com/08a/ft277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Visually, it is a lovely book, the detailed line drawings of Craig Frazier, complementing the whimsical story of Mr. Fooster who goes on walking excursions armed with only his senses and an old bottle of soap with a bubble-making ring. But what bubbles! one becomes a vintage car, another an immense flying bird cage full of tropical fish. Mr. Fooster meets a lost newt, a giant insect, spends a winter as a tree, and meets an isolationist wall-builder. http://www.sfsite.com/08a/si277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT The Shadow Isle is Book Six of the Dragon Mage series and the penultimate novel in the epic Deverry series. A bitter-sweet read for anyone who has read the series from the very beginning. Or it would be, if one had time to dwell on that instead of focusing all one's attention on keeping up with the events that start unfolding the moment you open the book. http://www.sfsite.com/08a/de277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT This is an entertaining, effortlessly captivating read, dripping with what Alannah Myles once called a slow southern style. It's this sweltering Deep South ambience, and to some extent pacing, which makes it stand out from other superhero based novels. Occasionally, the sheer laid back approach slows to a crawl, which is usually the antithesis of the superhero genre, but the author knows what he's doing. http://www.sfsite.com/08a/df277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Suppose that Hamlet were an 11-year-old modern-day English boy, and his late father not the King of Denmark but the owner of a pub in Newark-on-Trent. That is the starting point of this refreshing novel that is part ghost story, part coming-of-age tale. Paying homage to Shakespeare's masterpiece throughout, Matt Haig nevertheless has created a story all his own. http://www.sfsite.com/08a/mm277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT This collection includes nine selections originally published between 1991 and 2007, offering a variety of topics ranging from an aging superhero grandmother ("Grandma," by Carol Emshwiller) to how a mother and daughter cope with the end of the world ("Last Contact," by Stephen Baxter). Narrators Tom Dheere and Vanessa Hart give fine performances. http://www.sfsite.com/08a/so277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT John Winchester's wife has been murdered. She was pinned to the ceiling of her son's bedroom then she burst into flames. Nobody believes John when he tries to them how she died, they all believe the tragedy was caused by an electrical fire and that John is just under the emotional stress of grieving for his lost wife. Only one person has an inkling of what really happened and she tracks John down to a bar where he's hustling pool. http://www.sfsite.com/lists/yb-sf-volume07.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT In 1984, Gardner Dozois gathered together what he thought was the best short science fiction of the previous year. He scrutinized as many of the magazines, collections and anthologies published in 1983 that he could get his hands on and chose those which he felt best represented the science fiction field. Jim Frenkel published it as part of his Bluejay Books line (for three years) and it has been produced every year since then (by St. Martins's Press). http://www.sfsite.com/08a/sc277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Two centuries after mankind died out, its legacy continues, as all manner of self-aware robots have spread out to conquer the solar system, building outposts and cities from Mercury to Eris, and beyond. Some made in the image of their creators, others built for very specialized jobs, they've created a society all their own, as complex as any humans ever formed. From living hotels and spaceships to decadent slave-owning aristocracy, they pursue their dreams and schemes. Enter Freya, one of a dwindling number of femmebots, robots originally designed to bring pleasure and companionship to their human masters, now obsolete and purposeless in an all-robot universe. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/booknews01.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT There's so much news happening in the world that it's hard to keep up. SF Site sifts through the details picking out the interesting stuff and following them up. Sandy has information on Alastair Reynolds' latest SF novel, Tony Richards' new collection, Elastic Press's two new SF collections and PS Publishing launch of some great titles at this year's Fantasycon. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rick doesn't plan on reviewing The X-Files: I Want to Believe and has some notes on Jeremiah. He also gives us a list of SF on TV in August. http://www.sfsite.com/08a/jc277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Jules Verne really wasn't a very good writer. The James Mason, Pat Boone version of Journey to the Center of the Earth really wasn't a very good movie. Neither is this one. But Rick has a soft spot in his head for all three. They have charm. http://www.sfsite.com/08a/dk277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT This movie certainly gives action fans their money's worth -- there is enough action on the screen for a double feature, a Batman vs. The Joker movie and a Batman vs. Two Face movie. This film is much better on all counts than Batman Begins, where Rick has to take time to even remember who the villain was -- oh, yes, Ras Al Gul, but not the memorable Neal Adams version of that character. http://www.sfsite.com/08a/tm277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT With nearly four dozen volumes, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series can be somewhat daunting to new readers, especially since the series is not as linear as most fantasy series. While books such as The Discworld Companion are aimed at readers who are already familiar with the series, Lawrence Watt-Evans has created something else. http://www.sfsite.com/08a/hm277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT Volstov has been at war with the Imperialistic Ke-Han for centuries; both sides have magic and both sides have armies, but Th'Esar's Dragon Corps, a fourteen strong crew of magic-powered, mechanical dragons and their bonded riders, have given Volstov the advantage. Ke-Han has no corresponding air-force. Unfortunately, the dragons do have their limitations: their range is limited by the amount of fuel they can take on. If the Ke-Han armies ever get their hands on a dragon they could reverse-engineer a flock of their own. http://www.sfsite.com/08a/lr277.htm Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT The book weighs in, according to the U.S. Postal Service, at 14 pounds. And it seems at least 13 pounds of that is Lovecraft-inspired madness, running the spectrum from the black-and-white Weird Tales interior illustrations to a digitally manipulated collage created in 2007. This makes a nice 80-year period of art inspired by a man whose fiction influenced many writers and who has been loathed by at least as many writers of fiction and criticism for all of those years. http://www.sfsite.com/07b/ad276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Mack Megaton isn't your average joe on the street. He's actually a reprogrammed robot built for destruction and world domination who, upon gaining free will, gave up his creator's megalomanical ways and has gone straight, earning his citizenship one day at a time as an honest taxi driver in Empire City, where weird science reigns supreme. He's not hero material, that's for sure. Heck, he barely understands people, and he can't even tie a bow tie. His therapist thinks he needs to work on his manual coordination, as well as getting out to interact with people more often. But hey, it's hard for a seven foot tall ex-doomsday machine to get comfortable with people, you know? http://www.sfsite.com/07b/tb276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT "I tell everybody that when I'm stuck and I'm looking for ideas or even when I just want ideas to come, the best thing is to either take a long dive where your mind is freed up and you can just let it go; or get in a situation where's there's water -- showers are great. I get lots of ideas in the shower. It's amazing. In there it's like a white-noise state and your mind just suddenly releases and you begin to follow all these possibilities in your head. It's real magic! Although sometimes nothing happens and you have to try again later." http://www.sfsite.com/07b/wl276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT One of the things that science fiction does is look at how it might be, if our dreams or nightmares came true. And one of the most persistent nightmares is the contemplation of loss, of all that we love, all that we know, all that makes us feel comfortable, being taken away from us. It is no surprise, therefore, that variations on the end of the world are as old as science fiction. Though the nature of the apocalypse, and our response to it, have changed depending largely on the cultural context from which the particular end of the world has emerged. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT In L.A. it has been the summer of books. No, not because everyone here in the Pueblo of Angels is suddenly cracking open copies of Ask the Dust or Day of the Locust to unearth their town's own literary history, but rather, because the two main gatherings of the book industry -- the Book Expo of America (or "BEA") and the American Library Association's annual gathering (or "ALA" for short) -- were held there. Our intrepid reporter, Mark London Williams, scouted out the graphic novel scene. http://www.sfsite.com/07b/ou276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT This sixth installment of the Hollows series starts out with a bang. Rachel Morgan, our ne'er-do-well witch, has once again gotten in over her head. Thinking that all is well, Rachel discovers quickly that things have gotten way out of hand. Algaliarept, the demon that Rachel sent to demon jail, is somehow getting out and gunning for her. Not only is she not safe, but anyone close to her is in danger. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/audio276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT At times, it's more convenient (and enjoyable) to hear the latest in science fiction and fantasy. Recent audiobook releases include works by Dave Duncan, Charlie Huston, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, S.M. Stirling, Mike Carey and Naomi Novik. http://www.sfsite.com/07b/md276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT In 1956, director John Huston released a film adaptation of Moby Dick. Moby Dick had been adapted twice before, in 1926 and 1930, both times starring John Barrymore and both very loose adaptations of the Herman Melville novel. Huston approached a young screenwriter with about ten scripts to his credit to adapt Melville's novel, ignoring the earlier Barrymore vehicles. The result was a film starring Gregory Peck with a screenplay by Ray Bradbury. http://www.sfsite.com/07b/ka276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT This issue features a wide selection of stories, many of them quite short, as well as some non-fiction: an interview with the writers of a Doctor Who book, a discussion of "female android sexuality in film" and a parody horoscope column. Add quite a few poems, and a comic strip, and some more art and photography, and you have a varied and interesting publication. http://www.sfsite.com/07b/dv276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT This is a big book. The author doesn't seem to be able to write any other kind, yet by the time you get to the end it feels like all of it 600+ pages have been devoted to accomplishing one major goal; that of setting the reader up for the really big story that is yet to come. And when you're talking galaxy-spanning space opera with a cast of characters every bit as large as its setting, there's nothing wrong with that. http://www.sfsite.com/07b/ah276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT In his afterword, the author cautions against the natural human tendency to look for patterns in everything. And, indeed, anyone trying to fashion a single, coherent future history from the six stories in the book will be disappointed. Nevertheless, the tales do comprise an interesting set of snapshots of where we might be heading -- or (as Cory Doctorow's introduction reminds us) where we are now. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/tangent276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT The first half of 2008 has come and gone, and so with it the once-fresh memories of some of its earlier stories. Beginning with this installment -- as a mid-season memory enhancer -- we'll be taking a look at 2008's short fiction, beginning with January and working our way up to year's end. This time we'll take a look at the January through March issues of F&SF, as well as the Jan./Feb. Special Double Issue of Analog. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Some of the newest arrivals at the SF Site office include the latest books from Greg Egan, Andrzej Sapkowski, Justina Robson, Neal Asher, Harry Turtledove, and many more. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rick blew the money he got teaching summer school on a new TV. He bought a Toshiba 52X55OU television and a Denon DVD 2500BTCi Blu-Ray player. He already has a good sound system and an all-region DVD player. He added HD cable with DVR. So, was it money well spent? http://www.sfsite.com/07b/we276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rick loved WALL-E. But... First, the movie is beautiful and moving. The brilliant visuals are in stark contrast with the pedestrian animation of the new Star Wars movie, the previews of which were shown right before this Pixar film. In fact, all of the animated previews before WALL-E looked pretty lame by comparison, except Madagascar II. http://www.sfsite.com/07b/hb276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT In order to enjoy movies these days, it's best to turn off your brain, using the same quantity of drugs the writer/director uses to make the film. Sad to say, Rick's beatnik days are behind him, his IQ has risen into the triple digits, and it has become difficult for him to attain the state of consciousness necessary to really appreciate Hellboy II. http://www.sfsite.com/07b/mk276.htm Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Kestrel is a rarity: a woman aboard a pirate ship. Moreover, she's the quartermaster, answering only to her captain, a dashing fellow by the name of Artemus Binns, who's the closest thing she has ever had to a father figure. She works twice as hard as any man to command the proper measure of respect, but the effort's paid off, granting her power and authority, and the freedom she can only find at sea. For only surrounded by water, where magic is ineffective, is she safe. http://www.sfsite.com/07a/ia275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Being the first born son of a Lord is a pretty good deal. You stand to one day inherit a title, land, and loyalty of the people who go along with it. Being the second son is not nearly as good a thing. The latter is the situation faced by a young Durand Col who has found a place as a knight in service to Lord Lamoric. Times are uncertain, and when Lamoric and other Lords are called by the King to journey to his court and renew their oaths of loyalty, they are forced on a harsh voyage which ends in betrayal. http://www.sfsite.com/07a/hs275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Space opera is all about scale, the biggest devices, the biggest bangs, the biggest distances. And no-one does size quite like Alastair Reynolds. Here, his (human) heroes are millions of years old and regularly circumnavigate the galaxy, they have the technology to safely enclose a sun that is about to go nova, and they are about to get involved in a conflict whose origins lie eons before and whose resolution will extend to another galaxy. http://www.sfsite.com/07a/sg275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT The saga of the vampire Saint-Germain, whose adventures across the centuries (he's supposedly 4,000 year old) started with the publication of the novel Hotel Transylvania in 1978, and has now reached its 19th and 20th installment, much to the delight of legions of faithful readers. The author, the prolific Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, keeps jumping across history without following a definite chronological order, moving her creature back and forth from ancient ages to more modern times, so much so that her books have the dual character of the historical novel and the vampiric tale. http://www.sfsite.com/07a/ho275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Aliens invading the bodies of humans isn't a new plot device, but who ever stops to think about the body-snatcher's point of view? The Host gives us the chance to experience this unique switch in perspective: the book opens as the alien called Wanderer is inserted into the body of Melanie Stryder, a renegade human recently tracked down and captured by the Seekers. When an alien Soul is placed into a new human Host body, that's supposed to be that. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/tangent275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Dave has been annoyed in the past, but he is really irked by one particular story in The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow. He was primed and ready for this all-new collection of both science fiction and fantasy stories, and hoped it would be another worthwhile addition to a number of others appearing in the past two years. http://www.sfsite.com/07a/fa275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Orna, a member of the elite Cadre, is bonded for life to the Clan Caracassa. Orna's people, the Eskarans, are at war with the Gurta; as the novel begins, she is in battle. Tricked by the Gurta, Orna's husband is killed, and she is captured and taken to the prison-fortress Farzala. At first despairing and aloof (which gains her the nickname of "the fade," a kind of apparition), she gradually forms relationships with a small group of her fellow-prisoners and formulates a daring plan to escape. http://www.sfsite.com/07a/os275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT In the not-so-near future, mankind has finally established a presence on the Moon, a scientific research station called Gettysburg. It's there, as a team of scientists perform a complicated experiment, that history is made, when a strange silver sphere of giant proportions appears unexpectedly, leaving destruction and chaos in its wake. Utterly ignoring the humans affected by its arrival, it sets up residence in one of the Moon's craters, before creating dozens of even stranger silver towers, which fly off to points around the Moon. http://www.sfsite.com/07a/ob275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT The Cold War suddenly becomes very hot, due to a series of unfortunate events. One such being the liaison of a Slick Willie style President, taking orders from below his waist. This time, when the nuclear buttons are pushed, there's no teenage geek hero to save the world. In the space of a few minutes, it's whoops apocalypse and goodbye to all that we knew. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Reality plays by its own rules. This tenet, in the form of metafiction, litters the comic book landscape. While this type of self-referential literature was quite common in comics strips, the earliest story of this type that Rick Klaw uncovered, appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #22, dated March 26, 1943, some eight years after the publication of New Fun, the first comic book of original material. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Some of the most recently received new and forthcoming titles at the SF Site office include the latest from Greg Bear, Steven Erikson, Naomi Novik, Terry Brooks, Robert Scott & Jay Gordon, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Jacqueline Carey, Eric Brown, Kelley Armstrong, David Drake, and many others. http://www.sfsite.com/07a/re275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Told in alternating story lines, this is the tale of Sweeney, a father who has brought his comatose young son, Danny, to the Peck Clinic in hopes of a miracle. Sweeney seems to just exist in his space, as his life revolves around the care and cure of Danny. Working in the Peck's basement pharmacy, Sweeney frequently visits his son's bedside to read from Danny's favorite comic book series, "Limbo." Sweeney floats through his day in a haze of anger and lack of sleep. His forays out into the clinic proper and town are met with hostile and often confrontational results. He is a man lost. http://www.sfsite.com/07a/ih275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT The Incredible Hulk is a moderately entertaining, by-the-numbers, semi-sequel to Ang Lee's Hulk, lacking the exciting directing but also the murky storytelling of the earlier flick. It is very loosely based on the Hulk stories in Tales to Astonish #90 and #91 (April and May 1967), "The Abomination" and "Whoever Harms the Hulk," by Stan Lee and Gil Kane. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick275.htm Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rick has been watching The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, now out on DVD. The quality of this series is uneven, depending largely on how much involvement George Lucas has with a particular episode. He also gives us a list of SF on TV in July. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/tangent274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT Dave Truesdale has returned with a new column looking at short fiction. For his first, he takes a look at two collections: The Guild of Xenolinguists by Sheila Finch which collects the bulk of her Lingster stories and Nano Comes To Clifford Falls by Nancy Kress made up of her recent stories, grounded in science or technology and featuring nano-tech along with its effect on society. http://www.sfsite.com/06b/is274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT The book opens with a swordsman walking across the desert, soon to encounter mysterious priests kidnapping people, and caravan guards led by an ogre. Pure sword and sorcery, right? Not at all, as readers of "Womb of Every World," from last year's SFBC anthology Alien Crimes, will immediately realize. That story, moderately revised, represents a bit more than the first third of this novel. http://www.sfsite.com/06b/ew274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT The Lion Hunter picks up just after the events in The Sunbird, in which Telemakos, grandson of Arthur, is introduced, and becomes a victim of international intrigue. Readers unfamiliar with this novel will find expert back story painted in at the start of The Lion Hunter as Telemakos challenges himself to overcome the fears he suffered after being held prisoner, blindfolded and bound, as a result of deadly international politics. http://www.sfsite.com/06b/sr274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT The post-human universe isn't just for grown-ups anymore. In his first novel, Paul Melko brings the classic style of young adult science fiction headlong into a future where the singularity has come and gone, leaving old-fashioned human beings and a new kind of humanity, the pods, reeling and attempting to recover in its wake. It's a fast-moving story full of adventure, angst, and the growing pains of a young being known as Apollo Papadopulos. http://www.sfsite.com/06b/om274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT The action takes place mostly in Angland, on an alternate Earth on the other side of the mirror, where "magik" is a reality, and physics does not permit the development of electrical power. In Angland, DNA spirals to the left, and people travel in steam-buggies and airships. Geography and history are similar to the world we know, but differ at key points. The story centres on two teenage boys, Danny Royce, a disaffected wastrel from our reality, and Garreth Royal, a budding wizard who has just failed to make the grade. http://www.sfsite.com/06b/tm274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT Josette Monier has been living alone, in self-imposed exile for many years, in order to keep her immensely strong psychic abilities under control. To most of her fellow shapeshifters, those known as the Sazi, she's both a legend and a hermit by choice, one of the oldest and most powerful of her kind. Unfortunately, what she's just become is a target. http://www.sfsite.com/06b/ij274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT The new Indiana Jones movie is the best action-adventure film seen in a long time. You would have to go back to the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie for one as good. But it is not as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, or The Lord of the Rings. For a film to be that good, it has to be a new idea, with new characters. http://www.sfsite.com/06b/pc274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT Andrew Adamson, who helmed this film of the second book in the seven book Narnia series, decided to go all out for big-budget action this time. Maybe the studio pushed him in that direction, but he deserves the credit and blame for turning a human adventure into a special-effects extravaganza. In the middle is an entire battle sequence that isn't in the book and doesn't advance the plot. http://www.sfsite.com/06b/th274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT What pass for horror movies these days are seldom designed to induce fear. Fear, after all, is an unpleasant emotion, though the relief afterwards is pleasant. There are the horror movies where you experience self-righteous satisfaction when women who have sex out of wedlock are killed or when teen-agers who have sex before marriage are killed. And there are the horror movies which produce roller-coaster thrills where each horrible death produces a shriek of laughter. http://www.sfsite.com/06b/gs274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT A few months following the destruction of the infamous Axis Institute, the university for young villains-in-training created by international mad scientist and all-around bad guy Phineas Darkkon. At present, Darkkon is missing, his nefarious right-hand-man Prosper English is sitting in an Australian jail cell, and their unwilling protege fifteen-year-old computer genius Cadel Piggott, has been dumped in yet another foster home. Adding to Cadel's unstable life, he's living in legal limbo, his citizenship as uncertain as his parentage, under the constant shadow of police surveillance. http://www.sfsite.com/06b/di274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT The author's reputation, first and foremost, is as one of today's preeminent "idea men" of SF. His fiction is built around scientific or sociological ideas -- that is to say, on speculation. Particular areas of interest seem to be mathematics, physics, and the workings of the brain (and indeed all of these ideas are often interconnected). He eagerly uses concepts from the cutting edges of these fields, and speculates beyond the cutting edge -- sometimes, as he has admitted, a bit implausibly. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT Regular readers of comics news and reviews already know that Rory Root, the affable, pioneering proprietor of Berkeley, California-based Comic Relief passed away suddenly last month. The scope and breadth of what the store carried, how Rory was an advocate/supporter of lesser-known, or just-starting-out-of-the-gate work, and how well liked he was in the comics community by creators and retailers. Mark London Williams remembers his days growing up in the Berkeley area and how Rory affected his development into the writer he is today. http://www.sfsite.com/06b/yp274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT Meyer Landsman is about as hard-boiled as detectives get. He lives in a cheap flop-house of a hotel, and smokes too much, drinks way too much, and works obsessively -- besides abstractly thinking about suicide, drinking and working are what gets him through his days. He's divorced and estranged from his ex-wife Bina, who is now his superior officer, and he's plagued by family ghosts -- his chess-obsessed suicide of a father, his sister Naomi, a pilot who crashed her Piper Cub into a mountain, the tiny voice of his aborted baby. He's long on bitterness and short on hope, unable to see anything but the bleakest future for himself or his people. Because, unlike your run-of-the-mill depressed and hard-bitten police detective, Landsman is also facing Reversion. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT New books are flooding into the SF Site office almost as quickly as we can unpack 'em. The most recent arrivals include the latest from Kevin J. Anderson, Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter, F. Paul Wilson, Timothy Zahn, Gregory Frost, Charlaine Harris, Charlie Huston, John C. Wright, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Mike Resnick, Katharine Kerr, Scott Bakker, Mike Carey, Harry Turtledove, and many, many more. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/audio274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT At times, it's more convenient (and enjoyable) to hear the latest in science fiction and fantasy. Recent audiobook releases include works by Lewis Carroll, Laurell K. Hamilton, Simon R. Green, Kelley Armstrong and Philip K. Dick. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rick has some thoughts on the first half of Battlestar Galactica Season 4. And he has questions that he hopes the writers will address in the second part of the show's last season. http://www.sfsite.com/06b/si274.htm Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT John Stark, besides being a tough and independent mercenary, is a man with a very thin veneer of civilisation overlying an almost animalistic core. In somewhat of a parallel with Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes, Stark was raised from infancy by barely-human Mercurian aborigines, and under certain stressful situations, which are not uncommon in his business, he reverts to his origins and lives by his quasi-animalistic instincts. http://www.sfsite.com/06a/mt273.htm Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT At its heart is the story of three siblings, two sons and the daughter of the King of Sarl. Sarl is a low-tech civilization, steam power is just recently being put to use, situated on a Shellworld. The Shellworlds are artificial constructs, planet-sized habitats made up of a series of concentric shells, built long ago by a civilization that has since vanished from the galaxy. They are now inhabited by many different species, low-tech societies like the Sarl are watched over by other species to prevent interference in their development. http://www.sfsite.com/06a/sb273.htm Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT This is something different. It is not quite fantasy and not quite science fiction. Not quite a quest epic and not quite a character study. But it is, for the most part, a good read. There are pleasures to be found in its pages that comprise the story of Leodora, a shadow puppeteer, and Diverus, a god-touched musician, and their performances across the interlinking, innumerous bridge-cities that stretch across the fathomless oceans of Shadowbridge. http://www.sfsite.com/06a/wr273.htm Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT Instead of Zorro-style swordsmen as central protagonists, the author has reverted to the formula that began his success, and dusted down the magic. The result was a small renaissance, rekindling past glories, alongside the best enemy that the author has created in twenty years. These were the Dasati; a wholly militaristic alien society, where casual cruelty is seen as the social norm, and any weakness as an abhorrence to be swiftly and fatally terminated. http://www.sfsite.com/06a/cs273.htm Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT Elijah Baley is a regular police detective, content in his work and his life until the day his boss assigns him the most delicate and dangerous case of his career. A Spacer scientist has been murdered by an Earthman, and Baley is responsible for finding the culprit and avoiding increased tension between the City and Spacetown. He has been assigned a partner from Spacetown, R. Daneel Olivaw, a robot designed to exactly mimic human appearance. In Olivaw's case, the appearance he is mimicking is that of the murder victim. http://www.sfsite.com/06a/sw273.htm Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT Most people understand sword & sorcery to mean derring-do with pointy weapons, set in a far-away kingdom where there may or may not be involvement with the supernatural and or magic. There is a distinct flavor of the Arabian Nights in most early twentieth century sword and sorcery, probably left over from the largely imaginary "travel" tales of the late 1600s and 1700s. The conflict in sword & sorcery tales is usually personal rather than ideological or political -- even when the enemies are two kingdoms. Most http://www.sfsite.com/06a/pc273.htm Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT As pointed out in Jess Nevins' introduction to the volume, urban fantasy -- intended as a type of fiction where cities are the setting and the supporting character of the story -- has a long-established tradition in the literature, can be traced as far back as the Arabian Nights and appears throughout the centuries in Gothic novels, Dickens' London and modern horror and SF fiction. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica273.htm Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT On May 8, 1940, The Chicago Daily News published Sterling North's influential condemnation of comic books "A National Disgrace (And a challenge to American Parents)." North calls comics "a poisonous mushroom growth," calling upon parents and educators to "break the 'comics' magazines." And those who don't would be "guilty of criminal negligence." He claims that "the antidote to the 'comic' magazine poison can be found in any library or good bookstore." Rick Klaw notes that in 2008 most libraries and bookstores gladly sell "these lurid publications" and that the line between prose and comics literature has never been closer. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new273.htm Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT New books recently arrived in the SF Site office include the latest from Ray Bradbury, John Crowley, Margaret Weis, Jeffrey E. Barlough, limited editions of some classic Tim Powers, an assortment of genre magazines, new and classic titles for younger readers, and much more. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick273.htm Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rick speculates on why shows like Smallville and Battlestar Galactica have such low viewership numbers along with which shows returning later this summer. He also gives us a list of SF on TV in June. http://www.sfsite.com/06a/fs273.htm Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT Flora Segunda Fyrdraaca is neither a girly-girl, nor a nerd. She is not an heir-in-disguise, nor does she have some tremendous magical power hidden away inside her, just waiting to be discovered. This isn't that kind of YA fantasy novel. Instead, Flora is the decidedly un-illustrious youngest daughter of a very illustrious family fallen on hard times, just a bit like Califa, the country where they live. http://www.sfsite.com/06a/sg273.htm Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT The eponymous hero Severian begins this omnibus edition of Book of the New Sun as an apprentice of the obscure Torturer's Guild in the city of Nessus, and he experiences a revelatory event in the necropolis near the Guild's tower which causes him to begin questioning the established dictums of authority -- both those of his guild and those of the society beyond it. As a result, he later transgresses the rules of the Guild by helping a prisoner to commit suicide and is effectively expelled for it, though he is saved from the ignominy of death at the hands of his fellow guildsmen by the seeming compassion of his old Master. Instead, Severian is sent out into the world beyond Nessus to take up a post as the torturer and executioner of a distant city -- a form of exile that falls just short of excommunication. http://www.sfsite.com/06a/ea273.htm Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT After Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan, died in June 1936, a number of the works he had submitted before his death continued to be published in the pulps, particularly in Weird Tales. However, by 1938 this supply had largely run out, yet the demand for such fare hadn't -- so a number of authors attempted to fill the void, amongst them Henry Kuttner. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/pp272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Paolo Bacigalupi is a new writer who has made a profound impression on the SF field with just a few stories. He is generally a hard SF writer, and his central theme, by far, is the environment. While the bulk of his stories are certainly set in depressing, environmentally ruined futures, they are also packed with plausible and fascinating SFnal furniture -- he's truly a science fiction writer, one who scratches the same itch John Campbell wanted his writers to scratch. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Spring and summer releases have been flooding into our office over the past few weeks, including the latest from Greg Bear, Naomi Novik, Jim Butcher, Karl Schroeder, as well as from SF Site veterans Paul Kincaid, and Cindy Lynn Speer, plus some hefty collections from the likes of Robert Bloch, H.P. Lovecraft, Michael Swanwick, plus anthologies, magazines, and much, much more. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/audio272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT The Audies honors the best audiobooks of the year. Listed here are science fiction, fantasy and horror titles which have been nominated as finalists in various categories. As well, you can find a list of audiobooks for May. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/ybh272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Who said the short fiction market was in trouble? This volume contains 41 stories and poems, and lists a further 834 titles in the Honourable Mentions. That's not far short of 900 works culled from the fantasy output of just one year, and presumably that's still some way short of the total published. A short fiction marketplace that can sustain such an output in what was not a particularly special year can't be doing too badly. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/gf272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT In professional sports there are major leagues and minor leagues. The majors are where the best professionals play their games. The minors are the home of players, some on their way up, some on their way down, and others who know they'll never play at a higher level, but happy to be able to play at all. The world of publishing has a similar structure. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/au272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT This long-running Australian magazine soldiers on with a thick double issue, this time edited by Stephen Higgins and Stuart Mayne. It features an editorial by Mayne, a science article by Patricia O'Neill speculating on why SETI hasn't discovered any alien races, interviews with Elizabeth Moon, Alan Lee, and the entire Aurealis Team, a number of book reviews (including Bill Congreve's final column), and a generous fifteen stories. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/ub272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT This is a compilation reprinted from the pages of Farmerphile, a quarterly magazine dedicated to the author's works. So anyone expecting brand new stories may be disappointed. Happily, this is the only disappointment here. The book is well presented, including a scattering of black and white illustrations throughout, from various artists, many of which perfectly compliment their stories. The collection itself comprises intentionally obscure examples of Farmer's work, including rare short stories, a novel beginning, non-fiction, and a complete eco-novel. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Comics were never just exclusively for the tights crowd, even if, for a few decades there, a glance at any American newsstand would give you that impression. More and more, the film biz seems to be noticing, as other types of stories get picked for translation to the big (or at least medium) screen. Thus, stories like Perdition and A History of Violence, and now, from the company that produced the latter, another mob-themed pick-up, a four-issue story, indie-published story, replete with its own "history of violence," called Pencilneck.. Mark London Williams has a chat with the writer of the series, Victor Carungi. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/im272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Iron Man is a fun superhero film, certainly a lot more fun than the comic book upon which it is based, whose highpoints are when the lead character became a drunk and when he turned fascist. The film is based, loosely, on the origin story in Tales of Suspense #39, with the action moved from Vietnam to Afghanistan and the story where the red and gold suit fights the old Iron Man suit, from Tales of Suspense #65. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Jerome Bixby wrote for Twilight Zone, an early version of Fantastic Voyage and the original Star Trek. When Rick learned about Jerome Bixby's Man from Earth, the faithful filming of his last script, he had some thoughts on it. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/fl272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT The speculative elements of science fiction tend to age badly, and each passing minute of the real world causes futures that once attracted us with their visionary wonder to now offer only the amusement of yesterday's tomorrows. Near-future SF that attempts plausible extrapolations is particularly vulnerable to senescence, and it is rare to encounter such a book that is more than ten years old and still possesses the power to dazzle, because so often the writer has emphasized the speculation more than other, more durable, qualities. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/sa272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT The first book in the series, serialized in the Italian newspaper La Nuova Arena in 1883-4, first published in book form in 1900, and here translated for the first time into English, is so chock full of action that the best cultural equivalent in North America might have been the better dime-novel adventures of the late 19th-early 20th century. Or, perhaps think Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s swashbuckling movies, or, if in a different genre, the Indiana Jones films. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/hp272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT When writer and anthologist Stephen Jones was compiling Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft for British publisher Gollancz, he was given access to the archives of their communications with Arkham House and Lovecraft's estate. Since Gollancz was the first to publish that author in the United Kingdom this gave Jones a unique window onto a tiny but formative part of horror publishing history. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/su272.htm Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Supernatural is a happy coincidence of good story telling, powerful performances and exceptional crew combining together to deliver scary episodes that are fun and intriguing all at the same time. Its success has finally been recognised and the merchandising wagon has started rolling with the coverage of its first two seasons. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/ps271.htm Thu, 1 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Genevieve Kelley, an apprentice magician who retreated into a coma of sorts after she was raped, has been kept in the Blackwing Institute, a sanatorium for mentally disturbed magicians. Genevieve is a "reweaver" -- she can rearrange reality to match her dreams. But she has escaped, and she is more or less randomly reweaving reality in Felport, transporting people to a world of her dreams every so often. Marla needs to track her down and eliminate her threat to her city, hopefully without killing her. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/rs271.htm Thu, 1 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT 'This is early 90's and Scud is being thrown around all over the place because of the Gulf War. And I was like "You know that kind of sounds like a detergent." It was like something you would buy to clean your tub. I thought, you know, what would be real neat is to have an assassin that had this pop art detergent box-like look to it. I though what if there was a robot bought out of a vending machine, like a disposable razor or lighter.' http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica271.htm Thu, 1 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT During the annual Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) business meeting, some discussions took place as to what kinds of works qualify professional science fiction/fantasy writers for membership. Rick Klaw has some thoughts on what was said, what they should do to update their definitions and what is happening in the rest of the world when it comes to graphic novels. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/gw271.htm Thu, 1 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Jig, the runty, nearsighted goblin hero of the previous adventures (Goblin Quest and Goblin Hero) is taken to war, even though no one, including Jig himself, thinks of him as much of a warrior... except that he's called Jig Dragonslayer because in a previous conflict between Jig and a dragon, it was the goblin who survived. And he did seem to outlive a host of other fierce enemies, from princes to pixies. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/ju271.htm Thu, 1 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rich's favorite story of the five plus a poem here is the longest, a novelette called "O-Topper: The Musical", by Monte Davis. Much of what he likes is the weird presentation of what is a fairly familiar basic story: time travel tourism, in this case rich men battling Huns. But the organizer of the tours insists on art -- he's a cross-dressing clown and he dresses up his clients similarly. The tour itself has a shocking side -- the tourists' mantra is "You can't kill what's already dead," but of course they are killing these people. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/mc271.htm Thu, 1 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Originally published as a chapbook in 2000, it won the Bram Stoker Award, the International Horror Award and the World Fantasy Award. The present volume is an expanded version, incorrectly defined "a novel." Truth be told, this book defies any label in terms of both literary form and genre definition. A cross between fiction and autobiography, more mainstream than horror, this collaborative work represents a fascinating puzzle, a unique example in the recent dark literature. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/wn271.htm Thu, 1 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Titus Quinn is back in the world of the Entire, the neighboring universe which exists contemporaneous with our own. This time, he has an unwelcome companion, Helice Maki, the ambitious scientist/corporate executive who has gained great influence and power. Quinn's mission is two-fold, prevent the Tariq, the strange, powerful beings who rule the Entire from destroying our universe in order to provide energy for their own, and to find his daughter Sydney, who is living with aliens known as the Inyx. Helice, nominally along to help him, has plans of her own. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/tu271.htm Thu, 1 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT In a age when people are never satiated with the day to day details of celebrity couples' lives, it shouldn't be surprising that a fairy tale can't simply end with "and they lived happily ever after," but draws the inevitable question -- was it really as happy as all that, or did Prince Charming have a mid-life crisis and run off with Rapunzel's teenage daughter? And what about the evil step-mother/queen/dwarf/black prince that survived -- surely they didn't retire to a convent/monastery. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/gd271.htm Thu, 1 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Horror fiction is still a relative rarity in the British mass market, so it's great to hear that Virgin Books are starting a monthly series of horror titles. It's also good to hear that the first few will be reissues of small press publications. Of course, we still want the books to be good -- but, with the first two at least, there's nothing to worry about in that regard. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/ef271.htm Thu, 1 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Two stories are interwoven in this novel. In one, Tom Schwoerin, a "cliologist" from the near future, searches through history for traces of the lost German city of the title. The other takes place in Eifelheim itself, then known as Oberhochwald, where we follow Pastor Dietrich as he struggles to understand the town's strange alien visitors. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick271.htm Thu, 1 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rick has some thoughts on Battlestar Galactica so far and how the length of a TV series has changed over the years. He also gives us a list of SF on TV in May. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/cg271.htm Thu, 1 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT The book is is a collection of twenty essays dealing with science fiction as a genre, ostensibly for the purpose of helping the reader write stories and get them published. Although the book does offer some useful advice, it also includes several oddities which detract from the book's overall usefulness. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rick has some thoughts on Dr. Who, and the Dr. Who spinoffs, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. All three begin their run on American TV in April. He also has some notes on new shows by Ronald D. Moore and by Joss Whedon on Fox coming this Fall. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/sr270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT This anthology of original stories is an attempt to re-invent science fiction for the young readers of today. Its goal is to re-capture that sense of wonder and amazement that characterized the Golden Age and the books that so many of today's SF writers grew up on. In order to do so, the editor has assembled a cast of many of the biggest names in science fiction today. The stories they've written are not copies of the old space-faring adventures of the 30s and 40s, instead they reflect the concerns and dreams of young people today. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/na270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT This anthology reprints a score of works which were putative direct or indirect influences on the writings of C.S. Lewis, although the relevance of the material extends beyond merely the Chronicles of Narnia to such of Lewis' works as The Screwtape Letters and the Space Trilogy. Lewis was a voracious and lifelong reader, so lots of potential material exists for such an anthology, and the editor has distilled some of the best of these here. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/st270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT A slim booklet of only 90 pages, it assembles five pieces of fiction including the title story, a collaborative work by the two writers. It is the highlight of the book, providing an excellent mix of horror and fantasy where an old surgeon reminisces about his years as a medical student and the daring experiment attempting to bring back to life the corpse of a young woman. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT Nexus Graphica is a column about graphic novels and comics that grew out of discussions between Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams. They will alternate columns. The nature and subject of each piece will vary from month to month, but it will always have something to do with graphic novels or comic books. For his first column, Mark is grappling with the idea of what comics are for. Are they just for fun? Or are comics -- when at their best -- simultaneously about individual lives (even spandex-encased ones) and everyone's lives, our lives, all at once? Social commentary, perhaps. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/gf270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT In Antoine Galland's Arabian Nights, there's a story called "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp." In the story, Aladdin orders his Djinn to build a palace for the Sultan. He specifies, however, that he wants there to be one flaw in the whole, one window-frame of gems that is incomplete, in order to allow the Sultan the honour of finishing it. The Djinn complies. Then, when the Sultan's being led through it, his eyes light on the incomplete window, and he's relieved to have found the flaw, the one tiny thing that can give his soul a break from the otherwise overwhelming awe. That's what reading this collection is like. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/ta270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT Cryptopolis -- a writers' group based in Austin, Texas -- offers us an anthology of ten stories by its members, each introduced by another contributor. The book is elevated above the status of back-slapping exercise by actually being pretty good, yet at the same time, it's frustratingly not good enough to be much more than pretty good. It seems that three of the stories go the extra distance to become something quite special; the other seven are interesting, but stop a little short. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/pr270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT "I do remember that fairly early on someone pointed out that I used the word 'alloy' and 'counterpoint' in the same sentence. That person pointed out that some people wouldn't actually know what an alloy was. I made a conscious decision right then that my book was written for people who either knew what that word meant, or were willing to look it up." http://www.sfsite.com/04b/nw270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT At the center of the first book in The Kingkiller Chronicles stands Kvothe. At different times an orphan, a lutist, a student, a mage, and a dragon slayer, at the opening of his tale Kvothe is only Kote, a simple innkeeper who has renounced his adventurous ways and heroic persona. The author shows us, in a prologue that is about as perfectly polished as one page of prose can get, the layered silence that envelops him, "the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who is waiting to die." There are demons -- monsters equal parts spider, lobster, and Edward Scissorhands -- about and, unsurprisingly, it appears Kvothe's past is catching up with him. A scrivener tracks him down to take his life story. Kvothe demands three days -- one for each book. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/is270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT In the plus column, Inside Straight introduces three or four credible new characters, there's a smattering of informative continuity with the established Wild Cards canon, and new blood in the pool of writing talent. In the minus column, most older characters and their chronology appear to have been consigned to history, except for cheesy cameo roles. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/wa270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT This anthology collects 22 stories together, the majority from the 21st century, although some reach back to the mutually assured destruction of the 80s, and a couple even hail from the crazy 70s. Is this anthology a result of the new age of insecurity and Terror (with a capital "T") that we live in? It might be argued so, because nuclear armageddon seldom rears its ugly head here; instead the eponymous apocalypse is more likely to be biological, a post 9/11 war of attrition or even the Biblical Day of Judgment. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT The newest batch of books to arrive on our doorstep include the latest from Stephen Baxter, Steven Erikson, John Kessel, John Meaney, Keri Arthur, Joe Abercrombie, Greg Keyes, Adam Stemple, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., as well as new anthologies from William Schaffer of Subterranean Press, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, and much more. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/audio270.htm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT At times, it's more convenient (and enjoyable) to hear the latest in science fiction and fantasty. Recent audiobook releases include works by Jim Butcher, Orson Scott Card, Philip Pullman and Lois McMaster Bujold. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica269.htm Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT Nexus Graphica is a column about graphic novels and comics that grew out of discussions between Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams. They will alternate columns. Like Rick Klaw's Geeks With Books, the nature and subject of each piece will vary from month to month, but it will always have something to do with graphic novels or comic books. For the first column, Rick describes how they met and how their friendship evolved. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/gn269.htm Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT The stories collected here, some of them written and published before Revelation Space, show us even more about the future the author has envisioned, and often give us details of characters lives and events that are alluded to in the novels. At the same time, they prove that his writing can be just as dark and intense at shorter lengths as it is in novels like Chasm City and Absolution Gap. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/vc269.htm Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT The bad news is that this book would be a tough place for new readers to begin, as it is the final installment of the chronicles of Vatta's War. Every major thread begins pretty much in medias res, pulling a long train of story investment along with it. The good news is that this is a smashing finish to an excellent series. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/over269.htm Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT Neil has a secret: The Gormenghast Trilogy is the real reason he started this column in the first place. He had heard about the series for many, many years. So many authors have cited Mervyn Peake as a significant influence, that he knew he should really read him and find out what all the hype was about. But on the other hand, he had also heard disturbing reports from readers about how tedious and progressively unreadable the series ultimately becomes. He had heard rumours that Peake went insane while writing the series, and that the final book makes no sense at all. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/ws269.htm Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT Ever since the publication of the equally celebrated and condemned Communion, the jury has been out on Whitley Strieber. To some he's a crafty chancer, cleverly weaving his fake Grey alien stories into a modern mythology, in tune with the American psyche. Others believe what he writes is at least prophetic fiction and perhaps thinly disguised fact. Wherever the truth may lie, this vein has been a rich source of inspiration and has enabled him to produce works that are entertaining and unsettling. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/ia269.htm Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT Arguably the most paranoid novel ever published, Richard Matheson's powerful tale of isolation, I Am Legend, informed the works of Stephen King, Dean R. Koontz, Joe R. Lansdale, and pretty much everyone else who has written horror since the story's 1954 publication. The book spawned two previous movie adaptations. The first, L' Ultimo Uomo Della Terra (The Last Man on Earth, 1964), starred Vincent Price in a dull yet faithful Italian production. 1971's The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston, used only the bare outline of the original story. In December 2007, director Francis Lawrence returned Matheson's classic to film, the first to sport the book title, I Am Legend. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/la269.htm Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT This final book in the First Law trilogy pushes forward like an avalanche through to the bitter end of the various events taking place from the wars in Angland and with the Gurkish to the internal secret wars of the ruling Closed Council. Like the avalanche, it is powerful, mesmerizing and unstoppable. However, also like an avalanche, the only way things can end is in a crush at the base of the mountain with luck being more likely than skills or bravery to save you. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/mf269.htm Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT Jeremiah Rosemont is a former academic, apparently an expert on the history of the Tarot, who has abandoned his former life and is wandering through Nicaragua when he gets a curious summons to Rome where he finds strange things happening. He becomes embroiled in a struggle over an ancient Tarot deck that might give great power to some very ancient beings. At the same time, a homeless man, called simply Boy King, who makes his living by dumpster diving and occasional Tarot readings in the streets of Minnesota, becomes aware that someone is after him. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/id269.htm Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT It isn't quite a play, it isn't quite a poem. It showcases a cast of artificially intelligent robots of different shapes and sizes, created by humans and placed aboard a spaceship, called The TransAtlantic Tortoise, sent out to find new, habitable worlds. The ship is also intelligent but, at the play's opening, it has mysteriously stopped communicating with the crew. We follow Gael-all-of-metal, the dog-shaped captain, as he reflects on and tests the boundaries of his programming, encourages mutiny aboard his ship and discovers love with another crewmate. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/rw269.htm Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT We have been in a "post-cyberpunk" period for longer than cyberpunk lasted. At least, we have if you take a strictly chronological understanding of the term. But "post-cyberpunk" has only really been bandied about for the last year or so, and the closest we have to a definition of the term is this particular anthology. Looking at this, one might say that "post-cyberpunk" bears pretty much the same relationship to "cyberpunk" that "postmodernism" bears to "modernism." http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick269.htm Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rick has some thoughts on the return of Battlestar Galactica for one final season and what sort of year Smallville is having. He also gives us a list of SF on TV in April. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/sp269.htm Tue, 1 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT It's becoming a rare achievement for a genre TV series to even complete a debut season these days, so the fact that Supernatural is now well into its third season radiates a silent message that the show has style, depth and most importantly, great ratings. A number of factors contribute to its success like the obvious chemistry between the two lead actors, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles along with the quality of the writing as the brothers hack their way through a huge range of strange monsters, knee-deep in spooky adversaries, while trying to deal with their own family neuroses at the same time. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/rm268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT If America has an existentialist fantasist, her name is Robin Hobb. Her writing, unique in a genre overpopulated with adolescent sword-and-sorcery epics, avoids tired retreads of the quest format perfected over a century ago through the prose-poetry of Lord Dunsany and the mythopoeic majesty of E.R. Eddison. It earns mention in the small but elite company of writers whose methods -- ranging as wide as the multilayered complexity of Robert Jordan, the bracing realism of George R.R. Martin, and the philosophical literacy of Philip Pullman -- are producing a renaissance in the field. Rather than offering mindless escapism, Robin Hobb's works utilize fantasy conventions to explore weighty concepts such as identity and fellowship, rights and duties, and permanence and change. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/du268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT One of the forms from which science fiction and fantasy emerged was the medieval romance in which a chivalrous, heroic knight, often of super-human ability, abides by strict chivalric codes of conduct while on a quest in which he fights and defeats monsters and giants, thereby winning favour with a lady. There is often an allegorical aspect to the quest and the various opponents overcome, and a sense that the whole enterprise and its outcome are pre-ordained. Now put this description in purely science fictional terms... http://www.sfsite.com/03b/pp268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT In a world of relatively peaceful small kingdoms where magic is operated by mages and the usual feudal trappings exist, Lios, Crown Prince of Vesarja, invites the young princesses and princes of the world to a several day coming out party in his parent's castle. Rhis, princess of a small remote mountain kingdom, who has grown up stifled by protocol, is one of those who attends the festivities. When Iardith, a beautiful but vain and self-centered princess is kidnapped, Rhis leads a mounted rescue party of princess-friends. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/in268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT What's so bothersome about this book? Is it Jet, the novel's almost totally passive protagonist, whose one self-motivated act in the entire book is to run away from home? Maybe it is Otis, her robotic dog -- a character who could have been fascinating but instead exists solely to move the plot along by deducing things periodically (thus keeping Jet from ever figuring something out for herself)? Perhaps it is Jet's family and the showbiz caricatures that populate this novel, almost none ever rising to three-dimensionality? http://www.sfsite.com/lists/ps-author01.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT In the spring of 2004, PS Publishing launched a new magazine called Postscripts. Originally, the magazine was to be digest-sized featuring about 60,000 words of fiction, a guest editorial, book reviews, and the occasional non-fiction article in each issue. Fiction includes SF, fantasy, horror, and crime/suspense. The book is produced in two formats: numbered, limited edition in hard cover signed by all contributors and a perfect bound paper cover version. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/sw268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Swiftly by Adam Roberts -- not to be confused with his similarly titled collection from Night Shade Books a few years ago -- is an enormously ambitious novel, a steampunk epic of considerable force and ingenuity. It is also a deeply bizarre book, whose protagonists, sometimes to the detriment of the plot, conduct a love affair based on disgust and the stimulating odor of excrement. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/sg268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Are you sick and tired of vampires? Many are but there is one distinct exception, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Comte de Saint-Germain. Created more than thirty-five years ago with the novel Hotel Transylvania, Saint-Germain has been the main character in a long series of novels, the latest of which is Borne in Blood. In addition, the undead has been starring in a bunch of short stories and novelettes, now assembled here for the first time. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/best08.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Come and see what we consider to be the best of what we read last year, on the SF Site's 11th annual Editors' Choice Top 10 List -- our official SF Site Best SF and Fantasy Books of 2007. Last issue we showed you how you voted on the Readers' Choice Top 10; you may be as surprised as we were to compare the two lists. There's so little overlap it almost seems like the SF Site readers and reviewers aren't reading many of the same books. But this just means that when you look at both lists you'll find even more recommendations for great books to read. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/tm268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Following the adventures of Time Agent Captain Jack Harkness and his outside-the-law, alien-investigating elite team, Torchwood has become a firm favourite in both the UK and the US. Now, Titan have launched the Torchwood magazine to take you behind the scenes and introduce you to all the who's and how's that make Torchwood tick. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Some of the spring releases to arrive on our doorstep recently include the latest from Greg Egan, Sarah Zettel, Peter F. Hamilton, Alan Campbell, Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Alma Alexander, Barth Anderson, and many more. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/audio268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT At times, it's more convenient (and enjoyable) to hear the latest in science fiction and fantasty. Recent audiobook releases include works by S.M. Sterling, Frank Herbert, Casandra Claire, Piers Anthony, and R.A. Salvatore. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rick offers his thoughts on believing everything he reads such as the start of the next season of Stargate: Atlantis, some of the points made in the book, The World Is Flat, whether climate change is a hoax and did Barak Obama attend a madrasa. He also found time to see to see 10,000 A.D. and to do a DVD review of Slings & Arrows. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/gs268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Until recently, Sirantha Jax was a superstar. Possessing a rare gene which allows a select few to jump ships through "grimspace," and thus vastly shorten interstellar travel time, she had it made, having made more jumps and discovered more planets than anyone else working for the Corp. But all jumpers burn out sooner or later, so she knew her time was finite. And then came the crash on Matins IV, an accident only which she survived. She was locked away, interrogated and tortured and left to rot. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/best08.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Come and see what we consider to be the best of what we read last year, on the SF Site's 11th annual Editors' Choice Top 10 List -- our official SF Site Best SF and Fantasy Books of 2007. Last issue we showed you how you voted on the Readers' Choice Top 10; you may be as surprised as we were to compare the two lists. There's so little overlap it almost seems like the SF Site readers and reviewers aren't reading many of the same books. But this just means that when you look at both lists you'll find even more recommendations for great books to read. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/mr267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT The four Gospels account of the life of Jesus suffers from a "Rosemary Woods" gap -- a period of roughly eighteen years between the ages of 12 and 30 in which either Jesus did nothing worth noting or was entirely absent from Palestine. There is some Biblical evidence to suggest the latter view. John the Baptist failed to recognize his own cousin, implying that he hadn't seen Jesus for quite some time. Also, Matthew 17:24-27 recounts that Jesus had to pay a Roman enforced "strangers tax" levied upon aliens. Another speculation goes that his great uncle, Joseph of Aramathea, reputed as one of the first Christian missionaries to Britain and the founder of what became Glastonbury Abbey, might conceivably have taken the young Jesus up North for vacation. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/mh267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Roger Zelazny has always been admired and praised by other writers for his way with words. The near poetic prose of stories like "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" and "24 Views of Mount Fuji, by Hokusai", and the unique mix of mythology, religion, and technology in novels like Lord of Light were often imitated but seldom matched. And in his most popular works, the long-running Amber series, he found mass popularity to match his stylistic talent and ambition. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/nw267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT These days it seems that barely a week goes by without another anthology that has an agenda, that is meant to work as propaganda. We are being assailed with collections that are designed to convince us that something old has been revitalised (the new hard SF, the new space opera) or that something new has been discovered (the slipstream anthology, the interstitial anthology, the post-cyberpunk anthology). If we enjoy good stories in these books, it is secondary to being convinced that this totally fresh way of looking at the genre is valid, is going to take over literature. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT It's been a busy month for new books, including the latest from Iain M. Banks, Robin Hobb, Raymond E. Feist, Stephen Baxter, as well as new editions of Greg Egan, Michael Moorcock, Neal Stephenson, Henry Kuttner, Leigh Brackett, and much more. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/best08b.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT This year is the 10th anniversary of the SF Site Readers' Choice Best of the Year Top 10 List. Come and see the results of the the votes you and your fellow SF Site readers submitted. Whether your own personal favourite is on our Readers' Choice Best of 2007, you're sure to find some great books here. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/lf267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Captain John "Black Jack" Geary is in for the fight of his life. He awoke from a century-long slumber in a survival pod to find himself rescued by a fleet that reveres him for his military record and heroic actions, a fleet that seems to have forgotten everything it once knew about intelligent tactics, smart battle maneuvers, and military strategy. And when the highest-ranking members of the fleet's command structure were killed, he was forced to assume command by virtue of technical seniority. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/over267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Many of us are drawn to stories about characters suffering from some form of memory loss. These tales can be a great deal of fun because they allow the reader to share in the character's self-discovery. This column looks at two books where memory loss is an integral feature of the story -- one is a recent award winner, and the other is more than a quarter century old and has recently been reprinted. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/dw267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Despite being compared by some to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, the Night Watch Trilogy involves realistic contemporary (post-communism modern, slightly decaying Russian) urban landscapes, strictly adult characters, with adult interests, motivations and issues, organized in highly hierachical multi-member fraternal organisations, battling on many fronts, and trying to intrigue their way to superiority over the other side. In this sense, they are much more reminiscent of the title characters in Katherine Kurtz's early Deryni titles. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/sd267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT In 1994 a small, independent comic from an even smaller independent label, Fireman Press, debuted. Set in the future, the story featured a world where robot assassins could be purchased through vending machines, assigned a target and would self-destruct upon completion of their mission. It was all the brainchild of creator Rob Schrab and he called it Scud: the Disposable Assassin. Weird, right? http://www.sfsite.com/03a/sc267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT The Spiderwick Chronicles is a charming children's movie, which adults can enjoy -- though probably not the same adults who enjoy, say, 30 Days of Night. It is aimed at a younger crowd than The Golden Compass, and requires a certain tolerance for "cute." Still, it is considerably better than the pervious fantasy film aimed at this age group, The Dark is Rising. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT The writer's strike is over. The networks are spacing out the shows they have to try to cover the gap due to the strike, so there is very little SF on TV. But what there is, Rick gives us a list of what to watch in March. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/gm267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Gods of Manhattan was not at all what Nathan expected. As a former MTV producer and author of two BlokeLit novels, Nathan was anticipating this author's venture into Harry Potter territory would be loaded with modern cultural references, and techno clever-dickery. Instead, what he found was a quaintly old-fashioned work, brimming with quirky invention and subtle charm. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/fr267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT The novel begins normally enough -- Jacob Logan returns to his rural family home after his business collapses. He has been away for years, and lost his country ways; the townspeople, including the old family friend he left in charge of the house, react with hostility to his metropolitan behavior. As Jacob attempts to relax and find himself, he instead finds mysteries -- starting with the discovery that fireflies would literally rather die than come onto his property. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/best08b.htm Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT This year is the 10th anniversary of the SF Site Readers' Choice Best of the Year Top 10 List. Come and see the results of the the votes you and your fellow SF Site readers submitted. Whether your own personal favourite is on our Readers' Choice Best of 2007, you're sure to find some great books here. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/jeff266.htm Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT In Smaragdine, all of the major newspapers and websites have posted their lists of the best books and stories published in the country over the past year. This it is time for writers not included on these lists host elaborate parties at which they are expected to pretend to cry and to seek comfort from their friends. Usually, though, it's all in aid of promoting their next project. Jeff takes time out to talk to Gregory Frost, author of Fitcher's Brides and his newly released Shadowbridge. http://www.sfsite.com/02b/wg266.htm Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT This is a short novella set in the Ender universe during the time that Ender was at the Battle School and before he became Ender the Xenocide. Although Ender appears and plays a pivotal role, the focus of the story is on Zeck Morgan, the Battle School's only pacifist. Zeck sees himself as a victim and a martyr, and here he tries to avenge his perceived persecution on the others students. http://www.sfsite.com/02b/rt266.htm Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT In Darth Bane - Path of Destruction, a young man named Dessel created the modern Sith legacy by wiping out all rivals and taking command of the Dark Side's destiny by invoking the Rule of Two. This tale picks up where the other left off with the rescue of a confused, frightened and angry young girl named Zannah from the war torn battlefield left from the clashing forces of the Jedi Army of Light and the Sith Brotherhood of Darkness. Bane sculpts her as his apprentice and prepares to bring his plan and ideals to pass. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/audio266.htm Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT At times it's more convenient to use ears rather than eyes to experience the latest in science fiction and fantasy. Recent audiobook releases include works by Jules Verne, Mary Shelley, Kim Harrison, Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/steven265.htm Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT Science fiction fans have always had a respect and understanding for the history of the genre. Unfortunately, science fiction has achieved such an age that each year sees our ranks diminished. Deaths in 2007 included Robert Anton Wilson, Charles L. Fontenay, Roger Elwood, Leigh Eddings, Kurt Vonnegut, Lloyd Alexander, Fred Saberhagen, Madeleine L'Engle and Robert Jordan. http://www.sfsite.com/02b/ju266.htm Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT Jumper: Griffin's Story is, to say the least, an odd bird. Another book like it may not exist. It is a tie-in to the David Liman-directed science fiction action film, Jumper, starring Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson. The movie itself is loosely based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Steven Gould, taking the core premise from the book and essentially re-inventing everything else. http://www.sfsite.com/02b/pb266.htm Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT Slowly recovering from a mysterious illness which nearly destroyed both mind and body five years ago, Brother Josan has resigned himself, however reluctantly, to a life of quiet solitude as a lighthouse keeper in a remote part of the kingdom of Ikeria, where he busies himself with quiet study and the reclamation of his skills. Why exactly he has been exiled, he doesn't know; in truth, only the merest handful understand why he's been cast aside by his brothers. A chance encounter following a major storm brings him into contact with Lady Ysobel Flordelis of the Seddon Federation, whose mission of trade hides a deeper, more sinister purpose: to rekindle a revolution in Ikeria. And that chance meeting is all it takes to upset Josan's life once again. And when an assassin comes for him, Josan displays a frightening ability to defend himself, followed by momentary blackouts, and a magical power he never knew he had. http://www.sfsite.com/02b/as266.htm Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT There is a reasonable case to be made for tracing the history of 20th century science fiction through its keynote magazines. Such a history takes us from Amazing to Astounding to F&SF, across the Atlantic to New Worlds, and then into the curious asteroid belt of the 70s original anthologies. By this reckoning, science fiction during the last quarter of the 20th century was defined by Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Since it was launched in 1977 it has generally had higher circulation figures than its rivals, it has produced more stories that have won or been shortlisted for awards, it has produced more stories that have featured in the various Year's Best anthologies. http://www.sfsite.com/02b/bn266.htm Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT The present volume features a number of excellent tales. Outstanding examples are "What Nature Abhors" by Mark Morris, a superb, breathtaking tour de force of terror depicting a man who wakes up alone on a deserted train to be engulfed in a nightmarish adventure, and the splendid "The American Dead" by Jay Lake, a melancholy fable set in a marginal world of cruelty and poverty where a young boy nurses his personal version of the American Dream. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick266.htm Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT Again this year, Rick offers his movie predictions for what is worth seeing in 2008 (based entirely on the reputation of the writers) and reflects upon his predictions for 2007. http://www.sfsite.com/02b/pi266.htm Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT As the twentieth century gave way to the twenty-first century, Allen Steele wrote a series of essays for Absolute Magnitude and Artemis magazines. Initially set to be looks at science fiction and space exploration, the Absolute Magnitude columns, published under the title "Primary Ignition" gave way to more general topics, which led to the series in Artemis, which would remain focused on space exploration. These essays, along with a few others, have been collected in the book. http://www.sfsite.com/02a/qc265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT At the end of Sun of Suns, the first book in the Virga series, most of the major characters were either missing or presumed dead. Two, a young man who had been the hero of the story, and a woman who, while not an out-and-out villain, was definitely not a pleasant person, were left drifting off in the free-fall atmosphere that fills the artificial world of Virga. It would be understandable if book two were to continue the story of the young man's adventures. Instead, it follows the plight of the arrogant, paranoid, smart, and very dangerous Venera Fanning. http://www.sfsite.com/02a/cw265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT The authors, with a degree of apparent effortlessness that is astonishing, have pulled off not one but several very difficult things in this book. The first, and by no means the least, is the sometimes vexed collaboration issue. You I have read co-authored books in which you could have chopped out and parceled into neat little piles the bits that belonged to the various authors because the voices simply never gelled enough to produce perfect seamlessness. Here, it just doesn't even matter. It flows. The two authors work as one; it's not so much cooperation as a symbiosis. A job very well done. http://www.sfsite.com/02a/ii265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT This is a collection of thirteen short stories, drawn from across the author's career as a professional writer. It's a diverse introduction for readers who have heard of his alternate history works, but have baulked at committing to an entire series. Helpfully, there are two stories included which afford a taste of the author's best known works; an original Emberverse novella, and an Islands In the Sea of Time story. Anyone who has wondered if they'd like the style and substance of those series should try what's on offer here. http://www.sfsite.com/02a/wc265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT The time is the near future, the place North America. The Internet is the Netstream, a kind of YouTube that has swallowed various communications media. Terrorist bombings are more frequent, there is a vicious street drug called Blur that turns addicts into monsters. The world, in short, has become a scary enough place before three alien space ships crash landed in the Midwest and over the border into Canada. http://www.sfsite.com/02a/ds265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT It is the most destructive battle station ever to threaten the Star Wars Universe. The Death Star's name says it all. A weapon of unimaginable proportion that can destroy entire planets in an instant. How could anything stand against such a construct? But how did this monstrosity come to be? And what of those that helped build it? http://www.sfsite.com/columns/neil262.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT 2007 marks the 10th anniversary of the annual SF Site Readers' Choice Best of the Year Awards. For the past 10 years, this has been the season when we solicit you, our faithful readers for your input on what you thought were the best books you've read in the past year. We'll grind your votes through our top-of-the-line super-secret vote-counting software, and post the results in February or early March. If you've forgotten what you chose in previous years, you can find them all linked at Best Read of the Year including The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch which was the top choice last year. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/steven265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT Science fiction fans have always had a respect and understanding for the history of the genre. Unfortunately, science fiction has achieved such an age that each year sees our ranks diminished. Deaths in 2007 included Robert Anton Wilson, Charles L. Fontenay, Roger Elwood, Leigh Eddings, Kurt Vonnegut, Lloyd Alexander, Fred Saberhagen, Madeleine L'Engle and Robert Jordan. http://www.sfsite.com/02a/fs265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT In Woody Allen's "The Kugelmass Episode," the titular character, an unhappily married college professor, conducts an affair with one of the classic adulteresses of literature -- Madame Bovary. He is able to do this quite literally thanks to the magician Persky the Great, whose contraption can project Kugelmass into the book. The overt joke is that after Kugelmass tires of Bovary, he asks to be thrust into Portnoy's Complaint, but instead is accidentally inserted in a remedial Spanish textbook, with unexpected consequences. http://www.sfsite.com/02a/ww265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT When an author has published "roughly four million words," as Stephen Briggs notes (in the introduction to this volume) Terry Pratchett has done, you certainly have reason to hope that some of them will be quotable. When the author is the inestimable satirist Terry Pratchett, you know for certain that many of those words are worth repeating, which is what this nicely constructed compilation does. http://www.sfsite.com/02a/ju265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT This is an SF magazine -- SF as in Science Fiction -- based in the UK. The magazine's appearance is modest: A-size sheets folded in half and saddle-stapled, black and white cover and no interior illustrations. But that's really not a drawback -- the presentation is very clean, the font nicely chosen and nicely sized. The focus is heavily on fiction -- there are five stories, plus one poem and one brief book review. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT Some of the new and forthcoming titles we'll look at this time include the latest from Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Joe Abercrombie, Christopher Golden, Barth Anderson, Terry Goodkind, Greg Keyes, Kelley Armstrong, Sherri S. Tepper, and many more. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rick offers his thoughts on where the strike by writers stands and what may happen before it ends. He also gives us a list of SF on TV in February. http://www.sfsite.com/02a/tw265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT Driven by the need to ransom her brother back from a vicious group of inhuman creatures known as salamanders, Melke steals a necklace whose value is greater than she could ever have imagined, for it's actually the key to breaking a deadly curse laid upon the sal Vere family. Caught between honor and desperation, Melke makes a deal with Bastion sal Vere and his sister, Liana: if they'll take care of her grievously wounded brother, she'll steal the necklace back from the salamanders, using her bizarre ability to become unseen. http://www.sfsite.com/02a/pd265.htm Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:00:00 GMT The book opens slowly and somewhat confusingly, as the auhtor has to set three or four parallel story-trains into motion. Unlike the first two D.I. Chen books, you definitely shouldn't start here. Even readers who've read the first two book may be doing a bit of head-scratching (and toe-tapping) until she gets all her balls into the air. But then -- wow! http://www.sfsite.com/01b/sw264.htm Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:00:00 GMT The work is a new, vibrant take on superhero fiction, aimed at savvy fans who want something that has all the buzz of the classics, but also a gritty real-world depth. It's like Wild Cards for a new generation, with its own distinctive blend of characters, dark comedy, and an updated enemy which everyone loves to hate. http://www.sfsite.com/lists/greg2007.htm Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:00:00 GMT Here we are again, time to dig through a year's worth of reading and try to decide which books belong on the list of personal favorites. All in all, Greg would say 2007 was a very good year, good enough so that the main problem was not in finding enough titles to make the list, but instead the problem was cutting titles that in many other years would have been automatic inclusions. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/over264.htm Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:00:00 GMT With the Great Reckoning behind him, Neil decided to start 2008 fresh with something he has been meaning to read for about 20 years now, 1984 by George Orwell. And to balance this long-awaited classic, the other book is one he discovered in his stack, a copy of The Bear Went Over the Mountain by William Kotzwinkle. He figured, what the hell, let's follow the bear over that mountain. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/sb264.htm Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:00:00 GMT All lovers of short SF and Fantasy have been missing a regular series of unthemed original anthologies, in the mode of Frederik Pohl's pioneering Star, Damon Knight's Orbit, Terry Carr's Universe, Robert Silverberg's New Dimensions, and most recently, Patrick Nielsen Hayden's all too short-lived Starlight. So it is delightful to see in 2007 the beginnings of no fewer than four such series: Jonathan Strahan's Eclipse, Lou Anders's Fast Forward, and two separate books from Solaris, edited by George Mann: The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, and The Solaris Book of New Fantasy. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/ei264.htm Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:00:00 GMT After a near-epic journey halfway across the world to China and back, surviving adventures, treachery, and battles galore, Captain Will Laurence and his dragon companion Temeraire thought they could settle back into something resembling a normal life. Normal, that is, for life in the middle of the Napoleonic Wars. Unfortunately, they've returned to a nightmare: the dragons of England's Aerial Corps lay sick and dying from a mysterious disease. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/be264.htm Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:00:00 GMT Marla Mason is the sorcerer who runs the Rust Belt town of Felport. But her rival, Susan Wellstone, plans an intricate spell to overturn her, and Marla's only hope to foil her plans is to find a magical object called a Cornerstone. The only one of which she is aware is in San Francisco, guarded by her old friend Lao Tsung. So she and her sidekick, a not quite human young man called Rondeau, rush across the country -- only to learn that Lao Tsung has been killed, by a horde of South American poison frogs. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/audio264.htm Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:00:00 GMT At times it's more convenient to use ears rather than eyes to experience the latest in science fiction and fantasy. Recent audiobook releases include works by Kevin J. Anderson, Catherine Asaro, Kim Harrison, Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/neil262.htm Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:00:00 GMT 2007 marks the 10th anniversary of the annual SF Site Readers' Choice Best of the Year Awards. For the past 10 years, this has b