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/11b/ww212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT Nobody has ever accused Michael Moorcock of being afraid to express himself. As one of the driving forces behind the New Wave, a renowned editor and prolific novelist and commentator, he has built a career out of not only following his instincts, but by keenly analyzing what he finds in the exotic locales said instincts lead him. In this collection of essays, he holds forth on the sub-genre most closely associated with the author of the enduring Elric of Melnibone series. The resulting commentary isn't always pretty, but it is invariably interesting and, at the very least, thought-provoking in ways the author surely intended. http://www.sfsite.com/11b/so212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT The author deserves a lot of credit for writing a book like this one, because he could have written an easier book, a tamer book, a book that wasn't so goofy or passionate or so every which way, so loose. He could have written a book that held together better, that followed its premises a bit farther, that was shorter and sharper and shockier, but that book would be a less charming book, a more ordinary one. http://www.sfsite.com/11b/fd212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT It's the near future, and chaos is in the air and water; chaos in the form of tipping points, changes in the giant system that determines the Earth's weather that could lead to sudden, severe climate change. One of those tipping points lies in the interaction of cold water from the polar ice cap with the warm water of the Gulf Stream. Too much of the polar water, which is also less salty, and the Gulf Stream could be displaced to the south, removing the flow of water that currently warms England and Northern Europe. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT Now that Aaron Sorkin has been kicked out of television for being too liberal (and too stoned) the best dramatic television writers all work, or have worked, in the science fiction or fantasy genres: Ronald D. Moore, currently writing for Battlestar Galactica, Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy and Michael J. Straczinski, creator of Babylon 5. Two of the three are writing for comic books. http://www.sfsite.com/11b/hp212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT Based on the strongest book in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire suffers yet another patchwork adaptation by screenwriter Steve Kloves. But Mike Newell manages to get out of it something truly heartfelt, less mechanical than Prisoner of Azkaban, less of a pantomime than parts one and two, The Sorcerer's Stone and The Chamber of Secrets. What gives this movie its edge is the feeling that the gloves have now come off, the forces of evil have finally revealed themselves with the waning of Harry's childhood, and the boy wizard must now take his lumps like a man. http://www.sfsite.com/11b/cg212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT According to Mario, this is, without any doubt, one of the finest short story collections he has ever read, so much so as it comes from the pen of a newcomer, whose short fiction has appeared so far only in a bunch of genre magazines. Although the stories date back no farther than four years or so, it was high time to put them together in a single volume. http://www.sfsite.com/11b/te212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT This is the first in the Tesseracts anthology series that Donna has read in its entirety. The previous ones she looked at felt overburdened with ponderous, somber work that seemed to have been picked for literary 'respectability' rather than story-telling. Here, the vast majority of stories are strongly emotional narratives, rather than aloof exercises of the intellect. http://www.sfsite.com/11b/sadg212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT "When I was young, I was arrested several times and once sent for reports. The psychologist said I was a psychopath. I found this mildly alarming. He pointed out that it didn't have to be a bad thing. I can be utterly single minded and screen out everything in order to complete a task. That's why I've never missed a deadline." http://www.sfsite.com/11b/ol212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT The opening finds the opposing armies of the Trojan war, united. Their common foe, none other than the mighty Zeus and the other angry gods familiar to students of Greek mythology. The plot covers three worlds; an Earth that is now sparsely populated, the terraformed Mars, and another Earth, in a galaxy where Homer's epic heroes and stories -- Iliad and Odyssey -- actually happened. Although, there are several enormous differences. http://www.sfsite.com/11b/sd212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT Long ago, in punishment for the crime of offering immortality to a human, Aria, one of the six spirits known as the Nulefi, was banished to the underworld -- the realm of the god Rann, whose passionate advances Aria once spurned. But before Rann could do more than gloat, Aria's sisters did the unthinkable, and rose up to defend her. In wrath, the gods' leader, Herrukal, dispersed their spirits into the ether. But gods are eternal and indestructible. Even scattered, the substance of the Nulefi survived. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT This month the new arrivals at the SF Site make a fairly small stack, but there are some much-anticipated goodies, including the latest from George R.R. Martin, Jonathan Carroll, Walter Jon Williams, Alan Dean Foster, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, R.A. Salvatore, and others. http://www.sfsite.com/11b/sarh212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT "I believe that hundreds, if not thousands, of individual tales of survival, encounter, heroism and betrayal lie behind the legends as we have them. But time, death, and wastage of all kinds would have filtered those individual tales down into a tight stream that might, just might, have been picked up by a natural storyteller." http://www.sfsite.com/11b/aw212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT The genre of young adult fantasy literature seems alive and well these days, thanks in part to everyone's favorite pre-pubescent boy wizard. Indeed, his adventures have not only drawn in millions of readers of all ages, but has created legions of fantasy junkies now looking for a fix to tide them over until the next volume hits the shelves. And yet, what is perhaps most surprising is the number of adult readers who are also now wandering the young adult book section of their local bookstores. http://www.sfsite.com/11b/on212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT Wally and Cheyenne Shufflemuffin are fraternal twins living at the Jolly Days Orphanage, a place that makes the Municipal Orphanage of Annie seem like a day spa. Wally's feet stink and Cheyenne is constantly sneezing, so no one wants to adopt them, until a pair of gaunt women, Dagmar and Hedy, come to the orphanage looking to adopt. Stinky feet and dripping noses are just what they want in children. http://www.sfsite.com/11b/js212.htm Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT "That's the great thing about teenagers as characters: people tend not to take them as seriously as they ought to, so it's possible for a situation which would be easily controlled if discovered early enough spin completely out of control simply because one person prefers not to believe what another one is saying. What made Lindsay work so well was that she had the pressure of the impending move on her; she didn't want to move; and she'd made her antipathy to the move very clear to everyone; ergo, even when she vanishes, it's easy for people to believe she may simply have taken off, despite what her mother says." http://www.sfsite.com/11a/kd211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT Those who have been patient, addicted, or simply too far invested to give up will be pleased to hear that most of the ancillary storylines that have bogged down the last few outings -- Perrin's protracted chase after Faile; Elayne's unsteady struggle to gain the Lion Crown; Mat's languid flight from Ebou Dar and his tangled courtship of Tuon -- have for the most part been resolved. Several villains that have become prominent during this period finally meet their deserved bad end. The anticipated return of a long-absent character is all but announced. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/satw211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT "Books like mine are different from standard novels, but not because of size so much as because they are several consecutive volumes that comprise one story. That means that I'm forced to commit to things very early in the story that will actually be published (and thus darn hard to edit) long before I'm actually writing the ending." http://www.sfsite.com/books/new211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT The latest batch of new arrivals here at the SF Site includes new works from Ken MacLeod, Allen Steele, James Patrick Kelly, Dan Abnett, Terry McGarry, L.E. Modesitt Jr., Zoran Zivkovic, and many more. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/da211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT This unique military SF series has earned enthusiastic praise for its focus on the philosophical as well as the tactical and strategic sides of conflict. That shift in focus adds an intriguing depth, allowing the author to tell several interlocking stories simultaneously. It doesn't hurt that he's also taken the time to create alien cultures and characters that leave the Hollywood rubber suit and latex forehead crowd fairly well far behind. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/pj211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT This is a small anthology of superhero fiction, short stories, based around the many heroes and villains associated with Empire City. An offshoot of the Silver Age Sentinels RPG, it falls somewhere between a comic book script aimed at older readers, and the Wild Cards novels edited by George R.R. Martin. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT Rick offers his thoughts on how good ("Thirst") and how bad ("Aqua") episodes of Smallville have been. But it is the only new SF that Rick recommends. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/pp211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT Jane Yolen is a writing phenomenon of our time, deservedly called the Hans Christian Andersen of our age, a superb storyteller who has a staggering number of books to her credit and a house which must groan under the weight of all the awards she has won over the years. She now widens the scope of her already incredible oeuvre by embarking on a series of "rock'n'roll" fairy tales, in collaboration with co-author and professional musician Adam Stemple. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/sajb211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT "Age is critical in mercenary fighting because it doesn't take you very long before you start losing your edge. Even in the first volume, Dawnthief, The Raven had been going for ten years. They were just past their prime and already living on their wits, as much as their skill." http://www.sfsite.com/11a/ly211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT Though comfortable and well cared for on a world named Sessrimanthe, Mark Walker and his companions -- a talking dog named George, the squid-like Sque, and gigantic Braouk -- just want to get back to their home planets. There seems little chance they ever will, until Mark takes up the complex art of galactic cuisine. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/pn211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT John Saul is an author listeners can count on for a chill, but the creep factor here hits a new high. He has tapped into the current out-of-control increase in abductions and ratcheted up the tension to an almost unbearable degree. He has taken the things most of us fear the most and created a villain so sick that his audience may get the uncomfortable feeling that their skin is trying to crawl right off the top of its head. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/hi211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT "Mentioned in whispers for decades; burned in Manchuria; worshipped in Peru; the only book to be listed on the Vatican's Index Librorum Prohibitorum twice, for emphasis; available again at last, in this definitive edition. Welcome to the Lambshead Guide. Disease-mongers, shudder." -- Dr. China Mieville http://www.sfsite.com/11a/nw211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT "I'm still not entirely sure what this book was doing in my school library. That was the original 1983 edition, of course, already ten years old by the time I came to read it. Presumably it was part of some job lot of paperbacks donated to the school because I can't imagine our librarian actively acquiring it. However it got there though, it was far more attractive than the books that surrounded it." http://www.sfsite.com/11a/hc211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT It's the story of an undertaker who comes home to find a mysterious envelope stuck in his apartment door, drawing him into a sequence of increasingly bizarre adventures, which he believes for some time to be a The Truman Show-Candid Camera-like reality show. There's a death-life thing going on, a critique of modern mediatized society, and plenty of paranoia to boot. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/iz211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT The 200th issue marks a number of important milestones, not the least of which is that it has reached this many issues -- and seems positioned to exceed it -- when not too long ago it seemed teetering towards extinction. To celebrate, this issue is particularly slick, with full glossy color throughout. Moreover, editor/publisher Andy Cox seems to have hit on a formula that, in terms of both graphic presentation and content, improves on the issues that struggled through the transition from David Pringle's venerable "old" Interzone. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/am211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT Amber, if we were to see her, would appear to be a perfectly normal human young woman. Don't be fooled! In her home world, she is not just a dragon, but a princess. An impetuous princess who tries to stop a murderous wizard from attacking in the Over World, only to find herself in a place she never imagined existed. Now, she must protect the "Custodian" or see everything she loves destroyed. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/jf211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT "When I wrote Amber In The Over World, I was thinking of all the YA fantasy I've enjoyed. L. Frank Baum's Oz books, the Harry Potter series, and The Chronicles of Prydain are among my favorites. I also wanted to write a book for my daughter." http://www.sfsite.com/11a/do211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT Gilna is an apprentice "perfumer" -- an expert in the mixing of medicines, incense and scented oils. After studying in the plains city of Nenaril Jad, she returns to her home village of Rehinau in the foothills to continue her apprenticeship. But her studies are far from complete when the village is devastated -- first by a plague that kills the majority of her people and then by barbarians who slaughter the survivors and take their children captive. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/bb211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT The story opens with probationary policeman Baro Harkless hot on the trail of the notorious con-man Luff Imbry. Harkless gets his man, and a promotion too, but with a surprising twist: Harkless finds himself teamed with Imbry to track yet another con-man, the even-more notorious Horslan Gebbling. Gebbling, masquerading as Father Olwyn, Sacredotal Eminence, is organizing a landship cruise across the great plain of the Swept, presumably to fleece the passengers.... http://www.sfsite.com/11a/vu211.htm Tue, 1 Nov 2005 11:00:00 GMT Set within some far distant dystopian future in which human habitation has been confined to isolated and walled city-states, and the natural environment utterly destroyed, life begins in artificial vats, conception created in the imagination of genetic bioneers, birth an expression of the Living Arts. No longer limited to creating inanimate objects with mere paint and brushes, the artists of this world fashion their work instead out of the genetic clay of flesh and bio-mechanics. http://www.sfsite.com/rssfeeds01.htm Sat, 1 Jan 2005 11:00:00 GMT After constructing our first RSS feed, it soon became apparent that the size of files could grow quickly. We decided to separate them into smaller ones, breaking them up by month. On this page you will find RSS feed files for all of our content beginning with January 2005.