http://www.sfsite.com/ The new issue of the SF Site is now online. Copyright 1996-2010 SF Site en-us http://www.sfsite.com/images/sfspot1.gif http://www.sfsite.com/ http://www.sfsite.com/04b/zb246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Hard science fiction, and space opera, are styles of SF that tend to work better at lengths longer than short stories. The depth of historical background, and the ideas needed to sustain a story that ranges far in space and time often requires a fairly large number of words. In order to make it work at a shorter length, hard SF writers tend to focus in on a single idea. The story becomes an exploration of that idea, sometimes at the expense of character and style. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/geeks246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT In the fourth and last part of the article on the making of Weird Business, the 400+ page comic book anthology he co-edited with Joe R. Lansdale, Rick tells us about how booksellers and comic retailers reacted in their attempts to sell the book and its impact on the sale of graphic novels. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/rm246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT The title alludes to a famed staging of the Shakespeare comedy, A Midsummer's Night Dream, by German director Max Reinhardt in the 30s. More specifically, it concerns the comic exploits of two cyborg operatives from the author's long-running Company series. Those who seek to perform the play as part of the duke's wedding celebrations are considered "rude" due to their low class and "mechanical" because they are tradesmen, skilled at making things, but lacking "higher" intellectual abilities, which include acting skills. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/ff246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT You'd think that after a while, the universe would give Rachel Mariana Morgan, witch and bounty hunter, a break. After all, her best friend is a living vampire who's drinking blood again, the shady machinations of her ex-boyfriend left her saddled with an ancient artifact of immense power, a prominent drug lord wants her to work for him, and demons want her, body and soul. Rachel knows it's really bad when Newt, an insane demon, shows up in her home in the middle of the night, and it only gets stranger, and worse, from there. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/lm246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT This slight, surprisingly pretty, mildly enjoyable film is based on a classic science fiction story of more than sixty years ago by Henry Kuttner and his wife, C.L. Moore. Thanks to the film, a collection of their stories has been reissued in paperback, under the film's title and spelling. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Rick offers his movie predictions for what is worth seeing in 2007 (based entirely on the reputation of the writers) and reflects upon his predictions for 2006. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/aa246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT What could be stranger than a dodecahedral planet? One might reasonably ask that question after reading a couple of the author's latest titles and the answer, interestingly enough, is: a genuine historical setting. Renaissance Venice, as painted in in this book is full of delightful detail that's far too daft to be fiction. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/au246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Avram Davidson's heyday probably stretched from the late 50s to perhaps the early 70s. By the time of his death in 1993, however, his star had slipped from the SF firmament. He was a writer's writer, indeed right to the end other authors would extol his work, but for the last twenty years or more of his writing life he made little substantial impact on the reading public. Since his death, however, Tor have made sterling efforts to bring his work back to public attention. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/schrodinger246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Michael is reading short fiction and young adult titles and he has some thoughts. This time, he looks at If I Were An Evil Overlord edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Russell Davis, Under Cover Of Darkness edited by Julie E. Czerneda and Jana Paniccia along with the April 2007 and the May 2007 issues of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/bl246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Sixty five thousand alien objects burn up to ashes in Earth's atmosphere... and the world holds its breath. For two months, in which nothing happens. And then something, maybe, does -- a half-dead space probe overhears whispers out there in interstellar space, whispers that may or may not be connected with those 65,000 defunct UFOs, whispers that may or may not be aimed at Earth -- but may be aimed, far more frighteningly, at something else, something that might be en route to Earth, intentions unknown. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/sb246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Solaris Books is the new science fiction and fantasy imprint from Games Workshop's publishing arm. This anthology is their "book-sized calling card." It's heartening to see a company with Games Workshop's clout investing, as it were, in the field; so one wants to wish Solaris well -- provided, of course, that they publish good fiction. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/ga246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Peter Graham once noted that the golden age of science fiction is twelve. While it may be true that age is the one at which science fiction is most likely to grab hold of a reader's imagination, it is also true that there was a period in the 40s and 50s when there was something magical about science fiction. Lurid covers promised adventure and thrills. In this anthology, the editor has selected stories that will remind our internal twelve-year-olds of the adventure of that other golden age. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Some of the new books that have come our way in recent weeks include the latest from John Meaney, Harry Turtledove, Sarah Zettle, first novel from newcomer Joe Hill, sneak peeks at forthcoming titles from Charles de Lint, Jacqueline Carey, Poppy Z. Brite, and plenty more! http://www.sfsite.com/04b/at246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT A naval task force from 2021 is diverted to 1942 by a DARPA teleportation experiment gone spectacularly wrong. In the confusion of the transition, the moderns sink most of Admiral Spruance's fleet, enroute to the Battle of Midway. The trilogy goes on to re-fight WW2, and to show once again that the oldest cliche can look fresh in the hands of a good writer with a new approach. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/l3246.htm Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT The logs are everything you'd expect from one of the original Star Treks. The stories are fun, fast paced, entertaining, and Alan Dean Foster tackles them with obvious relish (and perhaps a bit of mustard as well). As he is always an entertaining read, this isn't entirely unexpected. What IS unexpected is the quality of the stories, which originally were created for Saturday morning television. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/js245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT "Well, I'd first stress that this is an incredible time for short fiction in the genre. Even in a bad year, there's more terrific fiction than any one person can keep possibly read. There are two trends that I do see, though. For whatever reason, stories seem to be getting longer. Ideas that suit a short-short are slipping out to short story length, short stories tend to lengthen to novelettes, and novelettes are bloating out to novellas. I'm not sure why this is the case. I've wondered if it's a side effect of online publishing, if it's a general loss of knowledge of how to structure stories, a decline in editorship, or even a change in the kind of stories writers are attempting." http://www.sfsite.com/04a/sx245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT There has been one more winter of wildly careening weather since the winter of Fifty Degrees Below. Frank Vanderwal is still working for the NSA, coordinating projects aimed at combating the causes of rapid climate change. With the election of Phil Chase as President, Frank and his co-workers' jobs are about to gain in influence and importance. Charlie Quibler, Frank's friend, is pulled away from working part-time at home and raising a son to being a full-time science advisor to the President. Frank's new love, Caroline, has gone underground, pursued by the same black ops organization whose plans to fix the election Frank and Caroline helped thwart. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/geeks245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT In the third part of the article on the making of Weird Business, the 400+ page comic book anthology he co-edited with Joe R. Lansdale, Rick tells us http://www.sfsite.com/04a/aw245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT The lower Mississippi is the focal point for this book. Following his version of the War of 1812, a confederation of Indian states has been established west of the Mississippi River. A dozen years later, the expanding United States finds the Indian country in the way. Making matters worse is the fact that the Arkansas Confederacy has made itself a haven for runaway slaves and abolitionists. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/id245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT In book two of the Darkwar sequence, we follow Pug, Nakor, Magnus and Ralan Bek, as they prepare and ultimately journey into the heart of darkness that is the Dasati home world. Running in parallel with this is a riveting tale centred around a Dasati youth named Valko. There's an evil sparkle here, brighter and hotter than any of his works since the Magician trilogy. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Some of the new arrivals here in the SF Site offices include the latest from David B. Coe, Elizabeth Cunningham, Brian Aldiss, David Drake, Adam Roberts, Glen Cook, Cory Doctorow, as well as re-released classics from Stephen Donaldson, Rudyard Kipling, Joan D. Vinge, plus much more. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/ho245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Structured like a 50s American monster movie, The Host opens on a United States military base in Korea as an American doctor orders his Korean assistant to dump toxic chemicals down a sink drain that leads directly to Seoul's Han River. Several years later two fisherman discover a mutated fish. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/ca245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT The Earth, the Solar System, and local star systems, are inhabited by a mix of humans and AI's. Many of the AI's are uploaded copies of humans. All is under the control of the Environmental Agency, and its arm Social Care, which keeps an eye on the psychological health of everyone. There is a persistent belief that the real power in the entire system is a super-intelligent AI called The Watcher, which may be of alien origin. All this leads to asking what is the difference (if any) between "natural" and "artificial" intelligence? http://www.sfsite.com/04a/hb245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Here is a brand new UK magazine. It has a slightly unusual format -- 80 all slick, rather thick, pages, with plenty of layout tricks, in a curious squarish shape, 21 cm by 21 cm. It is heavily illustrated, mostly by photographs. Some may find it a bit difficult to read at time -- perhaps there is a certain sacrifice of readability on the altar of coolness of appearance. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/fc245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Five boarding school students discover there is something decidedly strange about themselves; in fact, neither they nor their teachers are human. The students do not age beyond adolescence because the isolated school environment is actually a subterfuge to control their powers that, unleashed into the world, threaten not only the pagan gods who have confined them, but the very fabric of the universe. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/jeff245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Since March is the most boring month in Smaragdine, Jeff decided we needed a special treat. Felix Gilman has signed a two-book deal at Bantam. But Jeff had already met and interviewed him. Now we get an excerpt from Felix's new novel. Jeff also has had time to do a lot of reading and he has given us capsule notes on what is teetering on his "up next" pile. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Rick has some news about the future of Battlestar Galactica. He also gives us a list of what to watch on TV in April. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/bf245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Sixteen-year-old Lea Tillim is a girl with a talent. Well, maybe "talent" isn't the most appropriate word. An ability, let's say. A power. The power to make people ill with a thought, even to kill them if she wants. But there's one boy who considers it a talent: Jack Konar, who says he is one of the God Tetragrammaton's Thrice Chosen, and is building a "spaceship" in a forgotten part of a Sears and Roebuck store, in readiness for the coming of the Meschiach. And he needs Lea's help. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/l1245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT The Star Trek Logs are historically important to Star Trek fandom. Those who haven't been fans since the original series will no doubt require an explanation. Star Trek Log One was first published in 1974. At the time, there were three seasons of the original episodes often played in rerun, James Blish's adaptations of the original series, and a handful of novels, and nonfiction books, such as Spock Must Die and The Making of Star Trek. This was three years before Star Wars. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/lt245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT As a child, Kathryn's life was devastated when her parents were killed in an unprovoked attack by the alien S'sinn on the human farming colony of Luckystrike. She might easily have grown up in an orphanage, if her rare empathic abilities hadn't been discovered by the interstellar Guild of Translators. Instead, she grew up with the Guild, being trained for the prestigious and critical job of translating between species. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/di245.htm Sun, 1 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT Philip K. Dick's reputation has steadily grown since his death in 1982 at the age of 53. Those who were reading him in the 60s and 70s can feel vindicated by the forthcoming Library of America edition of four of his best novels. Like its subject, this highly entertaining and generous-spirited biography is more timely than ever. Given the movies, music, and books inspired by Dick, even those who have yet to read the man feel his continuing influence. That in itself is an unsettling theme since his first novel: life is a nightmare, but who exactly is dreaming it? 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.