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/10b/rs258.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT Locke Lamora and his friend Jean Tannen have apparently suffered a disastrous setback leading to the deaths of all their compatriots, and a serious injury for Locke. On the bright side, they did defeat an evil Karthain Bondsmage. Eventually they land in the city of Tal Verrar, and they hatch a plot to steal from the Sinspire, an exclusive gambling den. http://www.sfsite.com/10b/un258.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT A second, unseen world exists in parallel with our own. Cities in our reality are mirrored in skewed fashion across the trans-dimensional barrier known as the Odd, sporting names such as Parisn't and Sans Fransico. These ab-cities are populated by all manner of strange beings, from tailors with pin-cushion heads to kung fu-fighting garbage cans to sentient schools of fish that navigate on land by donning deep-sea diving suits. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/over258.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT Usually Neil chooses two books to compare. This time out he's stretching his muscles and looking at two trilogies. One is Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials made up of The Golden Compass (aka Northern Lights in the original UK edition), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. The other is Martha Wells' series, The Fall of Ile-Rien which .is composed of The Wizard Hunters, The Ship of Air and The Gate of Gods. http://www.sfsite.com/10b/wg258.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT In 1972, Joan is 12, her family has just moved to California from Connecticut and the strains are showing. The first person she meets is Sarah, who prefers to be called Fox and who is still mourning the loss of her mother who walked out some years before. Sarah has mythologised this event as her mother transforming into a fox, hence her chosen name. Since the separation, Fox's father has become a successful science fiction writer, and he pretty well leaves Fox to get on with her life the way she wants. http://www.sfsite.com/lists/yb-fh-author01.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT In 1988, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling collected together what they thought was the best short fantasy and horror from the previous year. They went through as many of the magazines, collections and anthologies published in 1987 that they could find and chose those stories which they decided best represented the fantasy and horror field. Jim Frenkel arranged for its publication by St. Martins's Press and it has been produced every year since then. In 2003, Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant took over from Terri Windling as the fantasy editor. http://www.sfsite.com/10b/fc258.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT This is a collection of stories which deal with the oftentimes symbiotic relationships between heroes in fantasy fiction and their non-human compatriots. The anthology of nineteen stories run the gamut from the familiar companions, like dogs and cats, to the more exotic like salmon and griffins, to the downright strange of constellations and kites. http://www.sfsite.com/10b/ei258.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT Laurence and his dragon team are returning to England after a spot of hot fighting. They have been away a long time, and expect (and deserve) a hero's welcome, but instead they hardly are noticed. People are inexplicably tense, and the dragon fields seem empty and untended. The truth soon comes out, despite efforts to hide it for obvious military reasons: a devastating illness is killing off the dragons one by one. http://www.sfsite.com/10b/bw258.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT This wonderful collection gives us many of the author's most recent stories, dating from 2001-2007. It includes 3 Hugo winners: "The Dog Said Bow-Wow" (short story, 2002, also a Nebula nominee), "Slow Life" (novelette, 2003), "Legions in Time" (novelette, 2004); 2 Hugo nominees, " 'Hello,' Said the Stick" (short story, 2003), "The Little Cat Laughed to See Such Sport" (short story, 2003); and one original story "The Skysailor's Tale." http://www.sfsite.com/books/new258.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT New Arrivals at the SF Site include the latest from Stephen Baxter, Mary Gentle, David Farland, Whitley Streiber, and L.E. Modesitt, Jr., as well as forthcoming titles from Charlie Huston, Kevin J. Anderson, David & Stella Gemmell, Anne & Todd McCaffrey, Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter, plus much more. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick258.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT From time to time, a science fiction classic is given the direct to video treatment. The results are usually pitiful. But the only good direct to video adaptation of a SF classic for Rick is the 1992 movie Grand Tour: Disaster in Time, written by David Twohy, based on the story "Vintage Season," by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore. http://www.sfsite.com/10b/gr258.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT To some horror fans, this early collection is a genre classic, and it certainly displays many of the admirable qualities and definitive traits we now associate with this most original of authors. Certainly no other writer comes to mind so capable of fusing revulsion and comedy together so effectively, often in the space of a single sentence, although The Nightrunners contains a good deal less amusement than many later Lansdale works. At the same time, the story radiates a nastiness that curiously seems to date it -- what may have been shocking for readers back in the early 80s has become, if not exactly the norm, certainly less taboo than it was back then. http://www.sfsite.com/10b/sw258.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT The author employs two main tools: an exotic vocabulary and exuberant imagery, and both require incredible discipline to work properly. A reader needs to be absolutely confident that the unfamiliar word which sends her searching the dictionary is precisely chosen to do a job that no other word would do. Similarly the reader must recognise that the strange images built upon layer after layer of adjectives actually make sense, they must describe something that works visually outside the words. http://www.sfsite.com/10a/pm257.htm Mon, 1 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT Everyone living in Whitby has a secret. A small English coastal resort it may be, but it is also hides some strange and curious people. For starters, there's Mrs Claus, the maniacal owner of the Christmas Hotel -- a place where they're perpetually celebrating Christmas for the hordes of coach parties and local pensioners. Then there's Mr Danby, the owner of the spookily named Deadly Boutique, where beauty and youthful looks come at a high price. And don't forget Effie, the old lady at the Junk Shop with her dubious set of ancestors, and Effie's best friend Brenda, the Bed & Breakfast lady with some of the biggest secrets of all. http://www.sfsite.com/10a/ds257.htm Mon, 1 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT What you get here is a whistle stop tour through the author's career, from fanboy to a best-selling author, who has been called the American Tolkien. Perhaps that is an unfair comparison. Tolkien was a crusty old codger, who kept rarefied company, and wrote his master-work as an academic exercise. Whereas Martin has always been in close touch with the needs of his audience, and the real world. Fortunately for that audience, he is also in close touch with umpteen imagined worlds. http://www.sfsite.com/10a/th257.htm Mon, 1 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT Dark, twisted, and violent. No one familiar with Richard K. Morgan's previous novels will be surprised to see those adjectives applied to his latest work. What they might be surprised to find is that it is also emotionally captivating in a way that allows the story to rise above the violence, and make the reader sympathize with and care for at least one character that most of the other characters in the novel, and, in fact, almost everyone who lives in the world they inhabit, fear and loathe in a way that is instinctive, ingrained into their very nature. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick257.htm Mon, 1 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT Rick has some his thoughts on the new season's TV series, particulary Journeyman. He also gives us a list of what to watch on TV in October. http://www.sfsite.com/10a/ac257.htm Mon, 1 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT Acacia is an empire, and at first glance, a rather benign one. It's people are apparently wealthy and happy, its subjected countries peaceful. It doesn't take long, however, before that peaceful facade is stripped away. Many generations in its past, Acacia made a true devil's bargain. In order to protect themselves from a perceived threat on the other side of the world, and in return for a promise that they would not be attacked by the Lothan Aklun, Acacia agreed to the Quota. http://www.sfsite.com/lists/yb-sf-volume01.htm Mon, 1 Oct 2007 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/10a/ Mon, 1 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet is a small press zine begun in 1996 by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant. The original issue had a print run of only twenty-six copies. Over the next decade, the print run grew larger and larger and the 'zine's reputation grew as well, publishing the works of such major authors as Jay Lake, Devon Monk, Bruce McAllister, Benjamin Rosenblum, Carol Emshwiller, and others. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/jeff257.htm Mon, 1 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT As September passes in Smaragdine, it is time for the Dance of Synchronicity which takes the form of a sabre dance and ensuing battle among the twenty best novelists deemed so by the Ministry of Culture. Following the post-dance revelry, Jeff took some time to interview Jacob Weisman, publisher of Tachyon Publications. http://www.sfsite.com/10a/hg257.htm Mon, 1 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT In Hugo Gernsback and the Century of Science Fiction, Gary Westfahl presents the thesis that Hugo Gernsback, the founder of Amazing Stories, is a seminal figure in the genesis of science fiction. While, to many, this may seem like a declaration that the sky is blue or the grass is green, Westfahl points out that Gernsback's role in the formation of the genre has come under attack relatively recently. http://www.sfsite.com/10a/ts257.htm Mon, 1 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT The book presents a series of essays analysing the changes to various comic book and movie super people, in response to the real world. Included are such intriguing diversities as the ultra patriotic, somewhat jingoistic presentation of the original Captain America, Wonder Woman as both a male fantasy and feminist icon, the importance of the Thing's Jewish roots, how Batman became the Man of Tomorrow, and the transcreation of Spiderman from Western to Eastern culture. http://www.sfsite.com/10a/ne257.htm Mon, 1 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT The Necronomicon Tarot uses images and themes from H.P. Lovecraft's "Cthulhu" mythos. Lovecraft was a ground-breaking pulp horror writer from the 20s. No vampires or werewolves from him, no sir. Lovecraft's ultimate evil, Cthulhu, wasn't even technically evil, in the Manichean sense of "good" vs. "evil." http://www.sfsite.com/10a/sd257.htm Mon, 1 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT The problem with reading a collection by Harlan Ellison is the introductions. Pages of them, not just to the book, but to each individual story. These are remarkable creations, constructing a character who is aggressive, self-aggrandising, self-deprecating, vain. It doesn't take long to become tired of the way any stranger who doesn't immediately understand the Ellison ego in its every weird contortion is casually labelled a "feep." 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.