Interesting Tidbits from SFX!
I came across this a few minutes ago and thought I’d spread the news. 
Have any of you checked out SFX’s site? If not, go ahead; it’s a really top-class place for news in SF and Fantasy, mostly TV- and Film-oriented, but worth a daily visit and a place in your RSS feed.
Firstly: I found out there that Dan Simmons’ masterpieces centering on Hyperion are going to be made into a movie!?
Secondly: there’s a piece with Jerry Bruckheimer talking about (among other projects) the Prince of Persia movie,
Lastly: news about a (hopefully-better-than-AVP1&2) reboot of the infinitely cool Predator film-franchise! Could be something to keep an eye on… But I’ll force you too look for that one…
Other updates: I should have the Gardens of the Moon audio up for you on either Monday the 2nd or Tuesday the 3rd (just trying to get this widgit to work properly), and I should have a review for you of Steph Swainston’s The Modern World in about a week. Also reading A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin (one of 2009′s books to watch out for, it’s excellent so far!) and James Barclay’s Dawnthief (damn cool heroic fantasy!), with reviews coming as I finish them.
Be Fantastic!
Sad news for WOTmania Members (I’m one)
This is really sad. WOTmania will be closing down at some point in the coming months. For those who don’t know, WOTmania is one of the many (and one of the best) sites dedicated to Robert Jordan’s epic Wheel of Time series. I discovered WOTmania way back in 1998 and became a member – I met many, many wonderful people there, chatted late into the early morning hours on many occasions, and it was the first time I ever felt a part of a community of like-minded people; it was just a plus that we all loved the Wheel of Time.
So, tell all Wheel of Time fans you know about this, because they’ll probably be a member of WOTmania.
Here are links to the announcement at WOTmania and an announcement at Dragonmount.
Star Wars Deathtroopers Cover Revealed!!
Holy crap! You have to check this out!
For those who didn’t know, on Halloween of this year the first ever full-on horror novel, set in the Star Wars universe (yep, you heard that right), is being published!
Now, I am an unrepentant Star Wars nut (approaching 120 paperbacks in my collection, 12 hardcovers, and plenty more), I love the mythology and the characters, and even though the Star Wars saga is venturing into new territory here, I think it’s going to be awesome! The cover is so kickass!
Looking forward to it! Somehow, Mr Scheiber, I don’t think you will disappoint.
Review: Star Wars Republic Commando Order 66 – Karen Traviss
Star Wars Republic Commando Order 66
If anyone knows whether someone has ever died of a heart attack from reading a book, please let me know: because after reading A Game of Thrones and now Order 66, I’m starting to worry a bit. To put it lightly, these two books, more than any I’ve read since I began this blog last year, have had my heart pounding so hard and fast that I’m really worried I might just keel over and leave this plane of existence with images of the Starks and Lannisters and Republic Commandos and Jedi spinning through my head as I fade away…
Order 66 was an incredible book.
I’ve been following Karen’s adventures in a ‘galaxy far, far away’ since her first Republic Commando novel, Hard Contact, as well as the brilliant work she’s done in the Legacy of the Force series, and I can honestly say that she has become stronger with each book!
At first, it was a bit strange for me to be immersed in a Star Wars universe that was grittier and darker than what I was used to, but I had been prepared for that by The New Jedi Order series – and I still think that it would have been insanely brilliant (instead of just brilliant) if Karen Traviss could have been a part of that series. Why do I say that? Well, the power of Karen’s characterization, for one.
It seemed a wonderful case of serendipity that I had read GRRM’s fantasy epic before reading Order 66, because it became clear to me that Mr Martin has some major competition in the living-and-breathing-characters department. Karen is amazing at getting you into the heads of her characters! Whether they be Jedi, Commandos, Mandalorians, or even Strill ( ) Karen leaves you with the feeling that these beings actually live and breathe somewhere, that you know them intimately, and just as that knowing them keeps you reading, she can still surprise you with how the characters react – but they still react in ways that are true to who they are.
Okay, here’s a bit of a intro to the series (for those unfortunate enough not to have read the previous Republic Commando books or any of Karen’s books): We all know that old Count Dooku, acting on Palpatine’s orders, placed an order for clones with the Kaminoans, that the material from which the clones were created came from Jango Fett, and that these clones formed the Grand Army of the Republic in a time when the Republic had no standing army at all. (And if you didn’t know this, leave that cave – this is Episode Two Attack of the Clones guys and girls)
But did you know that Jango arranged for select numbers of the clones to be trained by Mandalorians? We’ve seen these clones before – they are the ARC (stands for Advanced Recon Commando, Master Kenobi) troopers in the Clone Wars cartoon, and they guys from the First-Person Shooter Star Wars Republic Commando. These kids were almost ‘terminated’ by the Kaminoans because they were failures – they didn’t toe the line as the millions of others did, and would have all died if not for some of the Mandalorian Cuy’val Dar (those who Jango had brought in to train the clones) who stepped in and saved them. One of these guys, Kal Skirata, is now one of my favorite non-existant people. Ever. Get Ned Stark and Kal Skirata in a room… man, sorry for Palpatine and the Lannisters!
Anyway, Kal saves the clones he can save, and teaches them everything he can that could possibly ensure their survival. Because, you see, these clones are human beings to him; human kids who have been given the very short end of the stick; they have no choice in any aspect of their lives. None. Period. Not only does Kal believe in them, but he treats them as his own sons.
Then Geonosis happens, and the Clone Army is thrown into combat. Our two main Commando-groups emerge – Omega Squad and Delta Squad (Delta are the guys from the game), and we follow these two groups through the four books that make up the Republic Commando series. Along the way, we’ll meet the Jedi, and some of them will begin to see just how human these clones are; foundations are shaken and destroyed, let me tell you. If you ever wondered how the Jedi could just use a slave-army and stand for all they stand for… well, lets just say that some of them deserved the culmination of Order 66.
But good along with the bad: the books are also populated with characters who you all know – people who are selfless and stand by their convictions, people who love without reservation or judgment, people who reach out a hand to these poor men who fight and die for them.
And you’ll be in the thick of the action, too: running battles, suicidal attacks, guerilla warfare, it’s all there. And there are also touching moments, moments where you might just spit out you coffee while swearing or cheering unexpectedly. Every book in this series is amazing!
And I thought that The Force Unleashed was the only book that made me see the Star Wars saga in a new light? Well, Order 66 did that, too. I’ll just say this: Jango Fett was one clever and ruthless barve, no doubt.
So, if you want to see Star Wars through a different (but no less incredible, breath-taking) lens, read Order 66. And if you haven’t read the previous Republic Commando books, read them too. Savor these books, because Karen Traviss is an incredible writer, and the Star Wars saga needs more writers like her. This lady knows her stuff, and then knows the stuff behind the stuff, too.
Star Wars The New Jedi Order Star by Star by Troy Denning was my all-time favorite Star Wars novel; Mr Denning, you’re going to have to inject something huge into the Fate of the Jedi books you’re writing, because Order 66 has over taken what you did for us there. Order 66 rocks!
10/10!
To check out Karen’s website, follow this link (where you’ll also be able to follow links to order the books).
And to check out another review of Order 66, read Graeme’s review.
Be fantastic!
The Guardian Must-Read Novels: SF Edition
I saw this over at the World Walker’s blog (Mark) and thought I’d post it here too.
It’s a list that The Guardian has been running, and this one focuses on SF books: if you’d like to join in the fun, just copy the list, bold all the titles you’ve read, and repost it.
Here’s the list, plus my own ‘bolded’ reads.
1. Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
2. Brian W Aldiss: Non-Stop (1958)
3. Isaac Asimov: Foundation (1951)
4. Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin (2000)
5. Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)
6. Paul Auster: In the Country of Last Things (1987)
7. J.G. Ballard: The Drowned World (1962)
8. J.G. Ballard: Crash (1973)
9. J.G. Ballard: Millennium People (2003)
10. Iain Banks: The Wasp Factory (1984)
11. Iain M Banks: Consider Phlebas (1987)
12. Clive Barker: Weaveworld (1987)
13. Nicola Barker: Darkmans (2007)
14. Stephen Baxter: The Time Ships (1995)
15. Greg Bear: Darwin’s Radio (1999)
16. William Beckford: Vathek (1786)
17. Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination (1956)
18. Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
19. Poppy Z Brite: Lost Souls (1992)
20. Charles Brockden Brown: Wieland (1798)
21. Algis Budrys: Rogue Moon (1960)
22. Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita (1966)
23. Edward Bulwer-Lytton: The Coming Race (1871)
24. Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange (1960)
25. Anthony Burgess: The End of the World News (1982)
26. Edgar Rice Burroughs: A Princess of Mars (1912)
27. William Burroughs: Naked Lunch (1959)
28. Octavia Butler: Kindred (1979)
29. Samuel Butler: Erewhon (1872)
30. Italo Calvino: The Baron in the Trees (1957)
31. Ramsey Campbell: The Influence (1988)
32. Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
33. Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871)
34. Angela Carter: Nights at the Circus (1984)
35. Angela Carter: The Passion of New Eve (1977)
36. Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000)
37. Arthur C Clarke: Childhood’s End (1953)
38. GK Chesterton: The Man Who Was Thursday (1908)
39. Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004)
40. Michael G Coney: Hello Summer, Goodbye (1975)
41. Douglas Coupland: Girlfriend in a Coma (1998)
42. Mark Danielewski: House of Leaves (2000)
43. Marie Darrieussecq: Pig Tales (1996)
44. Samuel R Delaney: The Einstein Intersection (1967)
45. Philip K Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)
46. Philip K Dick: The Man in the High Castle (1962)
47. Thomas M Disch: Camp Concentration (1968)
48. Umberto Eco: Foucault’s Pendulum (1988)
49. Michel Faber: Under the Skin (2000)
50. John Fowles: The Magus (1966)
51. Neil Gaiman: American Gods (2001)
52. Alan Garner: Red Shift (1973)
53. William Gibson: Neuromancer (1984)
54. Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Herland (1915)
55. William Golding: Lord of the Flies (1954)
56. Joe Haldeman: The Forever War (1974)
57. M John Harrison: Light (2002)
58. Nathaniel Hawthorne: The House of the Seven Gables (1851)
59. Robert A Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)
60. Frank Herbert: Dune (1965)
61. Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game (1943)
62. Russell Hoban: Riddley Walker (1980)
63. James Hogg: The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)
64. Michel Houellebecq: Atomised (1998)
65. Aldous Huxley: Brave New World (1932)
66. Kazuo Ishiguro: The Unconsoled (1995)
67. Shirley Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House (1959)
68. Henry James: The Turn of the Screw (1898)
69. PD James: The Children of Men (1992)
70. Richard Jefferies: After London; Or, Wild England (1885)
71. Gwyneth Jones: Bold as Love (2001)
72. Franz Kafka: The Trial (1925)
73. Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon (1966)
74. Stephen King: The Shining (1977)
75. Marghanita Laski: The Victorian Chaise-longue (1953)
76. CS Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-56) (Book 1 at least)
77. Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: Uncle Silas (1864)
78. Stanislaw Lem: Solaris (1961)
79. Ursula K Le Guin: The Earthsea series (1968-1990)
80. Ursula K Le Guin: The Left Hand of Darkness (1969)
81. Doris Lessing: Memoirs of a Survivor (1974)
82. MG Lewis: The Monk (1796)
83. David Lindsay: A Voyage to Arcturus (1920)
84. Ken MacLeod: The Night Sessions (2008)
85. Hilary Mantel: Beyond Black (2005)
86. Michael Marshall Smith: Only Forward (1994)
87. Richard Matheson: I Am Legend (1954)
88. Charles Maturin: Melmoth the Wanderer (1820)
89. Patrick McCabe: The Butcher Boy (1992)
90. Cormac McCarthy: The Road (2006)
91. Jed Mercurio: Ascent (2007)
92. China Miéville: The Scar (2002)
93. Andrew Miller: Ingenious Pain (1997)
94. Walter M Miller Jr: A Canticle for Leibowitz (1960)
95. David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas (2004)
96. Michael Moorcock: Mother London (1988)
97. William Morris: News From Nowhere (1890)
98. Toni Morrison: Beloved (1987)
99. Haruki Murakami: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (1995)
100. Vladimir Nabokov: Ada or Ardor (1969)
101. Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler’s Wife (2003)
102. Larry Niven: Ringworld (1970)
103. Jeff Noon: Vurt (1993)
104. Flann O’Brien: The Third Policeman (1967)
105. Ben Okri: The Famished Road (1991)
106. George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-four (1949)
107. Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club (1996)
108. Thomas Love Peacock: Nightmare Abbey (1818)
109. Mervyn Peake: Titus Groan (1946)
110. Frederik Pohl & CM Kornbluth: The Space Merchants (1953)
111. John Cowper Powys: A Glastonbury Romance (1932)
112. Terry Pratchett: The Discworld series (1983- ) (A few of them)
113. Christopher Priest: The Prestige (1995)
114. Philip Pullman: His Dark Materials (1995-2000)
115. François Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532-34)
116. Ann Radcliffe: The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)
117. Alastair Reynolds: Revelation Space (2000)
118. Kim Stanley Robinson: The Years of Rice and Salt (2002)
119. JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997)
120. Geoff Ryman: Air (2005)
121. Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses (1988)
122. Joanna Russ: The Female Man (1975)
123. Antoine de Sainte-Exupéry: The Little Prince (1943)
124. José Saramago: Blindness (1995)
125. Will Self: How the Dead Live (2000)
126. Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (1818)
127. Dan Simmons: Hyperion (1989)
128. Olaf Stapledon: Star Maker (1937)
129. Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash (1992)
130. Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)
131. Bram Stoker: Dracula (1897)
132. Rupert Thomson: The Insult (1996)
133. JRR Tolkien: The Hobbit (1937)
134. JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings (1954-55)
135. Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court (1889)
136. Kurt Vonnegut: Sirens of Titan (1959)
137. Horace Walpole: The Castle of Otranto (1764)
138. Robert Walser: Institute Benjamenta (1909)
139. Sylvia Townsend Warner: Lolly Willowes (1926)
140. Sarah Waters: Affinity (1999)
141. HG Wells: The Time Machine (1895)
142. HG Wells: The War of the Worlds (1898)
143. TH White: The Sword in the Stone (1938)
144. Angus Wilson: The Old Men at the Zoo (1961)
145. Gene Wolfe: The Book of the New Sun (1980-83)
146. Virginia Woolf: Orlando (1928)
147. John Wyndham: Day of the Triffids (1951)
148. John Wyndham: The Midwich Cuckoos (1957)
149. Yevgeny Zamyatin: We (1924)
So there we go! I’ve still got quite a bit to read!!
Be Fantastic!
Review: A Game of Thrones – George RR Martin
To say that this reading experience was incredible is like saying I enjoyed my first bungee-jump last year. I was bloody breathless after reading this!
I’ve chatted to Peter V Brett and David Anthony Durham on a few occasions (by email, of course) and GRRM came up a few times – in fact, when talking about the Epic Fantasy genre with anyone, GRRM will come up, no doubt about it. And I had read GRRM’s first collection, Dreamsongs Volume 1 (I’ve got the absolutely beautiful hardcover), and loved it; I learned to appreciate GRRM’s expansive imagination, and got a small taste of just what was in store for me in A Game of Thrones, and I’ll say this: GRRM is definitely one of the Kings of Fantasy. The man writes brilliantly!
So lets go to the review: A Game of Thrones is populated by some incredible characters, and I felt a particular attachment to Jon Snow, the bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark. There was just something about Jon’s status in society and his outlook on life that made me feel as if this was someone I wanted to know, and have as a close friend for the rest of my life. The fact that GRRM could do this speaks volumes about his ability to make his characters live and breathe, and this isn’t only limited to Jon.
His father, Eddard, is an incredible man, the kind of man that anyone and everyone can look up to, and when he leaves his home, Winterfell, to become the King’s Hand, he is thrust into a world that he never wanted to be a part of – but he doesn’t lie down and take it.
Catelyn Stark, Eddard’s wife, starts off as a woman largely powerless and ineffectual, but she finds her reasons to live and fight as the book progresses.
We also meet Eddard and Catelyn’s other children; Bran, the dreamer and climber who becomes the target of a plot to destroy the Starks; Arya, the strong willed girl who can teach anyone a thing or six about how not to underestimate a woman; her sister Sansa, the quintessential spoiled brat who’s world-view will change dramatically.
And then we come to Tyrion Lannister; a dwarf who has been looked-down upon his entire life, even by his family, and who’s only defense is his wit and intelligence. Tyrion was also one of the most enjoyable characters in the book, and I can’t help thinking that he’s going to become incredibly important,not only for who he is but for what he will do.
And we meet Daenerys, the exiled princess, powerless and alone in a foreign land, who will one day stand in the flames of a pyre…
The characters are amazing!
The plotting, too, is tight, with no event taking place that does not drive the story forward; each chapter is incredibly important, so don’t even think about skipping!
The world that GRRM creates is wonderfully detailed, with almost no info dumps that are not needed for the story, and you get the sense that this world is ancient and that its history is colorful and deep.
If you haven’t yet read A Game of Thrones, or if you are still a GRRM-virgin, do what you have to to get this book! This is a work of incredible beauty, a book that should be read by everyone, fantasy-lover or no.
My top two authors before this book were Robert Jordan and Steven Erikson, but GRRM is clawing his way to the top of the pile. I was stunned by this! An incredible, INCREDIBLE book!
10/10
P.S. Having some problems uploading the cover pic, but check out GRRM’s website here – all the covers for A Game of Thrones are there.
P.P.S. HBO, don’t screw this up!!!
Check out these Moon-wheels!
Can you see the SF-retro feel of this Moon Buggy? Although it’s still a concept only, I think it’s awesome! It’s about damn time we got back to the Moon, and we needed a transportation-upgrade!
The South African Post Office Sucks
Please excuse me while I rant a bit. 
Remember wayyy back when I won a Limited Edition Signed Copy of Peter F Hamilton’s The Temporal Void on Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist? Well, it arrived, but the Post Office didn’t let me know, and it was sent back, or vanished, or something, because I never picked it up. Except, the thing is I was at the Post Office every damn weekend, asking if it was there, checking their ‘books’ to see if the book had arrived, and every time they said that it hadn’t! So Pat, if you ever read this, I’m really sorry that you may receive the book back, but it was out of my hands and they buggered me around.
And Jo Graham, I never received your second book for the same reason. The book arrived, but they never let me know, and each time I was there, they told me that if it wasn’t recorded in their ‘books’ then it hadn’t arrived. So I’m really sorry about that – but as soon as I see it on the shelves here I’ll get myself a copy and read and review it!
Anyway, ranting’s done. Had to get that off my chest. Bloody Third-World systems and mentality’s….
Wheel of Time: Latest News
It seems that an empire is being built. If Red Eagle Entertainment does a good job with the options they’ve purchased -staying true to the content- then the saga written by Robert Jordan will be a house-hold name pretty soon.
I for one applaud this: as a fan of the Wheel of Time, I would love to be able to ask someone if they honestly thought that Moirraine was dead or who the most kickass Forsaken is; but that all hinges upon Red Eagle doing a good job with the movie adaptation of The Eye of the World as well as making games that are true to the world Mr. Jordan created. Goodness knows, there’s enough content in the novels and no need to make up anything more.
On the games side of things, Red Eagle has made a very good move by getting EA Games in on the process. EA will be distributing the games, though, not creating them. Signing the deal tells me that EA have faith in the product, and obviously they must have been told more about what Red Eagle Games will be coming up with than was released with the Press Release; but I still have faith in Red Eagle to accomplish this.
Check out this link; it’ll take you to Dragonmount.com, where the Press Release was posted. Dragonmount has also set up dedicated message boards on which the topics (games and movies) can be discussed.
Be Fantastic!
Spotlight: Edgar Allen Poetic
A friend of mine just told me about this – he works with me, so I checked it out quickly and had a good laugh! So for lovers of webstrips, be prepared to meet Edgar Allen Poetic!
Oh yes, before I forget: start at the bottom of the page, and rate the strip, otherwise he won’t know if it’s crap or not.
And yes, my friend is the author / creator / artist.
Be Fantastic!
