An Ode to Empire Strikes Back
David Louis Edelman, author of the forthcoming novel INFOQUAKE, posted a really cool ode to Empire Strikes Back. It’s a really vivid piece of writing; check it out.
A Tribute to F&SF
Jonathan Strahan just posted a nice tribute to F&SF on his blog, in honor of Blog About F&SF Day.
If you see any other particularly noteworthy ones, feel free to point them out.
Evil Editor
Stumbled across a new blog that you, my loyal readers, might be interested in: Evil Editor. The Evil Editor critiques query letters in an effort to make the writers not sound so foolish. Of course, this is only for you novel writing folk–as we all know, short fiction doesn’t require plot synopsis in a cover letter. We all know that, right?
Evil Editor was discovered via Miss Snark, which is another writerly resource you should be reading. But try not to be a nitwit.
Blog About F&SF, Get a Free Copy
On the F&SF Message Board, Gordon sez:
I just got a box of fifty advance copies of the July 2006 F&SF sitting here.
I’m looking to give away these copies to the first fifty people who ask for one.
The catch is this: if you want one of the copies, you’ll have to blog about the issue.
Your blog can say anything, even “I’m only writing this blog entry about F&SF because I said I would to get a free copy of this sucky magazine.”
I’m particularly interested in getting younger readers to blog, so if you’re a parent of a teen, ask him/her if they want a copy.
This promotion isn’t limited to young readers, though. If you’re 112 and you blog, you’re welcome to a copy also.
Just post your mailing address here or contact us at Fandsf – at sign – aol dot com.
When the box of copies is empty, this promotion’s over.
Camera Obscura: Just another adaptation horror story
Intergalactic Medicine Show just published the latest installment of Camera Obscura. This time around, I review the DVD of Dreams in the Witch-House, which is one of the first episodes of the Showtime Masters of Horror series to come out on DVD.
[Excerpt:] Dreams in the Witch-House was a good choice to adapt, and Stuart Gordon, on paper at least, was a good choice of director–after all, he’d directed two previous adaptations of Lovecraft’s work: Re-Animator and Dagon. However, Gordon is more of a “master of schlock” than a true master of horror. There’s very little that’s scary or terrifying here; Gordon’s ham-handed filmmaking style robs Lovecraft’s story of most of its visceral power.
Found Money
I just wanted to thank whoever it was that’s been clicking on my various links to Amazon.com. My associates account just earned me a $15 gift certificate. Sweet!
I bought myself a CD–Rebirth of the Temple by Silent Civilian. I’m just bummed I have to wait for it to show up now. I’ve been spoiled by iTunes’s whole instant gratification thing.
Everfree by Nick Sagan
My review of Everfree by Nick Sagan was just published in Science Fiction Weekly. I interviewed Nick too, and that should be published over there some time soon as well.
[Excerpt:] Readers new to Nick Sagan’s work probably have some lofty expectations. His father, the world-renowned Carl Sagan, was both a brilliant scientist and the author of many books, including the terrific SF novel Contact. So he clearly has the genes for good writing and smart science; the question is, does he live up to expectations? The answer is yes and then some, and luckily for SF fans, the younger Sagan has his father’s gift for storytelling, but has chosen to devote his life not to writing science but to writing science fiction.
Wraeththu Wraps Up
Check out my story for SCI FI Wire about the conclusion to Storm Constantine’s Wraeththu Histories.
Dark Horse Slates Fafhrd Projects
Check out my story for SCI FI Wire about Dark Horse Comics’ plans for new Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser comics.
J.J. Abrams & Trek
By now, everyone has probably heard about Paramount’s plans to revive the Trek franchise with a new movie, which will be produced by J.J. Abrams (of Alias and Lost fame). I’m fine with that–I think that Trek needed some new blood, but the problem is that with the new blood, was the promise of returning to old ideas: the movie puportedly will focus on Kirk and Spock in their younger years, at Starfleet Academy.
This kind of seems like asking for trouble to me–how in holy hell are they going to get anyone to play those roles that’s going to live up to Shatner and Nimoy without resorting to doing impersonations of them? Me, I’m skeptical.
As for longtime Trek-runner Rick Berman, I’m kind of glad he’s not involved–he helmed the ship true for a while, but at the end he’d led it astray. By the end, it was as if Trek was stuck in a Menthar booby trap.
But anyway, since this Kirk/Spock plot was “leaked,” Abrams has since come out denouncing the idea as being untrue. (Can’t find a relevant link at the moment.)
Now, I’ve seen this sort of thing happen quite a lot over the years. At first, I thought that it was just rabid fanboys hearing a rumor then spreading it like wildfire over the internet, but now I’m not so sure. Could Abrams have deliberately leaked such an idea to see what fan reaction would be like? That way, if the reaction was bad (as it has been), he can step forward to deny the rumors and say that was never the plan to begin with? If so, it’s kind of sneaky, but hey, I’d rather he float his dumbass ideas out this way then have to see him kill Trek for good with such a stinker of an idea.