SF Signal: SF Tidbits for 10/27/07

SF Tidbits for 10/27/07

John Picacio previews one of his illustrations that appears in the art book Artists Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. The anthology, which features 40+ artists and boasts an introduction by Harlan Ellison and an afterword by Thomas Ligotti, comes in two limited editions: a $395 cloth edition and a $2000 leather edition. Check out the publisher's page for image samples from the book, like the one shown here.

SciFi Scanner points us to the drool-inducing Flickr cover gallery of Ron Turner covers.

David Louis Edelman shows off the cool Stephan Martiniere cover for Solaris' mass-market release of Infoquake.

Sean Williams shows off the also-cool cover of Earth Ascendant, the sequel to Saturn Returns.

Lou Anders is once again looking at book covers.

Jeff VanderMeer interviews Paul Jessup. "When I sit down and read or write, I want to go in and fall in love again."

John C. Wright looks at the predictions of Robert A. Heinlein.

Daniel Abraham defines Epic Fantasy: "Epic fantasy is (1) fiction in (2) an ahistorical setting with (3) magic, and usually but not exclusively with (4) preindustrial technology."

Time magazine covers J.K. Rowling's outing of Dumbledore.

Interzone is addressing U.S. availability of its magazine.

Locus Online, an indispensable site for genre news and links, has undergone a site redesign.

William Shatner is opining his lack of involvement in the Star Trek prequel.

Maxim lists 10 Lame Movie Robots. [via Look at This]

Big Dumb Object has The Top 10 Sounds From Star Wars.

Real Science: "An enormous cold spot in our universe could be explained by a cosmic defect in the fabric of space-time created shortly after the Big Bang, scientists say."

Neatorama "points" us to a doctor who will make your ears look pointy, like an elf or Mr. Spock.

Humor: Top5 lists The Top 8 Worst Lines in Sci-Fi Erotica> (#7: After many attempts by the rookie space cadet, the spaceship finally fit snugly into the landing bay, but he had opened the escape hatch too soon, spilling the ship's occupants on to the floor.)

On the subject of book covers, the Robert Lesser Collection of Pulp Art just went on display at the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut.
http://www.nbmaa.org/exhibitions/current.html#pulp
Lots of Shadow, Tarzan and Doc Savage cover paintings, some Virgil Finlay and Hannes Bok, as well as war, westerns, and true crime.
I heard Lesser talk last night about how 99% of the covers are lost forever. He's also donating the collection to the museum.

Posted by Jeff P on Saturday October 27, 2007 at 9:17 AM

"I thought, what a decision to make, since it obviously is a decision not to make use of the popularity I have to ensure the movie has good box office. It didn't seem to be a wise business decision."

That's pretty funny to me. I think the Shat has a good sense of his perceived egotistical personality. anyone want to bet he is in it and it's just going to be a big surprise?

Posted by A_Z on Saturday October 27, 2007 at 11:53 AM