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We seem to have a "cost of books" theme going with a previous tidbit ("Literary Kicks says Books are Too Damn Expensive") and the recent post The Most Expensive Science Fiction & Fantasy Books Sold by AbeBooks in 2006. I thought you, dear, dear reader, might want to weigh in on the highest price you ever paid for a single science fiction or fantasy novel.

Me? I'm a biblioholic as opposed to a collector, so most of my book-buying dollar goes towards used science fiction, not collectibles. But back before I discovered the plethora of used bookstores in Houston, I did pick up a new (gasp!) copy of David Brin's Foundation's Triumph for around $24 in order to complete my pre-2000 Asimov Robots/Foundation reading project. There have been times when I thought about paying more for a book (a $300 set of sf reference books, a copy of the hard-to-find Year's Best Science Fiction #1 by Gardner Dozois) but I could never bring myself to do it.

What's the most you ever paid?

Share: | Discussion (14) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Wednesday January 31, 2007 - 5:44 PM | Category: Books | © 2007 SF Signal

An online version of Graham Sleight's "Yesterday's Tomorrows" from the June 2006 issue of Locus has been posted online. Sleight looks at two classic novels by Alfred Bester: The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination.

I recently read The Stars My Destination. This, my friends, is the differene difference between a professional review and an amateur review. (That and running a spell check.)

There are books you admire and books you love. Ulysses is easy to admire; Pride and Prejudice is easy to love. I think that when you love a book, it's almost always because of voice, because you want to know the person telling you the story. These two novels by Bester are both admired and loved in the SF field, I think rightly. Re-reading them as an adult is, inevitably, not the same as when you first encounter them (as almost everyone seems to have) at the age of 14. But Bester's ceaseless tug of story remains unstoppable, a force of nature; and unlike with many books, you can see that he had reasons to write these two. They weren't just stopping-posts or contractual obligations partway through a career. You sense, more than anything, how thrilling it would have been to know the man who wrote them at the time he wrote them. Streamers and confetti burst from him, still.

Share: | Discussion (2) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Wednesday January 31, 2007 - 12:18 AM | Category: Books | © 2007 SF Signal

Abe Books has announced new Science Fiction and Fantasy book rooms which focus on their respective genres. The rooms offer a link to this interesting list. Check the page for details about each volume.

The Most Expensive Science Fiction & Fantasy Books Sold by AbeBooks in 2006

1. 1984 by George Orwell ($8,258.40)
2. (Tie) Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson ($7,500)
2. (Tie) The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King ($7,500)
3. (Tie) I, Robot by Issac Asimov ($4,500)
3. (Tie) The Healer's War by Elizabeth Scarborough ($4,500)
4. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley ($4,025)
5. The Ship That Sailed to Mars by William Timlin ($3,995)
6. Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm ($3,975)
7. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley ($3,250)
8. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien ($3,000)

Share: | Discussion (4) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Wednesday January 31, 2007 - 12:12 AM | Category: Books | © 2007 SF Signal

• Subterranean Press is now selling The Sagan Diary by John Scalzi.


• Heroes creator Tim Kring gets all spoilery.


• Chris Dolley interviews Chris Roberson.


• John C. Wright reviews Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land.


• Entertainment Weekly looks at James Cameron's Avatar.


• Irene Gallo at the Art Department asks artists what they think about the working on genre series covers. Head on over just for the cover eye candy alone.


• An internal Google Maps mashup is mapping places mentioned in books. Only a few are available so far. For example, for Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, see the section "Places mentioned in this book". [via Hackzine]


• SCI FI Wire has a video interview with Doug Jones, who plays the Silver Surfer in the Fantastic 4 sequel. [via Monitor Duty]


• Neatorama lists Authors Who Write in the Buff. Benjamin Franklin? [...Shivers...]


• Black Gate has posted an appreciation of David Gemmell. [via Locus Online]


• NY Times Magazine has begun serialization of a new novel by Michael Chabon. [via Locus Online]


• SCI FI Wire profiles Tad Williams, author of Shadowplay, and Harry Turtledove, author of Beyond the Gap.


• The current Bat Segundo Show podcast features Christopher Moore, author of You Suck. [via SFBC Blog]


• Kathryn Cramer is hosting an index page for The New York Review of Science Fiction.


• John Joseph Adams has posted the prelimary contents for his 2008 post-apocalyptic reprint anthology, Wastelands.

Share: | Discussion (2) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Wednesday January 31, 2007 - 12:03 AM | Category: Tidbits | © 2007 SF Signal

REVIEW SUMMARY: How can you not watch Elvis and JFK fight a mummy?

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Elvis and JFK fight a soul-eating Egyptian mummy in a nursing home.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: Campbell as Elvis; witty dialog; social commentary on the elderly gives the story some depth;
CONS: Stretches some limits of believability, but only if you look at this as a horror film.
BOTTOM LINE: A quiet, subtly insightful drama. With a mummy.

Back when I was a teenager, I subconsciously swore off horror movies. This was around the umpteenth version of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and other horror movies. Worse, some movies (My Boyfriend is a Psychotic Mutilator with a Hook for a Hand Who Lives in a Secluded Forest Preying on Horny Teenagers, or some such) seemed to be more about the gore than the scare. At any rate, I generally lost interest in horror movies or, more accurately, a horror movie had to offer something extra to pique my interest. (Like Shaun of the Dead.)

So I missed Bubba Ho-Tep···· when it was released in 2002. No mere horror movie was enough to drag me to a movie theater. But the idea of a Bruce Campbell as Elvis fighting a mummy did sound interesting and I thought I'd just check it out on DVD. Years went by and I still hadn't seen it. Recently, a cable movie channel aired a late-night showing of it and I figured I'd at least record it and watch it later. Finally I'd be able to put this puppy to bed.

Bubba Ho-Tep is based on a short story native Texan Joe R. Lansdale. The setting for this low-key film is a nursing home in east Texas where the real Elvis now resides. Yep, Elvis. It turns out that Elvis, tired of his fame and seeking some peace, had switched places with an Elvis impersonator shortly before the impersonator dies of the famed overdose. Now the real Elvis lives in the nursing home after suffering a hip injury from an unplanned stage-dive. Nobody believes he is the real Elvis, thinking they are hearing the delusions of an aged Elvis impersonator. Nobody except another resident named Jack (black actor Ossie Davis). Jack thinks he's JFK, who was sequestered away after his assassination "attempt" after having his skin dyed. Even "Elvis" rolls his eyes at that one. Life is quiet at the nursing home until an en-route museum exhibit falls into the lake near the nursing home. The exhibit happens to be an Egyptian mummy, now resurrected, who feeds on the souls of the people at the nursing home. That is, at least until Elvis and JFK decide to team up and kick some Egyptian mummy a$$.

Despite this far-out horror-like premise, Bubba Ho-Tep is not really a horror movie. Nor is it a comedy despite some humorous moments. If either of those is what you're looking for, reset your expectations and watch this movie. It's a well-acted, well-scripted drama that just happens to have Elvis, JFK and a mummy. The film subtly shows the plight of the aged - forgotten or ignored by the young and nothing to look forward to except their turn with the Grim Reaper. This is not the kind of thoughtful commentary you'd get from some cheap horror flick, is it?

The one thing I wondered going in was how Bruce Campbell was going to do as Elvis. Campbell makes an excellent Elvis, thank you. He wonderfully captures the voice, the looks (minus a few too-obvious make-up jobs) and the stage mannerisms of Elvis. Some final scenes that show Campbell using his Elvis arm-windmill move as some sort of Karate maneuver were funny. Note that it really doesn't matter if the character is really Elvis or deluded impersonator Sebastian Haff; that's not the point. The point is that the character is an elderly man with not much left to live for who finds reason to do so by becoming the self-appointed hero of his fellow residents. Ossie Davis also does a good turn as the wheelchair-bound JFK character. Both characters are endearing in their own way; Elvis in his curmudgeon-iness and JFK for his level-headed examination of Egyptian lore and spunk. They are characters you root for. Given their physical limitations, though, just don't expect a superhuman mummy as the bad guy. Besides, do you know how embarrassing it would be to break a hip when you're fighting a mummy?

See also: Kevin's review.

Share: | Discussion (9) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Tuesday January 30, 2007 - 12:21 AM | Category: Movies | © 2007 SF Signal

REVIEW SUMMARY: Continuing the quality of effort from the previous book, Birmingham delivers on a quality ending to a complicated trilogy.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: The task force from the future introduced in the work Weapons of Choice, continues to deal with the impact of its arrival and, most importantly, the continuation of the fight against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. The politics of nations takes center stage here as the planet deals with the new ending to WW2 and the significantly different history of the Soviet Union.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: Excellent thoughts on the behavior of Stalin, Yamamoto, Roosevelt, and others when confronted with the major changes in the world brought about by the technology of the future.
CONS: Perhaps a bit gratuitous in parts - but war is hell.
BOTTOM LINE: The final 2 books in this trilogy make it overall very solid and worth your time if you are interested in military fiction of this type.

I particularly enjoyed seeing how Birmingham has grown as a writer during this series. His characters go through a tremendous transformation from the first to the last book. For example, the character of Julia Duffy who was once just a 'tough bitch' of a reporter, opens up into a multi-dimensional persona involving regret, revenge, love, and other passions that make the character feel a lot more human. The black marine Colonel who struggles with the 40's racial tensions in the first book by just lashing out, is actively working to understand how he can change the system by the third. The same is true with others - they generally move away from stereotypes and into characters I actually saw as people (even if I wouldn't have them all over for dinner.)

His fictional changes to history and science are generally well thought out and plausible. The idea of a widely networked force (and the dependence on that network) is very in line with the US military of today and its near future. His culture shocks seem real and intelligent - the struggle with 1940's America's thinking on women and race seems real and reasonable. Some have challenged Birmingham for portraying the Allies as barely better than the Axis because of their prejudices. I fear those folks didn't realize how backward the US and other countries were at the time, and how far we've come.

Birmingham has given himself the ability to continue this story line if he wishes - the world he leaves us with is very different than that of the 1945 we're familiar with. Not only is the map different with the USSR in control of parts of western Europe, but the main characters all seem set for different roles (some in politics, some in the private sector.) I'd be interested in reading more fiction set in this world, however his characters have definately seem to have run their course (at least in their current roles.)

Note: this book was sent to me by the publisher to review.

Share: | Discussion (3) | PermaLink | Posted by scottsh on Tuesday January 30, 2007 - 12:15 AM | Category: Book Review | © 2007 SF Signal

• The BBC is animating Doctor Who in a 13-part adventure called The Infinite Quest. [via Forbidden Planet]


• Velcro City Tourist Board lists an incomplete bibliography of worthwhile science fiction and genre criticism culled from a new website/forum set up by Gabe Chouinard to discuss such matters.


• Free fiction at Analog: Queen of Candesce (part I). [also via VCTB]


• CBS has picked up two SF pilots: Babylon Fields, an hour-long zombie-themed comedy-drama, and Twilight, a drama about a vampire private eye who's dealing with the fallout from being immortal.


• Literary Kicks says Books are Too Damn Expensive.


• Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy will host Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier, a History Channel documentary special that will take a look at the 40-year history of the venerable SF franchise, on Feb. 19 at 9 p.m. ET.


• Make shows us How to make an invisible book shelf.


• A few new additions to the list of sf/f authors who blog: James Barclay, Jeffrey Carver, Paul Di Filippo, Mark Morris, Susan Palwick, Brian Ruckley, Ryk E. Spoor and Steph Swainston.

Share: | Discussion (4) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Tuesday January 30, 2007 - 12:02 AM | Category: Tidbits | © 2007 SF Signal

From the Nevada Appeal:

Fantasy writer David Eddings, 75, said he was using water to flush out the gas tank of his broken-down Excalibur sports car, when some fluid leaked. In a lapse of judgment he readily admitted, Eddings lit a piece of paper and threw into the puddle to test if it was still flammable. The answer came in an orange torrent.

[via Eternal Golden Braid]

Share: | Discussion (5) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Monday January 29, 2007 - 1:02 PM | Category: Books | © 2007 SF Signal

• "Save The Teen Pop Singer, Save the World!" Everyone's favorite cheerleader, Hayden Panettiere, has a life outside Heroes. She sings the song "I Still Believe" on the soundtrack of Disney's straight-to-DVD release Cinderella III. Go, go, gadget YouTube!


• Jeff VanderMeer's latest project is Strange Tales of Secret Lives.


• File under: I couldn't Make This Up If I Wanted To. Here's a website devoted the Tom Baker's Doctor Who Scarf. Really.


• After recently proposing that SF Author Bios Should Be Moved from Wikipedia to the ISFDB Wiki, Kathryn Cramer offers How to Write an Author Bio: A Tutorial for Wikipedians & Others. BONUS: A link to author bios from The Ascent of Wonder, the anthology she co-edited with husband David G. Hartwell.


• David Bishop and S. L. Viehl have been added to the list of sf/f authors who blog.


• NPR Pop culture podcast: Dragons Get a Modern Image Makeover, discusses the recent movie Eragon, Anne McCaffrey's Pern series and Naomi Novik's Temeraire series. [via Locus Online]


• A New Hampshire Public Radio podcast explores the sub-genres of science fiction with authors James Patrick Kelly and Maren Tirabassi. BONUS: James Patrick Kelly notes his latest project is recording audio versions of 52 of his stories for Audible.com.


• Time magazine has 10 Questions For William Shatner. [via Trek Today]

Share: | Discussion (4) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Monday January 29, 2007 - 12:05 AM | Category: Tidbits | © 2007 SF Signal

Here are the results of the latest SF Signal poll.

QUESTION
With all the excitement on the possibility of an HBO adaptation of George R.R. Martin's SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series, it's time to sound off. Which of the books do you like best?

RESULTS

(119 total votes)

One comment this week:

"I simply can't pick a favorite. Least favorite is A Feast For Crows, but only because I would have rather waited for the whole damn' book instead of getting half the story lines and having to wait at least as long again as for the second half. But I do understand Martin's desire to get _something_ in the readers' hands before fannish hit men began stalking him." - Tim Morris

Be sure to vote in this week's poll on Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels!

Share: | Discussion (2) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Monday January 29, 2007 - 12:00 AM | Category: Polls | © 2007 SF Signal

A new science fiction series and mobile video game called Ice Planet are only in co-development, but already has an "Unofficial" fan site. (Read: Official fan site meant to generate buzz.) Ice Planet, to be shot in High Definition video, involves aliens, alien artifacts and Armageddon and stars everyone's favorite bad guy, Michael Ironside (Scanners, Total Recall).

The series marks the second time a science fiction series will be shot in HD. (The first was The 4400.) This is good news. If anything deserves to be shot in high definition, it's science fiction. At least since Baywatch went off the air. Additionally, the producers plan to shoot the show as a five-season story arc.

More info on the story line comes from a press release:

Rear Admiral Noah Trager (Michael Ironside) leads an international team of military and scientific personnel in the recovery of an ancient alien artifact. This sentient alien structure seems to draw on the memories of its human explorers as it grows.

Trager, who dotes on his 10 year old daughter, must also contend with another mystery in his life, the unsolved murder of his wife. This is his obsession.

As they explore the artefact, Earth is devastated by a massive asteroid strike. At that very moment, the Artifact rips Trager and his crew through space-time to a mysterious Ice Planet at the edge of an ancient galaxy. Their only shelter is the damaged alien vessel.

The survivors soon discover that they have been dropped in the midst of an ancient alien war. They must now face a journey of evolution and self-discovery in order to fulfill their destinies.

The battle often plays out as personal challenges that originate from the past of the survivors themselves. Cyphers of the dead will haunt our crew such as the replicant of Trager's daughter - through which the aliens communicate. It cannot be her, but she seems real, and a force of great danger and great hope.

These are the survivors' stories

[via Hollywood North Report]

Share: | Discussion (4) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Sunday January 28, 2007 - 12:12 AM | Category: Games, TV | © 2007 SF Signal

• Stainless Steel Droppings profiles genre artist Donato Giancola


• The Art Department interviews genre artist Tiffany Prothero.


• North Carolina State University's student-run newspaper, The Technician profiles professor and author John Kessel whose 1985 story "A Clean Escape" has been adapted for Masters of Science Fiction. [via WatEotU]


• Charles Stross sheds dome light on a writer's lifestyle.


• After a brief hiatus, The Bat Segundo Show is back and has podcast-interviews with Richard Ford and Anne Fernald and Valerie Trueblood.


• Eternal Golden Braid laments the decline of science fiction on the bookstore shelves in The Death of Captain Future and Other Stories (and Other Stories).


• MSNBC asks: What suit do you wear to a spacewalk? [via EGB]


• Robert Silverberg talks about re-reading Jack Vance's The Dying Earth.


• Tom Becker has won the 2007 Waterstone's children's book prize with his first novel, Darkside, a young adult novel about a parallel world with werewolves and vampires in a Victorian setting.


• The moderators of the website for Campbell-eligible authors are trying to collect info about all authors who are eligible for the 2007 John W. Campbell Best New Writer Award. [via Jed Hartman]


• Asimov's upcoming 30th anniversary issue. "Each of the past editors--George Scithers, Kathleen Moloney, Shawna McCarthy and Gardner Dozois--will contribute a short piece to the editorial, and their essays, along with mine, will be combined with a reprint of Isaac's first editorial for the magazine," current editor Sheila Williams said in an interview.


• David Louis Edelman lists 10 Tech Companies That Blew It in the Past Two Decades.


• Charlie Huston wonders how publishers deem one book to be in hardcover and another in paperback.


• John Barnes, Mick Farren, Ellen Klages, Geoffrey Landis and Catherynne M. Valente have been added to the list of SF/F authors who blog. [Some via S. Andrew Swann]

Share: | Discussion (1) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Sunday January 28, 2007 - 12:04 AM | Category: Tidbits | © 2007 SF Signal

Talking Squid is reporting (via Jonathan Strahan) that the winners of the 2006 Aurealis Awards are as follows:

GOLDEN AUREALIS
NOVEL: The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott
SHORT STORY: "The Arrival" by Shaun Tan

SCIENCE FICTION
NOVEL: K-Machines by Damien Broderick
SHORT STORY: "The Seventh Letter" by Sean Williams

HORROR
NOVEL (split): The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott and Prismatic by Edwina Grey
SHORT STORY: "Dead of Winter", Stephen Dedman

FANTASY
NOVEL: Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
SHORT STORY: "A Fine Magic" by Margo Lanagan

YOUNG ADULT
NOVEL: Monster Blood Tattoo: Book One. Foundling by D.M. Cornish
SHORT STORY: "The Arrival" by Shaun Tan

CHILDREN'S
NOVEL: Melissa Queen of Evil by Mardi McConnochie
SHORT FICTION (split): "The True Story of Mary Who Wanted to Stand on Her Head" by Jane Godwin and "Woolvs in the Sitee" by Margaret Wild and Anne Spudvilas

See also: this year's nominees and past winners.

Share: | Discussion (0) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Saturday January 27, 2007 - 10:26 PM | Category: Awards | © 2007 SF Signal

As mentioned last year, Prime Books is publishing a new annual anthology called Best American Fantasy guest-edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer with Matthew Cheney serving as series editor.

This week, Jeff VanderMeer offers up some more information. Initial story selections have been made and stories will be included by Elizabeth Hand, Kelly Link, Peter LaSalle, Brian Evenson, Sarah Monette and 20+ others.

We'll know more when the table of contents is finalized.

Share: | Discussion (0) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Saturday January 27, 2007 - 10:24 AM | Category: Books | © 2007 SF Signal

Issue #7 of Farmerphile: The Magazine of Philip José Farmer is now available with these offerings:

• "Riverworld in Parody" by Walt Liebscher
• "The Roller Coaster Ride with Phil Farmer" by Bette Farmer
• "Excerpt from The City Beyond Play" by Philip José Farmer & Danny Adams
• Farmerphile Interviews Danny Adams and Philip José Farmer
• "The Frames"by Philip José Farmer
• "The Light-Hog Incident" by Philip José Farmer
• "A Letter from Farmer" by David Bischoff
• "Creative Mythography" by Dennis E. Power
• "Bibliophile"by Paul Spiteri
• "Up from the Bottomless Pit (part 7)" by Philip José Farmer

Also: check out Christopher Paul Carey's interview with Philip José Farmer at The Zone.

Share: | Discussion (0) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Saturday January 27, 2007 - 9:59 AM | Category: Web Sites | © 2007 SF Signal

Gardner Dozois has posted the table of contents for his annual Year's Best anthology:

The Year's Best Science Fiction, Twenty-Fourth Annual Collection

1. "I, Row-Boat" by Cory Doctorow
2. "Julian: A Christmas Story" by Robert Charles Wilson
3. "Tin Marsh" by Michael Swanwick (Read excerpt)
4. "The Djinn's Wife" by Ian McDonald (Read excerpt)
5. "The House Beyond Your Sky" by Benjamin Rosenbaum
6. "Where the Golden Apples Grow" by Kage Baker [See SF Signal review]
7. "Kin" by Bruce Mcallister
8. "Signal to Noise" by Alastair Reynolds [See SF Signal review]
9. "The Big Ice" by Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold (Read excerpt)
10. "Bow Shock" by Gregory Benford (Read excerpt)
11. "In The River" by Justin Stanchfield
12. "Incarnation Day" by Walter Jon Williams [See SF Signal review]
13. "Far As You Can Go" by Greg Van Eekhout
14. "Good Mountain" by Robert Reed [See SF Signal Review]
15. "I Hold My Father's Paws" by David D. Levine
16. "Dead Men Walking" by Paul J. Mcauley (Read excerpt)
17. "Home Movies" by Mary Rosenblum
18. "Damascus" by Daryl Gregory
19. "Life on the Preservation" by Jack Skillingstead
20. "Yellow Card Man" by Paolo Bacigalupi (Read excerpt)
21. "Riding the Crocodile" by Greg Egan [See SF Signal Review]
22. "The Ile of Dogges" by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette
23. "The Highway Men" by Ken Macleod
24. "The Pacific Mystery" by Stephen Baxter
25. "Okanoggan Falls" by Carolyn Ives Gilman
26. "Every Hole Is Outlined" by John Barnes (Read excerpt)
27. "The Town on Blighted Sea" by A.M. Dellamonica
28. "Nightingale" by Alastair Reynolds

[via Year's Best SF Info]

Share: | Discussion (0) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Friday January 26, 2007 - 12:16 AM | Category: Books | © 2007 SF Signal

Rich Horton has released the tables of contents for the three anthologies he's working on for Prime Books.

Science Fiction: The Best of the Year 2007 Edition

1. "Another Word for Map is Faith" by Christopher Rowe (Read excerpt)
2. "Okanoggan Falls" by Carolyn Ives Gilman
3. "Saving for a Sunny Day" by Ian Watson
4. "The Cartesian Theater" by Robert Charles Wilson
5. "Hesperia and Glory" by Ann Leckie
6. "Incarnation Day" by Walter Jon Williams [See SF Signal review]
7. "Exit Before Saving" by Ruth Nestvold
8. "Inclination" by William Shunn (Read excerpt)
9. "Life on the Preservation" by Jack Skillingstead
10. "Me-Topia" by Adam Roberts
11. "The House Beyond Your Sky" by Benjamin Rosenbaum
12. "A Billion Eves" by Robert Reed

Fantasy: The Best of the Year 2007 Edition
(One author response pending)

1. "Journey Into the Kingdom" by M. Rickert
2. "The Water Poet and the Four Seasons" by by David J. Schwartz
3. "Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy)" by Geoff Ryman
4. "The Osteomancer's Son" by Greg van Eekhout
5. "Salt Wine" by Peter Beagle
6. "The Original Word for Rain" by Peter Higgins
7. "The Lineaments of Gratified Desire" by Ysabeau Wilce
8. "Journey to Gantica" by by Matthew Corradi
9. "Irregular Verbs" by Matthew Johnson
10. "A Fish Story" by Sarah Totton
11. "The Night Whiskey" by Jeffrey Ford
12. "A Fine Magic" by Margo Lanagan
13. "Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge" by Richard Parks
14. "Citrine: A Fable" by Elise Moser
15. "A Siege of Cranes" by Benjamin Rosenbaum

Space Opera 2007 Edition
(One author response pending)

1. "Have You Any Wool" by Alan De Niro
2. "Lehr, Rex" by Jay Lake
3. "Lady Be Good" by John G. Hemry
4. "Every Hole is Outlined" by John Barnes (Read excerpt)
5. "The Plurality of Worlds" by Brian Stableford (Read excerpt)
6. "Dead Men Walking" by Paul J. Mcauley (Read excerpt)
7. "The Muse of Empires Lost" by Paul Berger
8. "Catastrophe Baker and the Cold Equations" by Mike Resnick
9. "Thousandth Night" by Alastair Reynolds [See SF Signal review]

[via Year's Best SF Info]

Share: | Discussion (0) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Friday January 26, 2007 - 12:12 AM | Category: Books | © 2007 SF Signal

• Pat's Fantasy Hotlist interviews Dan Simmons, author of The Terror. [via SFBC Blog]


• The 2007 World Horror Convention has named Joe R. Lansdale this year's Grand Master [via Locus Online]


• From EGB: Choose your Flatland Fix: (See Wikipedia for more)
  • Flatland: The Film - animated
  • Flatland: The Movie - animated (starring Martin Sheen and Kristin Bell)
  • Flatland - the book by Edwin A. Abbott!


• The Colorado Springs Independent has a write-up of COSine, the Colorado Springs Science Fiction convention and has a quote from guest of honor Connie Willis.


• S. Andrew Swann opines the nature of bad SF movies.


• Kathryn Cramer proposes that SF Author Bios Should Be Moved from Wikipedia to the ISFDB Wiki.


• Charlie Huston and Syne Mitchell have been added to the list of sf/f authors who blog.


• IESB.net has a preview of George Takei's upcoming appearnace on Heroes. There's also some footage of Christopher Eccleston in there.

Share: | Discussion (1) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Friday January 26, 2007 - 12:05 AM | Category: Tidbits | © 2007 SF Signal

After reading this news blurb on SciFi about a proposed live action Ghost In The Shell movie (which I thought was called The Matrix), I thought I'd list my personal favorite top 10 science fiction themed anime shows/movies (which you should watch before watching a remake...). Some notes before hand. First, if you're into anime, you'll noticed that one, maybe two popular anime series aren't on the list. I'll explain afterwards why. Second, this list is heavily weighted toward TV series, and newer series at that. Those are the ones I typically get from Netflix. If there are movies I've missed, then please enlighten me. I haven't been keeping up with the anime scene recently as I used to, I have too many other things to occupy my time. Third, if you don't see your favorites here, remember this is my list. Feel free to comment on what you like. Flames will be ruthlessly ridiculed. And last, I've rated them pretty much on the "Would I watch them again if I saw them on TV?" criteria. Hence the ordering. With that out of the way, on to the list!

10. Neon Genesis Evangelion - One of the most popular anime series, ever. Its got aliens, mechs, angst, interesting characters and a complex,some would say incomprehensible, plot. The Earth is being attacked, at regular intervals, by unknown alien entities. The Evangelion units, basically biological mech units, are sent out to fight the aliens and, hopefully, defeat them. Each Eva is piloted by a teenager who has his or her own personal problems to deal with. This leads to the angst. But of course, there is also a lot of action. As the series progresses, the plot becomes deeper and more complex, almost requiring multiple viewings. I placed Evangelion 10th almost exclusively because of the plot, which became a chore to try and figure out, and the way the creators handled the ending of the series (two nonsequiter episodes and two movies). Evangelion is basically filled with a mishmash of psuedo-Christian trappings mixed with the usual 'hubris of mankind' morality play. Still, it belongs on any Top 10 list, especially considering how it affected the anime watching public.
9. Akira - Akira is probably the one anime movie that introduced many American fans to anime in the late 1980's. I know it did for me. In the annals of anime, it is considered a classic. From its story to its striking, for the time, visuals, Akira is a standout movie. I haven't watched it recently, but I do remember re-watching it and thinking it didn't hold up so well the second time around, with the story being complicated to follow, whether this is due to translation issues or the writing I have no idea, and the visuals being inferior to much of what is out now. Still, for the time, it was an influential movie and is one I still like.
8. Full Metal Alchemist - OK, so FMA is pushing the bounds of SF, being basically fantasy, but there are quite a bit of SF ideas here, and its mix of fantasy and tech certainly fits. When I first started watching, there were a couple of early episodes that were decent, but it felt like the show was just wandering. Then, with about episode 20, things got kicked into high gear and the show rocked its way to its ending after 52 episodes. Surprisingly violent and gory, FMA is also filled with lots of humor, sibling rivalry and unexpected warmth, especially between brothers Alphonse and Edward. I wasn't expecting an action/adventure story to focus on the characters so much, but I am happy they did. The human elements add a deeper meaning to the actions that occur, and really ratchet up the suspense during the final episodes. I can't recommend this one enough.
7. Serial Experiments Lain - (SF Signal review) - SEL is a surreal, complex show, most closely resembling Ghost In The Shell or The Matrix. SEL forgoes the action in those two movies and instead focuses on the philosophical underpinnings of humanity, reality and living in a connected world. The visual serve this idea well, being sufficiently strange and using the power of animation to show us things that would be hard to do in a live-action show. While SEL is a slow moving anime, it is only 13 episodes long. But they pack quite a lot of interesting stuff into 13 episodes. And being a sucker for tech-centered, philosophical shows, SEL is placed at #7.
6. Scrapped Princess - (SF Signal review) - Yes, Scrapped Princess is SF, for reasons I can't really go into without major spoilage. Suffice it it say, Scrapped Princess relies heavily on its characters and their interactions to carry the story, and they do it well. I was pleasantly surprised at how the story progressed, as I was expecting a basic fantasy-themed show. I got something more. The visuals are clean and interesting, and the music, especially the opening and closing themes, are great. I'd definitely watch this one again if it were to ever make to American TV.
5. Castle In The Sky - Castle is another masterpiece from the Japanese animation guru, Hayao Miyazaki, best known for his films Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Castle In The Sky is basically the tale of the long lost heir to a powerful empire discovering her identity and destiny. In other hands, this would be a cliche-ridden film (think Titan A.E.), but Miyazaki brings his talents for story and character to the table and produces a wonderful and fun movie anyone can enjoy. Full of interesting ideas and characters, Castle moves from scene to scene, to its ultimate, bittersweet ending. The one thing that pulled me out was that Mark Hamill's voicing of General Muska kept making me think he was the Joker, from the later Batman animated shows.
4. Last Exile - (SF Signal review) Everything about this anime is top notch: characters, worldbuilding, visuals, and story. It has a very steampunkish feel, but there is a heavy SF element lurking underneath everything. Again, this was another anime I wasn't sure about that sucked me in and made me want to watch all of the episodes right now. Definitely one anime fans shouldn't miss.
3. Cowboy Bebop - (SF Signal mini-review) Cowboy Bebop is an exceptional anime. Starting with its setting: a future, widely colonized Solar System. We see a colonized Mars and a ton of orbitals and space stations. But, at the same time, there is a tired, run-down feeling present. This is echoed in the main characters, Spike and Jet, down-on-their-luck bounty hunters just trying to get by till the next big mark. Bebop doesn't have a big, overarching plot, but there is a small one the runs throughout. Instead, it relies on each episode to extend our understanding of the characters. The visuals are very nice and the music works extremely well with the story. The one sticking point for American audiences may be the ending, which is very Japanese. Otherwise, an outstanding show.
2. Planetes - (SF Signal review) Planetes<