SF Signal: July 2007 Archives

Tuesday July 31, 2007

Genre TV: CBS, The CW and Fox's Fall Lineup

Continuing our look at the upcoming Fall TV genre offerings (see ABC's Fall Lineup), today we'll look at CBS, The CW (nice name), and that bastion of genre programming on TV, Fox. While NBC and ABC are loading up on new genre shows, both CBS and The CW only have one, while Fox is tempting early cancellation with two.

Moonlight (CBS)

Premier: 09/28/2007 They Say: "Mick St. John is a private investigator who has truly seen it all after being bitten by his vampire bride 60 years ago. He now lives between two realities, fighting his adversaries among the undead while being in love with a mortal woman. St. John must cautiously balance these two lives before they clash, proving that life's gravest dangers are found in the moonlight." Video:

We Say: I don't know, there's nothing here that really appeals to me: it's a drama with vampires. The whole 'vampire who protects mortals' has been done before, if not on TV. Nice to see CBS on the cutting edge.

Reaper (The CW)

Premiere: 09/25/2007 They Say: "For the first 20 years of his life, Sam wondered why his parents went so easy on him. Whether it was school, sports or career choices, Sam's mom and dad always let him get by with the least possible effort. As a result, Sam skipped college, took a dead-end job and now wastes endless hours playing video games. Everything in his slacker world changed the day Sam turned 21 and discovered the ungodly reason his parents let him slide: they sold his soul to the devil before he was born." Video:

We Say: Another comedy about death, this time in the form of a bounty hunter for Satan. Hmm, saying it that way makes it sound kinda interesting. The trailer is somewhat amusing, but how long can they stretch this idea out? Does anyone think long term for a show?

The Sarah Conner Chronicles (Fox)

Premier: 2008 They Say: "At the end of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” Sarah vanquished the liquid metal Terminator sent from the future to kill her teenage son, John. Sarah and John now find themselves alone in a very dangerous, complicated world. Fugitives from the law, they are confronted with the reality that still more enemies from the future, and the present, could attack at any moment." Video: Thanks to Fox's aversion to actually building any momentum for this show, I could only find the following trailer, which is in a foreign language. Russian, I think, or something like it.

We Say: Zander ditches his indestructible girlfriend (Claire) for an indestructible machine (Summer Glau). Tough choice for him. Could be good, could be awful. I'll watch at least once.

New Amsterdam (Fox)

Premier: 09/25/2007 They Say: "In 1642, John Amsterdam, then a Dutch solider in the colony of New Amsterdam – later to become New York City – stepped in front of a sword to save the life of a Native Indian girl during a massacre of her indigenous tribe. The girl in turn rescued Amsterdam, weaving an ancient spell that conferred immortality upon him. Amsterdam will not age, she told him, until he finds his one true love. Only then will he become whole and ready for mortality." Video:

We Say: Can anyone say Highlander? Except, instead of the Kurgen killing off immortals, its 'one true love'. Seriously, how long can that conceit keep this show going? It seems to me that finding this one true love would be the final episode of the series, with the ones before focusing on his life leading up to his discovery. That sounds more interesting than focusing on modern day New York.

Tuesday YouTube: Star Trek Double Feature

Fanboy has found an interview that Tom Snyder did with some of the cast members of the original Star Trek (Bones, Scotty, and Chekov). See also: Parts two, three, four and five. Harlan Ellison also makes an appearance and gets into it a little bit with Scotty in part 5, calling it "a cop show in space". I'm wondering who would win in a fist fight between the two.

Meanwhile, on the lighter side, SciFi Scanner has unearthed an endorsement for enterprise software by Jonathan Frakes in full Commander Riker gear, hawking for his life on the bridge of the Enterprise. Wait 'til Picard hears that Harold was sitting in his Captain's chair.

SF Tidbits for 7/31/07

Free eBook and audiobook: The Colors of Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley. [via Quasar Dragon]

Amy Sterling Casil (who has been added to our list of sf/f authors who blog) asks blogging authors what blogging does for them. [via Tobias Buckell, an author who blogs.]

James Patrick Kelly is podcasting his novel Look Into the Sun. Here's Part 22.

Cinematical audio-interviews Neil Gaiman. Neil is also profiled at SciFi Wire about the adaptation of his graphic novel Death: The High Cost of Living.

Tim Mortiss points us to a list of recursive science fiction...that is, sf which references sf itself.

Over at Comic Mix, Andrew Wheeler rounds up some ComicCon report links.

Howard Waldrop & Lawrence Person review The Simpsons Movie.

Avalanche Software Art Blog whips up Star Wars character Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits). These guys seriously need to publish an art book...

One for Kalpana (and other Bollywood-holics): Shah Rukh Khan has been cast to star in the Indian science fiction film Robot.

Cinematical also has the scoop on the plot of the Futurama movie: "Alien nudist Internet scammers attempt to take over Earth through a plot that involves sending the robot Bender through time to steal the planet's cultural treasures."

SciFi Scanner points us to a shiny Serenity poster set featuring everyone's favorite nebulously evil corporation villain, Blue Sun.

At Strange Horizons, Marshall Perrin looks at real planetary exploration in his article Settings for Space Opera, Part II: A Perplexing Plethora of Planets. "The discovery of planets around other stars is now a routine occurrence. As I write this, 240 are known, but that total may well be higher by the time you read these words: on average, a new planet is found every two weeks."

Cynical-C points us to wikipedia's list of artificial objects on the Moon.

Finally...an answer to the question "How does Darth Vader get around when his Tie Fighter is in the shop?" It's the Darth Vader bicycle. [via Club Jade]

Tube Bits For 07/31/2007

Good news for Lucy Lawless fans. She will return to Battlestar Galactica next season for a few episodes. Supposedly, she is part of the Cylons' 'plan'. I remain skeptical about any 'plan'.

All you Joss Whedon fans can find something to be excited about with this report from Whedon's Comic-Con 2007 panel.

From the 'Who Knew?' department: Sci Fi is releasing The Dresden Files on DVD. Are they waiting to see how well it sells before deciding on a new season?

Cinebeats has a long and interesting article on The Fantasy Worlds Of Irwin Allen, inspired by the just released the Land Of The Giants DVD Collection. He's not my cup of tea, but I know many people like his shows.

TV Squad got an early look at the Flash Gordon pilot and is cautiously optimistic. If it's silly fun like Eureka then I'll be watching.

Milo Ventimiglia, Peter Patrelli on Heroes, appeared at Comic-Con and dropped some hints about season 2. Hmm, isn't he dead? I hate to say there might be some shark jumpage involved here. We'll see.

Staying with the Heroes, we learn that Kevin Smith will direct an episode of Heroes: Origins. I know that gets some people excited, but I've never been a big fan of his films.

It looks Star Trek: The Next Generation will live up to its name once again as CBS is considering remastering TNG as they did with TOS. As it was shot on video, technical challenges exist for the remastering, not the least of which is deciding whether to replace Wesley with Jar-Jar, to make him palatable for fans.

TV Week is reporting that several pilots for the most anticipated shows are, gasp, available online. (You'll have to figure out how to find them yourself.) In other news, the sun is set to rise in the east tomorrow.

Monday July 30, 2007

Genre TV: ABC's Fall Lineup

The Fall 2007 TV season is almost upon us. This is the first post in a series that will examine the genre offerings of the major TV networks, as well as cable networks. First up is ABC and its slate of genre related programming. ABC has a few new and interesting genre shows this season, and I'm already discounting the sure-to-be-excreble Cavemen. First up, Eli Stone.

Eli Stone

Premier: Mid Season
They Say: "Now, instead of defending evil mega-corporations, he's fighting for the little guy in his law firm's new pro-bono department. As for those visions, his doctor thinks it might be an aneurysm, just like the one that tortured his father. But Eli sees a greater possibility, a destiny to become a spiritual prophet." Video:

We Say: I'm not quite sure what to make of this one. It seems to be a 'rogue who turns out to have a heart of gold' type story. And the addition of George Michael is rather....creepy. It does seem kinda humorous. I may tune in to see what this is like, but I'm not expecting to stay. And do we really need another law centered show, even if it is funny?

Masters Of Science Fiction

Premier: 08/04/2007
They Say: From an earlier post here on SF Signal - "The show, hosted by Stephen Hawking, boasts a star-studded lineup of stars and a quite an impressive list of writer credits, too. Unfortunately, the show has had a spotty production record." Video:

We Say: As one of the few new, truly science fictional shows on the slate this year, I'll definitely watch this one. And it will most likely make the DVR list as well, if for no other reason than to see how well Hawking can act.

Pushing Daisies

Premier: Sometime in September
They Say: "Ned, a mild-mannered baker of fabulous pies, discovered his gift as a child. Now he puts his gift to good use, working with his only friend, a private investigator, to crack murder cases by asking victims to name their killers. But the tale gets complicated, as all tales do, when he saves his childhood sweetheart and she miraculously stays alive. Each week, she encourages him to use his powers to solve mysteries and help others. Life would be perfect, except for one cruel twist: if Ned ever touches her again, she'll lose the life he gave her, for good this time." Video:

We Say: Whoa, I'm getting a really strong Big Fish vibe from the scenes of Ned as a child, which isn't necessarily bad. The thing that worries me about this show is its attempt to mix humor with raising the dead, then killing them again. It's an interesting conceit for the stories, but can they use it with the humor and not come across as being crass? And whats more, how long can they do the whole "They can't each other" thing before it gets old? At some point, they have to move on. Hell, an accidental stumble could mean the end of Ned's girlfriend. I'll at least tune in to see this.

REVIEW: Quantumscapes by Stephan Martiniere

REVIEW SUMMARY: Mmmm...cityscapes...

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Collects the artwork of Stephan Martiniere beyond that presented in Quantum Dreams.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: Outstanding vision and imagination; images evoke a sense-of-wonder.
CONS: The alien sketch work was good, but the cityscapes steal the show.
BOTTOM LINE: A very good showcase of the Martiniere's road range.

(Warning: Juicy visuals follow the break...)

Stephan Martiniere is one of the premiere science fiction cover artists working today. Just one look at his work evokes the sense of wonder that science fiction fans demand: sprawling cityscapes, enormous space ships, realistic creatures. His latest book, Quantumscapes, does a very good job at showcasing his broad range.

The first chapter shows artwork done for book covers. A large portion of these are cityscape paintings which are, in my opinion, where Martiniere creates some of his most visually stunning work. The amount of detail in these images is amazing and the overall picture shows great imagination.

A section on film and commercial work contains sketch work which shows Martiniere has talent beyond the digital canvas. Only a few of these were carried to "production-level" artwork, though, where it becomes obvious that Martiniere has given more thought to anatomy than can be seen in the rough pencil/charcoal drawings. In other words, the drawings only hint at the full capability of the artist's vision.

A chapter on games presents pieces done for Magic: The Gathering, Myst 5 and Heaven: The Game, while another chapter presents his personal work. Saying that there are more aliens and more landscapes doesn't quite do justice to the consistently high level of quality Martiniere exhibits. Case in point: The final chapter of Quantumscapes dissects the creation of the image done for the book Variable Star by Robert A. Heinlein and Spider Robinson. It follows the production from initial sketch ("loose scribbles" that focus on composition instead of detail) to its awe-inspiring result. At the close of the chapter and book, Martiniere writes: "...eventually the end result is better than anything I could have imagined." I find this to be overly modest: it's clear that Martiniere has imagination and talent to spare.

The artwork in the book - with the usual beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder caveat - is outstanding. For me, his cityscapes are jaw-dropping much the same way the city vistas of the Star Wars prequels were - which he also worked on. The book itself is of respectable production value. It consists of glossy pages of a nice hefty stock so images from opposite pages don't show through. A few notes accompany each image offering Martiniere's thoughts on that work. This soft cover book is only 95 pages long which seems a bit short based on his output, but not when you consider that his other work is showcased in the previously-released Quantum Dreams. I'd love to see a "complete works" omnibus, but that just gluttony talking. There's plenty of wonder to be found in Quantumscapes.

SF Tidbits for 7/30/07

At ComicCon, they showed some decent (but sometimes hard to see) footage of the upcoming Iron Man movie. Also, extended footage of The Golden Compass was shown.

Pat's Fantasy Hotlist interviews Tobias S. Buckell (Ragamuffin) On sf being "respectable": "I don't need anyone's permission to want to play on the bigger, cool field with more and wilder ideas and tools. I'm just doing it because it's fun."

SF author David Levine has gone far beyond what is expected of the average sf reader - even resorting to mathematics! - to answer some questions about the orbital dynamics of Jay Lake's Mainspring.

A small handful of the fiction at Strange Horizons are now available under Creative Commons licenses. [via BoingBoing]

Susannah Mandel explores Where SF and fantasy stands in relation to mainstream literature.

The Time Traveler Show #20 features John Scalzi, Sarah Monette and Nick Sagan.

Masters of Science Fiction Airs This Week

[via TV Squad] August 4th marks the premiere of the new ABC sci-fi anthology series Masters of Science Fiction. The show, hosted by Stephen Hawking, boasts a star-studded lineup of stars and a quite an impressive list of writer credits, too. Unfortunately, the show has had a spotty production record. The ABC website lists four episodes to be aired in August, but the show's website lists these six episodes:

Episode: "A Clean Escape"
Synopsis: A dying Dr. Deanna Evans refuses to believe that her patient, Robert Havelmann, cannot remember the last 25 years of his life. It remains unclear why she has been so obsessed with this particular patient until the final, shocking conclusion.
Starring: Judy Davis and Sam Waterston
Based on the short story by: John Kessel

Episode: "The Awakening"
Synopsis: In the middle of a ferocious firefight outside of Baghdad, US soldiers discover a mysterious body--one that they can't even identify as human. Swiftly, all over the earth, more such creatures appear and begin to communicate. With this contact, the world is forced to choose between peace and destruction.
Starring: Terry O'Quinn and Elisabeth Rohm.
Based on the short story by: Howard Fast.

Episode: "Jerry Was a Man"
Synopsis: Mr. and Mrs. Bronson Van Vogel are the seventh-richest couple in the world. Pleasure is their only work; mundane or dangerous chores are done by anthropoids. All the anthropoids--a few strands of human DNA, grown into a baby and fused with plastics--are named "Joe." Somehow, Mrs. Van Vogel's dormant compassion is awakened by a Joe named Jerry. What traits would prove that Jerry is, indeed, a man?
Starring: Anne Heche and Malcolm McDowell.
Based on the short story by: Robert A. Heinlein.

Episode: "The Discarded"
Synopsis: The ultimate story of despised minorities forever adrift in the darkness of outer space. As a last resort - born out of their loneliness and despair - they are forced to make an ominous pact with those responsible for their plight, in the hope that they will finally be offered refuge at home on Earth.
Starring: John Hurt, Brian Dennehy and James Denton.
Based on the short story by: Harlan Ellison (who also wrote the teleplay).

Episode: "Little Brother"
Synopsis: In a future world where courtrooms exist without human judges or juries, automated justice is the law of the land. Sitting before a kiosk which is itself the judge, jury, and executioner of the future, Fredon must find a way to convince the machine of his innocence - or find some other way to save himself before time runs out.
Starring: Clifton Collins, Jr. and Kimberly Elise.
Based on the short story by: Walter Mosley (who also wrote the teleplay).

Episode: "Watchbird"
Synopsis: It seems the perfect solution to a ballooning crime rate - filling the skies with flying robotic droids that can prevent murder before it takes place. However, nobody told these "Watchbirds" that all life depends on a formula of carefully balanced killing. Robert Sheckley's renowned story examines one of the most important questions of our time - is it wise to sacrifice our liberty in the name of our security?
Starring: Sean Astin and James Cromwell.
Based on the short story by: Robert Sheckley (with a teleplay by Michael Straczynski).

POLL RESULTS: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Here are the results of the latest SF Signal poll.

QUESTION
The final Harry Potter book is out this week. Are you interested?

RESULTS

(157 total votes)

Folks were quick to point out some apparently-obvious missing choices:

"You forgot an option: 'Yes - in spoilers,' for those of us who couldn't be bothered to read the last two (now three) books." - Mehra

"Actually I'm borrowing it from the library" - Cynthia D.

"See you forgot the 'mooch' choice which is for all us folks who plan to obtain the book from the hordes who pre-ordered it." - Tim

Be sure to visit our front page and vote in this week's poll about The Masters of Science Fiction!

Saturday July 28, 2007

REVIEW:Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

MY RATING:

If you're a Potter fan, you've been waiting for this book for a very long time, and, if you haven't read it yet, you may be wondering if its worth the wait. The short answer is: yes. As final books go, The Deathly Hallows wraps things up quite nicely indeed.

I'm not going to try and summarize the plot here, you can find that else where. I will say that in The Deathly Hallows, Harry returns to many places we've seen in earlier books: Gringots, The Shrieking Shack and The Ministry of Magic, among others. Each of these places plays a small role in the Harry's quest to defeat Voldemort. We also get to visit the house where Harry lived when Voldemort attacked his parents. This visit gives us some more insight into the events that happened that night, and show how prepared Voldemort is to find Harry and his friends. Rowling does a nice job of weaving all these places into the story, as Harry, Ron and Hermione try to find all of Voldemort's Horcruxes and figure out what the Deathly Hallows actually are.

As far as the plot goes, its basically a quest, with Harry and company running from encounter to encounter, trying to stay ahead of Voldemort and his cohorts. In fact, the first 2/3 of the book is basically Harry on the run, trying to figure things out while staying out of sight. Unfortunately, while there is some action during this period (the infiltration of The Ministry for example), this section tended to drag quite a bit, as it takes quite a bit of time for Harry and friends to figure out what they want to do, and how to do it. Once the siege of Hogwarts begins, however, the last part of the book is all action, and moves quite quickly toward it's satisfying showdown between Harry and Voldemort. Rowling obviously took some time to figure out how this showdown would occur, and weaved the pieces needed throughout the earlier parts. The twist that occurs is obvious in hindsight, but was executed quite well. I've heard some people say they didn't like the ultimate battle, but I felt it fit the story perfectly.

Where Rowling really shines in this book is with respect to Harry. She has grown as a writer over the years, and she uses all of her skills to make Harry a full fledged, sympathetic character in The Death Hallows. In earlier books Harry might have tried to quit, gotten angry and then whined quite a bit. But here, Harry shows he is growing up. He accepts that things are the way they are and he has to deal with them. He doesn't whine or complain, instead he tries to do what he thinks is right. In fact, Harry grows into a competent adult-like figure, who becomes quite a leader. His comprehension of events leads him to accept what he must do at Hogwarts to defeat Voldemort, and shows how much he is willing to sacrifice to save his friends.

For how well Rowling wrote Harry, the rest of the characters suffer in comparison. As The Deathly Hallows is basically the story of Harry, the rest of the cast gets less time devoted to them. Ron and Hermione are basically just along for the ride. Snape is barely in the book, and the ending to his story is quite abrupt, but we do learn where his loyalty lies. Voldemort really never rises above being just a bad guy that needs defeated. And Dumbledore gets quite a bit of attention via information dumps on his history. Here we get to see a side of Dumbledore that isn't even hinted at in the earlier books, and that I felt was put in solely to knock his reputation down a peg or two. With such a big book, I think a bit more could have been done with some of the other characters, even given the large cast used.

I mentioned the plodding pace earlier, and one other thing bothered me somewhat, and that is the use of 'magic' in the book. Perhaps I'm too grounded in science fiction, but the way magic is used seems to be at the whim of Rowling and without any internal logic. At one point, a magical 'alarm' is placed on the word 'Voldemort' (which is forbidden to be said), knowing that only Harry or his friends will say it. When they do, the Death Eater can quickly find them. Alright, why doesn't the resistance get people to say that as often as possible? There aren't an infinite number of Death Eaters, overuse of the word would quickly show the futility of doing this. And if you're going to 'alarm' one word, why not other words the resistance group might say? There is a pirate radio broadcast called Potterwatch run by people in the resistance. Why not alarm the word Potterwatch as well? And with the ease that Harry and his friends were able to use polyjuice potions and confusion spells to gain entry into heavily magically defended areas, whats the point of even trying to defend them? The magical system just bugged me.

And while the book isn't as light and 'magical' as the early Potter books are, I do think the ending leaves the series on a high note. We've seen Harry move from innocence and naivete into a competent, self-assured adult. And this change gives us hope for the future of Harry and of world Rowling has created. I'm not ready to anoint the Potter series, or this last book, as a 'classic', but I will say that Rowling has created a very enjoyable book and conclusion to Harry's story.

Tube Bits For 07/28/2007

CBS and Paramount announced today what we all knew was coming: the release of the remastered original Star Trek episodes on HDDVD/DVD. The catch being you can only buy them as a complete set, and it will set you back $218. Nice case though.
You don't just get the HD DVD/DVDs for your $218, though. No. You'll also get a preview of the upcoming Star Trek Online MMORPG. Being a fan of Trek, and wanting to see more SF themed MMO's, this one has my attention.
The BBC announced today the release of their iPlayer. The BBC will allow viewers to download any show from the past week, for free, for viewing later. Sadly, the shows will be deleted after 30 days. Still, this is a step in the right direction. Available in the UK only, but there are ways around that.
LOST producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindeloff held a standing room only panel at Comic-Con 2007 and gave out small nuggets about the show's upcoming season. I can't wait for next year...

And a parting video for you. A spoof of The Prisoner, done with stuffed animals. Behold, The Prisonbear.

SF Tidbits for 7/28/07

Small World podcast interviews Kay Kenyon (Bright of the Sky).

Time magazine interviews Neil Gaiman. "The fact that Stardust is finally getting made says more about how Hollywood has changed than how Gaiman has." [via Abe Books]

Over at DeepGenre, Katharine Kerr explains why fantasy writers get crabby:

John C. Wright weighs in on the Mundane SF movement: "Let no one think I am a proponent of 'Mundane SF': As far as I am concerned, if it does not involve space travel, it is not science fiction."

Over at Geekend, Jay G. asks: Who are today's Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein?

Friday July 27, 2007

Did You Know: Analog TV Goes Bye Bye In 2009

You probably already know, but, according to this article, Congress is concerned that too few American realize their older, analog TVs (i.e.- non-HD) will become giant paperweights on February 18, 2009. That's the date Congress has mandated that all over the air broadcast TV must be in digital High-Def, and all current analog signals must stop. That's in a little under two years from now, and many people don't know it's going to happen.

What I find crazy is the bureaucrats mandated this change and are now complaining that the networks aren't doing enough to educate the viewing public about the change. Also, what about all the people who can't afford to buy a new TV, let alone a cable connection or HD antenna? Those people are SOL and yet the government is trying to blame the networks.

You may be wondering why there is a mandate at all. You'd think the market would eventually sort through the process and HD would win in the end. Of course, the answer comes down to money. By shutting off access to the analog TV portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, the government can then auction parts of the spectrum off. This means big money for them, and big headaches for the rest of us.

I find this whole thing stupid in the extreme, and the whining from the congress critters about the networks really, really irritates me. They helped create this mess and now won't take part of the blame. Typical really. I try not to get political on this blog, as that's just asking for trouble. But this makes me wish the government was way smaller than it actually is and less influence on public life.

Anyway, consider this a heads up for anyone who didn't know about the switchover. You'll need to upgrade your TV to an HD set soon and you'll either have to buy an HD antenna or get an HD capable cable box. The only good news is that any network science fiction shows will be shown in HD. Which, as an avid LOST viewer, looks really sweet.

And if you have an HD set and get Universal HD, they are running Firefly on Saturday nights. In HD. Sweet.

Most Overrated?

Taking author John Scalzi up on his request to post about what I consider to be a most overrated work, I submit the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Now I know many people consider this a great film and heartwarming and it certainly was popular. But I've never liked it. Most importantly, I thought it was a bad piece of science fiction with little even slightly plausible. The McGuyver-style phone home machine just capped it off for me as terrible. I saw it described as a dog movie - that is boy meets dog, boy names dog, boy grows up, etc. - and to a large part that's true. The alien doesn't have to be alien at all - it was developed based on Spielberg's childhood imaginary friend and it shows. The kids end up proving to be wiser than parents, and the dog runs away, er - E.T. goes home. Of course, my family loves the movie and I am ridiculed for my dislike.

As for the extra credit assignment (was there ever an effort that initially I disliked but then thought better of) I submit Fargo. I didn't care for it at all the first time I saw it in the theatre, but have since come to think of it as quirky and funny. I figure it was my state of mind on the day in question.

And as a side note, I too read Dune when I was about 12 and did not like it at all. I've often thought about rereading as an adult to see what I missed. Scalzi's comments encourage me to do so.

Friday YouTube: The Evil Sky High Trailer

Here's a trailer for the family-friendly superhero movie Sky High...remixed as a thriller.

WARNING: Major spoilers shown - if you haven't seen the movie and want to, look instead to the original Sky High trailer. Look at it anyway, it's got Bruce Campbell's "Sidekick" bit.

SF Tidbits for 7/27/07

At SciFi Wire, John Joseph Adams profiles Chris Roberson, author of Set the Seas on Fire.

Matthew Jarpe is a hack. "One of the common epithets people throw at a writer they don't like is 'hack.' That's 'a writer who exploits his or her ability primarily for money.' As if producing a product of art with commercial potential is wrong. Well, here's the thing, I'm a hack."

Jeff VanderMeer has posted mystery excerpts from his New Weird Anthology. The first person to correctly guess the author who wrote them wins a copy of the book.

Over at Amazon's blog, VanderMeer lists 13 Reasons to Read Richard Morgan's Thirteen. See also the SF Signal review.

The Wall Street Journal profiles Robert A. Heinlein. [via Cynical-C]

JK Rowling says she will publish a Harry Potter Encyclopedia. [via No Blasters]

Pat's Fantasy Hotlist interviews Peter F. Hamilton (The Dreaming Void). "As a species we're just not psychologically adjusted to living for more than a century, yet billions are being poured into research that leads to increased life expectancy. Suppose it works out, and we can live for three of ten times longer than today. That's the kind of question which SF exists for."

Over at his AOL gig, John Scazli looks at overrated books and cited Catcher in the Rye as his pick. "Tell us of one piece of culture -- book, movie, album, painting, play, architectural "masterpiece," whatever -- that you think is wildly overrated."

Lou Anders responds to Discover magazine's "Blinded by Science: Fictional Reality" article.

Borders bookstores has cut back their soft seating by 30%. Ed Champion comes to the defense of sitting in bookstores.

It's official: J.J. Abrams, director the upcoming Star Trek movie, confirmed the casting of Heroes star Zachary Quinto as a young Spock and surprised the audience with the announcement that original Spock actor Leonard Nimoy would also appear in the film.

The Avalanche Software Art Blog is still going strong with nearly very post offering up some cool, artsy goodness by their very talented staff. Their latest entry is is a caricature of Qui-Gon Jinn.

Tube Bits For 07/27/2007

Surprise! Michael is back on LOST, as announced at surprisingly influential Comic-Con 2007.

And pity the poor TV critics who feel that Comic-Con is stealing TV news thunder from the Television Critics Association press tour. Please stop whining. It's clear that Comic-Con does more as far as promotion for TV shows than a press tour for critics.

If you've spent any time at the Heroes website, you know that NBC has a series of short comic 'books' that help flesh out the story. DC Comics will be releasing a hardcover version of those comics, sometime in the near future.

Rob Buckley, a UK journalist, offers his impressions of the upcoming Bionic Woman show. Supposedly a new version of the pilot will be screen at, yes, Comic-Con 2007. Maybe his feelings will change.

The News&Observer gives 4400 reasons to love summer TV. I keep hearing about how good The 4400 is, but I've never seen it. Maybe I should head on over to NetFlix. And I know Tim appreciates the Burn Notice plug.