REVIEW SUMMARY: An eye candy extravaganza.
MY RATING: ![]()
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A showcase of contemporary sf/fantasy art.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Every page is stuffed with sense of wonder; a variety of styles to suit any taste; excellent book production.
CONS: Some styles might not appeal to some tastes.
BOTTOM LINE: Highly recommended to anyone who has a love for sf/fantasy art.
I confess. I'm a science fiction and fantasy art junkie. Yes, I have bought books based solely on book cover art. Some book covers stoke my fire as much as the books they illustrate; sometimes more so. Therefore, an art book like Spectrum 14, the 2007 edition of the annual showcase of contemporary sf/fantasy art, is like a drug for someone like me. Every single page is brimming with the fantastic and imaginative by a variety of artists producing work in various sectors: advertising, books, comics, concept art, three-dimensional, editorial, and institutional. Even the previously unpublished works show outstanding talent.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday March 31, 2008 at 12:28 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday March 31, 2008 at 12:22 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by JP Frantz at Monday March 31, 2008 at 12:16 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
The winners of the Bram Stoker Awards (for superior achievement in horror) have been announced:
[via Locus Online]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday March 31, 2008 at 12:04 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
| (148 total votes) |
"What about Capt Janeway?" - DavidBe sure to visit our front page and vote in this week's poll about the cancellation of Flash Gordon!
[And the John sez: I'm not a Trek expert, but wasn't she the Captain of the Voyager?]
"Hmmm, that was a tough decision. I voted for Belushi since I feel Star Trek always needed a little more humor :) Why not add Kevin Pollack to the list since he does an excellent James Kirk imitation." - Tim
[John sez: Good idea!]
"Hey! What about Decker, Spock, Harriman, Riker, Jellico... (do I know a little too much about Star Trek?). Props to Jellico for being a bad-ass, but there's something appealing about Harriman's "Tuesday"." - Ian Randal Strock
[John sez: OK, you're obviously a Trek expert. I decided to keep it to the mainstays. Besides, everyone knows that Spock's stint as captain was the result of affirmative action pressure...]
"I just know I would get ragged on for suggesting that Jonathan Archer is the best Captain of the Enterprise, but the obvious favorite Jean-Luc Picard was just too cerebral for me. Jean-Luc never made any mistakes, even when he did, while Jonathan Archer seems more real. Besides if he can set of enough things right in time, he can finally make the leap home." - Richard
[John sez: Hiyo!]
"To a point it is like comparing apples and oranges. Different overarching missions and ships call for different skill sets and abilities. Overall, though, there is only one and he drinks Earl Gray, Hot." - General X
[John sez: I hope by "hot" you mean the tea!]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday March 31, 2008 at 12:00 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday March 30, 2008 at 1:15 PM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday March 30, 2008 at 1:41 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
The Film Society of Lincoln Center sent us word that Harlan Ellison will be attending the April 8th 7:00 PM premiere screening of Dreams with Sharp Teeth, the documentary that follows the legendary author's life and career.
From the press release:
Erik Nelson's engaging portrait of Ellison catches the 70-something author in his full cantankerous glory, offering his thoughts and opinions on a dizzying array of subjects. It also shows us the other, lesser known sides of Ellison--from his political activism in the Civil Rights era to altercations with Barbra Streisand and pelvis shattering battles with network executives. Younger writers discuss Ellison's influence on their work, and even actor Robin Williams is on hand to offer his tribute to Ellison. Director Erik Nelson and Harlan Ellison are expected to attend this screening.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday March 29, 2008 at 2:00 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Well over a year ago, the CG Society held a contest asking artists to produce several different type of digital art surrounding Greg Bear's Eon novel. The results were quite impressive.
Now, CG Society is in the midst of a new contest, covering David Brin's Uplift series of books. Artists are asked to 'depict the
relations between humans and aliens'. This is the largest contest to date, with over $100k worth of prizes. If you have any artistic bone in your body, why not give it a shot?
The Uplift series is one of my all time favorite series, and I especially like the cover art for Startide Rising. I think this is one contest to pay attention to, although it's still early. The Uplift books have a lot of very unique aliens, it should be cool to see how they are depicted.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Saturday March 29, 2008 at 6:27 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday March 29, 2008 at 12:54 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Asimov's has posted more of the Hugo-nominated stories that appeared in their magazine:
The list of Free Hugo-Nominated Short Fiction has been updated.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday March 28, 2008 at 7:09 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Are you a budding film director but worried about the high cost props and SFX? Never fear! Cardboard is the wonder material you've been looking for! To prove it, check out the two videos below. It's amazing what a little cardboard, stop-action photography and a lot ingenuity will do for you...
First up, Star Wars (Note to Lucas, more cardboard in the prequels = better movies)
And the best video today, Tron. Nice work guys.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Friday March 28, 2008 at 10:44 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Call me an impulsive, illogical, book-mongering biblioholic consumer - you won't get any arguments from me. I've bought books for completely illogical reasons. Maybe I just liked the cover and thought it would look good on a shelf. Maybe it was the next book in series that I already own but haven't started reading yet. Maybe it was a copy that was in better condition than the one I already own.
Another reason I've bought books is because of buzz. I'm not talking about publisher hype - that's just blatant advertising. No, here I'm talking about lots of positive things emerging from the blogosphere about a particular title. A "Buzz Book".
If several bloggers and reviewers mention a book in a positive light, it sticks with me, hibernating, ready to be instantly recalled while I'm walking down the book aisles.
Here are some Buzz Books I've picked up. What are yours?
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday March 28, 2008 at 12:45 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday March 28, 2008 at 12:15 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday March 28, 2008 at 12:11 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Over at Eos Blog, Diana Gill links to two more recently-posted stories that were nominated for the 2008 Hugo Award:
NOTE: Eos also has the Hugo-nominated novel The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon available for online browsing, too!
The list of Free Hugo-Nominated Short Fiction has been updated.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday March 27, 2008 at 2:10 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
REVIEW SUMMARY: Comic book fiction mixed with some realistic personalities creates a fun read for superhero fans.
MY RATING: 
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Corefire is missing and Doctor Impossible has escaped again. Was he responsible for Corefire's disappearance? Well, the New Champions are on the case.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Interesting narrative style; Fantastic characters.
CONS: Some of the transitions into and out of the flashbacks are a little abrupt; Some characters could use a bit more development.
BOTTOM LINE: A great book with some minor flaws that gives yet another view on superheros.
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Posted by Tim Zinsky at Thursday March 27, 2008 at 1:22 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday March 27, 2008 at 1:11 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday March 27, 2008 at 1:01 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
This week's question was suggested by Lou Anders, who not only received extra Mind Meld credit redeemable at imaginary nerd shops everywhere, but who also must serve penance by answering his own question:
In 1984 I wrote a very controversial novel titled The Branch, in which God and the true Jewish Messiah (not Jesus) were the two villains of the piece. The poor producer/director who optioned and made it got excommunicated from his church and thrown out of his country (Andorra)...and yet if you do not accept the existence of God and the truth of the Old Testament, there's no story. So was it irreligious, or was it simply Politically Incorrect religion?
I am an atheist, yet I have given God speaking parts in four or five humorous stories, and have treated religion with respect in literally dozens of stories and novels. On the other hand, I know many devout Christian and Jewish science fiction writers whose religious beliefs are deeply personal, and who choose not to share them fictionally with their audience. Are they irreligious because they do not evangelize in print?
You can't just a book by its cover...and you can't necessarily judge an author's (or a field's) religious beliefs by that book's contents.
Read more...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday March 26, 2008 at 12:51 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday March 26, 2008 at 12:13 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday March 26, 2008 at 12:12 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Last week, March 18th, the Sci Fi Channel held their press upfront announcement in New York. During the even, Sci Fi announced a whole slew of new stuff for the upcoming year. I thought we would take a look at their announcements and see what is interesting to us as SF fans...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Tuesday March 25, 2008 at 3:58 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
I'm feeling a little musical today...and not just because I'm hopped up on Dr. Pepper...
Here's Young Galaxy's sci-fi-ish video for "Come and See".
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday March 25, 2008 at 12:22 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Sweet Jebus, there are a lot of links today!
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday March 25, 2008 at 12:25 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Cool idea!
From SFScope:
Nathan E. Lilly, editor of SpaceWesterns.com writes about a new project:This doesn't have to do with SpaceWesterns.com--my day job is as a Web Developer, and I moonlight under the auspices of GreenTentacles.com. In the early morning of 21 March, John Joseph Adams put out a call on his web blog for some "con-loving web savvy fan" to put together a convention finder that allowed people to find the closest conventions by ZIP Code.
By 10:30PM, I had created this Con Finder which only has about 8 conventions in it at the moment, but allows con-runners to add their own).
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday March 25, 2008 at 12:15 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by JP Frantz at Tuesday March 25, 2008 at 12:11 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Here's Isaac Asimov talking about the changes in SF after 1949 from the Literature of SF DVD.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday March 24, 2008 at 12:55 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday March 24, 2008 at 12:28 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by JP Frantz at Monday March 24, 2008 at 12:15 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday March 24, 2008 at 12:05 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
| (89 total votes) |
"And I've even read adult SF as a young adult that was 'inappropriate'. Robert Silverberg, Harlan Ellison, and many more. My parent's were aware and had no problems. I seem to have grown up all right, other than a need to read SF Signal way too many times a day (more posts, dang it!). Parent's need to be aware of what their kids are watching, reading, texting, etc. Don't blame the author for 'inappropriate material' if you don't take on the responsibility of getting involved with the upbringing of your offspring!" - Fred KiescheBe sure to visit our front page and vote in this week's poll about your favorit Enterprise Captain!
"I do not believe that there is such a thing as subject matter inappropriate for young adults." - General X
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday March 24, 2008 at 12:00 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
And so, sadly, we come to the end of Firefly, with perhaps the best episode of the season, "Objects in Space". Jubal Early has to be the most interesting bounty hunter ever created (sorry Boba), certainly the most philosophically read. Add in some sneaky River action and you've got a great ep.
So, comments from our readers on the Sunday Cinema feature. Did you like it? Not? Would you like to see more? Hulu has quite a bit of SF fare to post.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Sunday March 23, 2008 at 7:48 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
The winners of the 2007 British Science Fiction Association Awards have been announced:
See also:
This year's nominees.
Past winners.
[via Big Dumb Object]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday March 23, 2008 at 12:22 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday March 23, 2008 at 12:10 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

This is interesting:
BookLamp.org is a system for matching readers to books through an analysis of writing styles, similar to the way that Pandora.com matches music lovers to new music. Do you like Stephen King's It, but thought it was too long? The technology behind BookLamp allows you to find books that are written with a similar tone, tense, perspective, action level, description level, and dialog level, while at the same time allowing you to specify details like... half the length. It's impervious to outside influences - like advertising - that impact socially driven recommendation systems, and isn't reliant on a large user base to work.The website has a video that explains the ideas behind it...
I've talked before about book recommendations, but this is the first one I've heard of that analyzes writing style and uses it as the basis for the recommendation. So I signed up and took it for a test drive...
Read more...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday March 22, 2008 at 12:33 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday March 22, 2008 at 12:32 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
This doesn't quite qualify as a Friday YouTube entry since it's audio only, but damn, this is good stuff. I believe this is from Dreams with Sharp Teeth, the documentary of Harlan Ellison that features Robin Williams.
[Poe TV]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday March 21, 2008 at 1:01 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday March 21, 2008 at 1:00 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday March 21, 2008 at 12:53 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday March 21, 2008 at 12:47 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
SF Scope has posted the 2008 Hugo Award Final Ballot.
[NOTE: Short fiction titles link to free online versions, if available. This is sure to be updated in the coming weeks, so check back for updates!]
BEST NOVEL
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday March 21, 2008 at 12:02 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

The good news: There's a sale at Borders!
The bad news: The sale just might be Borders itself. Oh noes!
Publishers Weekly is reporting that Borders is considering selling the company and/or certain divisions.
From the Borders press release:
Borders Group, Inc. today announced the launch of a strategic alternative review process. J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. have been retained as the company's financial advisors to assist the company as it explores strategic alternatives. The review process will include the investigation of a wide range of alternatives including the sale of the company and/or certain divisions for the purpose of maximizing shareholder value. The company can give no assurances that a transaction of any kind will occur.Following Jeff Vandermeer's cue, let's buy it ourselves! They got tons of shelf space and I'm out of room.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday March 20, 2008 at 4:26 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
If you're like us, there's nothing quite like a really cool piece of science fiction or fantasy art. For this week's Mind Meld we decided to ask the SF&F artist community about what they find appealing about science fiction, fantasy and art. (Special thanks to Lou Anders for his help in bringing this Mind Meld together. Thanks Lou!)
And now, our question:
I was hooked early.
It was the era of the space race and television; Zorro and Batman and moonshot coverage competed with Gunsmoke and Wells Fargo for my love. One of my most treasured possessions was my G.I. Joe space capsule and astronaut. Lost in Space almost captured me in the third grade, though it became stupid pretty quickly. But Star Trek changed everything. Science, plus fiction, coupled with amazing visuals ... and my first taste of social consciousness. Later, 2001: A Space Odyssey would push science fiction into philosophical terrain as yet undiscovered by me, and the first two Planet of the Apes movies would awaken my political awareness in a big way by killing my heroes, trashing our civilization, then destroying the planet. The movies drove me to the books, where Arthur C. Clark asked questions about life, the universe, and everything, and Isaac Asimov laid down the law for robots.
Everything I learned that I remembered best came from a science fiction movie or book. I learned about PH from The Andromeda Strain before I was old enough to have a chemistry class. Fantastic Voyage taught me more about the human body than any 5th grader had business knowing; most adults couldn't tell you what a fistula was -- but I knew. Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man introduced me to Psychology. Valley of Gwangi pushed me right over the edge with dinosaurs; I devoured every text about them I could find. The fiction made me hungry for the science.
When I discovered Tolkien (after rejecting it several times; who wants to read about elves and dwarves?) I realized that Fantasy could have something to say, too. Fantasy and its mythic roots led me to Joseph Campbell and a whole new understanding of religion and mythology and the fuzzy boundaries between the two.
Fantastic fiction speaks to our thirst for knowledge, our hunger for personal discovery, our desire to shape and understand our environment, by asking "what if?" and playing with the answers.
As a visually-oriented kid, the art of it all was key. Good writing in books evoked mental images that I had to explore; I learned to draw largely by creating my own science fiction and super-hero comic books. The ground-breaking and mind-bending special effects in Forbidden Planet, 2001, and Marooned taught me to look at the world with a more critical eye, and to make use of the sciences to inform my art. Geometry and Perspective go hand in hand, the physics of bodies in motion are essential to good art, as are understandings of color theory, geology (a mountain is not a pyramid), astronomy and astrology, history, even the psychology of perception ... on and on.
Good art makes it all the more real. Art informs. Art, like writing and movie-making, is an exploration into the unknowns without and within. It ponders realms that cannot be photographed or described with words, because they are ineffable and timeless. It helps connect the emotional and visceral with the cognitive and philosophical, the unreal with the real. At its best, it teaches or amuses, shocks or disturbs; it makes you look again, and then again – only deeper.
It takes the question "what if?" and answers "perhaps this..."
Read more...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday March 20, 2008 at 12:55 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
MY RATING: ![]()
Where Halting State sounds like a riff on Dreampark. Glasshouse actually has more in common with Dreampark than Halting State. Glasshouse takes place in the far future, where post-human humanity has been ravaged by war. Unfortunately, a virus was released that makes people forget the cause of the war and why they are fighting. This leads to the fragmentation of humanity as those who are trying to piece civilization back together must contend with those who are still infected. Enter Robin, who seems to have an assassin tracking him down, but he can't remember why. Robin voluntarily under went a memory wipe to try and reprogram himself into something different. This wipe also makes him a good candidate to enter the experimental 'Glasshouse', whose inhabitants are recreating the time period 1950-2040, in a completely isolated environment. However, those who want to kill him may have followed him there.
Read more...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday March 20, 2008 at 12:45 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Adding to the previous list of appreciations and links, her's another batch. For more, please see Google News and Blog searches for "Arthur C. Clarke".
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday March 20, 2008 at 12:37 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Lou Anders reveals the table of contents for his upcoming anthology Fast Forward 2.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday March 20, 2008 at 12:32 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday March 20, 2008 at 12:29 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday March 20, 2008 at 12:22 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
This is just a friendly reminder that the cast of Battlestar Galactica will be appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman tonight. They will be presenting the nightly Top 10 list.
See original post.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday March 19, 2008 at 4:20 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Here's Orson Scott Card's response to last week's Mind Meld on young adult sf/f fiction, which was received after the post was published:
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday March 19, 2008 at 11:33 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
There is often a compulsion to seek out the written works of recently departed authors, as if reading their work can hopefully, in some small way, keep them with us a little bit longer. To that end, I've rounded up a few links to some online stories of Sir Arthur C. Clarke. If you don't own any of his work, you should. See why through these links...
"I am sometimes asked how I would like to be remembered. I've had a diverse career as a writer, underwater explorer, space promoter and science popularizer. Of all these, I want to be remembered most as a writer - one who entertained readers and, hopefully, stretched their imaginations as well."
"Overhead...the stars are going out"
[Links via
Best Science Fiction Stories, Free Speculative Fiction Online, Living the Limnal, Free SF Reader, and Laughing Squid]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday March 19, 2008 at 12:45 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday March 19, 2008 at 12:37 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday March 19, 2008 at 12:34 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Sad news...
SF legend Arthur C. Clarke has passed away at the age of 90.
From BBC:
Legendary British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 90.See also:He came to fame when his story was made into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, by director Stanley Kubrick in 1968.
Once called "the first dweller in the electronic cottage", his vision captured the popular imagination.
Sir Arthur, who was born in Minehead, Somerset, and was a radar specialist for the RAF in World War II, become a full-time writer in the 1940s.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday March 18, 2008 at 5:30 PM
© 2008 SF Signal

Neatorama points us to this PDF file of 100 Best Last Lines from Novels as per The American Book Review.
I've culled some last lines from some of the genre-ish novels listed. Can you match the last line with the book's title?
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday March 18, 2008 at 12:15 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
MY RATING: ![]()
In 2018, a daring bank robbery takes place at Hyak Associates. However, this is no ordinary robbery, being executed by a band of marauding orcs with a dragon as backup in the online game world of Avalon Four. The robbery was supposed to be impossible as the data exists in multiple locations, each checking the others to ensure integrity. That it happens at all leads to some serious questions about the network underlying the future Earth.
Edinburgh constable Sue Smith is called on to investigate and must join forces with Elain Barnaby, a forensic accountant, and Jack Reed, an unemployed game programmer to figure out what happened and what is going on behind the scenes.
While at first glance Halting State may sound like a modern day take on Dreampark, the action doesn't take place in a game, but in the 'real' world. Having said that, Halting State is a darn good read, especially if you are a techie or an online game player.
Read more...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Tuesday March 18, 2008 at 12:44 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
io9 is stirring the pot again...this time by listing 5 Reasons To Stop Reading Science Fiction.
To summarize:
io9's sensationalism aside, the article does little to connect individual statements with factual data about reading habits and sales. But then again, these arguments are attributed to "a gang of critics". What's the point of...oh yeah...Sensationalism = Page Hits + Ad Dollars!
See also: David Louis Edelman's response to this perennial battle cry.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday March 18, 2008 at 12:32 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday March 18, 2008 at 12:23 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday March 18, 2008 at 12:01 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
REVIEW SUMMARY: A memorable, one-sitting read.
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A fact-based graphic novel about the first animal sent into space.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Great basis for a story; the fact-based details and meaty character portrayals enhanced the reading experience; artwork lends itself to the mood of the story.
CONS: The launch scene laid on the sentimentality a little too thick.
BOTTOM LINE: An affecting story that is sure to have lingering effects after reading it.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday March 17, 2008 at 12:59 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday March 17, 2008 at 12:39 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Just a quick reminder to you all that we are still running our contest to give away 10 DVD copies (to 10 people, not all at once) of the Sci Fi Channel movie Sands of Oblivion, starring Adam Baldwin, Morena Baccarin, and George Kennedy.
Send an email to:
contest at sfsignal dot com (do the email replacement thing)
for your chance to win. This offer good only in the U.S. and Canada. Go ahead, send us an email. What have you got to lose? Remember the SF Signal motto: "If it's free, it's for me!"
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Posted by JP Frantz at Monday March 17, 2008 at 12:36 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
[NOTE: I am subbing for JP this week on the Tube Bits. Can you guess at which point JP will regret he ever asked? - John]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday March 17, 2008 at 12:35 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
| (94 total votes) |
"30 some years ago, I started reading the Travis McGee mystery/detective novel series by John D. McDonald in mid-series. The books I was reading kept referring to an injury that had happened to Travis earlier. So... I went back and found the first book in the series: The Deep Blue Goodbye - and in that book they refer to the injury as happening earlier! Well...what the heck. I went to used book stores and found all the earlier novels, and read all of the Travis McGee novels." - MorjanaBe sure to visit our front page and vote in this week's poll about inappropriate subject matter in young adult fiction!
"The last time I can remember doing it on purpose was because I received an ARC of one of Kristine Smith's novels (Endgame) I had not read any of her novels previously but I didn't want to read the entire Jani Kilian series as prelude to this one." - Paul
"No, just like how I won't start watching a TV series without seeing the pilot episode. I also won't watch an episode if I've missed the first few minutes." - Chris Johnston
"I have to go and start at the beginning as I've recently done with John Ringo's Posleen books." - platyjoe
"Most book series aren't set up very well for someone to start in the middle. But one writer who gets around this problem is Mike Resnick. He's written some trilogies in his time, but every book is written in such a way that it contains a comlete stand-alone story, and can be enjoyed independent of the other books in the series. (By the way, I assumed here that you weren't including series like those that focus on one character, say a detective, but have little continuity outside of that...)" - Michael A. Burstein
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| Category: Polls
Posted by John DeNardo at Monday March 17, 2008 at 12:00 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
All you need to know about this episode can be summed up in one word: hookers. You want more? OK: Space hookers.
And a bad guy who rides around in a really cheesy hovercraft.
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| Category: Firefly, TV
Posted by JP Frantz at Sunday March 16, 2008 at 5:28 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday March 16, 2008 at 1:14 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Free audio fiction for your aural pleasure!
Starship Sofa has completed podcasting the BSFA short fiction nominees:
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| Category: Awards
Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday March 15, 2008 at 3:22 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday March 15, 2008 at 3:18 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

One administrative note: Tube Bits will be going on hiatus for the next week or so as I will be on vacation. Feel free to lobby John to continue the 'Tube' in his copious amounts of spare time!
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Posted by JP Frantz at Saturday March 15, 2008 at 12:51 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Artsy, touching and way cool.
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| Category: Movies
Posted by John DeNardo at Friday March 14, 2008 at 12:28 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

Michael Burstein lists the contents of his upcoming collection from Apex, I Remember the Future: The Award-Nominated Stories of Michael A. Burstein:
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| Category: Books
Posted by John DeNardo at Friday March 14, 2008 at 12:25 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday March 14, 2008 at 12:21 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
SCI FI Wire sez that ten stars of Battlestar Galactica will be making an appearance on CBS' Late Show With David Letterman to present the Top 10 List on Wednesday March 19.
The BSG stars include Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Michael Hogan, Aaron Douglas and Lucy Lawless.
Or, as Tim would say, Boomer and nine other people. :)
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday March 13, 2008 at 5:10 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Oh yes, as if I needed any more incentive to go see Wall E, the new Pixar movie, along comes the final trailer. We see a lot more of the adventures Wall E will get into and, dang, here's another movie I am so in on. Opening day here I come!
June 27th is so far away...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday March 13, 2008 at 5:00 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Earlier we brought you two international trailers for the Speed Racer film. Now, feast your eyes, and I do mean feast, on the new US trailer:
Wow, wow wow. This thing looks amazing. And was that the Mammoth Car I saw? I am so in. I don't care even if the acting turns out to be bad. This movie wins on style points. And given its supposed 'G' rating, this is something I won't think twice about taking my kids to. Go Speed Racer, go!
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday March 13, 2008 at 4:46 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
I only caught bits and pieces of the previous Hulk movie, and the one thing that struck me was that they got the physics of the Hulk's movement all wrong. Hard to tell from this new version. What do you think?
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday March 13, 2008 at 12:22 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
UK SciFi magazine SFX has an online book club that's open to anyone. This month's selection is The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein.
More details:
Every month we pick a classic SF or fantasy book. You lot read it and post your comments. A couple of months later we run a feature in which a top-class SF or fantasy writer discusses the book, with a selection of your remarks running down the side.They've also posted links to the author writeup (in PDF) of the chosen books. Check out these reviews:
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday March 13, 2008 at 12:12 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Everything old is new again...
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| Category: Star Trek
Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday March 13, 2008 at 1:18 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday March 13, 2008 at 1:07 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday March 13, 2008 at 12:11 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
In case you've been hiding under a rock lately, you may not know that Hulu, the streaming video service from NBC and Newscorp went live today. Everyone in the US and Canada can access the wealth of shows available. Not only do they have TV shows, they also have many full length movies.
To celebrate, we present to you, with limited commercial interruption, the Don Bluth film, Titan A.E.. Yes, it's terribly cliched, but it's one of the few SF movies they have.
Enjoy.
If you'd like to see a movie, which I think is better, with similar themes, check out Castle in the Sky, by Hayao Miyazaki. For a book, read The Forge of God by Greg Bear.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 4:51 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
A recent post by Nancy Kress concerning the mature themes of current young adult science fiction struck a chord with my own observations over the last few years. Namely, that the fiction being marketed to today's young adults deals with adult themes more than the young adult fiction from yesteryear. This seemed like a good topic to throw at some of the people in the field:
[UPDATE: See also, a belated answer from Orson Scott Card.]
Long Answer:
I have a dear friend, a hospital pediatrician, who told me her father had explained that "sex is wet and messy." This kept her from experimenting with same for nearly two years longer than she would have otherwise. This, in of itself, would justify more explicitness. My book (it's all about me, Me, ME!), Jumper, was on the American Library Association's 100 Most Banned Books List (1990-1999) because it essentially said, "If one of your parent's is an active alcoholic bad things may result" (page 2) and "If you run away from home you may become the target of sexual predation" (page 9).
Now let's try a thought experiment. You have a child. You want them to find out that they could be targeted for rape as a homeless teen by (a) Reading about it in fiction or (b) experiencing it.
Anybody choose B?
The job of writers is, foremost, to entertain, but we have other functions too. We give people experiences about choices and consequences from which they can draw conclusions for their own lives, and they didn't have to go through that sexual assault or become a drug addict or live in a war ravaged city or kill somebody themselves. But, we also have to sell it--to make it real, to make it believable and sometimes that calls for explicit detail.
Looking back two hundred years, we can see a significant shift in what is explicit and what isn't. We aren't tying skirts around the legs of our tables lest the exposed nature of the "limbs" unduly excite the young (but the Victorians did.) Bare midriff's would give them a heart attack.
And what is too explicit shifts widely between cultures and even between families. It shifts too much to expect school and public libraries to be able to decide (other than on a broad basis) what is and isn't appropriate for your kids.
That's your job.
Read more...
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| Category: Mind Meld
Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 1:15 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 1:10 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Many times throughout my life I have heard fans of science fiction promote the genre by stating how many times its authors have predicted the future. Look at the works of Jules Verne, Isaac Asimov, Frederick Pohl, Arthur C Clarke, and others and you'll find many examples of things that they predicted that came true. From submarines to waldos to geostationary satellites science fiction has either influenced science or science has eventually caught up to the ideas of science fiction. Certainly we can continue to be smug in the belief that our genre is an accurate look into the future.
It's not true of course. But how wrong have authors been? Well...
Predicting the future is hard, and it's easier to see things that weren't predicted than every prediction that didn't come true. But it is also fun to point out how some science fiction authors thought the future would be and how they were wrong.
Read more...
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Posted by Scott Shaffer at Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 2:56 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
There is honor in eating at McDonald's. Apparently.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 12:35 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 12:22 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Recently the blogosphere has been abuzz with listings of obsolete skills. It was started by Robert Scoble and was focused initially on skills obsoleted by technological advancements. But as with any idea that makes the rounds, it has expanded well beyond that and currently boasts its own website (a warning to visitors from far into the future - that's about 6 months in internet time - that this link might not still work.)
Not to be left out, I decided to come up with an SFSignal themed list (some flat-out stolen from the site above, but others original) and invite the readers