Jeff VanderMeer is reporting that Richard K. Morgan has won this year's Arthur C. Clarke Award which is given to the best SF novel published each year in the UK (though not necessarily by a British writer).
Morgan won for his book Black Man which was released in the United States undr the title Thirteen.
See also:
Previous winners.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 30, 2008 at 6:30 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Tony from StarshipSofa writes in to tell us about some the cool things going on there:
The StarShipSofa podcast is metamorphosing into the StarShipSofa - The Audio Science Fiction Magazine. Following in the great tradition of magazines like Analog, Asimov's and Fantasy and Science Fiction.
Each week the StarShipSofa will deliver a full package of SF related audio material all free including audio fiction, fact audio essays, flash fiction and poetry, all by leading names in the SF field.
Many writers have agreed to let StarShipSofa narrate their works including Ben Bova, Joe Haldeman, Alistair Reynolds and M. John Harrison, to name a few.
There will be two shows per week, the Wednesday show, also know as Aural Delights will contain narrated audio fiction, fact and poerty and the weekend show will be an in depth look into an author's life and work.
This week saw the first of the metamorphosing with the StarShipSofa's Aural Delights show. Fiction was provided by Kage Baker's fantastic story "The Likely Lad," there were two poems by Bruce Boston and Laurel Winter, both winners of the Rhysling Award for SF Poetry. Flash fiction came from a very short but very powerful story called "Repeating The Past" by Peter Watts, author of the SF novel Blindsight.
In the weeks to come Peter Watts will also be delivering a monthly narrated fact article; this part of the show will be called Reality, Remastered.
As for the weekend shows, StarShipSofa has her sights upon writers such as John Scalzi, Robert Charles Wilson and Ken Macleod.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 30, 2008 at 3:48 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
It's amazing what you can find on the internets these days. Case in point, the following gospel song praising everyone's favorite blatant merchandising move, Ewoks.
As if that weren't bad enough, Chad Vader also gets into the music business, covering that YouTube sensation, 'Chocolate Rain'.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday April 30, 2008 at 12:47 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
The annual Free Comic Book Day is coming on Saturday, May 3rd 2008. It's when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores. (Details provided by each retailer.)
The selection of comics includes those from Gold sponsors (including All Star Superman #1, Hellboy/B.P.R.D., Project Superpowers, Transformers Animated, and X-Men) and silver sponsors (including Atomic Robo & Friends, Del Rey & Dabel Brothers Preview (Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files: Welcome To The Jungle, George R. R. Martin's Wild Cards: The Hard Call, And Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Prodigal Son), Marvel Adventures: Iron Man, and Tiny Titans #1) .
Stop by a store near you!
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 30, 2008 at 12:15 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
MY RATING: ![]()
Cenotaxis is Sean Williams' novella, set in his Astropolis universe, that bridges the gap between the first book, Saturn Returns, and the second book, Earth Ascendant. However, you need not have read Saturn Returns to read Cenotaxis. You'll miss some of the context, but the story, novella really, is rather self contained. The story covers the actions of Imre Bergamasc as he tries to coerce Earth and its people to enlist in his quest to discover the source of the 'Slow Wave', which wreaked havoc on the galactic civilization in Saturn Returns. Things don't go as smoothly as planned, and Imre must face off against an opponent who may, or may not be, God personified.
Read more...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday April 30, 2008 at 1:06 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 30, 2008 at 1:02 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
As one would hope, there is talk of bacon and cats.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 30, 2008 at 12:57 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday April 30, 2008 at 12:26 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Ursula K. Le Guin reads from her latest novel, Lavinia. The author spoke at Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon, on April 22, 2008.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 30, 2008 at 12:18 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
REVIEW SUMMARY: A good collection of original short fiction from a great lineup of writers.
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: An original fiction anthology containing 15 stories.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Twelve stories worth reading, two of which were hugely enjoyable.
CONS: One story (the longest in the anthology) did not work for me at all.
BOTTOM LINE: An enjoyable collection of stories.
Editor George Mann opens The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume 2 by explaining the reason behind its publication. In doing so, he captures some of the reasons I enjoy reading short fiction: the jolt of wonder, the single conceit, the bite size morsel, etc. But there's no denying that it's common for a science fiction anthology, whose goal is often to present stories of various flavors, to include stories that do not suit a particular reader's tastes.
And so it was here. The good news is that only a single story failed to entertain. I must fess up to being totally disenchanted with the Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius story. Being the longest story in the book had a noticeable effect on the overall weighted average. Such is the hit-or-miss nature of a short fiction anthology.
The ultimate question, despite some misses, is whether there are more hits. In this case, the answer is a resounding yes. The vast majority of stories in the anthology are good or better. The outstanding entries were "iCity" by Paul Di Filippo and "Sunworld" by Eric Brown. Both of these stories capture the joys that come with anthologies and ultimately help make The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume 2 an enjoyable anthology.
Reviewlettes follow...
Read more...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday April 29, 2008 at 12:28 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday April 29, 2008 at 12:16 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
The text of Daniel Abraham's story "The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics" is now online.
This is the final short fiction nominee to be made available online. For a complete list of short fiction nominees, with links to the corresponding online versions, see our earlier post of 2008 Hugo Award Nominees.
[via John Klima, editor or Logorrhea, the anthology where the story first appeared.]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 28, 2008 at 6:52 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Tonight is a special Star Wars themed Deal or No Deal, and to put everyone in the mood, we have a special sneak peek at the DoND models in their Slave Princess Leia outfits. Yeowch. Middle-age geeks everywhere should tune in tonight.
And, you're welcome John.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Monday April 28, 2008 at 3:16 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
The nominees for the Sidewise Awards for Alternate History have been announced:
Best Short Form:
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 28, 2008 at 12:12 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
The summer movie season is fast approaching, in fact starting this Friday. As usual, Hollywood has scheduled their blockbuster movies for the summer, and this year, the slate is chock full of science fiction and fantasy films. So many, in fact, that starting this week, you could, if you wanted, see a new SF/F movie every Friday through the end of July (with a couple of exceptions). Now that is a lot of movies, but does the SF/F movie fan have reason to celebrate or is this just another summer of cliches and remakes?
We here at SF Signal have put together this handy guide of the summer movies in the hopes of helping you decide, which, if any, you want to see and which to steer clear of. There's even a handy box office quiz at the end so read on!
Read more...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Monday April 28, 2008 at 12:25 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Several weeks ago, I purchased tickets to this year's Nebula Weekend since it was being held within driving distance. I must admit that I bought them in ignorance. I expected it to be more like a convention, with sessions and other related programming set up. Afterwards, I found out that it wasn't like that at all. It was geared more towards the SFWA taking care of business and its members schmoozing at the hotel bar. After some drawn-out indecision I decided not to go. But at the last minute, I decided what the heck. At least I would be able to meet some folks who I only knew through email.
I'm glad I went because it turned out to be a whole load of fun. It was actually a good thing that there were no sessions because that meant more face time with people.
In the order they happened, here are some of the weekend's highlights:
Read more...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 28, 2008 at 12:22 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Rich Horton has posted the table of contents of his propsed (but unforunately canceled) anthology, Space Opera. Too bad...it looked to be a good one.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 28, 2008 at 12:17 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 28, 2008 at 12:10 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by JP Frantz at Monday April 28, 2008 at 12:05 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
| (97 total votes) |
"A tough question, but I do think that Egghead, King Tut, the John Astin Riddler and the Lee Meriwether Catwoman are definitely 'second tier'. Since they have such a complex relationship, for me its really a tossup between the Kitt and Newmar Catwomans (Catwomen?)" - JvstinBe sure to visit our front page and vote in this week's poll about the 2008 Summer movie you are most anticipating!
"Julie Newmar for the win! But there were so MANY good villians, it's hard to choose. Otto Premiger as MR. Freeze, Liberace as the pianast and his evil twin, Roddy McDowall as the bookworm, Art Carney as The Archer, the list goes on and on. How they got these people to get onto such a oddball show was a mystery, but I'm glas they did." - Keith
"For me it was the Joker, though I hated the Penguin the most." - General X
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 28, 2008 at 12:00 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America has announced the Nebula Award winners for 2007:
NOVEL: The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
NOVELLA: "Fountain of Age" by Nancy Kress
NOVELETTE: "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang
SHORT STORY: "Always" by Karen Joy Fowler
SCRIPT: Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro
Andre Norton Award: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Michael Moorcock was also presented with The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.
See also: This year's nominees.
See also: SF Signal's review of the short fiction nominees.
See also: Past Winners
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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday April 27, 2008 at 7:49 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
It seems fitting that to balance out Nebula Weekend, which honors the best, we should remember this particular bit of footage from Bollywood, which...well...see for yourself...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday April 27, 2008 at 12:15 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Another reader writes in with a story description looking for a title. Do any of our readers out there know the title of this story? It's not much to go on. Consider it a challenge of your science fictional prowess!
I trying to find out if anyone remembers a SF book that I read 15 or 20 years ago, about a sun that becomes aware that it's intelligent and ponders it's existence and finally reaches out to other suns and communicates with them.Can you name this story?- Scott C.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday April 26, 2008 at 12:25 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday April 26, 2008 at 12:15 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Just a quick reminder to everyone, our Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection giveaway contest is still running. If you want a chance to win a copy of all of the Alien Nation TV movies, send an email, along with your mailing address to:
contest AT sfsignal DOT com
The contest ends at 11:59:59PM CT on Sunday, April 27th (this Sunday), so get to emailing! We had a glut of entries the first, but a trickle since then. Enter if you dare!
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Posted by JP Frantz at Friday April 25, 2008 at 2:01 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
SF/F publisher Tor continues to provide free online versions of books for you pleasure. This week, it's Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder, a very good read and a whole lot of fun. (See SF Signal review)
More freebies from Tor this week: two brand new desktop wallpapers by Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo.
Get them all now -- they're only available for one week only!
And don't forget to sign to be notified about the free books (in various formats) and wallpapers.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday April 25, 2008 at 11:01 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday April 25, 2008 at 12:38 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday April 25, 2008 at 12:37 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by JP Frantz at Friday April 25, 2008 at 12:20 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
I'm planning a day trip to Austin on Saturday to attend Nebula Weekend. I'm hoping to finally meet some folks who I know only through email. Those of you who are attending: you have been warned! :)
I doubt I'll be taking my computer and live-blogging it, but I will be able to access Twitter from my phone. To that end, there will be a "Twittering the Nebulas" widget on the left sidebar of the homepage during the event. I'm not sure yet if I'll be staying for the awards ceremony. Tune in to see what juicy tidbits of information I send through the Aether!
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday April 24, 2008 at 4:28 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
The 2008 Locus Award Finalists has been announced:
SF NOVEL
See also: Past winners.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday April 24, 2008 at 12:51 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
If you're in the Austin, Texas area Friday night (tomorrow) and want to some books signed by a slew of authors, head on down to the Omni Hotel:
From the press release:
Dozens of science fiction and fantasy authors will turn out for a mass autographing session Friday, April 25 from 5:30-8 p.m., kicking off the 2008 Nebula Awards Weekend in Austin by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.The mass autographing session sponsored by Book People will be held in the third floor Longhorn Room of the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown, located at San Jacinto and 8th Street. The session is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase, but those seeking signatures are free to bring their own from home.
Authors scheduled to take part in the mass autographing session include 2007 Damon Knight Grand Master honoree Michael Moorcock, Nebula Award Nominees Nancy Kress, Joe Haldeman and Jack McDevitt as well as such notable authors as Joe R. Lansdale, Steven Gould, Walter Jon Williams and Connie Willis. A complete list of participating authors can be found at http://www.sfwa.org/awards/2008/autographing.html.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday April 24, 2008 at 11:28 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Judging by the amount of books we receive here at SF Signal (see 2008's list right here), science fiction publishing in doing quite well. Trying to keep up with the flood of new books by well known authors is hard enough, what if you want to find something new and interesting? How do you find that 'underrated' author whose books you have to read? Well, you ask for help! Which is what we did for this week's Mind Meld.
Also I would nominate Olaf Stapledon, writing before the genre was truly formed, but with works like Starmaker and Last and First Men had a scope that has rarely been equaled in all the successive years.
These two are both pretty well known I'd guess, but I can't help thinking more exposure could only be a good thing.
Read more...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday April 24, 2008 at 12:22 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday April 24, 2008 at 12:11 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Watch the latest SciFi Dept. as Kevin Maher almost beats Lou Ferrigno at arm wrestling. You would think he would have had better luck bribing him with hot dogs...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 23, 2008 at 12:41 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Small Beer Press has made Maureen F. McHugh's Mothers & Other Monsters available as a free download via a Creative Commons License.
Here's the table of contents:
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 23, 2008 at 12:16 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday April 23, 2008 at 12:13 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 23, 2008 at 12:05 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
I jumped off the Battlestar Galactica train a season ago and I haven't looked back. That is, until I caught the first two episodes of this last season to see if the fanboy raving was warranted. It wasn't. What a snoozefest.
So, I echo Chris Roberson's sentiment when I blatantly copy: "Honestly, I think I'd rather watch a whole season of this than the last limping days of BSG..."
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday April 22, 2008 at 10:21 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
After discussing my dilemma the other day, I have elected to go ahead and post about three books I recently tried to read but couldn't finish. Two are self-published and one is from a very small press. Read more..."The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."- Oscar WildeIrish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)
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Posted by Scott Shaffer at Tuesday April 22, 2008 at 12:28 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
It's not that the actors' motions don't come even close to matching the music...it's not that his single-string guitar sounds like a six-string...it's not the contrast of 60's hippies and a 22nd century future...it's not even Spock jamming with the chick who plays the bicycle spokes. No, it's the guy with the big ears that really makes this work.
[via Poe TV]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday April 22, 2008 at 12:22 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday April 22, 2008 at 12:19 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
It's that time again everyone. Time to give something away! This time we have a copy of the Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection DVD set to just give away! I know, cool!
So what do you get? Well, first you get all 5 TV movies. The first four have 'Making Of' featurettes and gag reels. All movies have Ken Johnson commentary tracks and still photo galleries. And all this can be yours for the low low price of free. Well, actually, the low low price of an email. We have 1 copy to give away to a lucky reader and all you have to do is email us your name and address (we will delete your address as soon as the contest ends and a winner is picked. We will never use your address for anything else, except to exercise the DELETE function) to:
contest AT sfsignal DOT com (do the replacement move here and send us an email!)
Better get cracking if you want this DVD set. This contest ends on Sunday, April 27th. The winner will be notified on the 28th, and we'll let you know when you can expect your set to be shipped!
Hop to it.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Monday April 21, 2008 at 9:01 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
The official trailer for the upcoming Batman film looks groovy.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 21, 2008 at 11:34 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
REVIEW SUMMARY: A thought-provoking classic.
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: George Orr, a man who can alter reality with his dreams, is manipulated by Dr. Haber, a dream specialist.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Awesome premise; excellent characterizations; great writing.
CONS: None, really, though I was frustrated that this Omnipotent Reader couldn't figure out a way for George to solve his problems.
BOTTOM LINE: An excellent, though-provoking classic.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 21, 2008 at 12:28 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 21, 2008 at 12:11 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by JP Frantz at Monday April 21, 2008 at 12:02 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Here are the results of the latest SF Signal poll.
QUESTION
Which of these books from the "Perfect Library" is your favorite?
RESULTS
| (147 total votes) |
"I admit that Foundation may not be the best work, in literary terms, of the list. However, I read the book first out of all of the books on the list, and the power and vision of Asimov's work still resonates with me today." - Jvstin
"For "favorite" I used the 'one I enjoy re-reading the most' criterion. These are all good, but really... nothing from the last twenty years? Nothing? How much time does it take to make something a "classic" anyway?" - Karen Burnham
"1984, Foundation or 2001? Flip a three-sided coin..." - platyjoe
"'1984' was the most influential and 'Brave New World' had the most metaphorical accuracy, but 'Foundation' (I assume this means the whole trilogy) was the most enjoyable. Of course, that's from the perspective of a teenaged sf nerd. Let me re-read them all and I'll give you my adult opinion..." - Matte Lozenge
"Whose perfect library? Basic, yes. But very limited, Tolkien...Lewis....Bradbury...Howard..Keyes....and on and on?
Blessings" - Richard Novak"I voted for Brave New world, but Day of the Triffids was a very, very close second." - SF Fangirl
"I didn't answer this poll for several days because it was too hard to select just one. Really I'd almost have to include five of these as absolute musts: 1984, Brave New World, 20000 Leagues, Foundation, and 2001, with most of the rest almost-as-musts." - Bryan
"Several years back, when I knew hardly anything of written sf I picked a copy of the Foundation based on thickness and cover art alone. I had no idea. After a few minutes reading my eyes were open wide, my mouth agape. I had no idea there were such things in this world. Since I have reread the book, ohhh a lot. So, I would say that Foundation is my favorite." - General X
Be sure to visit our front page and vote in this week's poll about your favorite villain from the Batman television series!
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 21, 2008 at 12:00 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
No, I'm not talking about Sean Connery's Outland...
Here's a "video-shopped" version of High Noon to make it appear like some futistic old time West. Much coolness. And that "Marshal's bionic eye" bit...nice touch
[via Roberson's Interminable Ramble]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday April 20, 2008 at 11:28 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
I have a dilemma and I'd like your help. I have amassed a few of books I can't finish because I don't want to spend any more time reading them. Do you want to know about these books? Before you answer, let me explain why I consider it a hard decision.
Here at SFSignal we get a lot of emails from people asking us to review their books. Almost all of the requests are from major publishing houses and are part of the overall book hype machine. I'd like to think I have some integrity and will tell you when I don't like a book, but disliking a book doesn't seem to happen that often. Looking back over all the novels reviewed I reviewed so far this year, none have received less than 3 stars. In some ways I believe it goes to my argument that major publishing houses are unlikely to publish a bad book because 1) they have editors who work with the author to polish a book prior to publication and 2) they don't want to lose money.
But of course, that's not the whole story.
Update: Folks I owe an apology to the reviewers here on this blog. I did not intend to imply that the people here wouldn't tell you when they didn't like a novel. They certainly will and there is a ton of evidence of that here in the archives. I meant this to be about me and my dilemma involving small press/self-published works - not about the other fine folks who review here. I changed the paragraph above to be clearer and (I hope) remove the offensive language (and to be clear, it was offensive - I can only apologize again and humbly state that it was not intentionally so.) - Scott
Read more...
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Posted by Scott Shaffer at Sunday April 20, 2008 at 8:14 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday April 20, 2008 at 12:12 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Not re-enacted by bunnies, but still cool.
[via Topless Robot]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday April 19, 2008 at 11:28 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday April 19, 2008 at 12:33 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Perhaps a little theme music to put you in the mood?
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday April 18, 2008 at 5:32 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
[NOTE: This is a guest review by blogger, author and 'winner' of our Sands of Oblivion contest, Larry Ketchersid. All opinions expresses herein are those of Larry and not necessarily those of the management, staff, families or pets of SF Signal. Although they might be. We may even tell if you ask nicely. Due to various technical issues (read- I'm lazy) this review was not posted under Larry's name but under JP's. See four sentences above.)]
REVIEW SUMMARY: All that you would expect from a SciFi channel monster movie: hokey special effects, bad acting....but, unlike most, this one had an interesting plot plus stars from TV series Serenity and Charmed.
MY RATING:
(2 stars from me, 3 stars from my 17 year old son)
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Cecil B. DeMille films The Ten Commandments in the desert around Guadeloupe, California. Mysterious deaths, caused by some kind of curse, cause him to bury the constructed set. Sixty years later, archeologists try to find and move the set because of impending floods, and unearth an ancient Egyptian monster.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Interesting plot premise, Jayne (Adam Baldwin) and Inara/Adria (Morena Baccarin), an excellent gun-totting redneck retired Army guy as comic relief.
CONS: Special effects reminiscent of Power Rangers or other SciFi Channel monster movies; why is George Kennedy in this movie?;about the worst go-cart chase scene ever; Jayne plays a wussy-man...is there nothing sacred??
BOTTOM LINE: Im glad I didnt pay for it (thanks, SF Signal)but the Egyptian lead in and theme creates an interesting premise; just keep in mind it was free on the SciFi Channel and worth every penny.
My wife enters a lot of contests; last year, she won a trip to the Super Bowl and took me. I told her I won this movie on an SF Signal contest and I'd let her watch it with me to even the score.
After watching it, I'm still in her debt by a large amount and may owe her more.
Read more...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Friday April 18, 2008 at 9:58 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Nice going, Boy Wonder.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday April 18, 2008 at 12:29 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday April 18, 2008 at 12:12 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Galaxy Press is embarking on an ambitious publishing project called Stories From the Golden Age, a project that will reprint 80 cross-genre Pulp titles written by L. Ron Hubbard. The project will span six years, with the publication of about one book per month.
From the Press Release:
..the Golden Age is again being celebrated, enabling readers to explore the largest series of multiple-genre, pulp fiction novels ever written by a single author -- Stories from the Golden Age published by Los Angeles-based Galaxy Press. The series will include eighty titles with their original artwork to be released over as many months and will showcase some of the era's most evocative and far ranging literary genres penned by explorer, master storyteller and multiple New York Times' best-selling author L. Ron Hubbard.The series looks like it will be supported with podcasts, and downloadable extras, and the site makes mention of a "book & audio" club. Genres listed at the website include science fiction, fantasy, mystery, western, far-flung adventure, tales from the Orient, sea adventure, and air adventure.It was 1938 when the top brass of the New York publishing company Street & Smith asked two of the most established top-line adventure writers of the day, Arthur J. Burkes and L. Ron Hubbard, to begin writing a new kind of science fiction story where people, not machines or gadgets were central to the story. They were introduced to now-legendary editor John W. Campbell, Jr., publisher of Astounding Science Fiction. From that moment on, the Golden Age was in full swing.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday April 17, 2008 at 12:10 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
MY RATING: ![]()
Starcross is Philip Reeve's sequel to his awesome Larklight (SF Signal review) novel for young readers. This time, Art Mumby, his sister Myrtle and their mother travel to the finest sea-bathing resort in the asteroid belt, Starcross. While there, they encounter all manner of strange and interesting things, the least of which is menacing mechanical Punch and Judy machines. The mystery they uncover could spell doom for the British Empire!
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday April 17, 2008 at 12:54 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday April 17, 2008 at 12:49 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday April 17, 2008 at 12:10 AM
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I'm getting excited about the A&E adaptation of Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain. I loved the book and enjoyed the 1971 Robert Wise film, and this is looking pretty decent even though they changed some things (as they always do).
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 16, 2008 at 12:22 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
One of the many perennial arguments in the science fiction blogosphere centers on the health of the short fiction market, so we turned the Mind Meld microphone to people in the field and asked them:
The traditional SF magazines are in hospice care waiting to die, and there hasn't been a successful attempt at starting a new print SF magazine in decades. The online markets are loss leaders or labors of love.
And even if they weren't, even if there were actual commercial SF magazines with workable long-term business plans, from an author's point of view the so-called "professional" rates -- that only a handful of markets can afford to pay -- are a joke everyone's heard so often it's not worth groaning at. The penny a word John W. Campbell paid his authors in 1937 would be worth nearly fifteen cents now -- three times more than what most of the "pro" markets are paying. Even Hugo Gernsback's 1926 quarter-cent -- three cents a word in 2008 -- would put him at the top of the semi-pro pack today.
At a nickel a word you could fill every slot in every pro market every month and still not make enough to make the median mortgage payment in Chicago or Baltimore. Nobody's making a living off selling SF short fiction to traditional markets, except maybe Howard Waldrop. There just isn't enough money in the SF short fiction business to pay writers a living wage; there hasn't been since prime-time TV went color, and there never will be again.
Which is not to say the SF short story is dead. There are more places to read short stories, more places to get an SF short story published, than there have ever been. Do good work and you'll get critical acclaim, the respect of your peers, and the right to munch cold cuts in the SFWA suite at Worldcon. You won't make enough money to quit your day job, but then, SF novelists generally don't make enough money to quit their day jobs these days, either.
Meanwhile, if you insist on wanting to know how to make money writing short fiction, talk to Nick Mamatas. But you won't hear much about genre markets.
Read more...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 16, 2008 at 12:28 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 16, 2008 at 12:16 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Editor Jonathan Strahan has a website for The Starry Rift: Tales of New Tomorrows, an original science fiction anthology aimed at young adults that is new this week.
Looking at the table of contents, Scott Westerfeld wins the prize for Best Short Story Title:
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 16, 2008 at 12:10 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday April 16, 2008 at 12:05 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Small Beer Press has release John Kessel's short story collection, The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories, under a Creative Commons License.
From Small Beer Press:
"Stories for Men" was all kinds of awesome, this is the perfect opportunity to check it out!
Today, April 15, 2008, is tax day in the USA and we all need cheering up. We're celebrating at Small Beer Press by publishing John Kessel's first collection of short stories in ten years, The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories, as well as releasing it as a free download in a number of completely open formats--with, of course, no Digital Rights Management (DRM).The Baum Plan includes Kessel's Tiptree Award winning "Stories for Men" (gender inequality meet Fight Club...on the moon), "Pride and Prometheus," a mashup of Frankenstein and Jane Austen, and "Powerless," an amazing mix of pulp fictions, paranoia, and academia.
The Baum Plan is licensed under a Creative Commons (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 license allowing readers to share the stories with friends and generally have at them in any remixing/interpretation/Web 2.0 huddly-cuddly noncommercial manner. The collection is provided in these formats: low-res PDF, HTML, RTF, and text file. We encourage any and all conversions into other formats.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday April 15, 2008 at 5:12 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Anime, it's not just for otaku anymore. Following on the news of a live-action version of Akira, the purported live-action remake of Neon Genesis Evangelion and of course the live-action remake of Speed Racer, Variety is reporting the Spielberg's company, DreamWorks, has acquired the rights to remake Ghost in the Shell, in live-action 3D no less. Apparently Spielberg took a personal interest in the project as the movie is 'one of my favorite stories'. I guess that's what releasing Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence gets you.
Now I know there are cynics out there saying, "Wait a minuted, I've already seen this live-action film. It's called The Matrix!" And, yes, The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell share quite a bit of visual and thematic elements. But, and maybe this is just me, after watching most of the spinoffs and such around both of these movies, I find Ghost in the Shell to be more interesting over all. In fact, the TV show based on the movie is one of my favorite SF anime shows ever. The Matrix fell quite a bit with the release of the follow on two movies. So, in a word, I'm quite excited by this news. 3D may be seen as being a over the top, but given some of the scenes in the original move, skydiving from a skyscraper comes to mind, 3D could kick some serious butt, if done well. I guess we'll know how good 3d can be when James Cameron's Avatar comes out.
I've said before that I think Ghost in the Shell is a great movie to adapt for American audiences. The success of The Matrix shows that a more 'philosophical' SF movie will be accepted, but it has to be done right. Hopefully the screenwriters won't make a mess of it, like so many of the recent adaptations of Asian horror movies have turned out to be. I'll be looking forward to this one. Maybe it's time to go back and watch all the GitS stuff...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Tuesday April 15, 2008 at 12:32 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
The fifth and final Hugo-nominated short story, Stephen Baxter's "Last Contact" has been posted at Solaris' website. (Thanks, Mark @ Solaris!)
The list of Free Hugo-Nominated Short Fiction has been updated.
Only one story remains unavailable for free reading: the novelette "The Cambist and Lord Iron: a Fairytale of Economics" by Daniel Abraham, originally published by Bantam in Logorrhea edited by John Klima. Word has it that this last story will available soon...
Stay tuned...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday April 15, 2008 at 12:15 PM
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MY RATING: ![]()
Physics of the Impossible is Michio Kaku's latest science book and it is heavily influenced by science fictional ideas that may seem impossible, but in reality have definite scientific underpinnings (force fields, starships, FTL, time travel and others). Along the way he classifies these SF-nal ideas into three categories: Type I Impossibility (impossible today, but don't violate laws of physics), Type II (skirt the edges of our understanding, may be possible in centuries or millennia), and Type III (violate our understanding of physics and, if possible, will require a complete re-evaluation of our understanding of physics). If you liked our interview with Mr. Kaku, you'll most definitely enjoy this book.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Tuesday April 15, 2008 at 1:00 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday April 15, 2008 at 12:53 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
REVIEW SUMMARY: Time-traveling pirates - what is not to love? OK, there isn't really any science fiction in this story, but it is a fun book non the less.
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Father Chris is more than he appears when he admits to killing a man in his past. The story of how it happened takes you back to the time of real pirates raiding Spanish ships full of treasure from the new world.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Gene Wolfe is a master storyteller with a command of the English language I can only marvel at. His prose - especially his character's dialog - puts him amongst the best writers of our time, and this book is no exception. Brilliant ending. Generally strong female characters.
CONS: Fans of Wofle's other more complex works might be disappointed by this rather straight-forward tale. Similar premise to Wizard Knight with a similar protagonist.
BOTTOM LINE: Gene Wolfe never stops surprising me with the variety of settings and types of people he writes about. Where will we end up next? I don't know, but I can't wait.
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Posted by Scott Shaffer at Monday April 14, 2008 at 11:25 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
REVIEW SUMMARY: A great showcase of Bacigalupi's unique style and his mastery of short fiction.
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A collection of ten stories written by Paolo Bacigalupi. (A limited edition contains an additional story.)
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Nine of the ten stories were good; three of those were outstanding.
CONS: One story dangerously close to being mediocre.
BOTTOM LINE: Clear evidence of Bacigalupi's control over the form of short fiction.
Paolo Bacigalupi is rapidly the ranks of short fiction stardom, collecting accolades and critical acclaim at nearly every turn. Evidence supporting this can be found in his recent ten-story collection, Pump Six and Other Stories, which almost includes his entire short fiction output to date. (Night Shade Books also publishes a limited edition that contains the missing eleventh story, "Small Offerings", which I reviewed in Fast Forward 1.)
One thing is clear: Bacigalupi does not write fiction just for the sake of it. Each story is rooted in one social issue or another. The backdrops he paints are mostly bleak, making the overall collection a tasty smorgasbord of Dystopias. He shows us eco-ravaged futures and technologies that create unique circumstances for the protagonists. While I'm not usually interested in science fiction as social commentary, Bacigalupi writes with a thankfully subtle hand, allowing the reader the take in as much - or as little - as he or she wishes. Furthermore, each of his stories explores a "single conceit", the hallmark of classic short fiction, only as seen through the modern eyes of the socially conscious. The overall quality of the collection is thus fairly strong, with some of these stories garnering Hugo and Nebula nominations.
Reviewlettes of each story follow...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 14, 2008 at 12:29 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
With bowls of popcorn in our laps, my daughter and I sat down to watch the premiere episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures, the spin-off of Doctor Who. Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) was the sidekick of the third and forth Doctors back in the 70's, way before I was ever introduced to the show. The character also made an appearance in the 2006 episode "School Reunion", at the end of which she sauntered happily off with the robotic dog called K-9.
Here are my initial impressions of the show.
(Cue Leslie Nielson: "I'm sorry...I don't do impressions.")
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 14, 2008 at 12:15 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Monday April 14, 2008 at 12:10 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 14, 2008 at 12:05 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
| (101 total votes) |
"I can't see how you can do Hyperion in a single movie and wind up with anything much better than the mess that the DUNE movie turned out to be." - Paul WeimerBe sure to check out this week's poll - inconveniently located on our front page. If you find it, you can vote on your favorite book from the "Perfect Library"!
"I would be afraid that they would turn this into a straight 'horror flick'. Horrible monster goes around killing people on by one. Way too deep a novel to make into a movie." - Cash
"Is Sean Connery available?" - platyjoe
"I hated that half of a book. I presume they will film Hyperion and the sequel since Hyperion is a completely incomplete story. BTW... Your polls are a lot less obvious on the left side of your web page. I've been missing a lot of them since you moved them." - SF Fangirl
[John sez: Yeah...we know...and you're not the only one. Our response numbers have been down ever since. This will be addressed soon.]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday April 14, 2008 at 12:00 AM
© 2008 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday April 13, 2008 at 2:51 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Hugo-winner Joe Haldeman reads from The Accidental Time Machine as part of the Authors@Google series.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday April 13, 2008 at 2:44 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday April 12, 2008 at 1:54 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Tonight, the U.S. SciFI Channel is premiering the Doctor Who spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures. Unlike the adult-targeted Torchwood spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures is aimed at kids.
The Sarah Jane character (played by Elisabeth Sladen) was last seen by U.S. audiences in the 2006 Doctor Who episode "School Reunion" which also featured the robotic dog, K-9. But longtime Who fans will know her as the Doctor's sidekick between 1973 and 1976, alongside John Pertwee and Tom Baker.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday April 11, 2008 at 6:11 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Variety is reporting that Tim Kring, creator of Heroes, will be co-authoring an alternative history thriller trilogy to be published by Random House. The Flag of Orpheus trilogy will be co-written with Dale Peck for $3 million, Variety says. The story is about "the abuses of power and moral obligation to resist it" and "revolves around key turning points in late 20th century, including early 1960s drug culture."
The first book in the trilogy, Shift, is due in the Fall of 2009. In a cross-marketing frenzy, each book will be also co-launched with an alternate reality game.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday April 11, 2008 at 12:35 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
The fifth and final Hugo-nominated novella, Connie Willis' "All Seated on the Ground" has been posted at Asimov's website.
The list of Free Hugo-Nominated Short Fiction has been updated.
Only two-stories remain unavailable for free reading:
[via Science Fiction Awards Watch]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday April 11, 2008 at 12:32 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday April 11, 2008 at 12:20 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Friday April 11, 2008 at 12:15 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday April 11, 2008 at 12:11 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Well, "singing" isn't exactly the word I should use...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday April 10, 2008 at 1:03 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday April 10, 2008 at 12:42 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
Michio Kaku, commonly referred to as a "popularizer of science", is the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is the co-founder of string field theory. He has written several books, including Parallel Worlds and Beyond Einstein, and his bestseller, Hyperspace, was voted one of the best science books of the year by the New York Times and the Washington Post. He is a frequent guest on national TV, and his nationally syndicated radio program is heard in 130 cities. He lives in New York City.
SF Signal had the opportunity to ask Dr. Kaku some questions about his work, science fiction, and his latest book, Physics of the Impossible...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday April 09, 2008 at 12:29 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday April 09, 2008 at 12:15 AM
© 2008 SF Signal