A science fiction blog featuring science fiction book reviews and with frequent ramblings on fantasy, computers and the web.
No, not the lame Enterprise theme song, but some homegrown Trek ditties along the lines of a past post. Thanks to TexasBestGrok for the link.
Filed under: Music
REVIEW SUMMARY: A thinking person’s space opera.
MY RATING: 
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: The exiled Phaethon must prevent Xenophon from destroying humanity during the cosmic mind-meld known as Transcendence.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Sense of wonder; engrossing.
CONS: Logical reasoning got a bit thick at times; could have used some more action.
BOTTOM LINE: A great ending to a consistently well-done trilogy
Filed under: Book Review
Wizards has really done it this time. They’ve created a collectible Star Wars miniatures game, with all figures from the first trilogy. Oh, and they can be used with the SW pen and paper RPG. All that’s left is for Wiz Kids to get a clix version of Star Wars. Personally, I want a super-flea Yoda figure….
Filed under: Star Wars
This one especially for Kevin, an avid fan of both Zombies and Tikis. (And who isn’t?)
Ebay, home of the internet swindle, offers this Zombie Tiki Mug! The sale continues for another hour or two, then it will die. …Or will it? [insert ominous music here]
Filed under: Web Sites
Apparently, Google has figured out the mystery of the universe. When you type “answer to life the universe and everything” into its natural language query, it, too, like the computational matrix that is the Earth, returns the answer “42.” Try it out!!
Filed under: Web Sites
Sci Fi Wire reports that a movie is being made of David Gerrold‘s novella The Martian Child, which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards in 1995. The movie will star John Cusack. The story is based on Gerrold’s own experience with adopting a child.
The wait is over. The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame opens this week. Anybody want to flip the bill to send me to Seattle?
Their site also has an events calendar (book signing authors on opening day include Octavia Butler, Greg Bear, Gregory Benford and David Brin) and sf book-related links as well as reading/viewing recommendations.
No, seriously, anyone want to pay for me to go? 
Filed under: Meta
REVIEW SUMMARY: Great effects and cool universe. Poor script. Really poor script.
MY RATING: 
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Years after escaping the planet in Pitch Black, Riddick is called upon to fight the Necromungers, an evil that threatens wipe out the universe, one planet at a time.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Really good effects that remind one of Dune, cool bad guys, the Necromungers, nice action scenes, supermodel-hot babes for Pete.
CONS: Weak plot, Riddick took off his swimming goggles FAR too often
BOTTOM LINE: This first of what I understand will be three films did not have edge-of-your-seat action or suspense. What it DID have was cool effects and some nice action scenes. Oh, and the bad guys were kind of cool in a Borg sort of way.
Filed under: Movies
These images, the first from the Cassini probe, show Phoebe, one of Saturn’s moons. That pic is much better than the one from a year ago.
Filed under: Space
For anyone wanting to take advantage of the “Pitch Black” DVD offer of a free movie ticket to the new Chronicle of Riddick movie, please be aware the coupon is only valid in “participating theaters.”
Normally, this would be fine but the catch is the list of theaters (and the website to check) are inside the DVD case. Since most stores won’t allow returns once your DVD is opened, if the free ticket is part of your purchase decision, like it was for me, and you find out that your favorite theatre is not part of their “network,” you’re pretty much SoL unless you want to drive out of your way to see a movie.
So what’s the point of all this? Well, I think it’s pretty lame how they promoted this. If they truly had the consumer in mind, they would have thought this through more and provided the theater listing/website on the outside of the packaging. Just so noone is caught by surprise as I was, here’s the website to check whether you have a theater local to you to take advantage of this offer: Hollywood Movie Money before you go out to buy the DVD.
Filed under: Movies
REVIEW SUMMARY: The movie was touted as coming from the makers of Phantasm and Army of Darkness.. Bubba lacked much of the low-budget fright factor of Phantasm and the goofy campiness of AoD
MY RATING:
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A mummy dressed in a cowboy hat and boots feed on residents of an East TX nursing home.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Bruce Campbell is always funny and works great as Elvis. Ossie Davis as JFK also very funny. Clever story premise.
CONS: Even though Campbell does a really good Elvis, it seems he plays it too straight.
BOTTOM LINE: More Bubba Ho-Hum than scary, and not as funny as previous Campbell films. Still, a fun way to spend an hour and a half.
Filed under: Movies
Here’s a Google Blog Post from Dennis Hwang, the Google Doodler talking a bit about the oodles of google doodles that he doodles. Maybe Pete can send in his doodle.
Filed under: Web Sites
Along the lines of my previous sf humor post comes this (via The Alien Online)…
Hot on the heels of The Soddit, a parody based on The Hobbit, sf author Adam Roberts has released a Matrix parody called The McAtrix (not to be confused with the other Matrix parodies: The Mootrix and The Matrix Derided). It seems, as The Telegraph claims, that the parody is making a comeback. Does anyone remember Bored of the Rings?
Who is Adam Roberts, you say? Well, his debut novel, Salt, was published with a audacious blurb explaining it’s “set on a world as vividly described as Herbert’s Dune”. A bold claim indeed. Roberts’ next novel is another parody: The Sellamillion, based on Tolkien’s The Silmarrilion.
Filed under: Books
SFcrowsnest brings us a preview of the upcoming farscape miniseries from Farscape World.
Filed under: TV
Did you now there are awards for the best children’s or young adult SF? I didn’t either, and they’re called the Golden Duck Awards.
Checking the list of past winners, I see the Star Wars Cross-Sections won an award. This is the second good thing I’ve heard about that book, out of two web pages, so its batting 1.000. Not that I troll Star Wars book sites….
Filed under: Books
Gardner Dozois, George R. R. Martin and Daniel Abraham have collaborated on an original novella being serialized in 3 parts for SCI FICTION. Part I of Shadow Twin is now available. Parts II & III will be available on June 16 & 23. The synopsis of the story goes like this:
An angry, unsuccessful laborer on another planet comes across another alien race hidden within a mountain rich with valuable ore. He wakes up and is forced by the aliens to hunt down another human.
Filed under: Books
We haven’t had a paper model post in a while so I thought I’d post these arcade machine cabinet paper models. Note these aren’t life size, but they are ‘action figure’ size. Plus, they look really neat. Now my kids G.I. Joe figures can take on the Cobra figures in a no holds barred Gauntlet deathmatch!
Update: Spelling kcorrected for the spelling NazisPolice. 
Actions taken: misspelling corrected; misnomer removed! see comments for additional info ;P
Filed under: Games
