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Star Trek Into Darkness – Review
“I am surprised how little improvement there has been in human evolution. Oh, there has been technical advancement, but how little man himself has changed.”
I’m just going to get the most annoying part of this out of the way: Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of Khan Noonien Singh. I do not consider this a spoiler, as he is clearly listed as such on IMDb. I find this annoying for two reasons: (1) the cast and crew have been denying that Khan would be any part of this film for over a year, and (2) this character would have been much more interesting if there hadn’t been any “twist” at all. Those involved with The Dark Knight Rises made a similar string of disavowals about Marion Cotillard being the daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul, only to have it “revealed” at the end of the film. While I understand the desire of movie makers to keep some aspects of their upcoming films secret before release in an age of non-stop internet gossip, so many of them have cried wolf that future denials will likely be taken as confirmation.
WoGF Review: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Brett Ellis (Brett72): My interest in reading was spurred by my father reading to me before bed when I was a boy. I developed my reading skills because I wanted to know what happened next and the nightly sessions were too slow. My parents took me to see “Star Wars” when I was five and I’ve been hooked on sci-fi and fantasy ever since. Yes, I am part of that generation for whom “Star Wars” was a life-shaping experience. When not reading far too many “Warhammer” novels, I enjoy miniature wargaming and action flicks.
The two main characters of the Doomsday Book are Kivrin, a graduate student, and Mr. Dunworthy, a university professor. Kivrin has always wanted to travel to the Middle Ages, but that time period is off-limits due to the danger posed. An ambitious professor seizes his chance during Christmas break, when he is functioning as acting head of the department, opens the Middle Ages and organizes a trip to send Kivrin to England in 1320. Mr. Dunworthy, an expert in the 20th century and Kivrin’s former mentor, opposes the trip to no avail. As soon as Kivrin arrives in the past she comes down with a mysterious illness. Back in the 22nd century the tech working the trip falls ill with a similar sickness. The sickness spreads and soon becomes an epidemic, then a pandemic.
The novel follows Kivrin as she attempts to survive the Middle Ages and return to the drop point in time for the return trip and Mr. Dunworthy as he attempts to survive the pandemic, determine if Kivrin’s drop went as planned, and open the “net” in time to retrieve her. As Kivrin and Mr. Dunworthy each have no way of knowing what is happening to the other, the Doomsday Book reads like two books. Two related books, sure, but each with its own distinct feel.
N. K. Jemisin Book Drawing Winners!
The N. K. Jemisin free books re-tweet contest is now closed. We had, in all, 54 entries. After copying all names into a spreadsheet and assigning each one a number, we used a random number generator to select our first and second place winners. For the record, the numbers we generated were 10 and 16. Congrats to our winners:
Jen Cook (@EnsCuddlesHuman) is our first place winner and has chosen to receive the Inheritance Trilogy, which means our second place winner…
Scott Spiegelberg (@MusicPerception) gets the first two books of the Dreamblood series.
Besides the books our winners will receive a commemorative set of 2012 Hugo bookmarks, one of which (incidentally) promotes Jemisin‘s Hugo nominated novel, The Killing Moon.
This is the first of many book drawings and author interviews, so stay tuned to this blog for future opportunities.
Thanks to Orbit Books for donating the prizes, and between you, me and the lamp post, I think we can expect more such freebies from the folks at Orbit.
WoGF Review: Cyber Circus by Kim Lakin-Smith
In his youth, Barry F. (bazhsw), really enjoyed reading science fiction and fantasy, and then stopped for the best part of twenty years. In 2012 Barry made a committment to “read more science fiction” and decided the Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge would be his launchpad.
Cyber Circus is a carnival featuring a range of bizarre characters and oddities as it travels across Sore Earth in a steam powered airship. The novel is very much in the vein of the ‘road movie’ as the Circus moves from town to town whilst being pursued by a pimp character (D’Angelus) trying to reacquire one of the acts (and ‘obtain’ another) for his brothel.
That set-up may well seem seedy and indeed it is. There is a sickness to the culture of Sore Earth and on the face of things the inhabitants have very few redeeming features with individuals falling into categories of ‘exploited’ or ‘exploiter’ (and it could be argued some fitting into both).
The world is barren and survival is hard, it’s hard not to think of the American Depression era and the ‘curiosities’ of the traveling freak show.
There is a theme of violation through the characters of the circus. Many of them have been subjected to bodily modification either against their will or as a result of other ‘bio-surgery’. Indeed, there is a presence of sexual violence (or threat thereof) throughout the book and although these scenes are not graphically presented it still is an uncomfortable read at times. It seems that many of the non-storyline inhabitants of Sore Earth fit into the category of ‘worker’ or ‘prostitute’. It did make me think of how female characters in particular are portrayed in ‘Western’ cinema – (or those who inhabit bars at least).
Riddick – First Trailer
I have to say, this new Riddick movie looks a whole lot like a remake of Pitch Black. Any word on how much this will tie into the Riddick Trilogy?
WoGF Review: Agatha H and the Airship City by Phil and Kaja Foglio
For Lynn Williams (lynnsbooks) books are much more than a hobby or a pastime they’re really an obsession. If she’s not reading a book, she’s talking about books on her blog, Lynn’s Book Blog, or deciding which books to buy next. Lynn reads all sorts of books, sometimes straying into YA, but her first love is fantasy. Recently she started to cross into science fiction thanks to the suggestions of some very excellent bloggers.
Just finished reading Agatha H and the Airship City which I absolutely loved. Now, before I start I will confess that I’ve not read the Girl Genius webcomics that this book is based on so my opinion isn’t based on any sort of comparison in that respect. But I thought this was excellent and such good fun. In fact I felt like I read most of the story wearing a ridiculous grin. The authors have managed to take this story and write it in such a way that it’s a fully fleshed out novel but still manages to give you the same feeling you have when you read a comic which is no small achievement.
The story is set in a world of dashing and fearless heroes where madcap sparks (inventors if you will) have turned the Industrial Revolution into chaos creating all sorts of weird and wonderful contraptions. The Heterodyne Boys – heroes of the people – have disappeared mysteriously and are now only remembered through the story books that people read that recount their adventures. With no deterrent the remaining mad scientists fight a war for supremacy which results in the ruthless Baron Klaus Wulfenbach gaining ultimate control. He now rules the country with an iron fist, aided by his strange and diverse collection of robots, Jagerkin and constructs that he has accumulated through the spoils of war and which now form part of his vast army.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Full Trailer
“Somebody really wanted our initials to spell out ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.'”
“You just can’t differentiate between a robot and the very best of humans.” – Isaac Asimov
From our science-fact department: Here’s yet another example of increasingly human-like abilities that our robots are acquiring. Even Asimov would be impressed. This one is designed to test out hazmat suits and the like, so it doesn’t really need to stand on its own. Somehow that makes me feel safer…
If this puts you in the mood to read a robot tale, check out the whole sub-genre here.
Ray Harryhausen: A Brief Appreciation
It’s been a week since special effects legend Ray Harryhausen passed. Like so many others of my and earlier generations, Harryhausen’s classic stop-motion effects were the movie effects we grew up with. Who else could make a metal giant so terrifying, a sword-wielding skeleton so dangerous, or a gorgon so freakishly crowned?
Gareth Edwards of Monsters fame (and soon to be of Godzilla fame) has written a nice appreciation of Harryhausen’s work, which seems especially honest since Edwards is a special effects man, himself.
Way before digital came along, the only way to achieve some of the things in your head was to go about it the hard way with stop motion animation. It’s so much harder than what we can do today. I can’t wrap my head around it. He would do scenes like Medusa’s snakes on her head and managed to keep track of every single movement of every snake one frame at a time. It took a level of discipline and genius that we don’t need to do visual effects today. It’s quite remarkable what he did — and I don’t there will be anyone quite like him ever again….
When I was doing visual effects on my first feature film “Monsters,” I would watch Harryhausen’s films on loop. Seeing the way he did it back then, with such harder resources, was definitely a motivation for me. I think he’ll always be remembered as one of the greats in cinema history. His name will become more and more valuable.
An Authentic Space Oddity
Some of our more popular posts included videos of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield explaining how water behaves when being wrung out from a washcloth in space, or demonstrating how to drink coffee in a microgravity environment. This, by far, surpasses even those kick-ass productions. Mr. Hadfield, you are our hero.
EDIT: It seems a fitting tribute to repost this, today.
