http://www.sfsite.com/ The new issue of the SF Site is now online. Copyright 1996-2010 SF Site en-us http://www.sfsite.com/images/sfspot1.gif http://www.sfsite.com/ http://www.sfsite.com/03b/rm268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT If America has an existentialist fantasist, her name is Robin Hobb. Her writing, unique in a genre overpopulated with adolescent sword-and-sorcery epics, avoids tired retreads of the quest format perfected over a century ago through the prose-poetry of Lord Dunsany and the mythopoeic majesty of E.R. Eddison. It earns mention in the small but elite company of writers whose methods -- ranging as wide as the multilayered complexity of Robert Jordan, the bracing realism of George R.R. Martin, and the philosophical literacy of Philip Pullman -- are producing a renaissance in the field. Rather than offering mindless escapism, Robin Hobb's works utilize fantasy conventions to explore weighty concepts such as identity and fellowship, rights and duties, and permanence and change. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/du268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT One of the forms from which science fiction and fantasy emerged was the medieval romance in which a chivalrous, heroic knight, often of super-human ability, abides by strict chivalric codes of conduct while on a quest in which he fights and defeats monsters and giants, thereby winning favour with a lady. There is often an allegorical aspect to the quest and the various opponents overcome, and a sense that the whole enterprise and its outcome are pre-ordained. Now put this description in purely science fictional terms... http://www.sfsite.com/03b/pp268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT In a world of relatively peaceful small kingdoms where magic is operated by mages and the usual feudal trappings exist, Lios, Crown Prince of Vesarja, invites the young princesses and princes of the world to a several day coming out party in his parent's castle. Rhis, princess of a small remote mountain kingdom, who has grown up stifled by protocol, is one of those who attends the festivities. When Iardith, a beautiful but vain and self-centered princess is kidnapped, Rhis leads a mounted rescue party of princess-friends. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/in268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT What's so bothersome about this book? Is it Jet, the novel's almost totally passive protagonist, whose one self-motivated act in the entire book is to run away from home? Maybe it is Otis, her robotic dog -- a character who could have been fascinating but instead exists solely to move the plot along by deducing things periodically (thus keeping Jet from ever figuring something out for herself)? Perhaps it is Jet's family and the showbiz caricatures that populate this novel, almost none ever rising to three-dimensionality? http://www.sfsite.com/lists/ps-author01.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT In the spring of 2004, PS Publishing launched a new magazine called Postscripts. Originally, the magazine was to be digest-sized featuring about 60,000 words of fiction, a guest editorial, book reviews, and the occasional non-fiction article in each issue. Fiction includes SF, fantasy, horror, and crime/suspense. The book is produced in two formats: numbered, limited edition in hard cover signed by all contributors and a perfect bound paper cover version. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/sw268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Swiftly by Adam Roberts -- not to be confused with his similarly titled collection from Night Shade Books a few years ago -- is an enormously ambitious novel, a steampunk epic of considerable force and ingenuity. It is also a deeply bizarre book, whose protagonists, sometimes to the detriment of the plot, conduct a love affair based on disgust and the stimulating odor of excrement. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/sg268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Are you sick and tired of vampires? Many are but there is one distinct exception, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Comte de Saint-Germain. Created more than thirty-five years ago with the novel Hotel Transylvania, Saint-Germain has been the main character in a long series of novels, the latest of which is Borne in Blood. In addition, the undead has been starring in a bunch of short stories and novelettes, now assembled here for the first time. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/best08.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Come and see what we consider to be the best of what we read last year, on the SF Site's 11th annual Editors' Choice Top 10 List -- our official SF Site Best SF and Fantasy Books of 2007. Last issue we showed you how you voted on the Readers' Choice Top 10; you may be as surprised as we were to compare the two lists. There's so little overlap it almost seems like the SF Site readers and reviewers aren't reading many of the same books. But this just means that when you look at both lists you'll find even more recommendations for great books to read. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/tm268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Following the adventures of Time Agent Captain Jack Harkness and his outside-the-law, alien-investigating elite team, Torchwood has become a firm favourite in both the UK and the US. Now, Titan have launched the Torchwood magazine to take you behind the scenes and introduce you to all the who's and how's that make Torchwood tick. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Some of the spring releases to arrive on our doorstep recently include the latest from Greg Egan, Sarah Zettel, Peter F. Hamilton, Alan Campbell, Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Alma Alexander, Barth Anderson, and many more. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/audio268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT At times, it's more convenient (and enjoyable) to hear the latest in science fiction and fantasty. Recent audiobook releases include works by S.M. Sterling, Frank Herbert, Casandra Claire, Piers Anthony, and R.A. Salvatore. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Rick offers his thoughts on believing everything he reads such as the start of the next season of Stargate: Atlantis, some of the points made in the book, The World Is Flat, whether climate change is a hoax and did Barak Obama attend a madrasa. He also found time to see to see 10,000 A.D. and to do a DVD review of Slings & Arrows. http://www.sfsite.com/03b/gs268.htm Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Until recently, Sirantha Jax was a superstar. Possessing a rare gene which allows a select few to jump ships through "grimspace," and thus vastly shorten interstellar travel time, she had it made, having made more jumps and discovered more planets than anyone else working for the Corp. But all jumpers burn out sooner or later, so she knew her time was finite. And then came the crash on Matins IV, an accident only which she survived. She was locked away, interrogated and tortured and left to rot. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/best08.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Come and see what we consider to be the best of what we read last year, on the SF Site's 11th annual Editors' Choice Top 10 List -- our official SF Site Best SF and Fantasy Books of 2007. Last issue we showed you how you voted on the Readers' Choice Top 10; you may be as surprised as we were to compare the two lists. There's so little overlap it almost seems like the SF Site readers and reviewers aren't reading many of the same books. But this just means that when you look at both lists you'll find even more recommendations for great books to read. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/mr267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT The four Gospels account of the life of Jesus suffers from a "Rosemary Woods" gap -- a period of roughly eighteen years between the ages of 12 and 30 in which either Jesus did nothing worth noting or was entirely absent from Palestine. There is some Biblical evidence to suggest the latter view. John the Baptist failed to recognize his own cousin, implying that he hadn't seen Jesus for quite some time. Also, Matthew 17:24-27 recounts that Jesus had to pay a Roman enforced "strangers tax" levied upon aliens. Another speculation goes that his great uncle, Joseph of Aramathea, reputed as one of the first Christian missionaries to Britain and the founder of what became Glastonbury Abbey, might conceivably have taken the young Jesus up North for vacation. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/mh267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Roger Zelazny has always been admired and praised by other writers for his way with words. The near poetic prose of stories like "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" and "24 Views of Mount Fuji, by Hokusai", and the unique mix of mythology, religion, and technology in novels like Lord of Light were often imitated but seldom matched. And in his most popular works, the long-running Amber series, he found mass popularity to match his stylistic talent and ambition. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/nw267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT These days it seems that barely a week goes by without another anthology that has an agenda, that is meant to work as propaganda. We are being assailed with collections that are designed to convince us that something old has been revitalised (the new hard SF, the new space opera) or that something new has been discovered (the slipstream anthology, the interstitial anthology, the post-cyberpunk anthology). If we enjoy good stories in these books, it is secondary to being convinced that this totally fresh way of looking at the genre is valid, is going to take over literature. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT It's been a busy month for new books, including the latest from Iain M. Banks, Robin Hobb, Raymond E. Feist, Stephen Baxter, as well as new editions of Greg Egan, Michael Moorcock, Neal Stephenson, Henry Kuttner, Leigh Brackett, and much more. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/best08b.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT This year is the 10th anniversary of the SF Site Readers' Choice Best of the Year Top 10 List. Come and see the results of the the votes you and your fellow SF Site readers submitted. Whether your own personal favourite is on our Readers' Choice Best of 2007, you're sure to find some great books here. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/lf267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Captain John "Black Jack" Geary is in for the fight of his life. He awoke from a century-long slumber in a survival pod to find himself rescued by a fleet that reveres him for his military record and heroic actions, a fleet that seems to have forgotten everything it once knew about intelligent tactics, smart battle maneuvers, and military strategy. And when the highest-ranking members of the fleet's command structure were killed, he was forced to assume command by virtue of technical seniority. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/over267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Many of us are drawn to stories about characters suffering from some form of memory loss. These tales can be a great deal of fun because they allow the reader to share in the character's self-discovery. This column looks at two books where memory loss is an integral feature of the story -- one is a recent award winner, and the other is more than a quarter century old and has recently been reprinted. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/dw267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Despite being compared by some to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, the Night Watch Trilogy involves realistic contemporary (post-communism modern, slightly decaying Russian) urban landscapes, strictly adult characters, with adult interests, motivations and issues, organized in highly hierachical multi-member fraternal organisations, battling on many fronts, and trying to intrigue their way to superiority over the other side. In this sense, they are much more reminiscent of the title characters in Katherine Kurtz's early Deryni titles. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/sd267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT In 1994 a small, independent comic from an even smaller independent label, Fireman Press, debuted. Set in the future, the story featured a world where robot assassins could be purchased through vending machines, assigned a target and would self-destruct upon completion of their mission. It was all the brainchild of creator Rob Schrab and he called it Scud: the Disposable Assassin. Weird, right? http://www.sfsite.com/03a/sc267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT The Spiderwick Chronicles is a charming children's movie, which adults can enjoy -- though probably not the same adults who enjoy, say, 30 Days of Night. It is aimed at a younger crowd than The Golden Compass, and requires a certain tolerance for "cute." Still, it is considerably better than the pervious fantasy film aimed at this age group, The Dark is Rising. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT The writer's strike is over. The networks are spacing out the shows they have to try to cover the gap due to the strike, so there is very little SF on TV. But what there is, Rick gives us a list of what to watch in March. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/gm267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT Gods of Manhattan was not at all what Nathan expected. As a former MTV producer and author of two BlokeLit novels, Nathan was anticipating this author's venture into Harry Potter territory would be loaded with modern cultural references, and techno clever-dickery. Instead, what he found was a quaintly old-fashioned work, brimming with quirky invention and subtle charm. http://www.sfsite.com/03a/fr267.htm Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT The novel begins normally enough -- Jacob Logan returns to his rural family home after his business collapses. He has been away for years, and lost his country ways; the townspeople, including the old family friend he left in charge of the house, react with hostility to his metropolitan behavior. As Jacob attempts to relax and find himself, he instead finds mysteries -- starting with the discovery that fireflies would literally rather die than come onto his property. http://www.sfsite.com/rssfeeds01.htm Sat, 1 Jan 2005 11:00:00 GMT After constructing our first RSS feed, it soon became apparent that the size of files could grow quickly. We decided to separate them into smaller ones, breaking them up by month. On this page you will find RSS feed files for all of our content beginning with January 2005.