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/columns/graphica312.htm Sun, 17 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT In Edwin Starr's Vietnam-era song, War, the rhetorical answer to the lyric, "War. Huh. Yeah. What Is it Good For?" was the intuitively obvious "Absolutely nothin'." And while history has created moments where wars of "necessity" seemed unavoidable, it becomes increasingly obvious that "war" is a zero-sum game, except for both the industrialists and unhinged nationalists for whom "war" is their favorite political institution, because it transfers so much power into their necrotic hands. Is Mark London Williams sounding a bit polemical? Well, it's because he has rediscovered war is actually good for something after all -- oppositional art. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/al312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Jack makes the journey to Oak Lodge in order to conjure up a mythago of his own grandfather, George Huxley. From George, he hopes to gain the clue to help him on an even more perilous journey, for Yssobel has disappeared and Jack must venture into the heart of the wood to find his sister. Yssobel, meanwhile, has a quest of her own, for her mother Guiwenneth has left the villa with a shadowy troop of horsemen. While Steven, as ever, waits behind, Yssobel, aided by the mythago of a young Ulysses, sets out to rescue her from Avilion once more. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/ba312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Over three decades ago, Terese Drajeske retired from the Guardians, and from the business of preventing war from threatening Earth and its far-flung colonies. The last thing she ever expected or wanted was to be recalled to active duty, but the brutal murder of her old friend and mentor is something even she can't ignore. Reluctantly, she accepts her assignment: travel to the corrupt and dangerous Erasmus System, a set of worlds where slavery, smuggling, abuse of power and treachery run rampant, and find out if a true threat to humanity's peace exists. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/neil311.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Traditionally, the arrival of the new year is a time to look ahead, and make plans for the future. But it's also a time to look back and reflect on the year we've just completed. And at the SF Site, it's traditional to review the past year's worth of reading and to vote on what you considered to be the best of it. This is your chance to have your say. The same rules apply as in previous SF Site Readers' Choice Awards: if you read it, you liked it, and you want to vote for it, go nuts. If you've forgotten what you chose in previous years, you can find them all linked at Best Read of the Year including Anathem by Neal Stephenson which was the top choice last year. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/au312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Patricia O'Neill's science article, "Private I," is an interesting look at how our sensory perceptions of the world are unique to ourselves (and how they differ, in a more extreme way, from those of other species). The book review column is by Keith Stevenson and there is an interview with Greg Egan, conducted by Russell Blackford. Rich thought this was a particularly good issue for the fiction. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/ju312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT The opening story, "The Space Sphinx" by Edward Rodosek, is a novelette told by a man who came to a colony planet as its chief "hunter," protecting the colony from the dangerous local fauna. He tells the story of his successor, who met and married a mysterious local woman only to lose her, apparently, to some alien creature, then disappeared himself. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/go312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT John Scalzi tries something new with this long novella. He calls it dark fantasy, but it's really more science-fantasy -- the action is largely aboard an FTL starship, and the setting is an interstellar religious empire. The title is literally true. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/pd312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Pine Cove is a sleepy little tourist town which is populated with characters like Augustus Brine, the owner of a popular shop that sells bait, tackle and fine California wines; Rachael, the homicidal, vegan, aerobic instructing witch; and "Breeze" an aging semi-bald surfer dude. They are all about to be joined by two new visitors, Travis and his constant companion, Catch -- the man-eating demon from Hell. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/vw312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Kylara Vatta, drummed out of the military academy, has her hopes and dreams of a military career dashed. However, being part of one of the most successful trading families in the known universe provides a fairly soft cushion. But what Kylara does not expect is that, as a scion of her house, she will be immediately given a captain's position and sent off on what should be a routine trading mission. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/sk312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT The story opens with a dirty little war, between the PPA, (People's Paradise of Africa), and Caliphate of Arabia. The PPA is a despotic regime run by corrupt revolutionary siblings, Dr. Nshombo and his sister Alicia. Think Robert Mugabe, and Idi Amin in drag, for a fair idea of what these two are like. The Caliphate is under the leadership of Prince Siraj, who was installed earlier in this sequence via the meddling of British Ace Noel Matthews. As usual when one country interferes in the affairs of another, things haven't worked out quite as planned. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/bs312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Gold prospectors flocked to the Northwest in search of treasure in the late 1800s, and during this frenzy the Russians sought a way to reach a vein of gold hidden below a vast amount of Alaskan ice. To this end, they held a contest for a machine that could manage the task and commissioned Seattle scientist Leviticus Blue to build his Boneshaker. But things went awry as he carved out much of Seattle's downtown, accidentally releasing blight gas that turned individuals into the living dead. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/gs312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT An Italian luxury cruise ship called the Antonia Grazia disappeared at sea in 1962 on its way across the North Atlantic to America. It has supposedly been spotted today (today being 2002, when the film was first released) floating around the Bering Sea, which is on the other side of America from the North Atlantic which just goes to show that forty years later, a lost ghost ship can really get around. http://www.sfsite.com/01a/se311.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT In 1999, Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers in the UK, published Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson, the first book in the multi-volume sequence, The Malazan Book of the Fallen. They have gone on to publish eight more titles in the series. In addition, they wanted to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the first book and have recently released a hardcover edition. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/hg312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, penned by the late, great Douglas Adams, still needs no introduction. David actually said this a few years ago when he wrote a review of the first three books in the trilogy. First of all if you STILL haven't ready the sci-fi genre-transcending SF experience that is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, go read it already. David will wait. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/wk312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT The book is primarily a companion to the two books which make up Gene Wolfe's The Wizard Knight series. Andre-Driussi's entries for his lexicon are all taken from the source work, whether the names of individuals, such as Able, Wolfe's narrator for the cycle, or places, like Yens. Each entry not only explains the role the entry plays in Wolfe's work, but also its etymology, when appropriate, and notes where in the series the reference appears. http://www.sfsite.com/01b/eh312.htm Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT For a dozen years now Stephen Haffner and his Haffner Press have been tirelessly devoted to resurrecting for the first time, the complete short works of Jack Williamson, Leigh Brackett, and Edmond Hamilton. Not just throwing together and reprinting the stories, which would have been a worthwhile, albeit monumental, task in and of itself, but going to great pains in preserving them in beautiful, deluxe, hardcover editions. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/neil311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Traditionally, the arrival of the new year is a time to look ahead, and make plans for the future. But it's also a time to look back and reflect on the year we've just completed. And at the SF Site, it's traditional to review the past year's worth of reading and to vote on what you considered to be the best of it. This is your chance to have your say. The same rules apply as in previous SF Site Readers' Choice Awards: if you read it, you liked it, and you want to vote for it, go nuts. If you've forgotten what you chose in previous years, you can find them all linked at Best Read of the Year including Anathem by Neal Stephenson which was the top choice last year. http://www.sfsite.com/01a/bc311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT In this second title of the fabulously dark and mysterious Jane Yellowrock series, the New Orleans vampire Council hires Jane to track down a vampire who has been creating young rogues and letting them loose on the city. But there's much more to the plot than tracking down one evil vampire. Jane must also outwit Leo Pellessier, vampire master of New Orleans who wants revenge because he believes she killed his son rather than the impostor who took his son's life decades ago. http://www.sfsite.com/01a/sn311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT The future's not pretty. That's the inescapable lesson to be found in this gritty, bleak look at a near-future United States torn apart by a collapsing ecology. That collapse is most notably seen in the desert that has made the Southwest uninhabitable and is spreading east across the southern U.S., or what's left of it. We are introduced to this world through the eyes of Jennifer Harrison, a young woman who has decided it's time to get out of the desert, but it's too late. http://www.sfsite.com/01a/pl311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Mistaya Holiday, daughter to the king and queen of Landover, is now 15 years old and has been sent by her parents to the natural world to attend Carrington Women's' Prepatory Academy in present day America. She doesn't really fit in there and promptly gets suspended and has to return home to Landover to face her parents' ire. As a result, she decides to run away from home, ending up at the ancient library of Libiris where not everything is as it seems to be. http://www.sfsite.com/01a/av311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Mankind, in 2154, having ruined the Earth, is in search of a necessary but rare mineral to keep modern society going and this mineral, unobtainium, has been located in another system on a remote moon named Pandora. There are problems to getting it: most of Pandora's flora and fauna -- even its air -- are deadly to humans, and the biggest deposit of it yet found sits right below the ancestral home of Pandora's indigenous population, the Na'vi. http://www.sfsite.com/01a/se311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT In 1999, Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers in the UK, published Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson, the first book in the multi-volume sequence, The Malazan Book of the Fallen. They have gone on to publish eight more titles in the series. In addition, they wanted to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the first book and have recently released a hardcover edition. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/audio311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Recent audiobook releases received by SF Site include works by Lois McMaster Bujold, Orson Scott Card, Cory Doctorow and Fred Saberhagen. At times it's more convenient (and enjoyable) to hear the latest in science fiction and fantasy. http://www.sfsite.com/01a/mg311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT The Dark Elders are immensely powerful Immortals who are seeking to regain their control over Earth. All they need are the last two pages of the Book of Abraham the Mage, which are in the possession of Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel. Mixed up in all this are Sophie and Josh Newman, two ordinary human twins who have magical abilities they never imagined. There is a prophecy about twins with powerful, pure silver and gold auras... Are Sophie and Josh those twins? http://www.sfsite.com/01a/bi311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT As the story opens, Gotham City is burning and the police are still unsure about the intentions of the Caped Crusader, Batman. Batman doesn't worry too much about public opinion, focusing on his goal to keep Gotham City safe. As for the burning city, Batman is doing everything he can to find out who is starting all of the fires and what he can do to stop the firebug. Batman soon discovers that the up-and-coming villain goes by the moniker of Enfer, the French word for Hell. http://www.sfsite.com/01a/cs311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Short story collections can be such good value for money, providing of course the contents are up to scratch. The first few works in this set had Nathan thinking the book was going to be one of the best of its type, delivering absolutely spellbinding visions spanning a rich diversity of subjects. It is quite a large collection, and has its share of ups and downs, but the ups have the numbers to make it a worthy addition to anyone's home library. http://www.sfsite.com/01a/tr311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT What can we trust about an unreliable narrator? Among other things, our specific Unreliable Narrator relates his suffocation by an intruder into his hospital room. Which raises the question of how a first person narrator can relate their murder (if, in fact, that is what has actually happened, since, remember he is an unreliable narrator), unless you're reading The Lovely Bones. And then there is the subtitle -- "based on a false story." What is that supposed to mean? http://www.sfsite.com/01a/aa311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT It has become trite to mention the increasing importance of online short fiction in the SF world -- but there you are -- it's true! And one of the longer running, and higher quality, online sources of SF is Abyss & Apex. As Rich writes this they have just completed 7 years of continuous publication. They have always had a good mix of SF and Fantasy (and a wide range of styles of both), and some very fine poetry as well. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT The New Year brings us new books to read, including the latest from Kim Stanley Robinson, Charlie Huston, Mike Resnick, Elizabeth Bear, Robert Rankin, Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Alastair Reynolds, and plenty others. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/booknews311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Actor Rob Benedict is a familiar face to fans of the Supernatural TV series -- he plays Chuck Shurley, the writer and prophet who just happens to be protected by archangels. But Benedict also has another creative role as the lyricist, lead singer and rhythm guitar player in his band Louden Swain. With their new CD -- A Brand New Hurt -- out now, Benedict took the time to tell us how the band was formed and give us an insight into the tracks on the new album. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT By 1990, the Reagan-promised American dream lay in ruins. The U.S. economy teetered on the verge of a recession. While crime rates eventually dropped dramatically later in the decade, American crime levels had achieved record highs throughout the 80s. After decades of neglect, the U.S. education system doomed an entire generation to lives of mediocrity and poverty. The Iran-Contra controversy combined with other scandals and the ridiculous excesses of consumption further eroded the weary American psyche. Rick Klaw follows how writer Peter Milligan and artist Chris Bachalo produced Shade, the Changing Man for DC Comics, an indictment and a chronicle of failed dreams and hopes. http://www.sfsite.com/01a/at311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Avatar is the first real science fiction movie in a long time that is not part of a franchise. It's an action adventure movie from one of our best action directors -- only Lucas and Spielberg are better. It is the first movie to show us the complexity of life on an alien world. Not only that, it is well on its way to becoming one of the top box office films of all time. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick311.htm Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT Rick also gives us a list of what SF is on TV in January when Dollhouse ends, Heroes, Fringe, and Smallville return. Since Dollhouse is ending, the writers are free to send it out with a bang. Smallville, on the other hand, would be ending with a whimper -- except it's not ending. As for Heroes... 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.