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/05b/ps320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT From early on in The Entire and the Rose series, a terrible choice has loomed before Titus Quinn. Our universe, the Rose, is home to family and friends. But his life in the Entire has brought with it new family and friends, and has given him a position of power and influence. What everyone now wonders is how Titus will use that power. If confronted with the choice of saving the Entire or the Rose, which will he choose? http://www.sfsite.com/05b/gm320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT The setting is 1926 New York, in an alternate reality where there are coal-powered cars, and biplanes take off from standing starts atop skyscrapers, using primitive rocket boosters. The USA is engaged in a Cold War with the British Empire, which still covers half the globe, and the British have only just buried Queen Victoria, whose life was artificially preserved to the age of 107. Targeted murders are occurring across New York, the victims all found with pristine Roman coins laid on their eyelids after death. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/ka320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT We meet Katja -- accessorised with drooping Mohawk and plastic tracheotomy tube -- as she arrives late for work at a diner, having just murdered her boyfriend. She has killed him to take possession of mysterious vial which offers the possibility of a way off the island. Unsurprisingly, others would seek to acquire the vial just as violently as Katja did. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/ev320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT I know what you're thinking: "please, not another anthology of vampire stories!". We have read so much vampire fiction in the past that by now everything seems to have been already said about that topic. However, it appears that vampires are no more what they used to be: they're changing habits, adapting to the rules of modern life. In other words, they are evolving. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/bj320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Bijou is an aging Wizard -- she has been a Wizard of Messaline for eighty years. Her specialty is making creatures out of bone -- a sort of mechanical variety of magic. Her one remaining human friend is Brazen, another Enchanter. Brazen has long failed to convince Bijou to take an apprentice. Then one day he drops off a forlorn creature -- a child who has been raised by jackals. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/dm320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Shortly after the turn of the 21st century, the dead started coming back. There had always been a few dead souls who returned, here and there, of course -- but this wholesale rising was something new and troublesome. The situation offered a silver lining of sorts to Felix Castor and others like him: natural exorcists, born with the knack of laying dead souls to rest. What had previously been useful only as a quirky hobby or a party trick became a profitable and sought-out profession. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/wb320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT This is the finest, as well as the final, installment of the trilogy of audiobooks. Brandon Sanderson proves to be a master at hiding things in plain sight. He managed to hide an entire mythical army right out in the open. He also hid the true enemy, the force behind all of this, and when that enemy is revealed, it is both logical and surprising. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/lb320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Once again, P.N. Elrod has created a delightful read in the second installment of The Vampire Files, with Lifeblood. What makes these books fun is that they are not just another book about vampires, but they are the film noir of vampire novels. Did you ever read any of the old detective magazines with stories about a private investigator of sorts cracking the case? http://www.sfsite.com/05b/wh320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT It is a rollercoaster of a story set in a world within a box -- a world-within-a-world that is itself a Divine Comedy. For the box is, for most of those inside, a kind of after-life -- those humans who enter the box do so at a moment of imminent death in this world -- and it is certainly more an Inferno, or at best a Purgatorio, than a Paradiso. This is a world created out of the nightmares and fears of humans themselves, contained inside a box that is in fact a prison, with a very special prisoner. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/booknews320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Guy Gavriel Kay mixes fantasy and Tang Dynasty history to create a heady cocktail of war and strife in the 8th Century; while John Meaney blends science fiction and history into a long refreshing tale of spies and deep-seated desires for power... http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT So we're following up -- expanding upon? -- the last column's thoughts about Kick-Ass, both the movie, and -- to a certain extent -- the comic. The first question might be: does Mark London Williams mean his last column, a month ago, or Mr. Klaw's?, and the answer might be both. His was more specific, then Rick took the reins to survey the live action superhero comic in the modern film-and-digital era. Which kind of brings us back to Kick-Ass. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT This time we're looking at the latest from China Mieville, Robin Hobb, Ian McDonald, Peter S. Beagle, Cory Doctorow, Alan Fenton, Adam Roberts, and many others. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/rh320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Everyone knows the legend of Robin Hood. Emerging from the depths of Sherwood Forest, Robin and his band of merry men steal from the rich of Nottingham and give to the poor. His tales of cleverness and daring-do feature archery and swordplay, competition and romance define the very essence of exciting adventure. Too bad no one bothered to remind the makers of the lackluster Robin Hood of these necessary elements. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/im320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Is Iron Man 2 a romantic comedy or an action thriller? Actually, it's a four-star romantic comedy and a three-star action thriller. It is long enough to be two movies, and yet Rick was always entertained. But he liked it best when Tony Stark wasn't wearing tin underwear. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT According to the IMDB, 2010 will see the release of 83 science fiction films and 64 fantasy films, most of which you don't really want to know about. For example, there's Mars, by Jeff Marslett, whose previous work includes Milton is a Shitbag. Here are some that look interesting. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/rp320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT There is an oddly symbiotic relationship between science fiction and Marxism. One of the necessary conditions for the emergence of science fiction was the idea that the world might be changed, that a material difference could be made to one's own circumstances, not after death or in some fantastical Cockayne, but here and now. Such a notion developed during the Renaissance. http://www.sfsite.com/05b/hd320.htm Sun, 16 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Chances are, when it comes to the future of biotechnology and cloning, bad science fiction and under-informed news articles have you preparing for one of two possible futures: a dystopian Earth brought to post-apocalyptic ruin thanks to "ultraintelligent uberclones" run amok; or a disease-free paradise where "Every child rides to school on a genetically engineered unicorn." http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica319.htm Sun, 2 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Not that long ago, live action movies based on comics were a scarcity. In the 70s, a few made-for-TV movies based on Marvel properties littered the airwaves. Spider-man, Hulk, Dr. Strange, and Captain America all enjoy varying degrees of success. Not to be outdone, DC supplied the highly popular Wonder Woman series. Buck Rogers even staged a comeback. These films and series produced in the days before cable and digital effects, all looked inferior even to the current dismal crop of Saturday night originals airing on SyFy. Rick Klaw works his way through the decades discussing the adaptation of comics into movies. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Is the island sentient? If not, why do people keep saying, "The island wants this." "The island wants that." Are Jacob and the Man in Black good and evil? Order and chaos? Two players in a cosmic game? Will the ending of Lost be the Titanic ending or the 2001: A Space Odyssey ending or the 1940s South Sea Island ending? http://www.sfsite.com/05a/ga319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Our story begins in 1608, with Galileo an ambitious but frustrated teacher in Padua who believes that he never receives due recognition or, more importantly, the money he needs from the Venetian authorities. It was then, as Galileo himself told the tale, that a Dutch visitor told him about the telescope that had been invented earlier that year by Hans Lippershey in the Netherlands. Here the visitor is Ganymede who introduces himself as coming from Alte Europa. Galileo misunderstands this as a clumsy reference to "Upper Europe," the Protestant north, though we realise soon enough that Ganymede in fact hails from high Europa, the Jovian moon. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/ri319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT The story begins with the American advance troops whom, in the dying weeks of the war in Europe, crossed the Elbe in small numbers. The newly inaugurated President Truman decides, in the twist on what really happened that gives any alternate history its impetus, to send two divisions to Berlin to try and ensure that the liberation of the city is not entirely a Soviet Affair. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/no319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Mostly a prequel to the Area 51 series, this is the tale of four undead; Vampyr, Tian Dao Lin, Adrik and Nosferatu. There are others, including Nosferatu's undead lover, Nekhbet, but for reasons which will be explained, it is the four named here whose long lives form the principal story. As might be expected from the title, the murderous machinations revolve around Nosferatu and are most often seen from his perspective. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/rw319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Historically, Captain Lawrence "Titus" Oates was born in 1880 and died in the Antarctic in 1912 after leaving his tent to walk into a blizzard, saying, "I am just going outside and may be some time." His body was never recovered and his comrades, Scott, Henry Bowers, and Edward Wilson, died thirteen days later. While his comrades bodies were recovered later that year, Oates's body has never been found. It is suggested that his body was pulled into the mid-20th century and repaired, giving Oates a second chance at life. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/di319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT The author of The Exorcist has a new book out, but don't let that fool you into thinking it's a horror novel. While this book does delve into some mysticism, it is pretty much a spy thriller. The story opens in the 1970s in Albania, when a prisoner suspected of being an enemy agent is captured and subjected to horrendous torture. The prisoner is known as Dimiter, the American "agent from Hell." http://www.sfsite.com/05a/ba319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Barrayar, the second book of the Vorkosigan Saga, begins almost immediately following the events of Shards of Honor. Cordelia Vorkosigan (nee Naismith) has given up almost everything of her former life on Beta Colony to be with the man she loves. She's finding life on Barrayar somewhat hard to adjust to, however; its class and gender stratification, its emphasis on familial lineage and military might, and its lack of technological progress, all make the entire planet seem somewhat backwards to Cordelia's way of thinking. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/ff319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Jerzy, a slave in the vineyards of a Master Vineart, finds himself suddenly taken as Master Malech's apprentice in the secrets arts of spellwine. In the Vin Lands, power is divided among three classes: the Vinearts, who make the spellwines but who are forbidden to hold political power; the lords, who purchase and use the spellwines to hold their lands; and the Washers, the religious institution that guards Sin-Washer's legacy. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/bh319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Conrad Harrison receives a large inheritance from a father he hardly knew. While returning to his home in Los Angeles, Conrad stops in rural Wisconsin and buys a house. The century-old house was once a birthing house, where midwives delivered countless babies, both alive and dead. Conrad is immediately drawn to the house and goes back to Los Angeles to get his wife, Jo, so they can try to build a new beginning with a marriage that seems to be on the rocks. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/ow319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT The first story, "One Was Stubborn" was originally published in Unknown Fantasy Fiction, October 1940, under the pseudonym Rene La Fayette. It is a simple tale of a man unwilling to watch the world as he knows it vanish. The main character, Old Shellback, is the most stubborn man in the universe. When he goes in for an eye exam, the doctor's computer says he's depressed and should see the new Messiah that is changing the world. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/ts319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Over the decades, some of the author's most popular tales have featured an immense dragon named Griaule, who lays, perhaps sleeping, perhaps dead, next to the city Teocinte. Griaule is both a sinister and dangerous figure -- in part merely because of his size and the fact that he's a dragon, but in part for what might be called psychic reasons -- and a benefit to the locals, mainly as a tourist attraction. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/um319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Loosely inspired to the Arthurian legends, the novella recreates old myths, employing the author's imaginative power and her well-known, uncommon ability to carve exquisite phrasing and to delight the reader with her masterful wording. Her beautiful language has a musical quality that envelops the reader like an intoxicating melody, or, better, a complex, overwhelming symphony. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/fsf319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT As magazines go, this one has been available for many years, some might joke for millennia, though more seriously it is one of the best around which is a pure showcase for literary talent in the field of fantasy and science fiction writing. It brings their individual material into the publication. It is one that likes to go against the grain with the themes of the stories. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/derek319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT First, Derek has to offer an apology. Though he has been reading science fiction since he was fourteen, his exposure to science fiction concepts came not from books but from movies and television. He suspects that he's not alone in this: most members of his generation likely grew up not on issues of Astounding and Galaxy but on syndicated episodes of Star Trek and The Twilight Zone. Derek has some thoughts on this year's Hugo Awards for Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. Fans seems to have an embarrassment of riches. Or at least it seems that way on first glance. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/booknews319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT A distinctly dark flavour to this month's column with Jasper Kent talking about his Russian vampires in Twelve and Thirteen Years Later, and Conrad Williams inhabiting the twilight land between your last breath and your arrival on the other side in Decay Inevitable. http://www.sfsite.com/books/new319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Newest arrivals to the SF Site include the latest from Harry Turtledove, Neal Asher, Robert J. Sawyer, Naomi Novik, Peter Straub, some great collections, an array of magazines, and much, much more. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/audio319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Recent audiobook releases received by SF Site include works by David Weber, R.A. Salvatore, Ben Bova, William Peter Blatty, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson At times it's more convenient (and enjoyable) to hear the latest in science fiction and fantasy. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/me319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Simon, a kitchen boy working in the castle of the king becomes unwittingly involved in the epic struggle between good and evil that will decide the fate of all mankind. After the beloved King John dies, a power struggle ensues between brothers, one clearly good and one who was once good, but whose mind has since been compromised by other forces. Memory, Sorrow and Thorn are three legendary magic swords that must be found, gathered and brought together in order to defeat the threat that looms over the kingdom. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/sw319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT When he first started to learn magic, there were those who believed Nicodemus Weal was destined to become a wizard of prophecy, the Halcyon, who would turn back evil and save the world from the apocalyptic Disjunction. Then his mentors realized he couldn't spell in the magical sense. Writing his own spells required intense concentration, even for the simplest magic. And any spell already written down could be turned to gibberish by Nicodemus' touch. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/rk319.htm Sat, 1 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT Fire arrows and bloodmist -- the dark magic of a maimed witch -- obliterate the Langmyr village of Willowfield, killing a noble from the kingdom of Oakharn, his wife and retinue of knights. This devastation shatters the temporary truce between the two kingdoms, causing both kings to call forth their soldiers. Unbeknownst to anyone at first, Brys Tarnell, one of the noble's men and the noble's babe survive. 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.