Privacy Policy
|
|
A Conversation With Jeff VanderMeer
An interview with Matthew Cheney
On precision in stories:
"First person narrators should not always write pitch-perfect prose. Sometimes the violence -- physical or mental -- described by a
story requires rougher edges. There's such a thing as being too civilized or intellectual in your approach. A rough oil painting is as
effective as a precise, photo-realistic portrait, sometimes more so."
The Mimic by Jeff VanderMeer
a story excerpt
"Dressed in a black business suit, a mimic appeared among the office workers on the third floor. He set up his computer in a just-abandoned cubicle. The dull hiss of his gray-spackled monitor reflected ghoulishly off his chalky face. He had an odd way of staring at the monitor, with his head cocked to the side. He had wrists and hands pale as the underbelly of a toad. He did not talk much."
SF Site News
compiled by Steven H Silver
Every day, items of interest to you arrive in our email. Our bi-monthly format doesn't lend itself to daily updates.
However, this is a small inconvenience to our Contributing Editor Steven H Silver. His column
will fill you in on recent news in science fiction. We'll be updating the page as he sends in new items.
The Dragon Quintet edited by Marvin Kaye
reviewed by Steven H Silver
Here we have an original anthology consisting of "In the Dragon's House" by Orson Scott Card, "Judgment" by Elizabeth Moon,
"Joust" by Mercedes Lackey and "King Dragon" by Michael Swanwick.
Planetes: Volume One by Makoto Yukimura
reviewed by Susan Dunman
When moving to a foreign country, travelers often take with them essential elements of their culture, including laws, religion,
entertainment, and... garbage. Space is no exception, so it's not a surprise when there's too
much "space trash" between Earth and a new lunar
colony. The debris poses a deadly threat to spacecraft and its removal necessitates the creation of a new job in space, the
extra-planetary sanitation worker.
Low Red Moon by Caitlín R. Kiernan
reviewed by Cindy Lynn Speer
Deacon Silvey doesn't want to help the police solve their latest crime, mostly because he knows the trouble it'll bring him if
his wife finds out. They want him to accompany them to an apartment where a brutal murder has taken place, and use his special
powers to see the killer. He's done with that, he has a wife and a baby on the way, but a monetary bribe convinces him to take
a quick look.
Letters from the Flesh by Marcos Donnelly
reviewed by Chris Przybyszewski
Beware oh readers. There do be devils in some of these books we read. One of our favorite types of books is the subversive
kind, those books that take commonly held beliefs and stick an wedge into those beliefs. The reader's only reactions are to throw
the book on the bonfire or to think about the book's content.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick offers his thoughts on what to watch on TV in July. He also gives us an idea of why
you should take a look at any episodes of Star Trek Enterprise and Smallville that you may have missed.
Sequential Art
a column by Matthew Peckham
This week Matt takes the reboot of Brian Michael Bendis's award-winning Powers series to the mat, and gives
American Splendor artist Josh Neufeld's The Vagabonds a belated look.
Bubba Ho-Tep
a give-away contest
When mysterious deaths plague the Shady Rest retirement home, it's up to an aging, cantankerous Elvis Presley (Campbell) and a decrepit - and black - JFK (Davis) to defeat a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy with a penchant for sucking the souls from the barely living! Will this Bubba Ho-Tep make sure there's never another Elvis sighting? Or can the King show the world that he can still take care of business?
Read the contents, answer the questions, win a DVD. Easy, eh?
Daydreams Undertaken by Stephen L. Antczak
reviewed by Georges T. Dodds
This collection of 15 tales was inspired or whose dénouement was worked out through the author's
daydreaming. An introduction to each tale tells of just which aspect of the particular story required this semi-conscious
consultation with the Muses. The lead story is a lovely
tale, which on one level asks the question whether reality is an absolute or simply a human construct, and on another whether art
can create an alternate reality.
The Piaculum by Richard C. Gray
reviewed by Alisa McCune
Our story is set in a future, post-apocalyptic Earth. We follow the story of Cearl, a young man with a white-mark, who is a
Mone. The Mone are non-violent farmers, who value family and religion. They are poor farmers who eke out a living in a
desert-like landscape. The white-mark Cearl has is rare. It is similar to being an albino. He has pale skin compared to the dark
color of the other Mone.
|
|
The Knight by Gene Wolfe
reviewed by David Soyka
In music, the notes that aren't played can be just as important as the ones that are. As much as the actual sounds, the silent rests define
the musical experience.
Same thing with literature. What the writer doesn't tell you is sometimes as important as what he does. Perhaps that's the difference, or
at least one element of the difference, between fiction intended purely for entertainment and fiction with higher ambitions. Where one
works it out so you don't have to think too much about it, the other leaves you pondering how the spaces should be filled.
Coyote Cowgirl by Kim Antieau
reviewed by Donna McMahon
When she was 5, Jeanne Les Flambeaux heard a crystal skull speaking to her and made the mistake of telling her father. Although
she's now a young adult, her family is still watching for signs that she'll go crazy like her grandmother.
She's sane so far, but definitely a screw-up.
The Scrolls of the Ancients by Robert Newcomb
reviewed by Cindy Lynn Speer
The Vigors and the Vagaries are the two halves of the magic of Eutracia -- light and dark, good and evil, and the two scrolls of
Vigors and Vagaries contain the sum of all their knowledge. Without the scrolls, neither side would be able to survive. Krassus,
a powerful wizard who knows he will soon die, hopes to buy himself a better place in his chosen afterlife by destroying the Vigors
(the good side) and to accomplish this he must find a long lost child.
The Burning Land by Victoria Strauss
reviewed by Chris Przybyszewski
Along with a new world of politics, religion, power, and faith, we get a simple coming of age story of one priest
named Gyalo, a Shaper of great magical power and of greater soul. Gyalo is sent by a deity incarnate and the head of his religion to
investigate happenings on the other side of his world, where errant Shapers have moved away from the teachings of his church. What
he finds is immense, and his journey takes him to the far ends of this beautifully described existence.
A Conversation With Victoria Strauss
An interview with Cindy Lynn Speer
On Writer Beware web site:
"In addition to maintaining the website (which is updated at least quarterly with new information and links), we collect
complaints and documentation on questionable agents, publishers and others. Right now we have files on more than 350 agents,
nearly 200 publishers, and assorted editors, contests, and services. It's the largest and most complete database of its kind in
the world, and we use it to provide information not just to writers who contact us with questions (we get upwards of 50 letters
a week), but to law enforcement officials, with whom we're currently at work on several ongoing investigations."
Spider-Man 2
a movie review by Rick Norwood
By now you already know that Spider-Man 2 is in the same league with the first Spider-Man film, which is to say that it is
among the best super-hero films ever. Some people prefer it to the first film.
Highlander: The Series
a give-away contest
Follow Duncan MacLeod's epic journey through the ages with three HIGHLANDER TV Movies. Each title is edited together for the first time to create stand-alone films: Counterfeit, Unholy Alliance and Finale. Davis-Anderson Merchandising Corp and Anchor Bay Entertainment bring these favorite, two part episodes together seamlessly, as they are meant to be, along with electrifying bonus features.
Read the contents, answer the questions, win a DVD. Easy, eh?
The Summer Country by James A. Hetley
reviewed by Alisa McCune
Maureen Pierce is a very troubled young woman. She was sexually abused as a child and as a result feels damaged. She feels like
she wears a psychic chastity belt after the years of abuse. Maureen is unable to trust any man and has allowed her fears to
push her into an existence that she loathes. Her sister, Jo has just stolen the man Maureen has spent the past two months allowing
to get close to her. One fateful evening, Maureen is attacked in an alley by a very strange being -- it almost looks like a troll.
Shifter by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
reviewed by Alisa McCune
Galen Sword is a troubled man. Orphaned at an early age, Sword has spent most of his life as a playboy looking for new thrills. One
night, Sword finds himself in the ER after a horrible car accident. The hospital staff decides he is too far gone and they move on
to the next patient. At death's door, Sword is healed and gains memories of his childhood. He is the heir to the Victor
of Pendragon but he does not know what this means or where he is from.
Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds by Craig R. Carey, Jason Fry, Jeff Quick, and Daniel Wallace
reviewed by Chris Przybyszewski
Wizards of the Coast delivers with its new accessory book to the Star Wars role-playing game. This
title features those worlds out yonder, those places not often frequented by those happily ensconced in
Coruscant and the Core Worlds, which is this accessory's big sister.
|
|
Some of the 
