The Mammoth Book of New Jules Verne Adventures edited by Mike Ashley and Eric Brown
reviewed by Steven H Silver
For an author as widely known as Jules Verne, his reputation rests on relatively few books. This anthology of stories contains stories based on Verne's writings, not just his most popular books, but his most esoteric ones as well. Most of the stories are based on Verne's writing, although a few pull from Verne's life and times, or at least his potential life and times.

Machina by Jonathan Lyons
reviewed by Nathan Brazil
The premise behind this novel is a bold one; what happens when God dies. The author speculates that from the moment God is not able to keep an omnipresent eye on the entire universe, reality begins to falter. Human scientist first notice something happening at the far edges of the observable universe, where telescopes reveal that stars are disappearing.

Michael Wood

In Search of Myths and Heroes by Michael Wood
a DVD review by Sandy Auden
Presenter Michael Wood turns his considerable historical research skills towards the realms of fiction with this four-part television series examining the roots of some of the most enduring myths in history. He looks at Jason and the Argonauts, the Queen of Sheba, the mythical city of Shangri-La and King Arthur, chasing across the world for actual physical evidence to support these legendary stories.

In Search of Myths and Heroes -- A Conversation With Michael Wood
An interview with Sandy Auden
On the myth of Arthur:
"Look at King Arthur -- he first appears in the 9th Century as a Welsh freedom fighter, fighting against the Anglo-Saxons; and then by the 12th Century he's the Napoleon of the Middle Ages and marches on Rome and all this kind of stuff. Another 100 years go by and he's this chivalrous figure of romance with knights and round tables and spiritual quests. To the Tudors he's a political figure, and to the Victorians he becomes something else. The same character has the name Arthur but the story has changed out of all recognition."

War of the Worlds
a movie review by Rick Norwood
It owes as much to the 1953 film, The War of the Worlds, as it does to the H.G. Wells novel. The opening narration is adapted from the novel, but the closing narration is adapted from the film. There are significant omissions from Wells' first paragraph. Wells writes that the Martians have "intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own". In other words, the Martians are not supernatural, but are creatures like us, subject to scientific law. They are smarter than we are, therefore they know more science, therefore are more powerful.

Fantastic Four
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The Fantastic Four were the first squabbling super-heroes of the Silver Age, and you have to have been there to realize what an innovation that was, after the namby-pamby friendships of the D.C. super-heroes, who always got along and never ever argued. The conflict between the characters is a high point of the film.

Howl's Moving Castle
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Of the myriad Japanese animation directors, Hayao Myiazaki is the most prestigious, even if Cowboy Beebop and Trigun may be more fun. Myiazaki's anime are beautiful and poetic, but they tend to wander all over the place, without really rising to a climax. Rick's favorite of his features is still his first, The Castle of Cagliostro.

Ravenor Returned by Dan Abnett
reviewed by Nathan Brazil
Having narrowly survived their encounter with agents trafficking in the addictive glass shards known as flects, Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor and his team limp back to where their problems began; Eustice Majoris. Ravenor is an unusual lead character, in that he is a paraplegic, confined to a fully enclosed support chair. This severe physical disability is offset by his formidable psyker powers, which enable him to roam in an etheric form, or wear the flesh of one of his team.

Bond Director Speaks: an interview with John Glen
conducted by Sandy Auden
"As an editor you spend your whole time in a darkened room cutting other peoples mistakes together, trying to make the best out of it that you can and you learn from these mistakes. Then there's directing the action scenes, it's a reverse process to the editing. I got so used to editing action sequences, that as a director I could easily break it down into its component parts."

Highlander: The Series
a give-away contest
Based on the popular HIGHLANDER film series starring Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert, HIGHLANDER the television series follows the amazing journeys of the Immortal Duncan MacLeod played by Adrian Paul. The six seasons of the TV show follow the action of the Immortal's age-old struggle for dominion - Good vs. Evil.
Read the contents, answer the questions, win a DVD. Easy, eh?

The White Wolf's Son by Michael Moorcock
reviewed by Steven H Silver
This novel follows two other Elric adventures, The Dreamthief's Daughter and The Skrayling Tree, all of which take place while Elric is tied to the rigging of Jagreen Lern's flagship but has managed to send his soul out to the other realms of the multiverse, most notably our own world. However, while the adventure, which centers on the young Oonagh von Beck, starts in our world in the twenty-first century, it quickly departs, eventually landing Elric, Oonagh, their allies and enemies, Klosterheim and Gaynor the Damned, in the world of the Dark Empire of Granbretan.

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 2005
reviewed by Chris Przybyszewski
A common criticism against big-market fantasy journals is that the published material is too commercial, and that the only 'edgy' stuff happens off the radar screen and with smaller publications. In this issue, editor Gordon Van Gelder proves that not all major publications have sold their soul. Not totally, at least.

Not One of Us, #33
reviewed by Rich Horton
The 33rd issue of this fine small press publication is similar in tone and quality to its previous issue. As its title promises, it often features stories and poems about people on the edge of society, out of the way sorts -- or, as editor John Benson mentions with regard to this issue, people who have "disappeared." As before, the prose is generally fine, sometimes excellent.

New Arrivals
compiled by Neil Walsh
So far in July we've seen new works from Kevin J. Anderson, Julie Czerneda, Alan Dean Foster, Glen Cook, Paul Di Filippo, and many more.

Vox: SF For Your Ears
a column by Scott Danielson
Scott Danielson is looking at audio SF -- on tape, on CD, on whatever. This time out, he has been talking to Stephen Eley is the podcaster behind Escape Pod.

Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick has TV reviews of the Stargate SG-1 episode titled "Avalon" and the Stargate: Atlantis episode "The Siege."

Ringworld by Larry Niven
reviewed by Trent Walters
Louis Wu on his 200th birthday is bored, having done all he wants to do in Known Space. A Puppeteer, a two-headed tripod with clawed hooves, ensnares Wu's curiosity on a job that will take him out of the known world. The Puppeteer recruits a Kzin, a five-hundred pound feline alien named Speaker-to-Animals, by insulting it. Teela Brown, another human but bred genetically lucky, also signs on after learning that her love, Wu, is going and that humanity's hope for survival hinges on a new starship that the Puppeteers will give Wu and Brown upon completing their mission to a place the Puppeteer is cryptic about.

Montmorency by Eleanor Updale
reviewed by Sherwood Smith
The time is 1875, the place a London cell block. Prison life is extraordinarily grim for Montmorency -- especially as he was horribly wounded while trying to escape a failed burglary. A young doctor named Mr. Farcett takes an interest in Montmorency's case, and slowly and painfully restores him to life with experimental treatments.

Isaac Asimov: A Life of the Grand Master of Science Fiction by Michael White
reviewed by Steven H Silver
During his lifetime, Isaac Asimov wrote three autobiographical volumes in addition to making autobiographical statements in various of his introductions and columns. A person might, therefore, be forgiven for thinking that there is no more to be said about Asimov's life (1920-1992). In fact, in 1994, this biography of Asimov proved that there was more to be said, and even that wasn't the final word. The writer has written an afterword which appears in the currently reprinted edition.

Fresh Perspectives on the H.G. Wells Classic The War of the Worlds edited by Glenn Yeffeth
reviewed by Stuart Carter
The academics amongst you should be aware that this isn't a collection of literary criticism pieces. The various essays (and they truly are quite 'various') are rather personal thoughts and responses to the text. They're very accessible and by turns thought-provoking, entertaining and informative.