SF SiteThe new issue of the SF Site is now online.The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman- August 16, 2007 What would you do if you had a time machine Admittedly, it's somewhat limited: it only goes forward, and every time it's used, it leaps forward at an exponential rate. At first it leaps forward by seconds. Then minutes. Use it too many times, and you'll leap forward by centuries, even millennia. What would you dohttp://www.sfsite.com/08b/ac254.htm Dispatches From Smaragdine: a column by Jeff VanderMeer- August 16, 2007 Jeff is back after a little ruckus involving a weasel, an iguana, a golf cart along with some Smaragdine soldiers, a debtors' prison and a chicken farm. Things have calmed somewhat so he has had time to interview David Anthony Durham, author of Acacia which has received a lot of well-deserved praise for being "literary quality" heroic fantasy.http://www.sfsite.com/columns/jeff254.htm Overlooked or Over-hyped -- a column by Neil Walsh- August 16, 2007 Usually Neil chooses two completely unrelated works and discuss them in a frequently vain attempt to find some vague connection between the two. But he doesn't want to become too predictable, so this time he deliberately picked a couple of books that are most definitely related. This time out he takes a look at The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag (1942) by Robert A. Heinlein and The Insipid Profession of Jonathan Hornebom (1995) by Jonathan Lethem.http://www.sfsite.com/columns/over254.htm Bone Song by John Meaney- August 16, 2007 When Lieutenant Donal Riordan is assigned to protect opera diva Maria da Livnova, he already knows that the plot to assassinate her is probably part of a conspiracy that involves the highest circles of the city of Tristopolis. What he doesn't know is that he is a pawn in the game. The conspirators seem to be after the corpses of artists because in Tristopolis, death is power. The city runs on necroflux, an energy derived from the ground bones of the dead, in which all the memories of their...http://www.sfsite.com/08b/bs254.htm Stardust: a movie review by Rick Norwood- August 16, 2007 Rick is happy to report that the movie Stardust is much better than expected. The previews made it look sketchy and perfunctory compared with other fantasy movies crowding the screens, but Stardust turned out to be quite delightful. It uses the book, as movies will, and leaves out a lot and puts in a lot, as movies will, but the mix works more often than not.http://www.sfsite.com/08b/sd254.htm Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks- August 16, 2007 Seven-year-old Cadel Piggott is a genius without direction. Cadel LOVES systems: studying them, analyzing them, and -- best of all -- breaking them. His adoptive parents don't know what to do with him, and neither do his teachers. The local police just have one suggestion: find something to keep the boy occupied or he'll end up in jail. A referral leads Cadel's desperate parents to Dr. Thaddeus Roth, a somewhat unorthodox, reputedly brilliant, psychologist. Cadel has been to so many shrinks,...http://www.sfsite.com/08b/eg254.htm Star Trek, The Animated Series: Logs Seven and Eight by Alan Dean Foster- August 1, 2007 There are two stories in this volume. The first, "The Counter-Clock Incident," involves the first captain of the USS Enterprise, Robert T. April. Some of you, no doubt, think Captain Christopher Pike was the first captain of the Enterprise, but that's not the case. He was only the captain before Kirk. The story starts off with an alien vessel of unknown origin, that seems to be heading straight into an exploding nebula, apparently unaware that the radiation is too high for even the Enterprise's.http://www.sfsite.com/08a/s7253.htm Masters of Science Fiction 2: The Awakening- August 1, 2007 The second episode of the anthology series Masters of Science Fiction, is an adaptation of Howard Fast's "The General Zapped an Angel," retitled as "The Awakening." Set in a near future, the story opens with a strange encounter between an American soldier and an Iraq insurgent outside of Baghdad. The SF aspect comes into play quickly as the two men discover that they can understand each other, despite not speaking each other's language.http://www.sfsite.com/08a/m2253.htm Babylon 5.1: TV reviews by Rick Norwood- August 1, 2007 Rick has some news about two new series starting in August, Flash Gordon and Masters of Science Fiction. He also gives us a list of what to watch on TV in August.http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick253.htm The Gospel According to Star Wars by John C. McDowell- August 1, 2007 The author draws parallels to the Bible from all six of the Star Wars movies and even some of the existing literature. The problem is, this can be done for any religion, or any philosophy. Pulling out things that match a preconception is no trick. In fact, looking to establish any theological or philosophical treatise when entering a body of work is easy, because you'll always find something.http://www.sfsite.com/08a/gp253.htm |