SF SiteThe new issue of the SF Site is now online.The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss- April 16, 2008 At the center of the first book in The Kingkiller Chronicles stands Kvothe. At different times an orphan, a lutist, a student, a mage, and a dragon slayer, at the opening of his tale Kvothe is only Kote, a simple innkeeper who has renounced his adventurous ways and heroic persona. The author shows us, in a prologue that is about as perfectly polished as one page of prose can get, the layered silence that envelops him, "the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who is waiting to die." There are...http://www.sfsite.com/04b/nw270.htm Tales Before Narnia edited by Douglas A. Anderson- April 16, 2008 This anthology reprints a score of works which were putative direct or indirect influences on the writings of C.S. Lewis, although the relevance of the material extends beyond merely the Chronicles of Narnia to such of Lewis' works as The Screwtape Letters and the Space Trilogy. Lewis was a voracious and lifelong reader, so lots of potential material exists for such an anthology, and the editor has distilled some of the best of these here.http://www.sfsite.com/04b/na270.htm Babylon 5.1: TV reviews by Rick Norwood- April 16, 2008 Rick has some thoughts on Dr. Who, and the Dr. Who spinoffs, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. All three begin their run on American TV in April. He also has some notes on new shows by Ronald D. Moore and by Joss Whedon on Fox coming this Fall.http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick270.htm Babylon 5.1: TV reviews by Rick Norwood- April 1, 2008 Rick has some thoughts on the return of Battlestar Galactica for one final season and what sort of year Smallville is having. He also gives us a list of SF on TV in April.http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick269.htm I Am Legend:a DVD review by Rick Klaw- April 1, 2008 Arguably the most paranoid novel ever published, Richard Matheson's powerful tale of isolation, I Am Legend, informed the works of Stephen King, Dean R. Koontz, Joe R. Lansdale, and pretty much everyone else who has written horror since the story's 1954 publication. The book spawned two previous movie adaptations. The first, L' Ultimo Uomo Della Terra (The Last Man on Earth, 1964), starred Vincent Price in a dull yet faithful Italian production. 1971's The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston,...http://www.sfsite.com/04a/ia269.htm In Deepspace Shadows by Kendall Evans- April 1, 2008 It isn't quite a play, it isn't quite a poem. It showcases a cast of artificially intelligent robots of different shapes and sizes, created by humans and placed aboard a spaceship, called The TransAtlantic Tortoise, sent out to find new, habitable worlds. The ship is also intelligent but, at the play's opening, it has mysteriously stopped communicating with the crew. We follow Gael-all-of-metal, the dog-shaped captain, as he reflects on and tests the boundaries of his programming, encourages...http://www.sfsite.com/04a/id269.htm 2012: The War For Souls by Whitley Strieber- April 1, 2008 Ever since the publication of the equally celebrated and condemned Communion, the jury has been out on Whitley Strieber. To some he's a crafty chancer, cleverly weaving his fake Grey alien stories into a modern mythology, in tune with the American psyche. Others believe what he writes is at least prophetic fiction and perhaps thinly disguised fact. Wherever the truth may lie, this vein has been a rich source of inspiration and has enabled him to produce works that are entertaining and...http://www.sfsite.com/04a/ws269.htm Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie- April 1, 2008 This final book in the First Law trilogy pushes forward like an avalanche through to the bitter end of the various events taking place from the wars in Angland and with the Gurkish to the internal secret wars of the ruling Closed Council. Like the avalanche, it is powerful, mesmerizing and unstoppable. However, also like an avalanche, the only way things can end is in a crush at the base of the mountain with luck being more likely than skills or bravery to save you.http://www.sfsite.com/04a/la269.htm Overlooked or Over-hyped -- a column by Neil Walsh- April 1, 2008 Neil has a secret: The Gormenghast Trilogy is the real reason he started this column in the first place. He had heard about the series for many, many years. So many authors have cited Mervyn Peake as a significant influence, that he knew he should really read him and find out what all the hype was about. But on the other hand, he had also heard disturbing reports from readers about how tedious and progressively unreadable the series ultimately becomes. He had heard rumours that Peake went...http://www.sfsite.com/columns/over269.htm Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology edited by James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel- April 1, 2008 We have been in a "post-cyberpunk" period for longer than cyberpunk lasted. At least, we have if you take a strictly chronological understanding of the term. But "post-cyberpunk" has only really been bandied about for the last year or so, and the closest we have to a definition of the term is this particular anthology. Looking at this, one might say that "post-cyberpunk" bears pretty much the same relationship to "cyberpunk" that "postmodernism" bears to "modernism."http://www.sfsite.com/04a/rw269.htm |