SF SiteThe new issue of the SF Site is now online.Nexus Graphica: a column by Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams- May 16, 2008 Comics were never just exclusively for the tights crowd, even if, for a few decades there, a glance at any American newsstand would give you that impression. More and more, the film biz seems to be noticing, as other types of stories get picked for translation to the big (or at least medium) screen. Thus, stories like Perdition and A History of Violence, and now, from the company that produced the latter, another mob-themed pick-up, a four-issue story, indie-published story, replete with its...http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica272.htm New Arrivals compiled by Neil Walsh- May 16, 2008 Spring and summer releases have been flooding into our office over the past few weeks, including the latest from Greg Bear, Naomi Novik, Jim Butcher, Karl Schroeder, as well as from SF Site veterans Paul Kincaid, and Cindy Lynn Speer, plus some hefty collections from the likes of Robert Bloch, H.P. Lovecraft, Michael Swanwick, plus anthologies, magazines, and much, much more.http://www.sfsite.com/books/new272.htm Four Novels of The Sandokan Series by Emilio Salgari- May 16, 2008 The first book in the series, serialized in the Italian newspaper La Nuova Arena in 1883-4, first published in book form in 1900, and here translated for the first time into English, is so chock full of action that the best cultural equivalent in North America might have been the better dime-novel adventures of the late 19th-early 20th century. Or, perhaps think Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s swashbuckling movies, or, if in a different genre, the Indiana Jones films.http://www.sfsite.com/05b/sa272.htm New Audiobooks: compiled by Susan Dunman- May 16, 2008 The Audies honors the best audiobooks of the year. Listed here are science fiction, fantasy and horror titles which have been nominated as finalists in various categories. As well, you can find a list of audiobooks for May.http://www.sfsite.com/columns/audio272.htm First Contact: The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction: Volume One edited by Dave A. Law & Darin Park- May 1, 2008 The book is is a collection of twenty essays dealing with science fiction as a genre, ostensibly for the purpose of helping the reader write stories and get them published. Although the book does offer some useful advice, it also includes several oddities which detract from the book's overall usefulness.http://www.sfsite.com/05a/cg271.htm Eifelheim by Michael Flynn- May 1, 2008 Two stories are interwoven in this novel. In one, Tom Schwoerin, a "cliologist" from the near future, searches through history for traces of the lost German city of the title. The other takes place in Eifelheim itself, then known as Oberhochwald, where we follow Pastor Dietrich as he struggles to understand the town's strange alien visitors.http://www.sfsite.com/05a/ef271.htm Jupiter, Issue 19- May 1, 2008 Rich's favorite story of the five plus a poem here is the longest, a novelette called "O-Topper: The Musical", by Monte Davis. Much of what he likes is the weird presentation of what is a fairly familiar basic story: time travel tourism, in this case rich men battling Huns. But the organizer of the tours insists on art -- he's a cross-dressing clown and he dresses up his clients similarly. The tour itself has a shocking side -- the tourists' mantra is "You can't kill what's already dead," but...http://www.sfsite.com/05a/ju271.htm Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris- May 1, 2008 In a age when people are never satiated with the day to day details of celebrity couples' lives, it shouldn't be surprising that a fairy tale can't simply end with "and they lived happily ever after," but draws the inevitable question -- was it really as happy as all that, or did Prince Charming have a mid-life crisis and run off with Rapunzel's teenage daughter And what about the evil step-motherqueendwarfblack prince that survived -- surely they didn't retire to a conventmonastery.http://www.sfsite.com/05a/tu271.htm Goblin War by Jim C. Hines- May 1, 2008 Jig, the runty, nearsighted goblin hero of the previous adventures (Goblin Quest and Goblin Hero) is taken to war, even though no one, including Jig himself, thinks of him as much of a warrior... except that he's called Jig Dragonslayer because in a previous conflict between Jig and a dragon, it was the goblin who survived. And he did seem to outlive a host of other fierce enemies, from princes to pixies.http://www.sfsite.com/05a/gw271.htm The Man on the Ceiling by Melanie Tem & Steve Rasnic Tem- May 1, 2008 Originally published as a chapbook in 2000, it won the Bram Stoker Award, the International Horror Award and the World Fantasy Award. The present volume is an expanded version, incorrectly defined "a novel." Truth be told, this book defies any label in terms of both literary form and genre definition. A cross between fiction and autobiography, more mainstream than horror, this collaborative work represents a fascinating puzzle, a unique example in the recent dark literature.http://www.sfsite.com/05a/mc271.htm |