The story revolves around Brian Wegman, a young and rather brilliant anthropologist who cant seem to find the inspiration to finish his research and complete his graduate degree. As an 8th year grad student, the pressure to finish his degree continues to mount.

When Brian is about to leave school for yet another boring weekend alone he receives a surprise call from Sheriff Gary Roth about an unexplained murder at Wolfe’s Bay. As the only qualified anthropologist in the area he is asked to come and consult on mysterious tracks left at the scene of the crime. This, of course, doesn’t happen without incident. The Sheriff’s daughter (and Brian’s old friend), Freddie is also helping out with the investigation. After briefly catching up with her, Brian learns that Freddie has already finished her graduate degree and is on the fast track to getting tenure at the local college. She has accomplished everything Brian has not.

To make matters worse, Freddie and Brian are immediately pitted against each other when she announces that she strongly believes the murders to have been caused by some unknown creature or beast possibly related to ancient myths in the area. Brian, a man of logic and facts, can’t accept this conclusion without proof, even if he does agree the tracks are not human or tracks of any animal he knows.

Through both the writing and the art you can feel Brian’s frustration. Most of the frames are dialogue-heavy which isn’t a bad thing. The dialogue works together with the wonderful illustrations to give each character personality and emotion. The lines and colors are crisp and clean. Setting the mood for every frame. You see the excitement on Freddie’s face as they get deeper into the mystery. Likewise, you can see Brian’s frustration with her upbeat attitude and outlandish theories. The dialogue is well written and placed so it doesn’t ruin any of the frames. In fact, the combination of the dialogue with the pictures makes it easy to hear each character’s voice. This is an incredible accomplishment for an independent comic. Throughout the course of the story you become attached to the characters. By the end I felt like I knew them. Which makes experiencing Brian’s growth as a character even better. As he learns from Freddie and gains confidence in himself, he slowly starts to solve the mystery piece by piece. As the clues piled up and the suspense mounted, I found myself reading faster and faster, losing my self in the story until the end.

So if you haven’t checked out The Beast of Wolfe’s Bay, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy now and enjoy this fresh and fun comic experience.

Sci Fi Saturday Night received a free e-copy of The Beast of Wolfe’s Bay for review purposes only. No other compensation was received.

• Warehouse 13 continues to rock
• So does Orphan Black
• And so does Dr. Who
• RIP Ray Harryhausen
• Megan Fox IS April O’Neil
• Oodles of new genre TV on the way
• Major shout outs to Kevin Eastman and Fiona Russell, VP of Heavy Metal
• Poll: What was your fave FREE COMIC BOOK DAY comic?

Tonight’s guest is Erik Evensen, the creator of the graphic novels The Beast of Wolfe’s Bay and Gods of Asgard. He gives us some insight into alternative publishing options for graphic novels and his experiences with e-publishing and print on demand models. You can get Beast of Wolfe’s Bay and Gods of Asgard on Amazon.  And there’s a book trailer on YouTube!

Fan Bingbing in the Chinese version of Iron Man 3

• TMNT are NOT aliens now
• Chick-Fil-A really wants you to take your mom on a medieval date
• Krypton still alive in Man of Steel
• The captain of Bryan Fuller’s awesome, non-existent Trek TV show is…
• Arrow set to kick ass in Season 2
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D
• Science Bros
• Dr. Demento’s Kickstarter bio will be made!
• Speaking of Kickstarter, you too can help with Lovecraft’s bust
• Kickstarting a game based on Gaiman’s “Study in Emerald” Cthulhu/Holmes mashup
• Crowdfund The Hulk
• Poll:  Which pair of robots should fight in season 2 of Robot Combat League?
• Why Many in China Hate Iron Man 3′s Chinese Version
• Iron Man 3

A few weeks back we had HP on and had a wonderful time. We talked about enlisting social media to introduce the characters of her newest novel and the profiles are up!

Here are Facebook links to:

Lily Harper

Bill Angel

and Talis Black.

And here is a Youtube preview.

• New date for Boston Comic Con to be announced soon!
• wewincon.org
• Doctor Who’s season finale title has been revealed—and it’s a doozy
• April 23 was this week, but I forget why that was important
•  Anthony Head to be new baddie on Warehouse 13
• Futurama Cancelled AGAIN!
• How Pixar transformed its studio into the Monsters University campus
• The petition to get Isaac Asimov a commemorative plaque at his 1940s home
• Crystal skull candy, yum!
• Kickstarter of the week: Wish I Was Here by Zack Braff
• Netflix’s Hemlock Grove is creepy fun
• Poll:  What’s your favorite Boston-based sci-fi story?
• Justice League has a director if Superman doesn’t suck
• Which it wouldn’t have if Matt Bomer had been cast as Clark Kent

Tonight’s guest is the lovely and talented Juli Mayers of Wicked Little Studios. She gave us the rundown on all of the spontaneous events that popped up after Boston Comic Con was postponed last weekend.

Tonight’s returning guest is author H P Mallory. She talks about book one in her new Lily Harper  series, Better Off Dead and why this is different from anything she has ever written. This new series is a modern retelling of Dante’s Inferno, with an unlikely cast of characters that include a recently and “wrongly” deceased person, a Guardian Angel with some less than angelic habits and an incomprehensible Scotsman. We also talk about H P’s use of social media and her stalwart fan base.

Please Stand By…

It’s been a horrific and taxing week for everyone here in Massachusetts and the entire country. Unfortunately due to the standoff between the Boston Marathon bombing suspect (#2), and police that has been ongoing all day, as of now, Boston Comic Con has been postponed until the “not too distant future”.

Everyone in the SFSN family is currently safe and sound and staying home and well away from any areas of danger.

If you’re looking for ways to help, please consider donating to The One Fund.

I’ll be updating this post when we find out more about the rescheduling process.

Edit April 19, 2013; 9:30 PM: It seems like the suspect is in custody, but the Convention is still postponed. No word on when it will be scheduled yet. Stay tuned!

Edit April 19, 2013; 10:20PM: The League of Ordinary Gentlemen is still having their Con After Party! Join us in helping them raise some money for One Fund (plus face painting!).

Also: Larry’s Comics in Lowell, MA is having a FREE mini Con for any vendors/fans/creators interested in attending. Read all the details here. (Not sure we’re going to make it to this one! But you should totally go, it’ll be awesome!)

Mythos is essentially a retelling of the classic hero’s journey with many characters and archetypes you are already familiar with.  Anyone who has read Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell will feel right at home here as the show draws heavily from their teachings.  The show’s writer and lead actress, the beautiful and obviously talented Miriam Pultro, does a wonderful job of capturing the essence of the hero’s journey all while putting her own personal touch on the story.

The idea is simple enough, take the Hero’s journey, every story about gods, king’s heroes, legends, and myths that you have heard and combine them.  Jung, and later Campbell, carefully observed that myths and legends from different cultures around the world were very similar. Not only in the way the stories were told, but that characters in these stories all had very similar archetypes.  So what if these characters from different cultures and stories weren’t different characters?  What if they were the same characters reappearing over and over again through history, legend and myth.

The story of Mythos is just that.  Miriam Pultro does a wonderful job of combining our real world with these myths and characters while creating her own story as well.

Mythos begins when a young married woman named Morgan [Pultro], is visited at her home by a young man named Pan who she hasn’t seen in ages.   What starts off as being a simple story about a modern woman trying to keep her past a secret from her family quickly becomes an epic tale with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.

As the tale unfolds you learn that Morgan has been hiding amongst mortal beings for years and years trying to avoid her inevitable fate.  She has found love and would do anything to protect her normal life.  The arrival of Pan turns her world upside down.  Pan informs Morgan that her father has called a council and that she must help him find the other “gods” so that they can meet at her father’s request.  As you might have guessed, each character they meet is a classic archetype living their life as a normal person in our world. Familiar characters such as Ares and Loki appear and are often referred by multiple names to drive the point home that they are not just from their mythology, but from all mythology.  For instance Loki isn’t just the fabled trickster from Norse mythology, but the trickster of every legend and myth you have heard.

Each webisode is about ten minutes long.  Each one leaving you itching to watch the next.  I actually watched all 9 episodes in succession, not because I planned to, I just got sucked in.  Mythos presents it self in a way that feels very familiar but fresh at the same time.

As I already mentioned the story telling is top notch. Its matched by good acting and production values.  Mythos is mainly story driven and each actor does a wonderful job of diving into there character and making you feel like you already know from whatever legend or story you grew up loving.  The music helps set the mood in each scene adding an extra layer of depth to the story and acting.  The quality of filming is great.  Each shot is filled with familiar elements that make you feel as if we are in our own world and not one of myth or legend. There are a few action scenes too near the end when things start to get more intense.  These scenes break the pace of the slower story telling in a good way.

The end result is an independent production that will leave you blown away.  Mythos has everything from action to drama.  It draws you in immediately, the characters that interest you but also feel like you have known them for a long time.  It is this unique feeling of nostalgia and intrigue that separates Mythos from the rest.

• Z*Con Harlem Shake
• Poll:  Space elevator music?  What’s the most appropriate song?
• Jayne Hat Crackdown
• Why wear Jayne Cobb’s hat when you can dress as Jayne’s hat?
• Robot Combat League
• Syfy Developing Two Miniseries Based ‘Ringworld’ And ‘Childhood’s End’
• Blake’s got a personal vendetta in SyFy’s Blake’s 7

Tonight’s show is backwards! Before we do the news and the poll, we talked to Mike Dougherty, the producer and director of the upcoming movie Z*Con. They just finished a marathon weekend of shooting for their Proof of Concept reel, which includes hundreds of extras, lots of stunts, and some SFSN swag if you look closely!

Best April 1 Prank:
Dome – J. J.  Abrams Developing Star Wars/Star Trek Animated Crossover
Swedish Archaeologists find Thors Hammer
Kriana: Deejays suspended for “dihydrogen monoxide” April Fools joke
Zombrarian: YouTube no longer accepting submissions
RIP:
RIP Jane Henson 1934-2013    a tribute to her
R.I.P. Don Payne, writer of both Thor movies, The Simpsons and more
RIP comics legend Carmine Infantino
Roger Ebert Is Dead: Thumbs down
Disney shuts down LucasArts

Tonight’s guests are so amazing we ended the news portion early to give you 15 extra minutes of awesome! We had the great pleasure of talking to Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott about their new MMORPG, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues. They also told us some behind-the-scenes stories about their Sci Fi movie, Apogee to Fear.  Tracy wrote it  and Richard went to SPACE to film it!

• Indiegogo: London UFO Museum
• Kickstarter: Victorian puppet ghost movie
• Wachowski’s/Straczynski Netflix project
• Zombieland: The Series, comes to Amazon
• Should Enterprise return?
• The art and artistry of Rhiannon McCullough
• Video Link of the Week: Jimi Hendrix on a Gayageum

Tonight’s guest is Colin Solan who talks about the exciting developments in this year’s Boston Comic Con. We talk about some of the new events being held this year and some of the Guest Artists and Celebrities who will be in attendance.  It will again be held at The Hynes Convention Center on April 20th and 21st. This year the con will encompass both main ballrooms of the venue, doubling the floor space from last year.

Michael Laine

• RIP Malachi Throne
• Did you see Doug Jones sing on The Neighbors?
• Hawkeye Initiative cosplay lets the guys show off their rears for a change
• The Death Star Explosion was an “inside job”.
• Zombie perfume
• Warm Bodies
• Peter Jackson offers to direct an episode of Doctor Who…for free
• Help rebuild Cobra Island on Kickstarter
• Poll: which is your favorite Wizard of Oz spinoff?

Tonight’s guest is Michael Laine of the Liftport project. He tells us about the history of the project, their future goals, and his very successful Kickstarter campaign.

Errick A. Nunnally

• George Lucas says Luke, Han and Leia will all be back for Star Wars: Episode VII
• Goodbye, Captain Rex: Lucasfilm calls an end to Clone Wars
• DC artist quits Adventures of Superman over Orson Scott Card controversy
• Torchwood Revival doubtful
• POLL: What actress should play She-Hulk?

Tonight’s guest is author Errick A. Nunnally, who likes maple hamburgers, being a jock, double letters, and long walks on the beach. Let’s see what he has to say for himself:

Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Errick A. Nunnally served one tour in the Marine Corps before deciding art school would be a safer—and more natural—profession. He always strives to develop his strengths in storytelling and remains permanently distracted by art, comics, science fiction, history, and horror. Trained as a graphic designer, he studies Krav Maga and Muay Thai kickboxing in his spare time. Errick’s successes include: the upcoming publication of his book, Blood For The Sun; a comic strip collection, Lost in Transition; first prize in one hamburger contest; the short story Who Bears The Lathe? in eFiction’s inaugural SciFi issue; the sci-fi short, Legion, in the anthology Doorways to Extra Time; two lovely children; and one beautiful wife.

• Megan Fox is the new April O’Neil
• Kathy Bates is going to be on Season 3 of AHS…as Jessica Lange’s frenemy
• There will be NO Planet Hulk movie
• Buffy’s mom was on The Following this week
• Walking Dead Season 4 news!
• Poll: Who is your favorite Disney Villian
• San Diego hotel rooms sell out in two minutes

Tonight’s guest is Dick Cheney, who was just friended by Dome on Facebook.

Our Guest, Jamie Vick

• Terry Pratchett and other fantasy authors score at this year’s ALA Awards
• Cybils awards given to 3 graphic novels
• 2013 Inkwell Awards
• Nominees for the Nebula Awards
• 2013 Saturn Awards Announced
• Arrow
• Jack Kirby’s sketches for the real life Argo fake movie
• Robot Combat League debuts next week

Tonight’s guest is Jamie Vick of the webseries Santa Carla Sunset, which is currently in production. The series follows fictional paranormal investigators and the website features articles written by the actors in character about famous paranormal sites. Jamie will be back (hopefully soon!) when the Kickstarter campaign to fund the series is launched.

Ashley in the Ahsoka Tano hoodie available at HerUniverse.com

• Spring Debuts and Restarts
• The Following retraction: It’s not Jinksie, it’s his twin brother!
• Nick Brendon latest guest for Rhode Island Comic Con
• Lords of Salem coming to the US
• Arrow Mia Culpa
• PKD’s The Man in the High Castle comes to SyFy
• Poll of the week: How will Sean Bean die?

Tonight’s guest is the multitalented Ashley Eckstein: actor and clothing designer.  Ashley is the voice of  Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and will be hosting Disney’s Star Wars Weekend. She is also the creator and founder of Her Universe:

Her Universe is a place for fangirls to step into the spotlight and be heard, recognized and rewarded. Female sci-fi fans are growing in numbers and have largely gone unnoticed until now. Hoping to change the perception that science fiction and fantasy is not just for the boys, Her Universe, has joined forces with Lucasfilm and Syfy to create merchandise exclusively for female fans. Starting out with apparel, accessories and cosmetics, Her Universe will make fangirls “geek chic” from head to toe!

Poor Daniel Can’t catch a break!

• RIP Stuart Freeborn
• Stargate!
• The Following
• The BBC has canceled the original Being Human
• Orphan Black on BBCA
• New SyFy reality series Stranded
• Robot Combat League
• How will Sean Bean get killed in the Wachowski’s Jupiter Ascending?
• The new Face Off make-up folks are quite good

Jeff and Silent Jay, the organizers of the Queen City Kamikaze Con joined us to share how they’ve made their event bigger and better than ever! Join their mascot, Chester the Squirrel, on February 16 at Manchester Memorial High School between 10AM to 7PM.

‘Neighbors’ Gets George Takei

Tonight’s guest is author Tracy Hickman. We talk to him about his novel Wayne of Gotham and his new project Dragons of the Confederacy. The picture for this post is a fake pulp novel cover Tracy made using Pulp-o-Mizer, which we recommend you check out. You can also listen to Tracy become a GoodReads Author live on air!

Jeff of Pickle Pot Studios, one of the fine purveyors of fascinating objects at Arisia.

• Frank Darabont talks Godzilla
• No surprises in Justice League characters
• The Following
• Why is JJ Abrams directing Star Wars VII?
• Kiwanas Club steps in to save Exeter, NH UFO fest
• BBC America heads back in the TARDIS to bring classic Doctor Who to America
• Christopher Eccleston “WILL” return for 50th. Anniversary after all
• Poll:  What’s your fave sci-fi Shakespeare?

Tonight’s guest is Rachel Silber of Arisia, “New England’s largest and most diverse science fiction and fantasy convention.”  She adds a staff point of view to Zombrarian and Kriana’s con wrap-up, and even gives us a sneak peek at the guests of honor for next year! (Arisia was also the debut of this amazing Tardis dress, that’s been floating around the ‘net all week. (Kriana and I got to see it in person!)

Tonight’s guest is Mike Dougherty from Big Damn Films, the mastermind who brought us Browncoats: Redemption. Mike is here to give us an update on Z-Con, his new film about a Sci Fi/Comic Convention that suffers a zombie outbreak.

Documentary about SF writer Jay Lake seeks crowdfunding

Tonight’s guest is author Kristi Petersen Schoonover, who is here to discuss her new book Bad Apple. She told us all about the unique writing process she went through with this book. We also discussed Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday, horror movie story rights, and old fashioned typewriters!

• Happy 121st birthday, Mr. Tolkien! – Jan 3, 1892
• We saw the Hobbit and had a Tea Party
• Honest Trailer for LOTR
• JJ Abrams says he’s not interested in Star Wars
• Dr. Who Christmas Special
• Our two week poll – What is your favorite Richard Matheson Story/Script?
• RIP Gerry Anderson
• Peter Parker Dies
• Timothy Zahn’s New Star Wars Novel, Scoundrels
• Is Twin Peaks coming back?
• AMC will re-air all 18 Walking Dead episodes in black and white

No guest tonight! Instead, enjoy our in-depth discussion of The Hobbit and all the other cool stuff we liked this week.

Fringe series Finale

Tonight’s guest is Miriam Pultro of the web series Mythos: “A character-driven, mythology-based webseries about  mortality, family, love, and fate.” She’s been nominated for Best Actress at the Indie Soap Awards for both Mythos and Casters – The Web Series. She tells us all about how Mythos got started, and about the lessons she learned from the production of the first season, which is available here.

Drive-In Horror Show is a bloody good time.

I’m not particularly a fan of horror.  The ins and outs of the genre are not my forte.  And to be completely honest, it isn’t often I appreciate pieces of work that fall into the genre.   It’s not because I’m squeamish or I get scared of  the dark, it’s simply because there is something about it I don’t get.  I don’t know what it is, I may never know.  I see monsters killing people, bloody tragedies and creepy protagonists and I think  “When is Batman going to show up and kick everybody’s ass?”  I don’t know, its just me, I want to see cowboy hats and capes, I want to see epic conflict, not a bunch of teenagers being systematically killed off.

That being said, it’s not like I can’t appreciate good work when I see it.  Drive-In Horror Show is a perfect example of this.  There are a number of things about  that I really enjoyed.  As an independent film and comic the level of success they are able to achieve is outstanding, and obvious to someone like myself who basically hates horror.

Drive-In Horror Show is a collection of horror shorts put together on the theme of a drive-in movie theater run by the dead.  Each short is about 20 minutes in length, strung together by the undead host of the Drive-In.  Even the clips in which our host transitions us from short to short are amusing in their own right.  He has certain amount of creepiness to him, and he uses it not to spook you, but to add a small element of comedy to lighten the mood.  Not a bad idea when jumping from one unique tale of blood, guts, and creepy horror to the next.

Drive-In Horror Show‘s strongest points are its production values. Although it’s an independent project, the film work, special affects and music are all spot on for genre.  The gore, the blood, the guts, all that creepy gross stuff that makes horror fans feel right at home is all done with a very high level of detail.  Not once did I have to yell at my t.v. in frustration for dumb or cheesy  looking special effects, which is surprising considering that I’m not a huge fan of horror and I usually end up criticizing those things frequently.  The camera work does an excellent job of keeping you in the action.  Everything for classic horror:  slow moving shots, peering around the corner in suspense, and chase and torture scenes are presented so well you might forget this was an independent project.  It helps that each set is well crafted and more then detailed enough to be believable. The music is a major factor in this as well.  Not only does it help set the mood for each scene but it drives the mood, that unsure and creepy feeling you get when you don’t know what is going to happen next.

Combining all these things together successfully is no easy task, but Drive-In Horror Show does it in spades.  Bringing each horrific tale to life in its own creepy and unique way.

The comic book acts as an add on to the movie collection and is handled with the same amount of care and precession.  It’s one extra short story, and it actually ended up being my favorite story out of all of them.  The art and writing are spot on with the same level of production value put into the movie.

Its very clear that these independent creators have an understanding of the genre and passion for the art that have helped make Drive-In Horror Show a success.  We can only hope that there is more great work to come.

• Data and Geordi in the mooooorning!
• Geeky Xmas Cards
• Benedict Cumberbatch is NOT Khan
• The Once and Future Wonder Woman
• Fringe: The Emerald City?
• This is the weirdest TARDIS cosplay we’ve ever seen
• 7 Against Chaos

Tonight’s guest is Francis Abbey, writer and executive producer for the fantasy webseries The Broken Continent. We talked about the challenges of working in the fantasy genre (shoes are a big one) and the success of their first Kickstarter campaign. If the trailer for The Broken Continent is any indication, this is going to be a great series. But they need your help with the post-production costs! There’s a new Kickstarter campaign to pay for post production and marketing, so if you’re interested in seeing more, you should go donate!

• Pan’s Labyrinth on Broadway
• Live, online Spider Robinson lecture on writing science fiction
• TV tries Wonder Woman yet again
• Sea Breeze Recipe
• [Gift Suggestion] Darth Vader continues to be the best father ever in Jeffrey Brown’s Vader’s Little Princess
• SyFy winter programming.
• Poll: Who’s your favorite clone?

Tonight’s guests are Justin Timpane and Daniel Ross of Ninjas vs. Monsters (which is preceded by Ninjas vs Zombies and Ninjas vs Vampires). They tell us the story of how they got started making movies, and give us an inside look at the Ninjas vs series. Justin also told us about his “rival” podcast, which sounds almost as good as SFSN.

• Neil Patrick Harris “dreams in puppets” in a new web series on the Nerdist Channel!
• SyFy at 20.
• Aussie zombie film to raise money for Red Cross
• Pacific Rim
• X-Men: Days of Future Past
• Be among the first to see the extended cut of one of Star Trek’s most famous episodes
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• Poll: In honor of the annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show, which is your favorite Sci Fi dog?

Tonight’s guest is Jamie Chambers from Signalfire Studios. Jamie told us about several really neat projects including the upcoming e-book, The Very Hungry Cthulupillar. You can hear the first page of the book read as the opening of this week’s podcast, and the plan is to release an audio version soon. We also discussed some of the games available from Signalfire Studios like the card game Building an Elder God and the print-and-play dice game Demon Dice which is available for free. Go play!

Crabapples by Rob Watts

Rob Watts‘  series, The Crooked Roads Through Cedar Grove is an ongoing project of  combination novellas/albums by writer/composer Rob Watts. Each of the four titles is to be released in a limited edition of 250 signed and numbered volumes available until all 250 are sold out. At the conclusion of all four books the author is planning to compile all four into a bound edition.

After reading the first volume, Huldufolk, I was intrigued to see where volume two would lead. If you are expecting Crabapples to be a continuation of the first be forewarned, not only is it not, it bears little resemblance to volume one.  However, this story is not without the requisite elements of good horror fiction. The end result is everything a reader of horror wishes it to be. As in the first novella, the story centers around a specific character, 17 year old Kathleen. In what starts out as an ordinary story of a troubled teen, the story spirals downward quickly into horrific turns upon nightmarish twists in the town where a trolley runs through the cemetery. What occurs is the stuff of teenage outcast nightmares compounded by the specter of every Halloween terror. When one finishes this story, is is by the sweet twist of the literary möbius strip that we are deposited right where we began.

From a musical standpoint, the accompanying CD is once again significantly different from the first outing. With Huldufolk, the CD was presented as though performed by the fictitious Icelandic Trance group The Traffic Lights, who themselves appear in that book. This time around, the music is described as a”soundtrack” and in that way it most amazingly succeeds providing the listener with an aural companion to terror.

Halfway through The Crooked Roads Through Cedar Grove saga, I am finding this an most satisfying and original project as a reader/listener. Rob brings a freshness of execution and style in both the written word and music that is just plain fun to read/listen to. Bringing them both together in a single ongoing project is just plain enjoyable as I wait to see what episode three brings.

For the purposes of full disclosure, this book was a review copy sent to SFSN. No other remuneration was given or implied.

• American Horror Story renewed for third season
• The Magic Schoolbus Movie We All Wanted
• “Less commercially viable” films now on Blu-Ray from Warner Archive
• Joss Whedon’s Show SHEILD
• Castle Goes to a Con
• Browncoats Unite
• 1952
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was literally darker than TNG
• New Q is adorable
• Red Rain, the New R. L. Stine Novel For Adults
• Poll: With Thanksgiving on the way, the next few weeks will be geared toward the season, so first, what is your favorite sci fi turkey?

Tonight’s guest is Rob Watts.  Rob is a musician and a writer who combines both by including soundtracks with his books. He also composed and performed the opening and closing music for SFSN! He’s here to tell us about his upcoming book, Crabapples, which is the companion to the novel Huldufolk. Visit Rob’s website for more information about the release of Crabapples.

• RI Comic Con Wrapup
• Roberto Orci confirms the Locke & Key movie trilogy!
• William Shatner talks slam poetry app
• 5 Best Quotes from the Star Trek Captains Reunion
• British TV’s Misfits
• NASA is sending men back to the moon

Tonight’s guests are producer Ethan Calk and actor Manu Intirayme from the planned fan film Star Trek: Renegades. The film is being made by the same team that brought us Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, and just about everyone involved has worked on one of the Star Trek TV shows. Right now, the project is being financed by a Kickstarter campaign, which has two weeks left. We discuss the premise of the film, the progress of the Kickstarter campaign, and the superiority of Jelly Belly jellybeans.

• Guillermo Del Toro to direct DC “supernatural team” movie
• American Horror Story
• Joss Whedon endorses Mitt Romney for president of the zombie apocalypse
• Futurama’s Voice Actors at Work
• Scary horror movie set in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion
• And just how do we feel about Disney and Lucas?
• Poll:  What’s your favorite thing to watch with the kids on Halloween?

Tonight’s guest is Jim Butcher, author of the wonderful Dresden Files series. We discuss the newest novel in the series: Cold Days. If you’re looking for even more of a preview, the first chapter is available on Jim’s website, and new chapters will be released weekly until the book’s release on November 27. Jim also talks about his experiences working on the TV adaptation of The Dresden Files, the new steampunk book series he’s writing, and lists some of the authors whose books he’s been reading lately.

Just in time for Halloween, we’re happy to feature Kristi Petersen Schoonover’s newest book, Bad Apple. It is available at all major online retailers in both digital and paperback versions.

After an unfortunate incident on a Maine apple orchard, precocious teen Scree is left with a father she’s not sure is hers, a never-ending list of chores and her flaky brother’s baby, who she is expected to raise. In a noble move to save the child from an existence like her own, Scree flees to a glitzy resort teeming with young men just ripe for the picking. But even as life with baby becomes all she’d dreamed, Dali-esque visions begin to leach through the gold paint… Bad Apple is a dark, surreal ride that proves not all things in an orchard are safe to pick.

Part of what sets Bad Apple apart is that Kristi has promised that $3 per hand-sold copy (at conventions and other events) and 50% of the her royalty checks will go to the American Association of Caregiving Youth. This organization aims to provide help and solace to youth caregivers through a variety of programs.

Dome and Zombrarian were both inspired by this book, so here are our reviews; one from a horror aficionado and one from someone who is…not:

Zombrarian’s Review

I read the entirety of Bad Apple in one sitting. I’m a big fan of the horror genre, but this was horror that was uniquely disturbing. You know a book is really good horror when it leaves you feeling set adrift and raw–and Bad Apple did that for me. I was so sucked into the horror of Scree’s world that trying to put it down was worse than slogging through. I felt that I couldn’t leave her or Beckitt alone in there. The slow, creeping tension that builds between Scree’s real world and her nightmare world, and the way I wavered back and forth between which world was the actual real one, made this book deeply disturbing in the best way possible. These characters screamed for a witness, and I was helpless against them.

The scariest part of this book is not the haunted hotel (although it is eerie), and it’s not the frenetic race toward the climax that follows Scree and Beckitt’s escape (although the twists and judicious gore were perfect). It’s the unrelenting reality of Scree’s situation. Bad Apple does not rely on salacious details to make its point about the pain and suffering of youth caregivers. Instead, there is a dull, matter-of-fact recitation of the things Scree takes for granted but we as readers see as unjust, cruel, and abusive. Unlike many horror novels, Bad Apple does not allow you to hide under the covers and chant “it’s not real,it’s not real” because for thousands of children, every day, it IS real. This is not fun, escapist horror, this is real.

Dome’s Review

I’m not a fan of horror, period. Most of it is, “BOO! Be Scared! Look, DEAD PEOPLE!” Kristi doesn’t do that, ever. I am a fan of good writing, intriguing characters and inventive storytelling. I am a fan of this book, even though it is disturbing in its intensity and discomforting in its reality as it brilliantly portrays a young woman’s descent into madness through a series of circumstances beyond her control. The real terror for the reader lies within the mind of Scree, whose unrelenting reality bends her maddeningly more and more as events torture her into a terrifying reality she is unwilling and unable to escape from.

The settings are meticulously described through the lens of Scree’s warped understanding of the world around her. Kristy gives voice to the young mind of an unfortunate child, growing in miserable circumstances. Scree, the child with demented brilliance, attempts to find beauty in her drab surroundings and dilapidated household. A young mind searching for a way out of her reality and finding none, turns inward.

I don’t want to like this book. It is harsh, hard and unrelenting in its style and tone. The characters are real and that reality is stark, bitter, and at the same time maddeningly beautiful. The story is one of cold truth, a reality we look away from but in this book are forced to stare at, and wonder at, and fear that somewhere within it, we might see ourselves. Bad Apple is fiction steeped in awful truths and reflected in warped realities. It whispers, “watch what can happen…” from the bottom of a well. I don’t want to like this book, but damn it, I really do.

For the purposes of full disclosure, this book was a review copy sent to SFSN. No other remuneration was given or implied.

Zombies, Run! is an awesome app to prepare for the Run For Your Lives 5k

Tonight’s guest is Sue Soares, the publicist for Rhode Island Comic Con, which will be held Nov. 3-4, 2012 at the Rhode Island Convention Center. Sue told us about the exciting guest lineup, which includes a BSG reunion, several Star Trek cast members, Walt Simonson, Billy West, and many, many more! We also talked about the after-parties (there are several!) and some of the great panels and events that are planned. Tickets are $25 per day or $35 for a weekend pass, and there are several VIP passes available as well as a less expensive pass that grants access to just the gaming tournaments. We hope to see you there!

Stolen shamelessly from www.spiderrobinson.com

We start with a quick shout-out to Rock and Shock 2012, where we had a great time!

And then, we move directly into our conversation with tonight’s guest, Spider Robinson. Spider is an author, musician, podcaster, gentleman, and scholar. (I may have added those last two…) Tonight he’s here to talk to us about many things, but the most important of them is his daughter, Terri, and her blog, Graceful Woman Warrior. Terri is battling Stage IV breast cancer, and the blog follows her struggles and triumphs.  If you are inspired by Terri’s blog, and you would like to help out, there is an auction benefitting Terri. If you are a collector or a creator and you would like to donate to these auctions, contact Jan at GWWBenefit@aol.com.

Vindication provides a fresh take on a classic comic genre.

About a mile outside of New York City there is an underground maximum security prison called Tartarus.  It’s inhabitants are the ever growing population of rejects from the United States governments super solider program.  If this is news to you, then congratulations, you just stepped into the world of Vindication. If you think its a really bad idea to put a bunch of super powered lab rats in cells a mile outside of the most populated city on earth then congratulations, you’re smarter then average government conspirator.

Vindication is a comic book series that falls into an extremely over-saturated super genre of comic books, for better or for worse.  What I mean by that is simply that super hero comics are everywhere.  Beyond the excess of comics being published by Marvel and DC there is a large number of independent super hero comics that exist that you have probably never heard of.  This is because its significantly harder to create a new and intriguing super hero story without facing thousands of comparisons to the last 80 years of super hero stories.

That being said, everything about Vindication is done well, but whether it separates itself from the pack is hard to say.  This review is based of issue 3 and issue 3 only.  From reading one issue ( and not the first one mind you) I can honestly say Vindication does a good job of drawing you into its story and its characters.

We immediately learn that government has been experimenting on humans for years in attempts to make super soldiers.  The vast majority of them have been failures and are locked away under New York.  The ones that are successful are deployed with orders from the United States government and are known to the general population as “Supers”.  The story is focused on Surge, a “super” of unknown origin.  He wasn’t created by the government, he isn’t controlled by them, and that’s a problem.    He does do typical super hero stuff: beating up bad guys, being super moody and mysterious, and of course not listening to anyone except himself.  Surge has gathered a group of other supers who he feels have their hearts in the right place, but the purpose he has brought them all together is unknown, except that there is something very bad coming and that they need to be prepared.  Naturally after being introduced to this group Surge goes off on his own to deal with what he deems to be a “personnel problem”.

What makes this fairly standard super hero dynamic work is the art and the writing.  Both are executed at a high level that drives every other element of the comic home.  The writing has a dark noir feel that keeps a simple and rather familiar story interesting.  The dialogue is quick and straight forward, never boring you, only telling you what you need to know when you need to know.  The art builds on this heavily.  Character expressions and gestures help move the story along and add to the noir feel of the comic.  The colors are smooth, mixed with all the shadows and the pencil detail it creates a look that is easy on the eyes, but also everything you wanted out of your super hero art.  The art is consistent throughout the comic, never skipping a beat and giving a very traditional super hero look to what seems to be a traditional super hero comic.  Both the artist and the writer hit the nail on the head when brining this book to life, they truly capture the essence of the super hero comic.

Vindication’s strongest point is its execution.  Will it be able to separate it self from the masses of other super hero stories out there? I don’t know.  The creators clearly have enough talent and understanding of the genre to take this book where ever they want it to go.  So if you are tired of reading about the same old super hero’s or your just a super hero fan looking for a new read check out Vindication.  It has great potential, a high level of execution and it should be consider by comic fans everywhere.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Wayne of Gotham: A Novel

Tonight’s guest is Sara Mayhew: mangaka, skeptic, and TED Fellow. Her manga series is called Legend of the Ztarr, and we discussed the ways she combines an art form that is usually fantastical with science and critical thinking. We also discussed TED conferences and her TED Talks. If you’re interested in what Sara has to say on the show, check out her upcoming appearances to see her live!

• NBC orders a full season of Revolution.
• Can we expect a new Torchwood?
• Doctor Who drains the Ponds
• The Princess Bride is 25
• Fringe returns!
• 666: Park Avenue debuts
• Winner of last weeks Wheel of Fish sweepstakes is Cameron…who has 5 minutes to email us….. or perhaps he already has!
• Poll:  Who’s your favorite Seth Green character?

Tonight’s guests are the cast of the hit FearNet show Holliston! Adam, Joe, Laura, and Corri give us the scoop on the upcoming Season 2 and tell us some great tidbits from Season 1, which will be available on DVD October 9. You can also catch the Holliston cast AND the SFSN cast at Rock and Shock in Worcester, MA on October 12-14.

No one here gets out alive

• Doug Jones on the premiere of The Neighbors!
• TNMT the way we like them….in the sewers
• Colin Farrelll would like to forget Total Recall.
• Michael Bay hates you:  Transformers 4 & 5 are go
• Walter Koenig, Tim Russ, Robert Picardo in Star Trek: Renegades Kickstarter project
• Poll:  Who’s your favorite sci-fi teacher?

This week’s special surprise guest is Kristie Petersen Schoonover. Kristie has lots of exciting news for us:  she just got back from her honeymoon, she has a new book coming out soon, and she’ll be appearing at Rock and Shock as well as Rhode Island Comic Con!

We’re also celebrating the 30th anniversary of Banned Book Week. We discussed some of our favorite banned and/or challenged books from the Top 10 Banned/Challenged Books List for 2011 and the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books List for 2000-2009.  Remember to go out this week and thank someone who helps to keep these awesome books available!

Yael Goldstein Love

• Ben Folds Fives meets The Fraggles.
• 5 reasons Revolution didn’t work.
• Walking Dead webisodes begin Oct. 1.
• Robert Picardo sing on the new Voltaire CD.
• Stephen King announces The Shining sequel.
• George RR Martin will write Dr. Strange on one condition.
• 5 Doctors help raise money for a former Companion.
• FaceBook Poll: What is the bleakest dystopian future?

How old are we, anyways?

L.L. Soares

• Revolution.
• First Star Trek movie without a colon.
• Cameron’s Digital Domain files Bankruptcy.
• RIP Professor X for the third fourth time.
• Whedon’s “Much Ado” to be distributed by Lionsgate.
• A&E Occult Crimes Task Force.
• CW orders Monster High Pilot.
• When will the US see Misfits?
• Dinosaurs in Space.
• The Buffyverse gets a Male Slayer.
• Poll: Who’s your favorite pre-teen mad scientist?

Tonight’s guest is L.L. Soares, whose work we featured earlier this week in our Fiction Friday post. He told us about his new book, Life Rage, which will be released soon. We also discussed In Sickness: Stories from a Very Dark Place, the book he wrote with his wife, Laura. Soares is a member of the New England Horror Writers, and is a contributor to Cinemaknifefight.com.

Due to technical difficulties, last week’s Fiction Friday has become this week’s Fiction Monday. Enjoy!

L.L. Soares is a man with a mission: to bring reality to horror fiction. A prolific writer within the genre, his work has been published in many anthologies and websites for the past 12 years. He co-wrote In Sickness: Stories from a Very Dark Place with his wife, Laura Cooney. His newest novel, Life Rage is being published this month and he will be joining us on the podcast to talk about it.

In this short story submission we follow some men out for a night to celebrate the finality of a long and messy divorce. We learn about the secrets of a long abandoned public airstrip. We learn about the horror of unknown singing. We learn what lies Beyond The Fog:

When I finally figured out where the singing was coming from, we were at the top of the hill, looking down at the abandoned airplane hangar.  The hangar had been there for as long as I could remember, but I didn’t know anyone who could remember when it was actually in use.

Maybe back when planes were a brand new thing and you had to turn the propellers with your hands to get the engines started.  Like in the old movies.  Maybe that’s when this place was in use.

Now, it was just deserted property.  Why hadn’t they torn it down and replaced it with something useful?  I’d always thought it was the perfect spot for a baseball diamond.

So here we were, the four of us, at the top of the hill at midnight, and there was strange singing coming from the deserted airplane hangar.  I guess it wasn’t deserted anymore.

Harry was drunk out of his mind by then, the worst of us, and he wanted to go down to the airstrip and play some football.  He’d even brought his ball.  We hadn’t played football together in years, but this was a special night.  Harry had found out the divorce was final earlier that day, and he wanted to celebrate with a night out with the boys.  We’d been happy to oblige.  It had been a long and messy divorce, and we were all glad it was finally over.

I was relieved when Harry suggested the football game.  At least he’d stopped ranting about “that cunt” by then.

Tommy raised the bottle of Wild Turkey to his lips and tipped it back, trying to catch up.

“Might as well play one last game,” he said, wiping his lower lip.

“What’s that sound?” I asked, taking the bottle from him.  I wasn’t sure yet if they heard it, too.  I think I was more sober than they were; my senses were clearer.

“What sound?” Harry asked, looking around.  “I don’t hear anything.”

“That singing,” I said.  I’d heard it back at the car, when we’d first gotten out and started heading downhill, but I didn’t feel confident enough to mention it until now.

John tried to focus.  “Yeah, I hear it, too,” he said.  “Faintly.”

“What the hell is it?” Harry asked, staring down at the hangar.  He obviously heard it now.  “Is it coming from that place?”

“I think so.”

“Let’s go find out,” Harry said.  He tossed the football up in the air and caught it again, and then began to run.  We did our best to keep up with him.

Light came from some lamp posts, here and there around the site.  Some of them still worked, and others had burnt out. They’d been there as long as I could remember, too.

None of us had ever been athletes.  We hadn’t had any desire to join the football team when we’d been in high school, that was for sure.  None of us had fit in anywhere and just kind of drifted into each other’s orbit.  It was funny how strong a bond we’d been able to maintain.  Sure, there were times when we wouldn’t see each other for years, but we always stayed in touch; we always knew what the others were up to.  Our friendship had outlasted most of our jobs and marriages.

In the old days, we liked to have a game just among ourselves.  It didn’t matter if we sucked or not.  It was just for fun.

When we reached the air strip at the bottom of the hill, the singing got louder.  Now there was no mistaking it.

“Must be some kind of late night choir rehearsal or something,” John said.  He was normally the quiet one of the group.

“Let’s get a closer look,” Harry said.  He’d dropped the football by now and had lost all interest in a game.  Which was fine by me.  I joined in because that’s what we did, but I really didn’t care one way or another.  Somehow the Wild Turkey bottle had come back to me, and I found that a lot more interesting.

We ran along the airstrip, chasing one another.  For some reason we knew we shouldn’t shout out or anything.  The only sound we made was that of our feet running along the asphalt, and even that was muffled by the weeds.

When we reached the building, it looked to be closed up pretty tight.  There were windows on the side, though, so we went around to find them.  They were filthy, and no matter how many times we wiped them with our hands, we couldn’t get a clear look inside.

There was light.  We could see that much.  But nothing else.  No shapes, no shadows.  Nothing.

“I can’t believe we can’t see anything,” Tommy said.  He had the bottle by then and poured some whiskey on his handkerchief.  He wiped harder at the glass.

“The dirt’s on the inside,” I told him.  “You can’t clean it from out here.”

“Whatever,” he said, but he’d already figured out it was futile and had given up.

“Only one way to find out then,” Harry said, taking the bottle from Tommy.  “We have to go inside.”

“You sure about that?” I asked.  “What if they see us?”

“So what?” Harry said.  “It’s not like this is a private house or anything.  It’s an abandoned building.  Public property.  No harm in just checking it out.”

“I guess not,” I said, not really sure of his logic.  But hell, we were all drinking, and it made sense at the moment.  It didn’t occur to any of us that maybe someone had bought the property and this place was now off limits to trespassers.  Not the way we felt that night.

“There’s a door right over here,” John said, leading the way.

It was locked, but Harry didn’t waste any time jimmying it.  I remember he was a whiz at getting laundry machine coin boxes open back when we were kids.

The first thing we noticed when he got the door open a bit, was the fog.  There was this strange mist in the air, making it hard to see.  You could still see the light, emanating from the center of it, but not much else.  This made me think that it wasn’t dirt that kept us from seeing in the windows, but this thick fog.

“What the fuck is this?” Harry asked.  “Looks like someone’s running a fog machine in here or something.”

“Maybe we should just go back to the car,” Tommy said.

We could all hear the singing now, and it was much louder, but muffled.

“Yeah,” John said.  “Nobody’s seen us yet.  Maybe it’s a good time to cut out.”

They felt it.  I could feel it, too.  A sense that we shouldn’t move forward.  That we should cut our losses and just get out of there, while the going was good.

Harry was so numbed out; he probably didn’t feel it.  Or maybe he just didn’t care.  He was always doing things to show the rest of us how fearless he was.

“No,” he said.  “I want to see what the singing is all about.  Are you guys with me, or not?”

I can’t imagine any of us would have felt right leaving him there.  We stuck together, even when it was stupid to do so.  There’d been a few run-ins with the law because of this code we had.  But nothing serious, so far.

“Come on, Harry,” I said, trying to reason with him.  “There’s nothing here to see.  Let’s do something else.”

“This fog has got me curious,” he said.  “It’s got to be covering something.  Let’s see what.”

There was a chance that someone might see us now, if we went inside.  I thought there was something brazen about going that far to see what the singing was all about.  But we were all liquored up and Harry was good at getting us to go along with what he wanted to do, even now.  He was just the same when we were kids.   Funny how some things didn’t change.

He moved forward and we were close behind.   And then we lost sight of him as he went into the fog and disappeared.  We kept moving and followed him inside.  I’d like to say we’d follow Harry to hell and back, but that’s a lie.  There were limits.  But that night, the limits weren’t all that clear.

There was a moment or two when we lost track of each other, and we called out so that we knew we were all still there, but we could barely hear each other over the din of the singing.  It had gotten much louder, almost deafening, and at one point I had to cover my ears.

And then we came through on the other side of the fog.

We saw each other first, and I felt a wave of relief knowing that we hadn’t lost anybody, that there was an end to the fog. That it wasn’t anything dangerous.  Here we were, just as we’d been before we’d walked through it.  Despite the sense of dread some of us had felt following Harry inside.

But then, after we saw each other, the fog moved and we saw the rest of it.

Bodies.  It looked like hundreds of them.  They were all impaled on sharp shafts that jutted up from the floor.  Or was it dirt beneath our feet?  I couldn’t see for sure.  The bodies reminded me of accounts I’d read of the kinds of things Vlad the Impaler did to his victims.  The real-life guy who was the inspiration for Dracula.

I’m not really sure if bodies was the right word in this case, though, because they weren’t actually dead.  They should have been, the way those strange shafts ripped through them.  But, you see, the sounds we’d heard, the singing, was coming from them.  Except, now that we were inside the hangar, I wasn’t so sure it was singing anymore.  It could have been the wailing of people being tortured.  People in pain.  But there was also a melody to it all.

The hangar was full of these people.  More than it would seem could fit in that place.  And yet, there they were.  Their sounds louder than ever.

“What’s going on here?” Harry said, trying to talk over the wails.  We could hear him faintly, but I had to watch his lips when he spoke.  I could tell he wasn’t fully grasping what was happening.  Maybe he thought he’d passed out and was having some kind of dream.

Tommy and John just stood there, as shocked by the sight as I was.  It really looked like a scene out of hell.  Except it was here, in front of us.  And none of us remembered dying.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Tommy said.  I watched his lips, because it really wasn’t easy to hear each other in this howling place.  And I knew that he was right.  We shouldn’t linger there any longer than we already had.

“No,” Harry said, “We have to help them,” and he’d already started moving toward the impaled people, moving awkwardly, not sure how to go about it.

“We have to leave,” Tommy said, walking back toward the fog, back toward the way out of this place.

I grabbed his arm.  “Help me with Harry,” I mouthed, because I wasn’t sure if he’d hear me.  He shook his head.  Then he pulled his arm away and kept walking.

He didn’t make it very far.  Something large and sharp came up from the floor without warning and forced its way through his body as he stood there.  It was an angle that was painful to look at, and he started screaming almost immediately.

John stood frozen beside me.  We watched as Tommy wriggled in agony, trying to get free of the thing that tore through him, literally nailing him to the spot.

I looked over at John, hoping he might have an idea of how to proceed, and seeing that he was as clueless, and as scared, as I was.

All through this, Harry continued to try to pull people free of their shafts.  He’d seemed to have forgotten we were there with him.  Or maybe he just assumed we were trying to save people, too.

But all John and I were concerned with, at this point, was saving ourselves.

I tried to go out the way we’d come through, but I couldn’t find the way we’d come through.  Every time I stepped through the fog, trying to find an exit, I found myself bumping into a wall.  At one point, I walked into the mist for what seemed like ten minutes, until I ended up right where I’d started.

“I can’t find the way out of here,” John said, his mouth close to my ear.  “What the fuck is this place?”

There was a new sound then.  And I knew without looking that Harry was now in the same position as those he’d tried to help.  I turned and saw him impaled, wriggling madly, trying in vain to free himself.

“We have to help Harry,” I said.  “And Tommy.”

“No, we have to get out here, before it happens to us,” John said, as desperate and confused as I was.  “There has to be a way out.”

I turned.  Harry was still struggling, and now he’d joined in on the screaming.  He was a part of this great agonized choir.  And so was Tommy.  Blood trickling from his lips as he howled.

“What are you doing?” John said, grabbing my shoulder.  “If you stay too long, it’ll happen to you, too.”

But even as he said the words, a shaft slid up from the floor, plunging through him.  It looked as if it entered in through his anus and ripped up through the top of his head.  It happened so fast, he didn’t even have time to struggle.  Blood poured out of him like some kind of obscene fountain.  But he wasn’t dead.  His mouth was moving, though his lips were stained with red.  His eyes stared at me, pleading.

He tried to speak, but couldn’t form the words.  Blood splattered his clothes.

I turned back to face the mist.  It obscured the dimensions of the room.  I had a general idea of how big an airplane hangar should be, but I was disoriented.  There was nothing about this place that was logical.  The rules of physics did not seem to apply here.  There were so many more impaled bodies in here than there should have been.  The more I looked, the further they spread in all directions.

I thought of why we’d come here.  Harry had been in a funk; the divorce had clearly broken something inside him, despite his bravado.  Now, the late night football game we’d planned seemed so far away.

I stood there, staring, not knowing which way to go.  Part of me wanted to just run as fast as I could, but another part of me knew that sudden flight would probably mean a collision with an unseen wall.  But I had to try again to get out of this place.  I couldn’t let what happened to my friends happen to me.

It was then that I heard the hiss of a shaft shooting up through the floor.  Not that I could actually see a floor.  A layer of fog covered where I’d been walking.  Fog, and, I knew, blood.

The shaft penetrated my skin, and as I struggled to get away before it ripped through me completely, it moved faster, surging more forcefully through me.  I couldn’t feel any pain, but I knew what was happening to me.  I could feel the pressure of the shaft ripping through my innards.

I stared into Harry’s face.  His contorted, howling face.  And I realized that I, too, was howling.  But it didn’t sound like howling to me anymore.  It really did sound like singing.  My voice melded with those of the others, and it was almost beautiful, the way we cried out in unison.  Our voices embraced and enhanced each other’s.  Turned many sounds into one.

And then, I felt my mind open.  The shaft must have pierced my brain by that point.  These gigantic thorns ripped through us as if they had their own agenda.  As if this was all planned somehow, and they weren’t simply random, mindless things, but living things.   I could feel movement inside me, pulsating energy.  I felt my mind open to the other victims around me, and I could hear their thoughts, and they could hear mine.  And there were two choruses being sung then.  One by our mouths, and one in our heads.  All in unison.

The fog seemed to be churning towards us, making it harder to see one another, but we each knew the others were there.  The fog didn’t block out the sounds, or the thoughts.  It simply enhanced them.  Nothing else mattered.

I could feel blood dripping down my back, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

- the end –

© Copyright 2002 by L.L. Soares

• Dr. Who Season 7 off to record ratings for BBC-A
• More Gaiman on Doctor Who?
• CW developing Smallville-themed Wonder Woman series
• New Trailer for Cloud Atlas
• Heavy Metal/Metal Hurlant live action TV series
• JJ Abrams making “buddy cop robot drama”
• PSA helps you cope with the trauma of George R.R. Martin’s A Storm of Swords
• How copyright enforcement robots killed the Hugo Awards
• Poll:  Which superheroes need a new outfit?

This week’s guest is author Joe Tripician, whose books include My Night With Sarah Palin, Balkanized at Sunrise, and The Official Alien Abductee’s Handbook. (That last link will bring you to a free downloadable version of the book.)  We also discussed his new dystopian book, Immortality Wars, which explores what would happen if we were granted immortality, but it keeps everyone at the age they are now…forever.

• “S.H.I.E.L.D.” Pilot
• Jonathan Frakes to direct Castle’s “Comic Con” episode
• What if Hermione, Katniss, Michonne and Buffy lived together? Presenting BAMF Girls Club
• Peter Laird calls TMNT Reboot Script “Wretched Junk”
• Eastman earlier called it The Best One yet.
• Here’s the script!
• 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• Rachel Bloom Sings “Seasons of Love” in Klingon
• Baby raised speaking Klingon as his first language
• RIP Neil Armstrong and Jerry Nelson
• Poll:  Which sci-fi character would you elect as President?

Tonight’s guest is Cooper Barnes who once stopped 12 inches short of hitting Emmanuel Lewis with his car , was bitten by a rabid squirrel in 1997 and had to have 15 shots, and has no sense of smell. And he has even more accomplishments! He’s part of the Frog Island sketch comedy troupe and is the host of the web series Cavern of Comics. We also discussed his voiceover role in the upcoming movie Escape from Planet Earth and his texting habits.

• Curiosity makes first tracks on Mars, names its landing site in Ray Bradbury’s honor
• Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem
• Crowdfund a goddamn Nikola Tesla museum!
• Fringe will return  9/28
• American Horror Story
• Bullet In The Face (TV Show)
• John Dies at the End gets a distributor
• Poll:  which sci-fi franchise has run its’ course (stick a fork in it, it’s done)?

Our guests this week are Randall Lobb, Mark Hussey and Isaac Elliot Fisher, independent filmmakers who are in the midst of making Turtle Power, the definitive Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles documentary. We talked about the film’s inception, the serendipitous events that have made it a reality, the people they have met, and places they have gone, during the making of this film. For more information about Turtle Power and what you can do to help, check out its website.

RIP comics legend Joe Kubert

Tonight is the return of Doug Jones, one of our favorite guests. Doug is an incredibly busy actor, which gave us a lot to talk about. We got some exclusive news, a musical performance, and the inside scoop on several of Doug’s current projects. Look for Doug in the book Fallen Superheroes, on The Neighbors, and on Falling Skies.

Ready Player One is set thirty years in the future. The Great Recession and the energy crisis hve crippled the progress of humanity. Times are tough, and the only escape is the OASIS: a revolutionary massively multiplayer online game that has evolved into the world’s preferred internet experience. Due to its ease of use, The OASIS is used for work, shopping, and provides primary and secondary education. Accessing the OASIS is also free. In a dangerous world where resources are scarce, the OASIS is there to shape a new way of life.

James Halliday is the co-creator of the OASIS, as well as its chief programmer. Upon his sudden death, a video of himself is released to every OASIS user, informing them of The Hunt: a video game contest to find Halliday’s Easter Egg within the vastness of the OASIS. The prize for finding the egg: Halliday’s fortune, which is worth billions, as well as control of Gregarious Simulation Systems, the company responsible for controlling the OASIS.

Wade Watts is a teenager living in poverty, and spends most of his time in the OASIS, as it provides him entertainment, as well as his education. Wade barely knew the existence of James Halliday, but the day Halliday’s video played for the world, he immediately joined The Hunt. The clues to finding the easter egg lay in Halliday’s potent obsession with 1980s and 1990s popular culture, science fiction and video games.

Wade immerses himself into every aspect of 80s and 90s pop-culture, as many Egg Hunters do, since anything within the nostalgic material can be a clue. It soon becomes a race against time, as a rival company, Innovative Online Industries (IOI), has been seeking control of the OASIS for years, and is using the contest to get closer than ever to their goals. Should IOI gain control, they will implement drastic changes that will forever corrupt the OASIS. With billions of dollars at stake, IOI is willing to do ANYTHING to find Halliday’s Egg.

Ready Player One was an incredibly fun experience. I would argue that it’s not just about video games and 1980s references, because real issues are tackled in this story. In one example, author Ernie Cline paints a bleak vision of the future, using recent economic and environmental concerns as ingredients for the world he builds. However, that’s contrasted with the world inside the OASIS, which is a mecca of science fiction landscapes. Despite the harsh condition of the real world, Cline finds the perfect balance between fun and bleakness.

Cline also tackles issues such as internet friendships and romance. The book’s protagonist, Wade Watts, is a loner in his late teens, and is obsessed with finding Halliday’s Easter Egg. His only friends are other players inside the OASIS, and they share his obsession with The Hunt. These are people he’s never met in real life, yet he’s faced with trusting them, especially when things get rough, and the stakes are incredibly high.

This is Ernie Cline’s first novel, but he also wrote the screenplay for Fanboys, about a group of Star Wars obsessed friends on a quest to steal a rough-cut of Star Wars: Episode One while it was still in development. Cline is also a 2012 John W. Campbell Memorial Award finalist. The Ready Player One audiobook is read by Wil Wheaton, and he was the perfect choice. His voice lends to the geek-obsessed material very well, and his narration hits the mark every time.

You don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to enjoy Ready Player One, however, I think it’s necessary to be familiar with how massively multiplayer online games work in order to follow along with the story. The story’s strength is in the characters. It’s rare that I find a protagonist that I can fully relate to, and it was fun to watch Wade progress from an awkward loner to having the courage to stand up to a dangerous foe.

The Ready Player One hardback, ebook and paperback is available now. To coincide with the release of the paperback, Ernie Cline has launched a contest inspired by Ready Player One. The grand prize being…a restored 1981 DeLorian, with a true-to-movie flux capacitor replica.

Tonight’s guest is the marvelous Matt Wienhold, whose writing credits range from The Dish to the soon-to-be-released series Beware the Batman. He also contributed the horror chapter to The Comedy Film Nerds Guide to Movies, and our horror movie conversation upon hearing this news was awesome.

Diablo 3 will steal your soul, one click at a time.

Diablo 3 is the last game you will ever play. Not because you don’t want to play other games, but because the moment you gain that first level, find that first rare item, or unlock new your first new skill you will be completely addicted to Diablo 3.  No matter how hard you try to move on, it will always be gnawing at the back of your mind.   

Diablo 3 is a the latest installment in the Diablo series of action RPG’s.  I will admit that I have played Diablo and Diablo 2 extensively.  In fact, I didn’t stop playing Diablo 2 until about a year ago (I got the game in 2000 when it was released).  Needless to say I’m a fan of the series. I can honestly and say that Diablo 3 delivers for long time fans and new gamers alike.

Ease of access and causal playing are represented both in Diablo 3’s quest and leveling systems.  Starting a new game no longer means starting from the beginning of an Act (Diablo has Acts instead of levels).  Instead, you can choose exactly at which quest you want to jump into the game or you can begin playing from your last checkpoint.  No longer are you tied down the old fashioned RPG systems where a single mistake in skill placement would mean starting over.  Skills can be swapped back and forth in town or when the action dies down, which allows you to experiment and develop all sorts of combinations for any situation.  This allows you to experience each of Diablo 3’s brilliant character classes in full.  Find yourself dying on a certain quest or boss?  No problem just switch out your skills for a more defensive set and try it again.  The ability to play at your own discretion with your with your own unique skill choices adds a level of depth and reply value not that didn’t exist in the previous games.  I found myself playing as the Monk and I haven’t looked back yet.  While the Barbarian, Wizard, Demon Hunter and Witch Doctor are all unique and cool I couldn’t pull myself away from my Kung Fu master. As a fan of old school Kung Fu movies the idea of punching and kicking my way through the armies of hell is something I just cant turn my back on.

Longtime fans will know that as fun as leveling up and beating quests of Diablo can be, that’s not the main point of the game.  Diablo’s true brilliance shines through its loot reward system.  Every mob of enemies you face drops items.  Every drop is random based on the enemy’s level and your character’s magic find/gold find stats.  The higher your gold and magic find the better your chances are, but nothing is guaranteed.  There are different classes of items to find from worthless crude items to the ultra rare legendary weapons and armor. The stats on these rare items can vary extensively to the point where two items are practically never identical.  This is what gives Diablo 3 such a unique feel.  Everyone can use any skill they want at any time, no two items are the same giving each player there own unique and individual experience.

At first Diablo 3 is very easy.  Like many modern games, the storyline eases you in, allowing you to slowly learn the ins and outs of the game and your character.  Initially you will be finding new and better items after almost every single battle.  This keeps you licking yours lips in excitement for each and every new monster pack you cross as you have a chance to increase your power and riches.  As you progress through each difficulty level of Diablo the items you find will become more powerful and the strength of your enemies increased.  The final difficulty setting known as “Inferno” is significantly harder then anything in previous games and can’t even be attempted until you reach the maximum level for your character.  Inferno is the ultimate test of players’ skill, the reward for playing of course are the best items you can find in the game.

By the time you reach Inferno you will notice that finding better items than ones you already have has also become significantly harder.  But the reward is just as great, if not more satisfying.  If you have trouble finding new items you can enter into Diablo 3’s Auction House to buy new items with the gold you have earned or sell items that you no longer need.  This opens up another easy access function of Diablo 3.  Instead of running the same level thousands of times over and over again to find a few decent items you can now go to the Auction House and look around for a new item that is in your budget range that will help you beat the next part of the game.  Additionally, you can use the Real Money Auction House to attempt to actually make real money playing Diablo 3.  This is probably Diablo 3’s most unique feature.  The ability to use US dollars to buy and sell virtual items adds an additional level in the in game economy that isn’t found in any other MMO. Yes, of course this means that there are 13 year old brats with mommy and daddy’s credit card buying hundreds of dollars worth of virtual items making their character stronger than yours.  But don’t worry, buying your way to power in Diablo 3 is not even half as satisfying as getting there on your own.

Did you ever think that game where the primary control is just “click click click” with your mouse would be the most addictive game you ever played? Did you ever think that a simply game formula developed in 1996 with the original Diablo and perfected in 2000 with Diablo 2 would become the fastest selling computer game of all time in 2012 as Diablo 3? Probably not.  Diablo 3 builds on the success of its predecessors while making the jump to modern gaming.

Which  brings us back to my point earlier, Diablo 3 can be played any way you want.  All of Diablo 3’s core functions allow you do customize and play the way you want to play.  Questing, leveling up, the auction house, they all cater to each individual players’ needs.  Yes, you click to move, to attack, to pick up items, to sell items, to talk to other characters but each click carries significant weight and importance within the game and for your own unique character making you forget you just spent the last three hours mashing left click on your mouse. After a while you will be thinking about your next clicks before you go to bed. Those new items you wanted to hunt for will be the first thing you think of when you wake in the morning.  That skill build you wanted to try will be all you can think of at work.  Just like that, click after click after click, Diablo 3 will creep its way into deep into your mind, your heart and your soul.  You will become addicted, and whether you realize it or not, it will be the last game you ever want to play.

Mark’s Print for Star Wars Celebration

• Season 7 Doctor Who Trailer
• Moist talks Doctor Horrible sequel
• Days of Future Past
• Happy Don’t Be A Dick Day!
• Christopher Eccleston in Thor 2
• Update: There will be a third Hobbit movie released in 2014
• June Foray finally won an Emmy
• Military dad uses the Force to surprise his son with the perfect Star Wars homecoming

Poll:  Which LOST group of adventurers has the LEAST chance of getting home?

Our guest this week is Mark McKenna, who was one of the featured guests at GraniteCon this year. He worked for Marvel & DC for over 20 years, and is now doing two strips of his own, BananaTails and Combat Jacks. Mark will be appearing at Star Wars Celebration VI on August 23rd. To purchase original McKenna artwork, visit Comic Art House.

• Mary Poppins vs. Voldemort in the Event That Shall Not Be Named opening ceremony
• Alphas and Warehouse 13 kick ass in return.
• Terry Gilliam’s daughter discovers dad’s originals
• Chakotay regrets Voyager.
• SPOILER: Spoilers are good for you
• Jon Stewart Blasts Viacom For Stupid Blackout
• Flaming Carrot Kickstarter project!
• Z*CON  pennies away from funding goal.
• R.I.P. Sally Ride
• RIP Dr. Who companion Mary Tamm
• Poll:  What’s the worst sci-fi film of all time?

Fall Foliage by Curt McDermott

Going to cons is fun for a bunch of reasons. You get to reconnect with artists, writers, collectors and fans you may not have seen since last year; but often times you also find something or someone new.  I was introduced to Curt McDermott at Granite State Comic Con. He is one of the new wave of young writers who is doing horror stories (as well as writing his first novel and producing his own comic). These days writers seem to be doing it all. Curt McDermott is a high school English teacher and lover of ghost stories, comic books, and the Oxford comma. He and his wife live in New Hampshire with a dog and several ducks.  You can see more of his work here.

Presenting the story of a man, well past his prime and at the end of his rope…or is he? When you think you have hit bottom, you had best hope you are.

Submitted for your approval, “Fall Foliage” by Curt McDermott:

He slowed at the rocktop, pleading with his body for calm. Every step like lifting a stone, the air so thin it had to be willfully drawn. Why was he here, back where even the landscape was ready to crush him?

Tangled gray clouds churned in the sky above his own tangled strands of gray. The stormy summer that had drained away weeks before left a dirty film behind, one that bled color from the world. Before him, a crazy-quilt tableau of fall leaves hung loosely in their sockets, poised to smother the slender skidway that led to town. Wayward breezes from the valley, scraped and clawed by rows of jagged branches until only their ghosts remained, made the muted oranges and reds shiver above his head. He’d heard the noise before, when TB had eaten a friend from the inside out: a death rattle.

Back in Troy, auctioning the house seemed like a good idea when he’d had it, drunk and lying on the floorboards of his apartment. He was broke— after rent, down to his last seventeen bucks— and, for all the grand election promises of ‘32, nobody seemed to be in too much of a hurry to change his situation. He vaguely recalled screaming his case to the radiator, railing about ownership and a man’s rights and what’s mine is mine goddamnit. He’d felt so right, so justified, as if four decades of interest had accrued on an investment he’d simply forgotten about.

The rest of the story is available in .pdf : Fall Foliage

• Batman movie opens
• Rush Limbaugh is a dumbass
• Tracy Hickman’s Wayne of Gotham is out
• The Magic of Frankenweenie
• There might be a third Hobbit movie
• “ConSARS” bug infects unwashed masses at SDCC
• Z*Con
• Movie starring Joss Whedon, produced by Felicia Day, written by 5 yr old
• JetPens.com
• Ron Moore might turn Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series into a TV show
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire casts Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair
• (and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee)
• Alphas comes back on Monday
• Nerdy Sexy Pin Up Calendar.
• Poll:  Who’s the baddest MF sci-fi cop?

Alphas Season 2

SyFy has a some amazing quality programming on their hands, and one of the shining stars thus far is Alphas. Season 1 followed the main characters’ journey from squabbling individuals to a working group of super humans staying hidden in plain sight. There are still flaws and mysteries for them to work out, but the battle to be the alpha Alpha has been overshadowed by greater challenges.  Season 1 ended with Dr. Rosen’s public revelation of Alphas existence and Season 2 will explore the ramifications of his actions, not just on the team but on government and society.

The scripting has been terse and explosive so far, and the show was an immediate hit for SyFy, becoming the most-watched original series on the channel. Season Two will bring in amazing guest stars such as C. Thomas Howell, Lauren Holly, Summer Glau, and Sean Astin. Original drama well crafted on SyFy is truly something to enjoy. Don’t miss this.

Alphas airs Mondays, starting on July 23, at 10pm on SyFy. Check the video for a sneak peek:

Fallen Superheroes

• Some sort of get-together in San Diego this weekend
• BBCA Doctor Who at Comic-Con special on July 28th
• Tom Baker to return for Dr. Who 50th anniversary!
• BattleStar Galactica: Blood and Chrome
• Pee Wee Herman voice over of The Dark Knight Trailer
• Scarlett Johansson signs  for 20 Million to do Avengers 2
• Fraggle Rock’s Doozers are getting their own TV show
• Ron Perlman becomes Hellboy again for Make-A-Wish

Poll:  You’re a scientific engineer: Where would you want to work?

In lieu of Doug Jones, who had to get to this little show in California, we got the chance to catch up with Scott Perry and Adam Mock who worked with Doug on Mime Very Own Book. They joined us to promote their new book, Fallen Superheroes.

From their website:

Fallen Superheroes is a caricatured look at extraordinary everyday people through the visionary lens of celebrity photographer Eric Curtis. Using superheroes (think Batman, Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Superman) as the allegory, Curtis explores the not-so-glamorous and sometimes dark realities of those who strive to live their dreams against all odds. Curtis once again pairs his trademark imagery with the witty prose of Scott Allen Perry and Adam Mock (Mime Very Own Book), making Fallen Superheroes an eye-popping, gut-busting, esoteric commentary on the unique individuals who color our lives.

Joe Bleak by Ken Bastard

Joe Bleak is the rugged, dirty, whiskey drinking, cigarette smoking son of a bitch that you and I wish we could be. He isn’t someone you necessarily look up to, but is someone you respect, and maybe even fear.  It is for this reason that I was excited to get into The Adventures of Joe Bleak.  As a fan of comic noir and gritty story telling, Joe Bleak seemed like the guy for me.

The Adventures of Joe Bleak is a collection of diverse short stories spanning from World War 2 to a twisted futuristic version of our own reality.  Each story is prefaced with an introduction about what inspired and influenced the short which helps give a little background into what the creator was thinking.

I’m not usually a fan of collections that have a number of shorts that aren’t related.  I prefer shorts to interweave with the main story to add depth and characterization.  However, these introductions serve as a way to tie each story to the creator, connecting them through him and what he was experiencing at the time.  I was pleasantly surprised by how they helped create a more cohesive experience for me throughout the collection.  I never felt like I was abruptly jumping from story to story.  I felt as if I was smoothly being guided through random, but important, events in Joe’s life. Perhaps to try to understand his greater purpose.

Each short provides us more insight into what its like to be the rough and tough Joe Bleak.  Because each story is its own, you get to see Joe in large variety of different situations despite it only being one small collection.  Even with such a variety of stories Joe’s character and the noir tone of the comics stay consistent and really allow you to see a few different sides of an otherwise mysterious character.

If you have ever read any type of short story collection you know that a lot of times each individual story can be hit or miss.  Often times the collection as a whole will not hold up to individual tales told within.  The Adventures of Joe Bleak is not one of these collections.  The cohesiveness and connection you feel to both Joe and the creator as he guides you along may be the collections greatest strength and one of the things that distinguish it from other comics like it.

The art is a lot like Joe himself:  gritty and rough around the edges.  It also changes slightly from short to short.  The introductions explain some of the different techniques used and help draw attention to the differences for the untrained eye.  As someone who knows nothing about drawing, I found these little tidbits of information interesting.  They also enhanced the connection I felt towards the creator, in turn, increasing the connection I felt towards Joe.   There is also a black and white short that serves as a great contrast to the rest of the shorts and really features the artiest skill.  The shadows and penciling, colored or not, truly capture the noir feel that the creator is striving for.

Sadly, these shorts do not connect in any way other then Joe’s presence.  Joe has immense potential as character, and I would have loved to see in him in a full feature story.   When all is said and done, The Adventures of Joe Bleak is a great comic collection that is easy to pick up and get into for long time comic fans and new readers just looking to get into a short story to pass the time.

• Happy birthday Ray Harryhausen!
• Voltaire releases stop-motion film w/Gary Numan
• Is there a TV Series in Star Trek?
• Bangor ME authorities prepare for zombie apocalypse
• RIP Caroline Johns
• Doctor Who Season 7 casting news
• Ryan Reynolds ruins another franchise, Highlander
• Firefly cast 10th anniversary reunion in San Diego

• Z*Con Kickstarter
• Open question:  explain the first scene in Prometheus
• Pizza Necronomicon!
• First Trailer for The Watch
• True Blood
• Live action Futurama Opening
• Walking Dead producers swear we’ll like Carl in season 3
• SFSN named Podcast of the Month by Guardians of the Genre blog – pt.2
• Poll:  Who’s your favorite giant robot?

Boris the Animal, one of the most feared aliens in the galaxy, escapes a lunar prison and travels back forty years to the past to kill the man who put him in moon-jail: Agent K. When Boris succeeds, thus altering the present, Agent J is the only one who remembers K’s long career. He travels back to 1969 to save K’s life, and the time-paradoxical hilarity ensues.

To be blunt and brutally honest…Men in Black 3 is a fun movie. This is the type of film where you can check your brain at the theatre ticket booth, sit back with your water-tower-sized popcorn and just enjoy the ride. Even if there obvious holes in the plot or the science that may warrant hours of discussion, the film was well-made, well acted, and funny.

One thing to note is Josh Brolin’s approach to a 1969 version of Tommy Lee Jones’ character, Agent K. Brolin hits every Lee Jones mark, from his mannerisms to his timing. That’s not an easy thing to pull off. The transition from Tommy Lee Jones to Josh Brolin was interesting to watch, since we as the audience are experiencing the same series of events as Agent J. Brolin’s performance adds consistency, because we’re still getting the same character in Agent K, even though there’s a lot less Tommy Lee Jones.

Overall, Men in Black 3 is the fun sci-fi movie experience that we’ve been missing.

Nightcrawler 3 by Anne Cain

• Sci Fi Saturday Night named “PODCAST OF THE MONTH” by Guardians of the Genre!
• Granite State Comic Con wrapup
• Someone’s making a Community video game
• Robert Kirkman designing zombie-proof Hyundai
• CDC assures US there is no zombie apocalypse… really!
• Game of Thrones scene had George W. Bush decapitated head
• Ice Warriors & other classic monsters return in new Who season
• True Blood Premiere
• Poll:  What’s your favorite Ray Bradbury book?

Writer, director, producer, artist, speaker, co-founder of Big Damn Films, and gentleman genius, Michael Dougherty (you remember him from Browncoats: Redemption) comes back into the world of film making and social activism. The whole idea of Big Damn Films has always been to give back to the community, to charities and make amazing films. Here’s my breakdown of their latest project:

1. The Movie: A horror comedy about a zombie outbreak at a comic con. It chronicles the story of 14 year old Matt Moore and his 3 friends who have a podcast. While attending a local comic convention they witness a Zombie Outbreak. Think The Walking Dead meets Superbad
2. The Kickstarter Project: for his first film, Mike went seeking donations for both goods and services and sales went to charity. This time, he is hoping to donate $250,000.00. It is an ambitious goal but Mike is used to seeing and working towards big goals. In his last project Big Damn Films achieved what it set out to do:  produce a quality film in the Firefly Universe with all the legal approvals from the powers that be. And at the same time they supported the work of charities with the money brought in from the sale of the film:

 “Every penny will go directly towards completing our project which is our film’s production and contributor rewards. Our budget covers everything from production insurance, location fees, equipment rentals, cast and crew wages, props, costumes, and makeup to the VFX, sound design, and, well, everything we will need to make the film. While the budget may seem low to you, we learned how to maximize our funds during our first film. And, since we’re a non-profit organization, some aspects will be donated to the production, which also helps reduce costs.”

This is Dome sayin’: Check them out on their web page, Twitter feed, Facebook page and, if you are so inclined, their Kickstarter page. My Big Damn Name is gonna be in the credits of this movie. How about you?

• RIP Ray Bradbury
• Poll:  Which sci-fi movie do you wish was more like the book?

Ray Bradbury Grand Master of Science Fiction

The great authors of science fiction are often grouped into categories and historical time frames. First came the Innovators:  Jules Verne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. The next group are affectionately called the Grand Masters of Modern Science Fiction, a group that consists of four  amazing and talented men: Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlien, and Ray Bradbury, who passed yesterday at the age of 91.

Born in 1920, Bradbury was a voracious reader and was influenced by the work of  Poe, Burroughs, and Verne.   His habit was to write every single day whether  the muse was present for hours or for a few moments.  Libraries, books and writing were constant companions throughout his entire life. He fought tirelessly for literacy, libraries, and reading programs throughout his life. In an interview in 2009, he said,

Libraries raised me. I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don’t have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.

His obsession with the written word stayed with him his entire life. His works became apocryphal. His messages were universal. His appeal spanned generations and genre’s. Francois Truffaut translated Fahrenheit 451 into a film. Rod Steiger played the Illustrated Man. Jason Robards  terrified us in Something Wicked This Way Comes. NPR produced Bradbury 13, which won a Peabody Award. His work will continue for many years to come with the efforts of  The Center for Ray Bradbury Studies in Indiana.

Who doesn’t know Bradbury’s work? His ISFDB pages lists his written accomplishments, but there is something that a listing of all those awards, accolades, and published books cannot say. Ray Bradbury brought wonder into the world. Of the Grand Masters, it was he who took  us to Mars, the carnival , The Halloween Tree, The October Country….

He sang the body electric, and I mourn his passing.

Dark Shadows

Two of our intrepid hosts went to see Dark Shadows, and (of course) had opposing views of the movie. We’re putting up both reviews and readers can decide for themselves who has the most convincing argument.

Let me say this, Dark Shadows wasn’t a great movie, but it was good and in some spots very good. The problem was, as far as the story and script is concerned, the movie simply couldn’t  make up its mind. It failed as a comedy, missing many jokes almost purposefully; and as a drama, well lets just say you didn’t mind much at all when the townspeople were slaughtered so…. the movie clouded the audience. However, the mostly-good acting, the stellar cinematography, and a wonderful soundtrack certainly made the movie entertaining despite it’s faults.

When it came to acting, Depp was Depp and that was great. He was glorious and commanded a presence on the screen that few make happen. I liked Michelle Pheiffer a lot, and the Christopher Lee cameo (as well as countless others) were fun when you spotted them. In my humble opinion however, Jackie Earle Haley is an enigma. Why was he in this film? I don’t get it, and I don’t get him or the character.

The cinematography was…wow!!! The movie shone here. Tim Burton was at his finest, letting Bruno Delbonnel do some beautiful work. Shot selection, exteriors and the Mansions interior sets were well crafted and the special effects were superbly understated with exception of a particularly nausea-inducing vomit sequence.

Original music by Danny Elfman (who else?) and a score wrapped around contemporary 70′s music made the soundtrack stunningly perfect. Music by Barry White, The Moody Blues, Iggy and the Stooges, Deep Purple, Curtis Mayfield, The Carpenters, and Elton John peppered the movie making splash after audio splash. But Alice Cooper’s cameo outshone them all. The most amusing musical moment for me in the film occurs as Barnabas Collins recites the lyrics to Steve Miller’s “The Joker”.

This is Dome sayin’:  I was not a big fan of the original series, I found it kind of boring, pedantic and slow, and to be perfectly honest not all that good. The movie fares much better for me because I held very few preconceptions. I liked it, I didn’t love it, but what the hell, it was fun.

Dark Shadows

Two of our intrepid hosts went to see Dark Shadows, and (of course) had opposing views of the movie. We’re putting up both reviews and readers can decide for themselves who has the most convincing argument.

I start this by saying I have seen EVERY SINGLE EPISODE of the original “Dark Shadows” television show – all 1,228 of them. Many of them I have seen at least twice, because after spending a big part of my VERY early childhood running home from school to watch this ABC soap opera (and it probably started my love of the vampire genre), Illustrator X and I watched them all in order on SyFy when they brought it back a few years ago. So I heard the news of a “Dark Shadows” movie (aside from “House of Dark Shadows” and “Night of Dark Shadows”) and approached it with trepidation. But, I thought, it’s Tim Burton, I’m a fan of Tim Burton (most of the time); it’s Johnny Depp, I love Johnny Depp (in anything), maybe it will be good! Unfortunately, Dome and I recently saw Mr. Burton’s remake and…well, keep reading.

PROS:

I like the soundtrack. As we’ve mentioned on the show, the only host older than me is Dome (thanks Kriana) and this was music I could get into. I also greatly appreciated the scraps from the original series that Mr. Burton threw at us fans – Widow’s Peak and the Atlantic crashing against the rocks are shots that seem to be taken right from either the show or the movies; the haunting original theme bleeds periodically through Danny Elfman’s score; and the Blue Whale bar makes and appearance. And thank you Mr. Burton, from the fans, for letting us get our last glimpse of the original Barnabas Collins, Jonathan Frid (attending “a happening” at Collinswood) after his very recent death, along with the original Victoria Winters, Quentin Collins, and Angelique.

I actually thought Helena Bonham Carter did a great send up of Grayson Hall’s Dr. Julia Hoffman, and Alice Cooper kicked ass (but then, I always think Alice Cooper kicks ass). I thought the special effects were good and yes, I spotted the perfunctory Burton showing of a Sandworm.Yes, I want to live in Collinswood. I did then, and I want to now – more than ever.

CONS:

This script needed a re-write. Plain and simple. It seems Mr. Burton couldn’t decide if he wanted this to be a comedy or homage.  If it’s a comedy, it wasn’t funny enough. If it’s an homage, it didn’t give us enough of the original soap opera angst. Johnny was not Barnabas. He was an amalgamation of Max Schrek’s Nosferatu and the greasier parts of Bela Lugosi. While I thought Michelle Pfeiffer was passable as Elizabeth Stoddard, she was WAY too accepting of new “cousin” Barnabas. Jackie Earl Haley was completely wasted in this film. And I really did not like Chloe Grace Moretz’s Carolyn Stoddard.

Did they have to mesh Maggie Evans and Victoria Winters? Because it didn’t work. Where was Quentin Collins? Where were the perfunctory séance scenes? Why was David Collins nice? (Sorry, I’m really writing for the fans with that one) Johnny Lee Miller was a HORRIBLE Roger Collins – he didn’t drink NEARLY enough (Editor’s Note: Don’t drink and drive, kids!). And Angelique – in the original, one thing fans loved was hearing the ABSOLUTELY EVIL laugh of Lara Parker’s Angelique the Witch. When Angelique laughed, you knew you were in for some great scene munching in the next few minutes. Eva Green’s Angelique DIDN’T LAUGH ONCE! How difficult is it to come up with a crazy, evil laugh???  And did we really need the Buffy/Spike lust fest reenactment between Angelique and Barnabas? It wasn’t funny, in fact, it was rather awkward.

Overall, at the end, the Dark Shadows remake just left the Dead Redhead feeling…blah. If it was going to be a comedy, then make it over the top! I know Mr. Burton used to able to do that–look at Beetlejuice! Look at Ed Wood! If it’s an homage, MAKE IT OVER THE TOP, much like the original show! That’s one of the reasons I loved the original! Instead, it’s more of a mediocre send up with lots of pretty props and a few scraps thrown to the hardcore fans. Sorry Messrs. Burton and Depp, I’ll pass until your next venture.

It all begins when the world is “healed”, essentially being cured of all illness and disease.  Initially this sounds great, but as you read on you begin to question how good this new reality is.  The lack of disease and the realizations that follow lead to chaos.  Fear of over crowding and running out of resources become major concerns.  Not only that but the structure of the economy is drastically changed as well.  Where research and development for pharmaceutical drugs and disease cures were high priorities and profitable in the past, they have become worthless over night.

The main story follows Donna Gibbs and here assistant Anthony Mendoza.  Donna, the head of R&D for the pharmaceutical division of her company, will stop at nothing to discover the cause of the healing. Reviving her industry, and possibly even reversing the healing. While her motives aren’t clear Anthony acts as a moral compass constantly question his boss’s actions as well as his own.   As she successfully drags Anthony out of bed and into her own schemes you get the feeling Donna knows more then she is letting on.  No matter how hard Anthony tries to escape her grasp she finds a way to get what she wants out him, and everyone else.

The story also jumps around following different characters giving you a wide variety of reactions to the healing, both good and bad.  You will meet everyone from elderly folk who are just getting there memory back, drunks who livers work again, the terminally ill who are no longer terminal and a mysterious young man who still cant walk despite all the miracles occurring around him on a daily basis.

The art adds a dark and curious feel to the book that is a welcome addition to the story.  The presentation of the art makes the comic feel like a classic noir tale and adds an element of mystery to the story.  This simple and effective approach allows you to get into the characters and the story instead of constantly worrying about whats happening in each frame.  Some frames have little to no background at all, yet while your reading the comic you wouldn’t have any idea because the delivery is so solid.

Overall Healed is an incredibly interesting story that draws in and leaves you wanting more before you can even grasp the full scope of the comic.

“A frat party for nerds” --- Guy Noyes, NAUTICON attendee

The weekend of May 18-20 saw the premiere of NAUTICON, a 21+ con held right on the tip of Cape Cod at the Provincetown Inn.  Comics, cosplay, anime, sci-fi and fantasy all came together for a weekend of high-octane drinking and low-key debauchery.   Before I go any further, let’s get this out of the way:  I am friends with three NAUTICON staff members, and went to the show to support them, but I didn’t know what to expect and frankly, I was worried that I’d be giving the show a bad review.  Brutal honesty can be awkward, and ruin a perfectly good friendship.  However, I was pleasantly surprised by NAUTICON.  Surprised?  Hell, I had a blast.  I felt pumped and energized at con’s end.  You didn’t read that wrong. I felt like I had more energy, and was more alert and happy by the end of the show than when I got there.  If you’ve ever done the exhausted zombie shuffle on the last day of a con, you know how rare that is.

By midnight of the first night, I’d co-hosted a panel on how to budget for a con, hit the dance floor (those of you who know me, stop laughing), and made a half dozen new friends in the gaming room.  I also got to see a Flying!  Inflatable!  Motorized!  Shark!  gliding through the air, scaring the hell out of more than one attendee.  You need one of these.  Somewhere in there, I missed the Single Malt Whiskey tasting event, but I’m proud to say that I more than made up for it.  2am found me standing on the beach under a crystal-clear night sky, trading Harlan Ellison stories with anime industry legend Jan Scott-Frazier while drinking “Mermaid Pee”.  I recommend that drink for anyone who needs to dissolve an engine block.

Saturday — the big day.  This being a 21+ crowd, nothing was scheduled until noon, giving early risers like myself a chance to hit the town and the beach and enjoy Provincetown before diving back into the fray.  And what a fray!  Panels, panels, panels!  Anime running nonstop!  And the variety of dealers — yes, you could buy the expected anime prints, but there were also leather masks for sale, steampunk gauntlets, graphic novels, and Victorian jewelry.  Cosplayers roamed the halls while opposing bands of Jedi smacked the crap out of each other on the beach.  I have it on good word that “Proper Porn for Distinguished Ladies” was a… spirited… gathering, enjoyed by all who attended.  I also missed the three hour harbor cruise, but caught the end of the Miss Nauticon pageant after my last two panels ended.

The Only Con of the Con:  by this point, I was famished, but the hotel grill was now closed.  Every time I tried to get out of the hotel to find a restaurant, I’d be pulled into another room for another twenty minutes of >shudder< fun.  Finally, I started walking into town, but came right back — the parties out in the streets seemed a lot more dangerous than the ones at the con.  Thank God for vending machines!

The evening wrapped after midnight again, first Tom Weyland hosting a collection of downright filthy Pokemon outtakes (HILARIOUS), and then Jan Scott-Frazier talked about her career in the anime/animation industry.  I have to say that for me, Jan’s talk was the highlight of the weekend.  She’s led a fascinating life and isn’t afraid to name names or bring up the darker parts of her past.  Catch her show on the con trail — highly, highly recommended!

Several people, guests and attendees alike, told me how much fun they were having and how great it was to have a show where you didn’t have to watch your language.  NAUTICON isn’t a booze-up free-for-all; far from it!  But it’s tapped an undiscovered niche — adults being able to drink, curse and dress provocatively, but still act responsibly while they just plain RELAX.

• Rufio is getting his own movie
• Harry Potter Aftermath
• Guillermo Del Toro is courting Christopher Walken
• Marvel Comics announces gay superhero wedding
• DC to out “major” character
• John  de Lancie is a BRONY
• New CareBears show
• Nauticon
• James Doohan‘s ashes go to space
• Diablo III Retraction
• Poll:  Who’s the best sci-fi investigator(s)?

In this far too brief interview, I spoke with Jean-Christophe Valtat, noted international science fiction author and teacher, world’s leading authority on Jules Verne, and keynote speaker at the 2012 The Watch City Festival. We talked about how Jules Verne’s works were the predecessors of Steampunk and Verne’s influence on modern science fiction. You can find Valtat’s new book, Aurorarama, here.

Our deepest thanks to Elln Hagney for her kindness in helping us obtain this interview. You can check out the kinetic sculpture seen in the background inside The Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation.

The Avengers c/o the Hhester Factor

• Haunter on sale at Cannes this week
• ABC attempts to re-do Hulk for TV.
• Tesla bio to become graphic novel/game/movie
• Oatmeal Tesla Comic
• BBC’s Sherlock
• Fringe Season finale
• Diablo III is out
• 25 Great Ideas for a new Star Trek TV Series
• True Blood Season 5 trailer
• Poll: What’s Tim Burton’s biggest misfire?
• MIB III
• Warehouse 13′s season four starts July 23rd
• Watch City Festival wrap-up

Looker 1981

Long before The Matrix, long before Avatar, a not-very-classic movie was made. It’s about a plastic surgeon  who touches up models searching for perfection, only to have them show up dead and yet somehow digitally imaged and still alive in the media. In 1981, the effects weren’t great, but being writing and direction by a young Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park, Twister, Runaways) was the push the studio needed to greenlight this film.  Even then, as a new author, Crichton held enough sway to put this on the screen. Add to that a stellar cast that included Albert Finney (Wolfen), James Coburn (The President’s Analyst), Leigh Taylor-Young (Soylent Green) and Susan Dey (yes, THAT Susan Dey), and this movie outshines a predictable  script to become a first draft of a cautionary tale about technology and the future.

Finney as the bemused surgeon, Coburn as the cynical corporate head, and Dey as the digitally exploited model make for a better than average popcorn afternoon. Terse editing, good directing, and a solid if dated script all make this movie work. The movies dubious distinction of being on the list of the top 100  sex scenes in science fiction notwithstanding, it is worth a re-watch. It’s soft, where dystopian movies tend to be harsh, the soundtrack is safe and nondescript, the moral is predictable as hell and yet,  the amazing acting talents of Coburn and Finney under pedestrian circumstances make this a treat to watch.

As is the problem with movies like this , they invariably settle into one of three categories, they either become timeless  classics (1984, any version will do), dated trivia (I, Robot, damn you Will Smith) or, in this case, a somewhat whimsical cautionary tale, that while missing the mark for the test of time it still fun to watch because on balance it is more positive then silly.

This is Dome sayin’: Remember fondly the innocence of youth, and enjoy every sandwich.

Our undead hostess interviews cosplayers during the 2012 Free Comic Book Day event at Double Midnight Comics in Manchester, N.H.

Chris and The Dome discuss Free Comic Book Day Mania with a very suspect Spiderman listening in. Keep your eyes peeled for a Deadpool cameo! One never knows what you will see at Double Midnight Comics, Manchester, N.H.

• Maurice Sendak dies at 83
• Disney shockingly greenlights “Avengers 2”
• The Avengers had super box office numbers.
• Joss Wheadon writes to YOU
• Disney’s Maleficent.
• Guillermo to make stop motion Pinocchio
• Next Generation is 25
• Leonard Nimoy comes out of retirement for Fringe
• Also to be Boston University commencement speaker
• James Cromwell cast for American Horror Story
• Poll:  What’s the best name for a Steampunk beer?

Tonight’s guest is Mike Dougherty, director of the Firefly/Serenity fan film Browncoats: Redemption. He gave us the inside scoop on his newest project, Z-Con. This new film is an original story about a podcast that becomes the only link to the outside world for a convention overrun by zombies. In three weeks (or so) a Kickstarter campaign will begin to fund the production. Like Browncoats:Redemption, all of the proceeds from Z-Con will go to charity, so the more funding it receives, the more  they can do to ensure large donations. To learn more about Z-Con, visit their website and their Facebook page.

In an interview gone horribly wrong, two members of Kiss Forever are “interviewed” by The Dome. No animals were harmed during the course of this interview.

Interviews with cosplayers at Double Midnight Comics, Manchester, N.H.

This uncomplicated premise is the core of Hero Envy. It is the story of four friends, all
huge comic fans themselves, who must find a way to prevent the end of the world. The
brilliance of Hero Envy is that it’s a comic for comic fans about comic fans and it plays to
that strength from start to finish.

On almost every page you will find a reference to another comic book that will make diehard fans grin from ear to ear. These are written into the dialogue so smoothly that they will not take away from the story if you don’t get them. The characters, and their group dynamic, are all very likable and provide plenty of humor on their own. I found the Comic Con sequence to be priceless, really capturing the essence of what its like to be there all while poking fun at the culture surrounding those events.

The art enhances theme, fitting the feel of the comic perfectly. At first it may seem simplistic, almost boring, but on closer examination it is anything but. The character expressions are so well done that they offer an extra layer of depth to the characters that is surprising and unexpected, and their individual expressions add an incredible amount of humor to the pages, driving the comics theme home.

By the end of the story you feel like you know the characters and could hang out with them yourself. That’s the best part about Hero Envy, it understands comics, the culture, and the people who love them. Making Hero Envy a refreshing blend of action and humor that shouldn’t be missed by comic fans everywhere.

Don talks about the return if his webcomic Dark Magic and Doughnuts and his art at Harrison’s Comics in Manchester, N.H.

An interview with artist Jason Casey at Harrison’s Comics and Pop Culture in Manchester, N.H. It contains a surprising homage to professional wrestling.

In a  strange alignment of the universe, we meet the Eat Sleep Comics Podcast at Double Midnight Comics in Manchester, N.H. during their Free Comic Book Day 2012 day-long event. Can two podcasts interview each other simultaneously? Let’s find out…

Ten Years of Comics in New Hampshire.

Summit City Comic Con

• Daredevil Reboot
• Van Helsing reboot casts Tom Cruise
• Coraline director to take on The Graveyard Book
• Tor goes DRM-free for all e-books
• Free Comic Book Day
• Read a preview of the new Serenity comic for Free Comic Book Day
• Boston Comic Con
• Benedict Cumberbatch to play Khan in ST2
• Fringe gets renewed
• Silver Circle online comic ends

This week’s guest is Zack Kruse, founder of Summit City Comic Con which takes place in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Summit City focuses mainly on artists and strongly supports the interaction of presenters in Artist’s Alley with guests. One of the ways they do this is by handing out “Con Bingo” cards. For each interaction on the card you can get a stamp at the corresponding table for completing it. Once the card shows “BINGO”, it can be turned in to be entered into a raffle for some fabulous prizes. Summit City also has some great activities specifically geared towards kids, such as a kids only costume contest and a kids’ comics workshop at the Allen County Public Library. Summit City Comic Con is May 12 at the Grand Wayne Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Sky Pirates of Valendor

Sky Pirates of Valendor is a beautiful marriage of fantasy and science fiction elements that shouldn’t be ignored. If you have never heard of Sky Pirates or missed out on the first volume there is no need to worry.  The second volume does an excellent job of introducing itself and the previous story lines at the beginning and then dives right into the plot without skipping a beat.

Volume 2 opens with a tense bar scene, involving Tobin, captain of the Rouges Revenge, and Shyni, one of the many women in Tobin’s life.  The story kicks it into high gear almost instantly revealing details of both Tobin and Shyni’s past, while explaining how it connects to the political turmoil that faces Valendor and the challenges that lie ahead for Tobin and his crew.

Sky Pirates’ biggest strength is that the art and words come together almost flawlessly to help immerse the reader into the world of Valendor.  Things such as Tobin ordering whiskey at the bar, his problems with his father, and his issues with Shyni and ex-wife Gearz all help the reader connect with the characters on a human level that makes Valendor come alive.

The art work hammers this home by providing an incredibly high level of detail in every panel.  From the backgrounds, to the characters expressions, to the dirt on Tobin’s boots, it seems every detail in every picture is jumping off the page at you, bringing you deeper into the world of Valendor.  The art work shines brightest in the Issue 4 delivering an intense battle sequence worthy of any great action movie.

The back pages of the comic are jammed with extras that die hard fans will drool over.  Things such as ship schematics, maps of Valendor and the personal log of Captain Nickerson all add to extra elements to the comic and create a large and mysterious back story surrounding the world of Valendor.

Overall Sky Pirates of Valendor is a fun and exciting comic that delivers  on every level and shouldn’t be missed by anyone who considers themselves a fan of good artwork and great story telling.

Silver Vengeance

So here’s the story:  through no fault of anyone’s I got interrupted reading this book on 4 separate occasions and felt the need to retrace my steps when I started again. Why? It’s a complex read, and to give it justice you must immerse yourself in this reality. From the initial family turmoil, to the complex reality of adult Gabrielle Gayle’s life, Silver Vengeance is a story of coping with the hidden horrors of what you are and the reality that lies beneath the urban sameness we live in. It is a story of awakening for Gaby as she answers questions she has suppressed her entire life. Were-Witches (a chilling combination), boyfriends, family turmoil, and mother/daughter/sister issues all wrapped around the questions, “who am I? and what have I become?”

Urban Fantasy is becoming a more accepted mainstream genre. Kasey has a knack for juxtaposing gore and normalcy so that the mind is constantly asking more questions than the book answers…leaving the reader wanting more. She doesn’t waste words but instead gives the reader the chance to work with the story and paint pictures along with her. Reading about extraordinary circumstances in ordinary settings, I was left wondering what it is I miss in daily life that Gaby and other characters are forced to deal with every day.

Kasey introduces the reader to a new character and a new paradigm in urban fantasy.  When I was finally able, through no fault of the book, devote the time to reading this, I was deeply appreciative of the depth of her characters, the richness of her setting and its bloodthirsty under current marks this book as something special to read and look for more of. I heartily recommend it.

For the purposes of full disclosure, this book was a review copy sent to SFSN. No other remuneration was given or implied.

Norman Spinrad

• Poll:Which sci-fi doctor is LEAST likely to give you medical attention?
• Boston Comic Con Wrap up
• Star Trek TV Series on hold again

Tonight’s fascinating guest is Norman Spinrad:  author, essayist, and screenwriter.  Although he could not discuss his lost Star Trek script, He Walked Among Us, we could (and did) discuss his thoughts on the past, present, and future of the Sci-Fi genre. If you like what you hear, we recommend checking out Norman’s blog, which contains more of his thoughts as well as information about the digitization of many of his published works.

“The saddest day of your life isn’t when you decide to sell out. The saddest day of your life is when you decide to sell out and nobody wants to buy.”–Norman Spinrad

(Correction: On this podcast we mistakenly state that J.J. Abrams directed Wall-E. The film was actually directed by Andrew Stanton, but everything we said about it being awesome is still true.)

Displayed at Lotus Gallery were a number of original works and sequential pages of both popular and local artists. The show serves a reminder of the creativity and originality of the art that goes into the mythos of comics. It is a good reminder of the talent of the people who bring us stories of pain and glory, fall and redemption.

The Summit City Comic Con preview event runs on Saturday April 27th from 6pm to 9pm and Saturday April 28th from 12pm to 4pm at Lotus Gallery, 1301 Lafeyette St. Fort Wayne, IN 46802.

Keep Calm and Carry a Raygun

• Facebook Poll: Sci-Fi’s Greatest Visionary
• I Robot on Blu-ray 3D
• Sin City2
• Bill and Ted 3
• Prometheus Site
• RIP Jonathan Frid
• Scientists invent not a REAL sonic screwdriver!
• Silver Circle to debut their  Official Trailer at BCC
• Boston Comic Con

This week Dave Gordon was excited to tell us about the third annual Watch City Festival. The original steampunk city, the Watch City Festival  is a street fair that takes place all over Waltham, MA which has a rich industrial history that blends perfectly with steampunk themes. Events include a choose your own adventure pub crawl, hot air balloon rides, mime classes (for kids), and special performers all over the city. Many events are open to the public, but purchase of a pass entitles the bearer to all events as well as special discounts at many restaurants and shops. The Watch City Festival is presented by the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation  and runs May 11, 12, and 13 in Waltham MA. Passes are: Adults – $20 for the weekend or $15 per day – Children – $10 for the weekend or $7 per day.

• Poll:  Who’s your favorite sci-fi feline?
• Boston Comic Con
• Maggie upgraded on Walking Dead.
• Boston Comic Con
• http://www.mapofthedead.com/
• Boston Comic Con
• New documentary about voiceovers: I Know That Voice
• Boston Comic Con
• District 12 is up for sale
• Boston Comic Con
• CenturyGuild.net

Spider Robinson

It is a wonderful day indeed when a fan gets the chance to meet an author, one on one, face to face. Well, if you are a Spider Robinson fan (if you read or listen to us you damn well better be) and you live anywhere near Vancouver, your pleas have been answered. Spider is going to be “Special Guest” at the  Fan Expo Vancouver and April 21, 2012. FEV is a new convention to Canada and Spider will be there, not on a panel but just to sit and chat and sign books. White Dwarf Books will have many of Spider’s books available for you to buy. Drop by, say hello, and get the chance to speak for a moment with one of the real gentlemen of Science Fiction. Tell him Sci Fi Saturday Night sent you!

Go Back to Hogwarts by Juli Mayers

• Poll:  Who’s your favorite radioactive sci-fi character?
• Adam West gets a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
• CBS shuts down fan production of old Star Trek Script
• Film: The Raven
• AT&T Discovers lost Henson film
• Neil deGrasse Tyson corrects Titanic
• A real archer rips on Hawkeye

Tonight we were joined by not one, but three guests!

Juli Mayers is a perennial Boston Comic Con fixture in Artist’s Alley. She is accepting commissions before and during the convention, and you can see her work on her Deviant Art page. Juli also draws the webcomic Wicked Unscripted.

Reprising her appearance last week, we also had the pleasure of speaking to Laura Ortiz, but this time she was joined by her equally fabulous Holliston co-star Corri English. (NB: Watch the premiere episode of Holliston before you tune in this week… spoilers!) Holliston airs on Tuesdays at 10:30 PM on FearNET, but if you and don’t get that channel (we don’t!), you can catch up on iTunes every Wednesday.

• The Poll:  Who is the most incompetent sci-fi villain?
• DC lingerie
• Hunger Games has a record opening
• 1984 is remade again.
• Batman LIVE gets US tour dates
• Mars Attacks: The Musical???
• Game Of Thrones: Season 2
• Mythbusters’ Grant Imahara Playing Sulu in a New Star Trek Fan Film! [io9]
• Total Recall Trailer
• Gandalf Steps in to Save The Hobbit Pub?
• A Tardis Wedding Ring

• Poll:  Who are the best minions?
• Michael Bay swears he will not ruin Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Doctor Who’s new companion
• Java, you want your fucking zombies? [SPOILERS for Walking Dead]

Tom Sniegoski

• The poll:  who’s your favorite Buffy villain?
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Intro Remade With Toys
• The Legend of Korra
• Doctor Horrible 2 is ready to film!
• AMC Theaters to host a Marvel movie marathon
• Spider Robinson’s Petition to preserve the CBC’s musical archive
• Graceful Woman Warrior
• Encyclopedia Britannica done with books
• Steve Carell involved in Magic Kingdom
• The Hunger Games
• The Walking Dead
• Boston Comic Con exclusive:  Lee Falk’s widow to sell original Phantom and Mandrake art

Tonight’s guest is author  Tom Sniegoski (Goodreads), whose diverse work includes comics, young adult novels, and adult novels.  He frequently collaborates with friend-of-the-show Christopher Golden. Tom is currently working on the 3rd book in his  series based on the Bone comics by Jeff Smith, and Bone: Quest for the Spark #2 is available now! He told us that the next installment of the Remy Chandler series is on its way, and we discussed the publisher model and why no one has read his hidden gem, Legacy.

• Poll:  Which sci-fi character best represents their city?
• Bender elected to DC School Board
• Two Hunger Games clips
• Disney does NOT want you to see this NSFW John Carter comic
• People literally going crazy over squirrel meat
• Fox kills Terra Nova
• American Horror Story re-casts actors as new characters
• James Cameron going underwater to film Deepsea Challenge
• Massive solar storm about to hit.
• Douglas Adams wrote for Doctor Who
• Neil Gaiman’s Douglas Adams Biography
• L5-Series CG art in every frame.
• Silver Circle in the news!
• RIP Ralph McQuarrie - Star Wars concept artist
• Back to the Future Hoverboard: Making of
• Bid on Nathan Fillion’s steampunk arm from Castle

Fredrick Brown was a master of short fiction. His quick wit and acerbic sense of timing made many of his stories timeless. It has been said that Philip K. Dick was a devotee of his writing and you can see many similar models in Dick’s work. His stories were the basis for many episodes of Star Trek-TOS, Blake’s 7, and The Outer Limits. Perhaps his most prophetic novel was The Lights in the Sky Are Stars, a poignant story of an astronaut begging Congress to refund the Space Program (sound familiar?).

This door has a time lock set to open in one hour. For reasons you will soon understand, it is better that you do not leave this room before then. There is a letter for you on the desk. Please read it.

Thus begins the tale of a man transported into his possible future. Written in 1954, this is a story of time travel and a historical look at how we thought our world might be today.

Submitted for your approval, “Hall of Mirrors”:

 For an instant you think it is temporary blindness, this sudden dark that comes in the middle of a bright afternoon.

It must be blindness, you think; could the sun that was tanning you have gone out instantaneously, leaving you in utter blackness?

Then the nerves of your body tell you that you are standing, whereas only a second ago you were sitting comfortably, almost reclining, in a canvas chair. In the patio of a friend’s house in Beverly Hills. Talking to Barbara, your fiancée. Looking at Barbara—Barbara in a swim suit—her skin golden tan in the brilliant sunshine, beautiful.

You wore swimming trunks. Now you do not feel them on you; the slight pressure of the elastic waistband is no longer there against your waist. You touch your hands to your hips. You are naked. And standing.

Whatever has happened to you is more than a change to sudden darkness or to sudden blindness.

You raise your hands gropingly before you. They touch a plain smooth surface, a wall. You spread them apart and each hand reaches a corner. You pivot slowly. A second wall, then a third, then a door. You are in a closet about four feet square.

Your hand finds the knob of the door. It turns and you push the door open.

There is light now. The door has opened to a lighted room … a room that you have never seen before.

The rest of the story can be found here.

Robot God Akamatsu

Harris Tobias is an enigma in the world of indie writers. His Facebook and blogspot pages are rather cryptic. For a man who has written several novels and hundreds of stories, there is simply not much to find out about him.

This story, featured in Quantum Muse, is a variation on a theme:  a tale spinning through time, literally.  Myrna and Lester Crump need a vacation. Hearing from their friends about the wonders of a temporal trip, they come to pay a visit to Lorna Trabish to seek out the obscure and different…

Submitted for your approval, “The Travel Agent”:

 “Well, there’s no time like the present you know?” Lorna Trabish leaned on her desk for emphasis and opened the brochure. A full figured woman in her early sixties, Lorna looked the part of the eager to please travel agent. “We have tours to fit every budget and every activity level.”   She eyed the heavyset couple sitting across from her and gave them a dazzling capped tooth smile.

“You could visit the pyramids. We’re having a big promotion right now—two for the price of one. A tremendous savings. It’s filling up fast. You get to be a part of a slave gang and actually help build the pyramids. Just think of the stories you can tell your friends. It’s very exciting. We have a wonderful guide who will be your overseer. You get to live with a slave family and…”

“I don’t think that’s for us,” interjected Myrna Crump who had been leafing through the brochure during Lorna’s breathless pitch. “Lester doesn’t like the sun.”

The rest of the story can be found here.

• Poll:  Who do you want to see at next year’s Boston Comic Con?
• Help Spider and Jeanne Robinson’s daughter fight cancer / Spider Robinson’s daughter needs your help!
• Ghost Rider creator ubersued by Marvel
• The Superhero Movie Guilt Calculator
• On a lighter note: the Walking Dead Mid-Season return

Queen City Kamikaze Con

• Facebook Poll: Our listeners’ favorite DOOMED romantic couple is Dr. Horrible and Penny
• 37th Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival runs Feb 10-20
• Harrison Ford to play Decker in Bladerunner movie?
• Raiding the Lost Ark documentary
• Lucas says Greedo Shot First
• Timecrimes director releases full trailer of Extraterrestrial
• The Kitchen Sink film
• A live action Jetsons film?
• M. Night Shyamalan, After Earth
•  The Walking Dead
• American Horror Story is renewed.

Nauticon

• Facebook Poll: Wonder Woman wins sexiest heroine.
• Alex Kingston on the fate of River Song.
• Tickets on sale for Granite State Comic Con 2012.
• Vote for SFSN in the NH Hippo Press.
• Happy Birthday to Bob Shaw and Brent Spiner.
• Watchman prequels.
• The end of Torchwood.
• CW’s Beauty and the Beast’s 911 origins.
• Wannabe Hobbits arrested.
• WB drops Elfquest, because it’s the same as The Hobbit.
• The Walking Dead return packs more action.
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark has original artwork replaced.
• Trailer for Trollhunter.

Our guests are Pam Larson and Mary Dumas of Nauticon, a 21+ Fanvention to be held in Provincetown, Ma., May 18-20. Nauticon is billed as an event where all fans of any type of fandom can attend and feel comfortable discussing topics of a more adult nature than is normally appropriate at general conventions. Also atypically, Nauticon doesn’t feel the need to pigeonhole themselves into a set theme, rather going with “cool stuff we like”. Pam and Mary also work on humongous events like Anime Boston, and are working on a bid for WorldCon in Disney World. As a side note, while on the show, Pam and Mary announced that they would nominate SFSN for A HUGO AWARD! Thanks guys!

“How do authors find their way to Fiction Friday,” you ask? Well, each one has their own road less traveled to Sci Fi Saturday Night and none more circuitous than this entry. A chance remark by one of the original hosts of the show to an acquaintance brought Timothy to us in a series of emails.  The course of the emails revealed any number of interesting coincidences to explore over the coming days, not the least of which was his website, Quantum Muse, a repository for a host of writers.

Timothy O. Goyette has lived in New Hampshire all of his life,  except for an 8 year stint in California.  Tim is the Editor of Quantum Muse a web zine with weekly flash fiction and monthly short stories in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Alternative.  It is also an online writer’s group. Some of Tim’s stories are in the collection: Quantum Musings.  Others are on the Quantum Muse site.  He writes both serious and humorous stories.

Animal right and animal testing takes a turn for the macabre and disturbing in a story of two girls and Mr. Whiskers in a somewhat foreboding future. Submitted for your approval is the second story featuring his characters Sasha and Katrina, Was it My turn to Put Out the Rats?

“This won’t hurt, Mr. Whiskers.” Katrina said as she wrapped her fingers around the pudgy body of her favorite rat.

“You shouldn’t make friends with those wretched creatures.” Sasha said. She moved in with the syringe. “Just hold it still, will you?”

“You aren’t vermin, Mr. Whiskers, are you?” Katrina touched noses with the sniffing rodent.

“Don’t make me sick.”

“Do you ever wonder what we’re putting in our furry friends?”

“If it were really important they’d have one hundred thousand dollar-a-year scientists working on it in some secret lab in New Mexico. Let’s not get carried away.”

The rest of the story can be found here.

Mime Very Own Book

Doug Jones joins us to talk about his new book, Mime Very Own Book, a coffee table book in which he depicts famous and infamous people and events in classic Doug Jones fashion. We talked about his previous work, including the just wrapped Neighborhood Watch, which opens in July, 2012. We also discussed why At The Mountains of Madness was shelved. He shares some “secrets” of his prosthetic work in Hellboy and the choices between special effects and makeup, and gives us a little tease about Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming Frankenstein project.

The mystery of Leigh Lane is manifold. Living in Montana with her family, she is a writer of dark fiction, reminiscent of some of the most fear-inducing science fiction ever written. She has a unique sense of pace and a quirky use of words and juxtaposition  that makes even the most simple and straightforward of plots and motivations twist and tumble. The  intelligence in her writing  is wonderful. This week’s Fiction Friday story is a selection from  Of Mind and Matter, a compilation of her short stories.

Submitted for your approval in its entirety, “The Search for Intelligent Life”.

Sal could contain her excitement no longer. After over three months of travel, she and her crew were now on the brink of a new frontier. “This is it, guys!” she finally said, her urge to speak prompting a realization that she had been holding her breath for far too long. She took a deep breath.

The captain remained calm, or at least he appeared so, but the first officer gave an eager chuckle in response to Sal’s words.

“Its moon looks just like ours,” Sal continued.

“The planet itself looks a lot like ours,” the first officer added. “I wonder if the life- forms are as similar.”

“Let’s not lose our focus,” the captain said sternly.
Sal and the first officer exchanged glances.
“We’ll have plenty of time to celebrate, once we’ve returned home,” the captain continued. “Right now we have a job to do.”
“Yes, sir,” the first officer said, his mood already abating. He looked down at his console. “Shouldn’t we be going slower?”

The captain took a look. “Sal, what’s going on?”

Sal accessed the manual thrusters, finding that two of the five were receiving minimal power and one of them hardly functioned at all. She hit the intercom button on her panel. “What are you two doing down there?”

“We’re working on it!” one of the technicians nervously responded, his voice crackling through the intercom.

“All systems tested functional,” the first officer snapped.
“They were never tested for such long distances,” Sal muttered, suddenly feeling spiteful in her fear.
The technician’s voice came over the intercom again: “We must have burned out half the system in the acceleration. The diagnostics don’t seem to be functioning, either!”

“So what do we do?” Sal yelled back.

Silence.

The captain stormed over to Sal’s console. “We need an answer! What are our options, Zee?”

“There’s nothing we can do, sir,‖ the technician responded. ―At our current speed, we might be able to survive a crash if—”

“A crash?” the captain interrupted, suddenly breaking into a sweat. He turned to Sal and the first officer.  “Prepare for impact. “ He returned to the console. “We’re counting on you, Zee.”

Sal felt sick and dizzy. She had known that the mission was high-risk. What they were doing had never been done before. In theory, based on the results in the testing rooms, this was all supposed to be a success. They would be heroes when they returned home.

If they returned home.

The idea of traveling to another star system would have been considered ludicrous not even five years ago, let alone the idea of actually finding another planet that harbored intelligent life. All it took was a radio wave found from space a month before the beginning of the project, one that came as a surprise to even their greatest scientists, one that was clearly sent as a call toother planets. Within a few months, antimatter propulsion was a reality.

The mission was to observe the planet from a high orbit, and then determine whether some sort of contact would be feasible. The idea was like some strange dream when initially proposed to Sal. After decades of UFO sightings speculated in the news and talk of aliens reserved for the crazy, she now had the opportunity to be that UFO. Intelligent life on other planets could now be determined as fact; scientists like herself who lacked credibility because of their exploration in the matter would finally have their last word.

The reality of their imminent crash struck Sal back into focus, as the two technicians entered the room.

“What are you doing in here?” the captain roared.

The technicians both scrambled into the empty seats, preparing for the impact. “We’re not sitting in the belly of this thing just as she’s about to crash!” one of them said.

The captain held his tongue.

Sal studied her console. “I can reverse the thrusters we do have left, and then focus on the reverse propulsion system, once we’ve entered the lower atmosphere.”

The captain nodded, sweating profusely. “Whatever you think will give us the best chance.” He glanced over at the terrified technicians, disgust and contempt washing over his pale face.

“We’re going to make it!” Sal said, working hard on her console.

“I hope that whatever life is down there is friendly,” one of the technicians said with a deep, shaky sigh.

“We’re gonna die!” the second technician immediately cried out. The ship began to shake.

“Prepare for impact,” the first officer said, his voice trembling.

The crew strapped themselves into their chairs, and then braced themselves, bending their bodies over their knees and clasping their hands behind their necks.

The second technician began to pray, with tears streaming down his cheeks. “God help us!” he pleaded.

The ship slammed into the rocky terrain, bouncing a few times before sliding several hundred feet to a stop. The frail hull violently tossed the astronauts about, despite their efforts to brace themselves, and one by one it dealt them each a series of devastating blows.

Sal opened her eyes, a light moan escaping her. She had been badly injured, and she realized after a moment that her back had been broken.

“Oh God!” the second technician screamed at the top of his lungs. “Zee? Zee?”

The first technician lay limp in his chair, blood streaming from his mouth, nose and ears.

The first officer also appeared to be dead, as well, his head fractured from a strong impact against one of the consoles.

The captain appeared dazed, but not too horribly injured. He stared silently at his crew mates, his jaw slightly agape.

The second technician began to wrestle out of his belts.

The captain also got up, stumbling dizzily as he took a moment to gain his footing. He moved to the first officer’s console, gasping, his back and lungs spasming from one of the many heavy blows his body sustained. “The computers are off-line,” he breathed, struggling to regain his breath.

The panicking technician scampered to the door-hatch. “We’ve got to get out! We’ll run out of air! Open the door!”

The captain stumbled over to the technician, tackling him to the floor. “We don’t even know yet if this planet has the right consistency of oxygen! Are you crazy?”

“I can’t breathe!” The technician began to hyperventilate. The captain tried to hold him down, but the technician punched him in the face.

The captain continued to fight the technician. “For the love of God, get a hold of yourself!”

“Can’t breathe!” the technician gasped, and then threw the captain aside and darted for the door.

“What are you doing?” Sal cried, trying to get out of her belts. Shots of pain darted up and down her spine, but her legs were completely numb. She cried out, realizing that her back had been broken in the impact.

The technician pried open the door, despite a third attempt by the captain to hold him back, and a gust of sandy air filled the room. “Oxygen! We’re not suffocating!” he laughed. “Who’d have thought?” He peered through the door. “Doesn’t look like anything lives here – it’s all desert.”

“Well, you can’t just run out there!” Sal yelled, feeling helpless and dazed.

The captain kept his distance. “Maybe the people here live underground. Or perhaps this is their dead-lands. You can’t just assume—”

“Captain!” Sal yelled, hoping she might prompt him into stopping the technician from exiting.

“Wait!” the captain ordered.

The technician hopped out of the craft, turning with a grin. It took him a moment to realize that his feet were sinking into the sand. “Kinda mushy . . . .” His smile quickly faded as he realized he sank uncontrollably. He kicked and struggled in attempt to get back to the ship. The captain tried to reach for him through the door, but he was unable. He shuttered as,within seconds, the technician completely submerged beneath the surface.

Sal’s heart raced. “What just happened?”

The captain gazed out. “I don’t know.” He made his way back to his seat. “The terrain seems to be unstable.”

“Then why isn’t the ship sinking?”

The captain shook his weary head, confused. “Perhaps this is a carbon-based planet.” “Carbon-based?” Sal gave a look of doubt. “Carbon-based life forms only exist in theory.”

Exhausted and injured, the captain sat back in his seat. “We failed. . . .”

“But maybe the next team won’t.”

The captain sighed. “Maybe.”

As positive as Sal tried to remain, she had a hard time holding back her tears. She felt an incredible anxiety over the uncertainty of their fate. But worse than that, the captain was right. The mission was a failure. As far as everyone back home knew, they had found nothing. No one would even know that this planet, although not completely solid, had breathable air. They would not be getting the definitive answer they had been so patiently waiting for – the answer to that universal question: Are we alone?

The captain jumped to his feet as a loud rumbling seemed to grow near. He shrieked as he spotted a strange vehicle moving along the ground. “Humanoids, like us!”

Sal began to cough up blood. Her body had been more seriously injured than she had initially thought. “What do they look like?”

The captain shrugged. “Strange faces . . . tiny eyes.” He hurried to Sal’s side.
“I think I’m dying!” Sal coughed, her heart pounding and her mind growing faint.

“Maybe these humanoids can help you.”

Sal stared straight into the captain’s eyes. “If they’re a friendly race.”
The captain stayed by Sal as the humanoids approached the ship. “It’s going to be okay,”he assured her.

The humanoids spoke in a strange language, but both Sal and the captain could understand the fear in their voices, as well. It was not reassuring to know that they, too, were afraid.

Sal fought to remain conscious. She closed her eyes, her thoughts becoming jumbled and her mind slowly feeling detached from her body.

“Captain . . .” she mumbled, unable to finish.

“I’m here, Sal,” he responded, staring at the door.

The humanoids had weapons in their hands . . . and such ugly creatures they were, from up close. They had noses and ears that protruded unnaturally from their jagged faces. The creatures varied greatly in shape and size, as did the strange colored masses of short thread that grew over the bulk of their visible bodies and extended to great lengths from their heads and faces.

The captain cowered back. He saw much evil in the tiny eyes of these humanoid-beasts. “We come in peace,” he said, his voice shaking.

They began to speak in their strange language again, seemingly provoked by the captain’s words.

Sal tried to get a good look at them, but she felt herself fading quickly, her eyes straining to remain focused.

Sal thought about what would have happened if a UFO had crashed on her home planet, and wondered how her people would react to the introduction of an uninvited alien species. And with that, she proceeded to scream.

•  This week’s Facebook poll: The Raven is our readers’ favorite Poe story.
• The CW orders Green Arrow pilot and a reboot of Beauty and the Beast.
• SyFy’s Swamp Volcano & Arachnoquake.
• Will George Lucas stop making movies?
• Spielberg on Robopocalypse.
• Eight years ago, Paramount lost the rights to John Carter of Mars.
• Marcus Nispel directing Hack/Slash.
• BBC’s Sherlock confirmed for a third season.
• FDR American Badass, the most recent alternate history film.
• MMA Fighter Gina Carano vies to play Wonder Woman.

Our guest is writer and artist Ben Templesmith. We reminisced about meeting Ben two years ago at Boston Comic Con, and his participation in our Jeanne Robinson fundraiser jam sketches. (Adding color isn’t cheating Ben!) We examined why 30 Days of Night (the book and/or the movie) didn’t feel like a huge career boost. Ben mentioned that Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse would definitely be continued, and when asked about his artistic inspiration, didn’t miss a beat in naming Ralph Steadman. Meet Ben in April, at Boston Comic Con.

LJ Kentowski always wanted to be an FBI Agent. She pursued this dream for most of her formative years, throughout college, and passed the first round of tests. She also met her husband to be, and when the choice came to stay or go to the FBI, she stayed. Luckily for readers, since that time she has decided to work toward her second dream of writing. Finding time after work, after tending to family, and after everything else, she writes. Her first novel, Guardians of Fate, has just been published and the second volume is due in August 2012.

Horror comes in many forms. It is somewhat easy to comprehend when it is a gore filled scene, limbs hacked, screams emitted; somewhat less so when it is something seen, yet unseen, when the participants in said event are no longer sure where truth lies and possibly worst of all when that truth is revealed to unseeing eyes.

Submitted for your approval, in its entirety, Kentowski’s short story:  ”Torn Apart”.

Stacey walked into the bedroom. Looking down at Jason sleeping peacefully in bed, she seethed with rage. How could he sleep so soundly knowing what he had just done?

Her hand trembling, she brought it down hard on Jason’s cheek. He woke with a start, jumping up from the bed. With eyes still focusing, he grabbed her upper arms, pinning them to her sides.

“What are you doing?” he yelled at her.

“How could you do this to me Jason? Where is she?” she questioned, looking around him.

Stacey didn’t see the woman anywhere. Where could she have gone? Unless she left through the window, she had to still be here in the room somewhere.

“There’s no one here but me and you!” he tried to convince her.

She relaxed the tension in her arms. “Jason, I saw you in bed with her. Where is she hiding?” She broke away from him and began looking in the closet and under the bed, to no avail.

“Did she go out the window? How could you do this to me, Jason?” she started to cry.

“Please calm down. There was no other woman.” He pulled her down to sit on the bed and looked up at her as he kneeled on the floor in front of her.

“Are you saying I’m crazy and just imagined seeing you with another woman in our bed? Is that really how you are going to plead your case, Jason? Can’t you show me an ounce of respect and admit what you’ve done?”

He hung his head down for a moment. When he looked up, there were tears in his eyes. He searched her eyes weighing how much he should reveal. She knew this was it. What was left of Stacey’s heart was destroyed.

“Ok, Stacey,” he said softly, “you’re right, I was here with another woman. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Who is she?” Stacey asked.
“Her name is Jessica,” he answered.
Terrified of his answer, she asked, “Do you love her?”
“Yes, but you don’t understand right now. I love you too. More than anything in

this world, Stacey, I love you.” Crying now, he looked so hurt and torn, as if he were the one that had been betrayed.

“How can you love me and hurt me like this? You can’t love us both. Love doesn’t work that way Jason!”

The reality of this was too much for Stacey to deal with. She needed to think this all through. Starting to stand up, she felt light-headed again and sat back down.

Jason noticed her falter. He grabbed her trembling hands in his. “Stacey, I need you to come with me. I think I can help you understand all of this. Will you try to understand for me? For us?” he pleaded desperately.

She looked at him. He was everything to her, but he had cheated. What more was there to understand? There couldn’t possibly be an explanation to make infidelity acceptable. She had now choice, however, there was nothing else but him.

The Truth

Karen A. Wyle is a reader’s writer. She has two different genres in which she works, and her writing is based on what she is interested in and what she reads. She began writing at a very young age, and finished her first novel at age 10. Her website shows the duality of her writing, focusing on both Sci Fi and children’s books. This short story combines the best of both of her muses.

The maternal instinct runs deep. Science fiction has dealt with this concept in many different ways, allowing the reader to look upon different paths, different futures. This is the story of Ellie Simmons, a story of her life, her loss and what she still may lose. In a dystopian future, wanting a child is dangerous enough, cloning one from the genetic code of her dead husband makes it not just dangerous but illegal.

Submitted for your approval, “The Baby”.

Ellie lay in the bed and would not open her eyes.

Once she opened her eyes, it would all begin. She would see the baby, and he would look like her lost Daniel. Daniel as a baby, of course. And she would have Daniel again, as long as they both should live. And she would never have Daniel again, as long as she lived.

She listened, but heard no breathing. There were so many other sounds — buzzes and hums of equipment, tinny music, wheels of carts, footsteps. A baby’s breathing would be too quiet. But should she be hearing it?

She felt and heard her own breathing accelerate in a panicky rhythm. Was the baby all right? Had something gone wrong?

She opened her eyes.

The rest of the story can be found here.

Edgar's Comics by David Johnson

• In this week’s SFSN Facebook Poll, The Restaurant At The Edge Of The Universe is the finest place to have a drink on New Years Eve.
•  The Alien Brothel.
• Dollhouse’s Dichen Lachman is a new character on SyFy’s Being Human.
• Kickstarter Project fully funded for Lachman’s  film, Sunday Punch.
• Benedict Cumberpatch and Noel Clarke cast in the new Star Trek.
• Star Trek Online is now free.
• Raiders of the Lost Ark compared to older adventure movies.

Our guest, David Johnson, is the writer, producer and director of the film Edgar’s Comics. The movie is a narrative documentary which explores two influential events in comic book collecting history. The first, is the accumulation of Edgar Church’s collection, and the second is it’s discovery by Chuck Rozanski. A Kickstarter Project is David’s effort to continue this movie to completion.

In the coming weeks, Resa Nelson will once again join us on the podcast to talk about the second installment in her Dragonslayer Series: The Iron Maiden. I thought this week for Fiction Friday I would send all the readers a gift from her. If you follow the link below, it will take you to her site where you can download a .pdf  mini-book of her short stories that were the genesis for her series. They are wonderful.

Submitted for your approval,  The Dragonslayer Stories.

Coderunner

It is getting harder and harder to define what a “gamer” is in a world that has embraced social and casual gaming. Most everyone I encounter routinely and actively plays games of one sort or another, and the extent of knowledge that people have about games is slowly rising. The community that I grew up in is changing, and the main thrust of that change has been focused around engagement and value in the games that people are playing. No longer is gaming the bastion of the obsessive and compulsive among the geek community. It is heartening to come across a game that not only hits a sweet spot for the “casual phone gamer” but also inspired in me the need to play the snot out of the game.

Coderunner is that sort of game. It draws you in from the moment you boot it up. And because of the visual style (that of a 1980s DOS interface) you actually feel like you are booting up a program. You can almost hear the tape drives chugging away in some ancient data center secreted away in a mountain protected by Richard Dean Anderson. The cold war-esque ambiance continues through the training videos, narrated by an appropriately British accent. But the real hook isn’t the graphics or the ambiance afforded by keen design. No, what really draws a player into this world of intrigue and danger is the story. A story which centers around you and the world you inhabit. The buildings and people you see every day take on a darker cast as the cloak and dagger routine begins, inviting you to view the world through different eyes:  the eyes of a spy.

The Department of Privacy has recruited you, as an appropriately curious person, to investigate s some events surrounding a high profile public figure from the government. Throughout the story it is hard to really know what side you are on, and at the end of the adventure you are offered a choice of how you wish to proceed. Do you side with the Orwellian institution and help to keep people safe? Or do you ally yourself with the shady underground, attempting to throw off the shackles of oppression?

The game uses Google Maps data to “see” the world around you and integrate what it knows about your location into the story. It was because of this that I found myself 3 blocks away from my apartment with one shoe on and one show in my hand. For the next 3 hours I visited bus stops, ATMs, and a school in order to get or give information about the people in the story. As Deep5, my handler, was talking into my ear I became not just a player, but a participant. I was so drawn into the story that I found myself looking at people passing me not he sidewalk wondering if they were enemy agents. I put my hood up to hide my face so I wouldn’t be recognized. I avoided places where I saw cameras, and modified my body language so that I would not be noticeable to the passerby.

I felt that I was a spy, not that I was playing one. And that is a tall order for a game to fulfill. By nature there is always an interface between game and game player. Be it a controller or a touch screen, we have to interact with an object in order to play. In Codrunner, the world is your interface and the phone becomes a secondary device. It is used in the game, but it isn’t the game itself. The game is played in your mind, by your imagination. The same imagination that would terrorize the backyard games of childhood and inspire you when confronted by a cardboard box find fertile ground in the universe of Coderunner.

We had a chance to speak with Jeff MacPherson , one of the team who created Coderunner on the podcast, and I highly encourage you to go back and listen to the conversation we had. He had some great things to say not only about what Coderunner is, but what the future holds for this incredible universe.

(iTunes Link)
(Coderunner Website Link)

Written and directed by Greg Pak, who is known primarily for his work in comics for Marvel and his short films, this outing is a tour de force of emotion and contrast. There are several choices Pak makes, first and foremost of which is an almost completely Asian cast. While, after a few brief moments, it does not detract in any way, one is left wondering at that choice while acknowledging how well it works.

Of the four vignettes, my favorite has to be the one with the most tenuous tie to Sci Fi, called “The Robot Fixer”. This story centers on a mothers attempt to connect with her dying son through the repair of his childhood robot toys. At times stereotypical and other times gut wrenchingly emotional this is something anyone who ever wants to make a film should see. No crashes, no special effects, simple human emotion, both raw and tender. It was chilling and I wished this segment would never end.

This feature has won 23 awards and quite frankly deserves a showing in your living room some rainy Sunday afternoon. To quote from Greg Pak, “Everything is changing…except the human heart”. I heartily recommend this film as a stunningly beautiful antithesis to any other robot movie you may have ever seen.

Huldufolk by Rob Watts

• This week’s  SFSN Facebook Poll reveals Patrick Stewart should play The Dome in his biopic!
• The Top 5 Hard Science Retractions of 2011.
• Ghost Rider creator loses lawsuit.
• Buy a Batman print and help a talented artist with her medical bills.
• Pirates of Penzance meets Firefly.
• The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe hits record low ratings.
• Cruise ships follow The Titanic.
• Doctor Who MMO Worlds In Time.
• Neverending Story E-Reader cover.
• The Hobbit trailer.

Our guest is Rob Watts author of Huldufolk, a horror novel set in both Iceland and Massachusetts. He is also a musician and songwriter for The Traffic Lights, an Icelandic Trance band whose music is integral to the book. Currently, the book and CD can only be purchased together. Go watch the teaser to get a taste of the book’s deliciously creepy setting.

Kasey Shoemaker

• Last Minute Geek Gifts:
• Dead RedHead – Plush Cthulhu
• Illustrator X – Creations from Mike Brown
•  Lance Henriksen Near Dark print
• AwakeByJava – The Olloclip
• Dome – Ben Bova’s Power Play
• Nancy Drew Vampire Slayer
• Doctor Who updates for Amy and Rory, Matt Smith, and a hint about a new Doctor.
• STOS solar powered mailbox
• 3-D movies, Joss’ opinion and The Avengers.
• NYCC Geek Speed Dating update on TLC.
• Edgar’s Comics, the movie.

Author Kasey Shoemaker joined us to talk about her new novel, Silver Vengeance, the first of four books in The Silver Series. She discussed the setting in New England and why it is important to this series.We also talked about writers moving out from behind their computers into the public, and different reactions from their audience.

Stacey Longo writes horror fiction of a particularly diabolical nature. Her themes prey upon the most primal of fears and her craft is clean and precise, stark, sharp edged terror. She grew up on a dairy farm in Glastonbury, CT  and lived on Block Island, RI for ten years, which is where she began her writing career as a humor columnist for the Block Island Times from 2000 – 2006. Upon returning to Connecticut, she turned her pen to horror writing. Her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies and Shroud magazine. This is a short story Stacy contributed to Epitaphs: The Journal of the New England Horror Writers.

Submitted for your approval, in its entirety, the customary tale of a young couple who hop the fence to spend the sunset in terror on a “Private Beach”:

Tom and Shanna walked right past the NO TRESPASSING sign. She was carrying the blanket; he had a bag of fried chicken from a fast food joint and a bottle of champagne. It was a solemn night for Tom; he was going to tell Shanna how he felt, that while he wasn’t ready to marry her yet, he certainly felt that he would marry her someday, and he had a tiny diamond ring with sapphire chips in the band to prove the seriousness of his intent. He was the one that suggested an evening picnic on the beach.

Tom and Shanna had been a couple since his senior year of college, when they’d met in biology class and found themselves lab partners. He was struggling to pass the course. Shanna, two years younger, excelled in science, and had tutored him through the class. They’d been partners ever since, and over the past two years, he’d only cheated on her once; something she’d never found out and he’d never shared, but he was proud of himself just the same. Only cheating on a girl once was a personal best for him, and was all the proof he needed that Shanna was the girl he was meant to marry. Someday.

They had about 45 minutes of daylight before the sun set over the water, and he intended to make the most of the romantic setting. They trudged over the dune, passing the sparse tufts of razor-like grass, agreeing without speaking to head toward a flattened semicircle of sand next to a large, blackened log of driftwood. The wind tugged at the blanket as Shanna tried to smooth it down; she found a rock and a plank of wood, left over from a bonfire, to secure the corners.

“Take a walk?” she asked, smiling at Tom with her emerald green eyes, and he felt his jeans tug uncomfortably for a moment. He nodded, and they latched hands, strolling down the beach.

It was low tide; there was a line of seaweed and debris that the ocean had rejected tracing a path down the sand. The wind was warm, but agitated—Tom had to blink repeatedly to keep grains of sand out of his eyes. “Watch your step!” Shanna yelped, sidestepping an opaque glob with tendrils. “Here’s another one!” she squealed, moving in closer to Tom, as if she needed him to protect her from the dead jellyfish. They meandered on, walking closely, Shanna occasionally stopping to examine a shell or pretty stone. “What’s with all the dead jellyfish?” Tom complained, stepping squarely on a gelatinous mass. He was grateful to be wearing his sneakers. He was pretty sure that jellyfish could still sting, even when dead, and he didn’t want to experience that ever again. He’d been stung by a jellyfish when he was 14, vacationing in Pensacola with his folks, and the pain he’d felt then, ten years ago, was still easy for him to recall to this very day. He’d wound up in the hospital, feverish and unable to breathe, and although the doctors had told him there was a chance he’d grow out of his allergy to sea jelly venom, he’d never tested that theory. His chest tightened at the sight of the lifeless orbs that littered the beach like raindrops. “Maybe we should head back to the blanket,” he said with a nervous laugh.

Shanna bobbed her blonde head in agreement, and they turned around. “Maybe it’s mating season or something,” Tom commented, and Shanna shrugged. “Could be. Or it’s a lemming-like mass jelly suicide?,” she offered, weaving her way around the jellyfish bodies. “Although it doesn’t seem as bad back this way.”

This was true. Tom noticed there were fewer bodies back toward the section of beach where they’d tacked down their blanket. Had it been this way when they’d started their walk? Tom wasn’t sure, but he was glad. The jellyfish bodies were starting to make him lose his appetite, and he didn’t want an air of squeamishness to affect the heartfelt vow of affection he had planned for later on.

Tom and Shanna made it back to their picnic spot quickly. Their dinner and champagne were still sitting on the blue-checkered cotton blanket, waiting for their return. “Look at the sand! It looks like a Zen garden,” Shanna said softly. The sand was rippled like circles on a pond; Tom hadn’t noticed when they’d first spread out the blanket, but admittedly, he’d been admiring the way Shanna’s black jeans hugged her backside.

“Yeah, neat,” Tom grunted, sitting down and opening up the bag of chicken. “Let’s eat—I’m starving!”

Shanna swatted at his arm, but settled in next to him on the blanket.They ate quietly, hungrily; Tom occasionally paused to offer a smile at his girl. She was beautiful, even when confronted with the messy task of eating chicken on the beach; she dabbed at her mouth delicately with a napkin between bites, which made Tom’s heart skip a beat. If it weren’t for his college loans, and his new job, and the upcoming real estate license exam that he had to study for, he’d marry her right now. But Shanna still had a semester left of college, and had no idea what she wanted to do for a career; best to wait until they were both more settled and secure. Shanna stopped for a moment, looking at him curiously.

“You sure are deep in thought. What’s on your mind?” Tom winked at her, wiping his hands on his jeans. Now was as good a time as any to bring out the ring and make his promise to her.

“Shanna, I …” he stumbled over the words. Breathing deeply, he tried again. “I wanted to talk to you tonight. I was hoping—hoping—listen, maybe you should ditch the chicken bones.” Shanna had the bones from her dinner carefully cradled in a napkin in her hands.

“What should I do with them? I don’t want to litter,” she grinned, and blushed slightly.

“Toss them over the dune like I did,” he frowned, but she shook her head.

“I can’t throw that far, you know that. I’ll just bury them in the sand, I guess.” Shanna shifted over to the side of the blanket and started digging. When she had a hole big enough and deep enough to dispose of her bones,

she slid her hand in with the chicken remains. “Oh!” she gasped, and tried to pull back. Her hand remained in the sand. “Tom, help! I can’t get my hand out! Something’s got me!”

Tom leaned forward. Dusk was starting to fall, but he could see that her left arm was buried in the beach up to her elbow. “Are you trying to be cute or something?” He snickered nervously, unsure of what kind of game she was playing. Was she making fun of him?

“Tom!” Shanna screamed, and her whole body seemed to lurch forward into the sand. He scrambled to get up and help her, but it was too late: he watched, horrified, as her head, then her torso, and lastly her legs disappeared in one fell swoop into the beach. The sand shifted, resettling; the meditative ripples reappeared on the surface.

“What the hell was that? Shanna?” Tom’s mind was racing over what he’d just seen. His girlfriend had just nosedived under the sand, and not so much as a handprint remained. Quicksand? He’d never heard of quicksand yanking someone in and smoothing itself out like he’d just witnessed this sand do.

There had to be something under the beach, he decided. Some sort of —worm, or giant vole—had just sucked his girlfriend down into its lair.

Tom laughed; it was a high-pitched, manic screech that did not sound like him at all. He kneeled down next to the spot where Shanna had disap- peared and started scooping, looking for any sign of her—her shoe, her leg, some sort of proof that she’d really just been there. He pawed at the sand frantically, and then he felt it.

A tug. And it wasn’t from a giant worm or sand-tunneling vole. It was the sand itself, sliding around his wrist, pulling gently at first, then more firmly, furiously; Tom ripped his hand away quickly, and not without a little force. The surface of the beach leveled out, settling back in to rippled circles.

Tom looked around frantically. The whole beach, he had to consider, could be like this. The path through the dunes back to the car was about a yard away. His heart sank as he realized that the parking lot where his Jeep now sat was nothing more than packed sand; he wouldn’t be any safer in his SUV than he was on this thin blanket. He looked down the beach. In the fading sunlight, he looked for the jellyfish carcasses that had mottled their path when he and Shanna had strolled down the shore earlier. He couldn’t see any now. He assumed that the beach had swallowed them up as well.

Tom felt a hot tear escape from the corner of his eye; he was going to die here, suffocated by the sand, he was sure of it. If he even made it to the car without being pulled in to the beach, he would have to act pretty quickly to drive the Jeep out of the lot before the whole vehicle was gulped down into the earth. His car was known to be temperamental on the best of days; one false start and he and the car would be history. He stared at the waves that mocked him from the ocean, lapping at the shore. His romantic night was history. He should have proposed, he thought, chastising himself. Why was he thinking they should wait? Life was short. He should have grabbed on to the chance to marry Shanna while he could, instead of his convoluted plan to “promise” her to marry her “someday”—it sounded lame even to him now, he realized, scowling. He watched the seaweed floating on the waves, winking in and out of sight, mocking him. He was an idiot. And now Shanna was gone, before he could even tell her how stupid he was, how much he loved her …

There was something about the seaweed that distracted Tom from his self-flagellation. It floated in toward him, and then pulled away with the tide again. It floated. Just like Tom would, if he could make it to the sea. He could make a dive for the ocean, and pull his feet up off of the sand, and float to freedom. He’d seen breakwater rocks a little way down, and even now, lights were shining in the seaside mansions that abutted the beach. If he could make it to the water, and swim to the rocks, he could walk his way to safety without stepping once on the dunes that waited to consume him.

Tom breathed deeply, trying to steady his nerves. It was just a short sprint to the ocean. He thought he could make it. Had to believe there was a chance. He pulled off his sneakers and tossed them off the blanket. He counted one, two, three—his sneakers were sucked down with a quick‘bloop!” into the sand. Three full seconds. Tom was pretty sure he could make it to the sea in three seconds. Maybe four.

He couldn’t stay on the blanket for one more moment, he realized in terror. There was nothing to stop the beach from pulling him down where he stood; as if in response to his train of thought, he felt the ground shift beneath him. Here goes nothing, he gulped, and tore away from the blanket toward the darkening ocean. He felt the sand tug at his feet as he ran, lungs burning. His steps became more difficult as he got closer; the sand was pulling hard now, making it seem like Tom was running through mud; he yanked his feet free, diving into the waves headfirst. The water was cool, but not unpleasant; his body warmed up quickly as he swam out further, trying to increase the depth between himself and the seabed below. He started to cry in earnest now, in relief; he had beaten the beach, the crazy, carnivorous stretch of sand that even now he thought he could hear roaring in frustration over his escape.

He looked around while treading water, and spotted the black silhouette of the breakwater rocks to his right. The moon shone brightly now, picking up the phosphorescence on the waves. Tom blinked. The phosphorescence was below the surface, as well, lighting up orb upon orb of drifting jellyfish, lazily swimming through the undertow. He realized his arms were ablaze, and wondered how many tentacles he’d brushed in his frenzied swim to escape the sand; even now, he felt the sting of jellyfish tendrils on his calves as his legs flailed below the surface. He couldn’t stay here among this school of jellies. He kicked out toward the rocks in a frenzied crawl stroke, even as his chest started to seize.

]]> http://www.scifisaturdaynight.com/?feed=rss2&p=5245 0 http://www.scifisaturdaynight.com/?p=5139 http://www.scifisaturdaynight.com/?p=5139#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:00:56 +0000 SamanthaB http://www.scifisaturdaynight.com/?p=5139 I was a little leery about getting into this book, but I am so glad that I did. What a great zombie book! Instead of dealing with what happens when the zombie outbreak happens, its dealing with how people go on living when the outbreak is controlled but not gone, and it does it very, very well.

The book opens by introducing Georgia and Shaun Mason, a brother sister duo of bloggers making their living by blogging in a world after zombies. Along with their friend Buffy, they are chosen for the honor of being the first bloggers invited on the campaign trail with presidential hopeful Peter Ryman. While this is great for their careers, it starts to fall apart almost from the start.

Mira Grant has written a great book. The characters are as fleshed out as any character can be, Shaun and Georgia read like a real brother and sister, Buffy is adorable, and I would vote for Peter Ryman in a heartbeat. While obviously you know this is a zombie book and something is going to go horribly wrong, Grant throws curve balls at you left and right. There wasn’t a moment in this book where I was thinking, “‘Oh yeah, that’s happening because of that and why haven’t these supposedly smart people figured out that person’s evil?” Not one moment. That is the very definition of awesome.

I also really liked how the book wasn’t straight up horror. There was a lot of humor to be found in the book, and a whole ton of mystery. It reads a lot like a political thriller, which isn’t usually my thing, but helped the book stand out from other zombie stories.

I also loved how well explained the zombies were. Grant made it seem creepily plausible that this could happen. It’s easy to believe in the world she’s created and that is the mark of the best books in my opinion. This one is without a doubt worth the read.

Miller addresses the seemingly inevitable tension between science and religion in a fairly unique way for a work of fiction. What sets his approach apart is his unwillingness to make the conflict one of black and white, and his rejection of demonizing either. One of the foundations of the story in Fiat Homo is the “Simplification”, where those of learning and knowledge (science writ large) were vilified, hunted down, and killed after the first nuclear war, presumably by those who turned to their faith in the aftermath of the Flame Deluge. Yet the Catholic Church, through its support of the monastic Order initiated by the technician Isaac Leibowitz, took on the preservation of knowledge (much as the Church did during the Dark Ages). In Fiat Lux there is an awakening of science, and one of the monks at the Abbey even shows himself to have a healthy dose of scientific intuition, creating an arc lamp (which, interestingly, temporarily replaces a crucifix on the wall). The Order makes their repository of knowledge available to the natural philosophers of the time–but on the Abbey’s terms, as though maintaining control of the knowledge within its walls will ensure its proper use. When Thon Taddeo questions the motives for the Order’s stewardship of the knowledge, he and the Abbot argue whether science should serve God (and therefore be controlled until Man was worthy), or should serve the secular world. Miller leaves this argument unresolved, seeming to say that science, as science, doesn’t necessary conflict with the beliefs of the Church, but rather depends on the use it’s put to. And it seems Miller feels neither is better than the other at using it. Both the distrust of the past by the Thon and his willingness to sanction Hannegan’s acts to further science, and the distrust of the future and seeming unwillingness to make the knowledge they’d preserved easily available to the awakening world by the Abbot, show that Miller thought neither the ideal steward. The Wandering Jew‘s inability to find what he seeks in both the practitioners of science and faith further strengthens that message. This ambiguity remains in the ironic ending to the story, where the preservation of knowledge and the Order are both entrusted to a starship, its faith-based crew, and a colony of men on another planet–turning the wheel of history back to start once again, the question unanswered as to which–science or faith–will have the wherewithal to succeed.

The book similarly takes an ambiguous stance in the treatment of the State vs Church issue. Miller sees an uneasy truce between State and Church at best, and even though it’s clear he feels the State will always take more questionable moral positions, there’s also an ambivalence about the actions of the Church. This underlying, repeating theme shows up in Fiat Lux when the Poet, rather than staying out of the way, takes on a cavalry soldier slaughtering refugees (ostensibly a moral act). After the fight, with both the Poet and the soldier wounded, the Poet hears the wounded soldier’s confession as he stabs him in the throat, killing him (not so moral an act)–then dying himself.

The conflict between Church and State is particularly blatant in the interaction between Texarkana and New Rome in Fiat Lux, and again the State’s actions are portrayed as immoral based on Hannegan’s deceit and lies to his supposed allies. But there’s just a hint of impropriety in Father Apollo’s actions in alerting the Church of his suspicions, and in New Rome’s actions in placing Texarkana under Interdict–then removing it. While Hannegan’s making all the clergy answerable to him within his realm and brutally murdering New Rome’s representative, Father Apollo, show the evil side of the State, Miller again seems to question the acts of the Church as well. Hannegan’s angry proclamation against New Rome includes reference to the “great confusion and spiritual neglect among all the faithful” that New Rome’s flip-flopping on Interdiction caused, which seems out of place among the fiery rhetoric that permeates the rest of the decree.

Later, in Fiat Voluntas Tua, we see a conflict between the rules of the State (on euthanasia for hopeless radiation cases) and the moral code of the Church against suicide, leading to conflict between those ministering to the wounded in the early attacks and the Abbot. While the abbey is ideally located for the treatment of refugees, the Abbot won’t permit it unless the doctor agrees not to recommend euthanasia, lecturing him that he can’t allow the Church’s rules to be broken within the walls of the abbey. When the doctor breaks that promise, he sends him down the road, making the refugees walk an additional several miles, but even worse, sends several novitiates to the euthansia camp to picket it, trying to prevent the State from following its laws on its property. Finally, the existence of the Quo peregrinatur plans is Miller’s capstone on the distrust between Church and State, and while it presents a way to continue (and repeat the mistakes of) the human race, it also violated the laws of the State against unauthorized starship launches. Hence, even though it seems the acts of the Church are more morally sound than those of the State, it’s clear Miller sees neither as without reproach.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is an amazing story simply as a story. The additional theme of the cyclical nature of history and its sub themes regarding science and religion and State versus Church, all crafted with fine ambiguity, opens interpretation of the story to the reader. In my mind it doesn’t lead one to the author’s conclusions/beliefs, but rather raises unanswered questions for the reader to ponder, and perhaps reflects questions that Miller himself had. That quality further sets the book apart as a unique and satisfying work.

In this first article I’ll provide a quick synopsis of the book to entice you to read it and to provide some background for a second article in which I’ll briefly discuss how Miller addressed two themes in the book that are relevant to today’s world: the give and take between church and state, and the dynamic tension between science and religion. I’ll also cover how I see them being cyclical in Miller’s eyes00.

The book is divided into three sections: Fiat Homo, Fiat Lux, and Fiat Voluntas Tua (pulling on my HS Latin, Let There be Man, Let There be Light, and idiomatically, Thy Will be Done, respectively). Fiat Homo takes place six centuries or so after a nuclear war (called the Diluvium Ignis, or Flame Deluge, in the book), with mutants of various sorts roaming the countryside and the world still trying to recover from the orgy of violence against science and learning that the war spawned. Somewhere in the American Southwest (my best guess is somewhere near Gallup, NM), at the isolated abbey dedicated to preserving knowledge from before the war, Brother Francis Gerard is on a Lenten fast for novitiates. He spots a mysterious traveler, who inadvertently leads him to an underground fallout shelter that harbors relics from the abbey’s patron, Isaac Edward Leibowitz. These relics are eventually presented to New Rome (but not without considerable torment of Brother Francis by the Abbot in the meantime), which results in Leibowitz being beatified as a Saint. Brother Francis represents the Abbey at the beatification in New Rome, but meets with a mishap on the way back, ending this first section.

In Fiat Lux time has vaulted forward another six centuries or so, and the Albertian Order of St. Leibowitz is still busy preserving and trying to interpret the knowledge they’d saved from before the war, and science is making a comeback–as are competing “kingdoms” and rumors of war. The Einstein of the age, Thon Taddeo Pfardentrott, attempts to get the abbey to send him some of their historical technical texts, but the monks refuse. The Thon and his party finally come to the abbey, where he is amazed, (and slightly miffed to learn that all his discoveries had been discovered before), by all he finds in the Leibowitz Memorabilia. While he’s there, battles rage among the different kingdoms that have sprung up across the old US, sparked by dealing and double-dealing by the Prince of Texarkana, who is the Thon’s cousin. There is considerable give and take between the monks and the Thon over what’s contained in the Memorabilia (as well as the technical achievement of one of the monks–an Edison to the Thon’s Einstein) and they part on adversarial terms, reflecting in microcosm the battle between Church and State going on around them.

The next six hundred years or so reflect the ascension of science over faith, and lead to the last section in the book, Fiat Voluntas Tua. The world is a technological one and, with the exception of interstellar travel, one not easily distinguishable from our current world or, for that matter, from the world that resulted in the Flame Deluge. The Monastic orders have persevered and the Albertian Order of St Leibowitz still sits in its abbey in the southwest, still responsible for the Memorabilia. It also has become a repository of monks with a variety of space-related skills and experience, including starship operations–an unstated and not publicly acknowledged hedge against the possibility of another societal meltdown, with a plan (Quo peregrinatur) to move the order and the Memorabilia to one of the space colonies should nuclear war once again break out. As events unfold leading to that meltdown, the Church finds itself with little constructive it can do to prevent it from happening other than initiating the Quo peregrinatur. In the meantime, the Abbot finds himself in conflict with the State over euthanasia for severely radiation-poisoned people. When the breakdown does occur–moving from an initial detonation of a couple of nuclear devices to a full out nuclear exchange–the selected members of the Order manage to leave the planet just in time, once again repeating their prime purpose of saving and perpetuating knowledge.

You’ve probably noted the significant number of Latin phrases in the article, and there are many more in the book; Miller felt they more accurately reflected the Catholic Church (he wrote the book before the Vatican II Council allowed contemporary languages to be used in Mass rather than Latin). A decent place to find translations for all these phrases, if you’re so inclined, is here.

This summary is minimalist, as I don’t want to give away too much of the story–Miller’s writing and characterization are so deep and rich that the story is far better told in his words. It’s more to whet your appetite, and provide background for my observations about what Miller had to say about science vs religion and Church vs State in my next article, coming soon.

Kristi Petersen Schoonover

This week’s SFSN FaceBook Poll result: The ultimate Joker was Mark Hamill.

• This week’s Holiday Geeky Gift Ideas:
• Dead RedHead - The Walking Dead graphic novels.
• AwakeByJava – Glitch, the snarky fun (free) MMORPG.
• Dome – Smallville: The Complete Series on DVD.
• Kriana – Soft Kitty Singing Plush.
• Illustrator X – Classic Shogun Warriors.
• Zombrarian – Keyboard Cat: The Toy.
• Double Midnight Comics: ‘Twas The Wednesday Before Christmas
• Marvel to release four issue canon prequel to The Avengers movie.
• RIP  Joe Simon, co-creator of Capt. America.
• Portman angry at being fired from Thor 2.
• Two classic Doctor Who episodes discovered!
• Kavalier and Clay to become a mini-series.
• George Takei asks us to “Kill Twilight”.
• Dracula 3-D with Rutger Hauer.
• Raiders of The Lost Ark opening in stop motion animation.
• Incredible trailer for The Narrative of Victor Karloch.
• Community has been conjuring Beetlejuice for 3 seasons.
• American Horror Story house is for sale.

Our guest tonight is author Kristi Petersen Schoonover. We talked about, her writing style, what makes her stories so unique and briefly about her upcoming book, Bad Apple. Also check out our review of her current novel,  Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole - Tales from Haunted Disney World.

Avenging Angel by Bob Bois

Bob Bois is a horror writer living in the mysterious hills of Central Massachusetts. Many of the flash fiction pieces he posts on his blog, Sitting in Darkness, have grown into larger, more detailed stories that are being sent out for publication. Born and raised in Salem, MA, Bob is currently at work on a collection of short stories set in his hometown. Bob writes some very dark fiction, so if that’s not your cup of tea, head for the Sunday comics.

In this week’s Fiction Friday offering, State Police Lieutenants Linda Einhorn and Martin Sutherland are faced with a plethora of bodies, murder victims, left in the most unusual poses for a diabolical reason:

Linda reached for her vibrating cell phone on the nightstand. She didn’t need the ringer; she wasn’t sleeping well these days.

“What?” she mumbled.

“Linda, we’ve got another one.”

Linda sat bolt upright. “Like the others? You’re sure?”

“Propped up on all fours. Tail, mane – the works. This one’s extra special, though.”

Linda waited, her eyes wide. She looked at the photo of a young girl on the nightstand.

“For Chrissakes, Marty, spit it out. This isn’t a game show.”

“This one has…more accessories. Just get down here and see it.”

“It? These were people once, Marty. Have some fucking respect.”

You can find the rest of the story here.

The subtitle of this book says it all: Tales from Haunted Disney World. Each of the the short stories ties into this theme. This book is hypnotic and in many ways it’s not what I expected (to be completely honest, I am not sure what I did expect given the title and concept).

The stories span everything from albino adoptees to haunting childhood memories of a mother’s final days. It explores ideas like what happens to closed attractions at the eerily magical theme park to the religious implications of, of all things, Epcot Center. The book keeps you wondering where each story leads, what brought these characters to this point in their lives, and why Disney World ties each of these lives together in such interesting ways. What this book doesn’t do is disappoint you by giving into the temptation of cheap thrills. Its is a series of well crafted tone poems, each one designed to chill you in a way you do not expect.

My favorite story in the is collection is a whimsical morality tale aptly entitled “All This Furniture and Nowhere To Sit,” a tale of a man whose wife hoards collectibles.  He sees his life devolving and is powerless to break the spell that holds his wife, home, and wallet in perpetual terror as the house terrifyingly brims to overflowing and he loses control of everything he holds dear.

Kristi shows an precision in her writing that sometimes gives you just a quick glimpse of the picture she is painting, just enough to let the reader form the inevitable conclusion she is drawing you into. Her literary choices are very clean and clear; little is ambiguous. The terror she brings to the reader is on the surface almost pleasingly simplistic, but as you are ensnared in the web of her adroit storytelling you begin to be caught up in the complexities and the stories become even more chilling. It is very cool to read horror fiction that gives you something that you can work with as a reader. These stories don’t just beat you over the head with a bloody arm, instead they hold that arm out to shake your hand. Seriously, who else could write a horror story about Flash Mountain?

You can purchase Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole on Amazon

For the purposes of full disclosure, this book was a review copy sent to SFSN. No other remuneration was given or implied.

• This week’s Holiday Gift Ideas:
• Dome – Futurama Monopoly
• Kriana -Knitted Superhero Finger Puppets
• Java – glif and gorillapod
• Dead RedHead – Fritz Leiber
• This week’s SFSN Facebook Poll: Favorite Animated Sci-Fi Movie was a tie between Heavy Metal and The Incredibles.
• BBC’s Sherlock Holmes returns.
• Starship Troopers director also did The Fast and the Furious.
• Guy Ritchie to direct The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
• Another Philip K. Dick movie in pre-production.
• Harrison Ford begins a film set in space for the first time since Star Wars.
• Star Trek Two
• Cabin In The Woods trailer.
• RIP Jerry Robinson, creator of The Joker.
• Justin Bieber kills Steampunk.

Legendary actor Lance Henriksen and writer Joe Maddrey join us to talk about their new book, Not Bad for a Human: the uncensored, unabashed and amazing story of Lance’s life and times. We discuss the process of putting the book together. Lance also told us about his “Alimony Movies”, Aliens, Millennium, Pumpkinhead, and a new project called Bring Me The Head of Lance Henriksen. Check out the Millennium fan site, Back To Frank Black. Also, get your limited edition copy of Not Bad for a Human while supplies last!

Craig D.B. Patton

Craig D.B. Patton is a member of New England Horror Writers and a graduate/survivor of the Borderlands Press Boot Camp. He has lived most of his life in New England, the exception being 11 wonderful years in Chicago.  It was while there that he figured out he was a writer.  He has written mostly short stories, poems, several Christmas pageant plays,

Craig D.B. Patton

and a bit of Twitter fiction.  Currently, he is working on his first novel and, in his own words, “ …since it is the first draft of my first novel, trying not to let the stench overpower me while I learn.  All of my work can be labeled as speculative fiction.  All of my stories are true, including the parts I make up.” Some of his stories have been published in Shroud Magazine, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Pocket Books), and other markets. His first published poem recently appeared in A Sea of Alone: Poems for Alfred Hitchcock (Dark Scribe Press), and more are forthcoming in The Terror at Miskatonic Falls (Shroud Publishing) and Illumen.

Submitted for your perusal: the story of the grief a mother and father feel after the loss of their son and the terror of the events after.

He checks his watch. 05-23-10 4:15 A.M. He shows his wife. She nods and tightens her grip on his hand to stop the trembling. Their son will be home again very soon.

It has been four years since their son vanished in a massive truck bomb explosion in Baghdad. Witnesses said he was standing right next to it when it went off.

There was an empty, flag-draped casket at the funeral. Framed photos everywhere, overcompensating for the lack of a body. A field’s worth of flowers. Well wishes and military salutes. Then tail lights receding down the long dirt road from their home and a settling, spreading emptiness.

For weeks, they remained deep in shock. Sometimes they even believed their son still lived. The casket flag and the condolence letter from the President in the family room reminded them otherwise.

The swelling boil of their grief ruptured on their son’s birthday in July. They wailed. They smashed dishes. They screamed at God. How could He take their son? They had prayed every day for his safety. He had been a pious man, respectful and humble, eager to do good in this troubled world.

God did not answer.

On the first anniversary of their son’s death, they were not at home. They had gone to her sister’s home in Minneapolis, seeking comfort from family.

When they returned, they opened the front door and stared. The living room was trashed. Paintings hung askew or lay on the floor. The mirror and lamp were shattered. Plants were toppled, spilling dirt onto the floor.

They called the police.

The rest of the story can be found here. “Aftershocks” will be reprinted in The Best of Wily Writers – Volume 2 and is presented here by permission of Wily Writers and the author.

Dark City 1998

So, here is the problem. Most of you readers have probably seen this movie, but not in its true form. I happened to catch this move on TV and was disgusted by the way it was hacked, the inability to see half of it and the incredibly garbled audio. At that point I shut off the tuner and flipped on the ole DVD and saw a good movie, it’s called Dark City and when seen as it should be it’s a visual feast, an aural treasure, and an emotional thrill ride. This is a really good movie.

This cast is amazingly complex. Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, Kiefer Sutherland, and William Hurt are the mainstays of this cast. Each of them carries, with intense precision, this film from an obscure art film into mainstream Sci Fi with emotion and depth to what could have easily been cardboard cutout characters.

Writer/Director Alex Proyas (The Crow) adds a uniquely noir vision to this already bleak story. The opening scene alone is one of the most frightening scenes on film. In it, John (played by Rufus Sewell), wakes up in a strange hotel room, naked, in a bathtub and a bloody face, with no memory of how he got there. The scene holds as quiet desperation plays over his face, until the uncomfortable silence is broken by the overloud ring of the telephone. This is one of the best film openings in existance and its impact carries through the rest of the film.

The use of special effects in this movie should be a guideline to anyone directing in the genre:  if you use big effects, do not substitute flash for story, make them work together. They do. It does. It’s a wonderful movie. Cinematographer Darius Wolski worked with Proyas on The Crow, so they had some unique chemistry working on a second very dark film and it shows. The almost effortless melding of visuals, effects and music makes this a real treat.

Trevor Jones composed the score, in brilliant understatement. His many previous efforts included In The Name of the Father, Sea of Love, and Last of The Mohicans but give no indication of his ability to match the bleak visuals with a stunningly beautiful soundtrack.

This is Dome, sayin’: Don’t watch this one on cable, it’s too damn good!

Blood Feud by Steven Roman

• Rocky Horror Picture Show voted Best Musical in this week’s SFSN Facebook Poll.
• Previous Guest Michael J. Sullivan’s book launched this week.
• Watchmen 2.
• Why are ghosts so horny on American Horror Story?
• Original work print of Manos: Hands of Fate found.
• Mid-Season Finale of The Walking Dead.
• Action Comics #1 sells for 2.16 Million.
• The Munsters has a director.
• Holiday Gift Ideas:
• Kriana – iPad
• Illustrator X – Rare Harlan Ellison Book Sale
• Dead RedHead – Han Solo in Carbonite Chocolate
• AwakeByJava – Multi-touch Keyboard and Mouse
• Dome – Batman Cosplay Slanket

Steven Roman

Our guest is Steven Roman, author of the series The Saga of Pandora Zwieback. He talks about the process of putting together his series and his association with artist Bob Larkin. We also discussed the genesis of the main character, Pandora, and the New York underground in which much of the first book is set. We also talk about his work in the comic industry, his own art, and his company Starwarp Concepts.

Ben Bova

One might guess that someone who can write fascinating stories would automatically make a great guest. In to many instances this has proven not to be the case, but NOT with Ben Bova. Mr. Bova has been a frequent guest on our show, dating back to our old radio broadcast days. From the moment he first joined us, he was a mesmerizing guest. In one instance, when we had a 3 hour time slot to fill, Ben was set to join us in the second segment of our first hour. We had scheduled 3 other interviews to round out the show, but at each commercial break we decided to keep going with Ben. As luck would have it, he was as amused by us as we were spellbound by him and he has returned many times.

Like many other Sci Fi authors, Ben has a background in hard science and infuses his work with a future grounded in a plausible technology. One of the most interesting things he ever said to me was, “I have come to believe science fiction is history that simply hasn’t happened yet.”

Submitted for your approval, a story about the military, the CIA, and a computer.

“The Next Logical Step” by Ben Bova:

“I don’t really see where this problem has anything to do with me,” the CIA man said. “And, frankly, there are a lot of more important things I could be doing.”

Ford, the physicist, glanced at General LeRoy. The general had that quizzical expression on his face, the look that meant he was about to do something decisive.

“Would you like to see the problem first-hand?” the general asked, innocently.

The CIA man took a quick look at his wristwatch. “O.K., if it doesn’t take too long. It’s late enough already.”

“It won’t take very long, will it, Ford?” the general said, getting out of his chair.

“Not very long,” Ford agreed. “Only a lifetime.”

The CIA man grunted as they went to the doorway and left the general’s office. Going down the dark, deserted hallway, their footsteps echoed hollowly.

“I can’t overemphasize the seriousness of the problem,” General LeRoy said to the CIA man. “Eight ranking members of the General Staff have either resigned their commissions or gone straight to the violent ward after just one session with the computer.”

The CIA man scowled. “Is this area Secure?”

General LeRoy’s face turned red. “This entire building is as Secure as any edifice in the Free World, mister. And it’s empty. We’re the only living people inside here at this hour. I’m not taking any chances.”

“Just want to be sure.”

“Perhaps if I explain the computer a little more,” Ford said, changing the subject, “you’ll know what to expect.”

“Good idea,” said the man from CIA.

“We told you that this is the most modern, most complex and delicate computer in the world … nothing like it has ever been attempted before—anywhere.”

“I know that They don’t have anything like it,” the CIA man agreed.

“And you also know, I suppose, that it was built to simulate actual war situations. We fight wars in this computer … wars with missiles and bombs and gas. Real wars, complete down to the tiniest detail. The computer tells us what will actually happen to every missile, every city, every man … who dies, how many planes are lost, how many trucks will fail to start on a cold morning, whether a battle is won or lost …”

General LeRoy interrupted. “The computer runs these analyses for both sides, so we can see what’s happening to Them, too.”

The CIA man gestured impatiently. “War games simulations aren’t new. You’ve been doing them for years.”

“Yes, but this machine is different,” Ford pointed out.

You can find the rest of the story here.

In Once Upon A Time, bounty hunter Emma Swan’s world is changed the night ten-year-old Henry shows up on her doorstep and announces he is the baby she gave up. He wants her to come with him to his home town because he believes she is a character from his book of fairy tales. While she thinks the kid is a little crazy, she still gives him a ride home. While not truly believing him, she still cares and ends up staying in the town. While the show is busily setting up this part of the story, it is also flashing to the fairy tale world. The fairy tale world aligns with the story Henry is telling Emma and shows the viewer the troubles that lead to Snow White giving up her only daughter, Emma, to our world.

While the plot might seem challenging to follow, it really wasn’t. The pilot did a good job of smoothly gliding back and forth between the two worlds and made it very clear how the worlds are connected. The show sets up the fact that somehow Emma is supposed to come back into the lives of her parents in fairy land, but it’s unclear exactly how she will do that. Emma, Henry, and the evil queen are all great characters from the start and interact well together. Henry is likeable and cute, totally believable as the precocious kid hero, while Emma’s mix of vulnerable and tough doesn’t seem like an act.

The show was a little sweet for me, the opening scene in fairy land with the evil queen interrupting was the only part that got me really excited. While I enjoyed the show, and will probably watch it again, I tend to like my fairy tales a little darker. They story they are telling isn’t a light and fluffy tale, but they seemed reluctant to dive into the grit of it during this episode. On the other hand, it seems like it is going to be a good show that families with preteen and up children could watch together, so perhaps that was their goal.

Grimm follows cop Nick Burkhardt as he discovers first a horrible murder scene, and second that he is one of the last in a line of Grimms, people charged with keeping the world safe from monsters. Since his mother is very ill, the family trait has awoken in him and he must now keep the world safe from the fairy tale monsters we all know.

Grimm appears to be much more of a monster of the week type show, but with plenty of overlying story to build up as well. Of the two shows it is the one that seems more likely to succeed to me. Unfortunately it seems that shows which have more emphasis on a continuing story, as Once Upon A Time does, are less likely to catch on. Time and again we’ve seen these sort of shows canceled before their time. That being said, I honestly preferred Grimm. The overall story was appealing and easy to get into, there were a couple laughs and a lot of moments that pulled me right in. I’m more interested to see what happens to Nick than I am to know what happens to Emma in Once Upon A Time.

The show plays out a lot like a modern day fairy tale, smoothly blending the dark underlying themes of fairy tales into modern situations. The characters are well written, though there isn’t really a stand out moment for any of them. The actors work well together, aside from the Nick and his fiance who don’t seem to have any chemistry. On the other hand, Nick and his mother have some great moments.

Grimm does have one of the same main problems as Once Upon A Time, it’s hard to imagine how each can keep the story going. Based on the preview, it seems as if Grimm will be dealing with the same monsters from the pilot, and even if not, how many monsters are there in the fairy tales? If they start making up their own, doesn’t that detract from the main plot? Once Upon A Time seems like a story meant to be a movie or a miniseries, not a TV show, and certainly not one that lasts season after season.

All that being said, these shows are two interesting additions to the TV season, and both are at least worth a try.

Coderunner

• This week’s SFSN Facebook Poll reveals that our listeners believe Audrey II is the hungriest Sci Fi character.
• Diablo Cody says the new Evil Dead has maximum gore.
• Spider Man the Musical in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. No one injured – this time.
• David Mack’s Kabuki featured in Dexter.
•  Twilight movie causes seizures.
• The Walking Dead.
• Anne McCaffery dies at age 85.
• H.R. Gigier’s Aliens On Ice.
• Grimm vs. Once Upon A Time.
• Area 51 Mocumentary comes to TV.
• Will there be Tribbles in the next Star Trek movie?

Jeff Macpherson as DeepFive

Our guest is Jeff MacPherson, the infamous Doctor Tiki, from Tikibar TV. He reminisces about his days at the Tiki bar and introduces us to his new game for iPhone and iPad, Coderunner.  In Coderunner, you are a spy for the government in an Orwellian world. The game combines elements of augmented reality and classic dystopian themes in a way that creates a very personal and unique experience.  You can find Coderunner on Facebook, Twitter and it’s official website. Also stay tuned for AwakeByJava’s upcoming review.

Kristi Peterson Schoonover

I became acquainted with Kristi through the New England Horror Writers Association. We met at a conference, and quite frankly, there may not be a more interesting group to speak with. So many interesting individual writers with different takes gathered together under their umbrella–but that is another story for another day. Kristi wasn’t at that meeting, but got our website from someone who was and sent me a blind introduction. Her short fiction has appeared in Carpe Articulum, The Adirondack Review, Barbaric Yawp, New Witch Magazine, Toasted Cheese, and others, including several anthologies such as  In Poe’s Shadow from Dark Opus Press. She holds an MFA from Goddard College, has received three Norman Mailer Writers Colony Residencies, and is editor for Read Short Fiction. Her horror novel, Bad Apple, is forthcoming from Vagabondage Books.

This submission from her is called “Screams of Autumn”. To quote from her, “A young Connecticut wife discovers that sometimes a scream is better left ignored”. Enjoy:

Emily had just slid a pan of pumpkin seeds in the oven when she heard a scream from outside.

She peered through the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked three acres of tangled woods. Now, on the second weekend of October, they were a brilliant tapestry of yellows, greens, and rusts.

“Ryan,” she called to her husband. “Did you hear that?”

He was a quiet man who liked his easy chair and his books. “Hear what?”

“A scream. I heard a scream. Out there, somewhere.”

“Probably the neighborhood kids.”

The nearest children were at the other end of the block, and they were forbidden to play in the woods.

Again, she heard the scream, the piercing shriek of someone impaled. She hugged her long sweater housecoat close. “You don’t hear it? God, it’s awful.”

The rest of this story can be found here.

Join our TalkCast on 12/17/11 when Kristi will be our guest to talk about her collection, Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole: Tales from Haunted Disney World.

• This week’s SFSN Facebook Poll.
• Silver Circle submitted to thet SXSW Film Festival.
• Doctor Who Movie will have NOTHING to do with the TV series.
• Hunger Games releases their first trailer.
• Asa Butterfield will be Ender in Ender’s Game.
• M.Night Shymalan teams up with  Will and Jayden Smith.
• Bryan Fuller is re-booting The Munsters.
• Kristen Stewart in Akira.
• Star Trek II will not be called Star Trek II.

Our guest, author Michael J. Sullivan, talks candidly about the trials of bringing his writing to the public. He shared with us the process of his 6 self published books being picked up by a publisher and combined into 3. He also answered our questions about his style and the choices he made with his characters and narrative. Check Michael out at Goodreads, and purchase Theft of Swords.

This week we have a very special tie-in Fiction Friday. We recorded the podcast on Thursday, during which we had the pleasure of interviewing Michael J. Sullivan about his series, The Riyria Revelations. He has kindly offered us a short story that is a prequel to his series as a Fiction Friday special feature.

From Michael’s website:

Eleven years before they were framed for the murder of a king, before even assuming the title of Riyria, Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater were practically strangers. Unlikely associates, this cynical thief and idealist swordsman, were just learning how to work together as a team. In this standalone first installment of The Riyria Chronicles, Royce is determined to teach his naive partner a lesson about good deeds. Join Royce and Hadrian in this short story (5,400 words) about one of their earliest adventures.

The story is available in a multitude of formats, so go here and find the one you prefer.

Manley Wade Wellman

First of all, what a great name, Manley Wade Wellman. Born in 1903, and best known for his Fantasy and Horror classic stories, he also worked on the comic The Spirit while Eisner was in the military during WWII. He won both the World Fantasy Award and the Poe Award. Aside from his books and short stories, he was an active participant in the golden age of television drama, penning original scripts and adapting his short stories to shows like Twilight Zone, Lights Out and Night Gallery.

Submitted for your approval, “Devil’s Asteroid” is a story about the trials of convicts on an alien planet. Fitzhugh Parr is in the unenviable position of coming in to take over this…”little hell”.

It was not very large, as asteroids go, but about it clung a silvery mist of atmosphere. Deeper flashes through the mist betokened water, and green patches hinted of rich vegetation. The space-patroller circled the little world knowledgeably, like a wasp buzzing around an apple. In the control room, by the forward ports, the Martian skipper addressed his Terrestrial companion.

 

“I wissh you joy of yourr new home,” he purred. Like many Martians, he was braced upright on his lower tentacles by hoops and buckles around his bladdery body, so that he had roughly a human form, over which lay a strange loose armor of light plates. In the breathing hole of his petal-tufted skull was lodged an artificial voice-box that achieved words. “I rregrret—”

 

Fitzhugh Parr glowered back. He was tall, even for a man of Earth, and his long-jawed young face darkened with wrath. “Regret nothing,” he snapped. “You’re jolly glad to drop me on this little hell.”

 

“Hell?” repeated the Martian reproachfully. “But it iss a ssplendid miniaturre worrld—nineteen of yourr miless in diameterr, with arrtificial grravity centerr to hold airr and waterr; ssown, too, with Terresstrrial plantss. And companionss of yourr own rrace.”

You can find the rest of this story here.

Third Wave by Dave Gordon

• This week’s SFSN Face book Poll.
• We are in love with Boston Comic Con.
• Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham.
• Once More With Feeling, the most musical episode of Buffy turns 10.
•  Godzilla. again.
• Marvel’s ALIAS coming to TV.
• SyFy will begin airing Lost Girl in January.
• Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner sequel is starting up and he discusses the Prometheus prequel.
• It’s an ubercool Farnsworth iPhone app.
• DS9 now available on Netflix.
• Stephen King’s Under The Dome comes to Showtime.
• J.J. Abrams wants Benicio del Toro  as the next Trek villain.
• Will Tennant star in Fright Night 2?
• AwakeByJava suggests you see the Babbage Analytical Engine.

Our guest is Dave Gordon whom we met at The Great New England Steampunk Exhibition. Dave talks about his career and how science fiction and steampunk have influenced him. He discusses his Muybridge Online Archive as well as his various installations and his current residency at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation.

As a bonus, Zombrarian has found a Muybridge Knitting Pattern.

Repo Man

If you’re a fan of retro-drama, this is your movie. Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez are the most unlikely buddy team since Boris and Natasha. And quite frankly, they’re funnier. Alex Cox has created a moment in and out of time, at the same time, time-wise, if you get my drift, and I’m not sure I do.

This movie has a lot to offer the unwary viewer:  nukes, aliens, time travel, government conspiracy, punk rock, LA, UFOs, and the typical teen angst that accompanies any Emilio Estevez movie. Chock filled with comedy, satire, violence, sight gags (including the end credits), and music that includes Iggy Pop, The Ramones and Black Flag.

This is a movie that ages well. While it may not be as relevant as it was in 1984, it is still a cult classic in the best sense of the term. Eat the FOOD. Enjoy the story as it spirals out of control and the morality tale it portends to preach. Or…….just watch it and enjoy. I did. Over and over again.

• This Week’s SFSN Facebook Poll: Our fans’  favorite character to come back from the dead is Buffy Summers.
• RIP – Richard Gordon, creator of Fiend Without A Face and Dragstrip Girl.
• Kate Beckinsale is 3D in Underworld Awakening.
• Networks see Grimm and Once Upon A Time as the same?
• Women have their pick of guys at comic cons… but do they want them?
• American Horror Story renewed as ratings continue to grow.
• The next Twilight Zone movie produced by Leo DiCaprio.
• I, Frankenstein stars Aaron Eckhart.
• A British man thought the moon was a UFO.
• Your flying car is waiting, Mr. Jetson.
• Anne Rice picks a fight with Stephanie Meyer.

Our guest is long time friend of the show, Bob Shaw: the man behind Comic Art House, and one of the coordinators of Boston ComicCon. Tonight he brings us the first official news about this event. One of the biggest additions to the show is an original art auction, the sole purpose of which is to help defray the rising costs of a quickly expanding convention. We also discussed part of the list of confirmed guests. Boston Comic Con will be held on April 21-22 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

The confirmed guests include:

• Skottie Young
• David Peterson
• Craig Rousseau
• Billy Tucci
• Todd DeZago
• Norman Lee
• Herb Trimpe
• Cliff Chaing
• Sergio Aragones
• Sara Richard
• Jason Pierson
• Tim Sale
• Renee De Liz (Womanthology)
• Roger Andrews
• TJ Dort & Joe Haley
• Ken Branch
• Charles Paul Wilson III

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback

Everything you know is wrong. Thus is the life of Pandora, a delusional goth teen with severe antisocial tendencies and a history of  paranoid visions. She is exiled to upstate New York with her mother and estranged from her father,  the curator of Renfield’s House of Horrors, a NYC Paranormal Museum. Pan searches for not who she is but what she is. An errant tasering begins unlocking the keys to what she is and the role she plays in a world that lives just under the collective subconscious.

OK, so having just reread the above paragraph I know it sounds a bit disjointed and incoherent. So is Pan. That’s why she has Sabastienne, the 400-year-old protectress of the universe. This unlikely paring makes for one of the most wondrous duos ever to grace the pages of a Paranormal Buddy Story. Equal parts Sorcerer’s Apprentice and 48 Hours, this is a mystic rollercoaster ride that glimpses a demonic past and uncertain future in the hands of two unlikely women who the fates have pared.

Steven Roman has an interesting style in this series; constantly cutting back and forth in time to the back-stories of the myriad characters. It’s a style that works well within the fast pace structure. As this is the first in a series, this book does a good job of establishing tone, setting, characters and intensity. I found myself nearing the end of the 300+ pages wondering where and how in the hell he was going to end this and was more than a little surprised, perhaps shocked would better describe it.

This is Dome, sayin’: Its charmingly fun, addictively energetic, explosively violent and almost terminally endearing. Oh, and highly recommended.

For the purposes of full disclosure, this book was a review copy sent to SFSN. No other remuneration was given or implied

• This week’s Facebook SFSN Poll winner is The Gunslinger.
• The new Miyazaki Trailer.
• Dark Tower headed to HBO.
• Alice Cooper to be in Dark Shadows.
• Steven Spielberg hated Indiana Jones IV.
• Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing. The official website.
• Ender’s Game release date announced.
• The theory behind building a space station on an asteroid.
• Once Upon A Time.
• The Walking Dead  Season 3.
• Romero’s The Zombie Autopsies.
• Great New Product: Open the pod bay doors, iPhone.

Robert Sheckley

Robert Sheckley was one of the few science fiction writers to have a true sense of humor that translated into his work. A multiple Hugo and Nebula nominee, he was best known for his absurdist outlook and his stories were uniformly wry with a futuristic bent. His fan peers included Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, and Harlan Ellison.

This story, “Bad Medicine”, is a fan favorite. It’s the story of a man being treated by a psychotherapy machine intended for…

On May 2, 2103, Elwood Caswell walked rapidly down Broadway with a loaded revolver hidden in his coat pocket. He didn’t want to use the weapon, but feared he might anyhow. This was a justifiable assumption, for Caswell was a homicidal maniac.

It was a gentle, misty spring day and the air held the smell of rain and blossoming-dogwood. Caswell gripped the revolver in his sweaty right hand and tried to think of a single valid reason why he should not kill a man named Magnessen, who, the other day, had commented on how well Caswell looked.

What business was it of Magnessen’s how he looked? Damned busybodies, always spoiling things for everybody….

Caswell was a choleric little man with fierce red eyes, bulldog jowls and ginger-red hair. He was the sort you would expect to find perched on a detergent box, orating to a crowd of lunching businessmen and amused students, shouting, “Mars for the Martians, Venus for the Venusians!”

But in truth, Caswell was uninterested in the deplorable social conditions of extraterrestrials. He was a jetbus conductor for the New York Rapid Transit Corporation. He minded his own business. And he was quite mad.

Fortunately, he knew this at least part of the time, with at least half of his mind.

The entire text can be found here.

October always brings a shiver of anticipation to my graveyard flesh. Not only is it the season of Halloween (and my wedding anniversary!) but every autumn Illustrator X and I always make a point to visit the annual Rock-n-Shock convention in Worcester, MA. For those who have never experienced the Rock-n-Shock, it’s the premiere convention for horror movie lovers in the Northeast. Greats of horror have been in attendance over the years, from the legendary George Romero, Julian Sands and Malcolm McDowell to some of today’s stars of indie horror, music, literature and comics.

This year was a big one for Rock-n-Shock. First heads on the chopping block were multiple members of the various “Nightmare On Elm Street” series, (be)headed up by Freddie Krueger himself:  Robert Englund. The lines were long – and I mean longer than the fight in “They Live” – for Mr. Englund. X and I were fortunate enough to tickets at 11:30a for the 3pm signing and even then we stood in line for over an hour to get some signatures, a joke and a hearty handshake. I must say, despite the literal hundreds of people who he talked to, shook hands with and signed items for, Mr. Englund continued to be gracious and had a good sense of humor. And a bit of trivia:  Mr. Englund let X know how much he loved our Brain in the Jar logo shirts!
As I said, there were several other NOES cast members (sorry ladies, no Johnny Depp) including the lovely and VERY friendly Amanda Wyss and Rodney Eastman from NOES 3 and 4. The lovely Heather Langenkamp – Nancy herself – was supposed to attend, but unfortunately had to cancel due to a family issue. It was posted on the site that she would be in the NE area next year.
The next major movie cast on the (death) list for X and I was from the wonderful vampire film directed by Oscar winning director Kathryn Bigelow, “Near Dark”. Lead science fiction/horror/action hero Lance Henriksen was at the top of the DeadRedhead’s “stars to meet” list and he didn’t disappoint. Mr. Henriksen – who just recently published a book of his memoires called “Not Bad for a Human” – was funny, entertaining and quite the gentleman! X and I are hoping to have Mr. Henriksen on the show in the fairly near future. Next to Mr. Henriksen was the pretty, blonde “Mae” of “Near Dark”, Ms. Jenny Wright. Ms. Wright may also be known to some of our more esoteric fans as the pretty blonde from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” who asks Bob Geldof “do you want to take a bath?” Ms. Wright spoke to us for a while and gave me a big hug at the end.
Last, but far from the least treat for your Dead Redhead was getting to meet Sherman Howard, otherwise famous for being Bub the Zombie in George Romero’s 1986 version of “Day of the Dead” – the movie that made your Dead Redhead the star she is today! Bub is one of the most famous zombies in all of zombiedom and this was the amazing actor who brought him to life. Thank you, Mr. Howard, we salute you! (Hey, can you pass me my…never mind)
Perhaps the most welcome part of the convention was the energy and kindness shown by the celebrities. With only a few exceptions, these folks were polite, gracious – and in one case when out of his way to show his fans how much he appreciated their support (yes, I’m looking at you Rowdy Roddy Piper). Rock and Shock also had authors, movie vendors, t-shirt vendors, many DIY jewelry and clothing vendors and all sorts of things for the horror aficionado. Make it a POINT to get yourselves to next year’s Rock-n-Shock.

The Running Man

This is the world Stephen King envisioned way back in 1982. I’m not saying that our world has become what he envisioned, but it’s also not 2025 yet. In his world the air in cities is so bad that lung cancer is out of control. A few people live well, but the majority (the 99%?) are so poor they work at jobs that compromise their health and subsist on subpar fast food, but everyone has FreeV to provide entertainment and doctored news while libraries and real knowledge are only for the elite. Something about all that hits a little close to home for me. Especially with American’s obsession with reality programming. Is it really such a big leap from Fear Factor to The Running Man? Maybe, maybe not.

Reading this, it’s easy to see why Stephen King has been such a vocal fan of The Hunger Games. A lot of the themes are the same, and both books convey the same feelings of class division and blood sports to the reader. While King’s book is darker, it’s also a more believable vision. He paints the image of decaying, still inhabited cities as accurately as a man who is standing inside one. The stark differences he creates between the haves and have-nots are easy to imagine. Richards is a desperate man, and the reader feels that with him. While he does things we would like to say we wouldn’t do, you’re rooting for him to do those things because it’s the only way to survive.

From start to finish, this book pulls you in and sets your head spinning. The chapters are fairly short and add to the urgency of the whole thing. You might as well be piggybacked on Richards because you are there with him. This might be King’s greatest gift as a writer. I would recommend this book to anyone else enjoying today’s boom of dystopian novels, because obviously King was thinking about it while half of today’s authors were still reading Doctor Seuss. A word of warning though, don’t read the forward, because King spoils the ending in it, or at least he did in my edition of the book!

Kathleen Marden & The Dome

• This week’s SFSN Facebook Poll – Name your favorite evil robot.
• The Walking Dead, Season begins with 2 record ratings.
• American Horror Story
• Scarlett Johansson’s catsuit and other Marvel(s) for sale.
• Michael Bay says no to Transformers 4.
• BSG – The Movie to be written by John Orloff.
• Joss Whedon and Warren Ellis together for the new Wastlanders web-series.
• Jupiter Ascending by the Wachowski Brothers.
• Will an Americanized version of Misfits work?

Our guest is Kathleen Marden, niece of Betty and Barney Hill. She is the trustee of The Hill’s estate and conservator of the vast amount of files and documents generated by this event.  (the Hill collection is part of  the Milne Archives at the University of New Hampshire Library in Durham, NH.). She is a lecturer and co-authored 2 books with Stanton Friedman. During our interview she talks about the use and misuse of hypnosis in investigations and the abuse inherent in disinformation within UFO investigations.

I know that this series is generally reserved for lesser known authors (and if you have a story you’d like to submit please send it on), but good old EAP deserves a bit of a mention this close to Halloween.

October is usually a time here at SFSN where we highlight the horror aspects of “stuff we like”, and Poe is one of the quintessential masters of horror. So I present to you a piece that I know you know. We all know it, it’s “The Raven”. What makes this version and this post so special is not the piece itself necessarily, but the presentation. After the jump, if you dare, find this most famous poem read by none other than John de Lancie. Can there be anything more chilling than Q reading certain doom?

Jess and Jeff Finn

• This week’s SFSN Facebook Poll.
• Neil Stephenson on “Gold Farming”.
• Man goes through plastic surgery to become Superman.
• CW Shows coming to NetFlix.
• The Avengers Trailer comes out.
• Robert Downey, Jr. was as disappointed in Ironman II as everyone else was.
• Thor 2 pushed back to November 2013.
• The Divide trailer.
• American Horror Story
• Seth MacFarlane wants to do Star Trek.
• A present from Dark Horse for Free Comic Book Day.

Strange Septembers

Our guests are ‘Docufologists’ Jeff and Jess Finn. Their movie, Strange Septembers, was first shown at the 2011 Exeter UFO Conference and Festival. They spent a year researching, and interviewing over 100 relatives, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances associated with both the Hill Abduction and the Exeter Encounter. Initially setting out to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Betty and Barney Hill’s September 19, 1961 UFO experience, the Finns’ documentary grew to include the September 3, 1965 UFO experience that has become known as the Incident at Exeter. Strange Septembers can be purchased here.

Our prior  ‘Cast of an interview with Betty Hill can be found here.

Our prior ‘Cast with Stanton Friedman can be found here.

As this first novel in this series moves forward we are privy to the stories of many of the characters in this universe:  the shapeshifters, the alchemists, the artisans, the many lands and peoples. But first and foremost this is a coming of age story of a damaged youth. Over and over, Astrid is forced by circumstance to become what she is destined to be. The secretive past that slowly unfolds around her, the secrets of the society she lives in, the lands she travels through, and ultimately who she falls in love with are all wound around the iron blade of the Dragonslayer’s Sword. Crafted by Astrid, the sword is a metaphor for her life as it is intertwined with the lives of those around her and those she is destined to touch.

Astrid touched me. Her struggle to understand her life, the lives of those around her and her place within the universe is engaging and exciting. The universe Resa creates for her is richly detailed and starkly beautiful and sometimes terrifying. This is a wonderful fist installment of what portends to be a delightful series I am very much looking forward to reading and enjoying and suggesting to others.

This is Dome, sayin: Astrid is a young lady with a mission and her love to guide her. I hope I will be reading stories about her search for a long time.

For the purposes of full disclosure, this book was a review copy sent to SFSN. No other remuneration was given or implied.

The Whisperer in Darkness

Tonight’s TalkCast is dedicated to the memory of Armitage Tambascia, daughter of Alex and Joy Tambascia, who were guests on the ‘Cast.

• We’ll miss you Steve Jobs, a man who made science fiction into science fact
• This week’s SFSN Facebook poll results.
• Fringe holds its audience, Terra Nova, not so much.
• DC grabs market share over Marvel for September.
• Marvel attempts to reboot Jack Kirby.

This week’s guest is Steve Bissette.
He teaches at The Center for Cartoon Studies. On October 20th he will host the premiere of the film “The Whisperer In Darkness” as a fundraiser to help White River Junction’s Main Street Museum, which was damaged by Vermont’s recent floods. He will be speaking at the Vermont Law School on Oct. 21 on the subject, “Marvel vs. Jack Kirby: Legal Rights & Ethical Might”, and on Oct. 30, he will  appear at The Saturday Fright Halloween Spooktacular VI Special.

James H. Schmitz

James Schmitz was best known for writing the “Space Opera”. This genre was known for its strong female roles. His life was one of service to his country and prolific writing, his two passions. Well over 100 novels and short stories were penned between 1940 and 1981 and his writing remained in print late into the 20^th. century. Unfortunately, now his work is almost forgotten. His novelized series, The Demon Breed, The Eternal Frontiers, The Universe Against Her, and The Witches of Karres are classics worthy of remembering and rereading.

Presented today, “An Incident On Route 12,” a short story about a desperate man in a world he cannot comprehend:

He was already a thief, prepared to steal again. He didn’t know that he himself was only booty!

Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises. They came from under the Packard’s hood.

The car immediately began to lose speed. Garfield jammed down the accelerator, had a sense of sick helplessness at the complete lack of response from the motor. The Packard rolled on, getting rid of its momentum, and came to a stop.

Phil Garfield swore shakily. He checked his watch, switched off the headlights and climbed out into the dark road. A delay of even half an hour here might be disastrous. It was past midnight, and he had another hundred and ten miles to cover to reach the small private airfield where Madge waited for him and the thirty thousand dollars in the suitcase on the Packard’s front seat.

If he didn’t make it before daylight….

He thought of the bank guard. The man had made a clumsy play at being a hero, and that had set off the fool woman who’d run screaming into their line of fire. One dead. Perhaps two. Garfield hadn’t stopped to look at an evening paper.

But he knew they were hunting for him.

The rest of the story can be found here.

This book was ridiculously good. This review has to start with that because it was my immediate feeling while reading and after reading.  Now, for the details.

I picked up Ashes with almost no idea what it was about. From the cover and the little I had heard about it, I knew it was something end-of-the-world-ish. This book does something that few of the dystopian/end of the world books I have read do:  it shows us how the world ends, and that was both terrifying and thrilling.

Ashes opens with the main character Alex hiking off into the woods with the ashes of her dead parents.  Alex has an inoperable brain tumor and assumes she will probably be as dead as her parents soon. It’s clear she’s considering suicide, but that’s not really the point of the hike. When an electromagnetic pulse blasts through the world, Alex finds herself alone with a grief stricken little girl named Ellie. Together they try to survive with few supplies and a growing number of odds against them. When they meet up with another young man, Tom, they become a group of three, still unsure if they are the only survivors. An enthralling fight for survival unfolds from there, pitting the group against other survivors, the coming winter, and people who have changed into something like zombies.

All the main characters in this book are amazingly fleshed out. They have their good moments and bad moments and read like people you know. Each of them is damaged in some way, but all of them possess an unwavering will to live. Alex is the sort of female lead that even Katniss from The Hunger Games wishes she could be (okay maybe that’s mean, maybe I mean Katniss from Mockingjay). Talk about strong! She depends on Tom to help them survive, but she never needs him to save her. These three are thrown together due to circumstances and it reads very real that Tom and Alex hide their pasts from each other, only letting the truth out in small pieces. Ellie is epically bratty and annoying at first, but that changes quickly as she bonds with Tom and Alex and realizes she needs to change due to circumstances.

Now talk about dark, this book is pretty damn honest about how cruddy things are going to be if this ever happens. People are straight up fighting for their lives and are often injured and Bick pulls no punches in her descriptions of  fighting and wounds. The world she describes feels as real as if it were happening right outside your front door. And if Bick knows half as much about surviving as her characters do, then I hope I can find her when the world implodes.

Outside of the main characters, she’s spot on for how the mass of survivors would likely act in this situation. While a few do some together to form community, for those on the outside it is going to be a fight for survival. That fight would be bad enough if it was just a lack of resources and such, but add in the zombie-like creatures and it becomes a whole new level of fighting for your life. Every group in this book is in it for themselves, whether that means they hurt Alex and her friends or help them, you know they have their own agenda.

So as I said, awesome book, go get it today!

Most Biblical prophesy seems to be based on passages in Luke, which predict a proliferation of war and strife (Luke 21:10) and all manner of natural disasters (Luke 21:11) as signs of the end times. And certainly a span of a several years that includes widespread famine, wars and strife between nations and/or sects of people, earthquakes and tsunamis and volcanoes and storms and drought–well, that matches up with the Bibilical prediction quite well. The only problem is that what I’ve just described, while perhaps an apt description of the first decade of this century, also describes the period from 70-80 AD (Roman civil wars and fighting against the Jewish uprising, Roman invasion of Scotland; eruption of Vesuvius and tsunamis in Italy; droughts in Germany and Italy; famine in Ireland and Italy; floods in England). Nor is this the only other period in history where the rather general “signs of the end times” applies. The period of the Hundred Years War certainly fulfills the “prophesy” (and with the Black Death killing 30% or more of Europe’s population, is probably the closest to being correct), as well as the four years of WWI and any number of other time frames. More specific proclamations of the beginning of the end times supposedly based on the Bible include William Miller’s prediction of the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the world by fire between between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844 (and subsequently, October 22nd of 1844 when the first prediction didn’t pan out). More recently (but in a strangely parallel way), Harold Camping initially predicted the end of the world sometime between Sep 15-27th, 1994 (based on a reference in John 21:1-14) and then May 21, 2011 (and now October 21, 2011). There have been any number of additional specific end-of-the-world predictions based on interpretations of the Bible, some by cultists, others from major religions–and yet we’re still here. As such, based on the historical record, predicting 2012 as the end of the world from Biblical prophesy has no basis in reality.

Another school of thought ascribes the end of the world in 2012 to some sort of cosmic event, either a collision with the supposedly mysterious rogue planet Nibiru, a killer solar flare (or coronal mass ejection), or a disastrous celestial alignment (refuted here). Most are familiar with historical occasions of Halley’s Comet being hailed as a harbinger of doom, starting at least as early as 989 AD and most recently in 1910, but there have been other predictions of the end of the world from celestial objects, including earlier predictions that Nibiru would end the world in May 2003. Similar predictions were made for Comet Hyakutake (1996), Comet Hale-Bopp (1997), and Comet SOHO (1998), with only those members of the Heaven’s Gate cult having their world come to an end…of their own volition. Further back in history, in 1186 AD, the Letter of Toledo claimed that the alignment of “all” 7 planets (all that were known at the time) in Libra on Sept 23rd would result in the “Deluge Conjunction” and in the end of the world (Bar Hebraeus, a Jacobite Syrian bishop, wrote “..all the astronomers predicted that a universal flood and a mighty whirlwind would take place in the world, and all mankind would perish.”) In 1974 a best selling book, The Jupiter Effect, predicted that the alignment of all the major planets on one side of the sun in 1982 would generate a combined gravitational force that would exert tidal forces on the Sun. These tidal forces, in turn, would increase sunspot activity that would cascade the earth with high-speed particles that would cause abrupt changes to the planet’s rotation. Yet in spite of all these predictions of the end of the world by cosmic misadventure, we’re still here. While a globe-altering event from space could happen (ask the dinosaurs), 2012 is no more and no less likely to be the year something like that happens…and the odds for any given year are exceedingly small.

Finally, there are the end-of-the-world predictions tied to what I call “calendar doom”–cataclysm tied to some specific date on a calendar, without necessarily any specifics as to its cause. For 2012 that comes in the form of Dec 21, 2012, and is primarily driven by the end of one of the periods (13 Baktun) in the Mayan Long Count Calendar. The three most comparable failed end-of-world panics associated with “calendar doom” were the end of the millennium in 1000 AD, the year 1666 AD, and Y2K. As with the Mayan Long Count calendar 2012 “predictions”, the panic associated with 1000 AD was largely based on the end of a major “era”–in this case 1000 years after the birth of Christ, with the expectation that the end of the millennium would see Christ’s second coming and with it the end of the world. Needless to say, the world survived the first millenium, giving rise to any number of other predictions based upon calendar numerology. Many saw 1666 as an end-of-the-world year because it represented the millennium plus the number of the beast. The year 2000, in addition to the concerns over the Y2K computer bug, also brought millennial fears (another major “era” ending) which were far more widespread because of modern communications. One site notes 42 failed predictions of the end of the world for the year 2000. In each case the end of some major epoch measured with some arbitrary time tracker (real, or contrived, as with 1666) supposedly presaged the end of the world. And yet–we’re still here.

I’ve touched upon several categories of failed end-of-the-world predictions that parallel those being made for Dec 21, 2012. I hope I’ve shown that these 2012 proclamations of doom are nothing more than rehashes of past failed end-of-the-world soothsaying, gussied up in new outerwear. Why some people get so worked up about these things is another article altogether, although there’s an interesting piece that looks at that question from a psychological perspective, and another that explains how the concept of cognitive dissonance allows believers of failed predictions to refuse to believe the predictions were wrong. In the interests of fairness, though, I’ll make my own prediction for those who are steadfast in needing an apocalyptic time frame. Sometime around 5 billion years from now, as our sun begins to transform into a red giant, life as we know it on earth will end. That’s just too far out for me to worry about, though!

• This week’s SFSN Facebook Poll: The DeLorean is the hottest Sci Fi   Car, take that, McFly.
• Locke and Key, The Board Game.
• Kriana recommends Goodreads.
• What does Dark Shadows really hold for us?
• Peter Dinklage wins an Emmy.
• Cameron talks about Avatar MMO.
• DC’s New 52 gets old very quickly.
• True Blood’s Pam in Once upon A Time.
• Ender’s Game casting notes.
• The Walking Dead Season 2 and webisodes.
• Teasers for Prometheus.
• Sulu & The L Word.

Our guest tonight was the author Resa Nelson, who we met at The Great New England Steampunk Exhibition. We talked about her new Dragonslayer series, in particular , the first book, The Dragonslayer’s Sword and book two in the series, The Iron Maiden, which is set to be released in December. We discussed the depths of her research into sword construction and becoming part of the Academy of the Sword Guild at the Higgins Armory Museum. You can receive a free e-book of her short stories by signing up for her newsletter, and you can buy The Dragonslayer’s Sword via Amazon.

Fiction Friday – The Dragonslayer's Sword

I met Resa Nelson at the Great New England Steampunk Exhibition a few weeks back. Tucked in among the costumed artists and participants were a few writers, some looking apprehensively at the throngs in their various costumes. Sitting at one table was Resa, smiling at people, engaging in casual conversation with ones who stopped. I spoke to her and was immediately captivated by her story, (both  her writing and her back story) so much so, in fact, that she will be on the TalkCast this Saturday.

I am currently reading one of her books, The Dragonslayers Sword, which is categorized as a YA Novel. In point of fact it transcends that pigeonhole most wonderfully.  It is a very complex story with some very real, rich characters and I am thoroughly enjoying it. As a little taste of what she writes,  I want to share with you the short story of the same name that is the basis for the novel. It was originally published in Science Fiction Age magazine.

“The Dragonslayer’s Sword”

By Resa Nelson

 

Heat stood around Astrid like a wall when she worked, built in layers by the fire and the metal tools she used. The bellows wheezed as she pumped them, her arms aching, smoke stinging her eyes, until the charcoals burned bright yellow. The smithery was outside, adjacent to her cottage. Rows of tall, ancient poplars surrounded the cottage and the smithery, giving shade and privacy.

 

Astrid enjoyed the heat of the smithery, loving the way it baked into her skin. When it became too intense, she’d set down the horseshoe or dagger or whatever else she might be tapping into shape, and step back into the cool of the day for relief. One September day, at such a moment, Astrid paused and turned around to find the dragonslayer standing behind her.

 

Astrid gasped, because it was the first time anyone had seen her blacksmithing body. Although fully clothed, she felt as vulnerable as if he had just found her naked.

 

The body nature had given her was small but sturdy. As with any woman, Astrid’s legs were the strongest part of her body, her thighs and rump large but muscular from running long distances between villages when she was a girl, delivering messages or trading light goods. Also as with any woman, Astrid’s chest and arms were soft and rounded. She had not been born to develop the body of a blacksmith.

 

It wasn’t unusual that Astrid changed her body when she worked, enlarging her chest and arms several times until the upper half of her body looked more like a man’s physique than a woman’s. Everyone changed their shape as they needed or wanted to. Only Lenore caused anyone’s eyebrows to raise, because she was indiscreet about the times and places she chose to alter her body: Lenore would toss her head back and laugh as she’d sprout larger breasts and longer legs while crossing the road from one man’s side to another. It was unusual for anyone else to change shape in such a crude manner. And yet Lenore was respected because no man had ever been able to alter her body by staring at it–Lenore had the confidence to maintain whatever shape she chose, no matter how anyone else might want her to appear.

 

Unlike Lenore, Astrid felt sensitive about changing to her blacksmithing body, because it meant finding the male qualities within herself.

The rest of the story can be found here.

This is Dome, sayin’: I hope you will join us on the TalkCast to meet her as we talk about her wonderful universes.

The Dome and "Friend"

I spent the day of 9-3-11 in Exeter, New Hampshire at their 3^rd. Annual UFO Festival along with Illustrator X and The Dead Redhead. Yes, I know, kooks and octogenarians with tin foil hats, right? Well, yes and no. There were copious numbers of the usual suspects:  aged men in suits telling of The Coming of Tan and other such drivel, lecturing on and on with maniacal precision about the 4000 year old issues that have plagued the universe’s multitude of beings.  The heretics in their tattered clothes handing out  mimeo copies of the latest conspiracy involving the alien abductions of whomever for whatever purpose.

Then there were the well-spoken, well-educated, well-intentioned, well-educated participants. Those who were thoughtful, reasoned and dispassionate in their approach were in attendance to lend an air of authenticity and genuine inquiry into the event. Among them were:

Stanton Friedman

Stanton Friedman: Stanton has been a voice of reason in the UFO community, not an apologist. He does not suffer fools on either side of the debate and has no use for those who will not bring their evidence into the light for meaningful clinical verification and review. His background in hard science is a boost to his personal philosophy that validity relies upon finding the truth.

Katheleen Marden: Kathy is a writer and lecturer and the niece of Betty and Barney Hill. As an “insider” to the events after their abduction experience, Kathy was very upset at the “seemingly” deliberate misinformation disseminated by supposed debunkers, experts and major news organizations about the Hill incident. In a one-hour lecture she provided chapter and verse of misinformation alongside actual factual record of the events. It proved to be both enlightening and somewhat amusing to see the lengths some went to distort actual testimony and affidavits.

There were the skeptics there as well. I am always amused by them, especially considering that many of them are my good friends, and I have come to believe that I am by and large tolerated by the Skeptic Community for having an open mind and respecting their point of view. I wish there was more of this, but more often than not there is an ever-growing intolerance between the Skeptic community and the UFO community. I had a wonderful conversation with Stanton at the conference and I postulated that regardless of the side they were on, once a “believer” believed, their faith became unshakable and steadfast. Any information/facts/evidence to the contrary of their belief was summarily tossed out. I am beginning to understand that this is common on both sides of the equation. The level of both deliberate and sloppily unintentional misinformation on both sides of this discussion is making any REAL skeptical inquiry next to impossible.

Consider the concepts of two writers. Fritz Leiber told us that when times are good, science tells the truth and magicians tell people what they wish were true. In bad times people sell their souls for magic. Robert Heinlein told us in his novella WALDO, that magic and science are two sides of the same coin, with the unifying factor being Man.

This is Done, sayin’: If there is ever to be any real meaningful discourse on UFO’s it will come from those willing, not to believe, but to listen.

So let’s put our hands together for this amazing group of folks and the unique way in which they serve up our favorite fandoms, both old and new, every Saturday night.  They’ve had immortals like Ben Bova, Harlan Ellison, L. Neil Smith, and Spider Robinson drop by, and they’ve been gracious enough to also allow not-as-well-known illustrators like yours truly to share some studio time.

SO fire up your time machine of choice –hot tub, DeLorean, police box, or just stand naked in the middle of a ball of electricity –we aren’t fussy.  Let’s step back to the ancient days of February 2006, when Netflix was just getting rolling with that whole “streaming” thing, our iPods were mostly first-generation Shuffles, the Galactica hadn’t yet found Earth, we were still getting used to David Tennant, and we all still adored Shia LeBouf.

Enter Dru Silla, Zombrarian, the Dead Redhead, AwakebyJava, the mysterious Illustrator X, Kriana, and especially The Dome, to share with us a few insights on paving the way for this remarkable journey.

• Zombrarian talks about Doug Jones.
• The Dead Redhead talks about Ben Bova.
• Awake By Java talks about Chris Golden.
• Illustrator X and the Harlan Ellison Experience.
• Kriana with Browncoats at the Hellmouth.
• Dome talks about David Mack and very special segment with Spider Robinson

And so much more!

As well you may ask, “Who was Michael Hart and of what importance was he to Fiction Friday?” Mike was the inventor of e-books, founder of Project Gutenberg and a self-professed “Copyfighter”. I have extolled Project Gutenberg many times. It has far reaching implications for electronic publishing and is an invaluable repository of what would otherwise be lost informational history. It’s mission statement is:

“Encourage the Creation and Distribution of eBooks”

“Help Break Down the Bars of Ignorance and Illiteracy”

“Give As Many eBooks to As Many People As Possible”

His pioneering work benefits everyone now and for coming generations. While much information available electronically is factually suspect or transitory, Mike’s accomplishment is a living breathing entity that grows exponentially with each day. It is a testament to any writer who ever put pen to paper and each new generation, and it garners inspiration from their collective past. I can think of few things on the web of more cultural significance and importance than Project Gutenberg.

There is a wonderfully poignant article about Mr. Hart written by Cory Doctorow on his amazing website, boingboing, which is a must read (both the post and the website). I would be foolish to think I could do any better than he did. Thank you, Cory, thank you Michael.

Monday

FOX – Terra Nova 8:00pm NEW

Spielberg takes us 85 million years into the past to erase the sins of the future. FOX is banking on this Future/Past series that infuses itself with many of the basic tropes of a successful Sci Fi Series:  Dystopian Future, Overpopulation and Time Travel. The beauty of its success hangs on the writing. Over and over we stress that writing is the difference between trope and tripe and this show has all the earmarks of having a great shot.

Why You Should Watch – The producers name says it all, Steve has made his bones and on the basis of that alone

ABC – Castle 10pm

Richard Castle

Mal Reynolds – Detective. While not genre, who cares? It is Not To Miss Nathan Fillion. A great concept, a stellar cast, clean crisp writing and classic villain of the week writing makes this one of the high-water marks in network TV. If you are a discerning watcher, there are frequently barbed side comments  at past roles. This show has subtext and I like it.

Why You Should Watch – Its consistently smart, well acted and it’s Capt. Tight Pants. It’s got laughs and it’s just good entertainment, something quite rare on the networks.

Tuesday

CW Ringer 9:00pm NEW

Sarah Michelle Gellar (SMG) returns to TV without Scooby Doo, playing twins in a non-Parent Trap show about an ex-stripper and her “not dead yet” twin. A cool cast includes SMG, Ioan Gruffudd, Kristoffer Polaha and Tara Summers. It has a complex plot with SMG working to create disparate twins, and there are some very interesting twists and turns in the pilot. If the pilot is any indication of what the season has in store, I’m watching it. You should give it a try.

Why You Should Watch – SMG. Simply put, she is a wonderful actress who has been under used for years. JINKIES!

Wednesday

Catch up on your Favorite blog, Sci Fi Saturday Night!

Thursday

Aarti Mann

CBS The Big Bang Theory 8:00pm

Season 5 opens with an awkward explanation of Raj and Penny sleeping together, and the fun continues with our favorite super brained nerds. While we are all confident and comfortable with the basic premise, I find the show interesting because I know these people, I worked with these people. They are just like Sheldon Cooper. I know Howard’s mother, lets face it, we all do. Nerds with brains are the new cool, and this show is very cool.

Why You Should Watch – Jim Parsons gets less and less funny but Aarti Mann is smokin’. Nice trade off. Nerds rule.

CW The Vampire Diaries 8:00pm

Season Three. Never watched it. Evidently, they don’t sparkle. Good for them.

CBS The Mentalist 10:00pm

Wait for Psych to come back on. At least when they’re funny, it’s intentional.

Why Psych is better than The Mentalist:

• Psych is better written.
• Psych doesn’t take itself seriously.
• Psych has a better cast.
• Shawn and Gus have a great chemistry.
• Simon Baker can’t skateboard.

CW The Secret Circle 9:00 NEW

Think, Sabrina The Teenage Witch without a laugh track. Natasha Henstridge is on this show and that means I will watch. CW tries for relevance with a number of new shows and this one may hit the mark. Cassie Blake is the “normal” teenager, whatever the hell that is. Mom dies and the orphan is shipped off to live with Grams in Washington state. Yes, we have been here before, yes its derivative, yes its angsty teens. All that aside, it’s Thomas Dekker, Britt Robertson and the aforementioned Natasha Henstridge.

Why You Should Watch – It’s new and it doesn’t have a laugh track. I think it’s most definitely worth a try.

Friday NERD NIGHT!

CBS A Gifted Man 8:00pm NEW

A self-involved surgeon sees his dead wife. Think Ghost without Swayze and Moore and with lots of medical jargon. We have seen this before and watched it fizzle. Perhaps this time thay have the mix down correctly and it will be worth watching. I know I am not the most knowledgeable person but I simply don’t recognize anyone in the cast. The pilot was directed by series Executive Producer Jonathan Demme, which says something. I just wish I knew what.

Why You Should Watch – No clue.

 NBC Chuck 8:00pm

Yes, it’s the last season, and it’s my guilty pleasure. I wish I could say it’s because of the eye candy but the

Chuck

truth is I just enjoy it. The melding of man and computer is a well-worn trope and they have used it well in this series. The fish out of water medallion has been passed around the cast so well that almost everyone has worn it atone time or another. It may not be as well written as some would like but thats too bad. Smallville was on for far too long. This is Chuck’s last season. Sci Fi Spy Fi Fun.

Why You Should Watch – Adam Baldwin is just too damn good.

CW Nikita 8:00pm

Here is your eye candy show of the season. Returning for Season Two, Maggie Q makes this a great hour to watch. It’s not deep and there is nothing wrong with that. The premise has been worked over 3 movies and this second TV series. Maggie is what makes it work this time around. Without her , there is simply no real reason to watch.

Why You Should Watch – Because it’s fun.

NBC Grimm 9:00pm NEW

Who are the Grimms? What secret does this clan of hunters have? Do mythical villains masquerade in our modern world? Is this concept too high or is this going to become casualty of its timeslot. I hope not.

Why You Should Watch – Writer/Producer David Greenwalt (BTVS).

Fringe 9:00pm

So, is Peter alive or gone? How will Water and Walternate co-exist in a single unified universe? I care. This is one of the most finely-tuned, well-scripted genre shows on television. The actors are simply amazing, most doing double duty as slightly different characters in parallel universes. Now that the realities have melded, what can they do? What ever it is, I am there.

Why You Should Watch – Seriously?

CW Supernatural 9:00pm

Somebody told me this is a good show. Its competition is going to make sure I never see it, and I am told that is a shame. I guess I will never know.

Saturday

I am told there are many fine Microbreweries  that need your patronage. And if there aren’t, there’s always a new Sci Fi Saturday Night podcast.

 Sunday

ABC Once Upon A Time 8:00pm NEW

Cashing in on all the wonderful Fairy Tale movies of the past year…. oh crap.

This is Dome, sayin’: Watch and learn, watch and learn.

SFSN Cast by Illustrator X

• Nike Air Mags!
• Doc Brown pimps an Argentinean Electronics chain.
• MTV eyes Locke and Key.
• ABC grabs the pitch for The Last Resort.
• Joel Courtney (Super 8 ) in the new supernatural thriller The Healer.

Our first guest segment is with Steve Perry and Crystal Washington of The Southcoast Paranormal & Psychic Faire, Sept. 25^th, in Fairhaven Ma. The discuss some of the guests and events taking place over the faire and surprise guest Frankie B. Washington pops in for a bit.

Our second segment features Dr. Grymm and Emperor of the Red Fork Empire, two performers at the upcoming Great New England Steampunk Exhibition, Sept. 16^th to 18^th, in Fitchburg, Ma. Join the cast of SFSN next weekend for a steam powered good time!

First off, I saw none of the viral marketing for Apollo 18, so I went into the movie without any exposure other than the trailer. Since I don’t follow any movie sites, I missed any mention of the viral aspect of the film after the launch of the campaign. After doing some research, I’m not sure if what was available would have kept my interest. I remember in 2007, the Cloverfield viral marketing kept me interested in the film, and while I thought the film was okay, the viral campaign added to the experience as a whole.

As for Apollo 18, well, I can honestly say that I thought it was average, at best. It’s kind of hard to ignore the scientific inaccuracies of a found footage film set in space. The film is set in 1974, and has some discussion on the space race with Soviet Russia, I feel the significance of this time period lost on a generation where the space program is more of an international effort. Perhaps this is the Achilles heel of the found footage formula. The film does not have a real chance to build the type of tension necessary to make the space race relevant. Perhaps those points where made in the viral marketing? As of this writing, I’m unable to get onto any of the viral websites, including www.lunartruth.com.

One strength of the movie is the effort to create the semblance of the film and low-fi video that would come from 1974. The camera angles and frames take that amateur effort approach, and it’s played off beautifully. One complaint I read online was the fact that there were so many shaky cam scenes, which made the movie less desirable. I’ve heard the same complaints from everything the Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, and those films were moderate found footage successes.

Overall, Apollo 18 does not bring any big-screen magic. It’s nothing original, but it is entertaining.

SyFy Original Move Jabberwock

Our Guests Tonight:

Michael Dougherty and Andrew Marnik talk about the wrap of Browncoats: Redemption and tease their upcoming  projects.

Michael Worth star of the SyFy Original Move Jabberwock (and the first vampire killed by Faith on BtVS) talks about the movie and other projects he is currently working on.

Fritz Leiber portrait by Ed Emshwiller

Chess Expert, Fencer, Playwright, Actor and perhaps one of the preeminent Horror/Fantasy Writers in America; that was Fritz Leiber. We spent an hour talking with one of his greatest fans, Harlan Ellison about his works, in which Ellison spoke in nothing but incandescently glowing terms, and rightfully so. Oft forgotten by sparkly vampire lovers, Fritz challenged his readers constantly but never left them wondering where they had gone. Leiber was a fascinating stylist, bringing the setting of his works to places one would hardly imagine.

No Great Magic is set in world of theatre, a world Leiber was very familiar with, having been born into an acting family. It melds theatre and magic as only he can. To quote from the 1951 short story “Poor Superman,”

“Consider the age in which we live. It wants magicians…. A scientist tells people the truth. When times are good—that is, when the truth offers no threat—people don’t mind.… A magician, on the other hand, tells people what they wish were true—that perpetual motion works, that cancer can be cured by colored lights, that a psychosis is no worse than a head cold, that they’ll live forever. In good times magicians are laughed at. They’re a luxury of the spoiled wealthy few. But in bad times people sell their souls for magic cures and buy perpetual-motion machines to power their war rockets.”

SFSN is proud to present No Great Magic:

I dipped through the filmy curtain into the boys’ half of the dressing room and there was Sid sitting at the star’s dressing table in his threadbare yellowed undershirt, the lucky one, not making up yet but staring sternly at himself in the bulb-framed mirror and experimentally working his features a little, as actors will, and kneading the stubble on his fat chin.

I said to him quietly, “Siddy, what are we putting on tonight? Maxwell Anderson’s Elizabeth the Queen or Shakespeare’s Macbeth? It says Macbeth on the callboard, but Miss Nefer’s getting ready for Elizabeth. She just had me go and fetch the red wig.”

He tried out a few eyebrow rears—right, left, both together—then turned to me, sucking in his big gut a little, as he always does when a gal heaves into hailing distance, and said, “Your pardon, sweetling, what sayest thou?”

Sid always uses that kook antique patter backstage, until I sometimes wonder whether I’m in Central Park, New York City, nineteen hundred and three quarters, or somewhere in Southwark, Merry England, fifteen hundred and same. The truth is that although he loves every last fat part in Shakespeare and will play the skinniest one with loyal and inspired affection, he thinks Willy S. penned Falstaff with nobody else in mind but Sidney J. Lessingham. (And no accent on the ham, please.)

I closed my eyes and counted to eight, then repeated my question.

He replied, “Why, the Bard’s tragical history of the bloody Scot, certes.” He waved his hand toward the portrait of Shakespeare that always sits beside his mirror on top of his reserve makeup box. At first that particular picture of the Bard looked too nancy to me—a sort of peeping-tom schoolteacher—but I’ve grown used to it over the months and even palsy-feeling.

He didn’t ask me why I hadn’t asked Miss Nefer my question. Everybody in the company knows she spends the hour before curtain-time getting into character, never parting her lips except for that purpose—or to bite your head off if you try to make the most necessary conversation.

The complete text can be found here.

The main character, sixteen-year-old Lucy, has lived through the end of the world and is surviving on her own in the wild.  She’s doing a pretty good job of it until she runs into a pack of hunting dogs.  Luckily, super-cutie Aiden is there to haul her up into a tree and save her. He lives not too far away with a group of survivors. When Lucy is forced to leave her little home, she heads for the camp and more importantly, toward Aiden, who she is already crushing on after one meeting. After that, the sweepers show up and the adventure begins.

It all sounds pretty exciting, right? Problem is, it never really actually is exciting.  Lucy and Aiden like each other, but the author doesn’t really give much reason for it. I’m sure someone probably thought adding a love story to the book would give it more appeal, but I felt like Lucy was much more interesting before she starts to think about Aiden all the time. I liked her as a loner. When you read about what she is doing to survive, it really makes you wonder what you could do in the same situation. Once she joins up with the other survivors, it almost feels like she is useless, even though she’s been living on her own for a year.

On his own, Aiden is an interesting character, a teen doing everything he can to help the group survive. While Lucy has learned to keep herself alive, he as learned to do what is best for the group and this is where they butt heads, until all of a sudden one or the other of them do something completely out of character without warning. This happened to both of them at least once, and left me scratching my head wondering why they had fought about it for so long.

Hearing the back story was probably the best part of the book, as Lucy explains how the world fell apart, what it meant for her family and what it meant for her. The ending was also good, some nice excitement as Lucy and the others try to escape from the sweepers. So it’s a book with a strong beginning and ending, but a center that drags.

City Of Sand by Josh Emmons

• This Week’s Poll Results: What comic book character should get the next big budget Hollywood treatment?
• Movie Round Up:
  Ghostbusters 3 is a go.
• Wreckit Ralph
• Fright Night
• Cosplay for A Cause
• Locke and Key will NOT been seen on TV.
• Exit Strategy
• New Star Trek for TV?
• 18 Things You May Not Have Known About Firefly.

Our guest tonight is Joshua Emmons. His web comic is City Of Sand.  He is also involved in Double Feature, a free to download iPad app, which he helped create.

Fiction Friday – The Street That Wasn’t There

Who the hell is Carl Richard Jacobi? In short, he was one of a host prolific of the pulp horror writers from the 30’s and 40’s and yet most of his work has largely been forgotten or pushed aside for the sparkly vampire nonsense that permeates current fiction. He wrote literally hundreds of short stories and novellas in many different pulp magazines and anthologies. In the mid-40’s he had a short story collection published with moderate success.

I present to you on this Fiction Friday one of his more intriguing tales, the story of a day in the life of Mr. Jonathon Chambers: “Man himself, by the power of mass suggestion, holds the

Carl Richard Jacobi 1908-1997

physical fate of this earth … yes, even the universe. Billions of minds seeing trees as trees, houses as houses, streets as streets … and not as something else. Minds that see things as they are and have kept things as they were…. Destroy those minds and the entire foundation of matter, robbed of its regenerative power, will crumple and slip away like a column of sand….”

This is the story of The Street That Wasn’t There;

Mr. Jonathon Chambers left his house on Maple Street at exactly seven o’clock in the evening and set out on the daily walk he had taken, at the same time, come rain or snow, for twenty solid years.

 The walk never varied. He paced two blocks down Maple Street, stopped at the Red Star confectionery to buy a Rose Trofero perfecto, then walked to the end of the fourth block on Maple. There he turned right on Lexington, followed Lexington to Oak, down Oak and so by way of Lincoln back to Maple again and to his home.

 He didn’t walk fast. He took his time. He always returned to his front door at exactly 7:45. No one ever stopped to talk with him. Even the man at the Red Star confectionery, where he bought his cigar, remained silent while the purchase was being made. Mr. Chambers merely tapped on the glass top of the counter with a coin, the man reached in and brought forth the box, and Mr. Chambers took his cigar. That was all.

 For people long ago had gathered that Mr. Chambers desired to be left alone. The newer generation of townsfolk called it eccentricity. Certain uncouth persons had a different word for it. The oldsters remembered that this queer looking individual with his black silk muffler, rosewood cane and bowler hat once had been a professor at State University.

 A professor of metaphysics, they seemed to recall, or some such outlandish subject. At any rate a furore of some sort was connected with his name … at the time an academic scandal. He had written a book, and he had taught the subject matter of that volume to his classes. What that subject matter was, had long been forgotten, but whatever it was had been considered sufficiently revolutionary to cost Mr. Chambers his post at the university.

The rest of the text can be found here.

Foundation’s Triumph

Foundation’s Fear, the first of this trilogy, fills in the details (and intrigue) behind Hari Seldon’s appointment to the position of First Minister. It takes place roughly between the first and second sections of Forward the Foundation. The sections that deal with Seldon read very much like something the Good Doctor would have written, although Benford’s version is much more a pacifist than Asimov’s “Twister” Seldon. The persona of Hari Seldon (and other key continuing characters) is greatly enhanced in this book; characterization was never one of Asimov’s strengths. And Benford attempts to provide answers to one of those questions raised in the original series: upon what exactly did Seldon base his insights into psychohistory? Benford also sets the stage for future concepts in the series (e.g., the planet Gaia) and provides the backdrop for the two books in the Second Foundation Trilogy to follow. There are also elements that don’t fit into the universe that Asimov created–different technologies (wormhole transportation versus hyperjumps), intelligent alien races, and all manner of new technologies. Overall it’s not a book that would be mistaken as one of Asimov’s, but in the end it stays true enough to the basic outline that it’s easily seen as an extension of the Good Doctor’s work.

The second of the Second Foundation Trilogy books is Foundation and Chaos, which takes place at the same time as the first section of Foundation. Greg Bear takes the first essential element in Asimov’s original Foundation, Hari Seldon’s trial for treason, and provides an engaging look at the events that lead up to it. The book expands the background and the intrigues that precede the trial, and provides a far more detailed explanation for why the trial ended as it did. Bear’s book also provides a robust follow-on to a key element in Forward the Foundation, providing background on the development and growth of the Second Foundation with roughly the same level of detail Asimov used to describe the development and growth of the First Foundation in Foundation. In the original Foundation Trilogy the Second Foundation just “is”; Bear provides the backdrop for its later appearance. His book also continues the incorporation of Asimov’s Robot series into the Foundation story, introducing a secondary story-line involving R. Daneel Olivaw’s efforts behind the scenes and a robot conflict between the Calvinists (those robots who believe in only the original Three Laws of Robotics) and the Giskardians (those who, like Daneel, believe in the Zeroth Law). With its focus on primary themes and characters from Asimov’s original Foundation and Robot series, this book feels more like it belongs in the Asimov universe than Benford’s Foundation’s Fear. It succeeds nicely in beginning to reconcile the pieces of Asimov’s original works that hadn’t been previously addressed. The only slightly jarring aspect of this book is Bear’s far more complex word usage and writing style, which certainly differentiates it from Asimov’s writing.

The final book in the Second Foundation Trilogy is Foundation’s Triumph, which takes place at the tail end of Seldon’s life, after the seeds of the two Foundations have been planted (roughly between Parts 1 and 2 of Foundation). In it David Brin deliberately picks up what Bear started in the previous novel–reconciling the inconsistencies and unanswered questions that came about as a result of combining two monumental series. Hari Seldon goes off in search of an answer to the one remaining major question he encountered during his development of psychohistory–the causes of periodic outbreaks of chaos, where worlds experience a tremendous outburst of creativity and then inevitably violently collapse. In the course of Seldon’s journeys (and at the same time as Dors Venabli, Daneel and Seldon’s granddaughter Wanda are off dealing with other issues), Brin manages to tie up the loose ends and provide reasonable explanations for apparent inconsistencies (for example, why has Man not encountered aliens in the course of inhabiting the known galaxy? Why has there been relatively little technological progress in all the millennia the Empire has existed?). He also nicely incorporates references to other Asimov novels (e.g., Pebble in the Sky and The Stars, Like Dust), not normally considered part of either the Foundation or Robot series, into his narrative. And of the three books in the Second Foundation Trilogy this one feels the most like something the Good Doctor might have written himself.

I wanted to bring attention to these three books for those who enjoy Isaac Asimov’s work but might not have heard about this extension of his literary universe. As I’ve noted there’s variability in how strictly these novels adhere to Asimov’s writing, from both a conceptual and stylistic standpoint. Some of the new concepts these writers introduce feel out of place in an Asimovian universe, and that might be a turn-off to true fans of Asimov’s work. Overall, though, I think the Second Foundation Trilogy does a good job of creating missing detail and more effectively tying the Foundation and Robot series together. And the books are all fun reads on their own.

Inception The TV Series Starring Dane Cook and Jennifer Aniston (Graphic by Photoshop)

How does one explain the current state of programming among the television networks? Is it an issue with current quality of programming? Yes. Is it an issue with pandering to a sub-genre they know little about? Yes. Is it money hunger and pandering to the lowest common denominator? Of course, but I am coming to the conclusion that there is more to this ill conceived plan than meets the eye.

EXAMPLE 1 – THE WALKING DEAD. AMC takes it’s one of its highest rated shows, The Walking Dead, showcases it at ComiCon, Parades the cast and show-runner from panel to panel for the three day event, then summarily fires the show-runner and slashed the budget in half. Frank Darabont was truly a dead man walking and never knew it. Cast and crew were stunned and were given the cryptic explanation “This isn’t working”. Seems to me it was working just fine, great show, interesting cast, explosive concept, and deviously crafted. Yeah, it wasn’t working, was it?

EXAMPLE 2 – EUREKA. SyFy Network, perhaps most noted for a few great series and a plethora of horrible made for TV movies, takes one of its highest rated shows and shortly after announcing that it is extended for another season, abruptly cancels it, not allowing the writers to bring it to a conclusion. In an interesting corollary, their propaganda magazine, appropriately named SyFy, has a feature article in this months issue about how wonderfully the now terminal show is doing. The explanation given was, it was too expensive. “We just couldn’t make the numbers work”. To be nice, SyFy has ordered one last episode to be shot beyond the current contract to allow for some closure.

EXAMPLE 3 – WONDER WOMAN. This was a mess from the very inception (hey wait…INCEPTION the television series, you dream and you get to…oh never mind). So here is what we get; Wonder Woman in spandex tights, Adrianne Palicki pouting, no hint of where she comes from or why is she here and who the hell knows what to do with a female Super Hero anyway? (….um…Marvel) Its premiere at ComiCon led to it’s demise , although the network quashed it after seeing the final cut and rightfully so. The question is why was it made so poorly, what were they thinking?

“What the hell were they thinking?” is a question worth asking as we grind inexorably toward the new season of strained lamb baby food /television. Well, if we are to believe LiveScience.com, Addiction is now defined as a Brain Disorder, not a Behavior Problem. Network programmers are addicted to ratings. These ratings are elusive and hard to command and when they don’t get them programmers act as any addict would:  destroying both good and bad to get their fix. How could we possibly expect them to behave rationally, or for that matter make intelligent decisions?

This is Dome, sayin’: I am pitching Inception the TV Series, starring Dane Cook and Jennifer Aniston. Any takers?

Old TV is new TV.

Our guests tonight are Susan & Everett Soares, to talk about the Sky Pirates of Valendor comics, and Joy and Alexander Tambascia of MECHA Software, LLC. announce their new Sky Pirates Facebook video game. They will be at the Great New England Steampunk Exhibition on Sept 16-18th in Fitchburg Mass. and we’ll be there too!

 His writing style in these short stories varied significantly from his novels. Many stories were a drawn out thought, never fully realized; an essence or tone poem. “The Skull” is one such example. In this short story, a man is given his chance at redemption, however the cost of this is the Devil’s dilemma.  Join him on his journey into darkness:

What is this opportunity?” Conger asked. “Go on. I’m interested.”

The room was silent; all faces were fixed on Conger—still in the drab prison uniform. The Speaker leaned forward slowly.

“Before you went to prison your trading business was paying well—all illegal—all very profitable. Now you have nothing, except the prospect of another six years in a cell.”

Conger scowled.

“There is a certain situation, very important to this Council, that requires your peculiar abilities. Also, it is a situation you might find interesting. You were a hunter, were you not? You’ve done a great deal of trapping, hiding in the bushes, waiting at night for the game? I imagine hunting must be a source of satisfaction to you, the chase, the stalking—”

Conger sighed. His lips twisted. “All right,” he said. “Leave that out. Get to the point. Who do you want me to kill?”

The Speaker smiled. “All in proper sequence,” he said softly.

The rest of this story can be found here.

This is by far one of the silliest movies ever made, and yet, I love it. This 1988 clunker was directed by Julien Temple and co written by Julie Brown, which in Hollywood means you get a co-staring role whether or not you should, and quite frankly that caveat should be put on almost every member of the cast. Lets make this clear; this is not a great film. It is what it is and that is a hysterically funny film, sometimes intentionally and sometimes purely by accident.

Three primary-color furred aliens crash land in a swimming pool. They emerge and meet three Valley Girls , one of whom works at the now notorious Curl Up and Dye Beauty Parlor (where else has this workplace been in movies?) , where (when fully body shaven) the aliens become passably handsome males and become instant party hits in a rather brain damaged rendition of 80′s California.

This film is funny. No one less than Roger Ebert thought so, although I wonder for his sanity based on that. Upon re-watching this film, I can honestly say this, It’s hard to say you like it, but I still do. It may not be laugh out loud but it does make you smile. It’s kind of like a Lucas/Spielberg film if they wrote it while incredibly sleep deprived. It has heart, it had grins, it has aliens and it had Robbie the Robot.

This is Dome, sayin’: It’s a stupid wonderful film. Enjoy it, that’s why they made it.

Anthony Del Col from Kill Shakespeare

• Our readers rock, thanks for participating in our Facebook Polls!
• The Troy Library is saved.
• Kurt Vonnegut’s book banned by a Business Professor. Slick Move.
• Jerk move – Eureka killed by SyFy
• Second Jerk Move – AMC cuts Walking Dead’s budget.
• Third Jerk Move - Raped Version of Metropolis goes to Blu-Ray.
• Rebeka Issacs will be at Double Midnight Comics in NH, for the new Angel and Faith Comic.
• David Fincher says 20,000 Leagues will be 70% CGI.
• Duncan Jones wants to do more Sci Fi.

In our second half, our guest is Anthony Del Col, Co-Creator of Kill Shakespeare. We met him at Boston Comic Con. He talks about the process of writing this series and the 9 year evolution of this project.

In the third half of our show, we discuss the NPR list of “Top 100 Science Fiction, Fantasy  Books“.

Fiction Friday

With the upcoming John Carter of Mars movie, I have been hearkening back to my formative days of voraciously devouring sci fi when I was a whelp. I recall going to a used bookstore in Manhattan with my father and uncle and having them both tell me all about Barsoom, Pellucidar, The Land That Time Forgot and The Lost Continent.

It wasn’t till I was much older that I understood the position Edgar Rice Burroughs  held in the company of authors; and the multitude of books, series and articles he wrote in his lifetime. Even the incredibly accurate Wikipedia lists ERB under 6 different writing categories. Prolific doesn’t begin to describe his work. The city of Tarzana in California is named after…umm..guess who? He built and maintained a ranch there, which eventually became the city. He is also one of the very few to have a crater on Mars named after him.

For your enjoyment, and in honor of ERB, and complements of Project Gutenberg, Here is the beginning of Thuvia, Maid of Mars.

CHAPTER I

CARTHORIS AND THUVIA

 Upon a massive bench of polished ersite beneath the gorgeous blooms of a giant pimalia a woman sat. Her shapely, sandalled foot tapped impatiently upon the jewel-strewn walk that wound beneath the stately sorapus trees across the scarlet sward of the royal gardens of Thuvan Dihn, Jeddak of Ptarth, as a dark-haired, red-skinned warrior bent low toward her, whispering heated words close to her ear.

 ”Ah, Thuvia of Ptarth,” he cried, “you are cold even before the fiery blasts of my consuming love! No harder than your heart, nor colder is the hard, cold ersite of this thrice happy bench which supports your divine and fadeless form! Tell me, O Thuvia of Ptarth, that I may still hope—that though you do not love me now, yet some day, some day, my princess, I—”

 The girl sprang to her feet with an exclamation of surprise and displeasure. Her queenly head was poised haughtily upon her smooth red shoulders. Her dark eyes looked angrily into those of the man.

 ”You forget yourself, and the customs of Barsoom, Astok,” she said. “I have given you no right thus to address the daughter of Thuvan Dihn, nor have you won such a right.”

 The man reached suddenly forth and grasped her by the arm.

 ”You shall be my princess!” he cried. “By the breast of Issus, thou shalt, nor shall any other come between Astok, Prince of Dusar, and his heart’s desire. Tell me that there is another, and I shall cut out his foul heart and fling it to the wild calots of the dead sea-bottoms!”

 At touch of the man’s hand upon her flesh the girl went pallid beneath her coppery skin, for the persons of the royal women of the courts of Mars are held but little less than sacred. The act of Astok, Prince of Dusar, was profanation. There was no terror in the eyes of Thuvia of Ptarth—only horror for the thing the man had done and for its possible consequences.

 ”Release me.” Her voice was level—frigid.

 The man muttered incoherently and drew her roughly toward him.

 ”Release me!” she repeated sharply, “or I call the guard, and the Prince of Dusar knows what that will mean.”

 Quickly he threw his right arm about her shoulders and strove to draw her face to his lips. With a little cry she struck him full in the mouth with the massive bracelets that circled her free arm.

 ”Calot!” she exclaimed, and then: “The guard! The guard! Hasten in protection of the Princess of Ptarth!”

The rest of this book can be found here.

This is Dome sayin’: It’s a book, you know that thing made outta paper. You read it.

Walter Tevis

If you know about Walter Tevis, it may be from The Man Who Fell to Earth. To be honest, I wouldn’t have even have known that if I hadn’t seen the movie, which is brilliantly flawed. This movie was my introduction to Tevis and the dazzling mind that produced some wonderful science fiction. A man who wrote in multiple genres, it wasn’t till much later that I realized that he also wrote The Hustler and The Color Of Money.

In his science fiction Tevis wrote about many subjects, the fall of cities, alien invasion, technology run amok but what I would like to give to you today is a short story called “The Big Bounce”. In this story, a professor, thru serendipitous research discovers a substance with amazing properties. The story sheds light on the art of scientific inquiry and how one handles unintended consequences.

 Let me show you something,” Farnsworth said. He set his near-empty drink–a Bacardi martini–on the mantel and waddled out of the room toward the basement.  I sat in my big leather chair, feeling very peaceful with the world, watching the fire. Whatever Farnsworth would have to show to-night would be far more entertaining than watching T.V.–my custom on other evenings. Farnsworth, with his four labs in the house and his very tricky mind, never failed to provide my best night of the week.  When he returned, after a moment, he had with him a small box, about three inches square. He held this carefully in one hand and stood by the fireplace dramatically–or as dramatically as a very small, very fat man with pink cheeks can stand by a fireplace of the sort that seems to demand a big man with tweeds, pipe and, perhaps, a saber wound.  Anyway, he held the box dramatically and he said, “Last week, I was playing around in the chem lab, trying to make a new kind of rubber eraser. Did quite well with the other drafting equipment, you know, especially the dimensional curve and the photosensitive ink. Well, I approached the job by trying for a material that would absorb graphite without abrading paper.”  I was a little disappointed with this; it sounded pretty tame. But I said, “How did it come out?

The  full story is available via Project Gutenberg here.

The purpose of the book is to show support for female creators in comics and media. There will be multiple short stories, “how to”s & interviews with professionals, and features showcasing iconic female comic creators that have passed, such as Nell Brinkley and Tarpe Mills. A Kids & Teens section will also be included, showcasing their work, and offering tips & tricks to help them prepare themselves for their future careers in comics. Overall, this is pretty much a huge book showcasing what women in comics have accomplished, and what we are capable of We are also hoping that by doing this book, it will encourage a new generation of women to pick up the pencil and create!

Part of what’s special about Womanthology is its equal opportunity aspects. Big- name professionals like Gail Simone are paired up with new and upcoming talent to promote opportunity and chances for those newcomers to learn, and give them a stage to show what they can do. For instance, Gail will be paired up with extraordinary new artist Jean Kang! Or for, another example, legendary artist Camilla d’Errico will be paired up with up and coming writer Raven Moore! Check out the Womanthology site for more exciting team ups!

This project is huge in scope and the rewards for Kickstarter backers are pee-your-pants exciting. We’re going to have some representatives from the project on the podcast some yet-to-be-determined time in the future, but the Kickstarter project ends on August 7, so we wanted to give you a chance to get your pledge in before it’s too late!

Super Knocked Up

• True Blood gets a season 5.
• Star Trek 2 bumped for GI Joe
• Our Facebook Poll votes for Darth as Best Villian.
• Lucas loses more money.
• Flight of The Navigator turns 25 with no reboot. Yay.

Our guests tonight are Jeff Burns, Writer and Director and Mark Pezzula, Star of Super Knocked Up: a new  action/comedy Web Series about a Super-Villain who gets “knocked up” by a Super Hero.

Fiction Friday

What can you say about Edgar Allan Poe? You might say he is the Grandmaster of Horror. You could posit that he is responsible for more nightmares than any other author. You may state that he is a tragic figure in literary history with a legacy of morbid curiosity that has never been seen since. You will get arguments with each of these statements, however they are all quite true. There are few authors whose name evokes a perfect understanding of their body of work. It is as if a Poe story or novel is imbued with the morbid curiosity of the darkness within us all.

Such it is with The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. This week’s Fiction Friday comes from the repository at Project Gutenberg.  Following the break is an excerpt from the short story “The Gold Bug”:

MANY years ago, I contracted an intimacy with a Mr. William Legrand. He was of an ancient Huguenot family, and had once been wealthy; but a series of misfortunes had reduced him to want. To avoid the mortification consequent upon his disasters, he left New Orleans, the city of his forefathers, and took up his residence at Sullivan’s Island, near Charleston, South Carolina. This Island is a very singular one. It consists of little else than the sea sand, and is about three miles long. Its breadth at no point exceeds a quarter of a mile. It is separated from the main land by a scarcely perceptible creek, oozing its way through a wilderness of reeds and slime, a favorite resort of the marsh hen. The vegetation, as might be supposed, is scant, or at least dwarfish. No trees of any magnitude are to be seen. Near the western extremity, where Fort Moultrie stands, and where are some miserable frame buildings, tenanted, during summer, by the fugitives from Charleston dust and fever, may be found, indeed, the bristly palmetto; but the whole island, with the exception of this western point, and a line of hard, white beach on the seacoast, is covered with a dense undergrowth of the sweet myrtle, so much prized by the horticulturists of England. The shrub here often attains the height of fifteen or twenty feet, and forms an almost impenetrable coppice, burthening the air with its fragrance.

In the inmost recesses of this coppice, not far from the eastern or more remote end of the island, Legrand had built himself a small hut, which he occupied when I first, by mere accident, made his acquaintance. This soon ripened into friendship–for there was much in the recluse to excite interest and esteem. I found him well educated, with unusual powers of mind, but infected with misanthropy, and subject to perverse moods of alternate enthusiasm and melancholy. He had with him many books, but rarely employed them. His chief amusements were gunning and fishing, or sauntering along the beach and through the myrtles, in quest of shells or entomological specimens;–his collection of the latter might have been envied by a Swammerdamm. In these excursions he was usually accompanied by an old negro, called Jupiter, who had been manumitted before the reverses of the family, but who could be induced, neither by threats nor by promises, to abandon what he considered his right of attendance upon the footsteps of his young “Massa Will.” It is not improbable that the relatives of Legrand, conceiving him to be somewhat unsettled in intellect, had contrived to instil this obstinacy into Jupiter, with a view to the supervision and guardianship of the wanderer.

You can find the entire text here in multi-format downloads.

From an acting standpoint Dern is a worthy counterpart to uncaring fellow astronauts and callously indifferent government. Doug Trumbull, who was Director, Co-Producer and Special Effects Manager, shows the depths of his talent in his very gentle touch, not letting the unimaginable horror of an apathetic government overshadow what is at heart a story of one man’s redemption. Musically, Peter Schickele provides a both dramatic and simple understated score, a talent which would prove to go against the grain of many future Sci Fi Classics. The movie is stolen, however, by the three ‘bots, who were played by bi-lateral amputees. Their suits, designed by Trumbull were worn by 4 different actors. Each suit was fitted to the unique body structure of the amputee actor. What Trumbull and the four did is nothing short of amazing. (For the record, the parts were played by Mark Persons, Steve Brown, Cheryl Sparks and Larry Weisenhunt.)

Ultimately, this is a sad film. It speaks volumes about the frailty of Earth and the callous nature of man. It reminds me a lot of Dr. Suess’ The Lorax, without the happy ending. Freeman breaks down, renounces humanity and gives his future to three two unlikely recipients.

This is Dome, sayin’: there is no heresy in science fiction films without light sabers. None at all.

• Thanks to Less Talk More Monkey for the opening music, Damn It Feels Good To Be a Lannister.
• Congrats to our own Amandatron3000 and hubby on the birth of their new cog.
• Betty and Barney Hill get a plaque in New Hampshire.
• Ridley Scott LOVES 3D.
• JJ Abrams brings us Alcatraz.
• The Wonder Woman TV Show really did stink.
• Futurama renewed for “2″ more seasons.
• Dark Towers  stalled.
• Summer Glau on Alpha’s.
• Why Christopher Eccleston really left Doctor Who.
• John Barrowman will do the Doctor Who 50th. Anniversary show.
• Locke and Key Pilot might have been…
• Tyra Banks is writing again, please make her stop.
• Captain America rocks the box office.
• UPDATE: The Troy Public Library needs your help now.

Our guest tonight, Ted Woods is a self-publishing comic artist based outside Ann Arbor, Michigan. His past works are “The Book of Love,” “Peril at Pont du Gard,” and “The Life and Legacy of Marcus Aurelius.” His upcoming work can be seen in the anthology “SCIENCE!” from Reasonably Priced Comics due out in August, and his own book “The Book of Love Vol. II” due out in September.

Fiction Friday

Who is Ward Moore? and why is he this week’s Fiction Friday? Well, Lucy, that takes a bit of ‘asplanin. First of all, Fiction Friday is going to be taking a trip in the Way Back Machine for the next few installments; a journey of discovery for our younger participants into the beginnings of modern SF, authors you might not have heard of, books you might have overlooked or never seen.

Also to every owner of an e-reader who says 99 cents is too much money: there is a plethora of free books available for the asking/wanting. Project Gutenberg is one of the most all-encompassing repositories of free e-books in multi-format DRM free. As I was exploring this vast library, I came across a sub collection of Golden Age Science Fiction, short stories, and novels. With a current collection numbering well over 100,000 e-books, their Sci Fi collection had me drooling, which brings me to Ward Moore.

Ward Moore was born in 1903. During his life he wore much that was considered Sci Fi or “Speculative Fiction”. I present to you today his second novel, Greener Than You Think. Its the story of a man, his dream, a superfertilizer and the havoc created by personal and corporate greed. Written in 1947, this novel is a grim forecaster of the crop manipulation and seed gene splicing that currently goes on…to what end?

A brief excerpt from the beginning:

I always knew I should write a book. Something to help tired minds lay aside the cares of the day. But I always say you never can tell what’s around the corner till you turn it, and everyone has become so accustomed to fantastic occurrences in the last twenty one years that the inspiring and relaxing novel I used to dream about would be today as unreal as Atlantis. Instead, I find I must write of the things which have happened to me in that time.  It all began with the word itself.  “Grass. Gramina. The family Gramineae. Grasses.”  “Oh,” I responded doubtfully. The picture in my mind was only of a vague area in parks edged with benches for the idle.  Anyway, I was far too resentful to pay strict attention. I had set out in good faith, not for the first time in my career as a salesman, to answer an ad offering “$50 or more daily to top producers,” naturally expecting the searching onceover of an alert salesmanager, back to the light, behind a shinytopped desk. When youve handled as many products as I had an ad like that has the right sound. But the world is full of crackpots and some of the most pernicious are those who hoodwink unsuspecting canvassers into anticipating a sizzling deal where there is actually only a warm hope. No genuinely highclass proposition ever came from a layout without aggressiveness enough to put on some kind of front; working out of an office, for instance, not an outdated, rundown apartment in the wrong part of Hollywood.  “It’s only a temporary drawback, Weener, which restricts the Metamorphizer’s efficacy to grasses.”  The wheeling syllables, coming in a deep voice from the middleaged woman, emphasized the absurdity of the whole business. The snuffy apartment, the unhomelike livingroom–dust and books its only furniture–the unbelievable kitchen, looking like a pictured warning to housewives, were only guffaws before the final buffoonery of discovering the J S Francis who’d inserted that promising ad to be Josephine Spencer Francis. Wrong location, wrong atmosphere, wrong gender.

This is Dome, sayin’: The entire book can be read on-line or downloaded copyright free in many formats here. Enjoy.

The League of Ordinary Gentlemen

• Avengers casting call draws thousands in Ohio.
• Spielberg plays the noob at ComiCon for The Adventures of Tintin.
• Torchwood gets a 21 share on the BBC.
• Disney’s first trailer for John Carter of Mars.
• The Internet replaces little girl’s stolen Tardis[Video].
• 13^th. Sookie Stackhouse novel to be the last.
• True Blood rocks the vamp house.
• Sean Bean in Snow White.
• Oz, the Great and Powerful.
• Ridiculous Emmy Nominations.
• A Game Of Thrones Shadows.
• Diablo Cody Rewrites Evil Dead.
• Fox buys RUST.
• Star Trek PADD official app creates iPad fact from science fiction.

Published in 2004, Just a Geek is the story of Wil Wheaton at a stage in his life where he’s happily married with two step children, and struggling to make it as an actor. One night in 2001 he decides to take control of his web presence by starting a blog, which he built himself. In the blog, he discussed his personal life, and struggles with auditions. Most of all, it was Wil being honest. While the news of his new blog spread throughout the web, he dealt with both positive and negative reactions.

As Wheaton continues to blog through his experiences with Star Trek conventions, auditions and antidotes about his days on the Enterprise, I began to realize how smooth the storytelling was (although he states in the author’s note that his early writing was cringe worthy). Most of all, the stories were interesting and funny. While maintaining the semi-daily blog Wheaton realizes that writing is what he loves to do, and begins to take it seriously.

The book itself are reprints of those early blog entries, along with narrative by Wheaton of what takes place before and after each blog post, giving you more perspective into the actual blog entries themselves. Just a Geek is well thought out, very easy to read, and is a satisfying memoir.

There is no doubt Wil Wheaton’s blog has brought him an impressive amount of attention, and his blog in it’s current form on TypePad has evolved considerably over the years. He’s also an avid Twitter user with over 1.8 million followers. Wheaton also appears on SyFy’s Eureka, TNT’s Leverage, The Big Bang Theory (where he plays an ‘evil’ version of himself) and a recurring role on the popular web series The Guild.

Wil Wheaton’s blog  

Dr. Eli Malefactor

• Torchwood Miracle Day episode 1
• Falling Skies picked up for a second season
• 30 Comic-Con exclusive toys you’ll sell your organs for [io9]
• This week, Warren Ellis writes a comic book in invisible ink [io9]
• Men In Black III
• Dollhouse: Epitaphs
• • First look at Dori, Nori and Ori from The Hobbit set [io9]

Surface: The Complete Series

The show follows two main story lines. The first story follows fourteen-year-old Miles, an average private school student in North Carolina with a perfectionist sister and a goofy best friend. After a close encounter with something in the water late one night, he returns to the spot and finds a cluster of eggs.  Taking one home with him, it soon hatches into a baby sea monster. While this causes him endless trouble, he and the creature-which he names Nim- are soon bonded and he does anything to keep it safe even as it grows larger and more uncontrollable. Carter Jenkins, who plays Miles, is cute and likable, at times not the best actor, but overall he’s engaging. Considering most of his important scenes are with computer animated Nim, I think he does a great job with the interaction and emotion required.

The second story line follows Laura Daughtery and Rich Connelly after their own encounters with the creatures lead them to each other. Laura is an oceanographer from California, intent on documenting what she believes is a new species, while Rich is a Louisiana Insurance agent who lost his brother to one of the creatures in a diving accident. Together they form an unlikely team as they try to reveal the creatures to the world for their own reasons. Their efforts attract the notice of government officials bent on keeping the creatures a secret, and their origin an even deeper secret.

This show really has it all, bad government, evil scientists, adventure, and adorable baby sea monsters. It’s an exciting show with plenty of tense moments, but also some laughs thrown in. In a world where the majority of shows seem to be same old same old, I think Surface stands out. We really need more sea monsters on TV. As I said, there are a lot of loose ends, but at least you know that going into this show.  Word on the internet is that the show was originally planned as a mini-series, which I think probably would have been better, because then the story would have been tighter. Overall though, I’ll watch it again.

So, what happens when a boy and his dog are among the myriad of victims of the apocalypse? In 1975, Harlan Ellison and L.Q. Jones adapted Ellison’s novella A Boy and His Dog for the screen.  Starring Don Johnson as the boy, Vic, and Tim McIntire as the voice of his dog, Blood, this tag team of survivors roam the wastelands of a ravaged America.

This is not just a good movie, it’s GREAT. I will admit, it’s kinda dated, but if you can get past that,  at it’s core it’s everything a good post-apocalypse move should be. Goons, reverse rape, talking dogs, a vast underground society where societal perversions abound. When was the last time you saw a movie with a hyper-intelligent telepathic dog? If you haven’t seen this movie, I dare say the answer is never.

As clear and strident a social commentary as Ellison ever wrote, this move is a fine adaptation of the source material. Set in Phoenix, Az. in 2024 (after WWIII) this movie survives and flourishes without high cost CGI Effects and vast sets. It survives on its wit. It survives with the slick acting of an very unassuming Don Johnson and, a villainous Jason Robards and a smolderingly sexy Susanne Benton as the flirtatious Quilla June.

L Q would later go on to do a myriad of films as actor, producer and director playing Pat Web in Casino, and other small but relevant parts in dozens of movies and TV series. That’s what A Boy and His Dog is, a bunch of small, juicy, relevant roles strung together by an overwhelming apocalypse and wry humor to mask the anguish that surrounds Vic. Each scene is commentary on who we were, what we are and what we are becoming. Its Harlan at his best (the film won a Hugo Award), Don Johnson at his earliest (his third movie role) and man’s best friend, Blood , as savior of us all. Vic and Blood survive because Blood is smart, period.

This Dome, sayin’: If you know Harlan Ellison’s work this movie should come as no surprise. It is a little gem upon the futuristic wastelands. Find it and see it.

However, that very familiarity is also proves something of a constraint on an all-human universe. If the author goes TOO far from the baseline he runs the risk of the framework becoming unbelievable, and pulling the reader from the focus of the story. By the same token, characters and their interactions also need to be plausible in order to avoid distracting the reader. And in the very large majority of good science fiction stories set in all-human universes, the authors manage to avoid these distractions (allowing for unpredictable reactions to entirely new stimuli). It galls me (and always will) when someone claims “science fiction isn’t REALLY literature.” The ability to build a believable society with plausible people WHILE introducing new technology or science makes science fiction just as compelling as literature as Beowulf or MacBeth, and the human-only universe at once both an easy and difficult setting for writers of science fiction.

Almost as prevalent as the all-human universe is one comprised of both humans and aliens. Ignoring early pulp fiction (where monstrous aliens were always tearing the dresses off buxom women), the first widely acknowledged mixed universe science fiction was the Lensman series by E.E. “Doc” Smith. Heinlein (e.g. Methuselah’s Children and Have Space Suit, Will Travel) and Asimov (e.g. “Green Patches” and The Gods Themselves ) also made forays into this domain.  But to me Larry Niven’s Puppeteers is perhaps one of the most intriguing and substantial alien societies that interact with humans. As a setting for science fiction the mixed-universe approach retains the advantage of a familiar touchstone (the human side) for the author to use in his story framework. It also opens the door to the creation of a society without the constraint of necessarily being a plausible extension of human society. The author is free to build his own worlds. That in turn gives rise to all sorts of possible conflicts/plots not possible in an all-human universe. It also, should the author choose, permits an examination of controversial societal concepts in a more benign environment than if they were inserted into a fictional human society.

This very flexibility can also be become a challenge for the author. He or she loses the shared background with the readers, and so has to build a new set of shared knowledge within the story. Having an alien scratch his chin (or something equivalent) and setting off a riot requires an underlying “why” to be established–and done so unobtrusively. It takes a particular talent to be able to describe an alien world/society without getting so bogged down in description that it pulls the reader from the flow of the story. Further, because so much of the alien world/society may differ, the author must be sure to remain internally consistent. So while science fiction that incorporates both humans and aliens can explore many more storylines than a human-only basis, it can also be much more difficult to write while maintaining story flow. There is also the danger of overusing a particular type of alien society (and thereby losing the novelty and opportunities for new plots that are a strength of the mixed universe), as seems to be the case in broadcast science fiction as my friend Winter is Coming so aptly points out in his recent blog post on Falling Skies. Overall, a mixed human-alien setting gives an author much more freedom to be creative and fresh; however, it also comes with more potential pitfalls that can derail the story.

A final potential science fiction setting is a universe populated only by aliens. Such a backdrop would provide the author with a blank canvass, as it were, to create a complete framework from scratch; to explore even the most far out concepts without the burden of making them believable in human space. Such a framework would have the same issues with setting a common background with the reader and maintaining internal consistency. However, it could perhaps allot more time for the author to describe the worlds/societies without compromising the pace of the story than possible in the mixed universe construct.

Its biggest potential problem, though, would be in the lack of any common background. Without the touchstone of humans and human society the author would have to give the reader something to latch onto, to care about, early on or risk having their work cast aside after a chapter or two. And that may be why I can’t think of any science fiction that is purely alien in nature. Asimov builds one internally in Part 2 of The Gods Themselves (the world of energy beings), but even then the book ties them back to a human universe. One wonders if writers in highly restrictive settings (e.g., the former Eastern Bloc countries), where anything even hinting at shortfalls in their particular society might be cause for “reeducation”, might use such a backdrop to subtly make their points.

So there you have it: my assessment of the pros and cons of different human/alien combinations as the framework for writing a good science fiction story, and some examples of each. Going through this thought process has given me an even deeper appreciation for how well the good science fiction writers, past and present, execute their craft. And because this post started as a personal thought process for my own foray into writing science fiction, I’d appreciate any insights readers of this piece care to leave.

My Best Friend is a Wookiee

• Holy Candied Lovecraft!
• Thor 2
• FAQ’s for DC’s 52
• True Blood returns.
• Rod Serling’s BioPic is in the works
• Game of Thrones, the comic series?

Tony Pacitti tells us about writing his book, My Best Friend is a Wookiee: One Boy’s Journey to Find His Place in the Galaxy.

Timequest - Go find it and see it.

It’s summer, and television sucks for the moment. The eventual lull in movies with the addition of the ever-present lack of audience manners that permeates the suburban movie-plexes leads me inexorably to my DVD collection for solace. There are any number of diversions for me, some well known, others… not so much. And so, from time to time, I will bring to your attention something you may not have seen.

For fans of Alternate History (and quite frankly, who isn’t?) I give you Robert Dyke’s, Timequest, a 2002 toss-up with some really interesting elements. Dyke, as writer and director, brings us a thought provoking film about the discontinuity of time travel. What, he posits, would happen if a time voyager, (Ralph Waite), were to stop the Kennedy Assassination. What would be the repercussions? How would America have been a vastly different place? In a time when dystopian outcomes were virtually required in books and movies, and darkness was almost compulsory, this film offered a positive theme:  Politicians seeing a bleak future, knowing what might happen and working for a better outcome, working for a more stable society and a more secure future. This was not the movie that America wanted to see, and that is a damn shame. This, for all of its low budget reality and feel, is warm, sensitive, amusing and poignant. It is, quite frankly, brilliantly cast and edited with both style and class.

A cast that includes Barry Corbin (Northern Exposure), Shelly Marks (Madness), Victor Selzak (Salt), Larry Drake (Darkman), Caprice Benedetti (Practical Magic) and the amazing Bruce Campbell(do I need to say anything here?) plays a sweet understated tone. Discussing the washed up group from Liverpool that Campbell wants to do a documentary on is just plain fun and that is frankly the tone of this film. It’s not fluff. It is amusing, pleasant, compelling and in very large part a very good Sci Fi Movie.

In a summer filled with a plethora of uninspired vapid mind candy, this film, as a bit of a timepiece in itself, is a great little 92 minute ride.

This is Dome, sayin’: any film that has Scout (The Wonder Dog) in the credits deserves a look-see.

Tracy Hickman

• RIP Gene Colan
• RIP Peter Falk
• Game of Thrones “Trusts Littlefinger”
• Terry Pratchett on Assisted Suicide
• Pottermore
• Falling Skies – :/
• Futurama Returns
• Torchwood will be different in the US and UK.
• Torchwood Motion Comic app features Eliza Dushku

Tracy Hickman updates us on the status of his Batman book! We also talk about our usual topics of new publishing systems a business models. Friend Tracy on Facebook, and check out his page. Also check out Xtreme Dungeon Mastery.

Get a 20% discount on “Blackshore” early subscriptions and writing seminars with the coupon code scifisat.

Normally, this is where I’d go over the premise of Falling Skies and outline the characters, but I’m not going to do that here. If you’ve seen any alien invasion movies or TV shows over the past twenty years, then you know what Falling Skies is about. It shouldn’t surprise me, but I was hoping that Falling Skies would show me something different. So far, there is nothing new under the sun. I can appreciate the fact that the show spared the audience of invasion scenes and jumped straight into the aftermath, but what transpired was your standard aliens vs human resistance fanfare.

What I don’t appreciate is TNT’s presentation of the pilot. Before every commercial break, they would show you what is “coming up on Falling Skies”. In a two hour premier, this gets old pretty quick. As a member of the audience I want to be surprised with what’s in store for me. Showing me scenes of what’s ahead really waters down the experience. If that’s not enough, I have to listen to the voice-over telling me “…and it keeps getting better.” Really? Well, I’ll be the judge of that.

Another interesting aspect was all the comments that were live-tweeted during the show. Aside from my cynical mind-set, I was surprised to see a fair amount of positive and mixed responses. Some people were confused with the fact that they didn’t show the invasion. Some thought the show’s pace was too slow. Others thought highly of the pilot and are looking forward to more episodes. According to TNT’s web site, it’s cable TV’s #1 series launch of the year with nearly 6 million viewers. However, as with any TV rating statistic…time will tell on the show’s actual success.

Silver Circle

It’s a rare moment when the fan community gets a look at the inner workings of a film from the ground up, rarer still when they are invited into the process. It was about 3 years ago, at Boston Comic Con that I first got introduced to Pasha and Megan and their unique concept for an animated film…what would ultimately become Silver Circle. We watched them work the Con, talking up their ideas and slowly begin to gather momentum and solidify. Now, here we are 3 years later and those of us in the fan community are about to see the final reward.

Their website is aflutter with all kinds of weekly updates. You can get to their Facebook Fan Page here and they have a newsletter that you can subscribe to.  There’s lots in store for Silver Circle,  read on for highlights:

They are submitting the film to Sundance, (Sept. submission for their Jan. show dates) and South by Southwest (aprox. Oct.) They are scheduling a series of test screenings in Aug. 2012 and are projecting a limited run release in conjunction with the full graphic novel. The Web Comic is very interesting and a quite good companion to the storyline. Check out the store for original Merch that helps them fund the day to day operations and is also pretty cool!

If you’ve heard our TalkCasts with Megan and Pasha, seen them at any Cons or just happened upon them or the project, you now have the ultimate chance to lurk away as the project we have all been watching for the past 3 years comes of age.

This is Dome, sayin’: Dystopia be damned. It’s never too late to join the party.

And now, after so long a wait and countless questions and rumors, Miracle Day is almost upon us. The planted stories and not-so-subtle hints abound on all the social media and I am NOT Immune. Expectations across fandom run from feigned disinterest to barely contained exuberance.

I stand firmly in the path of BRING IT THE HELL ON!  This is a show that is so sure of its storytelling skills that it killed off all but two of its main characters by the end of Season 3. It is brave enough to take on taboos and put them in the crosshairs of the characters: Existentialism, Gender Assignment and Equity, Religion, Moral Corruption, and in Miracle Day, The Value of The Human Life.

Love it or hate it, this is a series not to be missed, and I stand firm for the return of Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper. Watch, comment, let us know what you think

Returning characters Jack and Gwen are joined on this 10 episode arc/series by such luminaries as Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman), Jilly Kitzinger (Lauren Ambrose) and Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins). The story unfolds as all across the world: nobody dies; they age, they get sick, they get hurt, but they don’t die. Man realizes resources are finite and this event is not natural, The CIA seeks answers with an agency of legend, Torchwood. The series begins on July 8th. on STARZ in the US.

Spider Robinson

In this interview, Spider and the entire cast hit on a range of topics. Ever the consummate gentleman, we discuss his beginnings and relationship with Ben Bova and Isaac Asimov, remember his wife Jeanne, how Mike Callahan was born, the state of politics, writing, music and whatever else wandered into the conversation. Join us as we enter Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon.

I had discovered online role playing in the late 1990s, and even though it was played though group instant messaging and email, it suited me and my increasingly busy life. Then the day came when I decided I was too busy for online roleplay. I was getting married, working full time and I had decided to go back to college.

So that’s how I missed the phenomenon that is Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games or MMORPGs for short. MMORPGs are video games played by large groups of people in the same virtual setting. Players assume the role of a character and can interact and team up with other players to face more challenging aspects of the game. MMORPGs started in the early 1990s, and grew in popularity throughout the past decade. With most games charging a monthly subscription fee to play, it has become a multi-billion dollar industry.

Even though I understood what MMORPGs were, I never gave it a second thought. Then I discovered The Guild; a Web series about a group of online gamers. The series reminded me of my old online roleplaying days, so I decided to do some research and try out MMORPGs for myself. Since I use an old Intel iMac, I can’t play most MMORPGs.

With my technical limitations and frugal mentality, I decided to try out Runescape, Battlestar Galactica Online, World of Warcraft, Pocket Legends, and Runes of Magic. For the first part of this series, I’ll only review the first three.

Runescape
Regarded as the most popular free MMORPG, this was my first MMO experience. The game is  browser-based, so I met all the technical requirements. However, once I started, I didn’t know what to expect. Runescape is fantasy adventure, and I have to say that I really gave it a chance, but I was bored with the intro quest; to help a computer controlled warrior defeat a dragon by getting things from his bag and following his orders while HE fights the dragon. This was my only quest in Runescape, and I haven’t been back since. I may be impatient, but I wasn’t having fun with the time I was investing.

Battlestar Galactica Online
Based on the SyFy channel original series, this free to play MMORPG is browser-based and uses in-game currency that must be purchased to do various things including ship upgrades. The graphics are astounding and run very smooth on a web browser. However, this is the game’s only good quality. Playability itself takes a little getting used to, and as you progress, you find that its nothing more than a shoot-up-game set in a non-canon story. In BSG: Online, you have two options as a player: you can assume the role of a new pilot who fights along side characters such as Starbuck and Apollo, or you can choose to be a Cylon. I have yet to explore the Cylon side of the game. Even though I enjoyed this game to an extent, I’m not eager to hop back on.

World of Warcraft
Deciding that the 2GB of RAM on my old Intel iMac was sufficient enough to run World of Warcraft, I downloaded the 10-day free trial. Since this is arguably the most popular MMORPG, my expectations were high. I was looking forward to some epic fantasy adventures as well as some group interaction.

Upon creating my Night Elf character, I entered the realms of World of Warcraft, where I was quickly put on simple quests where I can learn my fighting moves and character’s abilities. It was a little frustrating at first, fumbling with the keys and trying to fight creatures and beasts, but once I got used to it, gameplay was a lot of fun. One thing I wasn’t able to do was interact with other players, since the chat feature is disabled for trial accounts, unless I’m invited to a group chat. This made things difficult when trying to team up with other players.

As the trial came to a close, I was eager to complete more quests, and they were getting more difficult. One thing I didn’t like about the game was the amount of traveling my character has to do in order to move along in the game. I understand that it’s designed to help me deal with obstacles during a quest, but I was getting more frustrated with being killed on my way to my destination, and having to repeat the steps to get my character back on track. Overall, I enjoyed World of Warcraft, and it met my expectations.

Of the three games I covered, I’d choose World of Warcraft. However, I can’t justify paying a monthly fee for something I may not play for months at a time. In Part 2 of this post, I’ll discuss an iPhone MMORPG, as well as a newer free-to-play game that’s being compared in quality to big games like World of Warcraft.

The Eleventh Doctor and Amy arrive at Station 7 during Earth’s war with the Daleks. Station 7 is a top secret orbiting facility researching and storing Dalek technology. The station’s scientists claim they have tamed a Dalek, and naturally, this worries the Doctor. More secrets are revealed when the Daleks show up to reclaim their property. With time running out, and enemies closing in on the station’s inhabitants from all directions, can the Doctor and Amy rely on the only good Dalek to help them?

This was my first non-television Doctor Who experience, and I must say it did not feel like a Doctor Who story. I found the sequence of the art to be confusing and difficult to follow. On some pages, there is so much dialog that I had to really look at the illustration to understand what was going on. The story itself was not gripping or engaging. I was not at the edge of my seat, and by the time I deciphered the sequence of events, I had lost interest. I felt that the story, as a whole, did nothing to advance the overall Doctor Who universe.

Perhaps this adds to the notion that the Daleks need to be put to rest for now. The fact that the universe’s ruthless and most feared race is repeatedly getting their asses kicked by The Doctor and who ever he’s rolling with diminishes the potential that the Daleks showed. I just feel that the creators of this book really missed their chance to fully utilize both the comic book medium and show us something about the Daleks that we’ve never seen.

Published by BBC Books in 2010, Doctor Who: The Only Good Dalek was written by Justin Richards who’s written other Doctor Who stories, and has many young adult works under his belt. The book was illustrated by Mike Collins, who has illustrated the Doctor Who comic strip for many years. With this much experience behind them, I’m curious to see what else they can produce when not having to consider those pesky Daleks.

The Book of Lost Things

Like many lonely children, he is at first excited to find himself in a new world, but he quickly learns this world is just as violent and unfriendly as the one he left behind.  Talking wolves who walk on two legs hunt David as he makes his way through the land trying to find his way home.  Making friends along the way, David quickly learns that no one’s life is perfect and we all have our sorrows to bear.  In the end he must find the King, a man who’s lost control of his own land, if he ever hopes to return to the life he left behind, a life he misses more every day he is away from it.

Told through the eyes of a boy as he starts to become a man, David’s change from a sad, selfish boy to a brave, selfless boy is subtle and believable. This book is hard to put down once you get started. While the overarching story is engaging and easy to read, some of the best parts are the tales others tell David. These appear as short fairy tales within the book, and are reflections of the fairy tales we all know, but twisted and dark the way the Grimm brothers might have first told them.

The Book Of Lost Things is one of the few books I’ve read that I consider a fairy tale for adults and I highly recommend it. If you can think of others I should try, please let me know in the comments, because I’m always looking for similar books!

Super 8 is a fun-filled and action-packed superhero summer blockbuster. After eight superscientists are exposed to experimental hyper-nano radiation, each one manifests incredible superpowers. There’s Trickle, with the power of incessant dripping, Luminesca, who can always set a room to mood lighting, The Leveler, bringing your frames to straightened justice, Standoffish, always keeping evil to one side…

Wait…I think this was a dream I had recently after watching X-Men: First Class. Let’s start again.

Super 8 is the newest Spielberg mega hit directed by our intrepid Lost creator J.J. Abrams. It follows a plucky cast of geeky kids just on the cusp of teenhood during the late seventies as they work to create a short film to enter into a competition. The movie is filled with character development, subtle but important turning points, and a blossoming innocent romance. Oh, and a giant monster that is destroying their sleepy town.

I don’t want to give out too many spoilers, so I’ll try to focus on how I felt instead. For one thing, this is not a kid’s movie in any way, I was actually quite frightened for several parts of it (the train scene alone, holy crap). For another, it’s great fun hearing the under fifteen crowd dropping swears all over the place, but you can still see them getting used to this indiscretion which makes it more sweet than jarring. Also, there was also JJ’s trademark Excessive Use of Lens Flare all over the place, but I could mostly ignore it because the story is engaging, and genuinely interesting, especially with the plot being primarily character driven (not to mention it’s one of the few “original” movies coming out this summer).

Super 8, could also known as Stand By Me: Monster Edition. The Goonies In Space. E.T. (short for Eating Terrestrials). The movie felt like a return to “old Spielberg” and even seems to have been filmed using older film (though I’m sure it’s really just a Photoshop filter.) The dialogue was also very easy flowing and similar to how people speak in real life (talking too fast, not clearly, or over one another) which one would think would be annoying to listen to, but I found it quite comforting and very funny at times. But the movie is dark, think Stephen King dark, and I actually had flashbacks to several SK stories while I watched, which is a big thumbs up from me as a huge SK fan.

All in all, I would say this is a solid sci-fi flick that will surely entertain and bring us twenty somethings back to a time of walkmans, tape decks, and shag rug. My only real gripe is the end was a bit too “feel good” for my tastes, but that shouldn’t be unexpected for a Spielberg film. I would also very much recommend seeing it in the theaters because the special effects are nothing to sniff at and if there was ever a movie that you needed surround sound for, it’d be this one.