Science Fiction

Release Date: 11/04/13Publisher: Black LibrarySYNOPSIS:Gilead Lothain, shadowfast warrior and last of the line of Tor Anrok, travels the land slaking his thirst for vengeance on the dark creatures that stalk the forests and mountains of the Old World. With his faithful retainer Fithvael at his side, the doom-laden Gilead battles corrupt humans, beastmen, warriors of the Dark Gods and more in this collection of action-packed tales.REVIEW:Another early cracker from the Black Library brought from the past to the reader which demonstrates why Abnett is such a huge talent in the industry. Add to this great storytelling, a crackingly polished lead character that the reader will just want to spend time around which when added to solid prose, great pace and of course enough combat to keep all readers sated all round makes this a cracking release. A great read and one that I was more than pleased to enjoy again.

We've seen teaser trailers for the highly anticipated sequel to the 2004 comedy insta-classic Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and now the first full trailer for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues has just hit the web. Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and friends dominated the '70s San Diego news scene before disappearing into obscurity. But now, firmly embraced by the '80s and all its glory, they're heading to New York City and ready to make the comeback everyone has been waiting for. Continue below now to check out the trailer for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues! [...]

Film delivers the goods in a satisfying, if not familiar, summer-fun-fest read more

[Do you have an idea for a future Mind Meld? Let us know!] Love In the midst of apocalypse…whether it be an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic scenario, or a dystopian one, such as in The Hunger Games, or just amidst things blowing up, etc, our need to find a partner to share the angst is still a strong one. So, we asked our panel… Q: What are a few of your favorite fictional couples that fell in love in an extreme situation? Why do you think this type of story is so popular? Here’s what they said… Jaye Wells Jaye Wells is a USA Today-bestselling author of urban fantasy and speculative crime fiction. Raised by booksellers, she loved reading books from a very young ago. That gateway drug eventually led to a full-blown writing addiction. When she’s not chasing the word dragon, she loves to travel, drink good bourbon and do things that scare her so she can put them in her books. Jaye lives in Texas with her husband and son. For more about her books, go to jayewells.com. Love during the apocalypse is powerful because it is the ultimate act of hope. It’s such an optimistic emotion, isn’t it? When the world’s gone to hell, when you don’t know if you’ll live another hour or week or month or, God willing, years, it takes an enormous amount of courage to open your heart when the risk of it breaking is so great. Dystopia and post-apocalypse fiction also explores the idea that love in all forms takes on more weight when society has fallen apart. Whether it’s romantic love or the love a mother has for her child or the circumstantial love strangers create from nothing simply through the act of going through hell together. Everything takes on more meaning when future isn’t guaranteed. In my novella, MERIDIAN SIX, a woman who has only the memory of love–that of her mother, long dead–finds a new kind of family in a group of complete strangers. It’s a dysfunctional family to be sure, but it’s better than the early death of complete isolation in an unforgiving world. Jesse Petersen Jesse Petersen is the author of the Living With the Dead series (Married With Zombies, Flip This Zombie, Eat Slay Love, The Zombie Whisperer) and an upcoming monster series which begins April 29 with Club Monstrosity. She lives in Tucson with her awesome husband and two cats. Um, as a geek, I would say Han Solo and Princess Leia would be my favorite “love under pressure” couple. They’re trying to defeat the evil empire, people and she has really complicated hair, so there’s a LOT going on there. I think the draw of love in dire circumstances is that in those darkest moments of our lives, we don’t want to be alone. It’s in our nature as humans to share our feelings and fears. Plus, heroes can look so cute running and covered in blood. I think I read a statistic where those kinds of “under pressure” relationships didn’t last in real life once the danger was lifted, but who cares? I write books, I don’t concern myself with reality. Amanda Bonilla Amanda Bonilla lives in rural Idaho with her husband and two kids. She’s a part-time pet wrangler, a full-time sun worshipper, and only goes out into the cold when coerced. She loves the outdoors, black clothes, pink appliances and thinks junk food should be a recognized food group. In the summer, she can be found sitting by the lake, enjoying the view from her dock. Love amidst chaos is a trope that’s often seen in fantasy, action/adventure, and apocalyptic stories alike. Whether it’s the adrenaline-infused high or the threat of death, romance blossoms at an accelerated pace when you’re living day-to-day in dangerous situations not knowing when your number might be up. And with the popularity of screen adaptations of novels and graphic novels such as The Walking Dead, and World War Z, and The Hunger Games, it’s obvious that we’re crazy for end of the world scenarios and the compl

History is being made with SofaCon, an live, online convention conceived by Tony C. Smith of the Hugo-winning Starship Sofa. And I’m pleased to remind our readers that JP and I will be appearing on the very first SofaCON on July 23rd to take part in a trivia smackdown against John Joseph Adams and David Barr Kirtley of Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy! Wanna know more? Join the crew of the Hugo Award winning StarShipSofa, their special guests, and friends from all over the world as a new tradition begins: SofaCON, An Online International Science Fiction Convention. This live, history-making event will focus on those who are creators, scholars, and fans of the best of speculative fiction. Over the years StarShipSofa has brought together a global community of science fiction lovers; it’s time for old and new Sofanauts alike to meet in a real-time, interactive virtual venue to celebrate the genre they love. Meet stellar authors. Watch exclusive interviews and lectures. Ask questions and offer comments. Enjoy the SF convention experience from the comfort of your home. Don’t miss this inaugural event Be sure to check out SofaCON! Related posts: SofaCON! SF Signal Visits the Sofanauts Podcast Sheila Williams Sets the Record Straight

I thought this was a joke when I saw the headline in Variety. Turns out this is a real thing. My verdict? Looks like lots of fun, even if it didn’t include cameos by Batman (voiced by Will Arnett!) and Superman. As he has shown on Parks & Rec, Chris Pratt plays the perfect clueless character. I will pay hard-earned money to see this when it comes out in February 2014. Related posts: Star Trek XI Teaser Trailer Teaser Trailer 2: Ultramarines Teaser Trailer: Monsters University

Say no to some drugs, kids. But if you need to ride the tail of the dragon, you can’t beat the free eBook links of the QuasarDragon! What’s special about today’s free fiction? Strange Horizons has a story from O. J. Cade that’s also available in audio HiLoBrow finishes its serialization of The Comet by W.E.B. Du Bois Tangent Online has some old time radio of a story by John Fleming Written @The Colored Lens: “The Wolf who Howls at the Hollow Moon” by Zachary Tringali [Fantasy] @Lightspeed: “Get a Grip” by Paul Park [Science Fiction] (also available in audio) “Paranormal Romance” by Christopher Barzak [Fantasy] @Strange Horizons: “Longfin’s Daughters” by O. J. Cade [Fantasy] (also available in audio) @Tor: “The Stranger” by Anna Banks [Fantasy] @Author’s Site: “Stained Black” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch [Science Fiction] Written – Flash @365 tomorrows: “The Taste Twins” by Morrow Brady [Science Fiction Flash] @Daily Science Fiction: “Curing Day” by Dustin Adams [Science Fiction Flash] @Every Day Fiction: “Bonefever” by Katherine Hart [Horror Flash] Written – Serialized @HiLoBrow: The Comet by W.E.B. Du Bois – Part 5 of 5 [Science Fiction - from 1920] @Author’s Site: The Gravity of the Affair by Michael J. Martinez -Part VII [Historical Fantasy] @Author’s Site: Tickling Butterflies by Guy Hasson – Part 7: A World Without Magic – “The Boy Who Wanted His Mommy” [Epic Fantasy] Audio Escape Pod #400 – “Rescue Party” by Arthur C. Clarke [Science Fiction] @Lightspeed: “Get a Grip” by Paul Park [Science Fiction] Protecting Project Pulp #49 – “The Girl From Samarcand” by E. Hoffmann Price [Fantasy - from 1938] @Strange Horizons: “Longfin’s Daughters” by O. J. Cade [Fantasy] @Tangent Online: “Inferiority” by John Fleming [Old Time Radio Science Fiction - from 1958] Audio – Serialized @19 Nocturne Boulevard: Atomic Julie’s Bedtime Stories #4: “The Misplaced Battleship” by Harry Harrison – Part 1 of 2 [Science Fiction - from 1960] Free eBooks (at time of listing) @Amazon: The Beholder by Ivan Amberlake [Urban Fantasy Novel] Double Bind (Raymond Bridges #1) by Seb Kirby [Technothriller Novel - First of Series] Heiress of Lies (Bloodtruth #1) by Cege Smith [Paranormal Fantasy Novel - First of Series] Leiyatel’s Embrace (The Dica Series) by Clive S. Johnson [Dystopian Science Fiction Novel - First of Series] Marked for Vengeance (Book One: The Alyx Rayer Chronicles) by SJ Pierce [Urban Fantasy Novel - First of Series] The Missing Link by Brandon Meyers [Science Fiction Adventure / Comedy Novel] Province Five (The Golden String) by Al Vickers [Science Fiction Adventure Novel - First of Series] Novel Excerpts @Tor: Excerpt from New Earth by Ben Bova [Science Fiction] And For Writers: The Latest Speculative Fiction Writing Wroundup Related posts: Free SF, Fantasy and Horror Fiction for 4/10/2013 Free SF, Fantasy and Horror Fiction for 4/17/2013 Free SF, Fantasy and Horror Fiction for 5/15/2013

I've had this sitting on the TBR pile for years now and I think I may have done the book a great disservice by taking this long to actually read it.On the surface of it Mortal Coils looks and sounds like fairly standard YA urban fantasy, but there is so much more to it than that.The just turned fifteen year old twins Eliot and Fiona Post have been raised and home schooled by their incredibly strict grandmother Audrey, and the only relief they get from the grind of schoolwork and actual part time work at a local pizza restaurant is from their very old great grandmother Cee, who despite being older than Audrey defers to her daughter.The one thing that the Post twins have always been curious about is the identity of their parents, but talk of them seems to be forbidden as are many other things in the twins lives. In fact their grandmother has 106 written rules that are not to be broken for any reason.Like many children raised by emotionally distant guardians the kids are very close and protective of each other and like teenagers they like to tease each other. In keeping with their rather unusual upbringing the teasing takes the form of a game they call vocabulary insult, in which they use obscure literary allusions and scientific terms to insult each other. The first of them either to unable work out the reference, or reply to it adequately, loses.Everything changes on the eve of their fifteenth birthdays when odd things start to happen to them and they encounter outsiders.The truth of it is that Eliot and Fiona are the offspring of a forbidden union between an Infernal (fallen angel, in this case Lucifer) and an Immortal (goddess). Their respective families have become aware of their existence and both want them, but before they can be accepted into the fold by either side, they must be tested to see what, if anything, they have inherited from their parents.Mortal Coils was an astonishing book in many ways. The characterisation of Eliot and Fiona was spot on. The two were believable and engaging protagonists and audiences should be able to identify with them and the trials they go through. Their actual talents were interesting and different. Eliot finds he has an affinity with music and Fiona can literally cut things with her sheer will.There was an interesting mix of myth and legend from ancient Greek and Norse legends to modern day urban legends (the giant alligator in the sewers and Area 51). Gods such as Hermes and the Fates play prominent parts along with fallen angels like Lucifer and Beelzebub.There's a joke that runs through the narrative that this isn't so much a novel as something based on actual accounts from Eliot and Fiona, who aren't fictional protagonists but real people who have themselves passed into legend. This is backed by a note from the editor at the start of the book and footnotes throughout that reference such sources as Gods of the First and Twenty-first Century, The Post Family Mythology or the Mythica Improbiba by Father Sildas Pious. I'm a great fan of things like this, they really add depth to a work.It's highly ambitious and has much more behind it than a first look leads one to believe. One of the stunning things about Mortal Coils is despite that depth and the extra work that must have been undertaken to execute this, it never loses quality or fails to delight.I've got to say that overall Mortal Coils was a joy to read, so much so that I've even got the sequel All That Lives Must Die ready to go soon.

Interviews & Profiles Functional Nerds interviews Mur Lafferty. My Bookish Ways interviews SM Wheeler. Sword & Laser interviews Joe Haldeman. Suvudu interviews Guy Adams. Reddit interviews Daniel Abraham. Smart Girls love SciFi interviews Kat Cantrell. The Qwillery interviews Matt Bell. SFFworld interviews Marc Cushman. HuffPost interviews LeVar Burton. Tor Books UK interviews Paul Cornell & Andrew Lane. Lightspeed Magazine interviews Nalo Hopkinson. Lightspeed Magazine interviews Christopher Barzak. Lightspeed Magazine interviews Paul Park. Rockland (Mass.) High School newspaper interviews Lou Antonelli. (video) WYSO interviews John Scalzi. Dungeon Crawlers Radio interviews John Scalzi. This Is Horror interviews Peter Tennant (Part 4). David Drake and Eric Flint discuss A.E. Van Vogt’s Transgalactic. (podcast) News The World SF Blog Closes its doors. Kids Can Earn a Free Book at Barnes & Noble. Watch Online: Star Trek “REAL STORY”-6/30 TV season kick-off on Smithsonian Channel. Lois H. Gresh gets a new URL. Events & Event News June 25th: Exclusive UK event: Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter discuss The Long War at The IET, London. io9 Book Club Reminder: Meeting 7/2 to Discuss The Shining Girls. 2013 Clarion West Write-a-thon. Ellen Datlow’s photos from the Stoker/WHC weekend in New Orleans. Crowd Funding Rogue Planet: Adventures On The Star Prison. World War Kaiju graphic novel. Articles Carrie Cuinn on 94 Asian Speculative Fiction Authors (with links). Deborah J. Ross on Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop needs your help! Judith Tarr on Blocks and Breakage. Kristine Kathryn Rusch on How To Save The World. Francis Knight on Story behind Before The Fall. Lois H. Gresh on The Mortal Instruments Companion – Table of Contents. Misty Massey on Magic in Words. Gina X. Grant on on Beware the Stapler of Doooom. Jack Skillingstead on Why I Didn’t Write My Book in an Elevator. Jonathan Strahan on Eclipse…going, going, gone. James S. A. Corey on Top 10 Worst Ways to Die in a Science Fiction Setting. Garrett Calcaterra on The Machine Stops: An Annotated Bibliography for Science Fiction and Climate Change. Larry Ketchersid on The 2013 HUGO Voter Packet: Why Would You Not Do This? Zachary Jernigan on Doing Time With The Triptrees. Zachary Jernigan on Should I Get an MFA in Writing? Short Answer: No. Long Answer: Yes.. Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee on The Mortals Series. Adam Callaway asks Has Fantasy Forgotten the Consequences of Violence? Charles Stross on Short Story: Bit Rot. Mike Brotherton shares Starship Century Symposium Videos. A. Lee Martinez on The Superman Rebuttals Begin. Brian Ruckley on Me vs. Man of Steel. Adam Roberts on Man of Steel (dir. Zack Snyder, 2013). Jayme Lynn Blaschke on Man of Steel, feet of clay. Patrick Hester’s on Thoughts on Man of Steel. Mark Finn on Man of Steel. NPR on Books Your Kid Might Give Up Video Games To Read. Sci-Fi Fan Letter on A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan. Carl V. Anderson on Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh. Neatorama on Wonders of the Solar System. John Kenneth Muir on Reader Top Ten Lists: The Ten Greatest Science Fiction Film Characters of All Time? Tor.com on Short Fiction Spotlight: Scott Lynch Special. Book Riot on START HERE: Neil Gaiman. Book Riot on A Guide to Neil Gaiman for Kids! Book Riot on The Only Thing Better Than Reading a Book by Neil Gaiman. Guardian on A note on Neil Gaiman’s politics. NYTimes on Hunting for an E.T. Castoff in a Most Terrestrial Place. [via Andrew Porter] Smart News on That “Old Book Smell” Is a Mix of Grass and Vanilla. [via Paul Di Filippo] io9 on 10 Classic Star Trek Plot Devices That Could Inspire The Next Movie. Book Chick City on BCC’S TOP 5 BOOKS: The best books you should be reading right now!. Flavorwire on The 50 Books Everyone Needs to Read, 1963-2013. Paul Weimer lists on Five books for non-genre readers. Art Todd Lockwood Interior Art U

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Visit Joelle Charbonneau's Official Website HereOVERVIEW: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Isn’t that what they say? But how close is too close when they may be one in the same? The Seven Stages War left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the next generation’s chosen few who must rebuild it. But to enter this elite group, candidates must first pass The Testing—their one chance at a college education and a rewarding career. Cia Vale is honored to be chosen as a Testing candidate; eager to prove her worthiness as a University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on the eve of her departure, her father’s advice hints at a darker side to her upcoming studies--trust no one. But surely she can trust Tomas, her handsome childhood friend who offers an alliance? Tomas, who seems to care more about her with the passing of every grueling (and deadly) day of the Testing. To survive, Cia must choose: love without truth or life without trust.FORMAT: The Testing is the first book in a series of YA dystopia novels. It has a mix of adventure, action, romance, and sci-fi/futuristic elements. It stands at 336 pages and was published on June 4, 2013 by Houghton Miffin Books for Children. ANALYSIS: Dystopia novels like Divergent and Hunger Games have caused the literary world to go into a craze. Publishers are looking to jump on the bandwagon and find the 'next great' hit to land in the dystopia genre. The Testing is the first book in a proposed trilogy of dystopia YA novels. While I would like to say it certainly compares to Hunger Games and Divergent, I feel there are certain elements that are lacking that give it the star power these two wonderful series had. The Testing had all the elements that can be found in virtually any dystopia novel. There is the big, bad government that knows what is best for all the citizens, the select few who are 'chosen' to be the ones to lead the world, and horrific testing/challenges that younger children have to go through in an effort to prove they can be great leaders of the future world. This is of course all mixed in with young children meeting horrific deaths and of course, the mandatory love story. Yes, this is all here in The Testing. Unfortunately, what is not in The Testing is the ability for readers to form an emotional connection with the characters. No matter how hard I tried, I failed to form a connection with any of the characters. This included all the characters, from the main characters Cia and Tomas, to the secondary characters; there was just no connection there. I felt no warmth, no love, not even hatred for the characters. I felt nothing. Does the lack of character development mean it is a bad book? Not necessarily so. If you enjoyed Hunger Games and Divergent or are in the target audience for this novel, I really believe you will enjoy this series. There is just enough of a unique twist to keep those readers satisfied. There's action, adventure, betrayal, and love. All of