Big Dumb Object

PS Publishing Adding Free Online Fiction Samples

2009-07-02T20:04:25Z

PS Publishing are gradually adding free fiction samples to the catalogue - a single story from collections and anthologies, and a chapter or extract from longer works.

So for example if you want to read a story by Paul Di Filippo (Harsh Oases) or an extract from Starfall by Stephen Baxter, then you can.

Which all in all is an excellent idea. I’m much more likely to buy a book if I read a sample and like it.

Farscape The Box Set

2009-07-02T19:58:45Z

To mark Farscape's 10th anniversary, this November, the entire series will be released in a single box set. Here’s the blurb:

Never before available in one package, the DVD set will bring together all four seasons with countless hours of absorbing bonus programming featuring multiple commentaries, interviews with cast and crew, behind-the-scenes featurettes and much more! Single season collector’s sets will also be released, offering genre fans of all walks the opportunity to sample this superlative sci-fi classic.

Wow, they really go for it in their marketing copy!

There will also be the obligatory Comic-Con panel featuring executive producer Brian Henson, creator Rockne O’Bannon, and stars Ben Browder and Claudia Black. (Yes, it’s Comic-Con soon get ready for the PR overload.)

I really liked Farscape, but would have liked it even better without the muppets.

Are Anthologies The New Magazines?

2009-07-02T06:46:00Z

With the news that Talebones is closing as a magazine and opening as an anthology, it got me wondering:

Are anthologies the new magazines?

There seems to me to be a resurgence in anthologies and single author story collections. Is it now more economical to publish a book than a magazine, even if the book is limited edition? Would readers rather read books than magazines when it comes to short fiction?

Nexterlizer - Simple Recommendations

2009-07-01T07:06:00Z

Deciding what to read or play or watch or listen to next, can be a tricky thing. Too much choice, too many decisions.

To help you there are a myriad of web sites: catalogue everything you’ve ever read, make friends and let them make suggestions, answer forty two questions. And so on.

All of which are nice, but let’s face it, too much hassle. I’ve been in and out of more book recommendation sites than I can remember and none of them have satisfied what I want. So I decided to build one.

It’s called Nexterlizer and it’s the simplest recommendation application I could imagine: tell it what you last read, watched, listened to or played and it will try and give you a recommendation. Not a list, not a choice, just one. Sometimes it won’t find a recommendation, most of the times it will.

It’s a Getting Real (37Signals) approach to recommendations.

There’s also a Twitter bot @nexterlizer which you can tweet with your last item and it will reply with its suggestion.

eg. @nexterlizer Oryx And Crake

or if you want to specify whether it was something you read, played, listened to or watched you can add a prefix:

r for read
l for listened to
p for played
w for watched

eg.

@nexterlizer p Guitar Hero
@nexterlizer w Terminator Salvation

etc.

Try it out, let me know what you think and I hope you have fun with it.

Torchwood Children Of Earth Website

2009-06-30T17:37:00Z

The official Torchwood Children Of Earth website is taking shape, with some locked galleries, some promo pics and a still empty episode guide.

I’m more hopeful of this being decent than I was a month ago because (1) The trailers look good (2) James Moran wrote three of the episodes and I liked his Primeval episode.

It starts next Monday and is on consecutive days until Friday.

A Comedy About Clive Sinclair

2009-06-30T17:07:00Z

It was Science Fiction before the eighties, but for many of us growing up then a home computer was science fact, thanks to Clive Sinclair and his revolutionary ZX home computers. Although I quickly graduated to a BBC Microcomputer, enter Chris Curry.

The BBC are currently filming a comedy about that period, called Syntax Era and featuring Alexander Armstrong as Clive Sinclair, and Martin Freeman as Chris Curry. Freeman was of course in the excellent Office and Hot Fuzz and the reputedly (still not seen it) not so excellent film version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Armstrong is best known from the very funny Armstrong and Miller comedy show.

Written by Tony Saint, this 90-minute drama uses archive footage to help illustrate the buzz around Sinclair and Curry's inventions. Classic clips from programmes including John Craven's Newsround showcase the likes of Sinclair's ZX Spectrum, the infamous Sinclair C5 and Curry's triumphant BBC Micro computer demonstrating the influence these men had on Eighties' life.

Sounds geeky and perfect.

[Photo by Bowdie Some rights reserved]

Virtuality, The Critics Like It

2009-06-30T06:40:00Z

It appears that Virtuality, the new TV movie from Battlestar Galactica writers Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor is a hit with the critics.

The story follows a 12-member spaceship crew on a decade-long journey across the galaxy to find a new home for the human race before the Earth grows uninhabitable. Trouble ensues when the ship’s virtual-reality system begins to malfunction.

There’s a chance it could be turned into a series if there’s a big enough response.

It sounds, well, not exactly original, but it would be unfair to judge without seeing it, perhaps it’s wonderfully executed? I haven’t found any mention of it coming to the UK.

Locus Award Winners

2009-06-29T06:32:00Z

The winners of the 2009 Locus Awards have been announced. The full list is here. Anathem by Neal Stephenson won the best Science Fiction novel. For the short fiction "Pretty Monsters" by Kelly Link won best novella, "Pump Six" by Paolo Bacigalupi won best novella and "Exhalation" by Ted Chiang won best short story.

So that’s Pretty Monsters and Pump Six on the wish list….

BSFA AGM With Guests, Tomorrow

2009-06-26T17:45:00Z

A reminder that the BSFA AGM is tomorrow, in London. I shall be going. Say hello to me. As has become customary there will also be guests. Here’s the agenda:

The 2009 BSFA AGM will be held on 27th June 2009 at midday at Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London.

The guests for the BSFA/SFF AGM will be Nick Harkaway for the BSFA, and Paul Kincaid for the SFF.

The programme will be:

10:00 Welcome by the SFF
10:05 BSFA Panel - Launch of the British Science Fiction Survey 2009
11:00 SFF Guest - Paul Kincaid
12:00-12:30 BSFA AGM
12:30-13:30 lunch break
13:30-14:00 SFF AGM
14:00 BSFA Guest - Nick Harkaway
15:00 SFF Closing Panel - tba
16:00 Closing remarks by the BSFA

Official Lightsabers And Blasters For The Wii

2009-06-26T17:15:00Z

Coming soon, Lightsabers and Blasters for the Wii. You’ve been able to but fake Lightsabers to attach to your wiimote for a while, but these are officially sanctioned Lightsabers:

"The lightsaber is the ultimate symbol of a Jedi Knight, and the POWER A Lightsaber will represent the only licensed lightsaber for Wii on the market," said Eric Bensussen, president of BDA. "Players can feel like they are truly part of the action in the game like never before."

The blaster looks terrible:

I’m not sure why anyone would bother?

I’m more interested in a Star Wars game for the Wii that uses the MotionPlus and creates a real Lightsaber swinging game, rather than the gesture based gameplay of the Clone Wars Lightsaber Duels.

Star Trek Scene It? Trivia Game

2009-06-26T06:53:55Z

I know that there are many of you out there who are itching to proved your Star Trek geek cred. Well leave your usenet/forum/Twitter flame wars behind, and play a game in which your skills will be tested.

Or rather, there’s a new Star Trek Scene It? Trivia Game out.

Play a demo here. Watch a trailer here. Visit the web site here. Visit the Facebook page here. Buy it in the UK or the US.

I know I’d be rubbish. A Star Wars trivia game though, that’s a different matter.

First Reactions To Footage From Cameron's Avatar

2009-06-25T07:35:05Z

The first twenty four minutes of Avatar has been shown at the Cinema Expo in Amsterdam. ComingSoon has the details, including a detailed scene by scene description.

Summary? "The effects are in a league of their own." Lets hope the story is good too.

As usual these days the news broke first via Twitter by @ucsnord

Excuses For Not Writing Optimistic Science Fiction

2009-06-23T20:47:32Z

UPDATE: Changed the title of the post to emphasise that the post was a list of excuses for NOT writing optimistic Science Fiction (as pointed out by Jetse in the comments; don't send him dystopian stories!)

Jetse De Vries is editing a new optimistic Science Fiction anthology called Shine. It's a great idea and it's stirred up all sorts of unrest and reactions in the SF writing community. In a recent post he lists the excuses for not writing an optimistic SF story, I urge to to go and read the full post but here's the summary:

(Deliberately) misinterpreting the meaning of 'optimistic SF'.
Optimism is not realistic.
You cannot predict the near future exactly, so you might as well not try.
There is no possibility for conflict in a full-on optimistic future.
I can't do it because we live in dire times.
My downbeat SF story is meant as a cautionary tale.
I will not confirm to your positivist agenda: nobody tells me what to write.

And Jetse has great answers to all of these excuses.

My excuse is: I've been trying and it's really bloody hard! I'm now on my fourth attempt at something reasonable and interesting and a plausible(ish) extrapolation. I think this time I may be on to it. But the three months I've been trying to write optimistic stories are not enough, I have a feeling that it's a life times work. I'm not going to give up though.

And I can't wait to read the anthology.

Night is Day, An Indie SF Series About A Scottish Superhero

2009-06-23T20:39:54Z

I blogged about a charity screening of Night Is Day a couple of weeks ago, now series 1 is for sale on DVD and the trailer for series 2 is online.

The series takes you to a normal city, filled with superheros, supervillains, demons, vampires, and gangsters, filled with action, drama and special effects. In Scotland. Now in to its second series, the show continues to explore the world of Jason Mackenzie, Glasgow's superhero, who was once a down on-his-luck Glaswegian, left by his girlfriend, forcing him into depression which led him to being hospitalised by a horrific accident. From there Jason met Ames, a mysterious demon in human form, who gave Jason the power of a demon so he could fight to keep us safe.

There’s been a bit of Scottish based Science Fiction Literature recently, and some rather good SF writers based in Scotland, but I can’t think of anything in film.

Night Is Day an indie self-funded project, so check it out and cheer them on for making SF films.

Funky 50s Style Star Wars Poster

2009-06-22T19:38:21Z

The Star Wars shop has some funky 50s style posters by Russell Walks.

They’re limited to 2000 and cost $29.99.