All of Vernor Vinge’s novels have been set in space and in the far future. The ones I’ve read aren’t bad, but none of them grabbed me enough to want to revisit them. But when Vinge came out with a near future novel set on Earth, then I was interested. I tried reading Rainbows End when it came out, but things go in the way and I never managed to get back to it. I decided to try it out again and had mixed feelings about the book. Let’s see what’s up.
Author Archives: Mark S
Hanna Movie Review
It looked vaguely interesting when it came out in theaters last summer, but I never got around to going and seeing Hanna. The movie looked like a bad rehash of La Femme Nikita without any of the messy things (like a plot or character development) and I was pretty much right. But if you’re looking for a decent action flick, it’s not horrible. Let’s check it out.
Free Girl Genius novel
The novelization of Phil and Kaja Foglio’s Girgl Genius book is FREE on Kindle now. The book Agatha H and the Airship City, is the novelization of the first three Girl Genius books. I’ve already read book one and loved it (my review), so this is not to be missed. Grab it now.
H/T: SFSignal
Awake Pilot review
It’s been available On Demand and online for a couple weeks now, but, due to some family issues, I didn’t actually get to see the pilot for the new show Awake until last night. And I’m not sure if I’m going to keep watching. One of the problems with interesting premise shows on network TV is that they have to fill 22 episodes with interesting stuff and that often leads to significant fluff being introduced or for long term plots to proceed at a snail’s pace. On cable or premium channels, with only 10-12 episodes needed, the shows move much faster. So, I have some concerns about the science-fiction parts of Awake (namely the multiple universes) actually meaning something or just being a background piece that gets some play in once or twice a season. So, let’s check out Awake.
Metamaus by Art Spiegelman
One of my all time favorite comics is Maus(my review). Art Spiegelman recreated his father’s life in simple pictures and evocative words. The book was about the Holocaust, but, in reality, it was about so much more. So, it was with great trepidation that I approached Metamaus. Years before, Spiegelman had given access to all his notes and material he used to create Maus to Hillary Chute. That is really the beginning of Metamaus. But what is Metamaus?
Marvel Graphic Novels available on iBookstore
Any iPhone or iPad can now download Marvel Graphic novels.
Marvel on Tuesday announced that more than 80 of its graphic novels are now available on Apple’s iBookstore.
To get you started, Marvel is giving customers a chapter from New Avengers Vol.1. for free.
Empire State by Adam Christopher
Adam Christopher’s debut novel Empire State starts off as if it were going to be another steampunkish noir superhero novel. But that is all jettisoned after the first chapter and we find ourselves in an alternate reality where the rules (and people) are similar, but just different enough to catch our attention. The book quickly becomes a noirish detective novel which is not unlike the movie Dark City only with an alternate universe twist. I like the merging of genres that Christopher did, even if I wasn’t always thrilled with the result. Let’s see what happened to find out why.
Ender’s Game movie
According to producer Robert Orci, the Ender’s Game movie has started shooting. I’m interested to see what they do with it.
The Finder on Fox
One of the advantages of being sick and not being able to get back to sleep when you wake up in the middle of the night is that you have an opportunity to catch up on some TV that you’ve missed. In my case, it was the new Fox show The Finder. The show is a spin-off of Bones (as there was an episode that featured two of our main characters last season) and created by the same team. The series is based on The Locator series by Richard Greener, which I might have to check out now. So, let’s check out the series.
Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson
I’m a huge Evan Dorkin fan. I’ve collected almost everything he’s done (including his Bill and Ted series). So I’m fairly ashamed to admit that I haven’t read his Beast of Burdens stories (with art by Jill Thompson). To catch up, I grabbed the collected edition: Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites. This collection has the first four short stories and the four issue mini-series. It has painted art by Jill Thompson that works wonderfully with Dorkin’s fun and scary stories. So, who are the Beasts of Burden?