Volume Four of the complete Bloom County comic is out (it’s actually been out for 2 months, but I’m running behind). Again we have a complete run of the strips (except for one repeat because the original was never published due to some editorial complaint). This is some of Breathed’s finest works with the rise of Billy and the Boingers (nee Deathtongue) and many many swipes at pop culture icons. So, let’s see what’s in this volume.
Salman Rushdie science fiction TV series
Exciting new for Showtime, Salman Rushdie is developing a science fiction series for them:
The new work, to be called The Next People is being made for Showtime, a US cable TV network. The plot will be based in factual science, Rushdie said, but will contain elements of the supernatural or extra-terrestrial. Although filming is yet to begin, a pilot has been commissioned and written. It will have what Rushdie described as “an almost feature-film budget”.
Showtime has announced that the hour-long drama will deal with the fast pace of change in modern life, covering the areas of politics, religion, science, technology and sexuality. “It’s a sort of paranoid science-fiction series, people disappearing and being replaced by other people,” said Rushdie, 63, best known for Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses. “It’s not exactly sci-fi, in that there is not an awful lot of science behind it, but there are certainly elements which are not naturalistic,” he said in the interview, which will appear in full in the Observer later this month.
The City & The City by China Mieville
I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m not a huge China Mieville fan. I’ve tried to read numerous books of his, but have never finished. But since it looked so good and I’m a sucker for a science fiction detective story, I decided to give The City & The City
Dr. Who season 6 finally gets good (Spoilers ahoy)
I’ve been waiting to blog about Dr. Who season 6. But, so far the season has been mediocre (at best). The opening two-parter was decent, but the next few episodes just never interested me. Then we finally come to “A Good Man Goes to War” and the season explodes into greatness. Here we get the Doctor as a legend and the origin of River Song. What’s not to love? So, let’s see what happened and if you haven’t seen the episode yet, go watch it and come back.
Classic Science Fiction Week: 1984 by George Orwell
It’s not the first, might not be the best, but George Orwell’s 1984
Campbell Award Nominees announced
The John W. Campbell Memorial Award Finalists have been announced:
Jon Armstrong Yarn (review)
Night Shade Books Greg Bear Hull Zero Three (review)
Orbit William Gibson Zero History Putnam Tom McCarthy C Knopf Ian McDonald The Dervish House Gollancz / Pyr Books Adam Roberts New Model Army Gollancz Hannu Rajaniemi The Quantum Thief Gollancz / Tor Books Gavin Smith Veteran Gollancz Sheri S. Tepper The Waters Rising Eos Jean-Christophe Valtat Aurorarama Melville House E. O. Wilson Anthill W.W. Norton & Company Connie Willis Blackout (review)/ All Clear
Charles Yu How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (review)
Pantheon
Classic Science Fiction Week: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
The question, of course, I’ve heard: Is The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Classic Science Fiction Week: Dune by Frank Herbert
I came to Dune
Classic Science Fiction Week: I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
During the Golden Age of science fiction, many writers were using robots in their stories. The idea of a robotic man was not created by Isaac Asimov, but Asimov was one of the few writers who explored the implications of robots. And he was the first to explore what it meant to be a robot. His Three Laws of Robots were one of the first attempts to clarify how robots and humans should work together. Asimov’s short story collection I, Robot
Classic Science Fiction Week: Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
It’s always fun to occasionally take a look back at some science fiction classic books. So, we’ll start our look back this week with Starship Troopers