Game Of Thrones: March 2012

Musical Interlude

Motley Crue - Kickstart My Heart par vive_le_rock

I finished Mötley Crüe: The Dirt--Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band (Canada, USA, Europe) yesterday and I couldn't help it! This is by far the best book I've read this year!

They opened up the Dr. Feelgood tour with this killer track!

Musical Interlude

Candy Man, Candy Man...

You just know after a lifetime of consuming pure sugar, that peppermint lumberjack from Candyland is going to snap.

1 day...

If Microsoft made the iPod

This is a hilarious video. Apple is as concerned with its packaging as it is with its product. Clean, cool, elegant. Microsoft, on the other hand, is... well... Microsoft. Here is what the iPod box would look like if Microsoft made it.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (March 26th)

In hardcover:

Troy Denning's Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse debuts at number 2.

George R. R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons is up five positions, ending the week at number 8. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

Anne Rice's The Wolf Gift is up one spot, finishing the week at number 10. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

Patricia Briggs' Fair Game is down seven spots, finishing the week at number 11.

Stephen King's 11/22/63 is down two positions, ending the week at number 14. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

David Weber's A rising Thunder is down twelve positions, ending the week at number 15. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

Raymond E. Feist's A Crown Imperiled debuts at number 20.

Kim Harrison's A Perfect Blood is down eight positions, ending the week at number 23.

In paperback:

George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones is up three positions, ending the week at number 8.

George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones is up five positions, ending the week at number 8 (trade paperback).

George R. R. Martin's A Clash of Kings is up five positions, ending the week at number 11.

George R. R. Martin's A Storms of Swords is up eight positions, ending the week at number 16.

George R. R. Martin's A Feast for Crows is up ten positions, ending the week at number 20.

George R. R. Martin's A Clash of Kings maintains its position at number 21 (trade paperback).

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game returns at number 25.

Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter returns at number 28.

Gail Carriger's Timeless is down nine spots, finishing the week at number 31.

Patrick Rothfuss' The Wise Man's Fear is down thirteen spots, finishing the week at number 33.

Max Brooks' World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War returns at number 34 (trade paperback).

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (March 26th)

Forget AMERICAN IDOL, X-FACTOR, and THE VOICE -- here's EUROVISION!

Singing competition shows are big deals in America but folks in Europe know the REAL enchilada is the EUROVISION. Not just people but nations compete. I think the grand prize is you get to occupy Norway. Anyway, this has been going on for years and is gearing up for the 2012 edition. Among the big winners have been Abba so you know it's legit.

Anyway, this was the WINNING song in 1969. Let me repeat that: WINNING song. This one beat all the entries of all the many nations. Nothing could top it. Can you even imagine the song that finished tenth?

So here is Eurovision '69 winner, Lulu with... well, you'll hear it.

Fringe 4.16: Walter Likes Yiddish

We learn in Fringe 4.16 that Walter's no fan of Sumerian - "not my favorite ancient language," he explains, "I prefer Yiddish." Of course, Yiddish is a medieval language - a combination of ancient Hebrew and high German that arose in the shtetls in Europe, but zayr gut, anyway. That's part of the charm of Walter.

By the way, maybe it was just my imagination, but did Walter look a little younger to you at the end of tonight's episode? Just sayin'. And Astrid looked different, too.

The story was a cool return visit to an episode from Season One, with a souped up DNA turning its carriers into porcupine creatures. Tonight the bad guy behind this is David Robert Jones, which my wife realized is played by the same actor who plays Lane on Mad Men (Jared Harris). Fine acting - two wildly different, excellently played characters.

Otherwise, Olivia is in danger of losing her job at the FBI - she's lost 40-percent of this season's (world with Peter erased after Reiden Lake) memories, and which the 10th Floor (FBI brass) finds an insufficient amount of the Olivia they hired. By the end of the episode, Broyles nobly stands up for her, figuring that Olivia's better than 90% of the agents, so 40% of her is still a good number. Admirable algebra.

But there's something about this, our world, minus Peter after the lake, to which Peter has now returned, which may still need a little explaining. How come Peter's absence has changed so many things in the world, including all kinds of events with which he had nothing to do in the original world, such as, for example, Lincoln Lee being such a major character in this world that developed without Peter?

Wait a minute - maybe Peter did have something to do with Lee's prominence - Lee moved into the void that existed in Fringe in Peter's absence. And the porcupine people - why did they take a different path in the without-Peter-world? Because without Peter, without Peter and Walter as antagonists, Jones became more powerful. The indirect effects of Peter's absence being so great show how important Peter was in that world, in ways we didn't realize.

And so the shook-up kaleidoscope is gradually reassembling ....

Hey, check out my essay The Return of 1950s Science Fiction in Fringe in this new anthology

See also Fringe Returns for Season 4: Almost with Peter ... Fringe 4.2: Better and Worse Selves ... Fringe 4.3: Sanity and Son ... Fringe 4.4: Peter's Back, Ectoplasm, and McLuhan ... Fringe 4.5: Double Return ... Fringe 4.6: Time Slips ... Fringe 4.7: The Invisible Man ... Fringe 4.8: The Ramifications of Transformed Alternate Realities ... Fringe 4.9: Elizabeth ... Fringe 4.10: Deceit and Future Vision ... Fringe 4.11: Alternate Astrid ... Fringe 4.12: Double Westfield / Single Olivia ... Fringe 4.13: Tea and Telepathy ... Fringe 4.14: Palimpsest ... Fringe 4.15: I Knew It!

See also Fringe 3.1: The Other Olivia ... Fringe 3.2: Bad Olivia and Peter ... Fringe 3.3: Our/Their Olivia on the Other Side ... Fringe 3.5: Back from Hiatus, Back from the Amber ... Fringe 3.7: Two Universes Still Nearing Collision ... Fringe 3.8: Long Voyages Home ... Fringe 3.10: The Return of the Eternal Bald Observers ... Flowers for Fringenon in Fringe 3.11 ... Fringe 3.12: The Wrong Coffee ... Fringe 3.13: Alternate Fringe ... Fringe 3.14: Amber Here ... Fringe 3.15: Young Peter and Olivia ... Fringe 3.16: Walter and Yoko ... Fringe 3.17: Bell, Olivia, Lee, and the Cow ... Fringe 3.18: Clever Walternate ... Fringe 3.19 meets Inception, The Walking Dead, Tron ... Fringe 3.20: Countdown to Season 3 Finale 1 of 3 ... Fringe 3.21: Ben Frankin, Rimbaldi, and the Future ... Fringe Season 3 Finale: Here's What Happened ... Death Not Death in Fringe

See also reviews of Season 2: Top Notch Return of Fringe Second Season ... Fringe 2.2 and The Mole People ... Fringe 2.3 and the Human Body as Bomb ... Fringe 2.4 Unfolds and Takes Wing ... Fringe 2.5: Peter in Alternate Reality and Wi-Fi for the Mind ... A Different Stripe of Fringe in 2.6 ... The Kid Who Changed Minds in Fringe 2.7 ... Fringe 2.8: The Eternal Bald Observers ... Fringe 2.9: Walter's Journey ... Fringe 2.10: Walter's Brain, Harry Potter, and Flowers for Algernon ... New Fringe on Monday Night: In Alternate Universe? ... Fringe 2.12: Classic Science Fiction Chiante ... Fringe 2.13: "I Can't Let Peter Die Again" ... Fringe 2.14: Walter's Health, Books, and Father ... Fringe 2.15: I'll Take 'Manhatan' ... Fringe 2.16: Peter's Story ... Fringe 2.17: Will Olivia Tell Peter? ... Fringe 2.18: Strangeness on a Train ... Fringe 2.19: Two Plus Infinity ... Fringe the Noir Musical ... Fringe 2.21: Bring on the Alternates ... Fringe 2.22: Tin Soldiers and Nixon Coming ... Fringe Season 2 Finale: The Switch

See also reviews of Season One Fringe Begins ... Fringe 2 and 3: The Anthology Tightrope ... 4: The Eternal Bald Observer ... 7: A Bullet Can Scramble a Dead Brain's Transmission ... 8. Heroic Walter and Apple Through Steel ... 9. Razor-Tipped Butterflies of the Mind ... 10. Shattered Pieces Come Together Through Space and Times ... 11. A Traitor, a Crimimal, and a Lunatic ... 12, 13, 14: Fringe and Teleportation ... 15: Fringe is Back with Feral Child, Pheromones, and Bald Men ... 17. Fringe in New York, with Oliva as Her Suspect ... 18. Heroes and Villains across Fringe ... Stephen King, Arthur C. Clarke, and Star Trek in Penultimate Fringe ... Fringe Alternate Reality Finale: Science Fiction At Its Best

Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic

The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ...

Keith Olbermann has been fired: My take

Quick! Can you even name the network he was on? The Current Network has apparently dismissed Olbermann and he is pissed. He claims the termination was baseless and plans to (a) sue, and (b) name Current as the worst network in the world.

His tenure there has always been stormy. On the other hand, you hire Keith Olbermann you know you're not getting an Eagle Scout.

Personally, I think he's a very talented guy and really has only one legitimate enemy -- himself. Okay, maybe George Bush and himself.

Anyway, no future plans for Keith have been announced. Although the door is now open for him to star in a syndicated sitcom.

Shadow Ops: Control Point

Around Christmas time, as I was perusing the piles of books I have in my apartment, looking for stuff to bring with me to Belize in January, Myke Cole's debut, Shadow Ops: Control Point initially made it into the rotation. And then, proving yet again how much of a dumbass I can be when I put my mind to it, I elected to bring the new Naomi Novik instead. I know, I know...

Soon, the internet was abuzz with positive reviews of Cole's debut, making me regret my decision. Fortunately, I was rum punching my way through San Pedro and Caye Caulker by then, caught in a perpetual state of happiness that only the sun, the sea, rum, and girls in bikini can bring. However, all too quickly my world came crashing down on me and I was forced to return to reality and winter.

And though I had prior commitments to go through before I could give the novel a shot, I told Myke Cole that I'd be reading Shadow Ops: Control Point as soon as I was done with them. And I'm glad I did, for this book is the absolute shit! A definite frontrunner for the SFF debut of the year, no question about it!

Here's the blurb:

Army Officer. Fugitive. Sorcerer.

Across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with magical talents. Untrained and panicked, they summon storms, raise the dead, and set everything they touch ablaze.

Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it. A lieutenant attached to the military's Supernatural Operations Corps, his mission is to bring order to a world gone mad. Then he abruptly manifests a rare and prohibited magical power, transforming him overnight from government agent to public enemy number one.

The SOC knows how to handle this kind of situation: hunt him down--and take him out. Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he's ever known, and that his life isn't the only thing he's fighting for.

Although the opening chapter of a trilogy, Shadow Ops: Control Point is an introduction to a tale that's much larger in scope that reads like a stand-alone work. Hence, even though the author introduces a lot of cool concepts and fascinating ideas, Cole nevertheless keeps his cards pretty close to his chest. He gives readers a number of tantalizing peeks, yet he doesn't elaborate much on most of them. I would have liked to learn much more about the Supernatural Operations Corps, the Source, the Goblins and other creatures, the act of Manifesting, as well as many other aspects of the worldbuilding. But it was not to be. As a result, it's difficult to judge the depth of Myke Cole's creation, but he definitely piqued my curiosity and you can label me intrigued.

What originally made me drop this book from my Belizean selections was my doubt that this sort of military fantasy could truly work. Boy was I wrong! I don't know if it's because Myke Cole served in the military and did three tours in Iraq, but the guy managed to incorporate magic in military operations in a way that was realistic and exciting. When Peter V. Brett claimed that Cole's debut was "Black Hawk Down meets The X-Men," he was right.

The tale unfolds through the eyes of Oscar Britton, a lieutenant in the Supernatural Operations Corps whose life take a turn for the worse when he Manifests and suddenly becomes public enemy number one. At first, I feared that the main protagonist was a bit too empathic and introspective. That emo side of his seemed to clash with his kick-ass personality. And yet, Britton gradually grows on you and Myke Cole has quite a few surprises in store for him and the readers. A do-gooder whose good intentions often gets him in trouble, Britton goes through a lot of character growth between the covers of this novel. Whether or not this protagonist can carry the series by himself, or if the author will include the POVs of additional characters in the forthcoming sequels, remains to be seen. But as far as this debut is concerned, letting readers experience everything from Britton's point of view allowed us to truly feel the sense of loss and bewilderment that he is forced to go through as his life is turned upside down.

The pace is crips throughout, with not a single dull moment from beginning to end. There are no info-dumps, but some missions are just an excuse for Myke Cole to showcase how magic operates in combat situations. Having said that, most of those are extremely cool and page-turning action sequences. All good!

Sneaky bastard that he is, the author sort of lulls you into a false sense of security in the last portion of the novel. So much so that you feel that the end will be more or less predictable. And then, without warning, he turns the tables on you, coming up with a thrilling finale that makes it well nigh impossible for anyone not to read the second installment. Say one thing about Myke Cole, say that he sure knows how to bring the house down with a bang!

Shadow Ops: Control Point is a fun, intelligent, action-packed, entertaining read with a generous dose of ass-kicking! In all likelihood, this work won't get nominated for any genre awards. But it's been quite a while since I've had this much fun reading a book!

As far as the speculative fiction debut of 2012 is concerned, Myke Cole now sits in pole position. And he'll probably be hard to beat!

The final verdict: 8/10

For more information about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

Shadow Ops: Control Point

New R. Scott Bakker Q&A

Crap, I can't believe I missed this one!

Orbit Books recently posted a new Q&A with R. Scott Bakker. Here's a teaser:

The next book in the series is THE UNHOLY CONSULT, which you’ve already spoken of as being the biggest gamechanger in the whole series to date. How is work progressing with that book and when do you think it might be done?

THE UNHOLY CONSULT has been progressing more slowly than I would like. I was hoping for a fall release, but it will likely have to be pushed back to next year. Each book has had it’s particular struggles attached, but none quite so profound as this. We have a small child now, and this has forced me to abandon all my old habits and routines–two things which have been the cornerstone of my productivity since the beginning. I’ve also had to do some teaching and other work; if publishing does go the way of the music industry, all mid-list writers need to be prepared. Good writing is typically a maniacal, obsessive, experience for me–of the kind which, quite frankly, parenthood and moonlighting simply do not allow (certainly when children are quite young). There’s life and there’s the book–and there’s me, trying to write in the middle of what seems a war sometimes!

But war can be good, so long as it finds its way to the page in the right way.

Follow this link to read the full interview.

New R. Scott Bakker Q&A

Awake 1.5: Stretching A Dream

Another good, thought-provoking Awake last night - 1.5 - which raises the possibility of what might happen if Britten and Hannah in yellow world move from Los Angeles to Oregon.

Here's why that's important: At this point, yellow and blue worlds are both in the same place. Although Britten goes to different places in LA in the two worlds, he lives in the same house, and works in the same place.   In fact, his alternation between yellow and blue worlds happens every morning, when he awakes either with Hannah beside him or Rex in the next room.

What would happen to these alternate realities in the same point of origin if Britten changed one of those points by moving someplace else? Significantly, both yellow and blue shrinks are happy to hear about this possible move - they rarely agree, but on this matter think it could be the beginning of Britten giving up what they say is the dream part of his double existence, and focusing more completely and healthily on the reality part. Of course, we the viewers know, and Britten knows, that yellow shrink thinks blue world is the dream and blue shrink thinks that's the case for yellow world.

But we the viewers and Britten differ in our perception on one crucial point. Britten seems sure that both worlds are realities, and we cannot yet be sure.   Although, as I've been saying all along, it would be disappointing if either world turns out to be a dream, or both worlds turn out to be a dream. I'm with Britten in wanting both to be somehow be real.

In the single most telling series of scenes, at the end, Britten indicates that he might indeed move with Hannah to Oregon, but he insists to blue shrink that he's the one who's making this work now, and he'll find a way to make it (that is, the two worlds) work even if each world is in a different place.

Jason Isaacs is certainly making this complex story work with his strong, sensitive acting. I have a feeling that the Brittens won't be moving to Oregon after all, but you never.   And Britten also now, in blue world, has a serial killing nemesis on his hands.

See also Awake ... Awake 1.2: "Whole" Family ... Awake 1.3: Frequency of Yellow and Blue ... Awake 1.4: The Baker and the Hooker

Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic

The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com

Person of Interest 1.18: Double Ecstasy

A pretty good Person of Interest 1.18 last night, which offered a new twist on the perennial POI question of whether the number belongs to a victim (usually the case) or villain. This time the number belongs to both - because it relates to an identity (victim) stolen by another (villain). One number/identify being used by two people.

The double identity requires Reese and Finch to both go out into the field, each looking into one of the identities, with Finch getting the villain, actually the villainess. Good to see Sarah Wynter in this role - I thought she was best love interest that Jack Bauer ever had after Teri (2nd season of 24 - Kate Warner). On Person of Interest, Sarah seeks to foil Finch by dosing him with ecstasy.

This leads, in the end, to one of the finer moments between Reese and Finch. Still under the influence, Finch offers to tell Reese anything he wants to know, about anything. Reese, in a memorable moment of decency, declines the offer, despite his ever-present curiosity. As Reese leaves the room, Finch mumbles "Nathan," a drug induced recognition that Reese is now as valued a partner as Nathan once was.

The other nice take-away from this episode is Finch's earlier observation that he invented social media for the government, as a way of getting people to happily make public all the kinds of information which the government has long sought with mixed success to collect. This has a sharp relevance to the news in our real world today that the GOP in Congress defeated a bill that would have prohibited employers from requiring employees to divulge passwords to their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

What a world - but good we have shows like Person of Interest to remind about what can happen when government intrusion on our privacy goes beyond its already unacceptable levels.

See also Person of Interest of Interest ... Person of Interest 1.2: Reese and Finch ... Person of Interest 1.5: Potentials ... Person of Interest 1.7: Meets Flashpoint and The Usual Suspects ... Person of Interest 1.8: Widmore and Ben, At It Again ... Person of Interest 1.9: Evolution of a Series ... Person of Interest: 1.10: Carter Returns the Favor ... Person of Interest 1.11-1.12: Realignment and Revelation ... Person of Interest 1.14: Reese as Ronin ... Person of Interest 1.16: Meets Wall Street ... Person of Interest 1.17: Hearts and Places

Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic

The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ...

Pixar's Japan Relief Art Auction

All of the doodles are in for Dice Tsutsumi's Japan Relief Art Auction. Some pieces are being sold individually, others are being sold as "Doodle Packs" like these three.

If you feel so inclined, head over to the eBay site and make a bid on one!

2 days...

ARCHER and other topics

A pretty funny show, by the way. But turning to Friday Questions:

William C. Bonner has the ARCHER Q:

One of my favorite shows over the past couple of years has been Archer. I've described it to friends as a cross between Get Smart and South Park. It's seasons seem to be 10 episodes long.

For a season like this, is it most likely that all of the season will be written and sold, then the voices and animation done in one block, or is it likely to flow in a weekly timeframe similar to other longer running US series?

Can’t speak for ARCHER, but it varies. Most animated shows do prepare all the scripts and record all the actors first, then the animators go to work. That’s how THE SIMPSONS work. The problem there is that it’s hard to do anything really timely.

But on SOUTH PARK, Matt & Trey make each episode individually over a week. And deliver it at the last second. Don’t know how they do it. I’d be showrunning from a cardiac ward. There's a good Comedy Central show on the making of SOUTH PARK. If you can find it, I recommend it.

Becky has a question after reading my post on BENT:

Do shows have a choice which networks their pilot goes to? Can they opt out of certain networks seeing/bidding on it? And if said network wants to buy it, can they refuse, or would that make them complete idiots?

I wonder if Bent would've gotten a better shake on say, CBS, where the viewership is different?

If the writer is attached to a studio that means today he is attached to one of the networks. Usually they must bring their project to either that network exclusively or at least first.

If you’re not attached, you can go anywhere. Generally you pitch to all of them but first to the place you think is most compatible to your idea. If you sell it, you will almost surely do it through the studio owned by that network.

As for excluding networks, I know writers who hate certain networks and just won’t deal with them. This usually stems from a bad previous experience. In many cases, the feeling is mutual.

But certain ideas are better suited for specific networks. If you came up with the next GOLDEN GIRLS you’d probably be wise not selling it to Fox. Now they may buy it and say all the right things – “We’re looking to broaden our audience”, “We really want to be in business with you,” but at the end of the day, when they make their schedule they won’t pick up your show for the reasons you anticipated and they assured you didn’t matter.

More and more today there are bidding wars between networks for either specs or packages that generally include attached talent. You’re in the driver’s seat in those cases. You can choose the network that is most compatible, or gives you a commitment, or (based on their schedule) provides you the best chance at success.

I don’t know the history of BENT. They might have pitched it to other networks and were rejected.

When David Isaacs, Robin Schiff, and I were going to pitch ALMOST PERFECT, our first meeting was with ABC. They called and wanted to postpone it for three weeks. So we took it to CBS and sold it. Once the pilot aired I got a call from the President of ABC saying how much he loved the show but asked why we didn’t bring it to them first. I said, “We DID! Or at least tried to.”

From SitcomRoom attendee Wendy Grossman:

What’s with all the actors who get producer credits these days? Does it give them any extra control, money, job security, or responsibility?

Yes to all of the above and they qualify to win Emmys if the show wins comedy or drama of the year. For some actors it’s just a status thing. Others really do involve themselves creatively. Ray Romano would sit in on rewrites (and be extremely funny and helpful I might add). Alan Alda was very much involved. Other star/producers couldn’t tell you where the writers room was.

And the truth is stars don’t need a producer credit to exert their creative influence.

Finally, from Michael:

With the large number of pilots being filmed this time of year, how difficult is it to get experienced technical crews to work on them? Related question - is the competition for crew jobs as tough as it is for actors and writers?

Maybe not as competitive but yes, good crew members are in high demand during pilot season. And good crews will work numerous pilots, depending on scheduling.

Lots of times directors will bring a lot of their crew people with them and as a showrunner I support this practice. Directors will be more comfortable surrounded by people they know and work well with.

I directed episodes of a show that Jamie Widdoes usually directed. He put together the crew, hand-picked from individuals he had worked with on previous shows. For me, it was like getting behind the wheel of a Porsche. Everyone was fantastic.

But since most pilots are done in the same window of time there is competition to hire the best crews, directors, and casting people. And it doesn’t stop there. Sound stages are at a premium. It’s like Filene’s basement except instead of throwing someone on the ground for a sweater you do it for stage with decent dressing rooms.

What's your question?

One Singer | One Song | Which Court?

Something to ease you into the weekend....

At last! I have moved forward in time MUSICALLY - at least to the late 70s when the only good thing to come out of Northern Ireland (or Norn Irn as we like to call it) was the glory that was The Undertones. I can only apologise for the noise of Peter Powell's jumpsuit...

My Perfect Cousin perfectly encapsulates that indignant feeling of being Not Good Enough in comparison to someone else. Someone whom YOU consider to be a real dipstick.

With his fur-lined sheepskin jacket, his penchant for University Challenge - just which court card might this icon of perfection be? According to his disaffected cousin, at any rate!

And who is the cousin who balks at the unfair comparisons?

Hope you have a lovely weekend - see you Monday!

A Huge Congrats to Jeff Hirsch

So I was going to write a real and very serious post about something helpful today, but then this happened and well, it's just too awesome to not get top billing!

Wait, what's that? How about a better picture?

Our own Jeff Hirsch is a USA Today Bestselling Author! Congrats Jeff!

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Neal Stephenson's Anathem for only 1.99$ here. Considering that the hardback is 937 pages long, that's a sweet deal!

Here's the blurb:

Anathem, the latest invention by the New York Times bestselling author of Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle, is a magnificent creation: a work of great scope, intelligence, and imagination that ushers readers into a recognizable - yet strangely inverted - world.

Fraa Erasmas is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside "saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community. Yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe, becoming out of necessity even more austere and less dependent on technology and material things. And Erasmas has no fear of the outside - the Extramuros - for the last of the terrible times was long, long ago.

Now, in celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fraas and suurs prepare to venture beyond the concent's gates - at the same time opening them wide to welcome the curious "extras" in. During his first Apert as a fraa, Erasmas eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected." But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change.

Powerful unforeseen forces jeopardize the peaceful stability of mathic life and the established ennui of the Extramuros - a threat that only an unsteady alliance of saecular and avout can oppose - as, one by one, Erasmas and his colleagues, teachers, and friends are summoned forth from the safety of the concent in hopes of warding off global disaster. Suddenly burdened with a staggering responsibility, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world - as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

Christopher Priest rips into the Arthur C. Clarke Award

KABOUM!

Holy shit, but Christopher Priest doesn't pull any punches! Most genre fans don't give a damn about awards, yet even those who do opined that this year's shortlist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award was kind of weak.

In a day and age in which the credibility of such awards continues to be questioned, Christopher Priest goes all out!

Here's an excerpt from his article:

It seems to me that 2011 was a poor year for science fiction. Of the sixty books submitted by publishers, only a tiny handful were suitable for awards. The brutal reality is that there were fewer than the six needed for the Clarke shortlist. Many of the submissions were fantasy of the least ambitious type, and many of the science fiction titles were almost as firmly embedded in genre orthodoxies, to their own huge disadvantage (and discredit), as the plodding, laddish works of Mr Mark Billingham. Discounting all those submissions did not leave many competitors at the top.

[...]

In short, the winner of the award must be found within an excellent shortlist, that the win must seem to have been hard-won, and that the choice was the result of reasoned argument and intelligent debate amongst the judges.

[...]

Miéville has already won the Clarke Award three times – which is not his fault, and one assumes not his intention. No doubt he is pleased to have done so. His current novel is the leading contender for this year’s award, and if it becomes the winner then it will be his fourth. Again, not his fault and not apparently what he necessarily seeks, but also it’s safe to assume he would not turn it down.

However, a fourth award to this writer would send out a misleading and damaging message to the world at large: it suggests that not only is Mr Miéville the best the SF world can offer at the moment, he is shown to be more or less the only writer worth reading. Worse even than this, it would send a misleading message to China Miéville himself.

Although Miéville is clearly talented, he does not work hard enough. For a novel about language, Embassytown contains many careless solecisms, which either Mr Miéville or his editor should have dealt with. This isn’t the place to go into a long textual analysis, but (for example) a writer at his level should never use ‘alright’ so often or so unembarrassedly. He also uses far too many neologisms or SF nonce-words, which drive home the fact that he is defined and limited by the expectations of a genre audience. On the first few pages, alone, he uses the words ‘shiftparents’, ‘voidcraft’, ‘yearsends’, ‘trid’, ‘vespcams’, ‘miab’, ‘plastone’, ‘hostnest’, ‘altoysterman’ … Yes, of course, it’s possible to work out what most of these might mean (or to wait until another context makes them clearer), but it is exactly this use of made-up nouns that makes many people find science fiction arcane or excluding. A better writer would find a more effective way of suggesting strangeness or an alien environment than by just ramming words together. It’s lazy writing.

[...]

Sheri S. Tepper’s The Waters Rising (Gollancz) – how can one describe it? For fuck’s sake, it is a quest saga and it has a talking horse. There are puns on the word ‘neigh’.

[...]

We have a dreadful shortlist put together by a set of judges who were not fit for purpose. They were incompetent. Their incompetence was made more problematical because the overall quality of the fiction in the year in question was poor. They did not know how to resolve this. They played what they saw as safe.

They failed themselves, they failed the Clarke Award, and they failed anyone who takes a serious interest in speculative fiction.

[...]

The easy way out of this problem is to do nothing. We wait for 2nd May, we troop along to the awards ceremony and we wait for the decision to be announced. In a sense, it does not matter which one of the six books is announced, because all of them are deficient in the ways I have described. (If this happens, I hope the winner is Jane Rogers, because the deficiencies in her novel are much less serious than those in the others.) The true winner of the award, the writer of the best book of last year, will never be known, because he or she is not on the shortlist.

But there is a better way forward, and here it is.
1. The present panel of judges should be fired, or forced to resign, immediately. Their names are Juliet E. McKenna, Martin Lewis, Phil Nanson, Nikkianne Moody and Rob Grant. Chairman Andrew M. Butler should also resign. These people have proved themselves incompetent as judges, and should not be allowed to have any more say about or influence on the Arthur C. Clarke Award.
2. The 2012 Arthur C. Clarke Award should be suspended forthwith, and the planned awards ceremony on 2nd May should be cancelled.
3. The award fund (£2,012.00, as I understand it) should be held over until next year. Next year’s fund should be added to it, so that the prize for 2013 becomes £4,013.00.
4. The 2013 Clarke Award should be made to the best novel published in the two years ended 31st December 2012. All novels currently eligible for the 2012 award, whether or not they have been shortlisted by this year’s panel, are eligible again.
5. All the other usual rules of the Award should be applied.

Follow this link to read Christopher Priest's full piece.

Christopher Priest rips into the Arthur C. Clarke Award

Orcs for Japan Relief, 3 of 3

Our last look at Orcs (for the time being, anyway) is an examination of their favorite pass-time: ventriloquism.

Unlike most ventriloquists, Orcs prefer to use formerly living "dummies". No taxidermy or embalming needed, fresh off the kill is just fine for an Orc performer. By Orc standards, the rotting and decay of an aging dummy only adds character to the act.

3 days...

Only 9 more hours to get my free book

I can't make it any cheaper. But this promotion ends at midnight PDT. According to the people who downloaded it for FREE, it's worth twice what they paid for it. Even if you don't own a Kindle you can get a Kindle ap for your computer or tablet and use that. And the aps are free. So take advantage of this nifty offer while you can. Just click here. Thanks.

Assista a três cenas do episódio 2x02 "The Night Lands"

Junto com as seis cenas da premiere de "Game of Thrones", a HBO divulgou três cenas do segundo episódio da segunda temporada, The Night Lands, que será exibido nos EUA e Brasil dia 08/04. Assista:

Assista a seis cenas do episódio 2x01 "The North Remembers"

A HBO divulgou seis cenas do episódio de estréia da segunda temporada de "Game of Thrones", The North Remembers, que será exibido neste domingo (01/04) simultaneamente nos EUA e Brasil (às 22h na HBO). Assista: