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New New Moon Trailer Shown at MTV Awards

David Halpert — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:32:08 +0000

Now most people know that I’m not the biggest Twilight fan in the world. Yesterday at the MTV Music Awards international audiences got their first look at the first (in my opinion real) full-length trailer for the film and I have to say I was impressed. Now having only read the first book in the series, assuming that the plot of the second book is similar to what the film will portray, I kept asking myself not only, why didn’t I start the series with the second book, but why didn’t Stephanie Meyer start the series with this novel – I know, I know, backstory, romance, blah, blah, blah…

New Moon is the second book in Meyer’s Twilight series where Bella Swan is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen, but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black. Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds her loyalties tested. For a more detailed plot, click here.

If you haven’t seen it check out the trailer for yourselves below.

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9 Opens Second at Box Office Amidst Mixed Reviews

David Halpert — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:15:48 +0000

While many had high hopes for 9, the computer-animated sci-fi/action film directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton, however, the actual box office numbers tell a different story. In its opening weekend (as the film debuted last Wednesday on September 9) the release was marked by rather lackluster numbers in terms of box office revenue, taking in a disappointing total of US$10.9 million and coming in second place after Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All by Myself, which took in more than double at US$24 million.

The cumulative total for 9 over its six-day period since its opening has been $15.3 million, barely recouping half of its budget from Relativity Media. Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds held at number 3 with a gross of US$6.5 million this weekend bringing its total to more than US$104.3 worldwide. Nevertheless, Gamer failed to reach the top five totaling less than five million. The fourth movie in the final destination franchise ‘The Final Destination’ clenched the fifth spot with a total of US$5.5 million bringing its total to US$55.

What Can We Expect from Pyr Books in the Future?

David Halpert — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:38:08 +0000

While at this year’s WorldCon I had the fortunate pleasure of meeting Lou Anders, head editor of mid-sized book publisher of Pyr Books. In recent years, Pyr (an imprint of Prometheus Books) has stood out in science fiction publishing as a publisher with a fantastic list of authors, a standard for great editorial quality, and amazing cover art to back it all up. Here is a list of what we can expect from Pyr Books in the Future:

Dawn Thief: Chronicles of the Raven 1 by James Barclay (Trade Paperback)

Noonshade: Chronicles of the Raven 2 by James Barclay (Trade Paperback)

Nightchild: Chronicles of the Raven 3 by James Barclay (Trade Paperback)

The Quiet War by Paul McAuley (Trade Paperback – September)

The Grave Thief: Book Three of the Twilight Reign (Trade Paperback – September)

This Crooked Way by James Enge (Trade Paperback – October)

Sasha: A Trial of Book & Steel by Joel Shepherd (Trade Paperback – October)

The Silver Skull: Swords of Albion Book 1 by Mark Chadbourn (Trade Paperback – October)

Diving into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Trade Paperback – November)

Starship: Flagship Book Five of the Starship Series by Mike Resnick (Hardcover – December)

City Without End: Book Three of The Entire and The Rose by Kay Kenyon (Trade Paperback – January)

Prince of Storms: Book Four of The Entire and The Rose by Kay Kenyon (Hardcover –January)

Geosynchron: Volume 3 of the Jump 225 Trilogy by David Louis Edelman (Trade Paperback – February)

TV Review: Does the Vampire Diaries Measure Up?

David Halpert — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:11:57 +0000

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where high school students look years older than they should, teachers get angry at students for not knowing historic facts about their town, and fog machines appear to be peppered throughout the small town, set to go off whenever anyone is left alone for too long. This is the Vampire Diaries. Last night the show’s pilot aired (on CW Network in the US and CTV in Canada) and to say that it’s a good fit for CW will please the network execs despite the show flaws.

Elena Gilbert moves to the Mystic Falls, Virginia after her parent’s are killed in a car accident the previous May (a crash in which Elena survived). She moves to her aunt’s alongside her younger brother as a new year at Mystic Falls High School hopes to bring new experiences in an attempt to distract Elena from the grief she still holds for her parents. Elena chronicles her thoughts and feelings in her diary, while her brother, Jeremy, takes the more self-destructive approach of drug-use to cope with his sadness. And in the midst of it all comes Stefan Salvator, the mystery (and handsome) new student that descends upon the high school for a reason we’re never explained in the pilot.

Now this show makes no illusions about capitalizing on the vampire trend, no doubt largely pushed forth by the Stephanie Meyers’ Twilight Series. However, while Twilight uses romance to act as the main thrust for the story, the Vampire Diaries takes the approach of what ‘could be’ with the romance, rather than ‘what is’. As expected there’s instant attraction between Stefan and Elena but it’s not the thrust of the plot, not yet anyway. There’s enough strong subplots with the supporting characters to act as gripping storyline to keep audiences tuned in. However, this is not True Blood. There are certain elements of the pilot that seem uninspired and somewhat careless.

There were times while watching this where the plot and the character’s actions don’t measure up. Case in point, Vicki, one of Elena’s friends, is attacked (bitten) after venturing alone from a late-night party, when she’s found and eventually taken away in an ambulance for treatment, what do her other friends do. Visit her at the hospital? Talk about what just happened? Instead they go to the local café where her friends act as if nothing happened and one even berates herself for failing to attract Stefan Salvatore earlier at the party. The downfall of this show will likely be Ian Somerhalder’s character of Damon Salvatore, Stefan’s older brother, who seems utterly hell-bent on possessing Elena. At one point he steals Stefan’s silver ring during a fight and utters, “You know what happens when daylight hits and you don’t wear that ring. Poof!” Could you be more subtle? There’s little suspense in this scene, partly because the character seems flat by comparison to the others, perhaps if it was introduced earlier in the episode and given a chance to be fleshed out more it would have made a difference.

Putting that incident aside for a moment, the show has excellent casting and the dialogue is actually what you’d expect from the young adult series that the show was based upon. What was absolutely priceless was every time a vampire was about to appear, and the lone character was literally blasted with fog machines to the point where it literally sucked all of the suspense and drama out of the scenes. They were completely unnecessary and if you’re going to use something as rudimentary as fog be sure to invest in some decent SFX when you do.

It’s difficult to write a review based on a single pilot but sufficed to say it will be interesting to see where this show takes off from here and I will definitely tune in next week to see where it goes.

Click Here to View the Works of L.J. Smith (author of the Vampire Diaries) on Amazon
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Tor Launches Print-on-Demand Imprint with Year’s Best Fantasy 9

David Halpert — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:33:28 +0000

It’s a big week for Tor.com and they’re proud to announce the immediate availability of David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer’s anthology, Year’s Best Fantasy 9.

This highly anticipated release also marks something they’re particularly proud of: Tor.com’s debut as a publishing entity, distinct from Tor Books and as a separate imprint under our shared corporate overlords at Macmillan.

Here’s what the publisher had to say on the matter:

“YBF 9 is available only as a print-on-demand book, in keeping with our mission of always exploring alternative forms of publishing. Similar to the launch of the Tor.com Store, this title is one of our various publishing projects that seek to experiment with the available alternatives to publishing’s traditional sales, distribution, and delivery mechanisms.”

As you’d expect with multiple Hugo Award-nominated (and recent winner!) editors like David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, the Table of Contents for YBF 9 is impressive.

Check out the table of contents below and be sure to check out Geoff Ryman “The Film-makers of Mars” at Tor.com.

“Shoggoths in Bloom” – Elizabeth Bear
“The Rabbi’s Hobby” – Peter S. Beagle
“Running the Snake” – Kage Baker
“The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm” – Daryl Gregory
“Reader’s Guide” – Lisa Goldstein
“The Salting and Canning of Benevolence D.” – Al Michaud
“Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake” – Naomi Novik
“A Buyer’s Guide to Maps of Antarctica” – Catherynne M. Valente
“From the Clay of His Heart” – John Brown
“If Angels Fight” – Richard Bowes
“26 Monkeys and the Abyss” – Kij Johnson
“Philologos; or, A Murder in Bistrita” – Debra Doyle & James Macdonald
“The Film-makers of Mars” – Geoff Ryman
“Childrun” – Marc Laidlaw
“Queen of the Sunlit Shore” – Liz Williams
“Lady Witherspoon’s Solution” – James Morrow
“Dearest Cecily” – Kristine Dikeman
“Ringing the Changes in Okotoks, Alberta” – Randy McCharles
“Caverns of Mystery” – Kage Baker
“Skin Deep” – Richard Parks
“King Pelles the Sure” – Peter S. Beagle
“A Guided Tour in the Kingdom of the Dead” – Richard Harland
“Avast, Abaft!” – Howard Waldrop
“Gift from a Spring” – Delia Sherman
“The First Editions” – James Stoddard
“The Olverung” – Stephen Woodworth
“Daltharee” – Jeffrey Ford
“The Forest” – Kim Wilkins

Rambo V Going Sci-Fi?

David Halpert — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:23:14 +0000

For the last couple of weeks rumors have been circulating on the net that not only is there a fifth Rambo movie on the horizon but that it will likely involve many science fiction elements as well. The fifth installment in the franchise (which has been called “Rambo V: The Savage Hunt”) will be a departure from the previous films. While John Rambo will be returning to his roots in the Pacific Northwest, much of the plot will surround a US military installation experimenting on its soldiers in an attempt to create a more powerful elite race of super soldiers. Obviously, things don’t go exactly as planned and Rambo as part of a special Black-Op team is sent to eliminate the threat.

Now I don’t mind them creating another sequel to this franchise. They did it last year ago with Rambo which was an amazing blend of action and ultra-violence, and three years ago with Rocky Balboa. For Stallone, who keep in mind is now 63, I can only say I can’t wait to see this film.

Now if you’re part of my generation (Gen-Y) and have only experienced Rambo by what you’ve heard and not actually seen the first film, you might be pleasantly surprised. Basically, the film starts out with John Rambo, a drifter and war veteran, passing through some nondescript American town, when he suddenly gets picked up by the cops for no reason refusing to leave the small town. After asking nicely for a sandwich and a motel to sleep at for the night, the battle begins between John Rambo and the law as he hightails it into the forest, eventually taking on the army commando-style. The film amounts to a pissing contest between the police chief and Rambo with both refusing to back down. Remember, don’t bring a gun to a knife fight, unless you’re facing John Rambo in which case your gun is pretty much worthless.

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Astro-Boy Trailer is Now Live

David Halpert — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:28:11 +0000

So it seems they’ve made an Astro-Boy movie. It will be released on October 28, 2009 by Imagi Animation Studios and will be distributed Freddie Highmore, Nicholas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Kristen Bell, Eugene Levy, and Nathan Lane.

According to Wikipedia (both because I’m lazy and because Astro-boy has been around for sixty years), Astroboy is an origin story set in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy (Freddie Highmore) is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist in the image of the son he had lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving man’s expectations, our hero embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, becoming part of a group of rowdy kids led by a girl named Cora (Kristen Bell), and experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators led by the greedy ring master, Ham Egg (Nathan Lane), before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the father (Nicolas Cage) who had rejected him.

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Book Review: Julian Comstock by Robert Charles Wilson

David Halpert — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:08:04 +0000

Julian Comstock isn’t a book, it’s a force, plain and simple. The fictional biopic of Julian Comstock written by his long-time friend, Adam Hazzard, is far from science fiction in my opinion. While the book utilizes tropes from the post-apocalyptic sub-genre it doesn’t dwell on them, nor does it exploit them to either further the plot or drive the action. Simply put, Wilson makes a blunt statement in his writing by omitting much of the details that led to the catastrophes of the past in his novel. Sufficed to say, sometime within the mid-21 century shit happened, and here’s where we are now.

The book is told through five parts each representing a part of Julian’s life. Without giving too much away these include his child and teenage years growing up out West, his conscription into fighting against the Dutch in Montreal, a later military campaign down the road against the Dutch once again in Labrador, and finally his rise and reign as president of the United States in Manhattan. I think what’s most scary about this book is its plausibility, the realization that it could actually happen. There’s a worldliness and a staunch attention to detail in every facet of this American landscape that at times is both hauntingly beautiful and eerily sublime.

Julian Comstock isn’t a book that’s meant to be rushed but savored. Readers of Wilson’s previous works will recognize the subject matter is quite a departure for the long-standing Canadian author. Whereas most of his novels tend to blend hard science fiction with very real, sympathetic characters, we don’t get that here, but that’s certainly not a disadvantage. Instead we’re propelled to an era where humanity has devolved back to anarchy, and having once again risen to resemble a Victorian setting. The humor of Wilson’s prose might be lost on some people but one gets the sense that the author had a lot of fun writing this book. I doesn’t do this book justice simply labeling it science fiction, it’s closest genre would be steampunk, and similarities can be drawn from other recent novels including Brian Francis Slattery’s Liberation, or Ian MacDonald’s Desolation Road.

Wilson has expressed during tours for this book that Julian Comstock will be a standalone novel as he currently finishes writing the final novel of his Spin trilogy. And while there is sufficient material to begin a sequel (or even a trilogy) I’d rather the book stand as a masterpiece on its own merits, rather than rest on its laurels as a series. Simply put, if this novel doesn’t get nominated for a lot of awards next year, this reviewer would be very shocked indeed. An excellent read.

Click Here to View the Works of Robert Charles Wilson on Amazon
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Rant: Is Expanding the Best Picture Category a Good Thing?

David Halpert — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:18:03 +0000

A few months ago when I first heard that next year’s Academy Awards was expanding the ‘Best Picture’ category from five nominees to 10 nominees there’s been one question lingering in my head ever since. Why? The obvious explanation is that a majority of the Academy for Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (or whichever association oversees the Oscars) got together and voted near unanimously in deciding to change the long-standing category. However, as a movie patron and a member of the viewing public this still doesn’t sit right with me.

Then I started to think of it from a different perspective. I questioned whether or not expanding the best picture category would allow the inclusion of more science fiction and fantasy films into the higher echelons of Oscar nominations. Again, I’m torn. But for a few exceptions (Lord of the Rings, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, etc.), science fiction and fantasy are two genres that are continuously snubbed for the best picture category. Children of Men is probably the best example of this in recent years. And while the film managed to gain three nominations, including best adapted screenplay, it failed to go any higher within that realm of cinematic excellence, despite being, in my opinion, one of the best science fiction films of all time.

But putting science fiction aside for a moment, let’s get real. Why are they expanding it in the first place? Isn’t the purpose of having a category with only five nominations instead of ten make being nominated that much better (and a win that much sweeter)? I mean ten is a big number. Six, maybe; seven, acceptable; but when you let ten separate pictures vying for the top spot, doesn’t that take away much of the significance of that award (keeping in mind that no other category got expanded)?

Movies haven’t been that great this year anyway. I’ve only enjoyed Star Trek, District 9, and Inglorious Basterds. Now don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see District 9 or a Tarantino flick on the ballot as much as the next person, but if it comes at the cost of expanding a category just so it can be done, let me just say, don’t bother.

Writers of the Future Winners Announced & Writers of the Future XXV Released

David Halpert — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:47:03 +0000

Firstly, I’d like to say that the Writers of the Future XXV anthology was released this week with the stories from this past year’s winners included.

The grand prize winners of the 25th Annual Writers of the Future Award and the 20th Illustrators of the Future Award were announced in a ceremony Saturday night at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. And tying in to history, it was in the same room where the first Academy Awards were handed out. During the same ceremony, all the past year’s quarterly winners also received their trophies and cash prizes.

The writer grand prize winner is Emery Huang, of Orlando, Florida, who wrote “Garden of Tian Zi”. The illustrators grand prize winner is Oleksandra Barysheva, a native of Ukraine who now lives in New Jersey. The winners are pictured at right with (from left to right) actress Sophia Milos (a presenter), Huang, John Goodwin (president of Galaxy Press), Barysheva, and actor Dion Graham (a presenter).

The year’s quarterly winners were also recognized at the ceremony. The writers are ranked each quarter, the illustrators are not. The quarterly winners were:

First Quarter Writers: Matthew Rotundo (Omaha, Nebraska), first place. Gary Kloster (Braham, Minnesota), second place. Fiona Lehn (Vancouver, British Columbia), third place.
Second Quarter Writers: Donald Mead (Bloomington, Illinois), first place. Mike Wood (Wirral, England), second place. Gra Linnaea (Eugene, Oregon), third place.
Third Quarter Writrers: Jordan Lapp (Coquitlam, British Columbia), first place. C.L. Holland (Anglessey, United Kingdom), second place. Krista Hoeppner Leahy (Brooklyn, New York), third place.
Fourth Quarter Writers: Emery Huang (Orlando, Florida), first place. Heather McDougal (Davenport, California), second place. Schon Zwakman (Cottage Grove, Minnesota), third place.
First Quarter Illustrators: Oleksandra Barysheva (Matawan, New Jersey), A.R. Stone (Eugene, Oregon), and Tobias Anson Fruge (Mesa, Arizona).

Second Quarter Illustrators: Mark Payton (Colorado Springs, Colorado), Joshua Stewart (Rexburg, Idaho), and Aaron Anderson (Saratosa Springs, Utah).
Third Quarter Illustrators: Douglas Bosley (Bellingham, Washington), Evan Jensen (Annapolis, Maryland), and Ryan Behrens (Olympia, Washington).
Fourth Quarter Illustrators: Jamie Luhn (Myersville, Maryland), Luke Eidenschnik (St. Joseph, Minnesota), and Brianne Hills (Billerica, Massachusetts).

The quarterly writing contest series was established in 1983, for new authors, offering cash prizes of up to $5,000. Resnick joins a team of 16 judges, which includes: Kevin J. Anderson, Doug Beason, Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, Brian Herbert, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Yoji Kondo (aka Eric Kotani), Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Frederik Pohl, Tim Powers, Robert J. Sawyer, Robert Silverberg, K.D. Wentworth, and Dave Wolverton. Hoffman, Wentworth, and Wolvertson were contest winners before becoming judges. The quarterly illustrators contest was established in 1988. The judges of that contest include: Vincent Di Fate, Leo & Diane Dillon, Bob Eggleton, Frank Frazetta, Laura Brodian Freas, Stephen Hickman, Ron & Val Lindahn, Judith Miller, Stephan Martiniere, Cliff Nielsen, Sergey Poyarkov, H.R. Van Dongen, and Stephen Youll.