Science-Fictional-Type Links & Things
Fantasy Book Critic reviews Warren Ellis’s first novel, Crooked Little Vein.
BestSF has reviewed a few magazines this week:
- A recent issue of Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest
- F&SF’s May 2007 issue
- Interzone’s issue 210
Don D’Amassa’s Critical Mass has new reviews on the Science Fiction page, including Blake Nelson’s young adult novel They Came From Below, Robert Charles Wilson’s Axis, and Charles Stross’s Halting State.
D’Amassa’s Fantasy page also has new reviews: Steph Swainston’s The Modern World, Charles Stross’s The Merchants’ War, and others.
And D’Amassa’s Horror page has new reviews as well: Scott Thomas’s Over the Darkening Fields, the new Tales from the Crypt #1, and more.
Nader Elhefnawy, at Tangent, goes off on a dumb Christopher Hitchens quote from Atlantic Monthly to the effect that SF has a “dearth of sex.”
Elhefnawy also had an essay at Tangent about Michael Moorcock and censorship.
The Space Review has published a transcript of the talk, and the following question and answer session, given by NASA Administrator Mike Griffin at the recent Heinlein Centennial.
The Contra Costa Times has an article on the huge science fiction collection at the University of California-Riverside.
Ben Bova’s regular column in the Naples News is devoted to talking about his own Campbell Award-winning novel Titan, Campbell himself, and science fiction in general.
The Salt Lake Tribune looks at the interesting phenomenon of Christian fantasy novels.
Neth Space is annoyed that so many titles begin with the word “the.”
SF Scope reports on editor and author Gardner Dozois’s recent quintuple bypass heart surgery. Details are few, but it sounds like he’s recovering pretty well – I certainly hope so, and send him all best wishes. (In happier Dozois news, he recently turned in a new original anthology, tentatively entitled Galactic Empires, to Rome Quezada of the SF Book Club, and I’m sure that book will be another winner.)
Cory Doctorow has another one of his periodic essays at Locus Online this week, all about different kinds of visions of the future.
The soul-searching about reviewing on blogs continues unabated into a second week, as Larry of the OF Blog of the Fallen explains why he reviews.
Similarly, Patrick, of Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist, has a long post about reviewing, book giveaways, and blogging.
He’s been captain of the Starship Enterprise and a partner at a Boston law firm. He’s shilled for websites and arrested bad guys. Now William Shatner is going to be a talk-show host, like Jay Leno or his buddy Henry Rollins.
In what is certain to be received with shock and awe, the vaguely innovative Sci-Fi Channel is going to precede the November 24th broadcast of the two-hour Battlestar Galactica teevee movie Razor with a bunch of two-to-three minute "mini-sodes" (their term, not mine) that will "provide background and context" for the movie special and, no doubt, help round-out their DVD release.
Department of “Shoulda Seen That Coming”: in the UK, a government minister issues a stern warning that a particular book, Tintin in the Congo, contains “hideous racial prejudice,” and that no right-thinking Briton should ever, ever read it henceforward. Result? 
Here it is Tuesday evening and we’re still debating. Should we go to the 11:59 showing of the new Harry Potter flick at the local 21-plex or catch one of the early showings in the morning? Pros and cons on both sides. But we will see the movie within the next 24 hours; count on it.
Over here on ComicMix, we’ve been talking about The Shadow a lot recently – prompted by Denny O’Neil’s fine 
Let’s just assume “Robby Reed” is his real name.
It’s a stunning effort. All the more stunning: it’s free.
The Simpsons movie is set to open in less than two weeks, meaning there will be a long, hot stretch of summer with no new Simpsons. Thus, the anticipation for the 19th season will be even more fevered. Adding to the frenzy will be a CD, Simpsons: Testify, from the Shout Factory.
