Welcome back to the Fantasy-Faction weekly round-up of all the best SFF news, fun and nonsense from around the web.
There has been quite a lot of big news this week including the announcement of two standalone Star Wars movies (more on that later) and the black out at the Superbowl which had something to do with either Bane or Beyonce. The biggest news this week though, (in the UK at least) is that all the gangsters in the land sighed a heavy sigh of relief as the body found buried beneath a car park in Leicester turned out to be Richard III.
In case you don’t know, Richard the Third is probably most famous for the kind donation of his name to Cockney Rhyming Slang, as in:
“Why are you tearing the newspaper in to strips Bertie?”
“Oh, I’m just nipping to the throne for a Richard and we’re all out of toilet roll.”
Anyway, this week I bring you everything from Nerdy Valentines, Young Han and Bearded Fairy Tales to bad free books and good free books to The Muppets and 300 billion elephants. There’s also more great Hurrah For Science with three stories covering reading minds to wipe clean sheets to printing on moons.
Enjoy
Books and Stuff
Author Miles Cameron aims to prove that he can shoot an arrow through an epic fantasy novel…
http://youtu.be/piznYGq4ifc
Thank you to Orbit Books for making this happen.
Tor.com have a great excerpt from Homeland by Cory Doctorow
Chuck Wendig on book piracy.
As you’d expect from Wendig it’s a cracking read that is also incredibly thought provoking, showing a well reasoned and level approach to both the impact of book piracy on authors and also society’s approach to book piracy as a whole. If you haven’t done already, you should think about adding Wendig’s terribleminds blog to your RSS feeds. Check it out here.
On the point of getting books for nothing, do you fancy getting your hands on the latest SFF without paying a penny or facing the wrath of Wendig? Well, this week Gollancz have announced Gollancz Geeks which is calling for all SFF fans to come sign up, get free books and other goodies and then tell them what you think. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.
Pratchett and Co score at this year’s multiple Young Adult awards.
Scalzi Vs the Trolls.
Author John Scalzi has taken a novel approach to dealing with internet trolls. For every nasty comment he gets from a specific troll who has been dogging him for a long time now, Scalzi will donate $5 to charity with a donation ceiling of a whopping $1000. That’s 200 comments of abuse he’s welcoming in the name of good deeds. Plus other top profile people such as Wil Wheaton have pledged the same meaning he could raise $50,000 simply from the vindictiveness of some would-be evil-doer.|
Go Scalz!
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Geeky valentines Cards
Gone are the days when card companies could wring their hands while we sheep snapped up anything remotely heart-shaped. Now it seems that girls actually want effort when it comes to Valentines presents. Well here are some card suggestions for that special geek in your life. Via The Mary Sue.
More suings for the Tolkien estate
It seems as if every other week the Tolkien estate are suing someone. Soon I’ll probably find myself in court for having hairy feet. This time though, someone’s suing them. Will the sewage never end? …Gettit? Sewage sounds like sue-age… I… I’ll get my coat.
Star Wars
So the rumour is that Episode VII and the continuation of the Skywalker legacy won’t be the only Star Wars movies we can, er… look forward to. Disney are planning a bunch of spin-off movies focusing on some of our best loved characters with the first one to be focused on Yoda.
“The first standalone film is going to centre upon Yoda. At this stage, specifics are sparse, but Kathleen Kennedy is putting together a Star Wars slate.
“I’ve also heard tale of a Jabba story that Lucas has floated to some of his buddies. But word is Yoda is first.”
Gulp.
And here is Ryan Britt of Tor.com on how we should feel about it. And I agree with him completely.
Annnnnnd as I write this, EntertainmentWeekly claim that the two movies will follow Han Solo and Boba Fett…. You know that terrible scene at the end of Episode III where Vadar steps off the hospital bed and shouts ‘NOOOOOOOOOO’? Well, that, times ten, plus a gulp. Via Slashfilm.
It… Gets… Worse! Geek Tyrant posted this moments ago. It’s official Young Han Solo concept art from LucasFilm.It’s happening isn’t it? Break it gently to me Doc, we’re going to hear word of a Jar Jar movie next aren’t we?
Gender-flipped fairy tales
A few weeks ago I brought up the Hawkeye Initiative where artists took classis tits and arse pictures of our favourite female superheroes and swapped in Hawkeye in the same poses and skimpy outfits. It was brilliant and did a lot to further highlight the blatant sexism in our genre. Here’s more gender flippage but this time with fairy tales. I love this Rapunzel one.
Game Of Thrones
http://youtu.be/d3-hlG6Nn1s
The third series gets ever closer and here is the latest behind the scenes video blog from HBO.
Politics For Lady Stark ?
Could Catelyn Stark become the next Secretary Of State for The US? This guys seems to think so. This kind of stuff makes the world a more fun place. Via The Mary Sue.
Superheroes
A Hammer Weighs Whaaaat?
Iron Man
A new poster hit the interwebs showing Tony Stark in a whole heap of trouble.
And the latest trailer from the Superbowl…
Super-Dodge.
It appears that it’s not only Superman who can dodge bullets, so can every cinema goer everywhere if this script from the fortunately cancelled Superman Lives movie is to be believed. It’s fascinating to read but so, so good it never happened.
The Grumpy Knight
Batman meets UP in this brilliant image. (via Screenrant)
Duncan Jones to direct a WoW movie!
Yes we all know that movies based on computer games usually suck (although Mortal Kombat is still a guilty pleasure of mine) but hopefully that’s about to change as Duncan Jones is set to make a World Of Warcraft movie! Yup! He of the Moon and Source Code fame (he has a famous Star Man dad too apparently…) is gonna do us proud. Let’s just hope it gets off the ground unlike other game-movies *cough* BioShock and Halo *cough*
Become a Pulp master
Ignore work and while away the rest of today by pretending to be your very own magazine editor and creating your own pulp magazine covers with Pulp-O-Mizer from Thrilling Tales.
Thanks to Fantasy-Faction reader Victoria Sandy for bringing this to my attention.
Gaming
Very briefly. Sony have announced that they will officially be announcing the Playstation 4 on February 20. Isn’t it an odd world where an announcement needs an announcement. It’s like phoning someone to make sure they are home so that you can then phone them 30 seconds later. Bizarre.
And and and, GTA 5 has got a UK release date!
The Muppets
Our first look at the latest Muppets venture, this time with Ricky Gervais playing an evil lackey to a villainous Kermit look-alike.
Oz The Great And Powerful Superbowl Spot.
http://youtu.be/6LpUp0Td5NM
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Hurrah For Science
Read my Mind
First up, scientists have recorded the very first images of thoughts forming in a brain. Crazy and incredible. This, by the way, is how Iain M. Banks’s ships read peoples minds, by follwing the thought formation before it’s even fully happened. Head on over to io9 for more information.
Wipe Clean
Remember when Dexter laminated himself so that he would never get dirty and therefore, never have to take a bath again? Yeah, well, in my mind this discovery is basically a grown-up Dexter trying to achieve that. This material that repels all fluids is simply remarkable. Soon it will come as an optional extra for all laptops and keyboards to avoid them getting gummed up… More over at Wired.
Holy Printed Martians Batman
Last week all of the Hurrah for Science was about 3D printing and it seems that the world just can’t get enough of the stuff. Nor can the moon either. Just… seriously, check this out. They are planning on building a lunar base and printing all the pieces to make it happen. Read more over on Gizmodo.
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Catch you in seven
Also, while you’re browsing the internet, if you spot anything that you think might fit in this weekly column then email it to Paul@Fantasy-Faction.com or @PaulWiseall. If I use your link I’ll be sure to give you the kudos.
Richard Marpole
Jennie Ivins