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Soliciting books for my Summer 2009 Reading List

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Sat, 06/06/2009 - 4:34pm

It's almost summer again, which means it's time for me to start assembling that long-running Nuketown tradition: the Summer Reading List. (check out Radio Active #50 for my 2007 reading list, and Radio Active #69 for my 2008 one).

The reading list is my chance to catch up on stuff I missed during the rest of the year, as well as to read some books I've meant to get, but never did. This time around, I'm sticking mostly to science fiction in general and space opera in particular. I've got a few books already lined up, but I'm looking for suggestions: send me yours by posting a comment or emailing me at nuketown@gmail.com. I'd also love to know what's on your summer reading list, so post those books as well!

Off the Shelf: New Space Opera, Open Game Table, Space Opera Renaissance

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Sat, 05/23/2009 - 4:30am

The spring hasn't been a great time for fiction reading. After my winter reading spree, I fell into back into my video game reviewing routine, but I did manage to get a few new books in: The New Space Opera, The Open Game Table, and The Space Opera Renaissance.

The New Space Opera

First up is The New Space Opera, one of two space opera anthologies that I got for Christmas. It's a weird duck -- they've cast their net widely, including a bunch of stuff that I'd classify as as belonging to the transhumanism genre rather than space opera. The unifying elements of the book are two fold: faster-than-light travel and intergalactic colonies/empires. Working along that continuum however, and you'll find plenty of transhuman stories in which we've warped ourselves almost beyond recognition.

While I'm not opposed to such stories, they seem out of place in a space opera anthology, even a "new space opera" anthology, particularly if they've muscled out more traditional stories.

SF SIte for April 2009: Zombie Survival, The Accord, Little Brother, Biohell

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Sat, 04/04/2009 - 12:18am

The April edition of SF Site is up, with reviews of The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, The Accord by Keith Brooke, Biohell by Andy Remic, Star Trek TNG: Lost Souls by David Mack, and Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. They've also go reviews of the movie Knowing and the series finale of Battlestar Galactica.

SciFiWire.com: 18 Sci-Fi Twitter Feeds You Should Be Following

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Thu, 03/26/2009 - 3:10pm

My column about  science fiction folks worth following on Twitter is up on SciFiWire.com. It's a pretty expansive list, with 18 people in the main story, and another five that didn't make the active list, but were still worth noting. This pretty big project -- you wouldn't think it would be, Twitter being Twitter -- but it takes a goodly amount of time to find, follow and read this amount of Twitter feeds (actually, there were more than this during the research phase).

sfscope.com: Realms of Fantasy fends off looming death

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 1:06pm

According to SF Scope, Realms of Fantasy is going to be with us a while longer. Sovereign Media has sold the magazine to Tir Na Nog Press, which will continue publishing it.

It's good news -- I'd hate to see another genre fiction market fold -- but I have to admit that while I've seen it on news stands, I've never bought it. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy a good fantasy story but I find that when it comes to short fiction, I prefer scifi. Still, good news is good news (particularly in this economy) now that it's gotten a new lease on life, I might just pick up a copy.

SF Site Reviews: Time Machines, Empress of Mars, R.E.H. Horror Stories

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 5:30am

The latest SF Site reviews Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait by K.A. Bedford,  The Empress of Mars by Kage Baker, The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard by Robert E. Howard, The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow,  The Caryatids by Bruce Sterling and Incandescence by Greg Egan.

On the coliums side of the zine, the SF Site's Best Read of the Year: 2008 as well as the SF Site's Readers' Choice: Best Read of the Year: 2008. There's also a review of Coraline, new Babylon 5.1 TV reviews by Rick Norwood and the Nexus Graphica column by Rick Klaw and Mark L. William.

Strange Horizons: Victorian Techno-thriller, Fiction by K. Bird Lincoln, New Reviews

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Sun, 03/01/2009 - 5:05pm

Strange Horizons has a bunch of new articles up, including "Revisiting the Victorian Techno-thriller" by Nader Elhefnawy, the short story  "Sometimes We Arrive Home", by K. Bird Lincoln, and poem "I Christen Thee, My Higgs Boson", by Michael Meyerhofer.

There are also reviews of Gears of War: Aspho Fields by Karen Traviss, reviewed by Nader Elhefnawy, The Dragon's Nine Sons and Three Unbroken by Chris Roberson reviewed by Duncan Lawie and The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle.

SF Site posts mid-February 2009 reviews and columns

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 12:05pm

The mid-February edition of SF Site is online, with reviews of The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines, Stalking the Vampire by Mike Resnick, Gaslight Grimoire edited by J.R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec and Shadowbridge by Gregory Frost.

A number of regular columns have been published as well including "SF Site's Best Read of the Year: 2008" compiled by Neil Walsh, "Novel Delights in 2008" reviewed by Dave Truesdale, and a list of new arrivals compiled by Neil Walsh.

Top of the Pile: Dark Reign, Batman, X-Factor, Astonishing X-Men

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 9:00am

Two big story arcs have concluded in the comics universe over the last few weeks: Marvel's Secret Invasion mini series, in which the alien, shape-shifting Skrulls attempt to take over the Earth, and Batman R.I.P, in which the Dark Knight dies. Or appears to die, because really, what are the chances that he's actually dead?

As a result, we're into the clean-up phase of both story arcs, as their respective universes attempt to deal with the consequences that have been unleashed upon them.

Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1

I haven't read Secret Invasion #8 yet because my comic book store sold out of it, and hasn't gotten any reprints in. I enjoyed this series; it was a little silly and a lot of over the top, but I liked the 1950s paranoia angle, which fit in well after the Civil War storyline that saw such an expansion of in-world political power.

Star Wars Omnibus: Tales of the Jedi, Vol. 1

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 2:25pm
  • Star Wars Omnibus: Tales of the Jedi, Vol. 1
  • Dark Horse Comics
  • 395 pages
  • ISBN-13: 978-1593078300
  • MSRP: $24.95
  • Buy it from Amazon

Star Wars Omnibus: Tales of the Jedi, Vol. 1 reprints Dark Horse Comics' Knights of the Old Republic era comic books printed back in the early to mid 1990s. It consists of the first three such stories -- The Golden Age of the Sith, Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon, and The Saga of Nomi Sunrider.