Old book ballads: “My Books” (1878)

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“The Martian Spy” 1908 short story by German SF writer Carl Grunert

If you’re deft enough to navigate the preview section of the Google Books project, you can read “The Martian Spy” (“Der Marsspion”), a 1908 short story by German science fiction writer Carl Grunert (1865-1918) that was published in The Black Mirror & Other Stories: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Germany & Austria (2008). “The Martian Spy” revolves around a photographic technician who works in an observatory and has only four fingers. The opening lines:

THE OBSERVATORY IN FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA.

“Here’s one of the photos of Mars we took yesterday,” said Lampland, one of the assistants, as he came out of the darkroom and showed Mr. Lowell, the director of the observatory, a plate that had just been developed.

“The first or the second?” Lowell asked, taking the still-wet plate carefully by the edges and holding it up to the light.

“The first. But the new technician will soon have the second ready, it’s in the fixer now...."

The Black Mirror & Other Stories was reviewed by British SF writer and critic Adam Roberts in 2009 for Strange Horizons. Sadly, Roberts neglected to mention “The Martian Spy.”

Mission to Mars film actor Gary Sinise gives video tour of Reagan Presidential Library

The not-so-shocking news that two Russian spies were arrested just over the border in the People’s Republic of Cambridge provides a great opportunity to watch Hollywood actor Gary Sinise, who starred in the not-so-bad film Mission to Mars (2000), give a video tour of the majestic Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.



In case you didn’t know, even The Gipper read John Carter of Mars books! Check out this letter Reagan wrote in 1981 to the Dixon Public Library of Illinois.

Boys’ Life: 1958 play "Mars Fantasy"

The old January 1958 issue of Boys’ Life magazine has a terrific project to help the overachieving Boy Scout in your family earn the Theater merit badge. It’s a short play titled “Mars Fantasy." The script, written by Muriel S. Bergdorf, is published in the magazine, but your scout will need a few more things before he can live out his Off-Broadway fantasy by staging and starring in a stellar production!

• Cast members: 1st Announcer, 2nd Announcer, Captain Moonlight, Prof. Wolfgang von Houndog, 1st Akela Scout, 2nd Akela Scout, The Cub, Cubby

• Stage: No scenery

• Props: Spaceship with seats for three, and panel boards with knobs and dials (kitchen gadgets); Artificial campfire; Pitcher, tray six tumblers, six straws

Good luck!

Roger Zelazny inducted into Science Fiction Hall of Fame

Hugo and Nebula Award-winning science fiction & fantasy writer Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) was inducted into the Science Fiction Museum's Hall of Fame in Seattle on Saturday, June 26, 2010. Zelazny’s classic short story “A Rose for Ecclesiastes,” set on the Red Planet and first published in the November 1963 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, is one of my favorite pieces of Martian SF&F!

Pictured: Wrap-around magazine cover art depicting a scene from “A Rose for Ecclesiastes,” by Hannes Bok.

"Cancer World” 1954 bio-med short story by Harry Warner

Thanks to the industrious folks at Project Gutenberg and ManyBooks.net, we all can read or download "Cancer World," a biological-medical short story penned by American science fiction writer Harry Warner. Originally published in the May 1954 issue of Imagination magazine, the story revolves around a fellow who tries desperately to find an illegal way of joining his family on the Red Planet: Here are the opening lines:

"WE WON THE PATAGONIAN TRUST CASE," Greg Marson's jubilant tones filled the apartment -- the hall in which he stood, the automatic kitchen in the rear, the living quarters, bedroom and nursery in between.

But no one replied. Greg let his bulging, expensive briefcase slip to the floor, strode through the empty hall, poked his head into the kitchen, then entered the nursery.

Dennis dashed to his father on two-year-old legs, and baby Phyllis gurgled twice in her pen. Greg wrinkled his nose in puzzlement, then punched the babyviewer....

[via Tinkoo Valia of Variety SF]

Open letter to Authors Guild, RWA, SFWA re copyright infringement and e-book piracy

Fantasy author Rowena Cherry's open letter, dated June 27, 2010, to the presidents of Authors Guild, Romance Writers of America, and Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America concerning copyright infringement and e-book piracy:

Dear Scott Turow, Allison Kelley, John Scalzi,

Thank you very much for everything you do to defend authors' copyrights against copyright infringement. We very much appreciate having an address to which to send our complaints, and the comfort of knowing that you compile a database of the most egregious "pirates" and pirate sites.

Despite small triumphs, ignorance persists among honest readers; lies about the legality of "sharing" go unchallenged, and the problem is getting much worse.

Please Scott Turow, Allison Kelley, John Scalzi will you talk to one another, set up one powerhouse task force, meet regularly, share resources, engage your members, give authors one central "Go To" address where we can submit complaints, report piracy sites, blogs and yahoogroups, cc our individual take-down notices.

One forceful industry voice could shut down an entire account and insist on a hosting site complying with their own TOS where their TOS has been repeatedly violated, instead of individual authors taking down one file at a time.

Thank you.

Rowena Cherry
Infinite Worlds of Fantasy Authors Group (IWOFA)

Permission granted to forward, share or repost.

Screened at 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Master Race from Mars seeks a distributor

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin of Los Angeles County, California, reports that Master Race from Mars, a low-budget film shot several years ago by longtime filmmakers Colin and Kathy Krantz Stewart, was screened at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival in France. Master Race from Mars is a science-fiction dramedy set in the late 1880s about four persecuted nomadic Martian women who flee the Red Planet and land in Philadelphia. The Krantzs are currently seeking a distributor for their film, but, surprisingly, there is no clip of it on YouTube.

Commodities of Martian Rails: Imports

Martian Rails (2009), the crayon board game manufactured by Mayfair Games about railroading on the Red Planet in which players build tracks and haul freight, has a long list of cool commodities that players can transport to generate revenue for their rail companies. For example:

Imports -- The human colonies on Mars are unable to produce or manufacture all the specialized items that they need. Many critical parts are imported from Old Earth or the Moon. Tools, chemicals, and high-value materials are typical imports.

Martian Rails is loaded with references to Martian SF!

Review: The Four Fingers of Death, new novel by Rick Moody

Charlie Jane Anders of the SF blog io9 has written a passionate review of The Four Fingers of Death (Hachette, 2010), a new novel penned by award-winning author Rick Moody that “features a hard-luck writer in 2025, whose novelization of a remake of the 1963 horror cult classic, The Crawling Hand, spins a satirical tale of a returning Mars expedition.”

While Anders concludes that “It's really only when you get to the end that you can see what this has all been about, and the sometimes rambling epic feels utterly worthwhile, in the final analysis. It's not just a fitting tribute to Vonnegut, but a great love letter to science fiction. And even though death and disease may put an end to love, Moody leaves us feeling as though love will have the last word,” The Four Fingers of Death looks as petrified as the novel’s cover art.

The Four Fingers of Death crawls onto bookstores shelves July 28th.

Latest briefs filed in epic Neil Gaiman versus Todd McFarlane comic copyright clash

This post has nothing to do with Mars, it’s just an update to the epic Spawn comic copyright clash between Neil Gaiman and Todd McFarlane. Both sides have filed their legal briefs in the wake of the motion hearing held June 14, 2010, before the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin:

• Document #314 -- Trial Brief Post-Hearing Brief of the McFarlane Defendants by Defendants Todd McFarlane, Todd Mcfarlane Productions, Inc. (Filed 6/25/2010)

• Document #315 -- Index of Exhibits re: Evidentiary Hearing held 6/14/2010 before District Judge Barbara B. Crabb, filed by Todd McFarlane, Todd Mcfarlane Productions, Inc. Original marked exhibits submitted to the Clerk of Court on 6/25/2010, maintained in exhibit room. (Filed 6/25/2010)

• Document #316 -- Trial Brief Post-hearing brief regarding derivative characters by Plaintiff Neil Gaiman. (Filed 6/25/2010)

In short, Neil Gaiman "respectfully requests that the Court grant his motion for an order: 1) declaring that the characters Tiffany, Domina, and Dark Ages Spawn (Lord Covenant) are derivative of the characters jointly owned by Gaiman and are, therefore, subject to Gaiman’s accounting of profits in this action; and 2) directing the McFarlane Defendants to produce all documents relating to Tiffany, Domina, and Dark Ages Spawn for purposes of the accounting.”

Not surprisingly, Todd McFarlane argues that the “Court should hold that Mr. Gaiman’s co-ownership of the characters Medieval Spawn and Angela does not entitle him to any accounting for profits with respect to the characters Dark ages Spawn, Tiffany or Domina.”

Richard C. Hoagland: BP oil well could trigger fatal tsunami

Radio host and best-selling author Richard "Cydonia" Hoagland, who wrote the infamous science SF book The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever (1987), is warning Gulf Coast residents that the rising pressure inside BP’s problematic Deepwater Horizon oil well could end in a huge underwater methane gas explosion, triggering a massive tsunami that could kill millions of people from Texas to Florida.


Hoagland said, "Think Mount St. Helens -- underwater. Depth recorders have detected a gas bubble growing under the ocean floor, around the well head. If this potential bubble does not get controlled ASAP before it explodes, impending disaster could be awaiting millions of residents in the Gulf states."

Rocket Summer: Introducing The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition

Welcome to Rocket Summer, where I’ll be blogging throughout the next couple of months about the new, long-awaited, already-sold-out, signed, limited, 750-page, expanded edition of the Ray Bradbury magnum opus, The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition (2009, Subterranean Press & PS Publishing). This beautiful volume, dedicated “From all who worked on this special edition to the Wizard of Mars himself, Ray Bradbury” and which I will be giving away at the end of the summer, is divided into several parts:

1960s Mars art by Shigeru Komatsuzaki

The website Pink Tentacle has a beautiful collection of Sci-Fi illustrations by the late Japanese artist Shigeru Komatsuzaki, whose work appeared on plastic model kit boxes and in magazines and picture books in the 1960s and 1970s. Check out Thunderbird Mars Explorer – Zero X (1967), from the Imai plastic model Space Science series.

Book collector’s magazine goes in search of John W. Campbell and unknown worlds

The June 2010 issue of Firsts: The Book Collector’s Magazine features an intriguing article (“In Search of Unknown Worlds") about legendary science fiction & fantasy editor John W. Campbell and unknown worlds. Here’s the promotional blurb:

"During the 1930s, the magazine Weird Tales dominated fantasy and horror fiction. In 1939, a new and different magazine appeared in the field: Unknown (later Unknown Worlds). Under the leadership of John W. Campbell, who also edited Astounding Science-Fiction, the magazine propelled fantasy a quantum leap forward."

I’ve purchased single issues of Firsts in the past. Awesome magazine if you’ve never flipped through a copy.

Pictured: First issue of Unknown (March 1939)

Poem: "My Naked Hand" by Helen Patrice

Congratulations to Australian writer Helen Patrice, whose sensual new poem "My Naked Hand" was recently published in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Issue #43 (April 2010). Comprised of three stanzas, the poem is about a woman living on a domed Mars. She yearns to feel the intimate touch of the naked Martian soil … and her lover. Here are the opening lines:

He wept for never touching
the real Mars,
as he called it.
Helen Patrice lives in Melbourne. "She has published in various genre and mainstream magazines and periodicals. She is a teacher of yoga and Middle Eastern Dance, and tutors in creative writing, and palmistry. Helen performs poetry irregularly at venues around Melbourne. She would like to be the first belly dancer in space."

"The Tree of Life" 1936 weird tale written by Catherine L. Moore

Thanks to the indefatigable folks at Project Gutenberg and ManyBooks.net, you can read or download "The Tree of Life," a short story penned by American science fiction writer Catherine Lucile "C. L." Moore. Originally published in the October 1936 issue of Weird Tales magazine, the story features interplanetary space hero Northwest Smith and is a gripping tale of the planet Mars and the terrible monstrosity that called its victims to it from afar. Here are the opening lines:

OVER TIME-RUINED ILLAR the searching planes swooped and circled. Northwest Smith, peering up at them with a steel-pale stare from the shelter of a half-collapsed temple, thought of vultures wheeling above carrion. All day long now they had been raking these ruins for him. Presently, he knew, thirst would begin to parch his throat and hunger to gnaw at him. There was neither food nor water in these ancient Martian ruins, and he knew that it could be only a matter of time before the urgencies of his own body would drive him out to signal those wheeling Patrol ships and trade his hard-won liberty for food and drink....

"The Tree of Life" is just one of several weird tales written by Moore that are set on the Red Planet and star Northwest Smith. The others: "Shambleau" (1933), "Scarlet Dream" (1934), "Dust of Gods" (1934), "The Cold Gray God" (1935).

[via Tinkoo Valia of Variety SF]

Cover revealed for forthcoming The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson

Earlier this month, the cover for The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson (Night Shade Books, August 2010), edited by Aussie anthologist Jonathan Strahan, was revealed. Sadly, it looks more appropriate for a high school astronomy book than a collection of twenty-two short stories and novellas spanning the entire career of a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning science fiction author. In any case, the forthcoming volume includes three stories previously published in KSR’s collection The Martians (2000): "Arthur Sternbach Brings The Curveball To Mars" (1999), "Sexual Dimorphism" (1999), and "Discovering Life" (2000).

Looney Tunes: Florida child molester sports two tattoos of Marvin the Martian

According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Todd A. Kite, a 47-year-old man who was convicted of “lewd or lascivious molestation victim 12-15 years old offender 18 or older” and sentenced to three years in prison in 2002, sports two tattoos of cartoon character Marvin the Martian, one on each arm! Kite was released from prison in 2005 and is registered as a sexual offender.

Martian Rainbow, a 1991 hard SF novel by Robert L. Forward

Martian Rainbow (1991), a hard science fiction novel by physicist Robert L. Forward

Pictured: Paperback (New York: Ballantine Books, 1992), #37772, 308 p., $4.99. Cover art by Jim Burns. Here's the promotional piece from the back cover:

The battle for Mars was brief and almost bloodless. General Alexander Armstrong led U.N. forces to stunning victory over what he considered the Russian usurpers of the red planet. He returned to Earth for a hero’s welcome, leaving the cold, sparsely settled world to the scientists -- and his twin brother, Dr. Augustus Armstrong, new Governor of Mars.

Alex’s Martian conquest was his ticket to the White House. As Infinite Lord and President of the United States, his ambition was complete control of all of Earth -- and of Mars!

Gus wanted only to be left in peace to direct his research programs. But as Alex’s power grew, so did the danger that he and fanatical followers would disband the distant, struggling colony. And Alex wouldn’t hesitate to use force against any who defied him.

Mars must be ready to defend herself, or die.

Gus Armstrong could not know that the slim chance for human independence -- even survival -- on Mars lay with the frozen remains of an ancient Martian creature, dead for more than two billion years!

Martian Rainbow has an interesting 18-page appendix titled “New Colonists' Guide to Mars” (2047), which covers dry facts about Mars, moons, clock and calendar, money, atmosphere, carbon dioxide poisoning, fires, places and normally unoccupied camps.

According to the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction Literature (2004), Forward's novel is a “restrained political fantasy” layered with “libertarian rhetoric.”

A brief 1991 review from Library Journal concluded that Martian Rainbow is “not an essential purchase,” while a longer piece from Kirkus Reviews concluded that Forward’s novel is “a sophomoric rehash of standard notions, with cartoon characters and strained plotting, though the accurate, informative Marsology helps.” A more traditional review by Robert B. Schmunk of Rice University concluded that “despite the massive problems I had with Martian Rainbow, I still found much of the book fascinating.”

Nixon Foundation has greater financial transparency than EFF

Despite a board of directors that includes prominent entrepreneurs and technologists such as Brad “Burning Man” Templeton, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a San Francisco-based nonprofit founded in 1990 that spends consumers' money to defend consumers' digital rights, probably will not win any consumer awards for financial disclosure and transparency (D&T) in the near future. Here’s an update to EFF’s digital commitment to D&T, for all of you consumers who are taking notes at home:

• 2008-2009 Annual Report

• 2007 Annual Report

• 2006 Annual Report

Contrast that with these documents, all posted on the website of the Richard Nixon Foundation, a privately supported, non-profit institution dedicated to educating the public about the life, legacy, and times of the Thirty-Seventh President of the United States, located in Yorba Linda, California:

• 2008 IRS Form 990

• 2007 IRS Form 990

• 2006 IRS Form 990

• IRS Determination Letter

• Conflict of Interest Policy

• Gift Acceptance Policy

• Procedures – Public Inspection of Documents

Pictured: Tricky Dick gives the thumbs-up to D&T.

Cities of Martian Rails: Bradbury Point

Martian Rails (2009), the crayon board game manufactured by Mayfair Games about railroading on the Red Planet in which players build tracks and haul freight, has a long list of interesting cities that players can capitalize on to generate revenue for their rail companies. For example:

Bradbury Point -- A small settlement on the escarpments of the northeast section. It was named for Ray Bradbury, one of the prominent science fiction authors of the 20th century, Earth. A seminal collection of his stories was titled The Martian Chronicles. His name was commemorated in numerous other science fiction stories set on Mars.

Martian Rails is loaded with references to Martian SF!

1952 copy of The Sands of Mars has limerick penned by Arthur C. Clarke

Between the Covers, a rare book dealer located in New Jersey, has an interesting early copy of Arthur C. Clarke’s novel The Sands of Mars (New York: Gnome Press, 1952) for sale over at AbeBooks:

"Inscribed by Arthur C. Clarke to his protege, one-time secretary and longtime friend Ian Macauley [...]: To Ian, looking forward to our next meeting. Arthur C. Clarke, Indian Lake, May 1952. Additionally, on the rear free endpaper Clarke has penned a limerick: There was a young girl of Devizes / Who was haled up before the assizes / For teaching young boys / Matrimonial joys / and offering French letters as prizes. -- Written under protest because Ian wouldn't pay for the book otherwise. Art."

Dire Planet Compendium: Hilt has Turned

Pulp science fiction author Joel Jenkins has posted the seventh entry in his Dire Planet Compendium: The Hilt has Turned, about a Martian game that involves a spinning sword. The compendium, illustrated by Noel Tauzon, is derived from Jenkins’ Dire Planet series, a collection of three sword & planet books inspired by Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs that chronicles swashbuckling hero Garvey Dire and his adventures on the Red Planet.

Old book ballads: “To My Bookseller”

Click image to read!

Mars Society needs a financial facelift

Paperwork filed by the Mars Society with the IRS over the past few years indicates that the financial color of the Colorado-based nonprofit is in danger of turning red. Under the longtime stewardship of its founder and president, rocket scientist and SF author Dr. Robert Zubrin, the Mars Society has burned through more than $2 million in the last seven fiscal years, recording an operating deficit in every year from FY 2002/2003 to FY 2008/2009. What has that done to the trajectory of net assets? Here’s the graph!

Kim Stanley Robinson on writing Red Mars

Suvudu, a SF/F portal controlled by publishing giant Random House, has a moving June 2010 two-paragraph reflection by SF author Kim Stanley Robinson on writing his influential and award-winning novel Red Mars (1992). It's definitely worth reading and is part of Random House’s "25 Years of Spectra: A Time Machine."

Polling problems: The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition giveaway

Sorry folks, but I had to remove the poll about the GIVEAWAY for The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition (Subterranean Press, 2009). For some reason, there was a frequent problem on Google's end. Not to worry! I've made a note of the results (12 votes in favor of me giving the book away, 2 against) and am well aware that fans are interested in this GIVEAWAY! Feel free to leave a comment expressing additional support for the GIVEAWAY!

Lost Treasure of Mars and Other Stories

Here’s an interesting anthology of reprinted short stories from the 1940s and 1950s that I’m looking forward to reading this summer: Lost Treasure of Mars and Other Stories (2006), compiled by a fellow named Jerry L. Schneider and published by a small print-on-demand shop called Pulpville Press in Rialto, California. I bought this book for about $15 through Lulu.com a few months ago, but it is also available through Amazon.com. Here’s the line-up, with a couple of writers whose names are new to me:

“Lost Treasure of Mars” by Edmond Hamilton
(Amazing Stories, August 1940)

“The Red Singing Sands” by Koller Ernst
(Super-Science Fiction, February 1958)

“Murder on Mars” by Francis M. Deegan
(Amazing Stories, April 1952)

“Nothing’s Impossible” by Charles L. Fontenay
(Super-Science Fiction, October 1958)

“The Prince of Mars Returns” by Philip F. Nowlan
(Fantastic Adventures, February and March 1940)

“Bright Flowers of Mars” by Curtis W. Casewitt
(Super-Science Fiction, April 1957)

I’m really looking forward to reading this anthology. It’s a quality print-on-demand trade paperback with good-sized font and nice, clear reproductions of original magazine artwork by Bowman, Ed Emshwiller, Ed Valigursky. Julian S. Krupa and others. The cover art needs some work, but, otherwise, no real complaints here. You can preview a few pages of this interesting anthology at Lulu.com.

Flash fiction: “Turning a Frontier into a Home” by Ben Ellis

The free SF story site 365 tomorrows has a tantalizing piece of flash fiction entitled “Turning a Frontier into a Home” (2009) by British writer Ben Ellis. It’s about selling beautiful ladies to lonely men on the first ever commercial spaceflight to Mars. Here's the opening line: “Liam slouched over his drink, a ‘Lost Beagle’, jabbing the sliced raspberries with his straw.”

Ben Ellis originally wrote “Turning a Frontier into a Home” for a flash fiction competition sponsored by New Scientist magazine.

FBI file on Wernher von Braun

The FBI’s “Electronic Reading Room” has scores of case files and thousands of documents that have been scanned from paper into digital copies, including more than 300 pages from the file on famed German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, who was a proponent of a manned mission to Mars back in the 1950's. At quick glance, the file contains information about von Braun's personal life, his involvement in secret Nazi science projects, death threats against von Braun and President Nixon, protests of von Braun by groups representing Holocaust survivors, and possible sabotage of the United States space program! Some things have been redacted, but this still makes for fascinating reading.

The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition signed limited edition giveaway!

Last week I received a precious package in the mail: The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition (2009). A signed, limited “massively expanded new edition of the Ray Bradbury magnum opus” that includes an introduction by SF author John Scalzi, an introduction by SFFH author Joe Hill, twenty-two previously uncollected or unpublished "Other Martian Tales" written by Mr. Bradbury, stunning color plates by British artist Edward Miller, and two previously unpublished screenplays written by Mr. Bradbury (1964, 1997), this long-awaited, already-sold-out, 750-page, hardcover volume has a storied publishing history and was only brought to fruition through the generosity and hard work of Subterranean Press and PS Publishing.

I’ll be blogging about the twenty-two “Other Martian Tales” throughout Rocket Summer 2010. And, if fans show enough interest, I’ll be giving away my soon-to-be used copy at the end of the summer! Sound interesting? Take the poll (located near the top right-hand column of this blog, just below the promotional artwork for The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition) and let me know what you think!

Update, June 20, 2010: Due to technical difficulties, I had to remove the poll. Not to worry, I'll definitely be giving this beautiful book away at the end of the summer!

Cover art: A Princess of Mars in age of POD

I’ve compiled a gallery on Flickr of more than 20 different covers of A Princess of Mars (1917), the seminal SF novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, all from the current digital age in which public domain works can be printed-on-demand and covered with DIY art. Some of these covers are pretty lame, but a few are actually quite creative. My favorite is pictured here, with artwork derived from Frank E. Schoonover's timeless piece for the classic first edition.

“Shock Absorber” 1955 military SF short story by E. G. von Wald

Thanks to the lords of discipline at Project Gutenberg and ManyBooks.net, you can read or download "Shock Absorber," a military SF short story written by E. G. von Wald. Originally published in the June 1955 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine, the story is set on Mars and revolves around a dysfunctional military bureaucracy that spends more time infighting than fighting the aliens. Here are the opening lines:

THE AGING LITTLE PSYCHOLOGIST looked down at the captain's insignia on his sleeve and scowled.

"I know it's a lousy, fouled-up situation, commander," he said with evident irony. "You speak of discipline. Well, it's bad enough here on Mars, where a junior officer like you feels free to argue with a full captain like me, but out there with the fleet, discipline is now virtually nonexistent."

He looked up again and quickly added, "Oh, of course there is a discipline of a sort, and in its own way it is quite effective. Strict, too, as you will find. But it has few of the marks of the military academy, of which the regular officers were so fond. Perhaps that was the reason why they let the situation get away from them, and why we are in charge of it now."

"I still think—" the commander started, but he was interrupted again….

[via Tinkoo Valia of Variety SF]

New VP of Authors Guild not only sells a lot of books, she buys a lot of politicians

Key West resident and best-selling YA novelist Judy Blume, who was recently installed as vice president of the embattled Authors Guild, not only sells a lot of books, she buys a lot of politicians. According to OpenSecrets.org, a website maintained by the Center for Responsive Politics, Blume has contributed more than $30,000 to the campaigns of various politicians since the year 1990, including contributions to Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Bill Clinton, Bill Bradley, Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean, John Kerry, Barack Obama and the DNC Services Corp. According to Judy’s Blog, Blume recently attended a May 2010 event at the White House.

Pictured: U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Judy Blume at the White House.

Trailer: Red Faction: Armageddon video game

Video game company THQ has released the trailer for Red Faction: Armageddon, the fourth installment in its popular science fiction, third-person, open-world, action-shooter, destruction-based series set on Mars. Scheduled to land on shelves in March 2011, Red Faction: Armageddon is set in the late 22nd century, about 100 years after events in the original Red Faction game, and infuses an element of horror as the physics-based combat moves to the lava tubes and ice caves beneath the Martian surface, where hero Darius Mason discovers that humans are not alone on the Red Planet.



Red Faction: Armageddon will be accompanied by a comic book, a downloadable arcade-style game, and a two-hour, action-drama SyFy channel movie that could possibly serve as the pilot for a full-blown Red Faction television series.

For Sale: Copy of The Martian Chronicles owned by PKD’s lover Joan Simpson

James Pepper Rare Books, Inc., of Santa Barbara, California, has an interesting copy of The Martian Chronicles for sale over at AbeBooks. It’s the 1951 Bantam paperback edition, “from the library of Joan Simpson, the woman with whom science fiction author Philip K. Dick shared his last serious romantic relationship. Laid in is a documentation book mark stating that this book is from the Simpson library with photographs of Philip and Joan and with the text of a letter, dated April 27, 1977, which Philip wrote to his friend, noted book dealer Ray Torrence, lovingly and eloquently expressing his deep feelings for Joan.” $45

"The Chrysalis of a Bookworm" (1885)

Click image to read!

Review: Rhone, a new dark heroic fantasy novel by John A. Karr

The blog Fantasy Book Critic has a review of Rhone (2010), a new dark heroic fantasy novel set on Mars that was written by eclectic American writer John A. Karr, inspired by legendary writers Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, Karl Edward Wagner and Edgar Rice Burroughs, and published as a trade paperback by UK-based Wild Wolf Publishing. In short, the review concludes: “Give Rhone a try if you have like dark sword and sorcery tales or heroic fantasy, as for me this was another highly enjoyable book and John A. Karr becomes another addition to my list of authors to watch out for."

Martian Rails: Rebels of the Red Planet!

Martian Rails (2009), the crayon board game manufactured by Mayfair Games about railroading on the Red Planet in which players build tracks and haul freight, has a long list of events to which players can respond in order to generate revenue for their rail companies. For example:

Rebels of the Red Planet! -- Periodically, the Red and/or Green Martians revolt against the harsh Earthman’s rule. In their anger, they ravage most train loads that they seize. The rebels are subdued after the drawing player’s next turn. Trains that are warned will stay out of the dangerous area. The natives will cross Impassable Terrain on a Repelatron Railway Bridge.

Martian Rails is loaded with references to Martian SF!

“Black Amazon of Mars” 1951 novelette by Leigh Brackett

Thanks to the industrious folks at Project Gutenberg and ManyBooks.net, you can read or download "Black Amazon of Mars," a science fiction novelette written by the Queen of Space Opera, Leigh Brackett. First published in the March 1951 issue of Planet Stories magazine, the novelette features interplanetary space hero Eric John Stark and revolves around his confrontation with Lord Ciaran, a hooded warlord who leads the hordes of Mekh. Here are the opening lines:

THROUGH ALL THE LONG COLD HOURS of the Norland night the Martian had not moved nor spoken. At dusk of the day before Eric John Stark had brought him into the ruined tower and laid him down, wrapped in blankets, on the snow. He had built a fire of dead brush, and since then the two men had waited, alone in the vast wasteland that girdles the polar cap of Mars.

Now, just before dawn, Camar the Martian spoke….

“Black Amazon of Mars” was later revised and expanded into the novel People of the Talisman (1964). Some critics and scholars have attributed the expansion to Brackett's husband, SF writer Edmond Hamilton.

[via Tinkoo Valia of Variety SF]

"War Lords of Mars" by artist Frank Frazetta

The website Fan-tas-tic! has an awesome piece of science fiction & fantasy art entitled "War Lords of Mars" that appears to have been painted by the late, great fantasy artist Frank Frazetta. Although this is the first time I’ve ever seen this painting, the woman definitely looks like a Frazetta and there is an artist’s signature down in the right hand corner. I never knew Frazetta painted robots and spaceships!

Review: Liz Williams’ 2008 novel Winterstrike

Niall Harrison of Torque Control, a blog affiliated with the British Science Fiction Association, has posted an extensive review of British SF&F author Liz Williams’ 2008 novel Winterstrike, which features the blustery city of Winterstrike on a colonized Mars governed by matriarchs. Winterstrike is on the reading list of the Science Fiction Foundation’s fourth annual Masterclass in Science Fiction Criticism, to be held later this week at Middlesex University in London.

Interview: Birdwatching from Mars comic book creator Barry Napier

Toronto blogger Mary Rajotte recently sat down for a fascinating two-part conversation with dark speculative fiction author Barry Napier, the creator of the forthcoming Birdwatching from Mars comic book series. In Part 1 of the interview, Napier discusses the genesis of Birdwatching from Mars and the different incarnations it took from idea to reality. In Part 2, Napier discusses the process of writing a comic book and the continuing popularity of the medium.

If you live in the Toronto area and are interested in creating comics, check out the Graphic Novels and Comics workshop at the University of Toronto’s Summer Writing School. Here are the course details. Thanks for the tip, Mary!

Electronic Frontier Foundation should apply for Creative Commons catalyst grant

Science fiction writer and copyright activist Cory Doctorow sez that the Creative Commons Corporation of Massachusetts is trying to raise a pool of $100,000 for Catalyst Grants, which would be used to invest in “people and organizations working to make knowledge easily, freely, and legally available to everyone.” Wonderful idea! Perhaps the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) of San Francisco should apply for one of these grants so its board of directors can attend a summer school class on “Financial Disclosure & Transparency (D&T) for 21st-century Nonprofits” at one of the Bay Area’s community colleges.

1931 fan letter from 14-year-old student Forrest J Ackerman to Edgar Rice Burroughs

Letters of Note, an amazing blog that collects fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes and memos, recently posted a beautiful 1931 one-page typed letter from 14-year-old student and Sci-Fi fan Forrest J Ackerman to famed pulp author Edgar Rice Burroughs!

And if, you can believe this, Letters of Note also has ERB’s reply to Ackerman, written just two days later! Check it out!

Pioneer SF&F writer Leslie F. Stone

SF&F author Sandra McDonald has created an awesome three-minute video (and a cool chart) entitled “75 Years of Fabulous Writers: A Periodic Table, 1933-2008,” highlighting the contributions of more than one hundred female writers, publishers and editors to the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror:



Sadly, pioneer SF&F writer Leslie F. Stone (pseudonym of Leslie F. Silberberg, nee Leslie Francis Rubenstein) didn’t make the cut, so here’s a nice biographical sketch of "Miss Stone" from Partners in Wonder: Women and the Birth of Science Fiction, 1926-1965 (2005), by Eric Leif Davin:

Leslie F. Stone, (1905-1991): Born in Philadelphia, Stone’s family moved to Philadelphia when she was eight. She began selling fairy tales to newspapers at age fifteen. Perhaps for this reason she studied journalism in school. She was married to William Silberberg from 1927 until his death in 1957. They had two sons. In the late 1940s they moved to Kensington, Maryland, where she became a prize-winning ceramicist and gardener. In the 1960s she worked at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda.

Along with Clare Winger Harris, Stone was one of the first women writers to appear in the science fiction magazines, debuting in 1929. Her science fiction was most popular in the Thirties. She also published two SF novels. In addition to her science fiction, she published fantasy fiction in Weird Tales between 1935-1938. Her last story appeared in 1951.

Leslie F. Stone is the author of the Mars novella/novel Out of the Void (1929/1967) and the short story "The Human Pets of Mars" (1936).

Thanks to editor, publisher and longtime SF fan Andrew Porter for the photograph of Leslie F. Stone!

Artist Frank Wu embeds Lowellian maps in forthcoming graphic novel

Hugo Award-winning SF&F artist Frank Wu has embedded several of astronomer Percival Lowell’s infamous early 20th-century maps of the canals on Mars in a panel of his forthcoming Guidolon graphic novel.

Speaking of Lowellian maps, I recently stumbled across a neat article from the July 1907 issue of The Bankers’ Magazine that explains how the United States could have used the canals on Mars to enact currency reform.

Flash fiction: “Warning Belles” by J.C. Towler

The free fiction story site Every Day Fiction has a humorous piece of flash fiction titled “Warning Belles” (2010) by science fiction, mystery and horror writer J.C. Towler. It’s about a group of cows that warns a dairy farmer about an impending Martian invasion. Here is the opening line: “Bill Hobinson stomped his feet against the cold, then grabbed a couple of milk pails and headed into the barn.”

[via Tinkoo Valia of Variety SF]

Review of new John Carter of Mars: The Jesse Marsh Years comic book collection

The website First Comics News has a nice review of the new Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars: The Jesse Marsh Years (Dark Horse Comics, May 2010) reprinted 1950s comic book collection, concluding: “Editor Samantha Robertson, Designer David Nestelle and Digital Restorer Andy Fisher have lovingly brought this collection to life without putting too much of their own stamp on it. They’ve just reproduced it as faithfully and beautifully as they could, so the work could go right ahead and speak for itself. The ability to know when to get out of the way and just let that happen is one of the best qualities of this Dark Horse team […] fine example of the comics medium which I give a well-deserved 9 out of 10.” I bought this hardcover book a few weeks ago. No regrets!