Launched in Rocket Summer 2007, my blog is about Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror books on Mars. It covers classic works, new releases, short fiction, audiobooks, cover art, e-books, graphic novels, comics, poetry, music, films, authors, awards, and NASA missions.
BBC’s acclaimed Doctor Who television special “The Waters of Mars” (2009), which attracted millions of viewers in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, just won the prestigious Hugo Award in the category of Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. A science fiction horror set on the Red Planet in the year 2059, “The Waters of Mars” stars British Actor David Tennant as the Doctor and acclaimed Scottish actress Lindsay Duncan as Adelaide Brooke, his companion and head of Bowie Base One on Mars.
The Hugo Awards were announced at Aussiecon 4, the 68th World Science Fiction Convention, held in this past weekend in Melbourne, Australia.
Ray Bradbury, the timeless guy of Fantasy & Science Fiction, turns 90-years-old today, August 22, 2010. In honor of the man and this milestone, here are a few links:
• UCLA has put together a short but fascinating online tribute, including the title page of The Martian Chronicles (1950) when it was first mocked up by a layout artist.
• AbeBooks has a neat webpage commemorating some of Mr. Bradbury’s greatest achievements.
• Some young lady stars in a hilarious, if juvenile, music video titled “Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury” (2010).
Pictured: President George W. Bush and Laura Bush present the National Medal of Arts award to Ray Bradbury (2004).
A recent podcast of seasoned SF&F writer Mike Resnick’s ERB-inspired, Hugo Award-nominated short story “A Princess of Earth” by audio fiction magazine The Dunesteef has been nominated for a 2010 Parsec Award. The story, in which an aging widower is visited by John Carter of Mars, was originally published in the December 2004 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. The Parsec Awards recognize excellence in speculative fiction podcasting and will be announced at Dragon*Con in Atlanta on Labor Day weekend.
British actor David Tennant recently won a 2010 Constellation Award for the Best Male Performance in a 2009 Science Fiction Television Episode for his memorable performance in the BBC’s acclaimed Doctor Who television special “The Waters of Mars” (2009). The Constellation Awards, Canada's annual science fiction awards focused on rewarding excellence in science fiction film and television, were presented at Polaris 24 in Toronto on July 17th, 2010.
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.
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!
Congratulations to freelance writer and novelist D.B. Grady, whose debut novel Red Planet Noir (Brown Street Press, 2009) just won the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Award in the science fiction category! A hard-boiled detective tale written in the pulp tradition of the 1930s, Red Planet Noir is “a Raymond Chandler mystery in a Robert Heinlein world.” Read Chapter 1 (pdf) for free!
Congratulations to New Zealand writer and university lecturer Douglas A. Van Belle, whose short story “Zombies from Mars” has been nominated for a Sir Julius Vogel Award. “Zombies from Mars” was published in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight MagazineIssue #40 (September 2009). The Sir Julius Vogel Awards are administered by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand (SFFANZ). This year’s awards will be presented at Au Contraire, the New Zealand National Science Fiction Convention, to be held in Wellington in August 2010.
BBC’s acclaimed Doctor Who television special “The Waters of Mars” (2009), which attracted millions of viewers in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, has been nominated for a Hugo Award in the category of Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. A science fiction horror set on the Red Planet in the year 2059, “The Waters of Mars” stars British Actor David Tennant as the Doctor and acclaimed Scottish actress Lindsay Duncan as Adelaide Brooke, his companion and head of Bowie Base One.
The Hugo Awards will be announced at Aussiecon 4, the 68th World Science Fiction Convention, to be held in Melbourne, Australia, in September 2010.
Locus Online reports that Hugo and Nebula Award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) will be inducted into the Science Fiction Museum's Hall of Fame in Seattle in June 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.
After browsing some bibliographies, perusing industry and fan reviews, and reflecting upon my own readings, I’ve put together a list of 25 notable Mars books from the past decade. While I don't consider it to be a “Best of” list, I think most readers of Martian science fiction will agree with about 20 of the 25 titles. Best of success in finding some of these at your local library!
Congratulations to author Joe Haldeman, who will be honored as the next Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in 2010 by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). The Grand Master distinction is the organization’s highest honor and “recognizes excellence for a lifetime of contributions to the genres of science fiction and fantasy.” Haldeman, a past SFWA president, is a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of 20 novels and five collections. His most recent novel is Marsbound (Ace, 2008), pictured above.
Congratulations to award-winning science fiction and fantasy artist Bob Eggleton, who was recently named as one of the 50 Best Living SF/F Artists by the British digital art magazine ImagineFX. While Eggleton's artwork has spanned many themes over the years, he has produced quite a few works of Mars art, including the covers of these books:
Pictured: The Other in the Mirror (Subterranean Press 2009), an omnibus by Philip José Farmer that contains a reprint of his novel Jesus on Mars (1979). Cover art by Bob Eggleton.
Jeff Kapalka, a reviewer of comics and video games for the New York website Syracuse.com, is taking complete responsibility for the inclusion of Lars of Mars No. 10 in the new book 1000 Comic Books You Must Read (Krause 2009), by comic writer and columnist Tony Isabella. Attributed to writer Jerry Siegel and artist Murphy Anderson, Lars of Mars No. 10 was published by Ziff-Davis in May 1951 and is really the first issue in this short-lived series. Thanks to the French website GotoMars, you can read beautiful jpegs detailing the exploits of that incredible crusader from another world, Lars of Mars!
In 1994, the Fox television network aired Red Planet, an animated miniseries adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s classic juvenile science fiction novel Red Planet (1949), on its Fox Kids program. Maintaining the plot and characters of Heinlein’s juvie, the storyline revolves around Jim Marlowe, a young colonist on New Ares, his native pet, Willis, and the dangerous mines of the Beta Earth Mining Company. With actors Mark Hamill and Roddy McDowall providing the voices of two minor characters, here is Part 1 of the ten-part, approximately 60-minute animation:
At left: Paperback (New York: Paperback Library, Inc., 1967), #52-415, 158 p., 50¢. Description from the back cover:
Determined to be on the first rocket flight from the moon to Mars, stowaway Chuck Svensen endangers the experiment by hiding on board the Eros. His worst fears are realized when he discovers that his presence means less food and fuel for the rest of the crew. And when the Eros crash-lands on the strange Red Planet, Chuck takes it upon himself to bring the ship safely back to the moon. From his first encounter with the menacing rodent-like Martian creatures, to the startling climax in the weird catacombs of a ruined civilization, here is science-fiction at its bizarre best!
Part of the Winston Science Fiction series, Marooned on Mars was reviewed briefly in the June 22, 1952, issue of The New York Times. More recently, fan Paul Camp posted a reader review on Amazon.
According to The Road to Science Fiction: From Wells to Heinlein (2002), by James Gunn, Marooned on Mars won the 1951 Boys' Award of Teen-Age Fiction.
Pictured: Cover of 1967 paperback depicts astronaut Chuck Svensen battling rodent-like creatures on the Red Planet.
Science Fiction Author Hits Out at Booker Judges Guardian, September 18, 2009 By Alison Flood
Kim Stanley Robinson, one of the greatest science fiction authors writing today, has hit out at the literary establishment, accusing the Man Booker judges of "ignorance" in neglecting science fiction, which he called "the best British literature of our time".
The winner of Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards and author of the bestselling Mars trilogy, Robinson attacked the Booker for rewarding "what usually turn out to be historical novels." [...]
#4. Both SF&F author Ray Bradbury and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx are stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Ray Bradbury received the 2,193rd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002 for his contributions to literature, film, and television. "I am truly grateful to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,"said Bradbury at the ceremony. "I received so much inspiration from this city that it is a wonderful feeling to be a permanent part of my hometown. I dedicate this landmark to all of my family, friends and fans that have encouraged me throughout the years and I want to thank Mayor Hahn, the City of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for this honor."
Nikki Sixx does not have his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but Mötley Crüe received the 2,301st star in 2006 for its contribution to music. "We're across the street from the Erotica Museum and Frederick's of Hollywood. This is a perfect place for us to be,"Sixx told an estimated 600 screaming fans at the ceremony.
Previous entries on the Ray Bradbury-Nikki Sixx 10 list:
If you’re an aspiring graphic novelist and live in the area around Santa Rosa, California, here’s an awesome opportunity to improve your skill set. On Saturday, September 26th, the graphic novel team of scribe Jason McNamara and illustrator Paige Braddock will teach a 90-minute class entitled “Graphic Novels from the Ground Up” at the Charles M. Schulz Museum. Registration is required, class size is limited, and there is a nominal fee, so check the details before showing up at the door.
Bill the sci-fi guy of the blog From A Sci-Fi Standpoint has a written a nice review of Frederik Pohl's novel Man Plus (1976), which won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in the mid-1970s. As Bill notes, most of the novel takes place in a laboratory on Earth, where a fellow named Roger Torroway is transformed into a cyborg capable of surviving the harsh environment on Mars. “A fairly average reading experience, overall,” Bill gives Man Plus a rating of 3 stars out of 5.
BBC’s acclaimed Doctor Who television special “The Waters of Mars” (2009), which attracted millions of viewers in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, just won the prestigious Hugo Award in the category of Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. A science fiction horror set on the Red Planet in the year 2059, “The Waters of Mars” stars British Actor David Tennant as the Doctor and acclaimed Scottish actress Lindsay Duncan as Adelaide Brooke, his companion and head of Bowie Base One on Mars.
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