Martin Anderson of the blog Den of Geek wonders
Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon, introduced yesterday a new version of the company’s wireless electronic book reader, called Kindle 2. In addition to a sleeker design, the upgraded device has a crisper display, more memory, longer battery life, and a text-to-speech function that allows the device to read words to users. With a cost of $359, a selection of over 230,000 books, and shipping scheduled to start on February 24th, here are
“The Certainty Principle,” a new short story by British author Colin P. Davies published in the February 2009 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, has stimulated some solid discussion in a reader’s forum on Asimov’s website (beware of spoilers). The story is about a space naval officer who checks into the Red Planet Low-Gravity Retreat on Earth after being dishonorably discharged because of a fatal incident on Mars. I read “The Certainty Principle” back in early January and highly recommend it.
Scientist and author Dr. Robert Zubrin argued in a recent op-ed piece in Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, that Congress should consider economic stimulus solutions that include tax-deductible down payments on homes, flex-fuel laws for new cars, and trips to Mars.
Author James Van Pelt wrote a moving piece in his LiveJournal titled “Twenty-Five Autobiographical Science Fiction Connections.” The list of items, which is a nostalgic look back at memorable science fiction moments in his life, contains several connections to Mars. Here’s my favorite one, item #4:
Paizo Publishing has released its unabridged reprint of The Outlaws of Mars (2009), a classic sword-and-planet tale written by Otis Adelbert Kline that was first published as a seven-part serial in Argosy magazine in 1933 and 1934. The latest book in Paizo’s Planet Stories series, The Outlaws of Mars has an introduction by Joe R. Lansdale that puts the novel and Kline, a contemporary of Edgar Rice Burroughs, into a modern context.
Google and Amazon to Put More Books on Cellphones
This afternoon NPR’s Talk of the Nation: Science Friday radio program, hosted by Ira Flatow, discussed two neat topics: the contamination of Mars by bacteria from Earth, and the new Google Mars maps. Here's the coolest line from the broadcast: "The moon is dead, Jim."
Thanks to a recent post by Dave Tackett of the blog QuasarDragon, I just read “Eko and Narkiss,” a science fictional myth by author Jeremy Adam Smith that was published online in the February 2009 issue of Lone Star Stories. The myth is related to Smith's
Nicole R. Murphy of Aussiecon 4, the 2010 World Science Fiction Convention, recently interviewed author Kim Stanley Robinson, who was kind enough to provide some insight into his writing, environmental concerns, and thoughts about Worldcons. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:Nicole R. Murphy: A lot of people are very excited by the notion of the mini-series of Red Mars. How involved are you in the project, and how do you feel about with putting on a screen something that has existed only in people’s imaginations until now?Aussiecon 4 will be held in Melbourne, Australia in September 2010. Kim Stanley Robinson is the Guest of Honor.
Kim Stanley Robinson: The AMC cable channel has a team of people working on the project; I am not one of them, nor do I want to be, but my agents are, and they keep me informed. We have a certain amount of input. But they are still involved with the screenplay writer, so it is at a very early stage. I have ambivalent feelings about any film projects from my work, because as your question notes, it changes things, and sometimes not in a good way. But the books remain no matter what, so mostly I think it's a good idea to film them, as it would bring more readers to the books, and more money to the bank account.
The blog of SF writer and editor Christopher Paul Carey has an image of the cool new Mars cover art
Bill Schafer of Subterranean Press announced that Subterranean and PS Publishing are in the final stages of negotiating the rights to co-publish a
G. W. Thomas of the blog Dark Worlds has posted some beautiful artwork by renowned artist Michael Whelan depicting the Barsoom (Mars) of author
NASA reports that its Mars Exploration Rover Spirit was near a soil target known as "Stapledon" on sol 1802 (January 26, 2009). “Stapledon” is named after William Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950), a British philosopher and science fiction author who wrote Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), among other works.
Locus Magazine has posted its Science Fiction & Fantasy 2008 Recommended Reading List. The list, which covers novels, Young Adult books, collections, anthologies, novellas, novelettes, and short stories, is “a consensus by Locus editors and reviewers -- Charles N. Brown, Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan, Faren Miller, Russell Letson, Graham Sleight, Carolyn Cushman, Tim Pratt, Karen Haber, and Rich Horton -- with inputs from outside reviewers, other professionals, other lists, etc.” Works about Mars or Martians which I recognize include:
SF author Rebecca K. Rowe was interviewed recently by space research analyst and fellow author Brian Enke, both of whom are active in The Mars Society and Colorado's space industry scene. The interview covers several interesting topics, including Rowe’s desire to be on the first human mission to Mars, her fondness for reading works by Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, and Kim Stanley Robinson, and her novel, Forbidden Cargo (2006), which is partially set on Mars in the year 2110.67.JPG)
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