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The Offworld Report
 A
bumper crop of offworld goodies, including an interview with Nancy
Kress, short fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin, and the godfather of US
science fiction, Charles N. Brown, speaking out about a life serving
in the trenches of the fantastic.
October 2002's sideways glance at all that is new and
interesting 'offworld', far away from the comfortable orbit of the
'Nest.
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Charles
N. Brown: The Joy of SF
Charley Brown, head honcho at Locus magazine - now supposedly
semi-retired - ruminates on his long life in science fiction
since the 1950s.
An interesting, if slightly long and mawkish, look back from
the US Godfather of SF.
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Hugo
Award Winners 2002
Locus lists all the various award winners for the 2002 Hugos. Best
novel went to 'American Gods', by the vastly over-rated Neil Gaiman.
Why?
The
Drone Armies Are Coming
Someone at the Office of Naval Research has obviously been working
under the influence of the Phantom Menace flick, as those crazy
people over at the military industrial complex are now working on
a drone army looking to go onstream by 2020.
Ghost
Ship
Spooky movie where a liner thought lost in the 1940s is suddenly
discovered floating in the ocean. Scared witless? You will be after
you've downloaded and watched this Quicktime trailer.
Matrix
Reloaded
Early teaser trailer for the sequel to the incredible Matrix movie.
Quicktime plug-in required to watch.
The
State We're in
Jonathan Cowie looks at the book sales figures for the UK SFF market
and ponders the disparity between SF and fantasy retail volumes.
Fantasy sells way more than SF, but don't tell Harry Potter.
Nemesis
The new trailer for the film Star Trek Nemesis - possibly the last
outing for the Next Generation crew. Well, at least Jon Luc Picard
won't need to wear a wig. Quicktime plug-in required to watch.
The
Duke of Uranium
A bit of a departure for serious cyberpunk author John Barnes -
as JB moves into space-opera; and from a quick skim of the book,
fairly YA-oriented space opera at that. Make you own mind up, as
Time Warner have stuck up a sample chapter for you Barnes fans out
there.
Treasure
Planet
Disney's cartoon remake of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island
- set in space! The Lion King, we suspect it isn't. Quicktime plug-in
required to watch.
Die
Another Day
Ah the new trailer for the latest Bond flick … come in Mr Dowload,
we've been expecting you. Quicktime plug-in is, as always, is required
to watch.
A
Conversation With Karen Michalson
The author of the SF novel 'Enemy Glory' gets interviewed about
her life and works. The 'Nest's tip of the month … keep an eye out
on Ms Michalson. She's going to be one of the great ones!
Elven
Blades and Zero-G Ki: The Evolution of Martial Arts in SF and Fantasy
Everyone was Kung Fu fighting? According to this flipping article,
they are. A sly look at the use of martial arts in SFF books, movies
and TV; material ranging from Lord of the Rings to Star Trek.
Ursula
K. Le Guin's The Seasons of the Ansarac
Short fiction by the grande 'ol dame of the field. She warns: If
you are not bringing a sense of humor with you when reading "The
Seasons of the Ansarac," be very careful not to drop it on
your foot. A little off the wall, but then online SF does tend to
get used as a dumping ground for this kind of material.
The
Theory of Evolution … for Robots?
Making a robot that can fly like a bird is beyond the reach of current
technology. But making a robot that can teach itself to fly? Well,
it seems that might just be possible.
Sci-Fi
Women Want Brains and Brawn!
Female science-fiction fans didn't often see strong women in their
favorite childhood books, but that's changing. And with more scientists
penning novels, there's sounder science in the fiction too.
Filling
in the Black Hole Blank
Astronomers may have hit the black hole jackpot as scientists discover
small, medium-sized and enormous black holes.
Nancy
Kress Interviewed
The author of 'Probability Space' on her books and how our Nancy
only became a science fiction novelist because she failed at embroidery
and quilting. Well, the quilting world's loss if definitely SFF's
gain. She's a game bird, alright.
Antimatter
takes a step nearer to reality
European scientists produce significant amounts of antimatter, which
will now allow them to test out a few of the basic antimatter theories
in physics. Warp Factor One if you please, Mr ESA researcher.
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OTHER CONTENT - October 2002
The Big Bam Boom
John Aegard takes a bemused look at the Orion Project, where NASA and its chums were planning to hurl a spaceship into orbit and beyond by riding the blast generated by a series of atomic explosions.
(ARTICLES)
Pluto Nash
Frank puts his feet up for the space-aged spoof 'The Adventures of Pluto Nash', only to discover this film is about as funny as an asteroid stuck up one's rectum.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Lilo and Stitch
More SF movie action for Frank. 'Alien'-ation from another planet takes a Hawaiian vacation in the cute but thinly breezy sci-fi animation flick "Lilo & Stitch".
(FILM REVIEWS)
DiFate Smiles Kindly
It's hard not to use superlatives when talking about Vincent Di Fate. Just when you've been staggered by this artist's work, you realize he's also the man responsible for the ground-breaking survey of 20th-century SF art, Infinite Worlds.
(INTERVIEWS)
The King of Shannara
Fantasy author Terry Brooks on why he didn't think he would still be writing books in his Shannara universe after all this time, on why less is more, and why, like science in our own world, magic is neither good nor bad.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
The Offworld Report
A bumper crop of offworld goodies, including an interview with Nancy Kress, short fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin, and the godfather of US science fiction, Charles N. Brown, speaking out about a life serving in the trenches of the fantastic.
(ARTICLES)
The way from ConJose is … Scotland?
Brush the dust off your sporran and boil the water for the haggis, because the World Science Fiction Convention for 2005 has been awarded to Glasgow. We may fail to land the Olympics, but who cares, because science fiction is coming home at last.
(CONVENTION NEWS)
Sites for Sore Eyes
Our Rod brings you the latest in science fiction and fantasy web site reviews from the comfort of his warm den in the Highlands.
(SITE REVIEWS)
Dragonfly won't Fly
There's a sound reason for swatting away the preposterous "Dragonfly", Kevin Costner's latest sappy supernatural romantic thriller. Frank's just the man to tell you what it is.
(FILM REVIEWS)
The
China Syndrome
Author China Miéville on his passion for Gormenghast, the smug utopianism of
Cambridge, why David Cronenberg should make the film version of Perdido Street
Station, and on being a Dr Who man through and through.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
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