It would seem that River Song’s arc on Doctor Who has come to an end in “The Name of the Doctor” (Although as always that will remain to be seen.) so Doctor Who Online’s senior art editor Will Brooks put together this nifty infographic that illustrates how her twisty timeline matches up with the Doctor’s. The full hi-res version is up on Photobucket (it’s gigantic, so follow the linky-link to see the whole chart) but we’re not sure we’re convinced yet. Does this timeline work for you? Can we ever be certain if we don’t get direct confirmation from the characters? After all, those season 6 “First Night / Last Night” minisodes were never given precise dates....

Space.

The final frontier?

For now, that searching question stands an unfortunate fact. We want to know more, of course, but there is no clear need for the revelations we may or may not gain from our desired endeavours, or none that we can easily see.

And so we wait, painfully aware that—even if the Powers That Be see reason—we are lamentably unlikely to see a man on Mars in our lifetimes.

Maybe our children will. I want that for them.

But neither you nor I nor they, in their day, will find out what awaits on the other side of the interstellar space NASA’s lonely Voyager probe is on track to chart; the odds are simply not in our favour, I’m afraid. But we can wonder, can’t we? We can imagine. We can read and write and damn it, we can dream.

So for the foreseeable future, space may indeed be the final frontier in fact, but fiction, by its very definition, need not be held back by what is. Instead, its pioneers ask: what if? And occasionally, incredibly, what if is what is.

[Read more]

My standard spoiler warning for this series: Antiagon Fire is the seventh novel in L.E. Modesitt, Jr.’s Imager Portfolio series, and the fourth one following the adventures of Quaeryt Rytersyn. The first three novels in the series had a different protagonist and were set in the same fictional world but several centuries after the events portrayed in the Quaeryt novels.

In other words, you may want to stop reading this review if you haven’t at least read the first three Quaeryt novels: Scholar, Princeps and Imager’s Battalion. If you’d like a refresher, you can find my reviews of those novels here, here and here. (You can also find my look at the initial Imager trilogy here.)

So, in summary: if you’re not familiar with this series yet, please check it out because it’s excellent—but stop reading this review here to avoid spoilers.

[Read more]

“Spiral,” by Steven S. DeKnight

“Spiral” is one of those episodes that starts right where its predecessor left off. Dawn’s secret has been exposed, and so Buffy scoops her up and runs like a terrified antelope. It shouldn’t work, but Willow slows Glory briefly. Then, after running at super-blurry cheetah speed to catch up with them, she foolishly pauses for the traditional pre-victory exchange of taunts... in the middle of a busy road.

This turns out badly for Glory when a big truck smashes right into her, and very well indeed for Buffy when the impact then causes Ben to take over custody of the shared BenGlorious bod. It’s nice for us because we get Ben in a dress again. There are worse things, though it’s not a fabulous dress.

[Read More...]

A special five story preview of Shawn Speakman’s epic fantasy anthology Unfettered will be released at Phoenix Comicon this Memorial Day weekend. This week, we’re taking a spoiler-free look at all five stories, many featuring new glimpses of our favorite fantasy worlds.

I read Terry Brooks’s Shannara trilogy when I was pretty young, and if I’m being honest, I don’t remember them all that well. But I do remember how much I enjoyed reading them. I remember liking Allanon best and imagining that he would appear at my house one day and tell me that I was descended from a magical line of elves. I remember being inspired by the idea that a magical world could be our distant future, rather than a mythic past, and using colored beads as my elfstones.

I wish I had gotten my hands on Terry Brooks' short story “Imaginary Friends” back then, too, because I would have adored it.

[Read more]

Before we start I want to say this about Star Trek Into Darkness: I’ve seen it in both 3D and 2D, and I urge you not to waste your money on a 3D ticket. Seriously, there is nothing in this movie that requires 3D, and it does bupkuss to enhance the experience.

Mind you, this movie is a visual feast, but 3D doesn’t really add anything to the feast except for maybe that piece of parsley that is used as a garnish that you throw away and never eat.

Enough of the tortured food metaphor. I went into STID with very low expectations. As I’ve said in the past, Star Trek is not at its best in movie format, especially in our post-Star Wars world where science fiction movie must equal BIG-ASS ’SPLOSIONS! in order make its box office requirements. At its best, Trek is about the exploration of the human condition, something not remotely on display in either of J.J. Abrams’s films. I figured we’d get what we got four years ago: a visual feast (as long as you don’t mind lens flares), excellent acting, and a script that doesn’t hold together upon scrutiny. My expectations were, sadly, met.

If you want a spoiler-free review, Tor.com’s own Chris Lough wrote an excellent one here. For this review THERE BE SPOILERS HERE!!!! LOTS OF ’EM!

[I was only gone for one day!]

After the conclusion of The Clone Wars, and the general restructuring of Lucasfilm under Disney, the future of Star Wars animation was in question. Until now! Star Wars.com has just revealed that a new series called Rebels will air beginning in 2014. Focusing on the years between Episode III and Episode IV, Rebels will (shockingly) deal with how the rebels got their groove on as the Empire was rising. Below is a video from Star Wars.com featuring some of the creators talking about the project.

[Read more]

“First comes smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire.”

—Roland Deschain, of Gilead

Welcome to A Read of the Dark Tower series. Join me each week as I, Constant Reader, tackle the magnum opus of Stephen King’s career for the first time. If you want to discuss in general terms or talk about these first sections, join me by commenting here.

We last left our story with the town meeting our ka-tet holds with the folken of Calla Bryn Sturgis, setting up Ben Slightman and slowly doing the prep-work for whatever Roland has planned.  

[Read this week’s post]

Why, hello, Daario.

“Second Sons” is fine for a title, but it doesn’t leave much room for the women of Game of Thrones, many of whom also had a difficult time performing their duties this week. So much duty this week. And boobs. And leeches and lechers.

Gendry bled, Tyrion wed, Davos read, and... Samwell got to not be a big fat stupid for about five minutes.

Note: episode reviews are largely spoiler-free for the books, but spoilers are fair game in the comments. Be warned.

[Do not trust men who fight for gold. Unless they have killer cheekbones...]

Even before Game of Thrones first season debut, fans of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series have quietly wondered if the author could have the final two books out by the time the HBO television adaptation caught up with him. Recent statements from HBO producers at this past weekend’s BAFTA Awards reveal that there is now a defnite timeline they’re expecting the story finished by, leaving us to wonder... will Game of Thrones reveal the ending of the series before it’s actually ended?

[Read more]

Thanks, all, for joining me on this trip to Khatovar. Those of you who have made this trip before know what’s coming and are probably as excited as I am about travelling to familiar locales and meeting old friends (and enemies...) once again. Those of you who are making the trip for the first time... Well, keep your eyes open and you should be fine. Just be wary of the talking menhirs, they like to play tricks on unwitting travellers.

Here’s the thing though. We’re not going to set off just yet.

[Read more]

It apparently took a gentleman named Vassal about a year and half to make Babylon 5 out of LEGO. Apparently he had to figure out some balance issues, but with a little bit of help from the Vorlons, it all worked out. No word on what happened to LEGO Babylons 1-4. (Though we imagine the first three were sabotaged and the fourth disappeared without a trace.) More pics here.

Your collection daily offsite links can sometimes be a dangerous place, but they’re the last, best hope, for killing boredome/wasting some time. 

[Read more]

Unfettered is coming, a masterful anthology of epic fantasy edited by author Shawn Speakman, featuring unfamiliar stories set in familiar worlds. A sneak peek of Unfettered will debut at this year’s Phoenix Comicon, which runs through Memorial Day weekend, and all this week Tor.com will be discussing the stories included in that sampler: including new tales from the worlds of Terry Brooks, the Vault of Heaven, and what may possibly be the last glimpse we’ll get from inside the world of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time.

Unfettered is more than just an anthology, however.

[More about Unfettered, its stories, and how to obtain it]

A special five story preview of Shawn Speakman’s epic fantasy anthology Unfettered will be released at Phoenix Comicon this Memorial Day weekend. This week, we’re taking a look at all five stories, many featuring new glimpses of our favorite fantasy worlds.

When Tor.com asked me to write an appreciation of Shawn Speakman’s “The Unfettered Knight”—Shawn’s own story in the anthology he’s editing and publishing—I said yes. Not for any of the obvious reasons. Not because this is one of the stories in the awesome, forthcoming fantasy anthology Unfettered. Not even because the book is Shawn’s effort to pay medical bills resulting from his recent bout with cancer. No, none of that. I said yes because I liked the story.

[Read on]

“The Name of the Doctor” is not a good episode of television, but it is a fascinating episode of Doctor Who.

The season seven finale re-frames the Eleventh Doctor’s adventures from the last two seasons as a journey that has always been leading to this point, and although the plot is shakier than a game of bar Jenga “The Name of the Doctor” nevertheless pulls this off successfully. This is mostly due in part to show runner and episode writer Steven Moffat putting the Doctor and his companions in situations that challenge the truth of their characters, even when some of those characters are anything but.

[The name you choose is more important. Spoilers ahead!]

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) have announced the winners of the 2012 Nebula Awards, the Ray Bradbury Award, and the Andre Norton Award.

Tor.com was eye-wideningly honored to be represented so heavily in the Novelette department by Brit Mandelo for “The Finite Canvas,” Meghan McCarron for “Swift, Brutal Retaliation,” and Rachel Swirsky for “Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia.” All three novelettes can be read for free in the above links. Tor Books was thrilled to have two nominees in the Novel division, Tina Connolly’s Ironskin and Mary Robinette Kowal’s Glamour in Glass.

Congratulations to the winners and all the honorees!

[The 2012 Nebula Award Winners]

The 20th Spectrum Fantastic Art Awards were announced this evening at the awards ceremony at Spectrum Live, a weekend long celebration of fantastic art, in Kansas City. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

[The winners are...]

Recently, everyone and their grandmother are trying to place steampunk in the grander scope of things. Most of pop culture has poked at it at this point. Many in the SF/F community gives the subculture a passing nod (or are slowly edging away, since, being early adapters by nature, quite a few in sci-fi are tired of it already).

Still, questions about steampunk have set people in pursuit of the deeper meanings behind the aesthetic movement. Two years ago, Intel’s futurist Brian David Johnson wanted to answer the biggest one about steampunk’s rise: “Why now?” He was joined by a cultural historian James Carrott and they filmed a documentary, and also wrote a book by the same name: Vintage Tomorrows (or two books, actually. Steampunking Our Future: An Embedded Historian’s Notebook is the free e-book companion you can get online).

[Read more]