“The Forsaken”
Written by Jim Trombetta and Don Carlos Dunaway and Michael Piller
Directed by Les Landau
Season 1, Episode 16
Production episode 40511-417
Original air date: May 23, 1993
Stardate: 46925.1

Station log: A delegation of Federation ambassadors are on a fact-finding mission to the wormhole. Sisko has fobbed off the duty of taking charge of the diplomats—from Arbazan (Taxco, a haughty woman who insists on taking Bashir’s quarters, since the guest quarters aren’t satisfactory), Vulcan (Lojal), Bolarus (Vadosia, who has lots of ideas on how to do other people’s jobs and is oblivious to how unwelcome that advice is), and Betazed (our dear old friend Lwaxana Troi). Bashir, who is obviously under strict orders to keep the ambassadors the hell away from Sisko, tries to say that the commander is busy with a recalibration of all systems. Sadly, Lojal finds that intriguing and would like to observe it.

Bashir’s thumphering is interrupted by Lwaxana, whose hair brooch—a family heirloom—has been stolen while she was playing dabo. Lwaxana demands that the bar be sealed and everyone strip-searched—a request made while holding the most painful part of Quark’s ear (she obviously learned a lot while she was DaiMon Tog’s prisoner)—but then Odo shows up. After Lwaxana says she senses no guilt telepathically from anyone in the room, she adds that she can’t sense Ferengi. However Odo knows that Quark wouldn’t resort to petty thievery (which Quark of course takes as a compliment), but a quick glance around the bar reveals a Dopterian pickpocket. They’re offshoots of the Ferengi, so they also can’t be sensed by Betazoids. After Odo returns her brooch to her and takes the pickpocket into custody, Lwaxana—with a smile we’ve seen before when she’s set her sights on Jean-Luc Picard, a holographic bartender, and Timicin—asks Bashir for every snippet of information he can provide about Odo.

[When it comes to picnics, the only thing that really matters is the company.]

“House and Garden”
Written by Paul Dini
Directed by Boyd Kirkland
Episode #070
Music Composed by Shirley Walker
Animation by Dong Yang Animation, Inc.
Original Airdate—May 2nd, 1994

Plot: Poison Ivy gives up her criminal ways, gets married, and raises two kids in the suburbs. But if Ivy’s reformed, then who is using giant plant monsters to rob wealthy young men in Gotham, including Dick Grayson?

[Poison Ivy turns over a new leaf... and the Terrible Trio are terrible villains]

Gather ’round me, everybody, gather ’round me while I’m preachin’ the Wheel of Time Re-read!

Today’s entry covers Chapter 18 of A Memory of Light, in which you’ve got to AC-CEN-tuate the positive, E-LIM-inate the negative… but Gawyn still insists on being Mr. In-Between.

*ear-flick*

Previous re-read entries are here. The Wheel of Time Master Index is here, which has links to news, reviews, interviews, and all manner of information about the Wheel of Time in general. The index for all things specifically related to the final novel in the series, A Memory of Light, is here.

Also, for maximum coolness, the Wheel of Time Re-read is also now available as an e-book series, from your preferred e-book retailer!

This re-read post, and all posts henceforth, contain spoilers for the entire Wheel of Time series. If you haven’t read, read at your own risk.

And now, the post!

[Have faith or pandemonium’s/Liable to walk upon the scene]

Welcome back to the Short Fiction Spotlight, a weekly column dedicated to doing exactly what it says in the header: shining a light on the some of the best and most relevant fiction of the aforementioned form.

It’s such a shame that there are only so many hours in the day! I have more books than I know what to do with, and that isn’t even to speak of the new releases I receive for review each week. Reading everything I mean to hasn’t been an option for longer that I like to recall.

You mustn’t mistake me. I ain’t complaining, just saying: so many promising prospects slip through the cracks that at this point I have enough interesting genre fiction stockpiled to last me a long lifetime. A very pleasant problem to have, I’d add, yet when prior obligations preclude me from reading something I would otherwise love to, I feel frustrated in any case.

This week, I aim to address at least one such would-be bungle, because I will not stand to have the release of the first volume of The New Solaris Book of Fantasy pass by unremarked. Fearsome Journeys features original short fiction from Salahdin Ahmed, Trudi Canavan, K. J. Parker, Jeffrey Ford, Robert V. S. Reddick, Glen Cook, Elizabeth Bear and Daniel Abraham among others... others including Scott Lynch, whose long-delayed next novel is, unbelievably, nearly here.

[Read more.]

This year MacKids events at the 2013 ALA Annual Conference will feature a host of signings from Francesca Lia Block, Marcus Sedgewick, and many more.

The full MacKids ALA schedule is below. Unless otherwise noted, all events will be held at MacKids Booth 2100—2200.

[Read more.]

Now it is time. Now the curtain can be pushed back on the second half of 2013, and all the books—or at least all those with announced publication dates and online retailer pages—can be spoken of in terms of hot anticipation!

...And I’m going to stop avoiding the personal pronoun now. Dear Readers, let’s talk about what’s to look forward to in the second half of the year. By your leave, I’ll go first.

[Books!]

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, published by William Morrow, is renowned writer Neil Gaiman’s first adult novel since 2005—one many fans and critics have been eager to read for quite a while now. Generally speaking, it’s a short, poignant book that explores the dark spaces of myth, memory, and identity through the experiences of a young boy, recalled by his adult self upon a visit to the place where he grew up—the place where he brushed something larger, more grand and impossible, than himself.

As regular readers of Tor.com might recall, in early March I received an advanced copy of this book and I wrote a spoiler-free review that discussed my immediate reactions after reading it. Mostly, that consisted of exploring the novel in its larger context as well as on a thematic level. Things had to stay a step back and fairly impressionistic; it was three months early, after all. But, now, it’s not early—the book will be on shelves for readers to pounce, purchase, borrow, and wallow around with.

That means I get to return to The Ocean at the End of the Lane with carte blanche, and so here we are: a spoiler review of the novel.

[Let’s do this.]

C-3PO has never looked more dapper than in this art print by Terry Fan. All we need now is R2 with a little blue monocle, and Leia in full Victorian regalia, and Han on a tauntaun with goggles...with brass goggles. Anyway.

[Murder at E3! Eisner Award nominations! Monkeys drinking soda!]

Something about living in the small-town South fuels eccentricity, secrecy, superstition, and creativity. Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe it’s the isolation. Maybe it’s the leftover miasma of being a conquered, misunderstood people within one’s own country.

But those who’ve lived it recognize it, and write it, and sing about it in low, mournful sounds, or frantic chords. They evoke emotion from a bow drawn slowly across taut strings or fingers plucking at instruments in such a frenzied pace as to seem a physical impossibility. It’s a place where words have power, and words set to music have more power. Life plays out with a soundtrack.

[Read more.]

Are you going to the 2013 ALA conference in Chicago? First Second Books is, and we have the full schedule of the authors in attendance, as well as the events they’ll be participating in. Check below the cut for the schedule.

[Read more.]

I hate Man of Steel so much that I tried to write this review three times before rage quitting. This is my fourth attempt.

Like Superman Returns, Man of Steel is a response to the two Richard Donner Superman movies. But where Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns was both a sequel and slavish homage to Superman I and II, Zack Snyder and David Goyer’s Man of Steel is a cynical retelling that hits the major plot points of the two movies, from the destruction of Krypton to the invasion of General Zod, but strips out all of the fun, color, and emotion. As the title suggests, Man of Steel is a cold machine of a summer blockbuster, so lacking in empathy that the final act is a brutal emotional assault on the audience.

Honestly, it is hard for me to list all the things I hate about Man of Steel, but in many ways it comes down the decision to make Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) a deeply distrustful person, so terrified of humanity’s possible response to the existence of super-beings that Clark hides his powers for thirty three years, only saving people if he happens upon them while they are in mortal danger. That’s not the character I know, not the character I love.

[SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS]

“Bargaining” (P1 by Marti Noxon, P2 by David Fury)

Spike, Giles and Tara are chasing a vampire. Am I right in thinking there’s a combat trio you wouldn’t have guessed at a couple years ago? Actually, the whole gang’s out with them. There’s more than one vamp on the prowl, but they’re still just the story equivalent of an appetizer, a been-there, dusted-that prelude to get us all in the mood.

As Spike incinerates one vamp and the Buffybot skewers the other, we see what’s been up in Scoobyland over the course of the summer. The gang, led by Willow, is perpetrating the myth that the Slayer is still alive so that demonkind won’t come calling and Social Services won’t make off with Dawn.

Put another way: it’s been another Slayerless summer in Sunnydale. (I was hoping that phrase might make a good tongue-twister, but it’s actually pretty easy to say.)

[Read More...]

A new novel by the author of The Hum and the Shiver further explores the world of the Tufa—descendants of faerie living in present-day Appalachia. Rob Quillen only seeks a song from the Tufa to ease the grief he feels for his deceased girlfriend, but he soon finds himself being drawn into their culture as he tries to help a troubled girl.

Read an excerpt of Wisp of a Thing here, watch the newest book trailer here, and come see Alex Bledsoe on tour in one of these cities:

[Read more.]

When Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax published his now-classic Advanced D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide in 1979, he highlighted “Inspirational and Educational Reading” in a section marked “Appendix N.” Featuring the authors that most inspired Gygax to create the world’s first tabletop role-playing game, Appendix N has remained a useful reading list for sci-fi and fantasy fans of all ages.

Tor.com writers Tim Callahan and Mordicai Knode decided to revisit Gygax’s favorite authors with Advanced Readings in Dungeons & Dragons, a weekly reread of selections from the list. To celebrate this awesome new series, we want to give you one of our five gorgeous sets of D&D dice from Chessex. These 7-die sets from Chessex’s Gemini and Scarab lines are perfect for D&D newbies or seasoned Dungeon Masters, so comment in the post to enter!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A purchase does not improve your chances of winning. Sweepstakes open to legal residents of fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia, who are 18 or older. To enter, comment on this post beginning at 12:00 pm Eastern Time (ET) June 17, 2013. Sweepstakes ends at 12:00 p.m. ET June 21, 2013. Void outside of the 50 US, and DC where prohibited by law. Please see full details and official rules here. Sponsor: Tor.com, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010.

When Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax published his now-classic Advanced D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide in 1979, he highlighted “Inspirational and Educational Reading” in a section marked “Appendix N.” Featuring the authors that most inspired Gygax to create the world’s first tabletop role-playing game, Appendix N has remained a useful reading list for sci-fi and fantasy fans of all ages.

In Advanced Readings in D&D, Tor.com writers Tim Callahan and Mordicai Knode take a look at Gary Gygax’s favorite authors and reread one per week, in an effort to explore the origins of Dungeons & Dragons and see which of these sometimes-famous, sometimes-obscure authors are worth rereading today. Sometimes the posts will be conversations, while other times they will be solo reflections, but one thing is guaranteed: Appendix N will be written about, along with dungeons, and maybe dragons, and probably wizards, and sometimes robots, and, if you’re up for it, even more. Welcome to the second post in the series, featuring a look at Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson.

To celebrate this awesome new series, Tor.com is giving away five gorgeous sets of D&D dice from Chessex. Check out the sweepstakes post for more information on how to enter!

[Read more.]

“Go, then. There are other worlds than these.”

—Jake Chambers

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.

Last week, our ka-tet’s number dwindled when Susannah fled through the door in the cave, taking Black Thirteen, the Chap, and her alter personalities with her. “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches toward New York to be born.”

[Read this week’s post.]

Tonight’s premiere marks the first time True Blood has been without its creator, Alan Ball. Left in the hands of a new creative team, is it too much to hope that really turns the show in a new, improved direction? Perhaps not. But it’s too early to tell. The missteps of the fifth season linger, but are growing faint as everyone—audience included—adjust to some drastic changes.

Bloody spoilers after the cut.

[Read more...]