Tor.com content by

Jenny Kristine

The Spy Who Played Atari: Cloak and Dagger

Clever, fearless, and determined, David Osborne has all the qualities he needs to become a master spy like his mentor, Jack Flack. The problem is, right now he’s still only 11, Jack Flack is a character in a game, and having to take public transportation everywhere doesn’t make for the smoothest escapes. But Davey is not without resources. He’s armed with not only a bus pass but also helpful friends, state of the art walkie talkies, and plenty of practice playing a spy in tabletop RPGs. So when he stumbles across a plot to smuggle top secret documents inside video game cartridges—and no one believes him—Davey knows it’s up to him to make sure that this vital information doesn’t fall into nefarious hands.

[“Jack Flack always escapes!”]

Monsters Under the Bed: Horror Stories for Children

For children, Halloween means plastic spiders, child-sized witches hats, and orange colored candy lurking around the corner of just about every store. Soon they’ll be gone (costumes packed away and handmade ghosts put to rest until next year), but there’s one bit of spooky fun that’s never out of season, especially with the elementary school crowd.

Stories about things that go bump in the night.

[“He’s a vampire!” Chester snarled. “Today, vegetables. Tomorrow…the world!”]

Series: Ghost Week on Tor.com

Bouncing Breasts and Burning Bushes: Jane Lindskold and David Weber’s Fire Season

The right ash, the right heat,
the right position of wind, dune and saltbush:
a technology of Fire. The knowledge.

—from Billy Marshall-Stoneking, “The Seasons of Fire.”

Jane Lindskold and David Weber’s first novel-length Honorverse collaboration, Fire Season, is a direct sequel to Weber’s arguably-unsuccessful solo attempt at writing for young adults. I reviewed A Beautiful Friendship last year, without an excess of love. I’m happy to acknowledge that Fire Season is much more successful, both as a novel and as a standalone work, than its predecessor. But it still doesn’t have the right ash, the right heat to burn brightly in the Young Adult firmament.

Especially when it can’t quite make up its mind whether it wants to be a middle grade novel, a YA, a Heinleinesque juvenile, or an adult prequel to the Honor Harrington books.

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Sponsors and Social Media: Selling The Hunger Games

Is it possible for the multi-million dollar marketing campaign for The Hunger Games movie to refrain from undermining the series arguments on violence, economic justice, and the media? Probably not, but I rather think Lion’s Gate is making a respectable effort.

So far, promotions for The Hunger Games have managed not to sink to such shameful depths as having the Lorax speak for SUVs. Rather, the bulk of the money is going towards plastering images of the burning mockingjay pin on as many flat (and digital) surfaces as possible. That’s about as true to the books as they can be while still getting the job done; if you squint hard enough, you can even see it as the rebellion within Panem spilling out into our own world.

[Read more]

Series: The Hunger Games on Tor.com

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