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News Archive
Current: December 2004
Tad
and the Shadow
Fantasy author Tad Williams on the immersive nature of epic fantasy,
the fact that what most of us who keep coming back to fantasy fiction
love about it is that “sinking-in” feeling, that thrill of sliding
into a new and convincing world that exists side-by-side with our
own ...
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
Trudi
Canavan Interview
Fantasy author Trudi Canavan on the Black Magician trilogy, a world
where some humans have evolved the ability to use magic - an energy
that is natural and has no link to gods, demons, the land or any
notion of good or evil. The catch is that to release and develop
their ability all magicians must be taught by another ...
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
The
Impatient Writer's Guide to Worldbuilding by Victoria Strauss
Another fab installment in the Writers Bloc series from artesix's
guest writers ...
(ARTICLES)
Liz
Williams Interview
I often start with images; dreams, impressions, and occasionally
characters, but those tend to come later, after the setting has
developed. For example, I've just written a short story that started
life as an image of a unicorn in Kew Gardens in London -- from that
developed a far-future SF story. I also quite often misread things,
and that sparks off ideas as well.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
Why
I Write Military Science Fiction
Three things pushed me toward writing military SF. The first reason
is history. In the long history of humanity so far, war is almost
as constant as death and taxes. Since the best guide to future behavior
is past behavior, the constancy of intertribal conflict suggests
that there will be war for a very long time to come.
(ARTICLES)
Who
is Dr. Strangelove?
Stanley Kubrick's film, Dr.Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop
Worrying And Love the Bomb, begins with a rolling fog of rumors.
A foreign country is plotting weapons of mass destruction, a Doomsday
machine, against the United States. Then it segues to beautiful,
romantic music and two B-52s having sex...er, refueling midair.
Is this a good dream or a bad dream?
(ARTICLES)
Dead
Birds
About the only thing that is original and unfamiliar about this
house of horrors horror film is that it is set during the Civil
War.
(MOVIE REVIEWS)
Phil
the Alien
Amateurish and low-budget skit on film has its moments, but mostly
in its first half. The film outstays its welcome.
(MOVIE REVIEWS)
Rahtree:
Flower of the Night
This ghost story goes in eight different directions at once, from
tragic social message to slapstick comedy. Some scenes are chilling,
but the film is unfocused.
(MOVIE REVIEWS)
The
Incredibles
Pixar does it again with a comedy/action film about a family of
superheroes. Just when they thought they were out of the superhero
business they get pulled back in. Of course, as a film from Pixar
it is computer-animated, but that is just the gimmick. The writing
is the real attraction.
(MOVIE REVIEWS)
The
Limb Salesman
This is an ironic love story set in a future world that has been
badly damaged in some strange way making uncontaminated water rare.
Society is now built around the efforts to find safe water. The
story drags more than a little.
(MOVIE REVIEWS)
Space
Oddysey
Imagine crashing through the acid storms of Venus, taking a space
walk in the magnificent rings of Saturn, or collecting samples on
the disintegrating surface of an unstable comet.
(ARTICLES)
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