I’m guessing at least half, if not more, are asking, “What the heck is a Podiobook?” Fair enough. Before the review, I’ll give a quick overview from Podiobooks.com:
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“The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” novel may be in a store near you.
Anime Vice is reporting that people are finding the English translation of the novel “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” (which the anime series is adapted from) on shelves earlier than the planned street date of April 1st. Apparently some Barnes & Noble’s have been breaking the street date.
Nebula Award Nominees List Up
Sci-Fi Wire has the final ballot for the SFWA’s Nebula Awards. Notable nominees include Making Money by Terry Prachett, Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin, and Little Brother from Cory Doctrow. Not surprisingly, The Dark Knight and Wall-E got nominations Best Script – though Battlestar Galactica didn’t get any nominations for that category.
Philip José Farmer: R.I.P.
SF great Philip José Farmer (1918-2009) passed away this morning in his sleep. Perhaps best-known for his Riverworld series, he has been a major part of SF since the early 1950s.
Viz launches imprint for translated Japanese SF
Sci-Fi Wire is reporting that Viz Media has launched a new imprint, Haikasoru, to bring translate Japanese SF and Fantasy novels into English and release them in the US. The imprint will mainly focus on “Light Novels” shorter novels, often serialized in Japanese SF magazines.
A not-insignificant amount of Japanese Anime has begun to be adapted from Light Novels instead of Manga (notably the “Full Metal Panic” series, as well as the “Crest/Banner of the Stars” series and well before that the “Slayers” series. The first novel scheduled to be released is The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa.
Happy Birthday Poe
Just in case it wasn’t on your calendar, today marks Edgar Allan Poe‘s 200th birthday. Apart from being one of the creepiest authors of all time, he is also credited as the creator of the Detective-fiction genre.
If you haven’t actually read any Poe, be sure to head over to Project Gutenburg and download one or all of his works (for free). Amongst my personal favorites: Tell-Tale Heart, Pit and the Pendulum, and The Cask of Amontillado.
But don’t let me have the final word on the subject, what’s your favorite?
Novel Review: The Stars My Destination
The Burning Man opened his tiger mouth. A grating sound emerged. It was like flaming laughter.
“She hurts,” he said.
We’ve been a bit content-lite this week, with so many genre shows on hiatus, so I’m posting this review of one of the classics of SF literature. Alfred Bester won the first Hugo for The Demolished Man and wrote the Green Lantern Oath for DC comics, but many feel his greatness lies in this book, a complex tale of revenge, teleportation, and a prophetic Burning Man.
A movie is in the works for 2012, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
Novel Review: The Alchemy of Stone
Ekaterina Sedia’s The Alchemy of Stone has found a certain measure of success, even among more mainstream readers. She’s a fine crafter of words; does her steampunk take on Pygmalion do her prose justice?
Novel Review: Anathem
“When do we get to the good part?” he demanded.
“What do you have in mind, Arsibalt? Like in a spec-fic speely, where something amazingly cool-to-look-at happens?”
“That would help,” he allowed. (862)
By now, you may just have found time to make it through Neal Stephenson’s heavy autumn offering, Anathem. In one volume, he manage to match the ambitiousness of The Baroque Cycle— but are the results for the reader worth its considerable weight?
Michael Crichton Dead from Cancer at 66
In news that’s surprising virtually everyone the world over, Michael Crichton has died after a private battle with cancer.
Best known for his book Jurassic Park, Crichton was adept at bringing a heavy dose of real-life science into his books and then going the next step with fantastic and sometime horrific results.