This week’s word for Wednesday I lifted entirely from a Haggard Hawks tweet: SPREZZATURA is deliberate nonchalance, or the act of making something difficult look effortless.
Awards:
The Israeli Society for Fantasy and Science Fiction has announced its 2016 Geffen winners.
The Baen Memorial Contest is open for fiction about near-future space exploration. The deadline for submissions is February, 2017.
(Thanks to Locus Magazine for both items.)
Books and Writing:
October 26th, 2016. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 7 comments |
If you’ve seen any buzz about author/illustrator Brom’s newest novel, Lost Gods (2016), in which the words “Dante” or “Inferno” are heavily featured, I’d advise you to read that buzz with a pinch of salt; to rely on the similarities between Lost Gods and Inferno is to neglect the breadth and depth of Brom’s creativity and imagination, and I would sorely hate to see this level of world-building and inspiration reduced to the bare-bones concept of “guy goes to Hell” when there’s so much more presented here.
October 26th, 2016. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Gerald Brom | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Blood Drinkers (Blood Is the Color of Night) directed by Gerardo de Leon
Though he had started his career as a medical doctor, Gerardo de Leon went on to become not only a movie director, but the most awarded director in the history of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (seven awards, in all). He helmed film projects in many different genres, but this viewer had, until recently, only been familiar with three of his pictures, all in the horror category. His 1959 effort Terror Is a Man,
October 26th, 2016. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan
The god Thor has lost his hammer again, but this time it’s even worse: the giant Thrym has gotten hold of it and has hidden it away where no one else can reach it. If the hammer isn’t returned to Thor quickly, enemies of Asgard will take advantage of their weakness and attack, triggering Ragnarok, the battle at the end of the world, and bringing massive death and destruction in the Nine Worlds.
Loki the trickster, who has been chained up by the other gods as punishment for his misdeeds,
October 25th, 2016. Tadiana Jones and Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Rick Riordan | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
An appropriate title for any Jorge Luis Borges collection, Labyrinths is that selected by Penguin for their ‘best of’ printing of the author. Containing short stories, essays, and parables, each selection takes the reader on a winding path of ideas that seems to branch off infinitely into the wonder of reflective thought. Surreal in concept rather than imagery, it’s no surprise many of the most intelligent writers of fantasy and science fiction cite Borges as one of their significant influences. Erudition is on full display,
October 25th, 2016. Jesse Hudson | Jorge Luis Borges | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Zinda Laash (aka The Living Corpse aka Dracula in Pakistan) directed by Khwaja Sarfraz
For proof positive that the fearsome vampire scourge continues into modern times and is truly international in scope, one need look no further than the 1967 Pakistani film Zinda Laash, otherwise known as The Living Corpse (and, less imaginatively, Dracula in Pakistan). Infamous for having received the first “X” rating for a Lollywood film (and no, that is NOT a typo; apparently, that is the accepted name for the Lahore film industry),
October 25th, 2016. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
There is so much free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet these days. Here are a few stories we read this week that we wanted you to know about.
“Everything that Isn’t Winter” by Margaret Killjoy (Oct. 2016, free at Tor.com, 99c Kindle version)
This piece includes a great range of storytelling in few words. “Everything that Isn’t Winter” is set post-apocalypse in a small community that has carved out a comfortable place in the new world. The setting may sound run-of-the-mill, but what Killjoy does with it makes it come to life.
October 24th, 2016. Skye Walker, Kat Hooper and Tadiana Jones | Neil Gaiman, Terry Bisson | Audio, Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Shores of Space by Richard Matheson
The four novels that I had previously read by New Jersey-born Richard Matheson — namely, 1954’s I Am Legend, 1956’s The Shrinking Man, 1958’s A Stir of Echoes and 1971’s Hell House — all demonstrated to this reader what a sure hand the late author had in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror.
October 24th, 2016. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Richard Matheson | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Beyond the Darkness directed by Aristide Massaccesi (Joe D’Amato)
Hooo, boy, is this a sick one! Jaded fans of Euro horror, lovers of the outrageous, and gorehounds in general might find their mouths opening in awe and their eyes widening in shock as they get deeper into the Italian cult item Beyond the Darkness (1979). Conflating as it does elements of voodoo, necrophilia and deep, deep psychosis, and mixing in some truly stomach-churning blood-and-guts scenes along with multiple bizarre sequences, the film is one guaranteed to impress the viewer — one way or the other.
October 24th, 2016. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Zoe’s Tale (2008), the fourth book in John Scalzi’s OLD MAN’S WAR series, is the same story we were told in book three, The Last Colony, except it’s from Zoe’s perspective. Zoe is the 17-year-old daughter of the traitorous scientist Charles Boutin. Jane Sagan and John Perry adopted Zoe when she was a small child and they’ve been farming on one of Earth’s colonies for years. Now, though, the family is off to lead the settlers of a new colony called Roanoke (uh-oh).
October 21st, 2016. Kat Hooper and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | John Scalzi | Audio | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
so you're saying I should read it? :)
As a native New Yorker, I love the idea of the city being filled with canals and no skyscrapers! And…
How did I miss this? Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
I guess that is true, Marion. And when it comes to "You Only Live Twice," I saw the movie TWICE…
You managed to work in your two loves; vintage fiction and films!