Best-Selling Authors Neal Stephenson and Greg Bear, With Subutai Corporation, Announce The Mongoliad on World’s First Social Book Platform

via PR Newswire

Bestselling authors Neal Stephenson and Greg Bear, along with Subutai Corporation, announced today the launch of The Mongoliad, the first digital novel on a social book platform. A speculative fiction novel set against the Mongol invasion of Europe in the 13th century, The Mongoliad follows a small band of warriors and mystics in a ripping tale of action and adventure set at a time when the Mongol horde’s conquest of Europe seemed inevitable.  Key to the development of this tale is the unique collaboration between the authors and the audience through PULP, Subutai’s new platform, which provides a participatory experience only possible in today’s connected digital world. To experience The Mongoliad, visit www.mongoliad.com.

“PULP is what Gutenberg would have come up with if he hadn’t jumped the gun and released 600 years early,” said Stephenson. “Kindles and iPads were little better than expensive drink trays until we came up with this.”

The Mongoliad’s heroes fight, plot, spy, and maneuver the politics of royal courts, the church, merchant empires, and secret societies in an attempt to defeat their would-be conquerors, and to preserve the knowledge that is in their charge.  Each week a new chapter is delivered via custom applications for handhelds and the web, starting with iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.

Greg Bear said, “This is one of the most exciting and interesting projects I’ve worked on in a long while. Collaborating with Neal and our crack team on a magnificent story and a new business model for publishing and media is a real privilege.”

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When times get tough, science fiction pulls us through

By Being Ruth at io9

Scifi Pulls Us Outside Ourselves

One reason I mostly use pictures of the universe as my wallpaper is that whenever I look at it, I find myself doing my own mini-scifi. I wonder whether or not there’s any life or consciousness that we’d recognize in any of them.

As a rule, science fiction pulls us outside of our own worlds and concerns. Whether it takes us to another galaxy, to another solar system, to another planet on our solar system, or even to an alternate/future version of our own Earth, it makes us think about a different kind of life and society. And it helps us realize that our way of doing things may not be the only way they could be done.

Scifi Often Revolves Around People Fighting Against Long Odds

Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Ender’s Game, much Doctor Who, most Star Trek films and many episodes-whether it’s the future of humanity/the universe itself, the attempt to overthrow an oppressive regime, or the goal of saving a single planet/team/person from destruction, sci-fi often revolves around people who have to fight long odds for high stakes. Sometimes they don’t win, sometimes their victory involves a loss of another kind.

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Sci Fi Writer to Explore Fear of Human Obsolescence

from the University of Texas, Dallas

As smartphones get smarter and computers get faster, humans, who err and just get slower with age, seem to be almost superfluous at times.  But award-winning science fiction novelist Robert J. Sawyer isn’t overly worried.

The winner of Nebula and Hugo Awards for best science fiction writing will explore the issue of human obsolescence in a lecture at UT Dallas. The program, “Forget About Killer Robots: How Humanity Will Continue to Prosper After the Advent of Super-Intelligent Machines,” is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the Conference Center.

Sawyer is the only writer in history to win the top science fiction awards in the United States, China, Japan, France and Spain. He has written more than 20 sci fi novels, including Hominids, The Terminal Experiment and Mindscan.  His latest, Watch, is the second in his “WWW” trilogy, which began with Wake. The TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name.

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Comic-Con and Beyond: “The Jedi Path”

by Lynette Mong at Omnivoracious

Having a page on Wookieepedia is good. Receiving a glowing book review from Jeff VanderMeer is even better. Having your book unboxed on Techland? Very cool. And getting everyone from Tommy Lee Edwards to Darth Vader to read your book at Comic-Con? Pretty memorable. Back in July, Daniel Wallace shared his newest book, The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force, with a wide array of Comic-Con attendees–and gave us the photos to share with you (check them out after the jump).

Jedi Path has already generated lots of buzz among Star Wars fans after it was previewed on starwars.com. Daniel provided some more information on why The Jedi Path is such a unique edition to the Star Wars mythology:

The Jedi Path was conceived as a textbook that was carried by young Initiates and Padawans to guide their instruction in the Jedi Temple. It’s supposed to look like an in-universe artifact that fell through a rabbit hole from the galaxy far, far away. In fact, this copy is ostensibly the last one in existence following Order 66 and the destruction of the Jedi Temple.

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Author Leo wins book deal Aged 6

By Andy Crick at The Sun

A BOY aged SIX has landed a multi-book publishing deal after writing a mini-novel about his pet dog.

Now little Leo Hunter says he wants to be “more famous than JK Rowling”.

And he could pocket a fortune like the Harry Potter writer if his books take off.

Leo penned Me And My Best Friend to tell the story of his alliance with pet Alsatian Kugar.

His impressed mum Jamie, an author, contacted publishers on both sides of the Atlantic. US firm Strategic Book Publishing liked it so much they agreed to take it – and signed Leo to write TWENTY-THREE more.

He will get 20 per cent from early sales of the £10, 25-page books. But this will rise to 50 per cent if more than 500 are sold.

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What do you think of an interactive book? Do you think Sci Fi gets us through hard times? What was your favorite news story today?

‘Walking Dead’ exec slams vampire craze

www.digitalspy.co.uk: The Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont has slammed the current vampire craze in film and television.

He told SFX that he hopes viewers will abandon vampire-based shows for the new zombie drama.

“I hope seeing a zombie show as cool as this, seeing the gritty, scary part, will get rid of this teeny-bopper ‘kissing vampires’ craze,” he said.

“Fortunately, the budget on this series is not that different from a movie, because zombie films have always been quite easy to make on a lower budget,” he explained. “The effects we have in our shoot rival any zombie movie that you’ve seen.”

Miss Universe 2010 Is Over, But It’s Not Too Late To Crown Miss SCI-FI Universe 2010!

moviesblog.mtv.com: Congratulations are in order for Jimena Navarrete — also known as Miss Mexico — for winning the Miss Universe 2010 competition this year, becoming the second Mexican competitor to win the title. While she’s no doubt deserving of the grand prize, it’s hard to deny that Miss Universe doesn’t exactly live up to the competition’s name — after all, space-faring ladies aren’t invited to compete, so it should really be called Miss Earth.

But let’s imagine for a moment that we could forward an invitation to some of the galaxy’s sexiest movie gals. Who would be up for the Miss Universe title? After the jump, we’re weighing in on the competition…

Fifth Place: Aurra Sing
This tough-as-nails bounty hunter isn’t exactly the prettiest lady in the expanded “Star Wars” universe, but she’s certainly one of the most hardcore. But if they dolled up Sandra Bullock’s schlocky FBI agent for “Miss Congeniality,” I don’t see why Aurra can’t get a makeover, either. Through sheer badassery and a nice makeup job, Aurra finishes with a respectable fifth place medal.

MORE HERE

John Scalzi – The 2010 Summer Sci-fi Wrap-Up

www.filmcritic.com: Unless you count the limited rerelease of Avatar this weekend (now with more Na’vi sex), all the summer science-fiction releases have hit the screens. So now’s as good a time as any to do a summer science-fiction postmortem.

First, despite the fact that there were relatively few science-fiction films this summer, it was a fine summer for science fiction at the box office. Iron Man 2, Inception, and Despicable Me have grossed $800 million between them to date, or about 11 percent of the entire 2010 box-office haul so far. Hollywood’s not going to complain about that.

Now, intellectual honesty requires me to note that in two of those three cases the movies were science fiction too, rather than promoted as science-fiction films directly. Iron Man 2 is a superhero flick (which genre is often but not always science-fictional), while Despicable Me was marketed as an animated family film. But this can be seen as a feature, not a bug. Enough science-fiction tropes have been embedded in the public consciousness that when Gru tells his genetically engineered minions that he plans to steal the moon in Despicable Me, no one in the audience has to wonder whether enjoying that moment makes him or her a nerd. And that’s how science fiction eventually wins the day.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Joss Whedon will find a way to put more women in The Avengers

io9.com: We all know Joss Whedon loves strong female characters — but The Avengers will only feature one female Avenger, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. How will Whedon manage to work more female characters in? He explains.

In an interview with the Australian paper The Sunday Herald-Sun Whedon admitted that while Scarjo is the only female Avenger. She’s not going to be the only female character.

“It is true that the movie is only going to have one female avenger”, Whedon said of Johansson’s part. “But she will not be the only female character”.

MORE HERE

I wouldn’t mind seeing something other than vampire themed movies or TV shows, but zombies are just not my thing. Especially if they run after you. What do you think of the Walking Dead?

I would have voted for Diva Plavalaguna. I still remember the first time I saw The Fifth Element and how much I liked that seen where she sings. Amazing. It was great of MTV having their own Miss Universe What did you think of that? Who would you have voted for?

What did you think of this year’s sci-fi movies? Which was your favorite?

Are you a fan of the Avengers? What do you think of the Avengers having more female characters?

Seline’s 3-D Battle Heads Back to the ‘Underworld’ in 2012

Continuing a long trend, Sony Screen Gems will once again release an Underworld film in January. Once again starring Kate Beckinsale (in what we’re told will be a smaller role), Underworld 4 will now arrive in theaters on January 20, 2012. Len Wiseman is said to be returning to the director’s chair for his first 3D feature that will continue the battle between vampires and werewolves. We reported by in February that Seline (Beckinsale) will “pass the torch” to one of her kindred (yes, she has not one, but two daughters at this point).

source

Josh Hartnett to Time-Travel in “Tomorrow” Sci-Fi Thriller

QuietEarth has learned that Josh Hartnett (30 Days of Night) is re-teaming with his “Lucky Number Slevin” director Paul McGuigan for a sci-fi thriller called “Tomorrow.”

Written by newcomer Michael Gould, the new movie revolves around Max Martin (Hartnett), who is desperate to save his family on the day of their murder but he can’t control the short-term time travel phenomenon he’s trapped in.

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Avatar sequel to explore Pandora’s oceans

Cameron wants the next installment of Avatar franchise to explore Pandora’s oceans. The Titanic director said that his fictional planet’s aquatic life was equally rich and “diverse and crazy and imaginative” as its famously colourful land-based equivalent.

“I think what we should do there because we’ll have to have characters that are in and under the water… we should actually capture them underwater. It’s not the same as going diving, but I like to keep my diving, which I do for pleasure, separate from work,” the director said.

more here

Three More Stills from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

more here

Sci-fi worlds that have enraptured moviegoers

Pandora, full of humanoids, and maybe real
In “Star Wars,” there’s no place like home
Dagobah: A swampy land for sage advice
LV-426: Where aliens rule
Krypton: Long-gone land of Superman
Middle-earth: Home from an irretrievable time

more here

I am so glad to hear that after all the back and forth, Seline will be back in Underworld 3D. I love Kate Beckinsale in those movies.

Tomorrow, with Josh Hartnett, sounds interesting. What do you think?

The HP stills are making me impatient for the next movie. Any thoughts on today’s movie news?

Did Scott Pilgrim Beat the World?

That is what we are here to find out. This is really a movie for someone who grew up in the late 80’s and the 90’s. it is full of subtle, and not so subtle pop culture references that few people outside of generation X will get.

The movie follows the story of the comic to a T, this is probably one of the most accurate comic book adaptations I’ve seen yet. More so even than Kick Ass in some regards.

The plot is relatively simple. 23 year old Scott Pilgrim is dating a teenager named Knives Chau, she’s a Chinese Catholic schoolgirl with the outfit and everything. Don’t worry, they don’t do it, they barely hold hands.

Cera plays Cera in every movie he’s in, except for Youth in Revolt, there he played Cera with a mustache. But surprisingly Cera works for the character. He isn’t who I would have cast for Scott, but he actually does a good job in the role. He owned the role, I’m honestly reaching for something to complain about for his performance.

The other lead was Mary Winstead as Ramona Flowers. She came across as very aloof and distant, more so than her comic book counterpart. I believe this to be because of the emotional baggage that she is carrying around. She was good, but this is probably the weakest performance I’ve seen her give. It didn’t feel like they used her to her full potential.

Read more HERE

Entire ‘Star Wars’ movie series to come to Blu-ray in 2011

The perfect time for someone to whip out one of these faux real lightsabers would be the unwrapping of the Blu-ray version of “Star Wars.” At Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, FL, that was the big news that George Lucas gave the crowd: that all six live-action “Star Wars” films will be released in 2011 on Blu-ray for the first time.

For those who have been forecasting the death of the optical disc, this alone could keep it alive for a while, no? There have been many pundits who say its only a matter of time (including us), what with the growth of streaming video. On the other hand, as we have also said, with bandwidth caps expected to become the norm across ISPs at some time in the future, who knows?

The press release that followed the announcement gave an approximate timeframe: Fall 2011. 2011 is the 35th Anniversary of the original film, now renamed “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.”

In addition to the Blu-ray announcement, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill joined Lucas onstage to debut a scene that had been cut from the “Return of the Jedi” episode.

Read more HERE

Jason Flemyng is Nightcrawler’s Dad in X-Men: First Class

Yet another British actor in Jason Flemyng, seen earlier this year in Clash of the Titans and in Matthew Vaughn’s latest movie Kick-Ass has joined the cast of X-Men: First Class as another mutant character. Flemyng will play Azazel, a demonic mutant who happens to be the father of Nightcrawler – the blue teleporting mutant who played a key role in X-Men 2.

In the books, Azazel impregnates Mystique (played by Jennifer Lawrence in X-Men: First Class) and she gives birth to Nightcrawler, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some sort of story arc involving their relationship in First Class. Azazel is very similar to Nightcrawler in that he can teleport as well but in the X-Men comics, he also possesses other powers such as the ability to shapeshift and fire bolts of energy. I would expect he’ll be de-powered quite a bit for the sake of the movie and be restricted to teleportation like his son.

Created by writer Chuck Austen and artist Sean Phillips, Azazel has an otherworldly history, which may or may not be a bit extreme for the X-Men prequel movie. In the comics, Azazel explains that back in biblical times the Neyaphem, demonic mutants such as he, fought with the Cheyarafim, angelic mutants who were far too zealous for their own good (think Angel but with an attitude). Azazel went around impregnating lots of women and eventually taking control of his children (including our very own Nightcrawler) and using them to open a portal to his dimension to release his demonic mutant brethren.

Read more HERE

Team Potter, forget Edward vs. Jacob

Sparkly vampires, teenage romance, Hollywood clichés … gag me.

For the past few years, ever since production of the first Twilight movie began, it seems every teenage girl feels the need to ramble on about the book-turned-movie, and quite frankly I’m sick of it.

Over this past summer, the pop-culture craze turned into an unhealthy obsession as young girls and their unenthused boyfriends lined up for the movie premiere of Eclipse, bickering over Team Edward versus Team Jacob.

Seriously, give me originality and adventure, like in the Harry Potter series, then I’ll be happy.

Really though, if the Twilight films were just bad movies, I wouldn’t complain. Unfortunately, I’ve had the misfortune of seeing many bad films in my day, but that series has gone way beyond just being bad.

The worst part about this whole debacle is that these insane Twilight fanatics think their sorry excuse for a film series is better than the glory that is Harry Potter.

Read more HERE

So what did you think about today’s movie news? Have you seen Scott Pilgrim VS the World yet, what did you think..is it like the comic? Are you excited to have the complete Star Wars series on Blu-Ray? Are you excited for the new X-Men movie, does the new back story seem interesting? Lastly, Team Potter or Team Twilight, which movie franchise is more exciting and entertaining?

Top 5 Movies/TV Shows about Fanboys-Erin

1) Spaced: From the very beginning the characters in this British TV show quote Star Wars and re-enact scenes from their favorite movies. It blends so seamlessly into the plot that sometimes you don’t even realize they’re references. One of the special features is an “homage-o-meter” that displays at the bottom of the screen what movie/tv show the scene is a reference to.

2) Fanboys: In 1999, a group of friends decide to drive from Ohio to Skywalker Ranch in California to steal a copy of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 6 months before it hits theaters.

3) The Big Bang Theory: Sheldon wears superhero T-shirts in nearly every episode, they have a comic book night, and Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: TNG), Summer Glau (Firefly, The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Dollhouse), and have Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Gallactica) been guests stars—making all the boys giddy.

4) Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: The name says it all! Kevin Smith is a huge fanboy himself, and someday Silent Bob will successfully move something with his mind.

5) Futurama: Nearly every episode features a Star Trek reference, Leonard Nemoy was in the pilot, and George Takei has been in 2 episodes. The cast of The Original Series guest-starred together in a tribute episode titled “Where No Fan Has Gone Before”.

Top 5 Efforts to save a TV Show

Futurama: Nearly 11 years after it’s first episode aired, Futurama returns to the air waves. The original airing included 5 seasons (72 episodes total—what a normal show would do in 3-4 seasons). What resurrected the series was great dvd sales and 4 straight to dvd movies that sold in the millions, convincing Fox (who still owns the rights to the show) to commission a new 26 episode season. Luckily, cartoon characters age well.

Chuck: Fans purchased footlong sandwiches from product-placement sponsor Subway and wrote letters to NBC to get Chuck into a third season. Fan’s vigor got them into a fourth season as well.

Firefly: I still say that mishandling is the reason this show was cancelled after one season, and I think fans agree. Record dvd sales convinced Fox (hmm, I’m noticing a pattern here) to let Joss Whedon make the movie Serenity, which gave some closure for the Firefly characters. More details that would have been flushed out in episodes are coming out in comic form because the fanbase is so strong.

FlashForward: Fans staged a 2 minutes, 17 second “blackout” to protest the cancellation of the show outside ABC offices in the US, Canada, and the UK, as well as sending 20,000 friendship bracelets to executives. Unfortunately, the show wasn’t renewed.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: After two season, Fox (Fox again) canceled the show. Fans rented movable billboards and created the “Save Cameron” campaign. Shockingly, (eh hem, sarcasm) Fox ignored their pleas

FANGIRLS A GROWING FORCE IN STAR WARS EMPIRE

Source: newsarama

Ashley Eckstein started picking up on it three years ago.

The voice of Ahsoka, Anakin Skywalker’s plucky Padawan on Cartoon Network’s hit animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” Eckstein had just started attending conventions to meet and greet fans, when she noticed something strange.

“There were women, everywhere. It seemed that [the people] coming through my autograph line, it was 50/50 male and female,” said Eckstein. “Then I went online to find merchandise for me to wear and…I couldn’t find anything. I started doing my research and found out [Lucasfilm] didn’t really make merchandise for women.”

Eckstein quickly hatched a plan and partnered with The Araca Group to create Her Universe, a line of female merchandise. While there have been a few items made for ladies in the past, like Junk Food’s retro baby doll tees, it’s the first Star Wars product line specifically targeted at the growing legion of Fangirls drawn by the power of the Force.

READ MORE HERE

I’m surprised that this is a surprise … I’ve been a SW fan for most of my life – I LOVED Princess Leia – and , yeah , I happen to be female. A lot of my female friends are also SW fans. Without the need of a ‘female franchise’. What do you think of this?

Join us in the forum to discuss!