Source: galaxyexpress

IT’S A WOMAN’S WORLD

Seriously, isn’t it about time women ruled the planet? I remember as a child wistfully thinking if women were in charge of everything, everything would be better. We’d be more compassionate, more globally responsible, more peaceful. Rainbows and kittens would proliferate in abundance and all would be well, right?

Now that I’m grown, one of the things I love about Science Fiction Romance is the open canvas it gives me to explore some of the crazy ideas I had as a child, including the question, “What if women were in charge?”

Would it be the rainbows and kittens of my dreams? The more I thought about it, the more it disturbed me that most of the portrayals of women dominant cultures in popular fiction in both print and visual media went one of two ways.

Read more here…

Source: huffington post

WRITE IT AND THEY WILL COME

Most writers allow themselves fantasies, unless they’re truly in it for bloodsport. For the last twenty years I’ve tried to tame mine. Fourteen books completed (not fourteen good ones) and a few that almost went all the way didn’t make much fodder for fantasy. But ’tis true I’d catch myself dreaming of young writers raising their hands like kids at a birthday party eager for you to open their present, “Tell me about your process!” “What’s it feel like to have a Pulitzer?” ‘Tis true.

Last year I wrote an essay based on an unpublished memoir I’d written a few years prior. The essay was published in the New York Times and there began the ride of my life thus far.

Read more here…

Source: io9

HUNGER GAMES BOOK TRAILER

The third in the series of Hunger Games, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is set for release this month and with comes this new book trailer.

Source: seattletimes

FRESH VOICES IN SCIENCE FICTION

The contest between small independent presses and huge media conglomerates could be won because the little guys are able to take big chances. In science fiction and fantasy, at least, they’re willing and eager to publish minorities and women, and wonderfully fresh debut novels like Karen Lord’s “Redemption in Indigo”.

Lord is a well-traveled native of Barbados with a University of Toronto science degree. Using a Senegalese folktale the way a composer uses a musical theme — as a basis for variation — she recounts the fantastical adventures of Paama, who escapes her unfortunate marriage only to be placed in unwitting charge of awesome universal powers.

Read more here…

Are you excited for the third installment of the Hunger Games Trilogy? Do book trailers help in your decision to read a book?

What is your favorite type of science fiction?  Romance, espionage, apocalyptic…? Let’s discuss.

Why Scientists Should Read Science Fiction

by Hannah Waters at geekosystem

I write this post going into science fiction as a fan, but also unaware of how most scientists think about it.  I can imagine two central viewpoints: (1) scientists who enjoy it (like myself), simultaneously as entertainment and a bit of critical thinking and (2) scientists who dislike it due to its tendency to portray “evil scientists” and/or science and technology gone awry, destroying the world.

Many of the stories do deal with technology taking over civilization – but embedded within this framework is a great deal of excitement, along with some deserved anxiety. The best way for me to explain these conflicting emotions is with an example of something that happened to me in the past few weeks.  We are slowly inching closer to developing lab-produced organs, which would be incredibly beneficial for a lot of obvious reasons.  Just this month there have been developments toward mass-produced red blood cells, as well as bioartificial lungs.  Eerily, I read about these discoveries as I was tearing my way through Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake…

[S]cience fiction is one of the ways that non-scientists absorb science.  Oryx and Crake is a national bestseller, suggesting that millions of people have read Atwood’s tale of bioengineering gone wrong.  While we should assume that the public knows that this is fiction and doesn’t take it entirely seriously, these stories do raise questions about the potential misuses of science that might not be as prevalent otherwise.

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Words to live by: advice from 34 science fiction/fantasy authors

By Charlie Jane Anders at io9

Great science fiction and fantasy novels don’t just expose us to other worlds and alternate timelines — they expand our minds and give us compass to steer by. Here are our favorite bits of advice and maxims from SF books.

You could do a lot worse than living your life according to principles espoused in science fiction books — in fact, here’s somebody who claims that it’s impossible to live a moral life unless you read science fiction. We won’t go quite that far, but here are some words to live by from science fiction. Please do post your own favorite maxims and aphorisms from SF in the comments — I have a feeling it’ll be a really amazing comment thread!

“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.” — Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless.

Read More here

Mockingjay Book Tour Dates

via My Hunger Games

From August 23 Suzanne Collins, the author of The Hunger Games series kicks off a 12 city book tour to promote the Mockingjay.  She will be visiting bookstores in New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, California, Seattle, and Vancouver.

From our last contact with Scholastic, the tour schedule is still being finalised, but here’s what know:

In August – Suzanne Collins will be in NYC, New Jersey, Conneticut, Boston

August 23, 8:00pm – 1:30am– Books of Wonder, New York City, NY – this is the official launch party for Mockingjay with a midnight release party.

Read More here

New Mass Effect novel penned by sci-fi writer William C. Dietz

by Joystiq at Game Daily

In a recent interview with our PC-centric sister site Big Download, science fiction novelist and experienced game-to-book adapter William C. Dietz revealed he was recently “hired to write a Mass Effect tie-in.” When pressed for details about the project, Dietz, who has also written books for the Resistance, Hitman, Halo and StarCraft franchises, could only reveal that it was due to his publisher in early 2011.

Read More here

I’ve seen a lot of documentaries saying that science fiction stories (tv, movie or books) are the reason scientists became physicists/astronomers, etc, in the first place. I think Science is influence by science fiction nearly as much as the reverse. Why else would scientists be trying to transport matter, if not influenced by Star Trek? I’m really looking forward to Mockingjay. I’ll have to re-read the first two (darn). I absolutely love Douglas Adams, he is one of the funniest writers ever. He’s brilliant.

Do you think Sci fi influences science? Are you looking forward to Mockingjay?

TOP 10 YA Reads THIS summer: by Chris

1. Dark Flame by Alyson Noel – 4th installment of the Immortals Series

2. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins – 3rd and final book of The Hunger Games Series (August 24th)

3. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer – A short story about a newborn in Eclipse

4. The Clockwork Angels by Cassandra Clare – the first novel in The Infernal Devices series (August 31st)

5. Burned by P.C Cast & Kristen Cast – 7th book in the House of Night series

6. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater – 2nd book in the Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls) series (July 20th)

7. Keys to Repository by Melissa De La Cruz – Newest novel in the Blue Bloods series

8. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson – 3rd and finale installment of The Millennium Trilogy

9. Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr - 4th book in the Wicked Lovely series

10. Torment by Lauren Kate – 2nd book in the Fallen series (September 28th)

Top 5 reasons to read Evermore by Alyson Noel: by Chris

1. If you are tired of the same ol’ Vampire, Zombie or Wolf story than “The Immortals” series will be like a breath of fresh air.

2. The series has the always intriguing ‘love triangle’ – with two irresistible male characters

3. Alyson Noel took a lot of time to research all the facts. In the novels, she introduces aura’s, mind-reading, physic powers, spell casting, manifesting and more! All of which is based on the facts, and how they are all truly practiced..nothing phony here!

4. The characters of Miles, Romie & Rayne, and Roman are very entertaining and keep this dark story, very comical and interesting. You are always on the edge of your seat, guessing what is going to happen next!

5. Hello! Immortals are awesome, even better is the past lives of all the characters and how the entwine.

SCHOLASTIC ANNOUNCES ‘MOCKINGJAY’ PRINT RUN, TOUR DETAILS

Source: publishersweekly.com

Teens, tweens, and adults alike are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Mockingjay, the third and final book in Suzanne Collins’s dystopian Hunger Games trilogy. And come August 24, they shouldn’t have trouble getting their hands on a copy: Scholastic has increased the book’s initial print run to 1.2 million copies, up from 750,000 copies. Additionally, the trade paperback edition of The Hunger Games will go on sale in the U.S. and Canada on July 3, with a 500,000-copy first printing.

Scholastic also announced early details about a 12-market tour for Collins, which will begin on Mockingjay’s pub date and last through November. Collins will visit bookstores in New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, California, Seattle, and Vancouver.

“Excitement for The Hunger Games trilogy continues to grow each day as new readers discover Suzanne Collins’s indelible heroine Katniss Everdeen,” said Scholastic Trade president Ellie Berger in a statement.

READ MORE HERE

SCHOLASTIC HANDS OUT ‘THE HUNGER GAMES’ TO FANS AT THE U.K PREMIERE OF ‘THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE’

Source: www.examiner.com

Fans of The Twilight Saga got a surprise while waiting for the U.K. premiere of “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” in London’s Leicester Square. Scholastic U.K. handed out 3,000 copies of their best-selling novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

True, there are no vampires or werewolves in The Hunger Games — but Twilight author Stephenie Meyer has been a fan of The Hunger Games series after posting a review of it on her website.

READ MORE HERE

What do you think of today’s book news?

Join us in the forum to discuss!

Linger Playlist, Texas Dates & Happy Germans

via Maggie Stiefvater’s Blog

Okay, it’s Friday, and it’s before Linger’s coming out, so more Linger music (are you guys tired of this yet?) It’s now five-ish weeks until Linger’s release and it’s starting to feel really close. As such, I now have my full tour schedule for this summer. Here tis’.

July 20th: Barnes & Noble, Williamsburg, VA, launch event where a Sharpie guitar will be given away.
July 23rd: Keplers, Menlo Park, CA.
July 24th: Copperfield’s, Santa Rosa, CA
July 25th: Barnes & Noble, El Cerrito, CA
July 26th: Borders, Glendale, CA
July 27th: Once Upon a Time, Montrose, CA
July 28th: Barnes & Noble, The Woodlands, TX
July 28th: Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, TX
July 29th: Book People, Austin, TX

Details and International Dates here

HUNGER GAMES: TRAINING DAYS STRATEGY GAME

from Lindsey at The Mockingjay (livejournal)

Hunger Games game!
No, really, it’s an actual board/card game.

From the best-selling book comes The Hunger Games: Training Days Strategy Game! Coinciding with the release of the third book in the Hunger Games saga this fall, Training Days allows 2-6 players to follow in the footsteps of their favorite Tributes as they compete in the days leading up to the arena.

Read More here

I am so freakin excited for Linger! The Hunger Games game seems cool, but it looks like it’s a limited edition; the site says it won’t be available for purchase after July 4th.

What do you think of the board game? Will you be attending a Linger release event?

Marmee Noir returns in Blake vampire series

By J. Stephen Bolhafner at St. Louis Today

Anita Blake’s guns blaze and her love life becomes ever more complicated in “Bullet,” the 19th book in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series.

Those who think the erotic interludes in Laurell K. Hamilton’s novels threaten to overwhelm the plot may not be happy with this one, as there is more sex than in her most recent installments. But it’s hardly extraneous to the plot. In ways it would be spoiling things to reveal, the sex scenes really are inextricably linked with the development of the story.

The big news is that Marmee Noir is back. Fans may remember that the ancient progenitor of all vampires was finally judged to be so dangerous that the Vampire Council hired mercenaries to blow her up.

Read More here

Book review: ‘The Passage’ by Justin Cronin

By Ed Nawotka at Dallas News

It hasn’t happened yet, but the end of the world begins under the 610 loop in Houston.

It starts when a River Oaks housewife in tennis whites pulls over her gleaming black Denali to give a homeless man $20. That innocent encounter ends luridly, like so many of the true-crime stories that come from the nation’s fourth-largest city, with the woman floating dead in her pool and the man, named Carter, sitting on death row in Huntsville.

Fast forward to 2016, when our story begins proper, and things are familiar but different: Jenna Bush is governor, gasoline is $13 a gallon, and New Orleans, destroyed by Hurricane Vanessa, has been cordoned and redubbed the Federal Industrial District of New Orleans.

Read More here

Feed Your Reader

Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Tor

Now free on the US version of Apple’s “iBooks” store: Tor.com’s four major award finalists from 2009, nicely done up as elegant ePub files for your iPad (and, once iOS 4 ships on June 21, your iPhone).

All four are also available for free in Amazon’s Kindle Store and the Sony Reader store; they’ll appear soon in some other channels as well. They’ll stay free until after the Hugo Awards are announced at Aussiecon 4 in Melbourne, Australia, over Labor Day Weekend.

More Details here

Q&A: Android Karenina Mash-Up Author Ditches Horror For Sci-Fi

By Allie Townsend at Techland

Ben Winter’s Android Karenina – yes, Leo Tolstoy – takes the monster mashing to a place rarely touched by wannabes: science fiction. The shift from classic horror to sci-fi is refreshing, and more importantly, necessary to rejuvenate what is now, somewhat of a tired trope. Android Karenina is Tolstoy’s sweeping epic told with a steampunk twist. Winters cleverly takes the major philosophical issues of Tolstoy’s world and gives them a sci-fi polish: The relationship between the classes is shifted to the question of the relationship between man and machine. That’s right, robots.

AT: How then, did you decided to mash-up Tolstoy? Why Anna Karenina and robots?

BW: The title was so great, it was irresistible. We were talking about a bunch of possibilities for the next book and Android Karenina was a title that had been suggested early on. It was so deliriously ridiculous that you wanted to find a way to make a book out of it. I know this is audacious to say, but Anna Karenina is widely recognized as one of the best, if not the best, novels that has ever been written. It’s so beautiful and so big and has so many ideas and the story is so compelling and the characters are so real, I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t resist seeing if we could pull this off with a novel that is beloved, and beloved for a reason.

Read More here

Writing Tips from The Hunger Games

via Katacomb@Blogspot

As you all probably know, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is hot, hot, hot right now. I might be a little late on the bandwagon–I just finished the first book yesterday. But to make up for my tardiness… I read straight through the night and finished the thing in about five hours, ending at 4 am!

That in itself is a testament to the book. But this post is not a book review–no, I’m going to give you some writing advice using The Hunger Games as an example. After all, the books has got to be selling like hotcakes for a reason, right?

2. The fact that the mayor’s daughter isn’t a stuck up snob like stereotype demands.
Okay, so this is a tiny thing, but I serious gave a little sigh of relief when her personality was revealed.

Takeaway message: Even your minor characters shouldn’t be stereotypical if you can help it. Don’t go overboard, but try to reverse some tropes and stereotypes!

Read More here

Guest Post: On Female Victors and Probability

By John at Hogwarts Professor

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR CATCHING FIRE!

It’s Hunger Games Time! Mary Baldwin College Professor Louise Freeman, a longtime friend of this weblog. has jumped from the Pearl Plot and other ideas about Suzanne Collins’ dystopian novels posted here into exploration of neglected details of the series that open up fascinating possibilities about the series’ finale, The Mockingjay. I’ll be posting her insights here this week and next — stay tuned!

Female Victors, Probability and the Quarter Quell

A commonality shared by Johanna and Katniss on Catching Fire is their status as the lone female victor in their District.  Thus, when the conditions of the third Quarter Quell are announced, they are both in the position of being the only name in their Reaping lottery and therefore automatic “winners” of the 96% death chance that comes with being an Arena tribute.  Actually, the risk is probably even higher given their gender; with the emphasis on hand-to-hand combat in the Games, it is fair to assume there are more male than female victors.  So, the odds of survival for these women were probably never higher than 2% or so.  Or even less if you consider neither are from Career districts.

Read More here

The more I hear about The Passage the more interested I become. But 600 pages is very off-putting, so I will absolutely wait for the paperback. But Android Karenina I’ll read right away. All of the And Zombies/Vampires got old very quickly, so I just started avoiding them. So when a new creature comes out I happily check the book out (like Little Women and Werewolves, I loved it!). It may help that I hadn’t read Little Women, and haven’t read Anna Karenina (while I have read all the Jane Austin books), but who knows.

What upcoming books are you looking forward to?