Category: News

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Minutiae News

Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Reviews Coming Soon

As an avid fan of reading, I’ve decided to start including more science fiction and fantasy book reviews on the site. If you want to submit your book for review, feel free to use the contact page to send me a blurb and I’ll tell you if I’m interested. If you send me the book attached, do not send it in a zip file. I won’t risk opening it.

I get a lot of books through netgalley and from publishers, but not SF/F books. Any time I can, I’d rather deal directly with authors if possible, because it’s easier to go back to emails if I decide I want to review a book later that I wasn’t sure about to start with. I’m also not one to post reviews if I hate a book, simply because there’s no way I’ll finish it if I don’t like it. That’s just the way I read.

My tastes in SF/F fiction run to pulp and entertainment, although I occasionally enjoy high-minded fiction. I’d much rather be entertained, and I have high tolerance for typos and grammar foibles–I want a good story. Give me that and I’m forgiving of the rest…

I’m opening this to both industry/traditionally published books and independently published books for the time being. We’ll see how it goes.

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News Science Fiction Television

The Walking Dead Canceled? No Way

I’ve seen people asking if The Walking Dead has been canceled. No way. The show has been renewed for a third season by AMC not that long ago. Here’s a link if you want to know more: "AMC Announces 16 Episode Order for The Walking Dead Season 3".

Next week is the season finale in case you didn’t know. Episode 13 of the series’s second season marks the end of season 2 of The Walking Dead, but thoughts of what’s to come in season 3’s 16 episodes will keep me going until the show returns to AMC. :)

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Fantasy News Television

Merlin Returns with The Darkest Hour Part 1

Merlin returned to Syfy with the The Darkest Hour Part 1 which aired on Friday night. Part 2 airs this coming Friday and promises more awesomeness from a TV I’ve missed.

merlin-darkest-hour

The family was thrilled to see Merlin and Arthur again too, although I did have to explain early on that a year had passed in TV time between the last episode of season 3 and the first episode of season 4. Gwen and Gaius discuss Uther’s condition early on in The Darkest Hour and use the opportunity to fill us in on where things stand, but for young ones I don’t think the passage of time was as easy to pick up on because that conversation was really the only time it was mentioned.

Morgana is back with a vengeance in this season opening episode. She splits open the veil between the living and dead and unleashes a terror on Camelot that puts everyone at risk. She’s also made aware of a threat to her future, but I won’t spoil it with detail. Suffice to say, Morgana is as much a threat as ever to Camelot and her resolve to flat out destroy them all only seems to be growing.

I look forward to next week’s episode, The Darkest Hour Part 2.

The Darkest Hour Part 2 airs Friday, January 13.

Categories
Fantasy News Television

Grimm’s Future Not So Grim

grimm According to TV By the Numbers’ recent article on the topic of cancellation and renewal predictions, Grimm’s fate is looking good. That’s good news for this fan, because Grimm just happens to be one of my favorites to come out of the 2011 season of new shows.

Grimm is a paranormal fantasy series about a homicide police detective who finds out he’s a Grimm, descended from a long line of Grimms able to pick out a variety of mythological creatures and tell them apart from regular humans. The show makes for an interesting combination of police procedural and fantasy series, setting it apart from the equally fantastic Once Upon a Time, also a fairy-tale based fantasy TV series from 2011.

Will There Be a Second Season of Grimm?

NBC hasn’t had many hits lately, or at least nothing I’m still watching except for Chuck, which is in its final season. I tried Prime Suspect, because I am a fan of crime and mystery TV (probably one reason I like Grimm so much) but the show was dark, depressing, and generally unlikeable and has already been canceled. Why does this matter? Because Grimm is one of the few new shows doing well on NBC. That’s excellent news for the future of the show and greatly increases the chance of renewal for a second season of Grimm! :)

Categories
Fantasy News Television

Merlin Returns to Syfy with New Episodes Friday January 6

Merlin Season 3 DVD Cover

The Darkest Hour opens the new season of Merlin on Syfy on Friday, January 6.

In The Darkest Hour, Arthur and his loyal knights, including Lancelot, are forced to protect the kingdom when Morgana summons the mighty Callieach.

Merlin Season 3 DVDI’m looking forward to the return of a fantasy TV series I thoroughly enjoy. Slightly hokey, but completely charming, Merlin is a take on the coming of age of Arthur through the eyes of Merlin, a sorcerer in hiding in a land where magic is forbidden and using magic brings with it a death sentence.

The Merlin Season 3 DVD will be available January 17 so fans can add it to their collection of Merlin memorabilia.

Looking at the episode list for the new season gives me a lot of pleasure because it’s apparent there are some good episodes coming up. I’ve included the titles below, but not the descriptions, so no one reading this is spoiled for the upcoming season of Merlin.

Merlin Episodes Coming in Season 4

  • The Darkest Hour Parts 1 & 2
  • The Wicked Day
  • Aithusa
  • His Father’s Son
  • A Servant of Two Masters
  • The Secret Sharer
  • Lamia
  • Lancelot du Lac
  • A Herald of the New Age
  • The Hunter’s Heart
  • The Sword in the Stone Parts 1 & 2

Merlin stars Colin Morgan as Merlin, Bradley James as Arthur, Angel Coulby as Guinevere, Katie McGrath as Morgana,  and Anthony Head as King Uther Pendragon.

Categories
News Science Fiction Television

Preorder Available for Falling Skies Season 1 DVD & Blu-ray

falling-skies-dvd-blu-ray Finally, you can preorder either the Falling Skies DVD or Falling Skies Blu-ray for the complete season 1!

When a show as good as this one comes out on DVD, I add it to my collection. The price is excellent too, at below $30 right now for the entire Falling Skies season 1 DVD, and under $35 for the Falling Skies season 1 Blu-ray.

What is it about Falling Skies that makes it something science fiction fans will want to buy? The series takes on the story of an alien invasion and turns it into an thrilling mystery, that’s why.

Noah Wyle and Moon Bloodgood are great at what they do, and it shows in their portrayals of their characters, Tom Mason and Anne Glass. Colin Cunningham, however, is the breakout actor/character for this show for me. I saw him in many episodes of the Stargate TV series, but I never thought of him as spectacular or great, but in Falling Skies, as Pope, he really shines as an actor, bringing John Pope to life as a crazy gang leader turned prisoner who might not be so crazy after all.

Although I liked every episode, in my opinion particularly good episodes from season one of Falling Skies include Prisoner of War (episode 3), Grace (episode 4), What Hides Beneath (episode 8), Mutiny (episode 9), and Eight Hours (episode 10).

Don’t miss the opportunity to get in on the preorder price guarantee to get the best price Amazon offers if you’re even sort of thinking of purchasing the Falling Skies DVD or Blu-ray set. There’s no specific release date listed, but it’s inevitable the sets will be out before the new season starts next summer.

Preorder Falling Skies on DVD or Blu-ray. Just click one of the links for the format you want!

Categories
News Television

Once Upon a Time Enchants

I’m nearly always a day or two behind when it comes to watching a TV show. Today I sat down to watch Once Upon a Time, a new show from ABC that crosses contemporary drama and fairytale fantasy. Once Upon a Time's Rumpelstiltskin aka Mr. Gold The show appealed to me for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is because I love fairytales.

In the pilot episode (which you can watch on the ABC website if you missed it), Emma Swan meets the son she gave up for adoption ten years previous. These days, Emma is a bail bondswoman and her desire to become a parent is non-existent. However, Henry, her son, seems determined to bring her back to his hometown of Storybrooke, where he believes Snow White and Prince Charming have been trapped with no recollection of who they really are. Emma is their daughter and it is up to her to save everyone in Storybrooke from the Evil Queen, who is now living as the town’s mayor Regina and who is the adopted mother of Henry.

What I discovered while watching the Once Upon a Time Pilot Episode was that I loved the premise. I also think the execution of the two elements (Storybrooke and Fairytale) was handled really well and made for some excellent story telling.

Intriguing and mysterious, but not obscure, Once Upon a Time enchanted this viewer. I’ll be watching again, no doubt about it.

Anyone who likes fantasy should consider the Once Upon a Time TV show for, at the very least, a one-time viewing. If you’re anything like me though, one viewing won’t be enough.

In a quick aside, I really enjoyed seeing Robert Carlyle in another TV series now that Stargate Universe is off the air. Although that show had its issues, Carlyle’s performance wasn’t one of them. His portrayal of Rumpelstiltskin was awesome.

I suggest you watch, if only so that the ratings warrant keeping the show on the air just so I can keep watching it. I’d be every so grateful.

Categories
News Science Fiction Television

Chuck Returns for Season 5 in October

Chuck returns October 21 for season 5, Friday, 7 PM Central / 8 PM Eastern.

You can watch the last episodes of season 4 again to prepare the return of Chuck in October. Some episodes are available on the NBC website, while all episodes are available on Amazon if you need to catch up on more than just a few missed episodes or you don’t want to be bothered by ad interruptions. You could certainly wait for the Chuck season 4 DVD set to watch, which will be available on October 11. That’s more than a week to catch up on episodes before the new season starts on the 21st.

If you need another way to show your love for the show, here’s a really nice Nerd Herd t-shirt that’ll let you wear your fannish feelings right on your chest!

Chuck Nerd Herd T-Shirt
Chuck Nerd Herd T-Shirt

Categories
News Science Fiction Television

Fringe Season 3 Blu-ray on Sale

Finally, you can order the Fringe Season 3 Blu-ray at Amazon. For fans of the Fringe television series and Blu-ray discs, this is great news. For the rest of you, well, you probably don’t care, so why are you reading this?

Fringe Season 3 Blu-ray DiscFringe: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray

BUY NOW

The Fringe season 3 Blu-ray release date is September 6, 2011.

Scroll down for a better view of the Blu-ray box set cover image.

Since this is a series that demands it be watched in the proper episode order so that you can follow what’s going on, this makes a great TV show on Blu-ray purchase. You want to be able to sit down and watch the Fringe episodes back to back and you also want to watch them in order or you could find yourself confused, not to mention you’ll miss subtleties in the progression of the layered story lines.

Starring:

  • Anna Torv (Olivia)
  • Joshua Jackson (Peter)
  • John Noble

Season 3 Episodes on the Blu-ray Set

  1. Olivia
  2. The Box
  3. The Plateau
  4. Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?
  5. Amber 31422
  6. 6955 kHz
  7. The Abducted…
  8. Entrada
  9. Marionette
  10. The Firefly
  11. Reciprocity
  12. Concentrate and Ask Again
  13. Immortality
  14. 6 B
  15. Subject 13
  16. Os
  17. Stowaway
  18. Bloodline
  19. Lysergic Acid Diethylamide
  20. 6:02 AM EST
  21. The Last Sam Weiss
  22. The Day We Died

The 22 episodes included in this release make up a very strong season. Enjoy watching them again and again.

Special Features and Extras

  • The Mythology of Fringe
  • Fringe: Analyzing the Scene Sidebars on 6 Key Episodes
  • In the Lab with John Noble and Prop Master Rob Smith
  • Commentary on 4 Episodes by Series Stars and Creative Team
  • Unusual Side Effects: Gag Reel
  • Dissected Files: Unaired Scenes
  • Also includes The Unearthed Episode starring Kirk Acevedo as Charlie

Fringe Season 3 Blu-ray Box Cover

Fringe Season 3 Blu-ray Disc

Of course, you can always purchase the Fringe Season 3 DVD box set instead if you don’t have a Blu-ray player.

Categories
Fantasy News Television

Comic-Con Interview with Colin Morgan of Merlin

Lynn (@scififantasies) has shared a Tweet with you:  “SFXmagazine: Exclusive Comic-Con interview with Merlin’s Colin Morgan talking about series 4 http://t.co/u0bXHSK”

I watched the video and found it quite interesting. :) I like the hint that Merlin can’t continue to hide his magic forever. I would love to see him exposed as a sorcerer before the end of the series, because I think it would be fascinating to see Arthur come to terms with it.