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New Books to Check Out:Green, The City and the City, Torchwood and the new Wheel of Time!

There are some great new books either out now or coming onto the market for fans of science fiction and fantasy. These genres are going through something of a renaissance right now, with some fantastic stories coming onto the market. here are some suggestions for new titles to discover and enjoy...

THE CITY & THE CITY by China Mieville
The author of masterworks such as Perdito Street Station, Un Lun Dun and other fine examples of the fantastic is back with a gritty crime noir thriller that has a distinctly Mieville weird quality to it. Something of a departure for China, but a book that his fans will adore. A powerful and memorable take on the crime genre, with a subtle underlying current of fantasy.

GREEN by Jay Lake
Green is proving to be a hit with lovers of modern science fiction and fantasy. Jay lake, known for Steampunk fiction, here takes a jump into full-on fantasy with a tale of a young woman caught in a power struggle between immortals. With lush prose and an engaging heroine, Green looks set to be one of this year's most popular new titles.

TORCHWOOD: INTO THE SILENCE by Sarah Pinborough
A particularly strong tie-in novel based on the BBC science fiction series. If you’re still in shock from the events of the Children of Earth miniseries, then this novel will calm you with a slightly more humourous take on the Torchwood characters. A metallic monster is on the loose, and to combat it... Ianto joins a choir. Eh? Read it and find out more!

COMING SOON:

THE GATHERING STORM by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
The big one coming later this year (November), is the twelfth book in the legendary Wheel of Time series, Robert Jordan's masterpiece of high fantasy. Following Jordan's death, the conclusion of the series has fallen into the hands of Brandon Sanderson, who, using Jordan's original notes and material, is creating a trilogy of books that will bring the massively popular series to a close. This is the first book in that trilogy, and fantasy fans everywhere are craving it.

ADAPT THIS: Bring back QUANTUM LEAP!

ADAPT THIS! What would be fantastic adapted into a movie or TV show? The possibilities are endless. Here's the second in our ADAPT THIS series of articles... 

ADAPT THIS! #2: QUANTUM LEAP

The show that made a bleeping PDA seem cute would make an incredible feature film. It made hosuehold names of Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell and had one of the most unique concepts ever devised for a genre TV show. While the Quantum Leap TV series may not seem like the most obvious choice for a film adaptation with its episodic nature, let's take a look at why it would work.

The idea of Quantum Leap is extremely flexible, and a two-hour film could encompass many of the various examples of the show's plot devices. There could be a vignette in the past, a vignette in the present and a vignette in the future, all tied together with one story arc as Samuel Beckett (Bakula) tries to get back to his own time and his own body. It could also give a clearer ending than the series did, as the TV show's ending left many fans confused and wanting more fo a sense of closure.

A feature film could take the shape of a reimagining of the Quantum Leap concept, or then again, it could see Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell reprise their famous roles. Quantum Leap always had a lot to say about the human condition and various attitudes. It dealt with difficult subjects such as race, gender, abuse and violence in a dignified manner, and would have a definite message for movie viewers should it ever come to the screen.

With the main character jumping from body to body, it would also give a movie studio ample room to cast stars as the reflections/real world counterparts of the people that Sam Beckett inhabits during each part of the story. Naturally, a film version of the Quantum Leap TV series wouldn't just have to follow one character. It could be a group of related characters trying to get back to the same point in time, all inhabiting different people in each zone that they 'Leap' to. This would also give ample opportunity for spin-offs, or even a new series.

Torchwood Trailer: Will series 3 be the end?

The first trailer for TORCHWOOD's third TV outing is here:

Will this epic five part miniseries spell the end for the Torchwood team? That is the question on the minds of many fans of the show, and a question we will soon have the answer to. I think this will be the end of the show as an ongoing series, but I'm sure the team will return in some shape or other- probably in one off specials. We shall see. The trailer looks great though.

Torchwood action figures available here!

ADAPT THIS: Things that would make fantastic films - Part 1

There are any number of novels, cartoons, comics and games that have been optioned as feature films or TV shows , and almost all of them are languishing in Development Hell.

In the science fiction and fantasy genres, there are countless other properties that studios should consider turning into onscreen reality, and with endless repetition of the same old ideas in movies, these properties would breathe some fresh life into the medium of fantastic cinema.

We're going to take a look at the science fiction, fantasy and horror concepts that would make incredible movies, in the spirit of fandom and the hope for some legends to come to life.

ADAPT THIS Number 1

LENSMAN

The legendary series of pulp SF novels by E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith would be the perfect basis for a movie trilogy or even a TV series. The books, despite their questionable science and physics, were a huge hit with science fiction readers of the era and have come to be seen as the finest example of early Space Opera.

While the concepts within those stories may prove a little far-fetched for a mass audience to absorb, the books have great scope for adaptation given the right director and writer.

The original book, Triplanetary, was composed of several short stories that spanned millions of years and covered events that led up to the battles between the Arisians and Eddorians, which in turn caused humanity to be created in order to inherit the awesome powers of the tool known as The Lens.

With adventure, action, outlandish concepts and massive scope, Lensman is ripe for the picking, and updated for a modern audience it could well create a milestone of science fiction cinema or TV.

Also, with the number of follow-up books and related works, the Lensman universe could be explored at great depth, giving new audiences a fantastic glimpse into one of the finest science fiction concepts ever devised.

Science Fiction Books available online

Are we entering a new golden age of fandom?

As a kid, I was berated, mocked and heckled because of my interests. I loved Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Men comics, Doctor Who, Spider-Man and countless other gloriously entertaining, thought-provoking and exciting things like them. I was forever labelled as the nerd, the geek, the saddo, yet I continued to love what I loved, and found some solace in the adventures I watched and read about.

This was maybe four or five years before the internet really took hold, and despite the magazines that were available, I couldn’t help but feel rather isolated. When I got online, I discovered that I was far from alone, but still it would be a while until my interests were to become the focus of the mass media.

With the year 2000 there seemed to be a definite shift in perceptions of the science fiction and fantasy genre, and the slew of films, TV series, books and comics that came out at the start of the new millennium did indeed herald a new age of acceptance for the fantastic. Superheroes, spaceships, the unknown and the paranormal were once again at the forefront of the cultural consciousness, and people like me were suddenly fountains of knowledge that people wanted to mine for facts and figures. Vindication was sweet, but it was also rather odd.

Suddenly, the world that had been ours and ours alone had become the playground of millions more people, and it didn’t feel quite so secret or special any more. That feeling, for me at least, didn't last too long, and I grew accustomed to a new cultural landscape where I wasn't frowned at for the things I liked so much. It would have been easy, many times over, to just cry out "I told you so!" at everyone, but there has always been the danger that it all may go wrong any minute.

Thankfully, the makers of these wonderful new films, shows and books have upped their game to a point where the product is always improving. Sure, there are huge mis-fires (Enterprise, anyone?), but on the whole, science fiction and fantasy that is available to the masses is improving a great deal.

This will hopefully mean that the trend will continue and we will be treated to more and more quality material from movie studios and publishers. Is this a new golden age we are enjoying? perhaps. I have a feeling that the best is yet to come, and we will be further vindicated for enjoying good storytelling, exciting characters, and having our imaginations stretched. Here's to fandom, and all that it entails.

CORALINE- NEIL GAIMAN'S MODERN CLASSIC COMES TO LIFE

Neil Gaiman 's wonderful children's book Coraline has become a suitably magical feature film directed by none other than Henry Selick, the man that helmed the 1993 cult classic animated movie 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. If anyone was capable of bringing Gaiman's surreal story of Button-eyed people in an alternate version of our real world, it would be Selick. The look of the film is a beautiful example of stop-motion animation, a filmmaking method that can truly be magical when pulled off well.

Where the book was of the same dark and twisted nature that we've come to expect and crave from Neil Gaiman , the look of the film version took some people by surprise with it's use of vibrant colour and the style of animation. It is a wonderful thing to look at, and will thrill viewers young and old with it's odd story and thoroughly entertaining characters.

The voice talent attached to the stop motion action is rather special too. Dakota Fanning takes the role of Coraline herself, and the cast has a trio of British TV legends involved, namely Ian McShane, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Teri Hatcher provides the voice of both versions of Coraline's mother. Coraline's sarcastic cat is voiced by John Hodgman.

It is quite fitting that such a strange book is adapted in such a manner as to capture the essence of a dream. Stop motion has that wonderful otherworldly quality to it that CG is yet to possess. There is something wonderfully unnerving about stop motion. It may be the knowledge that the viewer is watching inanimate objects moving around on the big screen, or it may just be that the finished look of a stop-mo movie is so different to other animated films of the current era.

While Coraline is nowhere near as packed with iconic images as The Nightmare Before Christmas, it is certainly not without it's visual treats. Just wait for the musical numbers, the strange transformations of the characters, and yes, the weird buttons that people have instead of eyes in the alternate world. Viewers that haven't read the book are in for a real treat as they discover the strange world that Gaiman created, a world that is like ours, just better.

For people who are familiar with the book (and it has been enjoyed by just as many adults as children), the film is as near a faithful representation of the source material as it's possible to get. This is one kid's film that is going to become a much-loved classic for all ages. I recommend that when you've seen it, you track down a copy of Mirrormask, and enjoy that too for the full Gaiman effect. Magic.

2009- A year for rediscovery and appreciation

So then, 2008 came and went, leaving us all battered and bruised from the chaos wrought by Batman and the Joker at the Box office and on DVD. Tony Stark and Dr Bruce banner also added to the celluloid massacre, and 2009 is going to have its work cut out if it wants to play with the big boys.

What's that you say? Watchmen? Another Transformers movie? Terminator Salvation? Wolverine? COOL! I think we're in for another memorable ride at the cinema this year folks. I think escapism is going to be high on everybody's agenda this year while our governments grapple with how get themselves out of the funk of capitalism's collapse. Like we didn't all see it coming.

Current affairs asidem, tghere's a ton to be joyful for this year, and we could look at the economic problenms from a different angle- we could use this time to reflect and appreciate other avenues of entertainment. Think books, graphic novels, games and so on. A small amount to pay out, and a hell of a lot of pleasure to be had. These things don't need batteries, don;t need to be recharged and can be enjoyed again and again. On this, one of the family of hugely popular blogs from STARSTORE, 2009 will see us take a look at how you can continue to enjoy your entertainment and collect more without breaking the bank. So, here's to 2009- the year we rediscover the things we love.

Twilight – An outsider’s view

So, the vampire love story has done exactly what diehard fans said it would, and has been a hit stateside. It looks set to repeat this success all over the world, and already the film adaptation of the second book in the series, has been announced. With merchandise galore available and fans chomping at the bit to take in the first screen adventure for Bella, Edward and the others, it can all seem a little odd to the outsider, namely me. Maybe I’m too old to really get it now, but it doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Mixing elements of the Lost Boys, The Breakfast Club, the books of Anne Rice and a little bit of Harry Potter, the world of Twilight seems to be an amalgam of things we’ve all seen and read before.

 

Then again, I could be missing the point entirely. From what I can gather, the main crux of the Twilight universe is the interaction of its characters, not its ideas or its set pieces. For this, I must commend Twilight, Stephanie Meyer herself, and indeed its audience. We have been trapped in an era of hollow blockbusters for long enough, and a genre film that is based more around its characters than its special effects is most welcome.

 

The overt romanticism of Twilight is the thing that doesn’t appeal to me. I know, I’m not in the target demographic for the film or the books (as voracious a reader as I am, I’m yet to try one of the novels), but I suppose what I’m trying to get across is a message to others like me: Don’t dismiss Twilight as twee and soulless unless you have given it a chance. In these post-Buffy times, the audience for character based paranormal adventures has struggled to find a new guiding light, with even huge scale productions like The Golden Compass missing the mark. Twilight may well fill the void left by the gang from Sunnydale, and that’s fine by me as Twilight comes from a different medium altogether. Where Buffy began life as a cheap 90s B-movie, Twilight is adapted from books that have mesmerized audiences all over the globe.

 

Hopefully the success of this first film will lead to other Urban fantasy projects going ahead. The genre is so rich that the potential can’t be ignored. Look to the books of Lauren K Hamilton, Kelley Armstrong, Kim Harrison, or pretty much any of the other authors that have redefined the urban fantasy genre into a literary force to be reckoned with. There are so many stories out there to be explored and enjoyed by a wider audience, that this could be just the shot in the arm (or the bite to the jugular) that the movies need.

Kid's Films: Grow Up

One of my pet peeves is when critics reviewing children's films decide to go easy on them because they're "just for the kids" and can therefore be excused for not holding up in front of an adult audience. This smacks of the same lazy thinking routinely employed by people who insist that children should be our biggest priority as they are 'the future'. Just like this idea ignores the fact that by the time the future gets here the children in question will actually be adults, making films that can only be enjoyed as a child means they have no longevity for their audience, and will not reward repeat viewings. There are few film experiences more disappointing than the revisiting of a film which your memory tells you was amazing, but which turns out to be a load of old rubbish.

Comedian Demetri Martin once said that saying "I like kids" is the same as saying "I like people... for a little while". Similarly, making a film just for children is like saying "you can enjoy this film... for a while". The whole idea just contributes further to an already disposable culture, where media products come and go faster than plastic rodents in an arcade Whack-A-Mole game. The films we see as children should be the films we want to remember our whole lives, the films that define us as people. The generation of children that grew up in the 70s and 80s can now almost be defined simply as the 'Star Wars generation', such was the impact of the franchise on almost every child who saw it. The popularity of comic books and fan fiction which continue the story long into the future is evidence of the fact that, not content just to grow up with these characters, people want to grow old with them as well.

We need film-makers to keep making films that appeal to children on a level deeper than fart jokes and unimaginative CG animal slapstick, because the fanboys of today are the film-makers of tomorrow: the Steven Spielbergs and the Joe Dantes. And to make sure we get them we need films that aren't going to be forgotten the moment The Simpsons starts, or mum yells "Tea!", but which will continue to bring joy and inspiration to people who watch them long into their old age.

LESSONS IN HORROR: Some fine examples of greatness in the genre

What with the countless slasher remakes and J-horror rip-offs filling our screens at the moment there has been a dearth of great horror in our cinemas recently. Perhaps if today's film-makers are to create truly great horror films again they need to look to the past for some lessons in creating suspense or sustaining mood. Here is a selection of films which illustrate some of the elements lacking in modern horror.

Sound Design - The Haunting
In this classic 60s horror, nothing is actually seen of the malicious presence which torments the team of volunteers investigating the old house, but everything is heard of them. A cacophonous mix of banged doors, rattling windows, footsteps and whispered voices all contribute to the sense of menace which pervades every second of this movie. You can cover your eyes or cower behind the sofa, but you can't escape the horror.

Cinematography - Cat People
This low budget horror classic marked producer Val Lewton's first film as head of his own horror B-unit at RKO pictures, and it was an effective demonstration of his theory that things were scarier when left to the audience's imagination. The film's killer, a black panther, is only seen once in the film, and the danger is far more effectively conveyed through the flickering shadows and dark shapes that dance around the edge of the frame as the protagonists try to escape a terror they can barely see. Sound design also plays a significant part, and the film's strongest set-piece takes place in a swimming pool as a girl desperately treads water as the refracted light from the water gives glimpses of the silhouette whose growls echo around the pool.

Make-Up - Phantom of the Opera
In this CGI age horror effects are probably less scary than they have ever been, though even the copious amounts of blood and guts in the glorious gore-fests of the video nasty era were a little lacking in the quiet creepiness of earlier horror. Undisputed master of the modestly macabre is silent horror star Lon Chaney, who probably found his finest moment in an early adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera - the reveal of the Phantom's hideous features halfway through the film becoming one of the most iconic moments in horror history, an image burned on the retina of anyone who has ever seen it.

Showmanship - The Tingler
Horror movies are often most effective when they mess with our sense of reality - blurring the boundies between watching and participating in the film, albeit through campy or gimmicky methods. Master of the theatrical gimmick William Castle is perhaps most notorious for the release of this film about a creature which would tingle the bottom of a victim's spine until they died, their only escape being to scream. On the film's roadshow release, Castle would rig up selected chairs in the audience to tingle at the point in the film when the Tingler is set free in a cinema. It's arguable that Castle's techniques have their modern equivalent in the viral marketing of films such as The Blair Witch Project, but none of these provide such a memorable shared horror experience as Castle's screenings used to.

Ideas - The Undead
No one can claim that Roger Corman wasn't ambitious, and this film is perhaps one of his most surprisingly aspirational films. Intended to exploit the public's fascination with past lives in the late 50s, the film starts out as a conventional supernatural thriller with cardboard sets and unconvincing plasticine make-up, but is so earnest in its ideas that the audience is compelled to buy into what eventually ends up feeling like a powerful existential drama. The brutal intercutting between antagonists and protagonist as she realises the sacrifice she is being asked to make lingers in the mind longer than any musical stinger or gore-shot ever could.