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Sept '03 Offworld Report: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Interviews with Dan Simmons, Larry Niven, Orson Scott Card and
Stan Nicholls; the roots of space opera are explored, Robert Silverberg
looks at the Cleve Cartmill Affair, and the great Farscape rescue
gathers pace.
 September
2003's round-up of all that is worth mentioning offworld the 'Nest
when it comes to matters science fiction and fantasy.
INTERVIEWS
The
Caliban Factor
SF author Dan Simmons talks about his new novel and revisiting ‘The
Iliad’, in ‘Ilium’.
 Dan
Simmons
SF author Dan is interviewed – again - by good old Ernest
Lilley.
Niven
on Niven
Larry Niven, the author of ‘Scatterbrain’ & many others, is
interviewed.
My
Johnson
Les Johnson, Manager of NASA's In-Space Propulsion technology projects,
chats about how science fiction inspired his interest in the space
sciences.
Keen
on Kearney
Author Paul Kearney interviewed.
Stan
the Man
Stan Nicholls, the author of Quicksilver Rising interviewed.
Rosemary
Kirstein Interview
The author of The Lost Steersman and The Steerswoman's Road is interviewed
Roll
out the Big Gunn
SFF writer James Gunn is interviewed.
China’s
Town
Fantasy author China Miéville is interviewed by Nick
Gevers.
The
Mind of Mulhall
Technology Journalist Douglas Mulhall chats about his book, ‘Our
Molecular Future’, which looks at the technological and ecological
threats to humanity.
What
a Card
Orson Scott Card, author of Ender's Game et al, is interviewed.
Raising
the Tomb Raider
Director Jan de Bont, producer Lloyd Levin, and the fabulous Angelina
Jolie discuss their latest movie, ‘Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle
of Life.’
Big
Dave
SF writer David Brin on his life and times.
LITERATURE
Bradbury’s
No Stinking SF Author
According to Ray ‘The Martian Chronicles’ Bradbury, he isn’t
a science fiction author.
Brad
at Eighty-Three
A look at the life of Ray Bradbury, screenwriter, poet, novelist
and all-round nice guy.
Science
Fiction: The Early Early Years
A look at the future as predicted by early SF writer named George
Griffith in his 1894 book ‘The Angel Of The Revolution’. Did it
come true?
Rowlings
Magic Fails
A web-based campaign to get JK Rowling a Nobel prize has
failed to work its magic on Harry Potter fans.
Gibson
abandon’s SF
Kevin Wood ruminates on William Gibson's novel Pattern Recognition.
SFF
Publishing for the Little People
RedPaper is an experimental online exchange that blends self-publishing
with micropayments. Each science fiction author’s success depends
on how popular his or her work is.
NEWS
Blake
Back?
Paul Darrow inks a deal to bring the classic Blake’s 7 TV
show back to the small-screen more than twenty years after it finished.
Kidz
Rule
The movie Spy Kids crushes Lara Croft at the US box office.
Jedi
Lawsuit
C anadian teenager launches legal action against classmates who
put a video of him pretending to be a Jedi Knight online, claiming
that the joke has left him a mental wreck.
Jefferies
Beamed Up for Good
Walter "Matt" Jefferies, the art director on the original Trek series
passes away. The Jefferies tube lives on though.
Home
for Hobbits
The underground house with a design heavily influenced by Bilbo
Baggins' home in The Lord of the Rings comes on the market again
in the UK. You’ll have to be a rich hobbit though … it costs £650,000!
Rings
Breaks DVD Sales Record
Pre-release sales of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ breaks
all records at Amazon.
ARTICLES
The
Opera of Space
Old hands David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer looks at ‘Space
Opera: From Shit to Shinola’. The roots of space opera are explored
in this fascinating essay, with a well-deserved nod towards Planet
stories and the like.
The
Cleve Cartmill Affair
Robert Silverberg examines the anecdote of how Cleve Cartmill wrote
a SF story in 1944 describing the workings of the atomic bomb for
Astounding Science Fiction, which landed him in front of a rather
suspicious FBI.
The
Three Laws
A look at the impact that Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics
has had on the genre.
The
Roots of Star Wars
Looks at the many roots the Star Wars series of movies had in the
science fiction and fantasy that preceded it.
Clarion
Caring
The editor-in-chief of Science Fiction Weekly, Scott Edelman, issues
a plea on behalf of the now endangered Clarion SF writing workshop.
CONS AND AWARDS
The
Campbell Awards
Greg Beatty brings you the who, what and why behind the John W.
Campbell Best New Writer Awards.
SF
Southern-Style
New Mexico's annual science fiction and fantasy convention,
Bubonicon 35, returns for 2003.
FICTION
The
Siren of Ocean City
Tobias Seamon, sets a tale stomping through the sands at
dusk, imagining he was Odysseus; not the clever hero at the gates
of Troy, mind, but the wrecked Odysseus.
The
Boys Are Back in Town
A new short story from the pen of Douglas Smith.
Router
Charles Stross’s story, currently a worthy nominee for the British
Science Fiction Association Award for Best Short Fiction.
MEDIA
Where
is Lara’s Joy?
Lara Croft arrives in the new Tombraider sequel, but she simply
fails to make her mark.
My
Secret Farscape Life
New save Farscape campaign hopes to revive the canceled TV show
- and many think this one just might work
Enterprise
Anew
A look at the adrenaline boost that has been planned for the third
season of Trek’s Enterprise.
Galactica
Revisited
Long interview with Ronald D. Moore, the creator of the new Galactica,
in which he discusses the plot etc of the forthcoming Battlestar
Galactica miniseries.
Freddy
hates Jason
The ultimate slasher flick tops the US charts with Freddy Vs Jason.
How
Far for Farscape?
A look at how committed Farscape fans are in getting their
cancelled show back on the TV schedule.
Alias
gets an extra Superspy
Interview with actress Melissa George, aka the new British superspy
‘Lauren Reed’ who gets teamed up with Sydney in the new series of
Alias.
How
Extraordinary
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen revives the fortunes of movie-based
steampunk … or does it?
Galactica
to the Death
The fight by fans for a Battlestar Galactica miniseries that doesn’t
attempt to update the original.
T’Pol
Gets a Hot New Look
Photos of everyone’s favorite Vulcan pin-up, the new-look T’Pol
from the next Trek series, get posted online.
TRAILER TRASH
Matrix
Revolutions
New trailer for Matrix Revolutions hits the Warner site. Quicktime
is required to view.
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