BOOKS
Guillermo Del Toro - director of films like Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy II: The Golden Army - released his debut novel THE STRAIN. The book is the first part of a vampire trilogy. Book two THE DEVOURING will be released in 2010 and book three ETERNAL NIGHT will be released in 2011. I remember when I read the beginning of the blurb:
THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE.
VAMPIRES.
IN SECRET AND IN DARKNESS.
WAITING.
NOW THEIR TIME HAS COME.
IN ONE WEEK, MANHATTAN WILL BE GONE.
IN ONE MONTH, THE COUNTRY.
IN TWO MONTH - THE WORLD
You would like to have more information? Then browse inside the book or visit The Strain Trilogy.
As a lover of epic fantasy I'm always looking for series - old ones and new ones. LAMENTATION by Ken Scholes aroused my interest. I read several reviews by Adventures in Reading, Fantasy Book Critic, Graeme's Fantasy Book Review, Neth Space, Reading The Leaves, King of the Nerds !!!, SF SIGNAL. I saw the interview which you find below and read an excerpt (thanks to Aidan). After all that work, I am pretty sure, THIS IS A BOOK for me!!! I expect the delivery of my paperback copy in September. Maybe I will post my reading impression. We will see...
GAMES
I told you that I like to play PC-and Console based games. And to my great pleasure a German company is developing an RPG called RISEN. It will be available in several languages. The website of the game is worth a visit because they have a really cool interactive section. In order to get an impression of the game just watch the trailer below:
MOVIES
Jackie Earley Haley - yes, that's the actor who played RORSCHACH in the great movie WATCHMEN - posted a trailer of the next movie with his appearance SHUTTER ISLAND. The movie is based on the novel by Dennis Lehane. In 1954, a murderess escaped from a hospital for criminal insane on remote Shutter Island. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his partner Chuck Aule get the order to investigate. The movie will be released in October 2009. In the meatime watch the trailer below:
Did you see WATCHMEN? It is one of my all-time favorite movies. Via twitter I found a link where you can see the opening credits for WATCHMEN movie. Good movies have their fan base and sooner or later you find the first fan films. Fan Cinema Today featured WATCHMEN: The Highschool Years Fan Film Series.Part 1 to 5 have been released. The final part 5 will be release in two parts. I will let you know when they are avaiable.
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
BLOGOSPHERE
Do you like cake? I must confess that I have a weakness for cake. Last year I found a gorgeous website where you find cakes you have never dreamed of. Go and visit CAKE WRECKS. Do you like Sweets? Baked Sweets.......
Thanks to Ken from Neth Space where I found the link to the wonderful quiz
Of course I couldn't resist and took part. And this is my result:
Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...
China Miéville (b. 1972)
15 High-Brow, 13 Violent, -7 Experimental and -3 Cynical!
Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Violent, Traditional and Romantic! These concepts are defined below.
China Miéville writes in the British fantasy tradition of authors like Mervyn Peake and Michael Moorcock, a tradition which is a little darker than the Tolkien kind, but Miéville is also a great renewer, as he has taken care to challenge, for example, race-related (or, to be exact, species-related) stereotypes in fantasy. His great breakthrough came with the award-winning novel Perdido Street Station (2000), which is set in the sprawling city of New Crobuzon in the secondary world Bas-Lag. Apart from its urban setting, Perdido Street Station also differ from Tolkien-style fantasy by taking place in an era reminiscent of the Victorian age rather than the typical quasi-medieval setting of so-called high fantasy. This means that Miéville has the opportunity to explore his socialist beliefs in a fantasy environment, even if both Perdido Street Station and its two sequels also feature monsters, adventures and such.
Setting his book in a rather dictatorical society and occasionally spinning his sories around resistance against an oppressive government means that Miéville's books sometimes contain rather horrible violence, made all the scarier because it's often conducted legally by a ruling government. This also makes the boks rather romantic; although the struggle is difficult, the struggle continues and whether you are a socialist like Miéville or not, it's easy to sympathize with the message that the world can be changed for the better. It should also be pointed out that although Miéville is often inventive and has a love for spicing up his prose with archaic words, his books are, narratively speaking, traditional adventure stories. Actually, Miéville has made a point of taking genres such as the pirate story and the Western story and retelling them in a fantasy environment.
Still, Miéville has brought fantasy to new literary heights and can be said to represent hope for the genre's future.
You are also a lot like Michael Moorcock.
If you want something more gentle, try Susan Cooper.
If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, Orson Scott Card.
Your score
This is how to interpret your score: Your attitudes have been measured on four different scales, called 1) High-Brow vs. Low-Brow, 2) Violent vs. Peaceful, 3) Experimental vs. Traditional and 4) Cynical vs. Romantic. Imagine that when you were born, you were in a state of innocence, a tabula rasa who would have scored zero on each scale. Since then, a number of circumstances (including genetical, cultural and environmental factors) have pushed you towards either end of these scales. If you're at 45 or -45 you would be almost entirely cynical, low-brow or whatever. The closer to zero you are, the less extreme your attitude. However, you should always be more of either (eg more romantic than cynical). Please note that even though High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical have positive numbers (1 through 45) and their opposites negative numbers (-1 through -45), this doesn't mean that either quality is better. All attitudes have their positive and negative sides, as explained below.
High-Brow vs. Low-Brow
You received 15 points, making you more High-Brow than Low-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, rather than the best-selling kind. At their best, high-brows are cultured, able to appreciate the finer nuances of literature and not content with simplifications. At their worst they are, well, snobs.
Violent vs. Peaceful
You received 13 points, making you more Violent than Peaceful. Please note that violent in this context does not mean that you, personally, are prone to violence. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you are, and you do, then you are violent as defined here. At their best, violent people are the heroes who don't hesitate to stop the villain threatening innocents by means of a good kick. At their worst, they are the villains themselves.
Experimental vs. Traditional
You received -7 points, making you more Traditional than Experimental. Your position on this scale indicates if you're more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, traditional people don't change winning concepts, favouring storytelling over empty poses. At their worst, they are somewhat narrow-minded.
Cynical vs. Romantic
You received -3 points, making you more Romantic than Cynical. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you'll find the sentence "you are also a lot like x" above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, romantic people are optimistic, willing to work for a good cause and inspiring to their peers. At their worst, they are easily fooled and too easily lead.
Author picture by the talented artist "Molosovsky". Visit http://www.flickr.com/people/25360041@N06/ for more!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
The quote for this week remind me of the hard-edged battle scenes you find in THE TEN THOUSAND by Paul Kearney. For a list of reviews please look at the Review Index by bossfan2000.
Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror.
Kill them all, and you are a god.
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