Exodus Code - the Barrowman's deliver!

Torchwood Exodus Code
John and Carole E. Barrowman
BBC Books Sept. 2013

Review by Ann Wilkes

This nineteenth novel written in the Torchwood world created by Russell T Davies for the BBC show of the same name (2006-2011) was written by Torchwood star John Barrowman (Captain Jack) and his sister, Carole E Barrowman.

Torchwood Exodus Code begins with madness. Jack falls from an airplane without a chute in 1930 Peru, survives (Captain Jack is from the 51st century and - unlike other humans from that time or any other - can’t stay dead) and gets prepared for sacrifice to the mountain. The Cuari tribe have been expecting a god to fall from the sky.

All the while, his mind is slipping. Reality is shattering. He’s flooded with tastes and smells and unnatural reactions to sensations.

For a beat Jack realized the chamber was inside his head and outside it. Behind him and in front of him. He laughed at the absurdity and let himself sink back into the rock. The silver veins threaded themselves across every muscle, every limb, every part of him. Closing his eyes again, he could see himself being folded into the rock.

The sensation was wonderful, yet Jack heard himself thinking that this was not a good wonderful. It was a bad wonderful. It was the wonderful at the end of a thrilling journey. It was the wonderful after intimacy. It was the last hurrah, the final chapter, the kiss goodbye, the beginning of the end.

Jack lifted his arm and tore it away from the wall, snapping the threads.

He heard a sob. It tasted like ginger.

Back in present day Cardiff, Gwen Cooper encounters a madwoman in the aisles at a grocery store who tries to end her suffering by tearing off her own ear. Gwen is also succumbing to a madness that is affecting clusters of women around the world. And it has to do with heightened and crossed senses. Like synaesthia on steroids with some delusion and hallucination thrown in. Torchwood, an organization that investigates alien threats and defends the world against invasion, having suffered grave losses and being org-non-grata with the government, has been, for all practical purposes disbanded. Only Gwen and Captain Jack Harness are left.

When Gwen realizes there’s something wrong on a worldwide scale, she contacts Jack through a computer she’s stashed away down the street while her baby sleeps in her crib. She has the baby monitor. It will be ok, she thinks. She then hears footsteps on the stairs of her house. She’s worried Rhys will get to Anwen and realize she’s not home. Then he'll really be done with her.

Gwen stopped typing. Her hands frozen in mid-air. What if it wasn't Rhys?”

Gwen comes completely unglued and attacks and nearly kills her own husband. Jack comes just in the nick of time. Gwen is put on a ward with other women suffering the same “masochistic madness”. Jack and Rhys try to figure out what’s going on, but without Torchwood computers, it’s slow going.

Meanwhile, something is happening in the Earth’s oceans. Tremors, which are inexplicably not setting off tsunamis, are opening hydrothermal vents in the ocean floor and spewing toxins. Jack enlists the help of an old friend with a arsenal of special tech equipment aboard a ship in the Atlantic.

All the characters in the story come to life. I could picture all of them. Felt I knew them. Exodus Code is the first tie-in novel I’ve ever read. Well, that’s going to have to change. What a ride! It was like getting to experience a two-part episode of Torchwood with more detail and drilling down deeper into the minds of the characters and the forces at work against them.

No real familiarity with the show is necessary to enjoy this book, but being familiar with the characters makes it come alive. It’s a swashbuckling adventure meets sci-fi meets mystery. You are in Captain Jack's muddled head as he tries to unravel the puzzle. If he doesn’t figure it out soon, the world will end. No pressure.

The Barrowmans make a great writing team. The pacing, plot and scenes were very tight. Loved this book cover to cover. More please.

The Magnificent Minister (of Chance) is BACK!

The Minister of Chance is at it again. I can NEVER say enough good things about this exciting, well-done, audio space-opera series. The characters and settings are limited only by your imagination. The sound effects and acting are superb! If you love Dr. Who, you'll love the Minister, too. If you don't love Dr. Who, well, I guess you'll also not get half my jokes. Use the Google search engine on the right if you haven't read all my reviews of this fabulous series. There are also quite a few interview videos posted here as well.

graphic by Radio Static/Lee Sullivan

The Minister of Chance

starring Julian Wadham,  Jenny Agutter,  Gethin Anthony, Lauren Crace,  Paul Darrow,  Beth Goddard,  Tamsin Greig,  Sylvester McCoy,  Paul McGann

NEWS RELEASE -November 22, 2012

The response to our crowd-funding campaign for Episode 4 of the Minister of Chance was incredible and we were able to greenlight it entirely based on fan support.  However, as you may have already heard if you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, we then had to delay its recording because Lauren Crace, our lovely 'Kitty',  had a baby!  He's very beautiful and we're very excited to be starting recording in a couple of weeks time.

We've used the waiting time to get the Episode 5 script ready for pre-production too  -  and this would be the final one in the first season.  In an attempt to get straight onto that after Ep 4  we are therefore starting the crowd- funding campaign for Episode 5 on 23rd of November and it will run for one month until 23rd December with a host of new perks.

We are always overwhelmed by the support of our fanbase and from so many of you, and we really, really appreciate every posting, every retweet and every Facebook mention.

NEWS RELEASE -December 3, 2012

More exciting casting news for The Minister of Chance: Mad Dogs and Life on Mars star Philip Glenister joins the production for Episode 5!  Philip comes fresh from the National Theatre stage where he has been appearing in the sell-out show THIS HOUSE, which also starred the Minister of Chance's Julian Wadham. Phil is looking forward to the opportunity to play another role opposite his cast-mate. He'll play The Summer King opposite The Minister in an episode which will also include The Hobbit's Jed Brophy as The Pilot.

Episode 4 of the series starts recording this week, financed entirely by its fanbase, and a crowd-funding campaign for Episode 5 is currently underway. Fans can grab a variety of exclusive perks ranging from cast-signed art to limited-edition mugs, caps and tees..

The first three episodes and a prologue for this epic sonic movie are available as a free download from www.ministerofchance.com

Photo by Ian Nolan

Sylvester McCoy
at recording of Episode 3 

Our pals over at Phoenix (www.PPickings.com) have another free ebook for you...
L. Neil Smith’s The Venus Belt. December’s code is  9991305 and will be good through December 31.

The Host released a new trailer. Looks very exciting, but I kept thinking "V". I guess there really are no new plots.

And in the age of Indie Films and Kickstarter crowd-funding, there's always some new flick or the beginnings of one to share. Check it out and let him know what you think.

PROSPECT: Concept Reel from Shep Films on Vimeo.

Flying robots, Jenny Agutter and more

Sometimes size matters. :) In this case, small and agile is the ticket. These little flying robots are awesome! Check out this lecture/demo.



Here is another interview (actually the second part of the last one I posted) with Jenny Agutter of The Minister of Chance.



The first clip of The Hunger Games was released on their facebook fan page. You can find it and more on the The Hunger Games page.

Fans in Boston, Miami, San Diego, and Philidelphia gained Advance Screening locations for their city on Twitter. Fans can enter for a chance to win ticket at Screenings.TheHungerGamesMovie.com. The Hunger Games will be in theaters March 23rd, 2012.



Phoenix Pick’s Stellar Guild Series, edited by Mike Resnick, has released titles by Kevin J. Anderson and Mercedes Lackey and these authors are on the hook to write more:

1. Larry Niven
2. Robert Silverberg
3. Mike Resnick
4. Harry Turtledove
5. Eric Flint

Phoenix Pick’s free ebook for March 2012 is Leigh Brackett’s The Big Jump. The coupon code is 9991393 and will be good from March 2 through March 31. Download the ebook at www.PPickings.com.

Phoenix says this about the author and book:

Leigh Douglass Brackett (December 7, 1915 – March 18, 1978) was an American author, particularly of science fiction. She was also a screenwriter, known for her work on famous films such as The Big Sleep (1945), Rio Bravo (1959), The Long Goodbye (1973) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

Her novel The Long Tomorrow is one of the original post-holocaust books and considered by many to be a classic work on the subject.

About The Big Jump:

What awaits us out in space?

New star-drive engines promise to open up the galaxy to humankind. But the first ship to use the engines disappears and a sole survivor returns...alone and dying of some strange type of radiation.

No one can figure out what has happened to the ship or the crew. Nor does anyone know what happens to a ship travelling using star-drive technology.

Does some unknown horror await us out there?

The only way to find out is to go out again. And Arch Comyn is determined to be the one to solve the mystery.

But is he, and the rest of mankind, ready for whatever awaits us beyond The Big Jump?

BBC interviews of 10 SF Authors now on CD

Science Fiction Writers
British Library Board 2011
Interviews date from 1977 through 2001.

Distributed by the University of Chicago Press

Reviewed by Ann Wilkes

I completely enjoyed listening to the interviews on this CD. The majority of the interviews were conducted in such a way as to bring out interesting anecdotes and facts of which I was formerly unaware. The authors interviewed are as follows:

Douglas Adams
Isaac Asimov
J G Ballard
Ray Bradbury
Arthur C Clarke
Ursula K Le Guin
Michael Moorcock
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Also included is what seems to be a joint panel discussion or lecture led by Brian Aldiss and Doris Lessing as there is not interviewer on that recording. These are ALL previously unreleased recordings.

The gems you'll hear on this crisply mastered CD include an interview with Isaac Asimov on his 70th birthday in which he states that the kinetic theory of gases is what sparked his idea of psycho-history that is the "science" running through his Foundation series. Brian Aldiss tips his hat to Mary Shelley for writing what he thinks is the first truly science fiction novel.

Doris Lessing said she was struck by the defensiveness of pulp sci-fi authors in the States. She also said that though she thoroughly enjoyed Asimov's Foundation series, it's not really sci-fi, because there's no science. She goes on to say the Foundation series contains "brilliant sociology." Since when are robots, space travel and sociology not science?

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. explains why he chops up his books in short bursts. He also addresses his use of social commentary and satire, pointing out the reason why the defenders of the Alamo were really fighting in his novel, Hocus Pocus: for their right to own slaves.

Did you know that Ray Bradbury had a hand in the archetectural designs of Epcott Center, Disneyworld and World Fairs? A builder in Glendale (CA) even made a mall based on an article of his about a city of the future. He talks of his dream of globalism and a united space exploration instead of men of the same planet fighting one another. "Men want to be destroyed. But they should be destroyed for a good cause and the good cause is space."

The woman who interviewed Ursula K. LeGuin basically asks her if she would fancy being a father and a mother like the characters in The Left Hand of Darkness. And asked her if she thought of herself as an anarchist because she wrote about anarchists. Why is it that the one woman actually interviewed was interviewed by someone who obviously doesn't understand science fiction? LeGuin, however, handles the situation with aplomb and grace with wonderful tidbits like, "You can have books and babies. They are not mutually hostile occupations."

I highly recommend this CD for any sci-fi fan or writer. For more information or to buy your copy for $15, visit the University of Chicago Press.

The history of Science Fiction

While I'm busy slaving away at non-fiction, you can be entertained and stimulated by the history of science fiction. After watching this first clip about the British Museum exhibit, I waded back through my emails and requested a review copy of Science Fiction Writers, a CD containing radio interviews with sci-fi authors from the 70s-90s that was just released by the British Library's audio archives. It's being distributed by the University of Chicago Press.




Now let's get specific, beginning with Jules Verne.


And here's a British doco on H.G. Wells.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - watch teaser, April 13th at 2:30 pm PDT!

I think going to see Beneath the Planet of the Apes was my very first date. I don't remember my date's name. I was 8 years old. But I went alone with a boy, so I guess it qualifies as a date. We also played penny ante poker at Gma's house. I had just got blue suede clogs and was delighted to have somewhere to go to show them off.

Now, thirty years later, Planet of the Apes is alive again. And you can watch footage from the film with behind-the-scenes goodies and a Q&A on its facebook event page. The movie will hit the big screen in August. The biggest challenge for me will be to accept an actor other than Roddy McDowall as Caesar. This Twentieth Century Fox production has cast Andy Serkis in that role. Alas, Roddy's not as young as he used to be. I was glad to see that Brian Cox and John Lithgow are in the line-up.

The teaser will be shown at 2:30 pm Pacific on Wednesday, April 13th on the facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=208627862498676
It's living on the Avatar fan page. Hmmm. Now that's just wro...strategic positioning. Actually, this live-stream is produced by WETA, the visual effects masters of Avatar, so I guess they're entitled.

UPDATE!!!

Just got the embed code! Now you can watch it here! w00t!

Watch live streaming video from apeswillrise at livestream.com

You can also post a question to the Apes Will Rise fan page and it might make the cut. See you there!

And stay tuned tomorrow for an interview with E.E. Knight.

Never Let Me Go won't let you go

NEVER LET ME GO
Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro
Screenplay by Alex Garland
Directed by Mark Romanek
Starring Keira Knightly, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield
Photo by Alex Bailey

Review by Emily Bettencourt

I originally read the novel Never Let Me Go, by British-Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro, as a senior in high school, working on our world lit unit, and I loved it. When I saw that there would be a movie adaptation, I was both excited and filled with trepidation---after all, nobody likes to see one of their favorite novels butchered on the silver screen.

Mark Romanek didn't let me down. The film adaptation, starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightly, and Andrew Garfield, was just as delicate and thoughtful as the novel had been. In an alternate-reality version of the year 1952, a medical breakthrough has allowed the average lifespan of a human to extend well beyond 100 years. However, this new longevity comes with a price: The harvesting and transplant of vital organs from artificially-replicated human beings raised for the sole purpose of organ donation. The film follows the life of a girl named Kathy H (Mulligan), one of these donors, as she grows up and becomes more aware of her world and the role she has to play in it.

The leads in this film, Carey Mulligan (probably best known for her role as Kitty Bennett in Pride and Prejudice), Keira Knightly (Pirates of the Caribbean), and Andrew Garfield (Red Riding and The Social Network), are incredible actors on their own, but they come together to deliver a powerful performance as students who were all raised at the same grammar school in the English countryside. They each have a certain subtlety to their performance that allows them to collectively convey the more delicate aspects of life---things like being hurt by something too beautiful, the ache of loving someone you can never have, and the knowledge that one day, you will die, perhaps without ever discovering what your life was really about.

Beyond actor performances, I don't think that I can emphasize enough how stunning the cinematography was in this film. Each shot seemed to be rendered for maximum impact, and cast in a palette of muted browns, greys, blues and greens that reflected both the typical weather of England (where the film is set) and the drab loneliness of existence as someone whose entire purpose in life is to die. The play of light and shadow, too, contributed to the tone of the film, and the soundtrack---done by Rachel Portman, known for her work on films like Chocolat and Mona Lisa Smile---was subtle but eloquent, contributing to each scene rather than distracting.

Overall, Never Let Me Go was a stunning film adaptation. Though the movie is undeniably sad (and will probably cause at least one minor existential crisis), I think it's definitely worth seeing at least once.

Oi! The Minister of Chance - more please!

The Minister of Chance
Radiophonic Serial
Writer, Producer, Director: Dan Freeman
Starring: Julian Wadham, Jenny Agutter, Lauren Crace (as Kitty), Paul Darrow, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann.

Radio shows rock! You don't think so? You haven't heard The Minister of Chance. It's not just visual sound effects that have come a long way. I got totally lost in the story like I was there. The Minister of Chance is a new British science fiction audio series which is sort of like Nazi Germany taking over a backward planet instead of France. But these invaders will politely send you to the dungeon or to the labor camp and wonder why you're not honored to do it. The invaders believe in magic, not science. Their leader is the Witch Prime and their standard salutation is "Happy Spells".



While smuggling food to a scientist who is part of the resistance, Kitty encounters the Minister of Chance. The atmosphere and humor will whisk you away to a world you've never imagined. You'll laugh at Kitty's protestations as she follows the Minister of Chance through a door that wasn't there a second ago and across the frost bridge into another realm. A far cry from slinging ales at the pub where she worked. The Cockney does get a bit thick at times for those unaccustomed to it, but it's so worth it for the flavor that it adds.

The witty, sarcastic dialog and the acting are flawless. I should know. I've listened four times. :) It's space opera at its best. Right up there with Dr. Who. Jonathon Barnes recently interviewed Julian Wadham, who plays The Minister of Chance, over at his Pantisocracy blog.

You can download an MP3 of the first episode, "The Broken World", for £1.49 via credit card or paypal. And please tell your friends. This is a production of Radio Static and depends on your patronage, rather than, as their press release states, "the BBC, the Government, or any other criminal organization." Episode Two: "The Forest Shakes" will be released on April 14th. Can't wait!

The Adversary - epic multiverse saga begins

The Adversary
by James R. Bowman
Melrose Books (2009)


Reviewed by Lyda Morehouse


In Bowman’s multiverse, Lucifer’s right-hand man, AKA the Adversary, is tired of playing second fiddle. Heck, he’s done with the whole status quo thing and decides the time has come just to wipe out all the remaining mortal heroes and destroy life as we know it. In other words: apocalypse time.

Tomas Walker, ex-British government assassin, is one of the last of these heroes, known as “guardians.” His life takes a strange turn when the Adversary’s minions show up to try to kill him. He’s on the run and is drawn back to the mysterious Glastonbury Hill, where he encounters none other than the Archangel Michael. Michael tells him it's time for him to accept his true destiny and save the multiverse from the evil fate the Adversary has planned.

Meanwhile, another guardian awakes in Santa Fe, New Mexico -- Tomas’ sister Gwen, a Goddess-worshipping New Age shop owner. She has her own quest: to find the tree of life (not Etz Chaim, as you might expect given all the other Judeo-Christian references so far, but Yggdrasill, of Norse myth.) Turns out, her BFFs are actually a group of exiled Valkyrie and they set her on her path after a giant Kachina (Hopi spirit doll) goes Godzilla on the town.

Oh yeah, and the powers that be are actually the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death, and Michael and the Valkyries answer to them as the “Absolutes.”

Confused yet? The Adversary is a very long, dense, and intense novel. Unfortunately, it also bears the subtitle: “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Saga, Book One” and when the stalwart reader reaches the end of 1,028 pages, the story simply stops, with nothing resolved. Likewise, Melrose Press’s website does not yet have a listing or any information about a second book in the series, even though the official publication date of this book says 2009. That makes me worried that a reader may have to wait several years for a conclusion.

This book was short-listed for the Brit Writer’s Published Writer of the Year Award (2010), but for my money its complicated and rather epic plot isn’t helped by the constantly shifting point of view. Early sections of the narrative seem to glorify gore, like an amateur horror story or one of those “Saw” movies, but I’m personally very fond of religious mash-ups and was willing wade through that to get to the archangels and adversaries. If you’re similarly interested in eschatological fiction and okay with leaving the story hanging until the next installment appears, you may wish to seek this novel out. There’s certainly a lot to chew on in this massive book.