I have a real soft-spot for the Mission: Impossible movies. This trailer for the next instalment in the franchise makes it look like it’ll be a lot of fun. In cinemas in July 2015.
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Video: Kim Stanley Robinson talks AURORA
Aurora, the next novel by Kim Stanley Robinson, is one of my most-anticipated of the year. Luckily, I have an ARC, so I’ll be reading it very soon. Above is a video in which the author discusses his new novel, which is published in July by Orbit Books in the US and UK. Here’s the synopsis:
A major new novel from one of SF’s most powerful voices, telling the incredible story of mankind’s first voyage beyond the solar system in search of a new home
Our voyage from Earth began generations ago.
Now, we approach our destination.
A new home.
Aurora.
DC Comics’ TV Universe Expands Even Further…
Hot on the heels of the Lucifer trailer, two more trailers have surfaced online these past couple of days, for two new series that will be hitting small screens soon.
First up was the lengthy Supergirl (CBS) featurette, which has divided fans online — some see it as a welcome breath of fresh air in an otherwise grim-‘n’-gritty TV and movie universe, which has seen heroes become darker and more grey, walking the fine line between champion and violent vigilante. Others see it as twee and lame. Personally, I am reserving judgement, but it looks like this series could offer something lighter, and appeal to both the super-hero and (loosely) the teen drama fandoms — both of which are highly lucrative. I’ll wait to see how it shapes up, but I’m certainly interested in giving it a fair shot. Here’s the featurette:
Secondly, and spinning out of the hugely successful Arrow and The Flash, is DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (CW), which features the aforementioned Flash, plus a number of other guest stars and villains from those two shows (both of which I’m now way behind on). This looks like it could be fun, and maybe even a venue for the now-cancelled Constantine to show up? That’s pure speculation, probably inspired only by the fact that the time traveler in the trailer is from London, and so is Constantine… (What a lazy route to a hypothesis…)
It’s a grand time to be a fan of super-heroes and TV, but I worry that this is the first step towards the comicification of TV: endless spin-offs, tie-ins and crossovers that have novelty value the first time, but eventually just make everyone annoyed…
Trailer: LUCIFER, Season 1
Fox has unveiled the first trailer for the upcoming TV series adaptation of the comic series Lucifer, published by Vertigo Comics. Spinning out of Neil Gaiman’s genre-redefining Sandman, the books were written by Mike Carey — who also wrote (among others) the Felix Castor urban fantasy novels, The Unwritten comic series (also published by Vertigo), and one of my favourite novels: The Girl With All the Gifts (Orbit).
The series is directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld), and stars Tom Ellis as Lucifer. I’m rather looking forward to this.
I would highly recommend the aforementioned The Girl With All the Gifts, as well the Lucifer comic series, which has been collected into five omnibus editions:
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENING Teaser 2
Just saw this. Goosebumps… Can’t wait to see this movie.
Trailer: Ant-Man
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdKf3MneyI]
This looks… Fun. I’m still surprised that Marvel picked this one to make before a whole host of other, more “commercial” or “mainstream” heroes, but it does look like it’ll be fun and on the lighter side of Marvel Studio’s output. Which is no bad thing — some humour in amongst the bleak and gritty is a necessity.
Music: PVRIS
I stumbled across PVRIS‘s music quite by accident. But, after just one listen, I’ve become rather hooked on the album. There’s definitely a more pop-sensibility than I’ve usually seen in a Rise Records release, but the band’s debut album — White Noise — is damn fine. It offers a nice mix of pop’s pristine melodies and production, some electronica flourishes, some rock and/or punk attitude (but not contrived). Quite excellent, really.
Here are the band’s two music videos to date:
“My House”
“St. Patrick”
Trailer: SPECTRE
Just going to leave this here…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvQJbF2CXLQ]
Really looking forward to this.
Video: “He For She in Science Fiction”
The video above was put together by Open Road Media, and I thought it was interesting.
The past year has been a crucial one for female writers of science fiction. Discussions in the world of science fiction authors, editors, and fans about women writing in the genre, winning awards, and being recognized in fandom often carried a certain defiant tone, followed by a frustration that women in science fiction still have to prove themselves at all.
In light of the He for She movement, a UN project aimed at encouraging men to speak up for women in a bid of solidarity and support, Open Road Media asked male science fiction authors to discuss how women have been portrayed in science fiction, and their own favorite female science fiction authors.
The video features a great selection of authors (published in eBook by Open Road). Here’s the description from the YouTube page:
“The purpose of a woman” in ’50s science fiction “was to make the man look good,” laments Todd McCaffrey, son, co-author, and biographer to his mother, revered science fiction and fantasy author Anne McCaffrey. He goes on: “And scream when the bug-eyed monsters came in. My mother hated that trope; and she said, you know, ‘If a bug-eyed monster was invading my home, I’d find the nearest frying pan and beat the crap out of him!’”
Along with McCaffrey, Science Fiction Grand Master Samuel R. Delany, Joe Haldeman, Simon R. Green, Ian R. MacLeod, and Ian McDonald discuss how women have been portrayed in science fiction, in light of the He for She movement. These men also share their thoughts about their female role models in the genre; groundbreaking female science fiction authors like Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia E. Butler, and Andre Norton.
“The most important political problem in the modern world is the position of women…” says Samuel R. Delany. “Something has got to be done about it.”
Book Trailer: TOUCH by Claire North (Redhook/Orbit)
I am a huge fan of Claire North‘s novels – The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is probably one of my favourite novels, and Touch (out next week) is also brilliant. Published by Redhook/Orbit Books (US/UK), both of these novels are absolute must-reads for all. To celebrate the release of Touch, Orbit has commissioned a trailer:
Here’s the novel’s synopsis and cover:
Kepler had never meant to die this way — viciously beaten to death by a stinking vagrant in a dark back alley. But when reaching out to the murderer for salvation in those last dying moments, a sudden switch takes place.
Now Kepler is looking out through the eyes of the killer himself, staring down at a broken and ruined body lying in the dirt of the alley.
Instead of dying, Kepler has gained the ability to roam from one body to another, to jump into another person’s skin and see through their eyes, live their life — be it for a few minutes, a few months or a lifetime.
Kepler means these host bodies no harm — and even comes to cherish them intimately like lovers. But when one host, Josephine Cebula, is brutally assassinated, Kepler embarks on a mission to seek the truth — and avenge Josephine’s death.
In related news, gleaned from Hachette US’s website, in November Orbit is publishing three new titles by North: The Serpent of Venice, The Master of the House and The Thief of Bangkok. (I’m guessing novellas, as there’s scant information available at this time.)
Civilian Reader 