Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles: forums http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/ Friendly science fiction and fantasy forums, discussing science fiction and fantasy books, film, media, writing, conventions, and related subjects such as science and history. en Tue, 21 May 2013 10:32:25 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles: forums http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/ Prince of Lies cover http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541109-prince-of-lies-cover.html Tue, 21 May 2013 09:36:21 GMT The cover for Anne Lyle's Prince of Lies has been revealed:



Looks like it's Mal again, with a strange magickal discharge in play.

Any guesses as to whether it applies to anything specific in the story?

Anne says she's recently sent of her final copy, and Amazon have an Octoer release date for this year.

Only trouble is, the Amazon description reads more like a synopsis that enticing blurb - it's giving far too much away!
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version Name: prince-of-lies.jpg Views: N/A Size: 182.6 KB ID: 19968  
]]> Anne Lyle I, Brian http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541109-prince-of-lies-cover.html Printed Guns http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541107-printed-guns.html Tue, 21 May 2013 02:58:30 GMT A friend of mine wrote an articul on 3D printed guns. thought it was worth sharing with you. http://planet.infowars.com/guns/the-25-lulz-liberator-the-first-3d-printed-gun-with-a-rifled-barrel what I want to know is, which is more frighting? a future where we have the freedoms for this to be a... A friend of mine wrote an articul on 3D printed guns.
thought it was worth sharing with you.
http://planet.infowars.com/guns/the-...-rifled-barrel

what I want to know is, which is more frighting? a future where we have the freedoms for this to be a possibility? or a future where we don't?

Freedoms should not be lightly traded for safety. But safety rarely comes cheep.

I'm pretty undecided on how to feel about this myself. ]]> World affairs hopewrites http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541107-printed-guns.html We Have Always Fought http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541106-we-have-always-fought.html Tue, 21 May 2013 01:10:50 GMT This is a great article about women in fiction.

"Populating a world with men, with male heroes, male people, and their “women cattle and slaves” is a political act. You are making a conscious choice to erase half the world." ]]> General Writing Discussion Fishbowl Helmet http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541106-we-have-always-fought.html Beginning/Prologue Part 2 - 747 words http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541105-beginning-prologue-part-2-747-words.html Mon, 20 May 2013 23:13:55 GMT Ok, here's the second part of the section I posted earlier. You may want to go read that if you haven't read it, or just reread it anyway so you read it as a single section. Regardless, here it is.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just as the men around him began to break free of their shock and charge the lone archer, a strange white mist rose from the bodies of the fallen, blanketing the plain of corpses. Rin paid it no heed, charging through it screaming. Soon the mist became so thick he lost sight of the archer. He slowed his pace and turned about, barely able to make out the silhouettes of his comrades. What was this strange mist? It had grown cold. So cold he could see his breath misting in the air. He shivered and felt suddenly uneasy.

The mist was moving, coalescing into shapes. Rin looked harder, trying to discern what they were becoming. They were turning into the shapes of... men. A shiver of terror went through him as he suddenly discerned a Soltish face looking out at him from the rapidly clearing mist. Ethereal warriors, both Solts and Blood Men, were forming, creating a battle line of spirits. An army of ghosts of the fallen.

Rin began to back away in fear, but he heard someone shout, “Do not flee! We shall avenge Vallus if we have to kill every last one of these foul spirits!”

Men gravitated to the sound of the voice, rallying around the Solt who had shouted the words. They were still thousands strong. We can still win this, Rin thought. The ghosts were fully formed now, Solt and Blood Man alike standing together. Rin saw one that appeared to be leading them. He stood at their front, small wisps of mist rising from his body as he moved. They charged.

The Solts stood fast, bracing themselves for the charge. As the ghosts drew closer, Rin could make out the details of their leader. He looked somehow... familiar. He looked like... No. It cannot be, he thought desperately. He stood frozen in horror as the figure drew closer. It was. It was Vallus. He did not want to believe it, but there could be no doubt now. He wore the same grin he had worn all his life, twisted now into something sinister and malicious. He could hear the Solts around him murmuring in despair. An anguished scream came from his right, “No!”

He did not have time to think of anything more before the ghosts crashed into the line, their mouths open, screaming a silent warcry. Rin lashed out with his spear in panic and terror, but his weapon passed right through the ghosts, and then they were upon him. A ghostly spear knifed through his gut, passing through his armor as if it were nothing. A searing pain exploded in his abdomen. He fled, the pain clouding his mind and pushing him on. He clutched at his side as he ran, feeling under his armor for the wound. He found none. No break in his skin, no blood at all. Only pain.

He looked around and saw to his shame that he had been one of the first to flee. Looking back he saw the Soltish line crumbling beneath the ghostly onslaught. I should be there, he thought, I should be there, fighting with them, not fleeing. Despite his thoughts, pain and fear and his instinct to survive drove him on. He sprinted faster, away from the battle to the cover of the tall grasses, where he collapsed on a small hill on the plain. From there he watched the massacre. Many men fell to ghostly weapons before the entire army was in flight. They seemed to be able to outrun the ghosts, and for a moment, Rin dared to hope that some of them might escape. That hope was crushed as the cavalry of the Blood Men swept in, easily outdistancing the men on foot and slaughtering Solts as they fled. Others armed with spears skewered fleeing men, and others still shot shortbows from their saddles. The screams of the dying filled Rin’s ears, echoing in his head.

Anger consumed him. He could not look away. He did not want to look away. He etched every death into his mind as he saw it, burning it into his memory so that he would never forget. He wanted to remember every death the Blood Men caused so that he could make them pay the price for each one. He swore to himself, standing alone on the hill, that for every fleeing man they cut down, every terrified soldier they slaughtered, he would repay them in full one day. ]]> Critiques wulfsbane http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541105-beginning-prologue-part-2-747-words.html <![CDATA[Abraham - The Tyrant's Law Discussion]]> http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541104-abraham-the-tyrants-law-discussion.html Mon, 20 May 2013 20:59:41 GMT Might be a little early to post this, but has anyone else read this yet? I thought it was quite good--easily the best in the series so far. Let me know what you think! Might be a little early to post this, but has anyone else read this yet? I thought it was quite good--easily the best in the series so far. Let me know what you think! ]]> General Book Discussion Nerds_feather http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541104-abraham-the-tyrants-law-discussion.html Babylon 5 special effects resource site http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541103-babylon-5-special-effects-resource-site.html Mon, 20 May 2013 19:41:27 GMT A website with a number of resources, images, and interviews based from the B5 special effects team: http://www.themadgoner.com/B5/B5Scrolls/B5Scrolls.htm Just been browsing through and seems quite interesting. :) A website with a number of resources, images, and interviews based from the B5 special effects team:
http://www.themadgoner.com/B5/B5Scrolls/B5Scrolls.htm

Just been browsing through and seems quite interesting. :) ]]> Babylon 5 I, Brian http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541103-babylon-5-special-effects-resource-site.html The Gothic Language of HP Lovecraft http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541102-the-gothic-language-of-hp-lovecraft.html Mon, 20 May 2013 19:16:51 GMT Interesting piece looking at word roots commonly used in gothic horror, not least using HP Lovecraft as an example: http://blog.oup.com/2013/05/h-p-lovecraft-and-the-northern-gothic-tongue/ Interesting piece looking at word roots commonly used in gothic horror, not least using HP Lovecraft as an example:
http://blog.oup.com/2013/05/h-p-love...gothic-tongue/ ]]> H P Lovecraft I, Brian http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541102-the-gothic-language-of-hp-lovecraft.html <![CDATA[I'm Back....]]> http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541101-im-back.html Mon, 20 May 2013 18:04:31 GMT And I have been busy with family matters as well as writing, hobby, etc. My newfound love is with ball jointed dolls, and I own several, and seem to delight in making clothes for them. If you visit me on facebook (Laura Jean Underwood) you will see some of the photos I have uploaded of my... And I have been busy with family matters as well as writing, hobby, etc.

My newfound love is with ball jointed dolls, and I own several, and seem to delight in making clothes for them. If you visit me on facebook (Laura Jean Underwood) you will see some of the photos I have uploaded of my resin and vinyl children (yes, I am not a picky collector--I like vinyl dolls as much as as resin dolls).

But just so you know I am not neglecting the writing front:

http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Bones-Ard-Magister-ebook/dp/B00CGVEJGW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369072736&sr=8-2&keywords=Laura+J.+Underwood

Demon in the Bones is now available as an ebook from Amazon.com and through Smashwords (if you are not a Kindle user). This is the sequel to my novel Ard Magister.

It will be coming out in a print edition, but at this time for some reason, the link takes you to the original Ard Magister (I am still working this out with my publisher, who is trying to get it fixed).

So if you like to read ebooks, go forth and purchase and make my publishers happy.
]]> Laura J Underwood LauraJUnderwood http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541101-im-back.html Space port http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541100-space-port.html Mon, 20 May 2013 16:52:42 GMT Might be better posted in the writing section, but I'll let a mod decide.

What would a space port look like? Could we expect it t be run along the lines of an airport? The ones that I've seen (in fiction) don't seem to have the strict restrictions on timings that airports have, but would it be realistic to expect that they do?

This leads onto another, altogther different, question. We often assume that spaceships will have crews, much like a large military ship, but if spaceships become cheap enough and common enough for normal people to have them, will they be more like cars?

So, if they are like cars, then would a space port just be more like a large car park, there will be rules (of the sky - skyway code?) to stop crashes, but people can come and go when they like, they wouldn't have to get 'permission' to land or take off? Is this kind of simplification too much.

btw I'm thinking of an on planet space port, not one that is in space.
When I looked up space port pics on google I found plenty for the vigin galactic stuff and Mos Eisley (from star wars) but few others.
I'm just wondering what you guys think? ]]> Science / Nature Moonbat http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541100-space-port.html A little light reading http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541099-a-little-light-reading.html Mon, 20 May 2013 15:40:08 GMT I was going to put this in shout your frustrations, but decided my worries were so minor they didn't warrant a scream.

In preparation for my move I am moving my not quite cubic metre of books (and that's after a trip to the second-hand bookshop to dispose of quite a few) down from my flat on the fourth floor to the cellar, for convenient pick up. All my muscles (and quite a few I'm convinced aren't mine, just joined for the protest march) are informing me of this fact, and sending in official complaints forms.

And there are a lot of cardboard boxes to go, yet, plus clothes, and gubbins. Fortunately there's still a while before the actual transport; maybe the aches will die down enough to allow another major effort. ]]> The Lounge chrispenycate http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541099-a-little-light-reading.html How to Write - BBC programme http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541097-how-to-write-bbc-programme.html Mon, 20 May 2013 14:22:21 GMT I gained a lot from this programme they are just clips but thought someone else may found them useful. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p016l2s4 I gained a lot from this programme they are just clips but thought someone else may found them useful.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p016l2s4 ]]> General Writing Discussion AnyaKimlin http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541097-how-to-write-bbc-programme.html <![CDATA[Teachers & Professors of SF and Fantasy]]> http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541096-teachers-and-professors-of-sf-and-fantasy.html Mon, 20 May 2013 14:21:28 GMT This thread is intended to be a place in which people can report about teachers and university professors who taught works of science fiction and fantasy. It would be particularly interesting if contributors could identify when they encountered these people and which books the teachers... This thread is intended to be a place in which people can report about teachers and university professors who taught works of science fiction and fantasy.

It would be particularly interesting if contributors could identify when they encountered these people and which books the teachers required or recommended. Perhaps eventually we will get a sense of how courses in sf and fantasy have changed over the years.

Some contributors might like to sign on with Fancyclopedia 3 and help to build that wiki database.

Example

Brian Bond (5 April 1942-4 March 2005)

Brian Christopher Bond was a professor of English and children’s services librarian who steered receptive students towards fandom and deeper into science fiction and fantasy. Bond contributed an article, “The Unity of Word: Language in C. S. Lewis’s Trilogy,” to Mythlore #8 (Winter 1972), and briefly published an apazine for Elanor. In the early 1970s, when courses in these genres were less common than they later became, he taught them at Bowling Green State University and Southern Oregon State College (now Southern Oregon University).

Since courses in the fantastic imagination were relatively new at the time,* and as documentation of what was perceived as particularly worthy from what was then available in paperback, details about the course reading are herewith provided.

At BGSU, Bond’s course on fantasy included David Lindsay’s A Voyage to Arcturus, Mervyn Peake’s Titus Groan, Thomas Mann’s The Transposed Heads, and Poul Anderson’s Three Hearts and Three Lions. Bond also participated in a BGSU discussion group, mostly composed of graduate students and professors and meeting in homes, that read Austin Tappan Wright’s Islandia.

At SOSC, Bond taught at least two undergraduate fantasy courses and one science fiction course. In 1974, Bond’s students read J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, Ursula Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea, C. S. Lewis’s Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength, Mervyn Peake’s Titus Groan, and Jorge Luis Borges’ Labyrinths, and, as optional reading, Charles Williams’s The Place of the Lion. In a 1975 fantasy course, Bond assigned The Tolkien Reader, Lewis’s Voyage of the Dawn Treader, George MacDonald’s Lilith, Evangeline Walton’s The Children of Llyr and The Song of Rhiannon, Colin Wilson’s The Mind Parasites, Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn, and Russell Hoban’s The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz, and Charles Williams’s Descent into Hell as optional reading. In a 1975 science fiction course, assigned texts included Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End, Theodore Sturgeon’s More Than Human, Walter M. Miller, Jr.’s A Canticle for Leibowitz, Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, Thomas M. Disch’s anthology Modern Science Fiction, and Dane Rudhyar’s Return from No-Return. During Bond’s time at SOSC and with his support, Ursula Le Guin visited the campus, reading from her work and meeting students. Bond’s office door was often open, and he welcomed drop-ins who wanted to talk about books and to borrow items from his collection; he shared things not then readily come by, including Meade and Penny Frierson’s HPL: A Tribute to Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Maeve Gilmore’s A World Away (a memoir of Mervyn Peake), and Kenneth Morris’s Book of the Three Dragons/. In addition to teaching these sf/fantasy-related courses, Bond agreed to individual arranged-studies courses in MacDonald and Chesterton and in Charles Williams. He gave generously of his time and knowledge.

At SOSC, Bond regularly taught a three-course, one-year world literature sequence and several American literature courses. These non-genre courses also included works of the fantastic imagination, such as Arthur Waley’s Monkey (a retelling of a Chinese classic), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Camara Laye’s The Radiance of the King, Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym", and fantastic tales by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Bond was an inspiring teacher and a superlative listener. He encouraged creativity in his students, so that a term project could be a research paper but could also be a suite of drawings or a reading with taped accompaniment. Eventually he became a children’s services librarian and became the president of that division of the Oregon Library Association.

*Susan Wood's "Of Courses" in Energumen #1 (Feb. 1970) provides an account of the formation of a free school class on sf at Carleton University.


http://fancyclopedia.org/brian-christopher-bond

Sidebar comment: I just ran across a short essay that Brian Bond did not live to read, but that I think he would have endorsed. The essay discusses silence, the sounds of children at play, and visual and auditory and inner noise. You might find it worth your while.

http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/20...pulsion-noise/ ]]> General Book Discussion Extollager http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541096-teachers-and-professors-of-sf-and-fantasy.html 3.08: Game of Thrones - Second Sons http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541095-3-08-game-of-thrones-second-sons.html Mon, 20 May 2013 14:06:14 GMT King's Landing hosts a wedding, and Tyrion and Sansa spend the night together. Dany meets the Titan's Bastard. Davos demands proof from Melisandre. Sam and Gilly meet an older gentleman.

This synopsis is taken from the HBO site, and seriously ends with "Sam and Gilly meet an older gentleman".

---

So many great little character moments in this one.

Davos' little grin as he finishes reading the sentence was fantastic! It was also interesting to see that Stannis, despite appearing to be fully behind Melisandre, has serious doubts about what he and Mel are doing.

Although she's not really done much this series, Cersei is still quite a nasty piece of work, even going as far as to tell the next Queen of Westeros that she'll be strangled in her sleep if she ever calls Cersei "sister" again. Cersei may not have any real power left, but it seems she's not going to let it stop her.

Poor Tyrion, having to cloak such a tall girl.

We may not have had a scene with Theon this week, but we still had a kid being tortured. With Melisandre out for his blood, I'm wondering how long it will be before Gendry is no more.

Olenna working out how Loras and Margaery will be related after the marriages was awesome: "But your brother will become your Father-in-Law. That much is beyond dispute".

At least Tyrion got his own back at Joffrey for taking his steps away. And even though he was saturated in alcohol, he managed to be the gentleman towards Sansa (who is hopefully coming to understand that marrying Tyrion isn't as bad as she might have thought).

I don't like Daario.

Sam, Sam, Sam... you managed to kill a White Walker with your blade of dragonglass, but you left it behind?! Dude! ]]> Game of Thrones Lenny http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541095-3-08-game-of-thrones-second-sons.html Amazing mediaeval towns and villages http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541093-amazing-mediaeval-towns-and-villages.html Mon, 20 May 2013 12:30:54 GMT Loved these pictures, especially the unusual ones from Chios.
http://ellerg.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05...ean-towns.html

Just in case it helps anyone visualise their own mediaeval worlds better. How you'd describe them, though, is another thing! ]]> History I, Brian http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541093-amazing-mediaeval-towns-and-villages.html Hi from Hyraxia http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541092-hi-from-hyraxia.html Sun, 19 May 2013 22:05:57 GMT Hi there,

Just joined this month. I'm a rare bookseller from Leeds in the UK specialising in speculative fiction. Here to keep up to date with the various goings on (not here to sell!)

Big fan of Philip K. Dick and Haruki Murakami.

Books I've enjoyed most this year: The Mistborn Trilogy and Childhood's End.

Thanks,
Simon. ]]> Introductions hyraxia http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/541092-hi-from-hyraxia.html