With rumors of Border’s having troubles earlier this year and Barnes and Noble now looking for a buyer, it’s beginning to look like the ebooks are getting a strong foothold in the industry. I never plan on joining that weird movement, but that might change if they can give me an ebook reader that lets me turn pages with my hand.
When the day comes and my big box book stores are shuttered, I can still turn to my online retailer, Amazon books, for my real book needs. So can you for that matter.
How true, Tom Petty.
The waiting is the hardest part. The way-ay-ay-ting is the harrrrrrrrrrdest par-art.
I hope Martin can finish A Dance with Dragons soon, but understand that he’ll do it in his own time. But he has been working on ADWD since 1999 (it got too big, and chapters were split off to become A Feast for Crows). 11 years is a long time for a book though.
Thankfully, I know that he won’t pull a Cameron and wait over a decade to drop nature love-fest. Can you imagine James Cameron writing ADWD. Bran the cripple would warg into one of the children of the forest and fight Dany, Cersei, and all of the humans to save the world from environmental destruction. Along the way many predictable things would happen. We all know Martin doesn’t stoop to use tropes and cliches.
I tried the Wheel of Time series years ago. After everyone split up and joined the circus, I couldn’t go on. I don’t CARE what EVERY person clothes are made of. After reading Martin I can never go back to the tedium of Jordan.
It’s been a great couple of weeks. There really is nothing to get you down after you find out that HBO has given the greenlight production for a full season of “Game of Thrones”. I feel just like I did after finding out that Lucas was finally making another round of Star Wars movies. On the plus side, I have a good feeling that this series will be better than the hype.
With an amazingly outstanding cast, and really cool locations, and a tremendous script, we have every reason to hope that “Game of Thrones” is everything that the book is and more. I’m reading the series for the fourth time and am continually amazed at the depth of the story. How little comments by one character are so huge after you know what’s going on. This is gonna rule.
There are rumors flying through the smog in Hollywood that there may be yet another crack at a Dune movie. The first one was an amazing, but sadly flawed, attempt to squeeze a monumental novel into a movie, even a long movie. The SciFi miniseries somehow didn’t fit any more of the book in a less than impressive version. If someone can do to Dune what Abrams did for Star Trek, then I will be first in line.
Dune is a truly epic story with so many important parts that a single movie will never be able to do it justice. I’m wondering if they can turn it into an amazing HBO series or a couple of movies.
<fingers crossed>
That’s right folks. Fresh from Fox’s cancelled “Sarah Connor Chronicles”, Lena Headey has been selected to play Cersei Baratheon (Lannister) is HBO’s upcoming series “A Game of Thrones”.
She seems like a perfect choice for a show that will probably last quite a few seasons. Some have commented that she doesn’t fit the part, but come on people, that’s what wigs are for. She will be a stunning blonde that will be hated for all of the mean and nasty things that she does to our heroes. Besides, she does bare a resemblance to her future co-star, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who will play her twin brother.
More updates to come soon, and still can’t wait for next season when I’ll buy HBO and watch every single week.
Yay.
With the entire world waiting anxiously for the next year’s hit HBO series “A Game of Thrones” to be released. (well, me and lots of people anyway), news has come down to some of the initial casting. With such amazing source material, this series should become one of the most successful shows for HBO ever.
The first casting news that came down was that Peter Dinklage would play one of the key characters, Tyrion. Dinklage should do a great job and the cast should be strong with him at the head.
Next, and most exciting, is that the King in the North, Lord of Winterfell, Eddard Stark would be played by Sean Bean. Boromir himself as Ned Stark. This is most exciting because it means that HBO is serious about making “A Game of Thrones” into a key franchise for the network. You don’t typically get someone like Sean Bean to be in your series if you’re not serious about making it, and making it good.
Some of the other characters have also been cast and filming should begin in a couple of months for the first episode. Can’t wait to sign up for HBO next fall.
Harry Potter has broken the $150 million mark and is on its way to make an unfathomable profit.
Do any of us wonder why book 7 is being split into 2 movies?
By show of hands, how many of us think it’s because the book is long and they don’t want to leave anything out?
Yeah I don’t believe it either.
It has finally come from the mouth (or website) of George R.R. Martin, so it can be deemed as true and officially official. HBO has announced that the pilot episode of “A Game of Thrones” will be filmed in October in Ireland.
Words cannot completely describe the excitement that is now contained in the world. Not just excitement for the awesomeness that will be in the series for the next few years, but even the excitement for each announcement over the next few months of who will play who and all of the production photos.
Yay!
While waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting some more for the next chapter in George R. R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series to be written and released, I’ve started looking for other fantasy-type books to catch my interest. Martin’ site recommended checking out a new author, Scott Lynch.
“The Lies of Locke Lamora” is a tremendous first novel from a talented author. This fantasy world is instantly compelling and believable. In the tradition of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Locke Lamora is a lovable rogue that begins life as an orphan, but quickly rises to be the most legendary and feared thief of Camorr.
The story rarely slows but does suffer a little from the non-linear storytelling. Locke and his fellow Gentlemen Bastards begin a daring heist to steal from the city’s nobles but soon find themselves caught in another scheme.
I’ve already bought and can’t wait to read the sequel.
In the continuing saga of the increasingly delayed saga of an “Ender’s Game” movie, it was recently revealed that although Warner Bros. have did not renew their option to make this classic space yarn into a big-budget classic, another production company immediately gobbled it up. Late last month Orson Scott Card turned in yet another script revision that he calls the best yet to Odd Lot Entertainment. This company appears to be have been around for a few years now with their biggest success coming with last year’s “The Spirit”, costarring Samuel L. Jackson.
Maybe they can get Sam Jackson to join in on a major roll. Do I dare say it? I dare. Mazer Rackham? Could Samuel L. pull off being a half-Maori New Zealander? I hope so.
Great news all you fans of Westeros.
News has just hit the Swedish press that the day is coming soon for filming to begin on what will be the greatest fantasy television series ever. That’s right. I’m predicting that right now.
Producer David Benioff recently spoke with the Swedish press about many different projects, one of them being George R. R. Martin’s tremendous opening chapter to the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, “A Game of Thrones”. HBO has the option and everything is falling into place. Benioff revealed that locations are being prepared in Ireland and filming will begin around October of this year.
Can’t wait to get news of casting and production stills and set design and finally release dates.
It looks like Frank Miller has decided to make the jump from his successes with 300 and Sin City and direct a movie all by himself. There are some comic book writers that are continually dissatisfied with the product that Hollywood releases based on their work (Alan Moore). And then there are the writer’s that let Hollywood do whatever they want with their classic characters (Stan Lee).
Frank Miller’s effort at the helm of “The Spirit” gives us a typical comic book made large on the screen. It looks amazing, it’s way out there, but the story is, well, comic-bookish.
The stark black and white and red stands out vividly on the screen but still hasn’t worn out its welcome (yet). The action is meant to directly mimic that found in comic books and stands out as such. The way-out-ness of the the story is made even more awesome by Samuel L. Jackson doing his thing all over the place. This also kind of segues into the comic-bookishness of the movie. Sam Jackson dressed as a Nazi. Didn’t see that plot point coming. The dialogue sounds like it came straight off the page, and while this may be something good for lovers of comic books, it isn’t something good for lovers of movies.
Glad I saw it. Not glad I had to pay for it.
I’ve been a fan of the James Bond books and movies for quite a while. Really ever since we first got cable in the early 90′s and I discovered the joys of weekend-long James Bond marathons. My 8th grade English teacher gave me a stack of old James Bond paperbacks that I digested in junior high. Surprisingly, the title of one of the short stories in one of those paperbacks was brought back for the newest and 22nd Bond flick. Quantum of Solace. I probably didn’t give the title a second thought back then, but it just sounds kind of weird now.
Anyway, the movie begins right where Casino Royale leaves off. Since I didn’t quite retain a memory of all of the characters and plot twists of Casino Royale, I was a little behind as the film got underway. The opening action sequence is pretty good and had me hoping for better things to come. After Bond’s third trip across the Atlantic, I had ceased really caring a whole lot about the story that was being told and cared a whole lot more about seeing some good action sequences. After alternating between Bond killing someone and one of Bond’s friends getting killed, it didn’t really seem to matter anymore.
Now, I’m all for a complex and nuanced film, but the villains in this movie just seemed so unimportant. Trying to horde all of the world’s water. You fail at villainy.
Final verdict – just another Bond movie.
Now that I’ve spent the better part of the last two hours reading through a thoroughly funny comic strip about trying to DM the classic Lord of the Rings, I think that I’ve come across one of the funniest pages in the extremely long series.
I recommend starting at the beginning.
But this one is really funny.
True, so very true.
Monty Python reference (one of many).
Mario reference.
That’s right, constant reader.
Ender’s Game is looking closer and closer to becoming a reality.
The downside is that Wolfgang Petersen has dropped out as director of the project. The good news is that they are actively looking for a new director so they can start casting all of the kids so they can start shooting next year!
Exciting, huh?
Also on the plus side is the recent release of an “Ender’s Game” comic book. The few pages that I saw online looked very promising.
Can’t wait to see it on the big screen.
Before you continue reading, you better have a seat.
Ready?
Ok.
You all know that I’ve been praising the awesomeness of George R. R. Martin’s epic ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series. Earlier this month Martin posted on his website that HBO has just exercised their option and purchasd the television rights to the series. This means that shortly we could see the first book in the series, “A Game of Thrones,” as the first season of the series in just a couple of short years!
This isn’t a done deal yet, and it’s still not definite. But, this is the next step in the process to bring the series to the small screen. Earlier HBO had purchased the option. Now they’ve exercised the option and have purchased the rights. Looks like they may film it in Spain or the Czech Republic.
A short note to HBO. Please make this series. I just have basic cable right now but will become a subscriber to the Home Box Office when they bring this series to their network. Heck, I’ll forever remain a subscriber if this comes to the screen.
Monday I’m going to pick up a bookcase from a friend who’s moving and won’t need it anymore. I’ve got about 5 bookcases as it is, but I always seem to need more shelf room. You might say I should put less clutter on the shelves, but the fact is all the shelves hold are books. My husband and I have a library of them.
We’ve got Star Trek and Star Wars; Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley High (my husband insists we put them out – I’d just as soon leave those in a box and I’m the only one whose read them); Michael Chriton and Daniele Steele. We’ve got science books and math books, history books and Harry Potter books. There’s probably at least one book from every genre you can come up with including the ‘Teen Angst’ genre.
It’s getting a little bit sick , but you can hardly expect me to give these away. I tend to forget the ending of books so I can always go back and reread them. Except for ‘On the Beach’. Most Depressing Ending Ever.
Even though after seeing the previews for the movie version of “The Ruins”, I had absolutely no interest in seeing the movie, when I saw the book at the grocery store a few weeks ago with an endorsement from Stephen King, I couldn’t help but pick it up and give it a try.
“The Ruins” takes a few pages to introduce all of the characters and the location in Cancun and then quickly drops everyone on a hill in the forest surrounded by natives ready to kill them if they leave. The rest of the novel focuses on everyone’s struggle to survive as they slowly start to realize that the entire hill is covered with a sentient plant that will eventually consume them and anyone or anything else that comes to the hill.
The dialogue is fairly sparse with most of the writing focusing on each characters inner monologue of terror. This is probably the main reason that the movie got such lousy reviews. It’s hard to translate a book to the screen when there’s nothing really for anyone to say in a given scene. The tension ratchets up in many parts of the book and it is occasionally difficult to put down. However, there are lulls in the action where it’s difficult to continue with the story.
So, I’m not terribly blown away by “The Ruins”, but it was a good read as I was busing back and forth to work.
A few years ago I came across a fun little book in the bookstore that I read for a little while but put back without buying. It was Max Brooks’ “Zombie Survival Guide.” This book was a basic manual that logically stepped through everything that you needed to know about survived the coming zombie holocaust.
More recently, a friend recommended that I picked up the author’s newest addition to the zombie genre, “World War Z.” Very impressive. “World War Z” is a written account of the war against the zombies told from the perspective of dozens of survivors from all over the world and edited together by a post-zombie war politician that is seeking the truth about what happened during that dark time. The book is extremely effective in portraying the terror and helplessness that quickly spread around the world almost as quickly as the plague did. Brooks extrapolates from the current worldwide political scene to shape the zombie future. Every possibility or eventuality of the zombie is explored given the standard zombie myth as a starting point.
I found this book difficult to put down and look forward to Max Brooks’ next excursion into the world of the zombies.
“Fear Nothing” by Dean Koontz starts with a very promising premise, but like much of Koontz’s work, I found that the execution of that idea quickly fell apart.
Christopher Snow is afflicted by a rare genetic disorder that prevents his cells from repairing damage down by ultraviolet light. He’s not an albino, but he must always avoid light. After his father’s death, he stumbles upon a series of increasingly strange events that take him deeper and deeper into the secrets of the town that he only sees at night.
The mystery and suspense and eerieness that fill the first few pages seems to quickly taper off. It quickly becomes obvious that our character will move from one strange occurrence to the next until the end of the book. The problem is that these occurrences just become less and less spooky and more and more feel like filler until the end of the book. Pages seem to fly by without much really happening. Every time someone is about to give information that the reader might want to know, that person either changes the subject, thinks better of it, gets killed, or the main character runs away.
Koontz’s books all seem to have strong starting points, but weak stories to fill the pages in between the setup and the payoff. Fear that.