Author name: Skiffy Fanty

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

208. Usman Malik (a.k.a. Mr. Marvel) — An Interview at ICFA

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode208AnInterviewWUsmanMalikAtICFA/SandF%20–%20Episode%20208%20–%20An%20Interview%20w%20Usman%20Malik%20at%20ICFA.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSUrdu literature, the wild world of translation, and Pakistani speculative fiction, oh my!  Author Usman Malik joins us at ICFA to talk about his literary influences, Urdu literature, spirituality and religion, and a whole lot of other amazing stuff. We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 208 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Usman’s Twitter Usman’s Posts on Desi Writer’s Lounge “Pinned and Wriggling on the Wall” by Usman Malik (Daily Science Fiction) Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī The Adventures of Amir Hamza by Ghalib Lakhnavi (translated by Musharraf Ali Farooqi) Musharraf Ali Farooqi’s website Farooqi’s columns on Dawn.com Mazhar Kaleem The Imran Series Ibn-e-Safi You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible.  Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

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Book Review: Reach for Infinity edited by Jonathan Strahan

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Jonathan Strahan’s third “Infinities” anthology, Reach for Infinity, changes focus yet again for the series. While Engineering Infinity and Edge of Infinity explored solid Solar System-set science fiction, Reach for Infinity’s stories and mission concern the attempts of man to get into the solar system, pulling back even further from the more grandiose hard science fiction in the first Infinities volume, Engineering Infinity. However, even given the more narrowed and tight focus, the stories are no less full of wonder, characters, science and excellent writing. The previous volume, Edge of Infinity, felt in some ways like a manifesto from the editor, as if it had been curated and created to advance an argument. Reach for Infinity eschews that sort of editorial point of view and instead presents a set of excellent stories.

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The World SF Blog — One Year Later

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By the time this post goes up — at least in my part of the world — it will exactly be a year since the World SF Blog was retired. Its success, in my opinion, lies in the hands of the editor-in-chief of the site, Lavie Tidhar, and the efforts of the various contributors (the list would be too long…) from around the world. The Apex Book of World SF 3 has also been announced, so June is a special month for me (and because I had nothing to do with the anthology, I can read it with surprise and delight). Before I digress, I want to point out that the more I pondered the issue of World SF, the more I discovered how the term was problematic (which Is discussed in my essay “World SF: Our Possible Future”). Here’s the thing:  no one owns or speaks for World SF. It’s too broad, too all encompassing, and it’s often defined by what it isn’t. It’s a reaction to the current status quo, of major publishers publishing books by US and UK authors, and those books becoming the canon in various parts of the world. It’s to rebel against cultural appropriation, to combat cultural stereotypes, and most of all, to not do a disservice to readers of various races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

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Geekomancer Under Glass – Marvel’s Transmedia Gambit

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(No, not that Gambit, Shaun :P.) Spoilers for Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD and Captain America: The Winter Soldier ahead.) When Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD was announced, there was excitement, there was wariness, and everything in-between. An ongoing TV show as a tie-in to a powerful superhero franchise? This was something new, something different. There have been TV->film->TV movements, from La Femme Nikita to Star Trek, Star Wars, and more. The Matrix universe delved deep into transmedia storytelling, with animated shorts, video games, and comics. But Agents of SHIELD was something different — clearly designed as a bridge between movies, the show started weak. Really weak. The pilot episode showed some promise, with Clark Gregg as a compelling lead and Mike Peterson giving a voice to an interesting thematic question (is the American Dream a lie?).

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#23. Edge of Tomorrow (2014) — A Shoot the WISB Subcast w/ Rachael Acks

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/ShootTheWISB23EdgeOfTomorrow2014/Shoot%20the%20WISB%20%2323%20–%20Edge%20of%20Tomorrow%20%282014%29.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSExoskeletons, Tom Cruise dying-in-movie fantasies, and alien time loopers, oh my!  Shaun, David, Paul, and Mike are joined by Rachael Acks (AGAIN) to take on the brand new Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt vehicle, Edge of Tomorrow (adapted from Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need is Kill).  A little death never hurt anybody! We hope you enjoy the episode! Spoiler Alert:  the following podcast contains spoilers for the film being reviewed; if you wish to see the film without having it ruined for you, download this podcast and save it for later. Download the episode here. [audio http://archive.org/download/ShootTheWISB23EdgeOfTomorrow2014/Shoot%20the%20WISB%20%2323%20–%20Edge%20of%20Tomorrow%20%282014%29.mp3] Show notes (info about our contributors can be found on the about page): Edge of Tomorrow (2014) (IMDB) All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka (Haikasoru) Rachael’s Website Rachael’s Edge of Tomorrow Post Rachael’s Twitter Mike’s new book:  Shield and Crocus (BUY IT) Paul’s Review of Shield and Crocus at SF Signal Comment away!

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Film Review: The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010) — A (World) SFF Film Odyssey

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Readers may be familiar with director Luc Besson’s previous work, which includes the excellent films like The Fifth Element (1997), Leon the Professional (1994; featuring a quite young Natalie Portman), or the lesser-known, but personal favorite, Unleashed (2005; featuring Jet Li, Morgan Freeman, and the late Bob Hoskins).  These are wildly different films, but they are a testament to Besson’s versatility as a writer and director.  The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (Les aventures extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec; 2010), seems, then, to be a departure from what has come before, in no small part because this is a film which is coded for a younger audience by its humor and delivery.  In that respect, it is a fun, if not somewhat uneven adventure comedy.

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