The wonderful James Knapp has sent us yet another recruit for the Viking Amoeba army. Say hello! ———————————————– Archon of the Amoebocalypse — Naeglis Orphea Tartarus Strength 15; Intelligence 2 Special Ability: Revivalism (Any single amoeba destroyed by the Archon is resurrected on your side of the battlefield as a zombie amoeba with a strength of 6 and an intelligence of 1) (State of Decay by James Knapp)
We’ve talked about the 2011 Hugo Nominees in Episode 3.5, but now we want to know what you think. Do you think it’s a good list? Why or why not? What would you put there instead? Let us know what you think about the list in the comments or on Twitter. And stay tuned for Monday’s episode, which will feature Andy Remic, author of Serial Killers Inc and Kell’s Legend (among other novels).
We all know that democracy and torture go well together, which is why we’re letting you decide which movie we’ll review in every edition of Torture Cinema from here on out. We’ll rotate other movies into the list as selections are made, including other films you’ve told us to watch (thanks a lot, jerks). New polls will follow after every new edition of Torture Cinema. Vote away:
It doesn’t matter if you’ve never dressed up. Everyone has a character they’d love to be, even just for a few hours at a fancy dress party. Here are ours: Shaun Doctor Who (David Tennant or Matt Smith). Why? Because I’d look damn good in a bow tie or Tennant’s coat! They’ve both got a wonderful sense of style (the characters, that is), and Doctor Who is a wonderful show. What better reasons could there be? I rest my case. Jen So I’m totally not sexy enough to pull the character off, but I think I would have to cosplay as Blink, from the Marvel Universe. Granted, the people at Marvel are total bastards and killed her off almost immediately after originally introducing her in the standard timeline, but she was seriously epic in the Age of Apocalypse timeline and was later reintroduced in the Exiles series… She’s a pink-skinned elfin-eared teleporter, a la Nightcrawler, who can charge bolts that she shoots at people. Oh, and I love her. If you were to cosplay any skiffy or fanty character, who would it be and why?
First things first, the episode has already been delayed by a week due to some issues with time for both of us host people. But the episode is now going to be delayed again because the host for our files is currently down. We don’t know what’s going on, but if any downloads or streams do not work for you, it’s not because SandF is broken or defunct or what have you. Everything is fine on our end. Archive.org is simply experiencing some issues. So hang in there. Episode 3.2 will be here as soon as I can get it up! Thanks for your patience!
Since our latest episode is a little on the dark side, we thought it would be a good idea to have a happier question for you all to think about. We’ve also brought in a friend to sweeten the deal: Shaun The hard thing about choosing books for middle school kids is that a great deal of books for their age group that are fantastic in nature are actually fantasies, rather than science fiction. There isn’t enough science fiction written explicitly for their age group, let alone for the two groups around them (children’s lit and young adult). If we were talking high school, the doors would be wide open for all kinds of stuff, from John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War to Tobias Buckell’s Xenowealth novels (Crystal Rain, Ragamuffin, and Sly Mongoose). But because this group is a young group, content is a big issue. I have no doubt that they can handle more adult material than we’d like to think, but they are still younglings. With that in mind, I would have to pick The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. The novel may not be meant for middle school kids, but it’s hilarious, fun, and all kinds of weird. Whether they’ll get all the jokes is irrelevant, because the characters are funny enough on their own. The big question, of course, is whether Adams is a good gateway into the SF genre as a whole. I don’t think I can say… Jen Honestly. I have no idea! I started reading science fiction earlier than middle school, but I think the same books are appropriate. However, they’re a little outdated. To be honest, though I haven’t even read the series yet, I would start with The Hunger Games. I’ve always been of the opinion that to get a kid interested in something for the first time, you have to play to their interests. Not only is The Hunger Games a new series of books, it is also being made into a series of movies. Double win to a teenager (especially if that hot guy from Beastly and I Am Number Four is in it, then you’ll get every girl in America reading the series). I see no reason to throw them straight into the complexities of Ender’s Game or something by Heinlein. I started with Ray Bradbury and Madeleine L’Engle (although I was never a big L’Engle fan) and these are still great authors to begin a science fiction journey with, but to snag a kid so late in the game (yes, I’m calling middle school late) – appealling to them on a less “literary” level might be a good way to go. Patrick Hester Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. I think the story is accessible to kids because it’s about kids, their relationships and a lot of themes involved with growing up that they’ll relate to. Plus, the kids are the smartest people in the story (for the most part), which I think they’ll like too. So, what do you think would be a good SF book to start middle school kids on? Let us know in the comments!
