My Superpower: Rhiannon Held
My Superpower is a regular guest column on the Skiffy and Fanty blog where authors and creators tell us about one weird skill, neat trick, highly specialized cybernetic upgrade, or other superpower they have, and how it helped (or hindered!) their creative process as they built their project. Today we welcome Rhiannon Held to talk about how the power of Metaphor relates to Reflected. ———————————- I am proud to say that my superpower is the power of METAPHOR. I’ve had it all my life, but never realized it until I started writing and learned to nurture my metaphor in a conscious way to make my novels richer. My newest book, Reflected, has metaphor on a number of different levels, and I’m continually grateful that’s the superpower I received when such things were being handed out. Now, to forestall the few pedants and people eager to prove they were paying attention in junior high English out there, I’m going to talk about metaphor in a large, umbrella sense. When it comes down to sentence structure, there is indeed a terminology difference between saying “My heart is a lump of coal” and “My heart is like a lump of coal.” The former’s a metaphor, and the latter’s a simile.
Mining the Genre Asteroid: The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
The early 19th century. A plot against King George. Egyptian gods, magicians, gypsies, and other mysterious characters on the streets of London in a struggle for control and dominance. Enter a 20th century professor, Brendan Doyle. By turns, he has not only wound up in the thick of events, he has become trapped in that time. Can Doyle foil the plots, survive in the dangerous 19th century world and underworld, and even prosper? And most of all, like Sam Beckett…can Doyle find the right Time Gate to send him back home?
Book Review: Hang Wire by Adam Christopher
Everyone loves the circus, even a city as already rich in culture and history as San Francisco, city by the bay. Site of famous (infamous) earthquakes. Home to Bob, the shirtless guy who teaches people to dance on the beach in Aquatic Park. There are godlings and beings running around with strange powers, and the circus itself, of course, is not all that it is appears. Its proprietor is a bit of an odd duck, and what’s with that Riverdance-esque acrobat troupe, anyway? And their latest performer, no matter how good, is a man of mystery. Oh, and did I mention there’s a killer running around the city, a serial killer to equal the old Zodiac murder spree? In the end, everything revolves around the so called Hang Wire Killer in Hang Wire, a novel by Adam Christopher.
#15 — Babylon 5 Re-Watch (S1D3: Eps. 9-12) — A Shoot the WISB Discussion
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/ShootTheWISB15Babylon5ReWatchep912/Shoot%20the%20WISB%20%2315%20–%20Babylon%205%20re-watch%20%28ep%209-12%29.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSGenocidal maniacs, unions, and aliens above the law, oh my! Mike, Paul, and Shaun offer their thoughts on episodes 9-12 of Babylon 5 in our third ever re-watch session. We also really want to hear what you think! So feel free to watch along with us! Next up, the fourth disc of the Season One box set! 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/ShootTheWISB15Babylon5ReWatchep912/Shoot%20the%20WISB%20%2315%20–%20Babylon%205%20re-watch%20%28ep%209-12%29.mp3] Show notes (info about our contributors can be found on the about page): Babylon 5 (IMDB) Episode 9: “Deathwalker“ Episode 10: “Believers“ Episode 11: “Survivors“ Episode 12: “By Any Means Necessary“ Comment away!
Film Review: Trollhunter (2010) — A (World) SFF Film Odyssey
Trollhunter (2010)(Trolljegeren in Norway) is André Øvredal’s most popular film, though it is, I’d argue, sorely overlooked by American audiences. Originally released in October 2010, the film was eventually transplanted to U.S. audiences via the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011. The premise is fairly simple: Under the guise of presenting secret footage, Trollhunter follows a trio of student journalists who arrive in the mountains in order to interview and document the actions of a mysterious man named Hans who locals suspect is illegally killing bears. In their attempts to catch the man in the act, they follow him and discover that Hans is actually a trollhunter, protecting the borders between human and troll territories with a UV light gun and other clever amenities. Invited to ride along, the trio document Hans’ journey to determine what has caused a recent series of violent troll events, only to realize that they’re in over their heads.
Finding Filipinos in Science Fiction and Fantasy
A decade ago, whenever I mentioned Filipinos in science fiction and fantasy, genre fans here and abroad would mention two novels to me: Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers and Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon. Now I haven’t read Cryptonomicon, but I have read Starship Troopers. My initial impression with the book was that here was a book that featured a Filipino (well, Filipino-American) protagonist! As I grew older, I realized Starship Troopers was a squandered opportunity (aside from Heinelin’s pro-military propaganda). I had questions like:
