Sci-Fi Storm

Scholastic, J.K. Rowling’s U.S. publisher for her Harry Potter books, announced on their website that the title for the final installment will be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. They say it was announced on J.K.’s website, but I haven’t found it yet. [Sorry for the delay in posting this – I was rebuilding my home network]

The BBC has has announced a deal to offer hundreds of its TV programs for download via the Zudeo web service, and offshoot of Azureus, a popular BitTorrent client. Zudeo will offer HD-quality downloads, and a special BBC Channel. The Zudeo client (a.k.a. Azureus 3.0) will be required.

If anyone watched the premiere episode of the new NBC game show Identity last night, you may have noticed a strangely dressed person in the back, #12. He looked familiar to me, but I couldn’t quite place it. Well, he never got picked, but I was pegging him for the “UFOlogist”. Well, at the end they got to say what their identity was, and he said “May the power of the Cosmos be with you!” Suddenly it call came back – it was Dr. Franklin Ruehl, who had one of the original programs on the SCI FI Channel which I believe aired on Saturday mornings before Sci-Fi Buzz, called Mysteries From Beyond the Other Dominion. You can see more of Dr. Ruehl here.

According to The TREK Movie Report, CBS has been pitched a new animated series to extend Star Trek into the 26th century, picking up 150 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis, and 60 years after a terrible war with the Romulans, leaving the parts of the Federation cut off, the Klingon homeworld occupied, the Vulcans withdrawn from the Federation, and the Andorian homeworld destroyed. It follows Captain Alexander Chase and crew of the latest Enterprise as a border patrol ship, hoping to bring back the “the glory days of seeking out new life and new civilizations.” It would likely be done as a webcast, with mini-episodes similar to Clone Wars. No word yet from CBS.

Wiley Saichek writes “TOKYOPOP redesigned the website for their POP Fiction line of international teen novels. Visit http://www.tokyopop.com/popfiction for descriptions, excerpts and reviews of their Fall 2006 releases: MAGIC MOON, KINO NO TABI, SCRAPPED PRINCESS and WITCHES’ FOREST. Check back for more details on several upcoming 2007 novels, such as CHAIN MAIL: Addicted to You (January), THE TWELVE KINGDOMS: Sea of Shadow (March) and TRINITY BLOOD: Rage Against the Moons (April).”

John Kopp writes “Firebox.com has just received collectable Star Wars Canvas Prints. They are limited edition, fully licensed Canvas Prints and they are now available on the site! This is the direct link with all the information you’ll need.

http://www.firebox.com/product/1344

They feature actual scenes as well as fantastic montage pieces. From C-3P0 and R2-D2 to Darth Vader himself, these canvas prints are top quality, individually numbered and only available on Firebox.com!”

Martha Ivery, who was also known as Kelly O’Donnell and did business under several names as both a “high-powered” literary agent and vanity publishing houses (notably Press-TIGE Publishing and New Millenium Publishing), was sentenced to 65 months in prison and must pay restitution. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, who helped lead the investigation and formed “Writer Beware” to warn of questionable activity, have this release. Ivery, under several personas, would charge agents fees, then refer to her own publishing house, and charged more fees, and frequently failed to deliver. She also employed strongarm tactics, demanding money from clients and threatening to “blacklist” them. Apparently she had so many lies running that she lost track – she called one client some time after the client was told that she had died.

I hate making appeals like this, but alas, what little income that is made off this site is WAY down this year (like a fraction of the first couple years). So I implore you…if you shop regularly from Amazon.com, or even occasionally, follow any the links on our site to get there. If you use Firefox 2.0 though, you can install a plugin to use the search box in the upper right to search Amazon, but credit us! See the Support page for details.

The voting has begun on the “Keep the Gate Open” video contest which we announced previously. Voting is open through December 12th, with the winner announced on December 14th. The videos are quite well done.

Next up in the list of series I haven’t seen since my childhood: the 15 episodes of Space Academy, starring among others Jonathan Harris (Lost in Space) and childhood actress Pamelyn Ferdin (many appearances, including Star Trek‘s “And the Children Shall Lead”), will be released on DVD on January 16th. Perhaps a late holiday present for the 30-something sci-fi fan? The show ran from 1977-1979 on Saturday mornings, with repeats for several years afterwards. It was followed up by Jason of Star Command, which will be released in the future as the Filmation library gets released. Ark II was released two weeks ago…I hope to have a review this weekend.