Sci-Fi Storm

Wiley Saichek writes “Author Steven Erikson made his U.S. publication debut with GARDENS OF THE MOON (Tor Books, June 2004), the first book in his acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Information about his work can be found online at his new website http://www.tor.com/erikson. Features include an excerpt and an author Q&A.

In other news, Steven Erikson is among the authors who will be chatting on Scifi.com on Tuesday, July 27, 9 PM EDT.

Erikson will also be chatting on Wavnutz.com on Wednesday, September 8, 9 PM ET.

———————
Wiley Saichek
Promotion Manager
The Book Report Network
Wiley@bookreporter.com”

A few more details have leaked about the future of Star Trek – first off, Shatner is indeed in talks to guest on Enterprise – as some “incarnation” of Kirk. Also mentioned in the article is T’Pol possibly getting married, the Temporal Cold War will be resolved, and the new season will be shot entirely on high-def video. In movie news, exec producer Rick Berman is talking with Jonathan Frakes (Cmdr. Riker from TNG), currently promoting Thunderbirds which he directed, about directing the next Trek film – and it won’t have any characters from or be based on any series.
Update 7/22: Original Trek theme composer Jerry Goldsmith, who also wrote severa of the other series and movie themes as well as for others (he won 5 Emmys and an Oscar for The Omen), died Wednesday after a long battle with cancer.

The comics-to-movie/tv business is all up in arms. Marvel, having sued Sony over Spider-Man licensing (since settled), is now suing Disney – claiming it is owed royalties from the airing of several made-for-TV episodes of animated versions of Marvel properties (Spider-Man, The Hulk, etc.) on ABC Family, where the contract actually dates back to when Fox owned the channel. In other news, the planned Superman remake gets another director (I think this is #6) – this time X-Men master Brian Singer. This puts plans for his Logan’s Run remake and X-Men 3 in question.

The SCI FI Channel’s documentary-turned-expose on filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, entitled The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan, is a complete hoax. The whole thing was a work of fiction, with Shyamalan in on it. Bonnie Hammer, president of SCI FI, called it a “guerilla marketing campaign” that went too far. Looks like she could be in hot water too – Rebecca Marks, NBC entertainment spokeswoman, said “This marketing strategy is not consistent with our policy at NBC.” NBC Universal is now the parent of the SCI FI Channel.

Two Thunderbirds feature films, Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbirds 6, part of Gerry Anderson’s best known Supermarionation franchise (and soon to be a live-action film), will be released next tuesday in a gift set. A must have for all Thunderbirds fans. And don’t forget the Series Mega Set. See the trailer: Quicktime Low, Medium, High; WinMedia: 56k, 100k, 300k.

Nick Pollotta writes “DATE: July 10, 2004

PRESS RELEASE: PLEASE DON’T BUY MY BOOK

Amazon.com has gone mad again, and has accidentally (and incorrectly) raised the cover price on the new hardback edition of “That Darn Squid God” from $24.95, to the quite bizarre $55.01.
They have been informed of this by the publisher, my agent, my lawyer, SFWA, and me, yet they refuse to admit that this is a problem.
But even worse, people are still buying the book on Amazon.
Please stop that!
Go buy it from Wildside Press (the publisher) at the normal price, from a specialty SF bookstore, or from any of hundreds of online e-stores that carry my stuff.
Or, if you’re in Europe, buy it from Amazon.co.uk. Those noble stalwarts have the right price up, and always have. They even have the new covers for the reissue of my “Bureau 13″ trilogy away ahead of anybody else. God bless the Brits!
Best wishes,
Nick Pollotta” Yeah, but I get a cut from that $55.01 if you followed our previous links… 🙂

James Doohan, who played Scotty on the original Star Trek, is suffering from Alzheimer’s Syndrome, according to his wife, Wendy. Jimmy already announced his farewell convention in August, but this is something of a shock. It is already known that he had Parkinsons and diabetes.

CNN is reporting the confirmed new title of the sixth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, shutting down some serious and not-so-serious rumors and hoaxes. Various fan sites were running around recently with “Pillar or Storge” (a reference to familial love), but J.K. Rowling has finally let the wizard out of the bag. It was also considered the title for the second book at one point, and Rowling also writes “The HBP is neither Harry nor Voldemort.”

In another unforgivable omission, I’ve managed to miss the fact that the complete first season of the original Land of the Lost (hear me now – that thing called Land of the Lost in the early 90s DID NOT EXIST!) is coming out next Tuesday! This includes all seventeen episodes, including those written by SF names like Larry Niven, David Gerrold, D.C. Fontana, and Walter Koenig, and includes commentary tracks from them and the cast, plus interviews and more! I actually found out about this on the larryniven-l mailing list from fiziko over at Bureau 42.

Tor Books has put up an official web site for the recently released 4th Ringworld novel, Ringworld’s Children. I will be putting up a review as soon as I’ve finished my second reading for the Encyclopedia of Known Space.