Grab a plate and feast your eyes on the final Rogue One trailer

"If the Empire has this kind of power, then what chance do we have?"
"We have hope. Rebellions are built on hope."



I'm hyped for December, how about you?

It sure was, it sure was

I watched the first half of the MacGyver reboot and just like I said in this post, it was terrible. The only aspect of the original series that carried over to the reboot is MacGyverisms and even then, they're not as inventive and clever as in the original. In fact, the show is about as bland as CBS's other dramas.

So who else thinks the MacGyver reboot is going to be a burning tire dump?

Oh boy...
(via IMDb)

The funny thing is, I've wanted a reboot off and on for the past few years, but the one birthed forth by CBS looks like an absolute disaster. The only two characters from the original series that made it into the reboot are MacGyver himself and Jack Dalton, who was MacGyver's friend who showed up from time to time. Dana Elcar's Pete Thornton has been genderswapped and is now Patricia Thornton, but that doesn't bother me. What does is the non-existence of the Phoenix Foundation, the NGO that MacGyver worked for and Thornton ran in the original series. Instead, it's been replaced by the "Department of External Services" that MacGyver created himself. Lucas Till, who plays MacGyver is 26 years old and presumably, the character is at least close to that, but sure, he creates a secret government agency. Makes perfect TV logic. I'm guessing Donald Trump is president in that universe.

Honestly, I don't think the show's going to make it because the episode premiering tonight is the show's second pilot. The first one was scrapped back in June and every character not named Angus MacGyver and Jack Dalton went with it. I don't know, but it seems like ditching a pilot and shooting a new one like four months before the premiere bodes not well for a TV show's chances of survival. Add to it that it's airing on Fridays, a timeslot regular used as a dumping ground for shows on their way towards cancellation and for ones that aren't expected to make it and yeah, this thing is doomed. I give it three episodes before CBS scraps any further episode orders and six before it gets canned. The question will be if the remaining eps are still shown on TV or dumped on the CBS website.

Review: The Veldt by Ray Bradbury is a chilling tale of technological addiction gone horribly wrong [SPOILERS]

I have a terrible secret, though that I may as well share now: I’ve never read any of Ray Bradbury’s books. The fault is entirely on me. Outside of comics and the internet, I wasn’t much of a prolific reader growing up. Things didn’t change until the Summer of 2011 when I finally got into fantasy and soon after, science fiction. And yet, in those four years I still haven’t read any of his books from beginning to end nor any of his short fiction until now. It’s something I’m working to rectify and that brings us back around to October as my own Ray Bradbury Reading Month.

I decided the other day that I would dedicated the month of October to reading some of the works of Bradbury. He’s a man for whom my thinkbox associates with the fall season and that month in particular. It might have something to do with his books Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Halloween Tree, and his short story collection, October Country, among others, all of which I plan on reading. 

So, with that in mind I decided that it would be best to sample his work before diving in headfirst and what better place to start than with one of his most well known collections, The Illustrated Man? What better story than The Veldt?

Women resoundingly kicked some ass at the Hugo Awards

And I can't even begin or really want to imagine how pissed off the Sad/Rabid Puppies are over this (but more on that later). Here are the nominees and winners for each category.

Best Novel

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow)
The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher (Roc)

Best Novella

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)
Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum)
Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon)
Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson (Dragonsteel Entertainment)
The Builders by Daniel Polansky (Tor.com)

Best Novelette

“Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu (Uncanny Magazine, Jan-Feb 2015)
“And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead” by Brooke Bolander (Lightspeed, Feb 2015)
“Obits” by Stephen King (The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Scribner)
“What Price Humanity?” by David VanDyke (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
“Flashpoint: Titan” by CHEAH Kai Wai (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
est Short Story (2,706 final ballots, 2451 nominating ballots)
“Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, January 2015)
Space Raptor Butt Invasion by Chuck Tingle (Amazon Digital Services)
“Asymmetrical Warfare” by S. R. Algernon (Nature, Mar 2015)
“Seven Kill Tiger” by Charles Shao (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
“If You Were an Award, My Love” by Juan Tabo and S. Harris (voxday.blogspot.com, Jun 2015)

Best Related Work

No Award
Between Light and Shadow: An Exploration of the Fiction of Gene Wolfe, 1951 to 1986 by Marc Aramini (Castalia House)
“The Story of Moira Greyland” by Moira Greyland (askthebigot.com)
“The First Draft of My Appendix N Book” by Jeffro Johnson (jeffro.wordpress.com)
“Safe Space as Rape Room” by Daniel Eness (castaliahouse.com)
SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day (Castalia House)

Best Graphic Story

The Sandman: Overture written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)
Invisible Republic Vol 1 written by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, art by Gabriel Hardman (Image Comics)
The Divine written by Boaz Lavie, art by Asaf Hanuka and Tomer Hanuka (First Second)
Full Frontal Nerdity by Aaron Williams (ffn.nodwick.com)
Erin Dies Alone written by Grey Carter, art by Cory Rydell (dyingalone.net)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

The Martian screenplay by Drew Goddard, directed by Ridley Scott (Scott Free Productions; Kinberg Genre; TSG Entertainment; 20th Century Fox)
Mad Max: Fury Road written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris, directed by George Miller (Village Roadshow Pictures; Kennedy Miller Mitchell; RatPac-Dune Entertainment; Warner Bros. Pictures)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens written by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt, directed by J.J. Abrams (Lucasfilm Ltd.; Bad Robot Productions; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Ex Machina written and directed by Alex Garland (Film4; DNA Films; Universal Pictures)
Avengers: Age of Ultron written and directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Jessica Jones: “AKA Smile” written by Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, and Jamie King, directed by Michael Rymer (Marvel Television; ABC Studios; Tall Girls Productions; Netflix)
Doctor Who: “Heaven Sent” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Television)
Grimm: “Headache” written by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, directed by Jim Kouf (Universal Television; GK Productions; Hazy Mills Productions; Open 4 Business Productions; NBCUniversal Television Distribution)
Supernatural: “Just My Imagination” written by Jenny Klein, directed by Richard Speight Jr. (Kripke Enterprises; Wonderland Sound and Vision; Warner Bros. Television)
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: “The Cutie Map” Parts 1 and 2 written by Scott Sonneborn, M.A. Larson, and Meghan McCarthy, directed by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller (DHX Media/Vancouver; Hasbro Studios)

Best Editor, Short Form

Ellen Datlow
Sheila Williams
Neil Clarke
John Joseph Adams
Jerry Pournelle

Best Editor, Long Form

Sheila E. Gilbert
Liz Gorinsky
Toni Weisskopf
Jim Minz
Vox Day

Best Professional Artist

Abigail Larson
Michal Karcz
Larry Elmore
Larry Rostant
Lars Braad Andersen

Best Semiprozine

Uncanny Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
Strange Horizons edited by Catherine Krahe, Julia Rios, A. J. Odasso, Vanessa Rose Phin, Maureen Kincaid Speller, and the Strange Horizons staff
Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews
Daily Science Fiction edited by Michele-Lee Barasso and Jonathan Laden
Sci Phi Journal edited by Jason Rennie

Best Fanzine

File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
Lady Business edited by Clare, Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan
Tangent Online edited by Dave Truesdale
Superversive SF edited by Jason Rennie
Castalia House Blog edited by Jeffro Johnson

Best Fancast

No Award
Tales to Terrify, Stephen Kilpatrick
The Rageaholic, RazörFist
8-4 Play, Mark MacDonald, John Ricciardi, Hiroko Minamoto, and Justin Epperson
Cane and Rinse, Cane and Rinse
HelloGreedo, HelloGreedo

Best Fan Writer

Mike Glyer
Jeffro Johnson
Morgan Holmes
Shamus Young
Douglas Ernst

Best Fan Artist

Steve Stiles
Christian Quinot
Matthew Callahan
Kukuruyo
disse86

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2014 or 2015, sponsored by Dell Magazines. (Not a Hugo Award, but administered along with the Hugo Awards.)

Andy Weir *
Alyssa Wong *
Pierce Brown *
Sebastien de Castell *
Brian Niemeier

* Finalists in their 2nd year of eligibility.

Congrats to all of the winners!

Brie Larson is preparing very hard for her role as Captain Marvel

LARSON INDUSTRIES R&D DEPT. 📸: @ALECKSU pic.twitter.com/e2BiLuovGh

— Brie Larson (@brielarson) August 6, 2016

Such dedication to her craft. Much due diligence. Wow.

This month's reading: Magician: Apprentice (Feist) and The White Lioness (Mankell)

Hopefully not the only two books I'll read this month, but I'm satisfied either way.

(via Inspector Wallander.org)

When Inspector Kurt Wallander is called in to investigate the execution-style murder of a Swedish housewife, it initially seems like a routine case. He uncovers a suspicious stalker who may have committed the murder out of brutal passion. But when the suspect's alibi turns out to be airtight, Wallander must look deeper into the case, and what he discovers is far more complex -- and dangerous -- than he ever imagined: He soon uncovers an assassination plot and finds himself in a tangle with the secret police and a ruthless ex-KGB agent. Combining compelling insights into the sinister side of modern life with a riveting tale of international intrigue, The White Lioness keeps you on the knife edge of suspense.

I love the Kurt Wallander books. Never did see any episodes of the BBC adaption because I always missed them since PBS isn't exactly at the top of my watch list. What's funny is that Kenneth Branagh isn't who I picture as Wallander whenever I read one of these books. You know who does? Martin Freeman. No idea if it's because of time on Sherlock or what, but he just strikes my imagination as a better fit for Kurt Wallander.

To the forest on the shore of the Kingdom of the Isles, the orphan Pug came to study with the master magician Kulgan. But though his courage won him a place at court and the heart of a lovely Princess, he was ill at ease with the normal ways of wizardry.

Yet Pug's strange sort of magic would one day change forever the fates of two worlds. For dark beings from another world had opened a rift in the fabric of spacetime to being again the age-old battle between the forces of Order and Chaos.

I've read Magician: Apprentice once before in 2012 and I had a sudden urge the other day to reread it. For those who don't know, Apprentice and it's sequel/companion, Magician: Master are two halves of the same book, titled simply Magician. For whatever reason, when it was published in the U.S., the book was split in two, making the original Riftwar Saga a quartet instead of a trilogy. I never got around to reading the rest of the saga, but I want to and a re-read is the way place to start.

August's Icon of the Month: Jyn Erso from Rogue One

Sure, it might be premature to label Jyn Erso an "icon" before Rogue One has even hit theaters, but given the meager number of women action heroes, she's already certified as a future icon.

Not much is known about Erso yet, but that'll obviously change as we get closer to Rogue One's release date. We do know that she's got a rap sheet that includes forgery, possession of stolen property, aggravated assault, and resisting arrest. Nothing huge, but I'm hoping that there's more in her criminal record, because I can't imagine the Rebels recruiting someone for such a dangerous mission based entirely on what is honestly petty crimes.

I have high hopes for Rogue One because it'll be interesting to see a war movie set in the Star Wars universe. Hell, it'll be nice to see a Star Wars movie with (hopefully) no Jedi.

Check out my Wonder Woman mug

Found it at the Big Lots in town for only $4. Makes an excellent tea mug.

In which Nerds of a Feather rank Kurt Vonnegut's novels

Right here. I haven't read any of his books yet, despite owning four of them, but I've read two of his short stories and they were pretty good. Whenever there's a book by a single author that's been praised to high heaven but everybody, I'm less inclined to read them for some reason. I'm not opposed to it, but there's definite procrastination on my part. I guess it's because I'm afraid that I'll read the book and it won't live up to the hype and that in turn could cast doubt on whether or not I'm "smart enough" to grok the work like everybody clearly does.

Well that, and satire doesn't seem to be up my alley. Catch-22 did nothing for me and boy, did I ever try my best to get into it.