Category Archives: Geek

April 1, 2015 · 5:30 pm

April Foolery: The Silmarillion gets punk’d on Skiffy & Fanty

When Shaun Duke over at Skiffy & Fanty asked me to do an April Fool’s Day guest blog, I admit I had a hard time coming up with something that would be both funny and (remotely) plausible, with the former taking precedence over the latter.

Then I watched The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Narratives…er Armies…and the pieces fell into place. All I had to do is get my former AP newsman groove back on, and off I went. The results are here; I hope you find them amusing.

I wrote detailed reviews of both An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug here on the blog, but I haven’t the heart to do the same with Five Armies. I absolutely loved the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I think it holds up exceptionally well a decade later. I cannot say the same for the Hobbit films. The first wasn’t that great, the second was pretty good…

…and the most recent was a mess, I’m sorry to say. And there’s little more, I think, that I could add to the conversation beyond that. Others have already done a much better job of it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the S&F tom-foolery today. I’m going to go re-watch Fellowship of the Ring now.

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May 31, 2014 · 4:59 pm

A great new Enceladus review, and good times at BEA

I wanted to talk a bit about my experience at Book Expo America over the past few days, but before I do that, I’m quite happy to link up to a great review of The Enceladus Crisis by Abhinav Jain, a.k.a. Shadowhawk. He reviewed The Daedalus Incident for The Founding Fields (read it here), and had this to say about the sequel:

Everything that was great about The Daedalus Incident makes a comeback in this novel and it is all better than before…. I wanted a rock-solid story and I got it. I wanted some awesome characters, whether heroes or villains and I got that. I wanted to see an exploration of both the realities and their particular quirks that have developed and I got that. … Michael has clearly improved his craft going from his debut to his first sequel, and it is a change that I approve of wholeheartedly, both as a reader and a blogger.

You can read the whole review here at Shadowhawk’s Shade. Many thanks to Abhinav for the very kind words.

I also got a lot of kind words at Book Expo America.

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May 1, 2014 · 5:15 pm

The Skiffy and Fanty takedown of Highlander II, guest-starring me, is live

The podcast of Skiffy and Fanty‘s Torture Cinema, in which I join the crew in reviewing that horrible monstrosity Highlander II: The Quickening, is now live and ready for your download! Plus, there’s video, which means you get to see what I look like late on a Friday night after a long week of work.

Click here for both audio and video enjoyment. Skiffy and Fanty is, of course, available on iTunes or wherever fine podcasts are…downloaded, I suppose. Whatever, you know where to go.

For those interested, I’m enjoying a Foley Brothers Native Brown Ale while podcasting here, because I needed a good beer to wash away the bitter aftertaste of this film. Foley Brothers is a small brewer in Brandon, Vt., and they do great beers. Tough to find outside the Green Mountain State, but if you do, give ’em a try.

You can see my take on Native Brown Ale, and many others, via my Untappd page.

Many thanks to Shaun, Jen and Julia for putting up with my selection of the film, and for being such excellent sports. I had a blast!

#SFWApro

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April 24, 2014 · 6:30 pm

Going live with Skiffy and Fanty this Friday night

Now we’re working without a net. Live podcasting, people. It’s happening.

I’ll be a guest on the latest edition of Skiffy and Fanty‘s Torture Cinema this Friday at 10 p.m. EDT, and it’ll be done live via Google+ hangout. Stop by and enjoy us being silly, tipsy and generally disreputable while we dissect Highlander II: The Quickening in all its awful glory.

I was given the opportunity to choose the Torture Cinema entry by virtue of donating to S&F’s WorldCon fundraiser, and I took the “torture” bit to heart, as HIghlander II is a paragon of bad filmmaking. Seriously, it’s possibly the worst SF/F sequel ever, and certainly one of the worst overall films of all time.

And then Shaun invited me on to participate, probably to get back at me for picking it in the first place. I suppose that’s only fair.

Anyway, RSVP for the Google+ hangout and join us tomorrow night. The commenting function will be on, so you can comment and ask questions. And if you’re so inclined, stop by the fundraiser to help Skiffy and Fanty go to WorldCon. They’re nominated for a Hugo, and it’d be nice if they were there to pick it up in case they win.

#SFWApro

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March 24, 2014 · 6:00 pm

One week to go before Hugo nominations close

Just a quick blog-based reminder that you have until Monday, March 31, at 11:59 PDT (in case you really want to procrastinate) to nominate eligible works for the Hugo Awards and the Campbell. The nomination form is here. In order to nominate, you have to have been a member of the 2013 WorldCon in San Antonio, this year’s WorldCon in London, or the 2015 WorldCon in Spokane.

Not a member and don’t plan on going? You can purchase a supporting membership to the London WorldCon for $40 in order to nominate works for the Hugos. And you’ll get access to the voter packet once the nominations are firmed up, which means you’ll get to read the vast majority of nominated works for the cost of your supporting membership. In other words, it’s a good deal.

I suppose this is a good place to remind folks that I’m eligible for the Hugos in the novel category (The Daedalus Incident) and the novella (The Gravity of the Affair). I’m also eligible for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. No, I really don’t expect to be nominated for anything, but I’m quite willing to be incredibly surprised.

I’ve already cast my votes (and no, I didn’t vote for myself), and I’m excited for the great writers I’ve read and, in some cases, have gotten to know personally. I had particular fun with the fan writer, website and podcast nominations. I’ve interacted with many of these folks over the past year, and they’re a good bunch.

If you’re eligible, get voting! And if not, consider giving it a shot.

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February 19, 2014 · 5:45 pm

Angry raccoon meets walking plant…I’m in!

I’m not one to post random bits of pop-culture flotsam and jetsam on the blog, but this…this…this is too much fun to resist. This is the trailer for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movie, coming out this summer.

I only have passing familiarity with the Guardians, and never delved into the comic books themselves. So what do we have here? An ambulatory plant, a gun-toting raccoon, a huge bunch of spaceships and explosions, and a cast that includes Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou and John C. Reilly.

This looks like epic space opera with a wonderfully comedic tone. I daresay Marvel will be getting a few bucks from me this summer. Watch for yourself (and enjoy the music, too):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTZ2Tp9yXyM

The good folks at io9 have a primer on what you just saw here, which may help make sense of this glorious mess.

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February 11, 2014 · 9:48 am

Today, I am a Functional Nerd

Actually, I’m pretty much functional most days. Except when there’s no coffee, at which point I’m reduced to a mind-blanked automaton.

No, today I am a guest on the fantastic Functional Nerds podcast, ably hosted by Patrick Hester and John Anealio. We talk SF/F conventions, the Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser project, Patrick’s newfound love of iTunes smart playlists, and my own recent discovery of Untappd, the beer drinker’s social network. (Here’s my page in case you want to follow along.)

Oh, and I talk a bit about writing and stuff. I had a great time recording it, so please do give it a listen. The Functional Nerds podcast page is here, and you can download the podcast via your favorite podcast downloading…thing.

My thanks to John and Patrick for a great podcast!

#SFWApro

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Filed under Beer, Books, Geek, Writing

January 21, 2014 · 5:00 pm

Steampunk without steam? It’s possible.

A lot of folks have said The Daedalus Incident has a very steampunk vibe — even though there’s no steam to be found, and it’s set several decades before most traditional steampunk stories.

That got BuzzFeed’s Sean Fagan thinking: Can you have steampunk without the steam? Today on BuzzFeed, I answered in the affirmative.

There’s a certain zeitgeist to steampunk stories, even if there’s no actual steam-powered contraptions to be had, and I detailed ten of them up at BuzzFeed. Check out the story and let me know what you think!

#SFWApro

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January 12, 2014 · 2:48 pm

The Hobbit: The (mostly pleasant) Desolation of Smaug

Last year, I did a post about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which to this day still gets regular hits on this here blog. I’ve no idea why, since I’m not going to go into the business of movie reviewing; I have enough side jobs as is. But last night, with the kid at a sleepover, my wife Kate and I indulged in a night at the movies, and since we’d heard good things about The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, we thought we’d give it a whirl. And since there’s precedent, I thought I’d write about it.

Short verdict: Mostly pleasant. Which means it’s an upgrade from the first one.

Long verdict: There was a fair amount to like about this movie, alongside a few glaring faults. The Hobbit as a whole is still leagues away from the masterful The Lord of the Rings films, but at least this second film had more pluses than minuses.

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October 18, 2013 · 5:35 pm

The Daedalus Incident fan art!

Of all the authorial stuff I’ve enjoyed this past year, being able to show off some fan-made art inspired by The Daedalus Incident ranks right up there.

Below is an image of JSC astronaut Lt. Shaila Jain, as envisioned by Syracuse artist Sarah Bittel and posted to her Facebook account. (Hat tip to Kate for pointing it out to me!) Sarah says she was inspired by Indian actress Deepika Padukone and femShep from the videogame Mass Effect 3.

And her she is:

This is, of course, all kinds of awesome, and more than a little humbling. It’s really something else to see my writing inspire art. Sarah says she’s working on more, including a portrait of a young Royal Navy Lt. Thomas Weatherby. Her Shaila is fantastic, so I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

And if you want to check out Sarah’s portfolio of other work, surf on over to her DeviantArt page and her blog for more.

#SFWApro