Category: fiction

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New film series will return to world of Harry Potter

Hungarian horntail

Harry Potter’s story may be over, but Warner Bros. isn’t letting the franchise slip away: They annouced this morning a spinoff series based on the Potter textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The film will feature the book’s ‘author’ Newt Scamander.

Fantastic Beasts “Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world,” author J.K. Rowling said in a news release. “The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway.”

Rowling will be writing the screenplay, which will be her first. No word yet on when it’ll be released, but for the love of Pete, let’s hope it’s not Summer 2015.

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Full blurb for Corey’s Honor Among Thieves

Honor Among ThievesStar Wars Books has just released a full blurb for James S.A. Corey’s Han-centric Empire and Rebellion book, Honor Among Thieves:

When the mission is to extract a high-level rebel spy from the very heart of the Empire, Leia Organa knows the best man for the job is Han Solo—something the princess and the smuggler can finally agree on. After all, for a guy who broke into an Imperial cell block and helped destroy the Death Star, the assignment sounds simple enough.

But when Han locates the brash rebel agent, Scarlet Hark, she’s determined to stay behind enemy lines. A pirate plans to sell a cache of stolen secrets that the Empire would destroy entire worlds to protect—including the planet where Leia is currently meeting with rebel sympathizers. Scarlet wants to track down the thief and steal the bounty herself, and Han has no choice but to go along if he’s to keep everyone involved from getting themselves killed. From teeming city streets to a lethal jungle to a trap-filled alien temple, Han, Chewbacca, Leia, and their daring new comrade confront one ambush, double cross, and firestorm after another as they try to keep crucial intel out of Imperial hands.

But even with the crack support of Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing squadron, the Alliance heroes may be hopelessly outgunned in their final battle for the highest of stakes: the power to liberate the galaxy from tyranny or ensure the Empire’s reign of darkness forever.

The book is second in the loosely-connected series and scheduled for a hardcover release on March 4. The first, Martha Wells’ Razor’s Edge, is out September 24, but you can check out my review now.

Also debuting today is the cover art for Corey’s Cibola Burn, fourth novel in their series The Expanse.

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Corey’s Expanse series to be developed for TV

The Expanse

Iron Man writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby will are scripting a pilot based on the The Expanse space opera series by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, Variety reports.

“The Expanse” will be an hourlong scifi drama with elements of a detective procedural, centring on a cover-up of the discovery of alien life. Alcon [Television Group] said it is developing the project in direct-to-series fashion internally before shopping to networks.

I’ll be interested to see how the books translate to screen; I raved about the first two way back in January and I still recommend it after Abaddon’s Gate, came out in June.

Abraham and Franck, who co-write under the Corey pen name, just turned in the final version of upcoming Star Wars novel, Honor Among Thieves, into Del Rey.

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Firefly returning to comics, teases Dark Horse

wheresserenity

Dark Horse Comics teased Serenity fans for #FireflyFriday with a ‘watch-this-space’ post for the #WheresSerenity? hashtag. Then they followed up with animated gif going from a sketch to the shot above – see the animatedness in its full size glory on BigShinyRobot.com.

Looking at the copyright block, you’ll notice that this is for a Firefly title and not a Serenity title (as they have done in the past), which means that hopefully these stories will take place in the time frame of the TV show, licensed from Fox, and not in the movie-and-beyond time frame that the Serenity license from Universal granted. The Serenity: Firefly Class 03-K64 title was used on the 2012 Free Comic Book Day story, written by Zack Whedon. Will they be rebooting the ‘Verse to have a couple of seasons of material, like has been done with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel? Or will it all still fit into the established time line. No doubt Dark Horse was gauging fans’ opinions at the Star Wars vs Serenity panel they hosted at Comic-Con in San Diego.

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EUbits: Razor’s Edge moves up to September release

Empire and Rebellion: Razor's EdgeStreet date shuffle The release of Martha Wells’ Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge has moved up a week again, this time to September 24, Del Rey tweeted yesterday. Meanwhile, the paperback for Timothy Zahn’s Scoundrels is set for November 26. As always, the dates hang out on our schedule page.

Elsewheres… Time Traveled Tales, a book of short stories that features Aaron Allston, Mike Stackpole and Timothy Zahn among others (like CJers Janine K. Spendlove and Bryan Young) may have passed its original Kickstarter goal of $7,500, but with 17 days to go you can back it now to help add second stories from Stackpole, Allston and Zahn. Meanwhile, a $5 donation guarantees you an eBook version of the anthology.

Toys. We already knew that a Mara Jade Skywalker figure was in the queue, but these inventory lists found by Jedi Temple Archives list a Darth Plagueis as well!

Reviews. Great dialogue and fun characters highlight James’ enjoyment of Legacy #3, he’s impressed with Jan Duursema’s action art in Dawn of the Jedi: Prisoner of Bogan #5, was caught off guard by Dark Times: Fire Carrier #5 and wonders if a boom is too big for Star Wars #6.

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Interview: John Jackson Miller talks about his new scifi serial Overdraft: The Orion Offensive

Overdraft-The-Orion-Offensive-coverJohn Jackson Miller, author of Knight Errant and the upcoming Kenobi novel, has recently started a new original story, Overdraft: The Orion Offensive as a Kindle Serial. The first episode was released on April 2, and today is the release of the second installment, ‘Golden Handshake.’ Miller was kind enough to answer a few questions for us, as well as give us a prize to give away: copies of the short story prequel to the series, ‘Human Error’.

I’ve enjoyed Miller’s work as writer of the Knights of the Old Republic comics, as well as the Knight Errant comic series and novel, and the Lost Tribe of the Sith short stories, and I think that this serial, while set in an original universe, will delight readers with its characters, world building, and Miller’s mix of action and humor. Let’s get into the mini-interview on Overdraft:

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Other worlds: The Nebula noms are in

The Killing Moon by N.K. JemisinAwards. The finalist list for the Nebulas was released yesterday, and I’ve read… Exactly one of the novels. (The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin. It was okay, but I found the sequel much more engaging. Still, not a bad book at all.) So, no idea who will win, and I won’t even guess at the rest. I am likewise ignorant on the Andre Norton nominees, but I do have two of them on my to-read shelf.

I’m not much one for short fiction, but if you are, the SF Signal link above has links to the lions share of novelette and short story nominees.

As for the Bradbury (Dramatic Presentation,) the selections are The Avengers, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Cabin in the Woods, The Hunger Games, John Carter (?!?) and Looper. Alrighty then.

Controversy. With the Ender’s Game adaptation on the horizon and author Orson Scott Card’s anti-gay views in the news news due to protest of his involvement in a Superman anthology, Summit has a bit of a marketing challenge on their hands.

Game of Thrones. The season two Blu-rays of the HBO series are out now – what lurks in the extras? And is a second Westeros series in the cards?

Adaptations. SyFy is aiming for Philip K. Dick’s Man in the High Castle, while Heathers and Mean Girls alums are taking the reins of the Vampire Academy movie. One of these projects is doomed, and sadly it’s not the one about a vampire academy.

Oh hey, books! io9 lists the SF/F books you can’t afford to miss this month, and writer Charlie Jane Anders is really into Karen Lord’s maybe-ex-Star Trek-fanfic The Best of All Possible Worlds. If you’re thus intrigued, here’s 50 pages to read right now.

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Harry Potter is 15, gets new covers for trade release

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Prepare to feel old: The Harry Potter series is turning 15 this year.

Yes, it’s been 15 years since the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Scholastic is re-releasing the entire series in trade paperback in September, complete with new covers by Kazu Kibuishi.

Check out the new cover for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone under the cut.

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