Tag: stephen king

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Other worlds: GRRM’s A Dance with Dragons is done

Yes, George R. R. Martin finished the book. The fifth volume of A Song of Ice and Fire got a July 12th publication date last month, but he still wasn’t quite finished with the manuscript, leaving many to doubt that the long-awaited book would actually become a reality. Well, worry no longer, because Martin posted today that Kong has been slain. For those not up on GRRM’s lingo – ‘Kong’ is the book’s nickname – his editor, Anne Groell, has confirmed in plain English.

Meanwhile, HBO’s Game of Thrones TV show has been doing well – ratings held steady for the second episode, and it’s already been renewed for a second season. And you’ll certainly want to check out Time’s four–part interview with Martin about the show, including his thoughts on how the next few volumes should be split up for filming.

Awards. Nominees for the 2011 Hugo and Campbell Awards were announced the other day, and I’m still a little in shock that two of my 2010 favorites – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and Feed – are up for best novel.

Tolkien. The extended editions of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy will be in theaters this June. Individually, thankfully.

Dark Tower. And for new adaptations, it appears that Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) has signed on to play Roland in Ron Howard’s take on Stephen King’s epic fantasy series.

Recs. Thanks to Jo Walton, I now want to give Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet a swing. And while I was already planning to try Genevieve Valentine’s Mechanique, but Charlie Jane Anders’ review has made me even more intrigued.

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Other worlds: On the awesomeness of Katniss Everdeen

The Hunger Games. Meghan Lewit has praise for Katniss Everdeen in The Atlantic, calling her “the most important female character in recent pop culture history.” I can’t really disagree there.

Meanwhile, it’s being reported that Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone) is the front-runner for the part of Katniss in the upcoming movie adaption. She’s 20 and blonde, but at least she can act, I guess. Hollywood, sigh.

Stephen King. A new installment in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, The Wind Through the Keyhole, will be published next year. It looks to be a gap-filler, not a continuation. Meanwhile, in November, he time-travels to the Kennedy assignation.

The Kingkiller Chronicle. If you’ve been paying any attention at all to the genre as a whole, you probably know that Patrick Rothfuss is one of the hottest things in fantasy. His second book, The Wise Man’s Fear, just came out. I can’t even begin to catch up with the overwhelming hype and I wasn’t all that impressed with his first anyway, but there’s a nice interview with him on Amazon’s Omnivoracious.

YA mafia. The latest controversy sweeping YA is massive, but it prompted John Scalzi to snark, and there ain’t nothing wrong with that. Also noteworthy: Cleolinda on how reviews are not for authors.

Sunday reader. Mari Ness finished up her look back at the Narnia books on Tor.com a few weeks back. (She also did a massive series on the Oz books if you’re all Lewised out.)

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Lucas, Ford back on the Forbes Celebrity 100

George Lucas is on the Forbes Celebrity 100 again, this year clocking in at #24 – a hefty jump up from his 2008 spot of #46. The list’s only other Star Wars figure is, naturally, Harrison Ford, at #17.

Other geeks and geek icons making the rank include Steven Spielberg (#7,) Will Smith (#11,) Stephenie Meyer (#26,) Stephen King (#68,) Daniel Radcliffe (#70) and Tina Fey (#86.)

In less listy news, George will be honored by The Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago next weekend.

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Drive-by movie news: Wolverine, Star Trek, Kyle Newman and more

Wolverine rules the box office. Naked Hugh Jackman and friends brought in a whooping $160M worldwide this weekend. Also interesting? 47% of the U.S. audience was female. (Hey, look: It had issues, but it was better than X3. Plus, naked Jackman.) Looks like there may be a sequel in the offing after all.

Next week’s shiny. Wolvie faces his first real competition with the release of the new Star Trek on Friday. Anticipation is high, and the reviews are almost ridiculously positive – 100% on Rotten Tomatoes at the moment. And if you must know, Geoff Boucher has the skinny on the film’s homage to ESB.

And on that note… Stephen King’s Dark Tower series may be next for J.J. Abrams.

Let’s not forget Fanboys. With the DVD out in a few weeks, Lightsabre talks to director Kyle Newman.

Only because I am obliged to post it. Pretty much nothing going on with Indy 5.

Your final comic book tidbit. The first picture from Iron Man 2.

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King talks Potter

Again. This time Stephen King writes for Entertainment Weekly about the impact of Harry Potter, why most reviewers missed the point, and, perhaps most interestingly, the talent of J.K. Rowling.

Maybe it’s the British prose. It’s hard to resist the hypnotism of those calm and sensible voices, especially when they turn to make-believe. Rowling was always part of that straightforward storytelling tradition (Peter Pan, originally a play by the Scot J.M. Barrie, is another case in point). She never loses sight of her main theme

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More Star Power for HP

Continuing their stroll through the best of British actors, Warner Brothers has confirmed that Helena Bonham Carter will be playing Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix.

Still waiting for Ewan McGregor to participate!

In other HP news, it appears that there are at least two well-known authors who are trying to keep Harry Potter alive at the end of the series. John Irving and Stephen King apparently wrote to JK Rowling, asking her not to kill off the beloved wizard.

Only time will tell….