ZNAK SAGITE — više od fantastike — edicija, časopis, knjižara...

Robot Hall of Fame® Inducts NAO, PackBot, BigDog and WALL-E


More Than 17,000 People Voted Online To Select Winners



PITTSBURGH—The Robot Hall of Fame® inducted four robots chosen for the first time by a popular vote — Aldebaran Robotics' NAO humanoid, iRobot's PackBot bomb disposal robot, Boston Dynamics' four-legged BigDog and WALL-E, the fictional robot of the namesake Pixar movie — during a ceremony tonight at Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.




"More than any previous class of inductees, this group of robots selected by popular vote represents contemporary robotics — robots at the cutting edge of technology — rather than older robots of strictly historical importance," said Shirley Saldamarco, Robot Hall of Fame director and a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center. "Two of our inductees, NAO and Packbot, are commercially available and BigDog is still the focus of active research. Even our fictional honoree, WALL-E, is from a movie that's just four years old."


Read More »

Random House and Penguin Merger Talks

A spokesperson for Pearson, the British media company that owns publisher Penguin, has confirmed that Pearson "is discussing with Bertelsmann a possible combination of Penguin and Random House. The two companies have not reached agreement and there is no certainty that the discussions will lead to a transaction." German conglomerate Bertelsmann has declined to comment, referring questioners to the Pearson statement.

A combined Random House and Penguin would account for almost a quarter of the book market in the US, and would generate around $3 billion in revenue annually, based on 2011 earnings.

For more details, see articles in Bloomberg News and The New York Times.

In this video, Neil Gaiman says, "Give people scary stories." He then goes on to recommend a set of books, films, music and apps that you should try:

Books

   
• A book by Joe Hill (Heart-Shaped Box is offered up by the Google page, as is the rest of this book list)
• Krabat by Otfried Preussler
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
• The Shining by Stephen King
• The Time of the Ghost by Diana Wynne Jones
• The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story by Susan Hill

Films

   
• Being There
• The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
• Life of Brian
• 12 Monkeys
• Harlan Ellison: Dreams With Sharp Teeth
• Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields
• The Bride of Frankenstein
• Cat People

Music

   
• Sunday In The Park With George by Stephen Sondheim
• Theatre Is Evil by Amanda Palmer
• Live At Hollywood High by Elvis Costello
• Love at the Bottom of the Sea by The Magnetic Fields
• Avalanche by Thea Gilmore

He also goes on to recommend some Android apps. I'm not sure that apps like Audible, Google Drive and Yelp really evoke the idea of Halloween...unless maybe you're using them in haunted house? Or something.

Google Play: Neil Gaiman's Halloween

Quote from: LiBeat on 29-10-2012, 09:07:01
Random House and Penguin Merger Talks

Random House/Penguin Merger — posted Monday 29 October 2012 @ 9:28 am PDT

  Random House and Penguin have signed an agreement to combine the two companies, forming Penguin Random House, though such a merger is subject to government approval before it can be finalized. If all goes well, the merger will be complete by late 2013.

Under the terms of the agreement, Random House parent company Bertselmann would own 53% of the venture, and Penguin parent Pearson would own 47%. Random House CEO Markus Dohle would be CEO of the new entity as well, with Penguin Group Chairman John Makinson as chairman. Neither parent company could sell any part of their interest in Penguin Random House for three years, and there are protections in place for Penguin as the minority shareholder. The combined company would have yearly global revenue in the range of $4 billion.

Pearson CEO Marjorie Scardino says, "Together, the two publishers will be able to share a large part of their costs, to invest more for their author and reader constituencies and to be more adventurous in trying new models in this exciting, fast-moving world of digital books and digital readers."

Random House CEO Markus Dohle wrote a letter to employees assuring them that "my commitment to you and our new colleagues is to retain the distinct identities of both companies' imprints, where authors remain the center of everything we do. Authors and their agents will continue to enjoy an enormous choice of publishing homes, where creative autonomy and great resources will be a defining hallmark."

Penguin chairman Makinson made a similar point to his employees: "I have no doubt that some authors, agents, and customers will express concern to many of us that this merger will reduce choice and competition. I believe, and so I know does Markus, that exactly the opposite will happen.... The publishing imprints of the two companies will remain as they are today, competing for the very best authors and the very best books. But our access to investment resources will also allow Penguin Random House to take risks with new authors, to defend our creative and editorial independence, to publish the broadest range of books on the planet, and to do it all with the attention to quality that has always characterized both Penguin and Random House."

For more, see the story in Publishers Weekly.

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/what-the-new-penguin-random-house-logo-might-look-like/

 

nego, istorija Bertelsmanovog njam-njama obecava da ce potez ipak biti koristan za sve upletene:


The major publishers Random House and Penguin have decided to join forces, creating a new entity called Penguin Random House. Random House worldwide CEO Markus Dohle will be CEO of the new group. Penguin CEO John Makinson will chair the board of directors.

Bertelsmann (the corporate parent of Random House) will control 53 percent and Pearson (the corporate parent of Penguin) will control 47 percent of the new publisher. The new entity will not include Bertelsmann's German trade publishing business and Pearson decided to "retain rights to use the Penguin brand in education markets worldwide." Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe had this comment in the release:

"With this planned combination, Bertelsmann and Pearson create the best course for the future of our world-renowned trade-book publishers, Random House and Penguin, by enabling them to publish even more effectively across traditional and emerging formats and distribution channels. It will build on our publishing tradition, offering an extraordinary diversity of publishing opportunities for authors, agents, booksellers, and readers, together with unequalled support and resources ... Its significance for our business and for the cultural resonance of our book publishing operations worldwide is on a par with such momentous agreements as the takeover of Goldmann Verlag in 1977; the acquisition of a stake in Bantam Books, our first-ever U.S. investment, that same year; the purchase of Doubleday in 1986; and especially that of Random House in 1998. Each of these steps was aimed at increasing the breadth and quality of Bertelsmann's publishing operations, as our new company will."

HALLOWE'EN SPECIAL!!!

Dark Dragon Publishing is proud to announce that from


Monday, October 29th to Wednesday, November 7th the following titles will be available for $.99 on KINDLE and SMASHWORDS!

On Thursday, November 8th, the following titles go back to their regular prices so make sure you get yours this week!

KINDLE - $.99 each!

http://darkdragonpublishing.blogspot.com/2012/10/halloween-special.html

Ja ću da kukam sad i odma, možda se obradujem kasnije.

Sto kukas? Sta Dizni moze da uradi a da bude gore od epizode 1? Kupovinom Marvela pokazali su da znaju sta rade a da pritom ne upropaste brend i fransizu - Marvel je sad jaci nego ikad. Nadam se istom scenosledu i za Star Wars.

Potpisujem Melkora. Upravo iznosim iste te stavove po Fejsbuku.

Ovo je trebalo da se desi pre bar 20 godina, pa da unajme istu trojku glumaca.

Quote from: zakk on 30-10-2012, 22:34:39
Ja ću da kukam sad i odma, možda se obradujem kasnije.

Kim Newman:
"The new Star Wars should be made by Stephen Sommers, Len Wiseman and Brett Ratner - keeping them busy & away from material I care about."

zlikovac 

Zače, ajde prebaci ovo o SW u zasebnu temu. Ipak se tu prevashodno radi o filmovima a, što reče Lidija, ovo je deo posvećen književnosti. Sem toga, izvesno je da će biti svačega nečeg od vesti i nagađanja u predstojećim mesecima. A i velika je stvar. Zaslužuje svoju temu.

Već ima.

ma, nema više internet udžerice u kojoj se o tome ne zbori... Signal je time otvorio i novu kolumnu:




As John and I were getting ready to launch this, a proverbial earthquake happened: Disney announced that they were purchasing LucasFilm Limited for $4.05 billion dollars in cash and stocks. Almost immediately, my Twitter and Facebook feeds exploded with people excited, freaking out and everything in between. The noise is going to continue for a while, I suspect, and while I was initially skeptical, I realized that this isn't something that's unexpected.

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2012/11/and-another-thing-well-played-disney/



(a ja i dalje ne kapiram što je to svima toliki big dil...  )

The biggest news to come out of Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion isn't the size of the deal, the number of Star Wars films that will come out in the next few years, or that Episode VII could be an original story.  No, the biggest news to come out of this acquisition is how George Lucas will use his $4 billion.
 
A spokesman for Lucasfilm shares that Lucas plans to "donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavors."

Lucas is currently the chairman of Edutopia, which is part of the George Lucas Educational Foundation.  It's very likely that his educational foundation will receive the bulk of the donation while other portions, if any, are spread out to various charities.  It is also possible that Lucas could start up a new educational foundation to further his philanthropic cause.  It should be noted that in 2010, Lucas made a commitment to using his wealth to improving education.  Today is the day that the filmmaker stays true to his word.

Below are excerpts from a speech made by Lucas in 2010, which shows just how passionate he is about promoting the bettering of education.  You can read a full text version of that press statement in the links below.

http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2012/11/01/george-lucas-to-donate-most-of-his-4-billion-to-education-charity/

Announcing a new blog!   Posted on November 1, 2012 by voyageronline            

Hi everyone!

We're excited to announce that we're re-launching the Voyager blog with a brand new look, extra features and a Forum! We're working toward making it a really fun, exciting, interesting and useful place you'd like to come to and hopefully hang out with fellow fans. The new blog is live now over at www.voyageronline.com.au if you want to have a look.

Dok neko ne smisli gde bi blo bolje postovati

  Amazon bans authors from reviewing books?   

I haven't seen the official statement yet, but from comments on Twitter and Facebook, it seems that Amazon is going to be deleting authors' reviews of books. The news is creating righteous indignation across Twitter.

Frankly, I have no empathy for Amazon, who brought this down on themselves by "ranking" authors according to the number of reviews and ratings that an author garners. Nor do I think authors have any right to run around screaming about unfairness.

This is what happens when authors game the system in a company the size of Amazon. Amazon doesn't have time to address whether each review is legitimate or not, that would mean hiring people, and people cost money. Instead, it is easier to create an algorithm that "weeds" out author reviews based on whether a name is associated with a published work.

Don't tell me that authors don't game the system. I've seen Goodreads groups that encourage indie authors to go around and five-star and comment on one another's novels with "reviews." There are blogs devoted to how to garner "reviews" and "market" your work.
Traditionally published authors and indie authors had created sock-puppet accounts to promote their own works. Neither side can claim the moral high-ground here.

Reviews on Amazon have become a joke.

So quit running around screaming about how terrible and horrible Amazon is acting right now. Authors have brought this down on themselves by acting like asses.

Authors spend all their time trying to figure out how to promote their novels. It would really be nice if they spent as much, if not more, time on studying how to write a better novel.

So suck it up and move on, people.

 

Prvi slovenački Con - dobitnici Drejčekove nagrade
http://zvezdni-prah.si/index.php/dogodki/razpisi-razni/71-dobitniki-drejckovih-nagrad

Scott Turow, president of the Authors Guild in the U.S., has responded to the Penguin Random House merger, asking for "close scrutiny from anti-trust officials at the Justice Department or the FTC."
In an open letter on the organization's website, he writes:

Survival of the largest appears to be the message here ... Penguin Random House, our first mega-publisher, would have additional negotiating leverage with the bookselling giants, but that leverage would come at a high cost for the literary market and therefore for readers. There are already far too few publishers willing to invest in nonfiction authors, who may require years to research and write histories, biographies, and other works, and in novelists, who may need the help of a substantial publisher to effectively market their books to readers.

The Authors Guild statement arrives on the same day as the announcement that Random House owner Bertelsmann will soon own 100 per cent of

Random House Mondadori, its Spain and Latin America trade book publisher, pending approval of Spanish anti-trust authorities.

Europa Report Official Trailer #1 (2013) - Science Fiction Movie HD

Stephnaie Meyer may have risen to fame with the Twilight series, but she has another book called The Host which has been adapted to the big screen.



Here's the synopsis:
Based on the best-selling novel by Twilight Saga author Stephenie Meyer, The Host is a riveting story about the survival of love and the human spirit in a time of war. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact. Most of humanity has succumbed.

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/the-host-2013/trailer

Luna je baš surova ljubavnica.

To s Lunom baš nešto ne štima 

A tek sa Vernovih 20.000...

Obvious nonsense about SF sales history
Posted by Patrick at 07:20 AM * 154 comments
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/014559.html

The Publishers Weekly Twitter account links to a "Book Patrol Infographic" purporting to show "The Bestselling Sci-Fi Books of All Time." A better title for it would have been "Some Miscellaneous Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels, Decorated With a Bunch of Numbers We Pulled Out of Our Hat." 

It notes that Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is "by far PKD's bestseller" (which is probably true) and then asserts that it has sold 32,500 copies, which is absurd. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was initially a Doubleday hardcover in 1968, and was reprinted as Signet mass-market paperback in 1969. Based on what we know about the distribution of midlist SF paperbacks then, it almost certainly sold more copies than that in its first year alone, quite possibly by thousands of copies. Thirteen years later, of course, it was the basis for the movie Blade Runner, and was reissued all over the world in a variety of tie-in editions, some with the original title and some retitled with the name of the movie. It has quite possibly sold over a million copies. If it's sold less than half a million, I will—to quote Princeton Election Consortium poll-aggregator Sam Wang—eat a bug.

It says that Robert A. Heinlein's Hugo-winning 1966 novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress has sold "well over 1,500 copies...to date." In other news, the Empire State Building is "well over" ten feet tall. We've sold way more copies than that, and we're not even its first publisher.  It notes that Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand League Under the Sea has been "translated into 147 languages" and that it has sold "over 10,000 copies". Ten thousand copies would be about 68 per language. Do you suppose it might actually have sold a few more than that? Did they put this "infographic" together in their sleep? Book Patrol subtitles itself "a haven for book culture." Call me pedantic, but it seems to me that people who care about "havens" for any kind of "culture" ought to also care about facts, and getting them right. The most cursory knowledge of the history of book publishing—for instance, knowledge of the quantities in which mass-market paperbacks were distributed in the 1960s—would tell you that some of these figures are absurd. Shame on Book Patrol for polluting the world with ahistorical baloney, and shame on Publishers Weekly for promoting it.

UPDATE: Shame on the New Yorker's blog for doing the same thing.

Barnes and Noble, which purchased e-publisher Fictionwise is 2009, has announced that it will be closing Fictionwise in December.  U.S. Fictionwise customers will cease to have access to their Fictionwise Bookshelf through the site after December 21, 2012. Customers outside the U.S. will cease to have access to their Fictionwise Bookshelf through the site after January 31, 2013. Fictionwise customers will be notified of this and U.S. and U.K. customers will be given an opportunity to move their customer accounts, including their eBooks purchased at the Fictionwise websites, to a Barnes & Noble NOOK Library.

For more information...

Ovo sad već nije ni sveže, verujem da vam reakcije na fb-u nisu promakle, ali nek se nađe:

http://neil-clarke.com/lemons/

Apparently, 2012 has tasked me with making lemonade from big batch of lemons. Heart attack, kidney stone, broken wisdom tooth, defibrillator, hurricane, and having to find a new job... it's exhausting just to think about it. So much so, that I just can't talk about right now. I do want my friends to know that I'm hanging in there and getting the medical attention I need. Health and family are my top priorities at the moment.
People have been asking how they can help, so here are a few things that come to mind:

Clarkesworld Magazine Subscriptions
Looking at the long-term, this has the biggest impact. Obviously, you can subscribe, but like with the rest of these, marketing assistance is also very helpful. By purchasing or spreading the word, you push the magazine a bit closer to becoming a professional business that can pay the staff. We earn even more if you use or direct people to the affiliate links on this page.
Clarkesworld Ebook and Print Editions
The Wyrm Publishing ebook store (Amazon, Weightless, Wizards Tower, and B&N) all have the back issues of the Clarkesworld ebooks that have been made. We've also just created print editions of the 2012 issues of Clarkesworld (2011 and further back are under development). They can be found here.
Clarkesworld Print Subscriptions
Now that we have print copies of issues available, people have been asking about print subscriptions. Shipping, however, makes them rather expensive to do issue-by-issue. (about $7 per month) Would there be interest in receiving the print issues on a quarterly basis? (about $16 per quarter) Or in some other creative combo packs like a whole year of back issues? (for $60)
Become a Clarkesworld Citizen (Donate) or use our Affiliate Links
We've been offering a PBS-style donation program that gets you listed as a citizen, burgermeister, royalty or overlord in the census listed at the back of our anthologies. Shopping at Amazon or Weightless? We'll get a cut if you follow the links from our site. Look here to find out more about these options.
Wyrm Publishing
I am also the owner of the fairly erratic small press, Wyrm Publishing. I have an inventory of books that could turn into short-term income. Signed limited editions, chapbooks, trade paperbacks, etc. (Charles Stross, Catherynne M. Valente, Clarkesworld anthologies, Jeff VanderMeer, Tobias S. Buckell and more)  I've put a lot of our books on sale, so maybe you can find a nice present for someone (or yourself).
Ebook Design
As some of you know, I do freelance ebook design for Prime, Cheeky Frawg, Lightspeed, Electric Velocipede and a few others. Need someone to build an ebook for you? Use the contact form on this page and let me know what you'd like to do. I have enough time to take on a few new clients.
Clarkesworld Books
I've considered temporarily reopening the bookstore to sell off more inventory at crazy prices, but unlike Wyrm's inventory, the bookstore's isn't easy to get at when you aren't supposed to be moving heavy boxes. I may try to do top-box sales where I look in the boxes I can get at and list those books for sale on this blog. This will take a few days to organize.
-
I have to add that I am simply overwhelmed by all the support I've received in the last 24-hours. Between the retweets, well wishes and independent efforts to start a subscription drive... thank you! It's been very uplifting and I'll never forget that.

Sad news...

Pys.org is reporting that Russian sci-fi author Boris Strugatsky has passed away.

Boris Strugatsky, along with is brother Arkady, wrote the science fiction classic Roadside Picnic (basis for the Stalker film and game) as well as The Ugly Swans, Hard to Be a God and The Time Wanderers and has been the recipient of many awards. He was born in 1933.
[via Steven H. Silver]

Da li je neko citao Chrisa Becketta?
Dark Eden, The Holy Machine, etc.

Ja sam na pola Dark Edena (navukao me Adanko), zašto pitaš? 

dal da kupujem video sam obe u knjizari

Ja zbog Adanka narucio Dark Eden... U kojoj knjizari? Jesi li u zemlji uopste?

@Libeat e ili deadtree? Ako je e kupila ili nasla?

Dark Eden svakako preporučujem, zahtevniji je nego što na prvi pogled to izgleda, i pravo da ti kažem, prija mi veoma što se stila tiče, mada malko strepim po pitanju zapleta, ali za sada imam samo reči hvale.


Melkore, naravno da je e. (i našla sam ga.... )

E, jebiga. Ja ga trazio, nisam nasao i onda ga kupio 

Nisam. U Karlsrueu na nekom simpozijumu o integralnom upravljanju vodnim resursima:


http://www.iwrm-karlsruhe.com/en/home/homepage.jsp


(na kome se mnogo priča o upravljanju vodama u uslovima promene klime: pozdrav Mehu).


Ubedili ste me. Kupiću obe. Već iz blurbova mi se učinilo da mogu da budu zanimljive, mada znaju da zavaraju...

"Always coming home" pročitah juće "The Holy Machine". Hm. Zanimljivo štivo. Beckett nije baš neki vrhunski pisac, Maksimalno je šeprtljav na svakom mogućem spisateljskom nivou. Od detinjasto vođene radnje, do šljampavih rečenica kojih bi se postideo i bolji polaznik naše radionice. Međutim, kad se sve sabere, njegov debitantski roman ipak funkcioniše. Ne bih mnogo da elaboriram, jer svako elaboriranje bi zahtevalo otkrivanje bitnih stvari, ali u pitanju je delo koje, kao i većina drugih Beckettovih dela (ako sam dobro proučio internet) preispituje odnose između čoveka i inteligentnih mašina, usput se osvrćući na sva ona najvažnija pitanja sa kojima smo suočeni: moral, religija, itd. Poređenja nekih kritičara sa Orwelom su možda preterana, ali ima nekih sličnosti. I da, najveći deo radnje odvija se u imaginarnoj državi Iliriji, okruženoj nama poznatim varvarskim narodima koji su i u budućnosti nastavili da se ponašaju kako su se do sada ponašali (što se dobro vidi na pojedinim delovima našeg foruma...).

 Bogami, i ja sad za vikend dovrših Dark Eden i drago mi je da su sve strepnje po pitanju zapleta bile skroz neopravdane. Beckett je izbegao sve zamke što se samog finala tiče, a bilo ih je zaista mnogo, jer ovo je pipav zaplet koji je lako mogao kliznuti u parodiju Plave lagune. Isto tako, bilo je jako puno mogućnosti za kojekakvom over-the-top-drag-queen bombastično zabavnom ekstazom u završnici, ali Beckett je ostao odmeren i umeren, što će reći da je odabrao kraj koji će tebi najverovatnije ličiti na antiklimaks    ali meni je zaista bio neophodan, pošto je ovako slobodno imaginativna vrsta SFa nekako više u liniji Bredberija i Vonegata, pa se u rukama manjih majstora lako otme kontroli i pretvori u urnebes. Makar zbog te odmerenosti Beckett zaslužuje 5 zvezdica, iako mi je tokom celog romana uglavnom bio na solidnoj četvorci. Ima nešto malo zanatskih mana, ali zbog odlične procene pisca na tim manama se zapravo izgradio šarm romana i stvarno sam uživala u njemu, tako da Beckett ima da startuje apsolutno visoko na listi čitanja sa svojim novim naslovom.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118062724#.ULZuVxY5Rls.twitter

QuoteNic Mathieu to direct 'Story of Your Life'FilmNation, Lava Bear, 21 Laps to produce sci-fi thrillerBy Dave McNaryFilmNation Entertainment and Lava Bear Films are partnering on sci-fi thriller "Story of Your Life," with commercial director Nic Mathieu on board to helm. Movie will be produced by 21 Laps' Shawn Levy and Dan Levine with FilmNation's Aaron Ryder and Karen Lunder. Lava Bear's David Linde, Tory Metzger, FilmNation's Glen Basner and Eric Heisserer will exec produce.
FilmNation and Lava Bear will finance, produce and handle worldwide sales.
Heisserer is adapting Ted Chiang's short story in which aliens land around the globe and a linguist is recruited by the U.S. government in a race to decipher the intentions of the aliens on Earth. Chiang's story was the winner of the 2000 Nebula Award for best novella.
Producers said Tursday the project is being fast-tracked with casting to commence immediately and a view to start shooting next year.
"Story of Your Life" was developed by Levy, Levine, Cohen and Heisserer. The project was brought in to FilmNation by Patrick Chu.
Heisserer's credits include "Hours," "The Thing" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street."
FilmNation's production slate includes Jeff Nichols' "Mud," which premiered in competition at Cannes, Mark Tonderai's "House at the End of the Street" and Dan Beers' "Premature."
Lava Bear is in pre-production on David Michod's "The Rover," starring Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson. 21 Laps is in post-production on "The Internship," which Levy directed for Fox, and the independent coming-of-age story "The Spectacular Now," directed by James Ponsoldt.
The deal for "Story of Your Life" was brokered on behalf of Lava Bear by David Boyle and on behalf of FilmNation by Alison Cohen.
Heisserer is repped by UTA, Julie Bloom of Artwork Entertainment and attorney Marcy Morris. WME reps 21 Laps and Mathieu.
Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/jonathan-strange-mr-norrell/23665/jonathan-strange-mr-norrell-coming-to-the-bbc

QuoteThe BBC has announced an ambitious fantasy adaptation of Susanna Clarke's magnificent Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell...
BBC One has announced it's to make a six-part adaptation of the magnificent Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, directed by Doctor Who & Sherlock alumni Toby Haynes.
For those unfamiliar with the book, it's a sweeping fantasy novel set during the Napoleonic Wars where two magicians have emerged in Britain. As well as telling the story of their rivalry, it also details an amazing alternate history where the North of England was the dominion of a magical overlord known as the Raven King, and pulls in many notable historical characters.
If you've never read it, now's the perfect time as it's a real winter reader - you'll easily get lost in the amazing world Susanna Clarke creates.
Rumoured as a film adaptation for years, the sheer scale of the novel and number of effects needed may be somewhat daunting, but Toby Haynes has a strong track record at succeeding with ambitious material, having been responsible for Doctor Who's The Pandorica Opens/Big Bang two-parter, and the Sherlock series two finale The Reichenbach Fall. Adapting Clarke's book will be writer Peter Harness, who penned the third series of Wallander.
No air date has yet been announced, and casting news must surely follow in the near future. Our picks for Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell? How about, respectively, Damian Lewis and Derek Jacobi?

SFWA javlja:






SFWA has named Gene Wolfe as the 2012 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for his contributions to the literature of Science Fiction and Fantasy.[/size]Gene Wolfe's fiction first saw publication in the 1960s. He is best known for the novels The Book of the New Sun, Peace, and The Fifth Head of Cerberus, and received many awards, including the Nebula, World Fantasy and Locus.
Neil Gaiman: "It's not that Gene Wolfe is, in the opinion of many (and I am one of the many), our finest living science fiction writer. It is that he is, in the opinion of the Washington Post (and of me, too) one of our finest living writers. He has been our uncrowned Grand Master for a long time, and now the rest of the world will know as well."
In Gene's own words: "There was a time – long ago to most of you, though it seems recent to me – when Rosemary, our children, and I were living from paycheck to paycheck and barely getting by. I'd had three not-terribly-good stories published in a college magazine before I went into the Army, and I thought I might just possibly write on the side and make us a little extra money. I sold a few stories. Then it was time for school to start again, and Rosemary began badgering me for money for school clothes. I would gladly have given it to her if there had been any. Another story, "Car Sinister," sold, and instead of depositing the check I got the manager of the hardware store to cash it for me. I took it to Rosemary: 'Here's every dime I got for that story. That's how much you have for school clothes.' A few days passed, and I was sitting on the kitchen floor trying to mend a chair. Rosemary came up behind me and said, 'Shouldn't you be writing?'
That's when I knew I was a writer.
You'd better watch your step, folks; you're raising me to a height I would never have imagined. If you keep this up I'll start thinking I'm a good writer."

SFWA President John Scalzi, on choosing Wolfe: "You'd have to search far and wide to find a contemporary fantasy writer who has not been directly influenced by Gene Wolfe. His prose is a joy to read, his stories are dense and deep, and his worlds are dark and rich beyond compare. And to top it off, he is a genuinely delightful human being. It is well past time that his stories, his style and his contribution to our genre and to literature in general are recognized and celebrated with a Grand Master award. I am thrilled and humbled that Gene has graciously agreed to be our recipient this year."
Connie Willis, 2011 Damon Knight Recipient: "Oh, how wonderful that Gene Wolfe is going to be a Grand Master, even though of course he already is in the minds of everyone who's ever read his books or who's ever known him! He's one of the loveliest people it's been my privilege to know in science fiction–courtly, kind, frighteningly intelligent, and at the same time endlessly patient with us lesser mortals. I know everybody will be praising his books during the next few days, and deservedly so, but I also want to put in a word for his equally amazing short stories, like "The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories" and "The Death of Dr. Island"–even his titles are brilliant!–and "Golden City Far" and "The Detective of Dreams" and "Memorare." And especially "Seven American Nights," which served as my first–and staggeringly memorable–introduction to him.
Congratulations, Gene! SO well-deserved! And such good news!"
The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is given by SFWA for 'lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy.' Wolfe joins the Grand Master ranks alongside such legends as Michael Moorcock, Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. LeGuin, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Joe Haldeman. The award will be presented at the 48th Annual Nebula Awards Weekend in San Jose, CA, May 16-19, 2013.
More information on the award's history and the Nebula Award Weekend can be found at: http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/nebula-weekend/



http://www.sfwa.org/2012/12/2012-damon-knight-memorial-grand-master-awarded-to-gene-wolfe/

http://christopherbarzak.com/2012/12/27/interfictions-goes-online/

Another new development for 2013 is that Interfictions, the anthology series that Delia Sherman launched first with co-editor Theodora Goss and then with me as co-editor of the second volume, will be moving into an online incarnation, including poetry, nonfiction, fiction, and hybrids forms.
Fiction editors are myself and Meghan McCarron.
Nonfiction and poetry editor is Sofia Samatar.

Vi koji ste bili na SFeraKONima, verovatno znate Mihaelu Mariju Perković. Evo male vesti o njoj sa EUROPA SF portala:






Mihaela Marija Perković won GUFF


Croatian SF fan Mihaela Marija Perković won the Get Up-and-over Fan Fund (GUFF) to represent Europe at Conflux, the 2013 Australian National Convention (NatCon), to be held at the Rydges Capital Hill in Barton, Canberra, on 25th to 28th April 2013.

Mihaela Perković beat Julie McMurray with a tally of 49-30. Perković has been active in the croatian fandom since 1991. Fans from 15 countries participated in the vote. We look forward to hearing about her trip, and we're sure she will be an excellent ambassador for the European fandom. Congratulations to Mihaela on a successful race!
http://guff.lostcarpark.com/news/20130113/201213-guff-race-results

Oziveo i je Amazing blog: http://amazingstoriesmag.com/

The Lifeboat Foundation has announced the creation of the Lifeboat to the Stars award, presented to the best work of science fiction of any length published in 2011 or 2012 contributing to an understanding of the benefits, means, and difficulties of interstellar travel. The inaugural award will be presented at the 2013 Campbell Conference in Lawrence, KS the weekend of June 13-16.  Robert J. Sawyer will serve as the coordinating judge and he will act in consultation with Greg Bear and several other science fiction authors and scientists.  The winner will receive a $1,000 prize.

For more information about the Lifeboat Foundation...
For more information about the Campbell Conference...

What If? Visions of the future

This year the BBC is looking into the future, finding out what it holds for health, education, transport and even love. The season is called What If? - and we want you to be a part of it.

What does the future look like to you? We want to know and we want you to share your vision of the world as part of our competition - you could even win a laptop worth £2,500.

We asked six artists from around the world to share their vision with us. Now we want you to do the same.




http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21163117