A Memoir of Light

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The Wheel of Time.  I know, with that one title, some of you are completely uninterested in this post now.  Please, bear with me, this is not what you think.  After I finished A Memory of Light this week, I was thinking about the story and how I would write a review of this book.  I was trying to consider how much I could talk about it.  I was concerned about spoiling elements of past books.  I was worried about the overall length of the book.

Mostly, though, I worried that I am not up to the task of writing this review.  I am not a book critic, I play one on the internet.  I write about genre fiction contained in a fairly narrow field.  This book is something that you could easily label as being literature.  Emily would jump on me about that statement.  Really, all books should be considered some form of literature, even if you don’t think it adds anything to the culture.  To me, though, this is a book that talks about a lot, and one of the things that this book in particular added to the series’ themes, the human condition.

That’s as much as I’m going to say about the plot of this, the last book of the Wheel of Time.

What I am going to talk about is my experience with this series.

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Live-Action ‘Star Wars’ Series not Dead yet

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While we were off podcasting last night, word dropped from Entertainment Weekly that Disney was looking at the live-action Star Wars series Lucasfilm has been working on for the last several years.

ABC entertainment president Paul Lee says he’s going to take a look at the long-gestating Star Wars live-action TV series now that the Disney deal to acquire Lucasfilm is complete.

“We’d love to do something with Lucasfilm, we’re not sure what yet,” Lee exclusively told EW. “We haven’t even sat down with them. We’re going to look at [the live-action series], we’re going to look at all of them, and see what’s right. We weren’t able to discuss this with them until [the acquisition] closed and it just closed. It’s definitely going to be part of the conversation.”

Also of note? Apparently Battlestar Galactica’s Ron Moore has been involved with the series.

Even many working in Hollywood don’t realize a live-action Star Wars TV series has been sitting on the shelf the past few years. The project was commissioned by longtime Lucasfilm producer Rick McCallum, who enlisted writers such as Battlestar Galactica‘s Ron Moore and swore them to NDA secrecy on the plot details (more on the show’s storyline below). Fifty scripts were written. McCallum once called the scripts the most “provocative, bold and daring material that we’ve ever done.”

Now, it should be noted that while ABC is looking into the possibility of a live-action Star Wars TV series to go along with their Whedon-produced S.H.I.E.L.D series, it doesn’t mean the show would necessarily be the McCallum project. Right now it’s just one possibility on the table for Disney if they wish to put Star Wars on TV for a more adult audience.

Tosche Station Radio #41: Gender Stereotyping

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This week on Tosche Station Radio, Nanci and Brian take issue with gender stereotyping in fandom and science fiction.

Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight what’s new on the blogside. Nanci explained why she likes sci-fi even though she’s a woman. She also pontificated about why she doesn’t like long books. Meanwhile, Brian reviewed the new Star Wars #1. The hosts take a few minutes to discuss the new comic before moving into …

Fixer’s Flash, where this week, Nanci’s kept busy reading Scoundrels and waiting to hear back from publishers. Both she and Brian enjoyed the return of Once Upon a Time and went down memory lane to re-watch the X-Files pilot episode.

In Deak’s Dirt, things kick off with word that there’s a new Star Wars EU book coming. Zahn talks Scoundrels on the Official Blog. There’s also a new audiobook clip, if that’s your thing.  Meanwhile, rumors are swirling that theSequel Trilogy might feature a female lead.The Oscar nominations are out. How did our favorite genre entertainment fare? (Spoilers: not very well)

This week’s Camie’s Concerns looks into an article Nanci wrote earlier this week looking at gender stereotypes (and why they suck). Nanci responds to a Damon Lindelof (Star Trek 2009) quote and the hosts delve into why assuming women aren’t into science fiction is condescending. The hosts also discuss what really can be done to draw a bigger female audience without coming off as disparaging and out-of-touch.

Finally, the hosts wrap up the show by fielding questions from listeners in our Ask Us Anything segment.

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of the Solo Sound network. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store or the Xbox Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

EU Retrospective: The Empire Strikes Back

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Remember everything I said about dropping Shadow Games from the list?  Yeah, scratch that.  It arrived the day after New Year’s so I felt obliged to read it anyways.  Sorry, New Rebellion.  This retrospective is like fashion: one day you’re in and the next day you’re out.  But it’s okay because I’ve had A Very Zahn New Year which is making this go much faster.  Except for the part where I drank my way through a certain book.  That’s right, folks, you get another spam of my face via reaction pictures.

Shadow Games
When I first picked up this book, I was relieved to find out that it wasn’t about Jax.  No offense, buddy, but I just didn’t want to read about you again this soon.  Unfortunately, I don’t think I really care about Dash Rendar either.  Seriously though: it’s been awhile since I’ve read the books in this era.  Am I supposed to care about him beyond this rivalry with Han Solo?  I’m sure I’m forgetting something about him besides a tragic history.

Allow me to sum up the plot of this book for you: Lies, lies, lies, “I ain’t in this for your revolution, sister”, “I expect to be well paid”, and “Well, you’re pretty.”  Okay, it’s not a bad book and once I finally got myself to sit down and read it, it was fairly entertaining.  Unfortunately, it felt a little too much like I was reading an AU version of Han and Leia.  (Seriously though: I bet there’s a fanfic out there where Leia’s a popstar and Han is her bodyguard.)  Dash is going to be so offended when I call him a poor man’s Han Solo but oh well.  Like I said, the story was interesting enough but wow did all the levels of “Okay, so what I told you before was a lie” get to be a bit much at times.  Javul’s lucky she managed to stay alive with basically the entire galaxy after her.

I did like the droid though.  He was snarky and entertaining.  Leebo, you and your pet Mouse Droid can stay.

(In all fairness, my general exasperation with the book and with how much I’m looking forward to taking a break could be unfairly coloring my opinion here so take it with a grain of salt.)

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Bioware’s David Gaider Discusses Fandom, Toxic Enviornments, and Fan Entitlement

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Fandom is simultaneously a wonderful and horrid thing.

One person exposed to both sides of the coin is David Gaider, the lead writer on Bioware’s Dragon Age video game series. For a bit of background, Bioware has what the call the Bioware Social Network, an online community of forums for gamers to troubleshoot technical issues, seek out gameplay help, and offer feedback to the writers and developers.

Over the last few years, however, the feedback portion of BSN in particular has become an increasingly hostile and toxic environment. Worse, it started taking its toll on Gaider.

I tend to largely avoid [BSN] these days, myself. Why? Because spending too much time there starts to make me feel negative— not just about the games we make, but about myself and life in general. That’s not a good feeling to have. I’m sure there are folks there who would bristle at that comment, suggesting that all negative feedback is justifiable and that ignoring it is the equivalent of us sticking our heads in the sand. How will we ever improve unless we listen to their scolding and take our lumps like good little developers? That is, of course, ignoring the idea that we haven’t already digested a mountain of feedback— both positive and negative— and there’s really only so much of it you can take. Eventually you make decisions (informed by that feedback, though only in part— it can only ever be in part) and move on.

And I’m sure there are also people there who would say that there’s plenty of useful, thoughtful feedback. Not all of it consists of angry ranting. You can, in fact, meet and talk to some very keen and intelligent posters. And that’s very true. If it weren’t true, I wouldn’t go there at all. Yet the signal-to-noise ratio does seem to be worsening, and eventually you get the feeling like you’re at one of those parties where all anyone is doing is bitching. It doesn’t matter what they’re bitching about so much as, sooner or later, that’s all you can really hear. Engaging starts to mean partaking in the bitching until you feel like that’s all you’re doing. Even when I try to rise above, those who are most negative will seek me out in order to get a rise out of me— and not unsuccessfully. I am only human, and I’ll end up responding to score points just as they do, and end up feeling shitty for having done so.

I imagine that can happen to any online community. Eventually the polite, reasonable folks stop feeling like it’s a group of people they want to hang around. So they leave, and those who remain start to see only those who agree with them— and, because that’s all they see, they think that’s all there is. Everyone feels as they do, according to them. Once the tipping point is passed, you’re left with the extremes… those who hate, and those who dislike the haters enough to endure the toxic atmosphere to try and combat them. Each clash between those groups drives more of the others away.

The whole post is a fascinating read. Head over to David Gaider’s Tumblr to read the rest.

Spielberg’s ‘Robopocalypse’ Indefinitely Postponed

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A while back we heard word of an interesting looking project Steven Spielberg had attached himself to: Robopocalypse. Based on a novel by Daniel H. Wilson, it looked to be your usual tale of Robots turning against humanity (when will we ever learn?). The interesting twist was who was attached to it. Drew Goddard of Cloverfield and Cabin in the Woods writing fame, Anne Hathaway, and Chris Hemsworth were either slated or rumored to be part of the film in some capacity.

Originally the film was set for an April 2014 release. Now? Well, it’s future just got a whole lot murkier.

Spielberg has indicated boredom with action films in some recent interviews, and though no explanation was offered for the delay, aside from a statement from Spielberg’s rep that it wasn’t ready and was too expensive to move forward without a polished script, the Lincolnfilmmaker may simply not be as enamored with the brutal extinction story as he once was.

DreamWorks purchased the rights to Daniel H. Wilson’s novel well before it was published in June 2011.

It was originally set to be ready for this July, but last May 20th Century Fox (which is co-financing the film with DreamWorks, and Disney’s Touchstone distributing) announced it would be pushed to April 2014.

Now …? It’s a question of when the robot revolution will take place, but if.

Of course, this naturally sparked some conversation on Twitter as to whether this postponement means Spielberg is switching his focus to another science fiction project. Episode VII, perhaps? I very much doubt it. Spielberg has expressed multiple times that he’s not keen on taking the helm of his friend George’s property.

Postponement of Robopocalypse or not, Spielberg’s probably not directing Episode VII.

(h/t Scott Hume on Twitter)

Free Science Fiction Novel of the Day: On Basilisk Station – Honor Harrington Book One

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It’s always nice to see a good science fiction novel become available for free. Even for a limited time. Today you can get your hands on an e-copy of On Basilisk Station, the first book in David Weber’s Honor Harrington series.

INTRODUCING
HONOR HARRINGTON

Having made him look a fool, she’s been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her.

Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship’s humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station.

The aborigines of the system’s only habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens.

Parliament isn’t sure it wants to keep the place; the major local industry is smuggling; the merchant cartels want her head; the star-conquering, so-called “Republic” of Haven is Up To Something; and Honor Harrington has a single, over-age light cruiser with an armament that doesn’t work to police the entire star system.

But the people out to get her have made one mistake. They’ve made her mad.

You can pick up the book from Amazon or directly from the publisher’s website. As a note, Expanded Universe author Timothy Zahn has recently teamed up with Weber to write a Honor Harrington spinoff trilogy.

Zahn talks Scoundrels on the Official Blog

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Scoundrels-coverAuthor Timothy Zahn stopped by the Official Blog to talk about his love for (and trouble solving) jigsaw puzzles and his latest Expanded Universe release, heist caper Scoundrels.

I’ve never been very good at jigsaw puzzles.

It’s a skill I’ve just been unable to master. I can’t see where a given piece fits into the picture on the box; sky and cloud pieces completely baffle me; and the red blob that has to be on the piece I’m looking for (because it extends from the red blob on this piece) is always smaller and more inconspicuous than I expect it to be. Generally, once any pieces with words had been connected (I’m pretty good with the word pieces), my job at family jigsaw parties was cheerleading for the others and making sure there were plenty of snacks.

But I do like jigsaw puzzles. So if I can’t put them together, maybe I could try creating one.

For more, head over to the Official Blog and have a read.

New Expanded Universe Book Incoming? UPDATE: Something NEW New!

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Well this is interesting.

There’s no telling as to whether or not this is an adult fiction novel or an official title for a book we already know is coming (hello, Paul S. Kemp duology that has been in the void for as long as I can remember). If I were to wager a guess, I’d go with an official title for something like the aforementioned duology or the Kevin Hearne book.

If I were wagering with my heart, it would be a new X-Wing novel by either Stackpole or Allston. Alas, it hurts to dream.

Edit: If you’re thinking about asking Kemp if it’s his book, please don’t.

Edit 4:34PM: You can, however, ask Jen Heddle. 

Now this is a little more meaty and suggests that this is something beyond the Hearne and Kemp books. We know that it’s a novel and that it’s something that hasn’t (presumably) been discussed at San Diego Comic Con, Celebration VI, or any other outlet. Maybe my hopes of a new X-Wing novel have a little more life? Probably not! I just don’t envision Del Rey and Lucasfilm Licensing authorizing a post-RotJ era novel at this point in time. Again, if I’m placing a wager, I’d guess an Old Republic novel with Drew Karpyshyn being the odds-on favorite to write it. We’ll find out soon, hopefully.

Thoughts on what it might be? Leave a comment!