Category: news

Adam enjoyed the series (both as novels & TV), and is going to talk about why this Wednesday.

What could possibly go wrong in a cemetery…  Ali Hadji-Heshmati (playing George Karim), Cameron Chapman (as Anthony Lockwood) and Ruby Stokes (as Lucy Carlyle)

Lockwood & Co. is a young adult supernatural thriller series which follows three young operatives of a psychic detection agency (Lucy Carlyle, Anthony Lockwood, and George Cubbins) as they fight ghosts (known throughout the series as Visitors) in London, England. There are five novels in the series, published from 2013

If you’re in Adelaide, meet at kappy’s in Compton St (near the market).
Doors open at 6:15 for a 6:30pm start.

Zoom details:
Time: Apr 19, 2023 at 6:30 at kappy’s / 7:00 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86711562991?pwd=L0VoYjkrRlIwWU05QmxWU0tqaUZiZz09

Meeting ID: 867 1156 2991
Passcode: 535708

Some of us wonder if today’s SF fans enjoy the same sf novels as earlier SF fans.
As it turns out, there were interesting surveys taken of best SF novels in 1987 (at the British eastercon) and 2022 (a poll of the media death cult members).
SFF Concatention recently published their analysis of the comparison here.

In summary:

“the result do not show a wildly difference in SF tastes between the 1980s and 2020s generations of fans: in fact, there are similarities.  10 of the SF² Concatenation top twenty appear in of the Cult’s top 40: indeed all but one, Tiger Tiger / Stars My destination appear in the Cult’s top 30.  When it comes to authors, there is an even greater similarity: 7 in SF² Concatenation top twenty top ten cited authors appear in the Cult’s top 40. This bumps up to 8 authors if Alfred (working class) Bester, author of Tiger Tiger / Stars My destination, who was not one of the top ten most cited author but was in the mix as a lower ranking author.”the result do not show a wildly difference in SF tastes between the 1980s and 2020s generations of fans: in fat, there are similarities.  10 of the SF² Concatenation top twenty appear in of the Cult’s top 40: indeed all but one, Tiger Tiger / Stars My destination appear in the Cult’s top 30.  When it comes to authors, there is an even greater similarity: 7 in SF² Concatenation top twenty top ten cited authors appear in the Cult’s top 40. “

Best Science Fiction Novels Then and Now in SFF Concatenation

With the recent release of Netflix’s Shadow and Bone, hordes of viewers are falling in love with the series based on Leigh Bargudo’s Grishaverse. This isn’t Leigh’s only universe. She’s written the DC Icon’s novel about the legendary Amazon, Wonder Woman: Warbringer, as well as the adult dark academia hit, Ninth House. But, newcomers may not know where to begin when it comes to the Grishaverse books. Zoraida Córdova has written a guide to the Grishaverse, and the two series which form the basis of the netflix series. See Beyond Shadow and Bone: Your Guide to Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse at tor.com:

The Shadow and Bone adaptation is incredibly faithful to the books, even with the addition of a new timeline. Season one follows the events of the first book: Ravka is a country at war, landlocked between two enemy nations to the north and south. To its west is the Shadow Fold, a sea of darkness full of monsters that splits Ravka from its coast line and ports. It was created by a Grisha, a class of elite warriors who can manipulate the elements, hundreds of years before and nothing has been able to destroy it. During a crossing of the Shadow Fold, Alina Starkov—an orphan and a cartographer in the Ravkan army—and her BFF, Malyen Oretsev, are attacked by one of the monsters, and Alina discovers her awesome power to summon sunlight. As the legendary Sun Summoner, she might be the only chance to save her war-torn country.

— Zoraida Cordova, from her Guide on tor.com

Signature Entertainment has unveiled the official UK trailer for an Australian sci-fi action thriller titled Occupation: Rainfall, from filmmaker Luke Sparke. Two years after aliens land on Earth, survivors from Sydney fight in a desperate war as the number of casualties continue to grow. It’s described as “Avatar meets Star Wars meets Independence Day,”

From the VFX team behind The Last Jedi and Blade Runner 2049, Sparke’s Occupation: Rainfall is a new “sci-fi action epic with an all star cast.” Temuera Morrison co-stars with Ken Jeong, Jet Tranter, Dan Ewing, Lawrence Makoare, Daniel Gillies, Dena Kaplan, and Jason Isaacs. This does have some massive VFX sequences, which is quite impressive, but the mash-up of unoriginal sci-fi ideas seems to be its biggest drawback.

Here’s the official UK trailer for Luke Sparke’s Occupation: Rainfall, direct from YouTube:

Before we start the series of talks proper, we thought it would be good to have a session for newcomers.

Come along and

• Find out how to give talks to Critical Mass;
• How to read and contribute to the website; and
• Suggest what you’d like us to feature this year.

So for February 1st, we invite you to think about what you’ve read/seen/heard in 2016 and tell us

(a) what’s new and exciting

— why is it interesting?

— is there anything like it in the field of sf/fantasy?

(b) what old stuff you’re discovered in the last year;

(c) what you’ve enjoyed over the new year break.

As usual, a 7pm start at kappys, 22 Compton St in the City on Wednesday, Feb 1st

Bring your mobile device to look at the website!