The Guardian has started publishing regular reviews of the best new SF, written by Lisa Tuttle. She typically does short reviews of four or five novels each month…
Camp Zero byMichelle Min Sterling (John Murray, £14.99) Another debut in the field of climate fiction imagines the United States in 2049, when many parts of the country have become unbearably hot. Only the wealthy can live in comfort and safety. One haven is the Floating City in Boston Harbour; another is being built in the cleaner, cooler climate around Dominion Lake in northern Canada, where Rose has been sent to join a small group of sex workers billeted in an abandoned shopping mall.
The Witcher Season 4 will replace its titular character, Geralt of Rivia. Henry Cavill will no longer don the ash-white wig, the suit of armor, and the twin swords. The Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth will step into Cavill’s very large shoes and become the new Geralt starting with Season 4. Though we reported not long ago that filming of Season 4 has been delayed to 2024 due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Netflix is still very much determined to produce this next season of the show. One of the few officially confirmed plot points of this fourth season involves Geralt of Rivia’s new face….
A change of plans. This coming Wednesday, we welcome Paul Kincaid by Zoom on The Influential Contradictions of Brian Aldiss.
Paul will be speaking to us from London. Details are below.
Bruce Barnes’s talk on Brick Bradford will be at a later date. It’s postponed to a date yet to be confirmed while another matter currently takes Bruce’s attention. We thank Paul for bringing forward his talk by a month.
Paul brings a fierce intellect and impressive bibliography to bear on the topic of Aldiss. Looking forward to it!
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CALENDAR
2 August – Paul Kincaid on The Influential Contradictions of Brian Aldiss
6 September, 4 October – to be advised
1 November – Ian Mond’s Mondial best books of the year: the world of sf, horror, and fantasy in 2023
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The Influential Contradictions of Brian Aldiss
Wednesday 2 August 2023 – leading UK SF critic Paul Kincaid
The late Brian Aldiss was much loved in Australian SF fandom. Aldiss was a man of many contradictions. Those contradictions are now outwardly expressed in the very nature of UK science fiction today. Paul Kincaid will discuss those contradictions and their expression from the person to the field we see today.
Paul is in the front ranks of the UK’s science fiction critics. He is author of the critical work Brian W. Aldiss published by the University of Illinois Press (2022) available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book.
From Paul’s web site: http://www.paulkincaid.co.uk/: “I first started reading science fiction in my teens, but I became almost obsessively interested in the genre while I was at the University of Ulster. My degree was in Philosophy and History, and those two disciplines have influenced the way I have written about science fiction ever since.
“In 1975 I had my first encounter with fandom and in the next couple of years started writing occasionally for fanzines. By 1978, that turned into writing reviews for various journals.
“There are overviews of what might laughably be called my career at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and also (rather sparsely and not entirely accurately) at Wikipedia.
“I’ve arranged all my reviews chronologically and also in alphabetical order of author (and where possible linked to the reviews on line). I’ve also listed the various essays, interviews and columns I’ve done. By now, I’ve actually surprised myself by having a number of books published in my name, as well as contributing to quite a number of different volumes. And I’ve even had the occasional piece of fiction published.
“In 1993 I married the wonderful Maureen Kincaid Speller, whose name does crop up a few times on this site. You really should do yourself a favour and check out her blog, Paper Knife.
“For rather more than 30 years I earned my living as an advertising copywriter, and if you’re really interested, there are details of that career here.”
Also at this site I’ve incorporated my ongoing Timeline of British Science Fiction, which will, of course, never be completed, and that often goes into abeyance for months at a time.
Oh, and before I forget, I also blog at Through the Dark Labyrinth and (very occasionally, now) at Big Other, if you feel the need to read even more of my writing.”
Meeting details Nova Mob Wednesday 2 August 2023 –
Paul Kincaid
Please share this invitation with like-minded friends and fans
Face to face You are invited to an in-person Nova Mob meeting at: Wednesday 2 August 2023 8.00pm – 9.15pm or so, first floor Conference Room Kensington Town Hall 30 – 34 Bellair St, Kensington Melbourne VIC 3031
By Zoom – simulcast
For those who prefer not to travel or are unable to attend face-to-face. Zoom session broadcast from the Kensington Town Hall. Questions or comments typed into the Zoom chat will be discussed as the opportunity permits, and you’ll have as much airtime as the other Mob members at the venue.
Wednesday 2 August
8.00pm – 9.00/9.30 pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney time 7.30pm – 8.30/9.00pm Adelaide time
11.00am UK London time
Meeting ID: 417 758 3193
Passcode: nova
This is the wholly reliable web link. One for your bookmarks?
“He is without question both the most original and most significant Australian author of the last 50 years, and one of the best writers Australia has produced.”
Critical work “Murnane” launches on 1 August
Dr Emmett Stinson of the University of Tasmania sees his short critical book Murnane launched on 1 August. Its focus is Murnane’s four final novels – Barley Patch, A History of Books, A Million Windows and Border District. https://www.mup.com.au/books/murnane-paperback-softback
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From the archives
Hugh Walters and the internet archive
The Internet Archive holds many items of science fictional interest.
“Hugh Walters was a British writer of science fiction for children, who is best remembered for creating the Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A. series, about the fictional United Nations Exploration Agency. This ran to 20 volumes, some of which are presented here.
“These are strong stories, well written, aimed at anyone with an interest in the actual Space Race of the 1950s and ’60s.
“Of his writing, Walters said: I believe a good SF story should (1) entertain, (2) educate painlessly, and (3) inspire young people of today to be the scientists of tomorrow.
“The first novel, Blast Off at Woomera, is loosely based on the true fact that Britain and Australia did at one time co-operate in space research, and jointly funded a rocket base for satellite launches at Woomera in Australia.” Later novels involved alien encounters as the earlier books exhausted settings in the solar system.
Launch pad here for 5 novels and for the Archive’s general search term “science fiction” to search all books
Other Worlds Ink is excited to be curating the Explore Sci-Fi Worlds StoryBundle for the second year – this time we have 176 Sci-Fi Worlds for you to explore – that’s eleven sci-fi anthologies and collections showcasing 116 authors, but it’s available for a limited time only – from July 19th to August 10th. This StoryBundle offers a large selection of ebooks from independent and small press fantasy writers. You can grab it now here: https://storybundle.com/anthology.
This StoryBundle features a wide variety of themes – radiant futures, Frankenstein re-imaginings, space marines, powerful cyborgs and tiny aliens, climate change, augmented reality, and much more. With more than a hundred talented authors, chances are that you’ll find some new writers to love.
Yes, season 2 of Good Omens has appeared on the screens.
Kelly Woo at Tom’s Guide provides details:
The fantasy comedy created by Neil Gaiman finally returns after a four-year hiatus. Fans are at a fever pitch to see David Tennant as mercurial demon Crowley and Michael Sheen as fastidious angel Aziraphale revive their buddy banter.
Good Omens season 2 premiered Friday (July 28) at 12:01 a.m. ET on Prime Video.
Even better: Jon Hamm is reprising his role as the archangel Gabriel. And he shows up fully nude in the first episode!
Good Omens season 2 takes place some time after the two pals successfully thwarted the apocalypse. They’re peacefully living among humans until the day Gabriel arrives at Aziraphale’s bookshop with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Aziraphale wants to figure out the mystery, while Crowley is suspicious.
An interesting take on vampires on SBS: Count Abdulla
“Abdulla Khan, a young British-Pakistani junior doctor based in London, is bitten by a halal-hunting vampire, and he finds himself stuck in an identity crisis.” A very funny and interesting take on vampires, also dealing with delicacy over choosing mates and dealing with families…
For those of who who missed it first time around, SBS now has all five seasons of Being Human OnDemand.
Created by Doctor Who scribe Toby Whithouse, Being Human sets its scene in the suburb of Totterdam, Bristol, in the UK, where two old friends are setting up a new household. You wouldn’t think that John Mitchell (Aidan Turner) and George Sands (Russell Tovey) would be close, what with the former being a century-old vampire trying to kick the red stuff and the latter a recently-bitten werewolf trying to get a handle on his carnivorous lunar activities, but what they have in common is a desire to live a quiet life […]
But they’re surprised to find their new pad already occupied – but not by the living. Annie Sawyer (Lenora Critchlow), a previous tenant, died in the apartment and now haunts it as a ghost. Mitchell and George, being creatures of the night, can perceive her, which does a lot for her loneliness. And so, as they say, three’s company.
Best-selling author Max Barry is our guest on in July to tell us about his alternate worlds-sliding doors-trousers of time-alternate histories novel The 22 Murders of Madison May. Many will recall his excellent and popular novel Jennifer Government followed by Lexicon. Madison May was published during lockdown and hasn’t had quite the same media presence but is equally enjoyable and even more unputdownable – it’s a one-sitting book. And Max is an excellent public speaker as well as writer.
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.’
“In Queens, New York, 22-year-old real estate agent Madison May is showing a house. The buyer, a man she’s never met, is friendly, engaging . . . and claims to be her soulmate from a parallel life. She’s in danger, he tells her. He’s come to save her.
“Later that day, newspaper journalist Felicity Staples is assigned to report on Madison May’s murder. Discontent with her own life, Felicity finds herself drawn into a shocking conspiracy involving a powerful group who have harnessed the ability to slip between lives – to move between one version of reality to another.
“On the run, turned into an imposter in her own life, Felicity is forced to seek the truth behind Madison May, the woman who is murdered over and over, in different ways, wherever she goes. For only by saving Madison May can Felicity reassemble the broken pieces of herself.”
Max Barry is the author of numerous novels, including Jennifer Government, Company, Machine Man, Lexicon and Providence. He is also the developer of the online nation simulation game NationStates. Prior to his writing career, Barry worked at tech giant HP. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife and two daughters.
This meeting will be zoom only
Max Barry and The 22 Murders of Madison May
Please share this invitation with like-minded friends and fans
You are invited to the July Critical Mass zoom meeting at 6:30pm July 19th (Adelaide)
By Zoom : Critical Mass Time: Jul 19, 2023 6:30 Adelaide, 7:00pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney Every month on the Third Wed
As several Critical Mass attendees will be interstate or overseas, this meeting will be Zoom only. Questions or comments typed into the Zoom chat will be discussed as the opportunity permits, and you’ll have the chance to discuss other matters after the main presentation.
Lee Harding, author of Displaced Person, passed away 19 April
Lee Harding, Australian SF and Children’s writer, photographer, and anthologist, passed away peacefully after an illness (1937-2023). Chandler, Ditmar, and Australia Children’s Book Award winner (for Displaced Person v.t. Misplaced Persons) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harding_(writer). Condolences to family, friends, and fans.
The June Nova Mob will be a celebration of Lee Harding’s life. Please lock in June 7 in your diaries.
Wednesday June 7th:
7.30pm – 9.00pm Adelaide time 8.00pm – 9.30 pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney time
The Adelaide Fan Review 
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