i liked him a great deal

in spite of never having read empire of the sun (or even seeing the movie for that matter).



Cult author JG Ballard dies at 78

The author JG Ballard, famed for novels such as Crash and Empire of the Sun, has died aged 78 after a long illness.

His agent Margaret Hanbury said the author had been ill "for several years" and had died on Sunday morning.

Despite being referred to as a science fiction writer, Jim Ballard said his books were instead "picturing the psychology of the future".

His most acclaimed novel was Empire of the Sun, based on his childhood in a Japanese prison camp in China.............

ooh and here's a bunch of ballard links from boing boing

this is something we ALL need

and dark roasted blend has put it in one place

(note: this guide is WICKED COMPREHENSIVE). this is an ABSOLUTE MUST for anyone interested in this genre. a MUST i tell you

here's a tiny bit of the description of it from the site itself:

...........Some notes about the structure and contents of this Guide:

We tried to include the full spectrum of genre writers: science fiction, fantasy, horror, young adult, paranormal romance (only highlights) and even slipstream "magic realism" authors. We arbitrarily drew the line at 1990, and only include writers who were active in the field and writing since that year (if a particular author stopped writing after 1990, he or she is not included, but can be checked out in our general Writer's Directory at DRB SF Site).

All pen names are listed inside the "Notes" field; for a complete list of SF&F pen names we refer you to this page..............

The Ultimate Guide to Modern Writers
of Science Fiction and Fantasy

(the guide itself is a link inside the link above. get to clickin'. YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY)

i loved his work - rip pjf

science fiction is my favorite genre. i simply loved philip jose farmer

R.I.P. Philip José Farmer

By Charlie Jane Anders,
One of science fiction's most original voices passed away today. Philip José Farmer, author of the Riverworld and World Of Tiers series, is also known for writing as Kurt Vonnegut's fictional author Kilgore Trout.

I read the Riverworld series as a teen and it still sticks with me - I was thinking about it the other day. It represents 1970s science fiction at its trippiest and most random. Everyone who has ever lived on Earth wakes up together on a huge planet with an endless, winding river. They're all naked and bald, and they discover at length that they cannot die - at least not at first. His second series, World Of Tiers, follows a group of humans traveling through a series of stacked artificial parallel universes.

Farmer is also known for his first published short story, 1952's "The Lovers," which broke the taboo on explicit sexuality in science fiction and won a Hugo for Most Promising New Writer. According to Christopher Paul Carey:.....................

the CLASSIC science fiction channel

i only checked out firefly (so far). the episodes are there. cool, huh?

I've been very disappointed by the so-called SciFi Channel since its inception. Like many others, I believed that I'd be able to tune in and regularly catch repeats of classic shows, great classic movies, some SF oriented 'made-for content' (coverage of conventions, literature, authors, etc) and maybe some original movies or series, carefully chosen to insure the preservation of the genre.

(shout out to boing boing)

watch out for the ROBOTS IN BOSTON

First Look At Our Robot Replacements From The Surrogates

The new science fiction movie The Surrogates is filming in the Boston area, and we've gotten some exclusive pics — including some images of the movie's robot replacement bodies. In The Surrogates, humanity has turned hermit, thanks to robot bodies that can be your representatives in the world. Your robot copy can do the annoying errands or spend quality time with your girlfriend, whilst you wallow in your own filth in front of Grand Theft Auto 9: Lunar Streets. More photos of robot parts, plus one set photo, after the jump. Also we clear up those rumors about the movie's star, Bruce Willis, and his weird hairpiece................

hey rick

(from cv rick) a link to TWO MORE (free) science fiction short stories (shout out to boing boing)
FREE HUGO SHORT STORIES: Ken Macleod and Greg Egan

rick

(as in cv rick), i believe vonda n. mcintyre is my favorite science fiction writer. what a coincidence you wrote about the lack of sci fi books being read AND me finding this just by chance

Classic Tale of Extraterrestrial Medicine from Vonda N. McIntyre -- Free Online

A doctor on an alien planet has only three tools in her medical kit, and they are all living snakes. Using a kind of biotechnology in her own body, she's able to synthesize tailor-made drugs from the snakes' venom after exposing them to people who are ill. Leading a nomadic life, she moves from town to town on an alien world, trying to help out people who are often as afraid of her as they are anxious for her services. Some of you may recognize this as the plot of Vonda N. McIntyre's dreamy, beautiful short story "Of Mist, Grass, and Sand," now available for free on the author's website.............

arthur c. clarke - open the pod bay doors HAL

a man. a visionary. a writer
Arthur C. Clarke; Sci-Fi Writer Foresaw Mankind's Possibilities

By Patricia Sullivan Washington Post Staff Writer
Arthur C. Clarke, 90, the world-famous science-fiction writer, futurist and unofficial poet laureate of the space age, died of a respiratory ailment March 18 at his home in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Mr. Clarke co-wrote, with director Stanley Kubrick, the screenplay for "2001: A Space Odyssey," which is regarded by many as one of the most important science fiction films made. A prolific writer, with more than 100 published books, he was praised for his ability to foresee the possibilities of human innovation and explain them to non-scientific readers.
The most famous example is from 1945, when he first proposed the idea of communications satellites that could be based in geostationary orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground. ,,,,,,,,,,,,

Arthur C. Clarke: The Wired Words

By Lewis Wallace

Arthur C. Clarke, the award-winning sci-fi writer and futurist most famous for his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, died Wednesday in Sri Lanka. He was 90.
His writing, both fiction and nonfiction, established Clarke as a visionary during the last half of the 20th century. In a paper titled "Extra-Terrestrial Relays: Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?" published in 1945, Clarke floated the idea of using geosynchronous satellites for communications long before such technology changed our world. (Geostationary orbit is now sometimes known as the Clarke orbit.)
That's just one of the many innovative concepts Clark is credited with unleashing. From the electrosecretary transcription machine to the space elevator, Clarke laid out his visionary ideas in more than 100 fiction and nonfiction books.
Despite his track record as a futurist, Clarke remained humble about his work when he was interviewed for a 1993 Q&A with Wired magazine. Over the years, the writer and his bold ideas were featured several times in the publication.
"I've never predicted the future," Clarke said in that first interview. "Or hardly ever. I extrapolate. Look, I've written six stories about the end of the Earth; they can't all be true!"...........

Top Photo: Arthur C. Clarke holds a copy of his book Exploration of Space at a home in Washington, D.C., in this 1952 AP file photo.

blog of the day

i09 - strung out on science fiction

(hat tip to boing boing)