Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.
Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald
Promo copy:
Ian McDonald’s River of Gods called "a masterpiece" by Asimov’s Science Fiction and praised by the Washington Post as "a major achievement from a writer who is becoming one of the best SF novelists of our time" painted a vivid picture of a near future India, 100 years after independence. It revolutionized SF for a new generation by taking a perspective that was not European or American. Nominated for the Hugo Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and winning the BSFA Award, the rich world of the novel has inspired McDonald to revisit its milieu in a series of short stories, all set in the world of River of Gods.
Cyberabad Days is a triumphant return to the India of 2047, a new, muscular superpower of one and a half billion people in an age of artificial intelligences, climate-change induced drought, water wars, strange new genders, genetically improved children that age at half the rate of baseline humanity, and a population where males outnumber females four to one. India herself has fractured into a dozen states from Kerala to the headwaters of the Ganges in the Himalayas.
Cyberabad Days is a collection of seven stories, one Hugo nominee and one Hugo winner among them, as well as a twenty-five thousand word original novella. As with everything Ian McDonald does, it is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.
City Without End: Book Three of The Entire and The Rose by Kay Kenyon
Promo copy:
-Book three of the critically acclaimed epic series.
-The first book in the series, Bright of the Sky, was named among Publishers Weekly‘s top 150 titles for 2007.
-Author plans extensive tour of bookstores and conventions.
-Stephan Martiniere’s cover illustration won the prestigious Silver Spectrum award.
In this series Kay Kenyon has created her most vivid and compelling society yet, the universe Entire. Reviewers have called this "a grand world," "an enormous stage," and "a bravura concept."
On this stage unfolds a mighty struggle for dominance between two universes. Titus Quinn has forged an unstable peace with the Tarig lords. The ruinous capability of the nanotech surge weapon he possesses ensures detente. But it is a sham. In what the godwoman Zhiya calls a fit of moral goodness, he’s thrown the weapon into the space-folding waters of the Nigh. This clears the way for an enemy he could have never foreseen: the people of the Rose. A small cadre led by Helice Maki is determined to take the Entire for itself and leave the earth in ruins. The transform of earth will begin deep in a western desert and will sweep over the lives of ordinary people, entangling Quinn s sister-in-law Caitlin in a deepening and ultimate conspiracy.
In the Entire, Quinn stalks Helice to the fabled Rim City, encircling the heart of the Entire. Here he at last finds his daughter, now called Sen Ni, in the Chalin style. Outside of earth-based time, she has grown to adulthood. He hardly knows her, and finds her the mistress of a remarkable dream-time insurgency against the Tarig lords and more, a woman risen high in the Entire’s meritocracy. Quinn needs his daughter’s help against the woman who would destroy the earth. But Sen Ni has her own plans and allies, among them a boy-navitar unlike any other pilot of the River Nigh a navitar willing and supremely able to break his vows and bend the world.
Quinn casts his fate with the beautiful and resourceful Ji Anzi who sent on a journey to other realms holds the key to Quinn’s heart and his overarching mission. But as he approaches the innermost sanctuary of the Tarig, he is alone. Waiting for him are powerful adversaries, including a lady who both hates and loves him, the high prefect of the dragon court, and Quinn’s most implacable enemy, a warrior whose chaotic mind will soon be roused from an eternal slumber.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1951)
Promo copy:
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL Special Edition DVD is presented in full screen format (1.33:1 aspect ratio) with English Mono, English 5.1 Dolby Surround, Spanish and French Mono, plus English and Spanish subtitles.
• New: Exclusive First Look At The New Movie The Day The Earth Stood Still Starring
Keanu Reeves And Jennifer Connelly
• Commentary by Robert Wise and Nicholas Meyer
• New: Commentary by Film & Music Historians John Morgan, Steven Smith, William Stromberg and Nick Redman
• New: Isolated Score Track
• New: The Mysterious, Melodious Theremin
• New: The Day The Earth Stood Still Main Title Live Performance By Peter Pringle
• New: The Making of The Day the Earth Stood Still
• New: Decoding “Klaatu Barada Nikto”: Science Fiction as Metaphor Featurette
• New: A Brief History of Flying Saucers Featurette
• New: The Astounding Harry Bates Featurette
• New: Edmund North: The Man Who Made the Earth Stand Still Featurette
• New To Disc: Race To Oblivion: A Documentary Short Written And Produced By Edmund North
• New To Disc: Farewell To The Master: A Reading By Jamieson K. Price Of The Original
Harry Bates Short Story; Audio Only
• New: Interactive Pressbook
• Fox Movietonews from 1951
• Original Theatrical Trailer & Teaser Trailer
• Advertising Gallery
• Behind-The Scenes Gallery
• Portrait Gallery
• Production Gallery
• Spaceship Construction Blueprints
• Shooting Script
This double disc edition of the classic film offers all the bells & whistles: Informative documentaries, a reading of Harry Bates’ short story "Farewell to the Master" (the basis for the movie), audio only tracks of the soundtrack, two commentary tracks, and a ten minute trailer for the forthcoming remake. If the Keanu Reeves’ film was titled damn near anything else, I’d more accepting of this pretty decent trailer. From what I can gleam, outside of the name Klaatu and a brief appearance of Gort, this has nothing to do with the original The Day The Earth Stood Still. Perhaps calling it The Day the Earth Blew Up would be more apropos.
For more Day the Earth Stood Still coolness check out this Roy Thomas and Ross Andru seventies adaptation of "Farewell to the Master" in Worlds of Unknown #3.
