For Moving Pictures, I reviewed the crime film Brooklyn’s Finest.

Check out the entire review at Moving Pictures.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley

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The Quiet War is over. The city states of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn have fallen to the Three Powers Alliance of Greater Brazil, the European Union and the Pacific Community. A century of enlightenment, rational utopianism and exploration of new ways of being human has fallen dark. Outers are herded into prison camps and forced to collaborate in the systematic plundering of their great archives of scientific and technical knowledge, while Earth’s forces loot their cities, settlements and ships, and plan a final solution to the ‘Outer problem’. But Earth’s victory is fragile, and riven by vicious internal politics. While seeking out and trying to anatomise the strange gardens abandoned in place by Avernus, the Outers’ greatest genius, the gene wizard Sri Hong-Owen is embroiled in the plots and counterplots of the family that employs her. The diplomat Loc Ifrahim soon discovers that profiting from victory isn’t as easy as he thought. And in Greater Brazil, the Outers’ democratic traditions have infected a population eager to escape the tyranny of the great families who rule them. After a conflict fought to contain the expansionist, posthuman ambitions of the Outers, the future is as uncertain as ever. Only one thing is clear. No one can escape the consequences of war – especially the victors.

Blood of the Demon (Kara Gillian, Book 2) by Diana Rowland

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BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL, MAN AND DEMON, SHE’S ABOUT TO FACE THE ONE THING SHE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SURVIVE.

Welcome to the world of Kara Gillian, a cop with a gift. Not only does she have the power of “othersight” to see what most people can’t even imagine, but she’s become the exclusive summoner of a demon lord. Or maybe it’s the other way around. The fact is, with two troublesome cases on her docket and a handsome FBI agent under her skin, Kara needs the help of sexy, insatiable Lord Rhyzkahl more than he needs her. Because these two victims, linked by suspicious coincidence, haven’t just been murdered. Something has eaten their souls.

It’s a case with roots in the arcane, but whose evil has flowered among the rich, powerful, and corrupt in Beaulac, Louisiana. And as the killings continue, Kara soon realizes how much there’s still to learn about demons, men, and things that kill in the night—and how little time she has to learn it.

Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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The city states of the Lowlands have lived in peace for decades, bastions of civilization, prosperity and sophistication, protected by treaties, trade and a belief in the reasonable nature of their neighbors.

But meanwhile, in far-off corners, the Wasp Empire has been devouring city after city with its highly trained armies, its machines, it killing Art . . . And now its hunger for conquest and war has become insatiable.

Only the aging Stenwold Maker, spymaster, artificer and statesman, can see that the long days of peace are over. It falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of his people, before a black-and-gold tide sweeps down over the Lowlands and burns away everything in its path.

But first he must stop himself from becoming the Empire’s latest victim.

More in Part II

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Capitalism: A Love Story

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In presenting a “fireball of a movie that might change your life” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone), Moore “skewers both major political parties” (Claudia Puig, USA Today) for selling out the millions of people devastated by loss of homes and jobs to the interests of fat cat capitalists. Moore has “dug up some astonishing dirt” (Brian D. Johnson, Macleans), stories told in the faces of the foreclosed and evicted, in the food stamps received by hungry airline pilots, and in the courage of fired factory workers who refuse to go quietly. But more than a cry of despair, Moore’s film raises the possibility of hope. Capitalism: A Love Story is “The most American of films since the populist cinema of Frank Capra (It’s a Wonderful Life)” (Dan Siegel, Huffington Post), “a movie that manages shrewdly, even brilliantly, to capitalize on the populist anger that has been sweeping the nation” (Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal). Capitalism: A Love Story is loaded with over 80 minutes of bonus features and extended scenes, written and directed by Michael Moore!

Abandon the Night by Joss Ware

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Quentin Fielding had everything. Money. Power. Women. But now that civilization is all but annihilated, Quent wants only one thing: revenge. Harnessing a strange new "gift," he embarks on a deadly mission to find the man responsible for the chaos and destruction, the man he should have killed years ago: his father. Only one thing stands in his way—a mysterious, arrow-wielding beauty . . .

Zoë Kapoor is on her own quest for vengeance, searching for the monstrous fiends who murdered her family. Soon she and Quent join together, journeying through the ruins of the world they once knew as a desperate desire builds between them. Drawing closer to an enemy they never imagined, Zoë and Quent must abandon all fear, abandon all regret, abandon the night . . .

Prince of Storms (Book 4 of The Entire and the Rose) by Kay Kenyon

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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.

Finally in control of the Ascendancy, Titus Quinn has styled himself Regent of the Entire. But his command is fragile. He rules an empire with a technology beyond human understanding; spies lurk in the ancient Magisterium; the Tarig overlords are hamstrung but still malevolent. Worse, his daughter Sen Ni opposes him for control, believing the Earth and its Rose universe must die to sustain the failing Entire. She is aided by one of the mystical pilots of the River Nigh, the space-time transport system. This navitar, alone among all others, can alter future events. He retires into a crystal chamber in the Nigh to weave reality and pit his enemies against each other.

Taking advantage of these chaotic times, the great foe of the Long War, the Jinda ceb Horat, create a settlement in the Entire. Masters of supreme technology, they maintain a lofty distance from the Entire s struggle. They agree, however, that the Tarig must return to the fiery Heart of their origins. With the banishment immanent, some Tarig lords rebel, fleeing to hound the edges of Quinn’s reign.

Meanwhile, Quinn’s wife Anzi becomes a hostage and penitent among the Jinda ceb, undergoing alterations that expose their secrets, but may estrange her from her husband. As Quinn moves toward a confrontation with the dark navitar, he learns that the stakes of the conflict go far beyond the Rose versus the Entire–extending to a breathtaking dominance. The navitar commands forces that lie at the heart of the Entire’s geo-cosmology, and will use them to alter the calculus of power. As the navitar’s plan approaches consummation, Quinn, Sen Ni, and Anzi are swept up in forces that will leave them forever changed.

In this rousing finale to Kenyon’s celebrated quartet, Titus Quinn meets an inevitable destiny, forced at last to make the unthinkable choice for or against the dictates of his heart, for or against the beloved land.

More in Parts I and III

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Oath of Fealty by Elizabeth Moon

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Elizabeth Moon’s bestselling science fiction novels featuring Kylara Vatta have earned her rave reviews and comparison to such giants as Robert Heinlein and Lois McMaster Bujold. But as Moon’s devoted fans know, she started her career as a fantasy writer. The superb trilogy known as The Deed of Paksenarrion is widely judged to be one of the great post-Tolkien fantasies, a masterpiece of sustained world-building and realistic military action. Now Moon returns to this thrilling realm for the first time in nearly twenty years. The result: another classic in the making.

Thanks to Paks’s courage and sacrifice, the long-vanished heir to the half-elven kingdom of Lyonya has been revealed as Kieri Phelan, a formidable mercenary captain who earned a title—and enemies—in the neighboring kingdom of Tsaia. Now, as Kieri ascends a throne he never sought, he must come to terms with his own half-elven heritage while protecting his new kingdom from his old enemies—and those he has not yet discovered.

Meanwhile, in Tsaia, Prince Mikeli prepares for his own coronation. But when an assassination attempt nearly succeeds, Mikeli suddenly faces the threat of a coup. Acting swiftly, Mikeli strikes at the powerful family behind the attack: the Verrakaien, magelords possessing ancient sorcery, steeped in death and evil. Mikeli’s survival—and that of Tsaia—depend on the only Verrakai whose magery is not tainted with innocent blood.

Two kings stand at a pivotal point in the history of their worlds. For dark forces are gathering against them, knit in a secret conspiracy more sinister—and far more ancient—than they can imagine. And even Paks may find her gods-given magic and peerless fighting skills stretched to the limit—and beyond.

Petrodor by Joel Shepherd

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Book two in the quartet A Trial of Blood & Steel picks up the story of the brave and independent heroine, Sasha, now living in the port city of Petrodor. Away from the hills of her Lenayin homeland, Sasha is making a new life in the dark alleys and wealthy houses of Petrodor. An influential trading centre, Petrodor holds the key to preventing the coming war between Lenayin and the mighty Bacosh. Together with her old mentor Kessligh, Sasha attempts to navigate the political intrigues of the port city and find a way to stop the war. It is the serrin, the beautiful but dangerous people from beyond the Bacosh, who will be the pivotal point in this struggle. How much can Sasha trust her old serrin friend Errollyn? And how much can she trust herself?

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Backlash by Aaron Allston

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Repercussions from the dark side’s fatal seduction of Jacen Solo and the mysterious plague of madness afflicting young Jedi continue to wreak havoc galaxy-wide. Having narrowly escaped the deranged Force worshippers known as the Mind Walkers and a deadly Sith hit squad, Luke and Ben Skywalker are in pursuit of the now Masterless Sith apprentice. It is a chase that leads to the forbidding planet Dathomir, where an enclave of powerful dark side Force-wielders will give Vestara the edge she needs to escape—and where the Skywalkers will be forced into combat for their quarry and their lives.

Meanwhile, Han and Leia have completed their own desperate mission, shuttling madness-stricken Jedi from Coruscant to safe haven in the Transitory Mists and beyond the grasp of Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala. But the bold maneuver has intensified Daala’s fury, and she is determined to shatter Jedi Order resistance once and for all.

Yet no greater threat exists than that which still waits in the depths of the distant Maw Cluster: A being of pure, ravenous dark-side energy named Abeloth calls out across the stars to Jedi and Sith alike. For some it may be the ultimate source of answers crucial to their survival. For others it could be the ultimate weapon of conquest. But for all, it is a game-changing—and life-altering—encounter of untold magnitude and a tactical gambit with unimaginable consequences.

More in Parts I and II

My first blog entry over at Tor.com plays the game "Six Degrees of Michael Moorcock."

I establish connections between Moorcock and Kevin Bacon, H. P. Lovecraft, William Shakespeare, Britney Spears(!), Will Eisner, Danielle Steele, and Billie Holliday.

This was a fun one to write and research.

Scott Shaw’s sensational Comic Book Gorillarama bills itself as "The Temple of Four-Colour Simian Worship!" The biographies of simian stars, notable first appearances, and other features/histories alone constitute enough ape love to justify Shaw’s pronouncement. Then there are the galleries.

With nearly 500(!) simian covers, Comic Book Gorillarama offers the largest such collection that this ape fan has ever seen.

The famous:

Strange Adventures #8 by J. Winslow Mortimer (May, 1951)

The obscure:

Web of Evil #9 (December, 1953)

The very old:

Mischievous Monks of Crocodile Isle by F.r. Morgan (1908) The first appearance of a simian in a comic

And the odd:

Dorothy Lamour, Jungle Princess #3 (August, 1950)

As if this wasn’t enough, Shaw demonstrates his extraordinary ape geekitude with the impressive Ape Art Show, featuring a wide array of incredible artists including Jeff Jones, Frank Cho, Don Marquez, Mike Mignola, Carmine Infantino, Arthur Adams, and Frank Frazetta.

Click on images to enlarge

Frank Frazetta

Don Marquez

Arthur Adams

Mike Mignolia

Enough of me. Swing on over to Shaw’s paean to the comic book simian, the incredible Comic Book Gorillarama.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Ares Express by Ian McDonald

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A Mars of the imagination, like no other, in a colorful, witty SF novel, taking place in the kaleidoscopic future of Ian McDonald’s Desolation Road, Ares Express is set on a terraformed Mars where fusion-powered locomotives run along the network of rails that is the planet’s circulatory system and artificial intelligences reconfigure reality billions of times each second. One young woman, Sweetness Octave Glorious-Honeybun Asiim 12th, becomes the person upon whom the future—or futures—of Mars depends. Big, picaresque, funny; taking the Mars of Ray Bradbury and the more recent, terraformed Marses of authors such as Kim Stanley Robinson and Greg Bear, Ares Express is a wild and woolly magic-realist SF novel, featuring lots of bizarre philosophies, strange, mind-stretching ideas, and trains as big as city blocks.

Law Abiding Citizen

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Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is an upstanding family man whose wife and daughter are brutally murdered during a home invasion. When the killers are caught, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), a hotshot young Philadelphia prosecutor, is assigned to the case. Over his objections, Nick is forced by his boss to offer one of the suspects a light sentence in exchange for testifying against his accomplice. Fast forward ten years. The man who got away with murder is found dead and Clyde Shelton admits his guilt. Then he issues a warning to Nick: Either fix the flawed justice system, or key players in the trial will die. Soon Shelton follows through on his threats, orchestrating from his jail cell a string of spectacularly diabolical assassinations that can be neither predicted nor prevented. Only Nick can stop the killing and finds himself in a desperate race against time facing a deadly adversary who seems always to be one step ahead.

Legends:The Enchanted Issue #0 by Nick Percival

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Following the same standard for our debut miniseries Hercules: The Thracian Wars and Caliber: First Canon of Justice, Radical Publishing presents a special $1 introductory issue for the upcoming hardcover graphic novel by award-winning illustrator Nick Percival (Dead of Night).

You think you know them… Think again!

Violently ripped from the pages of folklore emerge the Enchanted, supernatural immortals living in a dark, steampunk, creature-infested world where nature, technology and foul magic are in constant conflict. When the twisted, burnt remains of the half-wooden, half-mechanical warrior, Pinocchio are discovered, wolf-hunter Red Hood and giant-killer Jack realize the fragile rules of their existence have been shattered. With the help of the other Enchanted (the mercenary Goldilocks and psychic exterminators Hansel and Gretel), Jack and Red team up on an adventure to stop whatever, or whoever, is destroying their powers and murdering their kind.

More in Part II

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Aladdin: Legacy of the Lost Issue One Written by Ian Edginton Art by Patrick Reilly

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From the mystical city of Shambhalla to the ends of the Earth comes a tale of magic, mystery and the motivations of power. It is the world of Ala ad-Din, better known as ALADDIN.

Thief, gambler, liar and cheat, Aladdin’s reckless soul falls under the eye of the sorcerer Qassim, who has spent his life scouring the sands for the Dreaming Jewel. This lost relic of shattering power will enable Qassim to steal the magic of the Djinn of the Lamp and reshape the world in his own malicious design. But to do so, he requires a mystical ability carried within Aladdin’s blood…power that not even Aladdin himself knows about. An epic adventure that twists the classic saga into dark, unexplored territories with multi-Eisner nominated writer Ian Edginton!

Dragonfly Falling (Shadows of the Apt 2) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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Two young companions, Totho and Salma, arrive at Tark to spy on the menacing Wasp army, but are there mistakenly apprehended as enemy agents. By the time they are freed, the city is already under siege. Over in the imperial capital the young emperor, Alvdan, is becoming captivated by a remarkable slave, the vampiric Uctebri, who claims he knows of magic that can grant eternal life. In Collegium, meanwhile, Stenwold is still trying to persuade the city magnates to take seriously the Wasp Empire’s imminent threat to their survival. In a colorful drama involving mass warfare and personal combat, a small group of heroes must stand up against what seems like an unstoppable force. This volume continues the story that so brilliantly unfolded in Empire in Black and Gold – and the action is still non-stop.

The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: The 11½ Anniversary Edition Written by Mike Krahulik Art by Jerry Holkins

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> open book

The book is now open.

> read book

Entitled The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade, it details the history of a comic strip called Penny Arcade. The comic appears to catalog the lives of two young men who are utterly steeped in popular culture.

Each chapter gathers into a coherent beam of savory trivia, strange facts, formerly mysterious origins, biographical information, interviews, inaugural conventions, an unlikely charity, and comic strips. You get the sense that some of the content may be apocryphal—for example, the part where they eat a whole wolf basically comes out of nowhere. Also, if one of them really did become “King of the Britons,” you’re sure you would have heard about it somewhere else.

> close book

You close the book and place it back on the shelf. Maybe next time.

More in Part I

I certainly have made it no secret that I am one of approximately 400,000 Americans (2.5 million worldwide) afflicted with multiple sclerosis. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society offers perhaps the best overall definition of the disease.

The NMSS does far more than define MS. They provide news, education, and material support for MS sufferers (I received my first cane through them). The group spearheads research efforts, offering grants and the like. The non-profit organization relies completely on donations to fund their philanthropic endeavors. Along these lines, the MS sponsors several annual fundraising events, most notably the regional Walk MS and Bike MS.

The 150 mile two-day ride from Houston to Austin (the MS 150) has become a staple April cycling event with thousands of regional participants. The only downside to the riders is the contacting your friends to beg for money. Worthy cause or not, it sucks.

Tim League, founder of the extraordinary Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, came up with this unique solution.

It’s that kind of creative thinking that placed the Alamo Drafthouse at #1 on Entertainment Weekly‘s 2005 list of "10 Theaters doing it right." And yet another reason that the Alamo Drafthouse is my favorite movie theater.

To order tickets or learn more about this event, visit the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

How to Defeat Your Own Clone: And Other Tips for Surviving the Biotech Revolution by Kyle Kurpinski and Terry D. Johnson

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Send in the clones! On second thought, maybe not.

CAN IT READ MY MIND?
WILL IT BE EVIL?
HOW DO I STOP IT?

Find out the answers to these and other burning questions in this funny, informative, and ingenious book from two bioengineering experts who show you how to survive—and thrive—in a new age of truly weird science.
For decades, science fiction has been alerting us to the wonders and perils of our biotech future—from the prospects of gene therapy to the pitfalls of biological warfare. Now that future looms before us. Don’t panic! This book is all you need to prepare for the new world that awaits us, providing indispensable cautionary advice on topics such as

• bioenhancements: They’re not just for cyborgs anymore.
• DNA sequencing and fingerprinting: What’s scarier than the government having your DNA on file? Try having it posted on the Internet.
• human cloning: Just like you, only stronger, smarter, and more attractive. In other words: more dangerous.

Our future may be populated by designer babies, genetically enhanced supersoldiers, and one (or more!) of your genetic duplicates, but all is not lost. How to Defeat Your Own Clone is the ultimate survival guide to what lies ahead. Just remember the first rule of engagement: Don’t ever let your clone read this book!

Shadowline: Starfishers Trilogy Volume One by Glen Cook

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The vendetta in space had started centuries before "Mouse" Storm was born with his grandfather’s raid on the planet Prefactlas, the blood bath that freed the human slaves from their Sangaree masters. But one Sangaree survived – the young Norborn heir, the man who swore vengeance on the Storm family and their soldiers, in a carefully mapped plot that would take generations to fulfill. Now Mouse’s father Gneaus must fight for an El Dorado of wealth on the burning half of the planet Blackworld. As the great private armies of all space clash on the narrow Shadowline that divides inferno from life-sheltering shade, Gneaus’ half- brother Michael plays his traitorous games, and a man called Death pulls the deadly strings that threaten to entrap them all – as the Starfishers Trilogy begins.

Star Wars Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth by Karen Miller

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Planet by planet, darkness creeps across the galaxy. Among warriors and generals, among ordinary beings living in far-flung worlds, the fear will not go away: We are losing this war. . . .

Anakin Skywalker feels it, too. The Separatist Alliance, with ruthlessness and treachery, is beating the Republic to every strategic target. But after a costly clash with General Grievous for the planet Kothlis, Anakin has a mission that will focus his anxious mind. Alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi, he is posing as a long-lost native of Lanteeb, an impoverished world on the Outer Rim. This seemingly unimportant planet has drawn the interest of the Seps—and Anakin and Obi-Wan soon discover the disturbing reason: A scientist enslaved by General Lok Durd is drawing on Lanteeb’s one natural resource for a devastating bioweapon. Now Anakin and Obi-Wan have entered the eye of a storm. Their presence has been exposed, Lok Durd’s plans unveiled, and a fight has begun for survival behind enemy lines—and a chance of winning a war that must be fought at any cost.

Chill by Elizabeth Bear

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Sometimes the greatest sin is survival.

The generation ship Jacob’s Ladder has barely survived cataclysms from without and within. Now, riding the shock wave of a nova blast toward an uncertain destiny, the damaged ship—the only world its inhabitants have ever known—remains a war zone. Even as Perceval, the new captain, struggles to come to terms with the traumas of her recent past, the remnants of rebellion aboard the ship still threaten the crew’s survival.

Yet as Perceval’s relatives Tristen and Benedick play a deadly game of cat and mouse in pursuit of a traitor through a vast ship that is renewing itself in strange and dangerous ways, an even more insidious threat is building in a place no one ever thought to look. And this implacable enemy could change the face of the ship forever if a ragtag band of heroes cannot stop it.

More in Part II