Stardust, Short Story Sunday, And A Sad Article

I finally made it out to see Stardust tonight and I was so pleased with it! I can't wait for the DVD release of this movie now and I came home wanting to dive right back into the novel for the second time this year. The movie started out a bit rocky for me. It took me a little while to get out of critic mode. My main complaints were with the beginning of the movie in that it was too rushed, the every 9 years fair didn't exist (it was instead just a part of "Stormhold"), and all of Faerie became known as simply Stormhold...but I can overlook that with how wonderful the rest of the movie was done. Sure there were some other parts that weren't exactly like the book, but what movie is?

The casting was absolutely wonderful! Claire Daines as Yvaine was a perfect fit. She played the part wonderfully and I think they did a terrific job with translating her character onto the screen. Michelle Pfeifer deserves a nomination for her portrayal as Lamia. She did such an amazing job and I so looked forward to her screen time. Her final battle was superb. Charlie Cox as Trist(r)an was another great casting decision. This guy did such a great job with the part. Perfectly done. And Deniro...I was so leary about what they were doing with Captain Shakespeare, but it was....well, fabulous.

The ending, which I won't talk about, was totally different from the book...well not totally, but yes totally, you'll just have to see for yourself. But it worked for the movie version. I wish that they would have filmed the book ending as well to put on the DVD, but Neil has already said on his blog that they did not :(

All in all, I was very pleased with the movie, the special effects were amazing, the acting was top notch, and the story...well it's Gaiman! Entertainment at it's best. I loved it. For fans of the book, as hard as it is, go into it realizing that no book is going to translate perfectly to the screen...some changes are going to have to be made for the wider audience and for times sake. Just pretend that Peter Jackson didn't do such a good job with Lord of the Rings :p

Next topic: I've decided that I'm still adding stuff to the RIP Challenge! I'm also going to take up the additional peril of Short Story Sunday. For this peril, I'm going to be imbibing in the Wizards collection, which contains 18 stories by some amazing authors. This will work out nicely with 2 stories per Sunday, so I think I'm going to start that this Sunday! And it begins with the first chapter of Neil Gaiman's forthcoming The Graveyard Book!

And finally, I wanted to point everyone to this very disappointing article on CNN's website that you may have seen floating around on other people's blogs. It's an article about the reading habits of Americans. According to the article, "One in four Americans read no books last year". I couldn't believe that! That's so sad. The whole article is sad really. I sort of surround myself in this little book blogging bubble where everyone reads and forget how small of a chunk of the population we really are. It's unfortunate that more of us don't read. The "typical reader" of America....the person who actually does read, still only reads 4 books a year. Which I'm not complaining about, that's still wonderful! But it's so sad how unpopular reading has become. So I really, honestly want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone out there who does sponsor these reading challenges, or works as a librarian, or works in a bookstore, or writes, or reads, or recommends a book to a friend. It's important to keep books out there and to keep those minds working!

OK, I'm off my high horse :p

What Book Are You? and Who's Going to See Stardust?

I never do these little quiz things...or I should say that I do them, but never post them, but this one was just fun! Here's my results:

You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

I've never actually read Watership Down or seen the cartoon movie..I suppose that's another one that I should add to the list of classics to read.

So who's going to see Stardust tomorrow night?! I was going to go by myself, but I just realized that Megan's mom and little brother would probably love it, so I'm going to see if they want to go too. Yay! Finally!

More Stardust Stuff To Fill Requests!

After the post last night, a couple of people wanted to see what some of the interior art of Stardust looked like. I'm hoping that Mr. Vess and Mr. Gaiman wouldn't mind me showing it here as hopefully it will lead to more buyers ;) I found most of these by doing a quick Google search rather than taking photos of the book (I don't have a scanner). So here they are:

This one is one of the new pictures included in the back of the book and is one of my favorites. It is Yvaine (the star) singing with her sisters:Next up is another of my favorites because it's Tori Amos! Gaiman and Vess wanted to put Tori into the story, so she became a red tree...and here she is:This one is the print that I was talking about that I bought off of eBay that I want to get framed. It was also the cover of issue 3 of the initial release of the Stardust graphic novels:And here are just a couple more examples of images from the book. All together there are over 100 paintings and sketches. Really beautiful and diverse work. I hope that anyone who has the chance to pick it up cherishes it and enjoys it.

'Tis Mine At Last!

Out of boredom tonight, I decided to go to Barnes and Noble...big surprise there, right? I meandered my way over to the sci-fi/fantasy section (another big surprise there) and what do my eyes fall upon but the new hardcover Stardust! I am in love and I have a new favorite book! I'm going to have to disagree with Carl and Jeff here, but I have my reasons. I do agree that the pages are a bit thin and the quality could've been a bit better. I think the main reason I disagree though is because I've never owned an illustrated version of Stardust! With my B&N discount card, I got $8 off too, so I only paid $32...not much more than the soft cover version. However, I can understand how if you already own the $30 soft cover version you would be disappointed with this one. With that being said, here's why I wasn't disappointed being an illustrated Stardust virgin:

This book is gorgeous. I can't stop looking at it. The cover is beautiful as you can see and the picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. It's presented very well. The end pages are amazing. The detail that Charles Vess puts into his work never ceases to amaze me. I could stare at his work for hours. I can see now that this novel was indeed meant to be read as an illustrated novel and I will always recommend it to be read as one in the future. So beautiful.

I loved the extras in the back of the book. I agree that there could've been a bit more, but I loved what was there. The first is the original proposal that Gaiman and Vess wrote up and it's really neat! Gaiman wrote an updated note at the end commenting on how different the novel ended up being from what he originally perceived it to be and apparently Croup and Vandemar of Neverwhere fame were originally slated to be in Stardust! Interesting fact.

Next up are Vess' original sketches in progress for the four covers of the original comic book form releases of the novel. These were neat, but nothing overly exciting. I recently acquired a print of the cover for the third book from the San Diego Comic Con through eBay and I love it! Plan on getting that one framed.

And the next couple of sections, I absolutely love. There are six newly revealed scenes from Stardust and some more preliminary sketches that Vess did. My favorite new painting that Vess included is one of Yvaine singing with her sisters surrounded by faerie folk. Absolutely beautiful. There are also a couple of sketches for an unwritten Stardust sequel! As Vess says, there is no mention of when and if this will happen, but the idea is out there, and a couple of sketches have been done. And then there are 4 busts and the sculpture of Yvaine that's been shown on his website that should be released around the time of the movie.

I'm so happy with this purchase and I'm sure that I'll be staring at this book for days. Megan will surely be sick of me pointing out every little detail to her while I'm in Texas as I tend to do with things like this ;) Though she's a Gaiman fan too, so she should appreciate it!

I also picked up three other books while I was there! On Carl's recommendation and wonderful review, I had to get Annette Curtis Klause's Freaks: Alive, on the Inside. As he said, the cover is amazing. Looking forward to this one. Sounds like my kind of book. Because of Winn-Dixie should feed my Kate DiCamillo addiction for now as they still didn't have any copies of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. And finally, I picked up Bram Stoker's Dracula for the R.I.P. Challenge. B&N had all of there Classics on sale for 30% off, plus members get the extra 10% off. B&N does a great job with their hardcover editions of classics and I've always thought that they were a steal at $7.95...with the discount, it came out to only $5! Can't beat that.

Anyone else get any good books lately?

Merry Christm...er Neil Day!!

Last night I could not fall asleep. No, it was not because I kept thinking of all of the horrible things that the dentist was going to do to me this morning (which actually wasn't too bad), it was because of new Neil Gaiman books!! The long wait is over and I am now the proud owner of 2 (yes, only 2) brand new, hardcover, first edition, Neil Gaiman books.

The first is Interworld, a Young Adult novel written by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves and is apparently about a boy at war against himself in two different dimensions of reality. At least that is what I gather from the jacket flap. I may be totally wrong about that. We shall see.

The second book is M is for Magic and is a collection of short stories for children. Most of these have been published before, but it's a great collection and the cover is wonderful. I have another signed, numbered, limited edition of this book coming to me later from Subterranean Press!

A word to the wise. If you go to Barnes and Noble to buy these, don't freak out if you can't find them in the fantasy/sci-fi section. I found Interworld in the Teen section and M is for Magic in the Children's section. So I suggest you look there.

While in the children's section, I also picked up the last three books I need for the Newberry challenge. They are Bridge to Terabithia, The High Power of Lucky, and The Tale of Despereaux. All three look great and all are new to me except for Bridge which I read ages ago, so it might as well be new to me. So I now own all of the books for that challenge and can get started on it!

I couldn't find the new illustrated Stardust or the Stardust visual companion, but that's ok, because I couldn't afford them anyway! I spent enough money today as it is....thank God I signed up for B&N's members program when I had the money for that ;) But in other Stardust news, I'm happy to welcome Deslily to the Stardust ranks as she received her copy in the mail today...you're in for a treat! Also, Friends of English Magic (a wonderful site for Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman, and Charles Vess related news) has started a Stardust movie news blog! How cool. I suggest visiting it often ;)

It's Getting REAL Bad...And Disappointments

Chris did a bad, bad thing...not really. I went to Barnes and Noble. I did good though. I only bought three books and didn't spend a lot of money at all. The sign that it's getting bad though is that I'm buying books that I've already read and own! I bought another copy of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys because this one just looked so cool and it has a built in blue silk bookmark and it was only $5.98! I had to have it :p

I picked up Jasper Fforde's The Big Over Easy off the bargain table as well. I've been wanting to read this one for awhile too. It is an investigation into the murder of Humpty Dumpty and is the first book in his Nursery Crimes series. I know a lot of people who were disappointed by this book, but I had a friend who loved it, so I'll give it a try.

Finally, I picked up Stephen King's new book, Blaze which is written by his "alter-ego" Richard Bachman. Should be interesting. Sounds like typical King. I usually enjoy his books. Plus I had a coupon from B&N in my email for this one, so it was pretty cheap as well.

Now, the reason for me going to Barnes and Noble to begin with was because Amazon told me that today was the day when the new, hardcover, Charles Vess illustrated version of Neil Gaiman's Stardust was going to come out. So of course, I hardly got any sleep last night. It was like Christmas eve to me. Did it come out today...NO! I had this big post plan where there was going to be pictures of the book with poppets looking up and Handel's Messiah playing in the background while your computer radiated a yellow glow and Yvaine would fall from the sky and plant a kiss on you (or for you ladies, Tristran would stumble through the door and fall into your lap and plant a kiss on you) and all would be well in the world. But I'm sorry kind readers, none of that can happen, because the book is not available today.

I leave you with two other things that upset me. Darla D. wrote a post yesterday about the banning of a summer library program for children that sounded amazing. Read about it here. Made me very upset. Stephanie wrote a post today about this horrible article that once again visited the debate of book bloggers vs. "professional" book reviewers. Read that one here. Also upset me.

Good day to all of you!

And right as I was about to hit "Publish Post", all these came in the mail :D This was the under $30 pile I mentioned last week!

Bodies Are Good Again And Other Things...

I'm feeling so much better today and the problems of the past week seem to have remedied themselves. Thanks for all of the well wishes. Funny how things work themselves out in times of panic. I was down playing my problem a little bit yesterday and it was worrying me more than I shared, but alas, I am well, and all is good in my temple.

Enough mushy stuff...Fun stuff! I got the best present of the year so far in the mail today! Little Pink arrived in the mail and she blew me away. Lisa Snellings-Clark continues to amaze me with her creations. I was imagining something just a little bigger than a little red and slightly more detailed, but nothing like this. It is absolutely amazing. It's my favorite piece of hers that I own next to my Harlequin named Lucient. Here is her picture. As soon as I find a better place to display her, I'll take a better picture. For now, she's cluttered amongst some Buddhas:
I've had the privilege of knowing Carl V. at Stainless Steel Droppings since January of this year and since then I've been introduced to some amazing artists and authors. Carl's a great blogger and shares his passion of the fantastic with other fans out there and has always done a great job of doing so. Well lately, his posts have become even more impressive! Now we're getting interviews with the authors and artists! First it was a wonderful interview with Colleen Gleason and today's Friday Favorites post brings an interview with an amazing artist by the name of Jason Walker. Jason's art put me at a loss for words. His paintings are so lifelike, so much emotion put into the faces of his subjects. His painting remind me of the sculptor Ron Mueck who is known for his lifelike sculptures. Truly inspiring. He's done work recently on a stop-motion short film called Madame Tutli Putli which looks incredible! His job included transposing human eyes over the eyes of a puppet for the film. Wow! Can't wait to see this. You must read Carl's post. It's great.

Charles Vess has posted on the opening of the Stardust Rising exhibition at the William King Regional Arts Center and I'm acting like a big baby and crying about it screaming "I wanna go." It looks amazing. Included is 35 of his original paintings. Some of the new paintings. Neil's original manuscript, a reproduction of Charles' workspace, the original sculpture of Yvaine that will be produced by DC Comics later in the year, and so much more. It looks incredible and I would give anything to be able to go. If I had a little bit of extra money, I would jump on a plane so quick and be there immediately. Pop over to his blog and read up on it. Great post with wonderful pictures!.

Amy Reads has posted a very fun post this week for all of you fanboys and fangirls out there. It's 50 Things I Love About Superhero Comics. Amy's blog is great :) She's always writing about her love of comics, tv, and pop-culture and puts a wonderfully intelligent twist on it. Always a joy to read.

If you STILL haven't bought Colleen Gleason's new book after all of the advertising I've done for it this week, well here's even more reason to do so. Through her blog, she's posted a link to a Border's coupon to get $1 off the book that's only $6.99 to begin with! So go get it already! It's great!

And FINALLY, I read that Sean Connery announced that he will not return to play Indy's dad for Indiana Jones 4. He's just enjoying retirement too much. I read this at isnnews.net. This is an awesome site that I visit daily. It started as a Babylon 5 fansite and has now expanded to a Sci-fi/fantasy new site. It has updated news every day along with dvd release news, tv schedules for the day, comic news, magazine news, etc., etc. I suggest adding it to your bookmarks.

Ok, that's all...I promise.

A Night of Moving and Web Wanderings

I'd like to make this short and sweet since I should be sleeping, but I know it's not going to be.

I have to wake up once again at 6:30 tomorrow morning for a 14 hour shift...so chances are there won't be any blogging tomorrow night.

After a long but rewarding work day, we decided to go to my Gram's house to take more stuff out of storage since Katrina. Lord knows when we'll be in a real house again, but this rental is at least a little bit bigger, so I can fit some of my prized possessions. Tonight I got the rest of my books :D, my entire comic book collection :D, the rest of my Buddhas :D, and some other little knick knacks that I was missing. So I'm feeling pretty good about having all of my old friends back. I also stumbled across an old school bag that was packed with all of my old poetry and journals. Kind of scared to read those, but looking forward to it at the same time.

On to web wanderings....Quite a few cool things that I found today.

Needless to say, number one on the agenda is the Stardust trailer. It's wonderful! I'm a little less nervous about the movie now. I can see that a few things have been spritzed up from the novel, but I'll have to let little things slide I guess. The one that bugged me for some reason (I really have no clue why) is the little special effect they put in when Tristran crossed through the wall. That little wavy thing. The actors look great...they seemed to have picked the perfect cast. Can't wait to see it...looks much better than what I imagined.

The next thing I found is a new anthology coming out on May 1st that looks incredible. It's a collection of short stories entitled Wizards: Magical Tales From the Masters of Modern Fantasy. The table of contents is as follows (and what an incredible one it is):

The Witch's Headstone, by Neil Gaiman
Holly and Iron, by Garth Nix
Color Vision, by Mary Rosenblum
The Ruby Incomparable, by Kage Baker
A Fowl Tale, by Eoin Colfer
Slipping Sideways Through Eternity, by Jane Yolen
The Stranger's Hands, by Tad Williams
Naming Day, by Patricia A. McKillip
Winter's Wife, by Elizabeth Hand
A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or The Devil's Ninth Question, by Andy Duncan
Barrens Dancing, by Peter S. Beagle
Stone Man, by Nancy Kress
The Manticore Spell, by Jeffrey Ford
Zinder, by Tanith Lee
Billy and the Wizard, by Terry Bisson
The Magikkers, by Terry Dowling
The Magic Animal, by Gene Wolfe
Stonefather, by Orson Scott Card

Carl V. at Stainless Steel Droppings is beginning an incredible challenge on Monday that I think everyone should participate in. It's the Fantasy and Fairytale challenge. He's releasing all of the details on Monday. It's not just a normal challenge though. While the challenge is going on he's offered us Friday Favorites (his weekly art post) that include plenty of fantasy artists, essays on music, film, and books that relate to fantasy, and wonderful discussion on the topic. Can't wait for this one! I think I'll do Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn as one of my books since I always wanted to read that. Feel free to make some suggestions to me if you're a fantasy reader. Always looking for new stuff.

And last but not least, Tori Amos has released the details on her new album American Doll Posse over at her website and it looks to be another great one. A world tour is following the release.

Working Out and Job Search

After much complaining and whining "do i have to?" to myself, I finally got my butt to the gym today. And it felt great! I wasn't as out of shape as I thought I would be. I remember the first time I ever did the elliptical, I thought I was having a heart attack after like 3 minutes. I managed to go my normal 33 minutes (330 calories) today without a problem. I just really need to do something to get in shape before Mexico. That may be a lost cause at this point, but hopefully I can get rid of some of this gut. I don't want to be mistaken for a beached whale.

Jroy has been my motivation for this. She's done incredible. She lost tons of weight and is now in the "toning up" phase. I wish our gym offered classes like hers does, but I guess I can't complain. I pay less than $30/month and it's 24 hour access. I do like my gym, but I would rather like it to have workout classes.

Speaking of workout, there's an excellent show on Bravo! called Workout. I watched it last season, and the new season started on Monday. It's basically a show about a personal trainer who opened up her own high end fitness center. It focuses around her, her girlfriend, her trainers, and her clients. Great show and a great motivator.

After I had just about given up on the high school counselor position, I get a call from them. I don't know what to do now. I have a job offer at the hospital I'm at now, and I think I want to take it, but I think that maybe I should go on the interview at the high school as well. I don't know. I had sort of convinced myself that I didn't want the job. The job consists of mostly scheduling classes for the kids and not too much counseling. I really want a job that focuses on the counseling. What to do, what to do. I'll figure it out.

I'm also considering putting of the CRC exam (certified rehabilitation counselor) until October. I'm registered to take it in April, but I don't know when the hell I would have time to study. I could also put off the CEU's for awhile if I wait until October. I most likely won't even use that credential. The credentials I want are my LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) and NCC (Nationally Certified Counselor). Those are what I would need to do any kind of private practice counseling, which is what I ultimately want to do.

In other quick news, Neil Gaiman has announced that tomorrow will see the release of the Stardust trailer...yay!!

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

It really doesn't get much better than this. Stardust is everything that a fantasy lover, a romantic, a historian, an astronomer, a lover of books could possibly want. Gaiman has never disapointed me and has always over exceeded my expectations. Stardust is no exception to this.

Stardust is the beautiful story of Tristran Thorn and a fallen star. The story takes place in the village of Wall, but mostly in Faerie, located right outside of Wall. Every nine years, the inhabitants and creatures of the land of Faerie host a market right outside of Wall. People come from all over the world to visit the market where all sorts of magical things are traded for promises and contracts. Young Tristran Thorn is a product of this market as the reader will discover in the early chapters. Tristran falls in love with Victoria Forester, and on one night vows that if she will marry him, he will retrieve a fallen star that has fallen into Faerie. Stardust is the story of finding that star.

Tristran is not the only person looking for the fallen star. There are three princes who's right to the throne depends on finding the star and there is a witch who seeks the star so that she may gain the beauty of youth. It is Tristran who finds the star first and we find that the star is a beautiful woman named Yvaine. I'll leave the rest of the thrilling, warm, romantic, awe inspiring story to the reader.

Stardust is one of the most magical books I have read in a long time. Gaiman has an amazing ability as an author to pick the perfect word each and every time. I felt a warmth inside the whole time I read this book. It's absolutely beautiful and everything that fantasy should be. He has a gift like no other when it comes to his power with words and ideas. This is very much a classic fairytale, but at the same time, he makes it just not another fairytale. There are witches, princesses, spells, talking things that don't normally talk, castles, revenge, romance, yet it is such a beautifully unique book.

There is another version of this book that was illustrated by the amazing Charles Vess that was published in 1999, and I would love to get my hands on that. Gaiman and Vess are releasing yet another version of Stardust on May 2nd with all new illustrations that will be published by Vertigo.

In addition, we can all look forward to Stardust the movie to debut in August I believe. I can't wait to see this movie on the screen, but at the same time, I have my apprehensions. I'm having a hard time picturing Michelle Pfeifer as the witch and with Robert DeNiro as anything at all. But I have no doubt at the same time that I shall enjoy it.

Add this book to your collection if you don't already have it. It's a beautiful story that you'll want to start all over again as soon as you turn the last page.

A Long Overdue Sick Day AKA Tons of Cool News

Due to maybe a fever and mostly horrible sinus pain, I decided to have a day of rest. And it has been most appreciated so far.

I woke up feeling horrible and sneezing my head off, but still got dressed and headed to work. After getting my coffee and still not feeling better, I decided that I would be doing myself a favor by taking the day off, and I've made it quite an enjoyable day off.

First things first, I went and finally got my passport. I've been needing to do that for awhile, so I finally got my butt to the post office and payed an arm and a leg for a passport that should be here in 6-8 weeks.

Came home for a little while, layed in bed and read some of Stardust, which is wonderful so far. Gaiman never fails.

While laying in bed, I saw on CNN that Marvel is killing Captain America in the latest issues that hit the stands today, so I decided to stop on by the local comic shop and check it out. I haven't been to the comic books store in probably two years now, and it was great to go back, but I don't think I have the finances to support that habit again.

While I was there, I picked up the Captain America issue in which he does in fact die. However, I recommend that you also get Civil War: The Initiative #1. Not saying anything, just get that as well. All the marvel books are kind of combined into one right now with this whole "civil war" series. I also picked up old favorites Ultimate Spiderman and Ultimate X-Men which are still as great as when they first appeared on the shelves as well as the first 2 Dark Tower books, a 7 issue run of the Stephen King series that Marvel is putting out. The artwork for the Dark Tower books is done by Jae Lee and is really beautiful. While at the shop I also found Stardust fully illustrated by Charles Vess (the older version) but did not buy it because I didn't have the extra 20 bucks. A new version is being published soon though with all new illustrations by Vess.

I picked up a special movie issue of Wizard which has plenty of cool stuff in it, one of which is a feature story on the Stardust movie with quotes from Gaiman and Vess. Wizard published a list of 100 upcoming cool movies in the back. Many were surprises and many were movies that I have been looking forward to for awhile. Here are my favorites:

28 Weeks Later (sequel to 28 Days Later, May 11, 2007 (my b-day))
Batman: The Dark Knight (2008)
Books of Magic (Based on a comic written by Neil Gaiman)
Castlevania
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (May 16, 2008)
Coraline (Neil Gaiman)
Fraggle Rock: The Movie (Ahmet Zappa writing screenplay for Jim Henson Productions)
Halloween (directed by Rob Zombie, Oct 17, 2007)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (July 13, 2007)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Nov 21, 2008)
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (June 2008)
Indiana Jones 4
Jurassic Park IV
Magneto (yes, the Magneto)
Pirates of the Carribean: At Worlds's End (May 25, 2007)
Power of the Dark Crystal (Sequel to the Dark Crystal, in production at Jim Henson Productions, May 2008)
Resident Evil: Extinction (Sept 2007)
Shrek the Third (May 18, 2007)
The Simpsons Movie (July 27, 2007)
Spiderman 3 (May 4, 2007)
Star Trek XI (about the early days of Kirk and Spock, 2008)
STAR WARS TV!!!! (will run at least 100 episodes, set between eps III and IV, early years of Luke)
Wolverine (yes, the Wolverine, starring Hugh Jackman)
Wonder Woman (written and directed by Joss Whedon)

edit: also just saw from Reel Fanatic's blog that M. Night Shyamalan has a new movie entitled The Green Effect due out in 2008! His description is that "his new flick will be part-"War of the Worlds" sans aliens and part-"Soylent Green" madness."

One more piece of news...according to Locus Magazine's incredible online list of upcoming books, Orson Scott Card will release 2 more books in edition to SubPress' Space Boy. The first comes out in September. It's written by Card and Aaron Johnson, is published by TOR and is called Invasive Procedures....based on one of his short stories. The other one comes out in November and I've been looking forward to this one for 3 years. It's called War of Gifts, is published by TOR, and is basically "christmas in battle school"...an Ender's Game book.

That's all I've got....that's enough.