Raymond K Rugg's Blog, page 9

June mash-up: Alistair Reynolds and Doctor Who

John DeNardo, blogger for Kirkus, posts about what's coming up in June for science fiction and fantasy books, and notes:

Alastair Reynolds adds to the world of Doctor Who tie-ins with Doctor Who: Harvest of Time, in which the Doctor must join forces with his arch-nemesis The Master to stop the invasion of an enemy alien race.

Alastair Reynolds and Doctor Who both have entries in the Handbook of Sales and Science Fiction, so it's really exciting to look forward to a Doctor Who story written by Reynolds. 

Doctor Who made Lesson 2 in the Handbook, with a sales lesson learned from Season 7, Episode 1, Asylum of the Daleks. 

And Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds was the source material for Lesson 25 in the Handbook of Sales and Science Fiction.

Read DeNardo's entire post on June SF.

SFX Master Ray Harryhausen passes

If you are old enough, or as we like to say, of a certain age, you can remember experiencing some of the movies that bring the truth to the phrase "movie magic," films like Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, and Clash of the Titans, films from special effects innovator Ray Harryhausen, who passed today in London, where he lived.  Just about the only other film that I can think of that had that real visual 'wow' was the first Star Wars. 

The NY Times obit is a good read, and while I think I once knew that The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms was
from a Ray Bradbury story, maybe I'm just making that up in my head.  Bradbury, BTW, is the source for Lesson #23 in The Handbook of Sales and Science Fiction.  He also wrote the forward to the book Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life.

The old is new again- Gatsby as an e-book

Digital Book World reports that F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is currently Number Three on the e-book bestseller list, up four spots from last week.  I don't doubt that the upcoming film release has a lot to do with driving interest in the book, but IMHO this also represents a new development in the industry.  Walk through it with me for a minute.

Imagine that this big blockbuster film full of pretty people is coming out soon, and the e-book does not exist.  The film drives interest in the book, and sales of the book see a jump.  But I think a lot of people would hit the used bookstore, the secondhand shop, or even their own box of books left over from high school or college, or visit the library, looking for The Great Gatsby, rather than pay cover price for a new copy. 

Now imagine our present reality, one in which there is an e-book version of The Great Gatsby available.  I can go online and pay five bucks for an e-book and it is on my Kindle or my laptop instantly, no haunting the secondhand bookstores required.  If I absolutely require a hardcopy, I can order a new paperback online for about the same price, and then pay the shipping on top of that, for a total of eight or nine dollars.   But if I just want to get it read before going to see the movie, the e-book will serve fine.

And I think this new wrinkle is why we're seeing The Great Gatsby performing so well on the e-book bestseller list.  Cheap and easy, and all those little dribs and drabs of cash flowing to the publisher, rather than the used and secondhand shops.  In fact, maybe even more money, because if I look for the book and can't find it used, perhaps I would just give up and see the movie without reading it; but the e-book is so easy, the very convenience of the transaction might drive the purchase.

Anyway, it's something to ponder.

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/self-published-titles-hang-tough-on-ebook-best-sellers-list/

Congrats and best wishes to Girl Genius

News from the Phil and Kaja Foglio front, happy birthday to Phil and many congratulations to Girl Genius for a pair of wins at the Steampunk Chronicle's Reader's Choice Awards:  Best Graphic Novel and Best Webcomic.  I'll link to their blog here [http://girlgeniusadventures.com/], and note that I heartily agree with Phil's line of reasoning, and if I ever do have to shuffle off this mortal coil (something I'm not entirely convinced of, thanks to Lazarus Long), I stipulate that the cause should be that I was hit by a spaceship.  Or maybe a single-vehicle accident of me crashing my spaceship.  That'll work, too.

Doctor Who, chugging toward happy 50th

Asylum of the Daleks introduced us to Jenna-Louise Coleman, and I have to say, I think the shows have gotten better and better with this mysterious new companion.  The photo to the left is from the official BBC Doctor Who Twitter feed https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho.  They've got some great pix there of Doctors old and new.  Check it out, let me know what you think of the direction of the series!

Steampunk in the classroom

The National Education Association blog has an entry on using Steampunk to encourage students to read.  The post is from February, but was mentioned and linked to in an e-mail bulletin sent out today.

I don't agree with a lot of the blogger's comments (like calling the song "A Whale of a Tale" from Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea lame, or saying that steam and other punk genres are not part of science fiction), but overall, he makes some interesting points.

Read the entry on the NEA's EdVoices blog.

Blade Runner Sketchbook on Issuu.com

Open Culture has a post about the Blade Runner sketchbook available on Issuu.com, with a link to the book on the free digital pub website.  Check out the original production designs for costumes, buildings, vehicles and more!

http://www.openculture.com/2011/12/blade_runner_sketchbook.html

Comicbook legend Infantino passes

Carmine Infantino, co-creator of the Barry Allen Flash, among tons of other credits and accomplishments, has died, reports The Onion's A.V. Club.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/rip-carmine-infantino-a-legendary-force-in-comic-b,96154/