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Futurama returns! Two years after being cancelled by Fox, new Futurama content is realised in the form of the first of four feature length, straight-to-DVD (and torrent) episodes. Fox are satirised brutally (and in no subtle way - Planet Express are described as having been shut down by the “Box Delivery Network”) in the first few minutes of the film.

In the story, Planet Express (and later, Earth) are taken over by Internet-scammers, who in the process discover a method of travelling back in time. This produces a convoluted series of events involving multiple versions of several characters (most notably Fry, who essentially has two plotlines), but everything ties together beautifully by the end. None of the familiar style of humour is lost, although there is possibly less real-world satire.

I was also impressed with the number of references to previous episodes and the number of previous (often rather minor) characters featured. A selection: Scruffy, LaBarbara, Dwight, Nibbler & the Nibblonians, the space god, Barbados slim, Hedonism bot, Bubblegum Tate and the Globetrotters, Elzar, Michelle, Al Gore, Seymour, Mr. Panucci, Horrible Gelatinous Blob, Morbo & Linda, Tinny Tim, Robot Santa, “welcome to the world of tomorrow” guy, the Robot Devil, Leela’s parents, Hypnotoad, Richard Nixon & Agnew, Kwanza bot, Zapp & Kif, Cubert, Sal^w and the Robot Mafia.

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This is, to my knowledge, Banks’ first science fiction novel which takes him away from his “Culture” universe. This was alarming at first, since we associate his SF with the Culture, but here there is enough background material packed into one book to create an equally vibrate world (or, rather, galaxy).

Here we find the hero (”Fassin Taak”) is summoned to a distant world to find a long lost piece of information which is thought will help his people in an imminant war. Most of the story deals with this; but perhaps feeling that he needs to match the depth he provides in the culture novels, Banks provides a wealth of context for his characters. Taak’s experiences in childhood are used to introduce relevant characters, and every new race is described with such detail (down to the political and social levels) that the reader feels comfortable in understanding them.

As usual, it’s hard not to be drawn in to the authors imagination - this is an epic story, stretching from the tiniest nuaces of people interaction to galaxy-wide war - and it just makes you wonder what was left out. If this much detail has been crammed into a single volume, there must be so much more Banks could have included, and you’re left wanting even more.

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Isaac Asimov collects some of his favourite stories from before the ‘Golden Age’, which apparently began in 1938 when John Campbell became editor of Astounding Science Fiction.
While I’m always interested in science fiction, and especially anything Isaac Asimov has to say about it, I found it difficult to enjoy any of the stories presented here. They are littered with scientific inaccuracies, the writing style grates, and often the content is just uninspired. In his own notes which accompany each example, Asimov readily acknowledges all this, yet says that (for whatever reason) they hold sentimental value to him and therefore merit inclusion. In this way it is a very self-indulgant collection.

Originally published as one huge book, it has since been republished as four smaller volumes. Having read the first I can’t say I’m inspired to read the other three.

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A triumph of imagination and imagery - Niven’s depiction of the vast scale of the locations encountered in the story is humbling, the perfect background setting for a far-future space adventure!
I was less thrilled with the human (maybe that’s not an appropriate word, only two of the four lead characters are human - let’s say corporeal) aspects of the story… if once they seemed fantastical, to me they just felt secondary to the yarn itself and to the graphical descriptions.

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Earth Abides tells the tale of a just-post apocalyptic world, one in which all but very few humans have been destroyed by disease. The story follows Ish, and describes how he copes with the changes. Then later, his efforts to rebuild civilisation.

The text uses a charming mix of scientific speculation, (describing how both the natural and man-made worlds will change with the absence of humans), and some searching character descriptions.

The imagination displayed here is impressive, but the down to Earth style makes you realise the ideas are largely born from the authors observations of the world around him, and his wondering: what if..?

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I read the book of The War of the Worlds last year since they were giving it away free with the Guardian, but felt no real compulsion to see the film until the chance came around recently.

While the book seemed fantastic, the film just seems farcical. Between the cheesy special effects and the unbelievable characters, this movie served only to annoy me. By trying to tie in a “modern dysfunctional family” story, the sci-fi story is missing*, and replaced with, nothing. So many features of the tale told in the film were simply implausible (ignoring that the plot itself deals with an alien invasion) – so, Tom Cruise has the only car? And there are just a couple of guns? Even the vague Donnie Darko reference couldn’t save this disgrace. H.G. Wells would’ve cried.

*indeed, all the worthwhile science fiction elements seem to be missing.

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Maybe I’m a couple of years late, but I’d still like to add my voice to those hordes asking: why was Firefly^w cancelled?
One of the best sci-fi TV shows in years, with a rich background universe, an exciting and understandable continuing plot (rebels undermine the evil and all-controlling alliance), and characters who inject a dose of humanity into everything. Then it gets scrapped after one series, what a disgrace.

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Been reading a lot lately, perhaps more than I should have been considering I have four exams this month, but this is how it goes.

Firstly, two sides of Iain (M.) Banks, with The Wasp Factory having been released under the name Iain Banks, and Use Of Weapons under the name Iain M. Banks. Friends have described Banks as pretentious for making a subtle distinction between the two writing styles he employs (broadly, “M. Banks” writes science fiction, plain old “Banks” does not), but I like the idea that he employs two personae for his books, yet through the similarities in the names used he is open that they are the same person.

Anyway, two fabulous books: firstly The Wasp Factory is widely (and rightly) regarded a modern classic. It’s tense, and mysterious in an understated way – it’s not really a thriller in the sense that the author is holding back information on purpose, more that the style of narration means that new information is portioned out slowly, allowing the plot to benefit from the reader’s ignorance. I was gripped until the last with this.

Use of Weapons also takes advantage of the authors ability to define the level of reader knowledge. Not a good book for one unused to Culture stories to start with, but a real treat for loyal readers. Though dealing with one continuous story, the novel is split into two halves, quickly alternating between chapters. In an clever twist however, one of the series of chapters are actually in reverse chronological order, meaning that the reader learns more and more about the sordid past of one of the characters as they go, thus gaining more insight for the rest of the story. Ingenious stuff, and another enjoyable read, but as I’ve said, perhaps not a good place to start one’s journey into the Culture.

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