Felicia Day’s homegrown (and totally awesome) internet series The Guild recently wrapped filming on its third season, due to release later this summer. Production funds initially came solely from friends and fans and, of course, Ms. Day’s own pocket. But in their best move since releasing Win2k and merging with Nextel, respectively, Microsoft and Sprint now sponsor the show — with the caveat that creative control still rests firmly in the hands of Felicia and her evil minions.
Sadly, replicators aren’t standard in Earth kitchens. And we don’t live in the Star Wars universe where the only food we see onscreen is a pear flying through the air. Thankfully we’re not forced to choke down algae mash with our algae coffee every morning. But if you’ve ever had a hankering for the food you see in your favorite sci-fi or fantasy series, chances are someone’s come up with a recipe – many of which aren’t much harder to prepare than saying “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.”
You’re relaxing during your time off and an image of the opening credits of Star Wars: A New Hope scrolls through your mind. Or maybe it’s an image of ET’s glowing finger, the sound of Inigo Montoya saying “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die,” or an image of the Charlotte’s Web cover. All of these things remind me of my childhood and teenage years. I’ve loved sci-fi and fantasy as long as I can remember.
But how did it start? Did my parents guide me into sci-fi or did I just fall into it on my own? I may never know the answer, but it definitely made me think: How does one introduce children and young adults to the genre? Read on for a few suggestions from me and fellow GWCers!
Gamers know David Gaider for the great characters he’s created for popular games Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights. And now that he’s the lead writer on Bioware’s upcoming fantasy RPG Dragon Age: Origins he’s published his first novel (and prequel to the new game), Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne. It’s chock full of the usual fantasy trappings like elves, dwarves, mages, giant spiders, magic and sword fights, but its focus remains squarely in Gaider’s strength: developing the main characters.
Good news, GWC Harry Potter fans! Earning an astonishing $22.2 million dollars last night alone, the sixth installment of the hugely popular ‘Potter series obliterated the record for a midnight showing, eclipsing previous record holder The Dark Knight by a whopping $4 million.
Dark Knight nabbed the record last summer with a midnight release gross of $18 million, edging out Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith, which earned $17 million for its late-night release in May 2005. Half-Blood Prince also nearly doubled the midnight gross of the series’ previous installment Order of the Phoenix, which earned $12 million opening night. Go, Harry!
Potter 6 Opens Huge With $22.2 Million Midnight Take [SciFi Wire]
In 1940 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, three writers — Jorge Luis Borges, Silvina Ocampo, and Adolfo Bioy Casares — published an anthology of fantastic fiction, Antología de la Literatura Fantástica, much of it what today would be considered literary fantasy, and much of it translated to Spanish from other languages, mainly English. When the same anthology was re-edited in 1965, however, many of the new stories were originally written in Spanish. Borges, Ocampo, and Bioy Casares were all also authors of fantastic literature, as fantasy is usually termed in the context of Spanish American fiction, and the growing number of fellow-Argentines and Latin Americans writing fantasy throughout the twentieth century produced a very thoughtful, interesting, and challenging corpus of speculative fiction that is perhaps not as well-known as it deserves to be. Though not comprehensive, these suggestions can point an interested reader towards some stand-out Spanish-language (in English translation) stories and novels.
This week we watch Goblet of Fire and finish up our pre-Half-Blood Prince ‘Potter discussion. Highlights: we dive more into the various houses and their meanings, discover Chuck’s final sorting result, hear from Kristina Horner and listen to the music of The Parselmouths, note all the awesome new GWCer-generated content on the GWC Community Blog, discuss the similarity between the Death Eaters and real-life hate groups, love how the best battle advice Potter and friends receive is “hold your friends close,” enjoy Harry’s great relationship with Ron, wonder if all the wizards in France and witches in Bulgaria are MIA, dis on Ron’s dress robes, and take some great listener calls.
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Hollywood may turn out most of the big screen’s sci-fi/fantasy/horror films, but it isn’t exactly an exclusive relationship. In fact, many of the most unique (and occasionally offbeat) of these genre’s films come out of other nations’ studio systems. Unfortunately, due to the relationships between theater chains and major studios, a large percentage of these worthwhile flicks never reach your average cinerama.
With many of the summer blockbusters already behind us, the the long and dreary winter months are looming closer, taunting us with their lack of major releases. Why not dust off the ol’ Netflix account and add these eight worthwhile flicks from the farthest corners of the planet. (Some are from the nearer corners, too.)
This week we jump into the Harry Potter ‘verse with both feet! Highlights: we relate our getting to know ‘Potter stories, draw inspiration from Harry’s rise from a humble childhood, talk values and concepts of leadership, enjoy experiencing the awesomely tight Harry Potter fandom, wrock out to wizard rocker Stephanie Anderson’s Tonks and the Aurors, hear Audra’s take on Wood’s hotness, hear Sean’s take on his favorite ‘Potter character (Mrs. Weasley), note Fred and George’s oft-overlooked magic prowess, love our first introduction to Hagrid, relate our failure to forgive Percy, discuss the beginnings of Hogwarts’ houses, hear Sean’s anti-Hufflepuff rant, express our desire to be Aurors, ask for help in sorting Chuck into his proper house, and generally enjoy the heck out of HP!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
I think Vampires and Vampire stories suffer from a bit of an image problem. Yeah I know, that sounds funny, but it’s true. I often hear people say Vampires are disgusting or that the stories are limited in their scope because all vamp tales are the same. In my most humble of opinions these are folks who must not have much imagination. There’s tons of badass stuff out there if you care to look, so I wanted to post up a quick slam course in Vampire and why they’re cool. Don’t worry, this won’t be too painful.
Generally we don’t cover a ton of fantasy on the cast but I’m a huge fan of anything with magic, swords or dragons in it. Legend of the Seeker has all three. As well as hot, Florentine fighting guardians, wise-cracking wizards and a sword that’s thousands of years old.
My favorite character is the afore mentioned wizard named Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander (Zed) who many years ago played the rather kooky chopper pilot Jedediah the Pilot from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. At first I wasn’t sure how he’d pull this type of role off but as it turns out he does a bang up job.
If you’re not a fan of the show let me give you some general info that might help you engage. First off, the style is very much like Xena or Hercules. It’s the same location and crew. The graphics/effects are better and the casting as I mentioned works out great. It’s a total fantasy type story. You know, a young lad learns about life, falls in love with a girl he can’t have and wields a magic sword in the name of justice and truth. The thing is, it works. Always has.
Swords and magic don’t do it for you eh? How about a Mord Sith? As I understand it they’re always on the lookout for a solid date and are willing to bring you back to their place. Of course there are a few down sides like excruciating pain, the torment of your friends and life in a dungeon – but on the whole it may be worth it… that outfit is killer.
Legend Of The Seeker [Website]
It’s a great thing when the virtual world lines up with our own real life personalities. Playing through on Fable II the second time (slightly less angelic than my last run) my character was recruited by the Assassination Society. One of the first contracts was my favorite.
This fine pic is a death warrant. The guild wanted this menace put down… publicly. My character was only too happy to oblige. What’s her crime? Always correcting other people’s grammer. [heartfelt sigh] This is a group of people after my own heart.
It was quite a pleasure to complete the contract. Laura – and her constant corrections – were silenced on the streets of Old Bowerstone with a single shot from my augmented master pistol. I totally had a Pulp Fiction moment. Standing there with my golden pistol shining in the sun with half a dozen witnesses looking on my character shouted, “Correct my pronunciation one more frakken time.” Then kicked off the safety and fulfilled the contract.
Let this stand as a notice to all those who relish this twisted practice, your time is at an end. The uneducated, unwashed, uncouth, bastard children of bad communication skills have something for you. And we deliver… publicly.
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