Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
This is it! Isaac Asimov’s Foundation will finally make it to visual media. After the rights passing through a few hands, they’ve finally made their way to HBO. Check out the entire article at The Wrap where Jonah Nolan talks about the new project. I’ll definitely keeping tabs on the development. No dates were given, so I’ll try to hold back most of my excitement until I hear more.
One thing I like to do before I review a book is to look up some Wiki pages and other reviews to get a feel for how others reacted to the book. First of all, the Wikipedia entry for this book was no help at all, so much so that I’m considering updating it myself. I’m glad I took some notes while I was reading. I ran across some very harsh reviews on Amazon that had I read beforehand, I might not have picked up this book. Quite a few of the die-hard fans said to read just the first third of the book and stop. After that point, many of the reviewers pointed out that it is fairly obvious that Lindskold deviated from Zelazny’s quick and witty formula.
I, however, loved Donnerjack. It is probably one of my favorite reads in the past few years. About seven years or so ago I enjoyed reading The Great Book of Amber by Zelazny. It was also one of my first exposures to fantasy along with the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. Later on I went on to read Lord of Light, also by Zelazny, which I also loved. I’ve also read This Immortal and finally Lord Demon, which is the other book of Zelany’s that Lindskold helped finish. Lord Demon was good, so I didn’t think twice before grabbing Donnerjack. I’ve also not read any Zelazny in the past 3-4 years, so I can’t say I was as aware of the change in writing style as others were. With that said, there was definitely a noticeable difference between Part I and Part II. Thinking back, I would almost say that they could have been split into two different books. (more…)
It looks like Hollywood just can’t get enough of Dune. I’m midway through my reading the novels written by Frank Herbert (currently on God Emperor of Dune), have seen the 1984 movie and Sci-Fi Channel Miniseries. I’m about to watch the Children of Dune Sci-Fi Miniseries and just ran across this bit of news about a new Dune movie.
Found via Variety, actor turned director Peter Berg is set to direct the next adaptation which doesn’t appear to have any type of ETA. Hopefully they will get good script writers that can be faithful to the book. Although the Sci-Fi Channel remake was more true to the book than the 1984, the special effects were pretty bad due to a low budget. Most of the backgrounds were simply matte paintings. I’d like to see a new movie that looks great and is also true to Frank Herbert’s vision.
I didn’t realize that Battlestar Galactica Season 4 technically started with the Razor double episode. I guess they needed to satisfy starving BSG fans because we’d have to wait until April this year for the rest of the season to pick up. I debated between waiting until season 4 was done, then watching season 1-4 back to back or just watch the new ones as they come out. I discussed this dilemma with my wife, and she suggested I just watch them as they come out, then I could do both. That sounded like a good plan, because I found I don’t have the willpower to wait. I’ve watched the first 2 episodes (following Razor), and I’m hooked once again. At the end of season 3 I was pretty sure who the last Cylon model was, but now anyone seems to be fair game. Many fans have whined about BSG ending with season 4, but I don’t agree with them. I’d rather have 4 good solid seasons than have it dragged out like Stargate SG-1. Check out Sci Fi Channel’s BSG page for more info, or the video page to watch the last 2 full episodes at Sci Fi Rewind. Actually, they have the last 3 episodes of season 3 as well. For Razor, you’ll have to catch it on TV, find recording, or check out the unrated extended dvd.