Category Archives: Mash up links

Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Links of the Week

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It’s Friday! Time to share my favorite links I found this week in the realm of science fiction and fantasy and then some. Enjoy!

  • First off, let’s have the baddest of the bad: A life-sized Darth Malgus. Yep, all 7 feet of him, complete with a glowing red lightsaber. However, at a price of $5,999.99, I’m afraid I’ll have to save my money for a while before this guy makes an appearance at my house. (Yeah, like hubby’s gonna go for that one! I can just hear the conversation now. “Hey, hon! I found the most awesome decoration for the corner of the front room…” Uh, huh.)
  • Are you a horror fan? Named for the inimitable author of Dracula, the winners of the 2011 Bram Stoker Awards were announced this week. If this is your cup of tea, maybe you’ll find new reading material here.
  • Percy Jackson news: The sequel to Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief movie, set to be released next year (2013), is based on Rick Riordan‘s second book in his Percy Jackson series. You can find more info here.
  • Free Wheel of Time wallpaper for your desktop is being released by Tor, featuring the ebook artwork for the series. The latest is for The Fires of Heaven. I saw this beautiful picture by Dan Dos Santos a while back and it’s always intrigued me.
  • Giveaway: Jill Williamson has posted an entry form to win a copy of Robert Liparulo‘s new supernatural suspense book, The 13th Tribe. I believe the deadline is April 9, 2012 at 8 p.m. (PST).

Here is an amazing bit of video shot from the Solid Rocket Booster of the Space Shuttle, complete with enhanced sound mixing by the people over at Skywalker Sound. This is actually an excerpt from the upcoming Special Edition Ascent: Commemorating Space Shuttle.

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Now for the jokes. With it being April Fool’s this week, there were lots of fun links to be had. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Now for one last trick. On April 1st, George Takei had an amazing announcement on his Facebook page, as shown below:

  

Have a great weekend, all!

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Best New Science Fiction and Fantasy Links of the Week

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This was one of those mornings where I couldn’t find matching comfy socks, but I couldn’t let that stand in the way of celebrating Friday! Time to kick off the weekend with my favorite links from this week. Enjoy! (and may you find matching socks.)

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Enjoy your weekend, everyone! See you next week.

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Links of the Week

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Woo hoo! It’s Friday! Time for my favorite links I found this week. Enjoy!

And here’s my favorite: a how-to video for those of you looking to improve your skills with a lightsaber. I found this tongue-in-cheek video absolutely hilarious.

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That’s it, folks! Have a great weekend!

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Links of the Week

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It’s Friday! Time for me to share my favorite links from this week. Prepare to smile, gasp, or clap. Ok, just kidding about that gasping and clapping bit, but I hope you enjoy them nonetheless.

  • Giveaway: Author Bradley P. Beaulieu is so excited about his new book, The Straits of Galabesh, coming out that he is having a big giveaway featuring Nooks, Kindles, signed books and more. The deadline is April 3, 2012.
  • What’s fantasy fiction without swords? Swordplay is so cool, even Jedi have to get in on the action. Mande Matthews has posted a few video clips of awesome sword fights, from a Con demonstration to the background behind the epic battle behind Inigo Montoya and the Dread Pirate Roberts in Princess Bride. Fun stuff.
  • Is John Carter a Christ figure? Redeemer Christ figures often appear in many works of fiction and in an article posted this week, Forrest Wickman writes about how that applies to John Carter. I find it interesting that Christian themes can be found throughout much of Edgar Rice Burrough’s work.
  • Giveaway: Onlythebestscifi.blogspot.com is giving away a copy of Songs of the Earth by Elspeth Cooper. I suggest you hurry as I couldn’t find a deadline listed.
  • Geek news alert: Scientists have discovered a new species of horned dinosaurs and apparently, they’re among the littlest ones found. All the same, I wouldn’t want one chasing me, even if it were only three feet long.
  • Freebie: Matt Forbeck is a writer with vision. His goal is to write 12 novels in 2012. I know! Is that crazy or what? Regardless, I have to respect his ambition — and the fact that he is on target so far. To celebrate, Matt is giving away a copy of his first short story ebook, Goblintown Justice. Also, I want to offer my congratulations to Matt. His latest Kickstarter project was funded at 426%!! For those of you who don’t know what this means, Matt has received more than enough pledges to cover the cost of producing his current series of novels. Good work, Matt!
  • Ever heard of the New York Jedi Club? Here’s your chance to read up. The article’s title cracked me up: ‘They come in geeks and go out Jedi warriors’: Inside the strange world of the New York Jedi Club. Nonetheless, I myself wouldn’t mind visiting just to see them in action. You never know, they just might let me hold one of those really cool lightsabers.
  • What’s a party without food? How about Star Wars themed party food? In case you’re feeling ambitious, here are instructions on how to make your own (impressive) Death Star cake. For other (easier) Star Wars party foods, check here. The R2D2 carved out of cheddar is kind of cute and who wouldn’t smile at seeing Vader Pataters or Carbonite Jello? But the Yodamole and Trooper Scoopers is kind of scary.
  • If you’re looking for more giveaways, I posted a list of Tor/Forge SFF book giveaways yesterday. If you missed them, check here.

To wrap it up, I want to send a little love over to Kevin Hanrahan. This has nothing to do with SFF, but hang with me here a bit. Kevin — a writer, soldier and dog advocate — is the author of Paws on the Ground, a novel about U.S. soldiers and the dogs that protect them in the treacherous terrain of Afghanistan. I haven’t read Kevin’s writing, but something about his project caught my eye.

You see, Kevin has 20 years of Army service, including three combat tours, company commander in Iraq, and Deputy Provost Marshal for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. While there, he was instrumental in spearheading the efforts toward inserting military service dogs into conflict zones. He also lobbied the Army to adopt an explosives-detection dog program. I think he knows what he’s talking about.

If you want to find out more about Kevin and his work, head on over to his web site or his blog. I’m sure he’ll be glad you did.

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Links of the Week

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It’s Friday — and kind of a crazy one at that. But never fear. I didn’t forget today’s post. That said, let’s see what my file holds for today. Hm…looks like lots of giveaways.

  • Giveaway: First off we have a weekly drawing to celebrate author Robert Liparulo’s new website. Every week during March, five people who sign his guestbook will be chosen to win such prizes as signed and personalized copies of Robert’s books and audiobooks, as well as signed books by Ted Dekker, Tosca Lee, Steven James, Eric Wilson, Ronie Kendig and others. To enter, visit the website HERE, click on the thrillers (left hand side of the page), and then the guestbook link.
  • How many times have you wished you had a device that could make people stop talking? Well, it appears your dream just might come true. Japanese researchers have invented a speech-jamming gun that forces people into silence mid-sentence. Painlessly, I might add. Wouldn’t want to get carried away now, would we?
  • Giveaway: Two copies of Shadow’s Son (Shadow Saga, #1) by Jon Sprunk will be given away via Goodreads. Deadline is March 18.
  • Giveaway: Five copies of The Serpent Sea (Books of the Reksura #2) by Martha Wells are up for grabs. Deadline is April 9, 2012.
  • BIG Giveaway: Sign up for the Tor/Forge newsletter and you’ll be entered for a shot at their Spring Fantasy Collection Sweepstakes — a collection of eight bestselling fantasy novels. Deadline is April 6.
  • Are you a Jurassic Park fan? Check this out — a behind-the-scenes look (including 13 short YouTube videos) at the dinosaur puppets used in the movies.
  • Giveaway: Tor wants to giveaway 10 copies of Gift of Fire by Walter Mosley. Deadline is April 6, 2012.
  • Free Star Wars e-books: For some time, Random House has been releasing on its Suvudu.com website Lost Tribe of the Sith novelettes. The final installment (Part 8 ) has now been released. You can get all 8 e-books here.
  • Need some new short SFF/Speculative fiction to read? SFSignal.com regularly posts links to such. You can find them here.
  • Have you heard about the new John Carter movie opening in theaters tonight? Maybe you know all about John Carter or maybe (like me, he he…) you might have heard of the character but can’t remember where he came from. It just so happens that the guy is 100 years old this year. He was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs (you might know him as the guy who wrote the Tarzan books) and first released in a serialized form in 1912. You can pick up most of the original John Carter of Mars books for free (e-books, that is) from your favorite e-book retailer/source. If you want to know about the new Disney movie, click here. You can see a free 10-minute clip of the movie here. And, you know, he’s not bad looking for an old guy. Of course, then again, the leading lady isn’t bad either. Funny how that works. Image downloads available here, which includes a larger version of the one shown here.

Ok, stepping away from my teacher’s lectern now. If I missed any good links, let me know. I’d also be curious to know what you think of the John Carter movie if you’ve seen it. Just leave a note via the blue link below or if you’re on the web page, you can click on the gray comment bubble at the top of this post.

You guys have a great weekend.

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”