Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Links This Week

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Dona Watson

It’s Friday! Time to share which links I found this week that I found the most interesting. Here goes…

Giveaway: The giveaways of Brandon Sanderson’s Alloy of Law continue, this one courtesy of http://onlythebestscifi.blogspot.com. I’m not sure what the deadline is, but blog sponsors announced this week they are offering a signed ARC and an audiobook version.
http://www.graspingforthewind.com is also giving away an audiobook version of Alloy of Law. Deadline is October 21, 2011.
John Anealio is a musical artist who writes fun music for us sci-fi/fantasy types. You can currently download a copy of his “Stormtrooper for Halloween” classic for free. While you’re there, check out his other work. I can easily spend an hour there browsing — and laughing.
New movies on the horizon, as reported by http://www.comingsoon.net, include Thor 2 and The Lone Ranger.
For those of you who wish Darth Maul had gotten more air time in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, the television-based animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars is bringing him back this Spring. Here’s the announcement.
Amazon has launched a new imprint for sci-fi, fantasy and horror — 47North. It’s first list comprises 15 books from authors including Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Lee Goldberg, William Rabkin, Dave Duncan, Arwen Elys Dayton, Aric Davis, Evan Currie, Stephen Leather, Chris Roberson, and B.V. Larson.
In Star Wars news, Lucasfilm has announced the discovery of Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side. The fragments of five dark side texts were collected by Darth Sidious, along with various objects created by his predecessors. He then wrote his own manifesto and a preface for the compilation. The collection, housed within a mysterious pyramid-like case can be yours for only $99.

That’s it for now. 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 Links of the Week

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Dona Watson

It’s Friday! Are you ready for the weekend? Here’s some fun stuff to help kick it off. Lots of giveaways this week.

Here’s a link to a gorgeous picture that just happens to be the first photo of the cosmos, according to scientists.
Giveaway: Tor’s new prize pack is for 16 — yes, 16! — steampunk best-sellers. Deadline is November 9, 2011.
Fantasymagazine.com featured an interview with Brandon Sanderson, in which he talks at length about his new book Alloy of Law coming out in November. Here’s the link.
Want to win an ARC of Alloy of Law? Enter a giveaway at http://onlythebestscifi.blogspot.com.
More Brandon Sanderson news: here’s an interview regarding Infinity Blade, an original novella he wrote for Epic Games, linking its iOS game by the same name and its sequel.
Giveaway on Goodreads: Cold Glory by B. Kent Anderson. Hurry! The deadline is October 11, 2011. Here’s the contest link and the author’s web site: http://bkentanderson.com/
Giveaway on Goodreads: The Dark at the End (Repairman Jack, #15) by F. Paul Wilson. Again, hurry. The deadline is October 11, 2011. Here’s the contest link and the author’s web site: http://www.repairmanjack.com/
Another Repairman Jack giveaway. Tor is offering a prize pack of 21 (!) Repairman Jack books. Deadline is October 16, 2011.
Giveaway on Goodreads: Children’s book Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham (illustrator). Deadline is October 13, 2011. Here’s the contest link and author web site: http://www.billwillingham.com
Giveaway on Goodreads: Steel and Other Stories by Richard Matheson. Deadline: October 18, 2011. Here’s the contest link and author web site, well, his Facebook page at least.
Lev Grossman’s novel about a magical boarding school, The Magicians is going to be adapted to a television series to appear on Fox.
More than 60,000 people voted in NPR’s survey to choose the top 100 sci-fi and fantasy books. Here are the results. And here’s a link to an interactive flowchart for the same.
Giveaway: Interview with Michelle Franklin and giveaway of ebook versions of her books from the Haanta Series (the longest ongoing fantasy series on the web): The Commander and the Den Asaan Raut and Tales from Frewyn: Reporter from Marridon. Deadline is October 10, 2011.

Whew! I think that’ll do it, don’t you? Did I miss any good links or giveaways? If I did, please let me know in the comments section below.

Have a good weekend, all!

Best Links of the Week

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Dona Watson

It’s Friday! Time to share my favorite links from this week.

The top 5 most anticipated releases in October, according to The Ranting Dragon.
Huge Giveaway! Tor is celebrating reaching 100,000 Twitter followers with a drawing for 10 of its latest releases. Hurry! The deadline is September 23 at midnight.
Giveaway! The By the Book blog is giving away a copy of James Rubart’s newest, The Chair. Deadline September 29.
Giveaway! Win an advanced reading copy of Clockwork Prince, Book 2 in The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. Deadline is October 18.
Giveaway! Win a copy of Kameron Hurley’s Infidel. Deadline is October 2.
Here is a really cool book trailer for Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn, compliments of a devoted fan.
Gamers unite! “U.S. Gamers Crack Puzzle in AIDS Research that Stumped Scientists for Years.”
For all you superhero fans, the second Captain America film is slated for 2014.
Geeky science stuff: The BBC reports that scientists at Cern, the world’s largest physics lab, think they may have just observed subatomic particles traveling faster than the speed of light.
More geeky science news: “Dwarf Galaxies Suggest Dark Matter Theory May be Wrong.”
Here’s one case of science fiction becoming reality. The FDA has approved suspended animation for human clinical trials.
If you’re in Southern California, author Jeri Westerson is launching Troubled Bones, her latest medieval noir mystery starring Crispin Guest, medieval detective extraordinaire. I haven’t read this particular book, but I loved Book 1 in the series. Jeri’s a great author. The champagne and mead party, compete with sword-fighting knights, is October 15, 5 p.m., Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, CA.

And here’s a little (less than one minute) video that struck my funny bone: Jedi Kittens Strike Back.

I think that’ll do it. Have a good weekend, everyone!

Do you have any favorite links or sites this week I missed? I love to hear from you. Please feel free to share. On September 30, I will have a drawing for a $5 Starbucks card. For every blog post you comment on, you will receive one entry. Leave a comment and join the fun! If you don’t want to miss a post, make sure to subscribe to my RSS or email feeds here.

Best Links of the Week

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Dona Watson

It’s Favorite Link Friday. Here’s what I found this week that I thought you might be interested in. Enjoy!

Two giveaways and an interview with author Anne Elisabeth Stengl, compliments of Abigail J. Hartman’s blog, Scribbles and Ink Stains. One winner gets an autographed copy of Anne’s fantasy Heartless (Book 1 in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series), the other an autographed copy of Veiled Rose (Book 2). Deadline is Friday, September 23. (If you’d like more info, last year I also interviewed Anne in one post and reviewed Heartless in another.)
Tor/Forge announces the creation of Laddertop, a new manga series created by Orson Scott Card and his daughters, which could potentially also segue into a novel series or a movie.
Here’s a great giveaway: Brandon Sanderson’s official fan site and forum, 17th Shard, is having a giveaway to celebrate Sanderson’s new book, The Alloy of Law. Grand prize winner gets a signed advance reading copy (ARC) of The Alloy of Law, a signed hardcover Mistborn trilogy, a Mistborn t-shirt (donated by inkwing.com), a piece of Mistborn jewelry (donated by Badali Jewelry) and a Mistborn poster (donated by Crafty Games). Two runners up each receive a signed ARC of The Alloy of Law and maybe other stuff too, details yet to be announced. All you need to do is register for a 17th Shard account. Deadline is September 26.
Another great giveaway: Win an e-reader of your choice, compliments of criminalelement.com. Registration required. Deadline is September 21.
Interesting news: Scientists found dinosaur feathers embedded in amber. How cool is that?
More interesting news: Scientists have found a planet with two suns reminiscent of the planet Tatooine in Star Wars.
CBS is turning the sci-fi movie Source Code into a TV series, to be produced by Mark Gordon of Grey’s Anatomy.
Just for fun: How about a case for your iPhone 4 sporting Han Solo in carbonite? Here’s the Zazzle link. You’ve got to check it out.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Best Links of the Week

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Dona Watson

It’s Friday! Time to pass along to you the links from this week that looked most interesting. Lots of good stuff this week. Enjoy!

Giveaway: Win a copy of Blake Charlton’s Spellbound and a signed copy of Spellwright, courtesy of Fantasy Book Critic. Here’s the link. Deadline: October 7, 2011.
Share a scary book. Neil Gaiman starts a new tradition: All Hallow’s Read. Tor Books celebrates with a sweepstakes and free monster stories October 24-28.
Just for fun: Star Trek bloopers from the 1960s series.
Sci-fi movie Robopocalypse finds a home and a director: Steven Spielberg takes it on. Release date set for Summer 2013.
Tor puts ebook versions of three classic epic fantasies on sale for $2.99 each: The Eye of the World (Robert Jordan), Gardens of the Moon (Steven Erikson), and Mistborn (Brandon Sanderson). Here’s the link.
How 9/11 Changed Science Fiction, according to io9.com.
For sales of physical books, only one genre of books experienced a sales increase in 2010: Science fiction/fantasy. According to Nielsen Bookscan, this was due in great part to sales of G.R.R. Martin’s books. Whatever works, right?
Here’s a comprehensive list of 184 sci-fi, fantasy and horror books being released in September 2011. Any look good to you?
Nathan Fillion stars in Season 5, episode 6 of The Guild, a web series about gamers. Here’s the scoop according to GeekDad at wired.com.
John Scalzi shows us which sci-fi and fantasy films we can expect out before year’s end.
Giveaway on Goodreads: Vernor Vinge’s The Children of the Sky, the sequel to A Fire on the Deep that’s been 20 years in the making. Here’s the link. Hurry…the deadline’s September 15, 2011.