We Want it! - January 2013

[helloladies]

Because we haven't quite managed to work out a way for us to consume ALL the entertainment yet: to keep us from emerging haggard and zombie like after regular all night box set marathons, book splurges and music overload we've set up this monthly space where we can express our pure fannish glee at the fact that so many projects of awesome potential are continually being made. All of our past wants and desires can be found in the We Want It! tag.

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"One giant leap for mankind". Those were Neil Armstrong's immortal words when he became the first human being to step onto another world. All at once, the horizon expanded; the human race was no longer Earthbound. Our destiny would now be to reach out to eternity. Brought to you by the creators of Engineering Infinity, Edge of Infinity is an exhilarating new SF anthology that looks at the next giant leap for humankind: the leap from our home world out into the Solar System. (source)

Edge of Infinity by Jonathan Strahan — So when the weekly episodes of John Scalzi's The Human Division were released, what I really wanted to do was reread all the previous books in a mad rush and then follow along weekly. But then I couldn't find my ebook copy of Old Man's War and the library copy says it's in but it's mysterious absent from the shelf. So instead I have placated myself with waiting until the full book releases when I can buy both Old Man's War and The Human Division gorge myself. I will survive until then by pining after other space adventures. I heard about this anthology from SF Signal and liked the author line-up a lot because it was quite a few new-to-me folks. Space! \o/

For the past five years, she has been grown slowly as part of a mixed organic/synthetic family. She knows very little about her android mother's past, so when her grandmother arrives and attacks her mother, little Amy wastes no time: she eats her alive.

Now she carries her malfunctioning granny as a partition on her memory drive, and she's learning impossible things about her clade's history — like the fact that the failsafe that stops all robots from harming humans has failed... Which means that everyone wants a piece of her, some to use her as a weapon, others to destroy her. (source)

vN by Madeline Ashby — So I heard about this title from A Fantastical Librarian but then it dropped off my radar. Then recently when we were browsing at the library, I saw it on the new books shelf, and plucked it out and handed it to my partner. "I've heard good things! Robots! Creepy stuff!" Well, he read through it and enjoyed it, so I guess that means I have to brave the dreaded New Book shelf where the hold time is only two weeks and read it. Everything he told me made me go "WTAF?" so whatever, New Book shelf! I'm not afraid of you! I am afraid of the number of holds this book has, though...

All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day.

Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever. (source)

A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan — Once I saw this title mentioned at Fantasy Book Critic, I was sold, AWESOME LADY premise alone, with bonus fabulous cover. Who can resist that? Not me!

Don't rush Trafalgar Medrano when he starts telling you about his latest intergalactic sales trip. He likes to stretch things out over precisely seven coffees. No one knows whether he actually travels to the stars, but he tells the best tall tales in the city, so why doubt him? (source)

Trafalgar by Angélica Gorodischer — I'm not sure about this title and what it might be about, but I'm curious enough to look into it. It's in translation, and I'm excited to read something by a non-US author who sounds so awesome. Via SF Signal.

In Keara's world, every child has a darkbeast—a creature that takes dark emotions like anger, pride, and rebellion. Keara's darkbeast is Caw, a raven, and Keara can be free of her worst feelings by transferring them to Caw. He is her constant companion, and they are magically bound to each other until Keara's twelfth birthday. For on that day Keara must kill her darkbeast—that is the law. Refusing to kill a darkbeast is an offense to the gods, and such heresy is harshly punished by the feared Inquisitors.

But Keara cannot imagine life without Caw. And she finds herself drawn to the Travelers, actors who tour the country performing revels. Keara is fascinated by their hints of a grand life beyond her tiny village. As her birthday approaches, Keara readies herself to leave childhood—and Caw—behind forever. But when the time comes for the sacrifice, will she be able to kill the creature that is so close to her? And if she cannot, where will she turn, and how can she escape the Inquisitors? (source)

Darkbeast by Morgan Keyes — I know I heard of this title from a bunch of places when it released, but for some reason it didn't ping me (right place, right time, right state of mind, etc.) until Jim Hines reviewed it. Then I remembered thinking, "I should look into that, maybe!" and never doing it. Also a case where the cover art is beautiful.

When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.

From New York Times bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina) and critically acclaimed artist Fiona Staples (Mystery Society, North 40), Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. (source)

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples — I was introduced to this series by a Smugglivus post from folks at Forever Young Adult (who I can't stop comparing to Care Bears because of that song at the end of Care Bears II). Since this post, a lot of people have been recommending it. I'm so behind on Vaughan's work. I still need to read Y. Oh well, that's what overly long reading spreadsheets are for.

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It's all about the visual for me this month. How terribly shallow.

Film

'After Earth'

New Will Smith SF film — I am too, too excited! Yes, I am one of those people who thinks 'I, Robot' was a great film. I would probably even watch 'Hancock' again (maybe 'I, Am Legend', idk, the manipulative thing of revealing the dog's gender as it dies puts me off seeing that one again).

I saw the trailer just before 'The Hobbit' and despite my love for Smith and family, was a bit 'Ugh, no ladies' about it (and hey, it was followed by the 'Star Trek' trailer, with its one shot of Uhura — *glares*) but I've checked the cast list and there are actresses listed... Not sure what to make of that. Still, I am excite!

'Red Tails'

Hands up, I know nothing about the Tuskagee airmen, so I look forward to learning from this film. I am pretty much all over war films generally though, because (like prison films and sports films) they reliably offer a chance for me to watch the dynamics of an unrelated group of people who live closely together; a situation that I find endlessly fascinating.

'Flight'

I only became aware of this film when it got a couple of Oscar nominations, but it sounds right up my alley. Denzel is doing his serious face, which is great, although not as much of a crowd pleaser as his smile, lemme tell you.

'Oz The Great and Powerful'

I really need a section called 'Do I Want It?' for this film., because the trailer makes me feel so conflicted. On the one hand, it looks visually sumptuous. And there are three excellent actresses in main roles (you wear that witches hat so well Mila Kunis). On the other, it's the Oz show and people keep saying things like 'Are you the man who will save us all?', which is not something I need more of in my media. Maybe I should just re-watch 'Alice in Wonderland' to get the same kind of pleasurable, visual overload instead?

'Beautiful Creatures'

When I first saw this film splashed over billboards I was so sure I wouldn't want to see it, but everytime I see the trailer it grows on me a little bit more. And it raises important questions that I must have answered. Like, can Emma Thompson and Jeremy Irons sustain their quite terrible accents for the whole film? And will the lady who looks like she would fit right into Twilight be my very favourite character?

'The Great Gatsby' which I may have mentioned before

Eventually they will actually show us 'The Great Gatsby' right? Or did they just make a tantalising trailer, then go out and get drunk for months on end? I begin to doubt the existence of this film.

Television

'Dancing on the Edge'

Last year the BBC was all 'We have to spend our money carefully — this means fewer original dramas' and then they went and made 'Spies of Warsaw' (a snooze with a great tailor) and 'Ripper Street' (a genuinely horrifying blot on television history). 'Dancing on the Edge', is the story of a black jazz band caught up in an upper class murder case and it may be the only shining light amongst the new season of BBC drama programming.The trailer is just so on it and the cast looks amazing. 'Merlin' fandom, I beg you, please follow Angel Coulby to this program and show the BBC how to spend its money in future.