Author: Anders Monsen (Page 62 of 82)

Forbidden Planet interviews David Lloyd, who along with Alan Moore recently won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award for V for Vendetta. Lloyd has a new book out, Kickback, a crime noir thriller which looks quite interesting. Lloyd also has a generous perspective on the changes made to the V for Vendetta movie. I haven’t yet sorted out all my feelings about the movie. Parts of it were quite good, but there were several shortfalls and it fizzled out long before the end. It certainly lacked the power of the book, and had nowhere near the impact of the original Matrix movie. I recently read the original screenplay that the Wachowskis wrote, and I can’t really understand why they didn’t film it that way, and why they made certain changes. Then again, I read the original screenplay for The Matrix Reloaded and I have no idea what they were smoking when they put that together. Even the strange mis-shapen outcome of the final movie was much better than that screenplay.

Update 9/10/06: I picked up a copy of Kickback yesterday. I’m hoping to review it in Prometheus, but unless I get creative I’m already out of space.

Wally Conger reviews Brad Linaweaver’s new non-fiction book about America’s foreign policy, and finds the plumb line of anarchism askew. I know Linaweaver and point #3 does not surprise me at all. As for the content of the book I have not yet read it, so I can’t comment.

A brief article from Advocates for Self-Government about writer and Prometheus Award winner Terry Pratchett. Debates have raged elsewhere regarding the supposed libertarian content of Pratchett’s books, especially from non-libertarians disparaging any connection. The Discworld scene is a varied lot, and certainly no libertarian utopia, but enough quotes in several books do bolster a pro-liberty leaning and somewhat cynical attitude toward those in power. A select few are reprinted in the article. Another great book not mentioned is Feet of Clay.

This link probably is meaningless to those who speak no Norwegian, but the blogger here, a young Norwegian lass, prints a letter she found at school that started her down the road to Terry Pratchett worship. In the letter is a brief snippet that mentions “two prestigious awards,” namely “Prometheus Award and Carnegie Medal,” which links back to a Norwegian Wikipedia entry.

I always knew the Prometheus Award had high status, but this seems, well, stratospheric.

Nice mention of the 2006 Prometheus Award winners by The Forbidden Planet, a UK site dealing with comics, grphic novels and cult merchandise. I’m in the middle of putting together the Fall issue with lots of items of the Prometheus Award event, and am alsways cheered by nice mentions like this. Beats the sarcarsm I’ve seen over at Emerald City in the past.

Smith prints a response to an inquiry about his three Lando Calrissian books.

Nice mention over at Liberty & Power group blog by Amy Sturgis on this year’s Prometheus Awards winners.

Today I came into possession of the full list of Prometheus Award nominees for the 1982 award, held that year at Chicon. Master of ceremonies that year was the late Robert Shea, who wrote a brilliant con report in the pages of Prometheus shortly thereafter, called “Hasta la vista, Chicon.” I bring up this tidbit as the LFS web page for the Prometheus Awards (of which I compiled the bulk of information), lists only the winner, L. Neil Smith’s The Probability Broach. At the time that was all that I had to go by, and despite several efforts I never found any documentation of the other books nominated that year. Until the LFS site is updated, here’s the complete list. Book followed by * were finalists, and ** denotes the winner. What a tough year to pick a winner! I gaze at the libertarian luminaries on this list in wonder – Erika Holzer, Kay Nolte Smith, L. Neil Smith, J. Neil Schulman, F. Paul Wilson, and more.

– Gary Bennett, The Star Sailors
– Lee Corey, Star Driver
– Samuel Delaney, Tales of Neveryon*
– Thomas Disch, On the Wings of Song
– Erika Holzer, Double Crossing
– Stephen King, Firestarter
– Ursula K. Le Guin, Malafrena
– Barry Longyear, Circus World
– Byron Preiss & Michael Reaves, Dragonworld
– Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker
– J. Neil Schulman, Alongside Night*
– Kay Nolte Smith, The Watcher*
– L. Neil Smith, The Probability Broach**
– Norman Spinrad, A World Between
– Norman Spinrad, Song From the Stars*
– Joan Sloanczewski, Still Forms on Foxfield
– Douglas Terman, Free Flight
– Kurt Vonnegut, Jailbird
– F. Paul Wilson, An Enemy of the State*

Well, he apparently did say so his own words (see the post at Wally Conger’s blog re the WorldCon), a non-fiction take from sf writer Brad Linaweaver, Post-Nationalism: George W. Bush as President of the World by Brad Linaweaver. Available as a paperback from Victor Koman’s KoPubCo. I’m delighted to see Linaweaver’s on the side against war mongering neo-cons and neo-libertarians.

A brief novel (contradiction?) released in the UK only at this point, The Highway Men, published by Sandstone Press. MacLeod describes it thusly, “typical MacLeod stuff: climate change, imperialist war, libertarian grouch, Highland romance and insurrectionary violence.”