Good news at last that after ten long years this movie finally may see the light on DVD. I have yet to see Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet, but I know the audience will grow significantly once this work reaches the “new” medium. Long my favorite Shakespeare play (along with The Tempest, a character of which is the namesake of my daughter), I’ve seen many versions of Hamlet, except this one. Branagh is a superb actor and director, and I can hardly wait to see his interpretation sometime later this year. No doubt we’ll have to pay a pretty penny for this production, too.

This will be an interesting novel to see how it develops. very likely technology will outstrip some premises, but key elements remain.

Via Wendy McElroy’s forum, a link to a children’s book called An Island of Liberty, which bills itself as a cross between Dr. Seuss and Ayn Rand. Mainly aimed at kids, with lots of rhyming.

The online comic book by L. Neil Smith and Scott Bieser went live today at Big Head Press’ revamped web site. Right now it appears the web page is ad supported as the comics there are free. Do yourself a favor and check out the site, and if you haven’t already done so, I recommend also looking into at least one of the ads: Michael Wentz’ novel, Resurrection of Liberty. In my opinion, this novel should have been a Prometheus Award finalist, and as I’m halfway through reading those six books, I know of at least two so far that I can’t fathom how made it ahead of this novel.

This one’s in audio, conducted by Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit. Download to your iPod or play on your computer without an iPod.

Perhaps Big Head Press can cash in on this growing phenomenon, the massive growth in graphic novels in the publishing industry. Via Reason’s Hit & Run.

Big Head Press today released some preview art for their three online graphic novel projects, including L. Neil Smith and Scott Bieser’s Roswell, Texas. Methinks that Wild Bill Bear shows a slight resemblance to a famous libertarian sf novelist…

Though no obits mention her role in the Italian movie version of Ayn Rand’s We the Living, news of Alida Valli’s death broke today. I don’t believe We the Living exists on DVD, but I bought the VHS tapes almost a couple of decades ago after it’s rerelease (1986) and was impressed by her portrayal of Kira Argounova.

Each year around this time I participate in the voting for the Prometheus Award, which in my case entails reading the five finalists and submitting my vote (deadline: July 4). This year there are six finalists. I have less time than ever to read the books, so I find myself reading at lunch and while walking to and from my car at work. I began this week with Vin Suprynowicz’ The Black Arrow and Walter Mosley’s 47 in parallel. I just finished Mosley’s novel, and only am 50 pages into the Suprynowicz book. The former impressed me, at least the first half. After the critical tipping point of 47 the novel lost impact in some ways, and I’m still sorting out my thoughts. The prose flows well, and the emotional impact of the slave tale sat with me long after I put the book down each day. However, without spoiling the ending, I felt it left out a great deal of information, and perhaps it lost a little direction. The central element, that one is not a slave nor a master, unless one makes that choice, has deep libertarian roots, going back to Etienne de la Boetie. Regardless of Mosley’s ‘progressive’ politics, that alone earns it some points.

The Black Arrow created a stir last year when Laissez Faire Books refused to carry it in their catalog, due to what they termed excessive and gratuitous sex scenes. I have not come across any of these yet, but having read some Ray Garton stories, I doubt I’ll blanch when the moments arrive. This is a first novel, and that fact is inescapable when reading the book. The prose certainly isn’t unreadable, and Suprynowicz is an experienced writer of non-fiction, so he knows how to tell a story. However, there are moments when I’m jarred out of my reading state of mind and think more about the process of writing and characterization, rather than about the story. No doubt it’s unfair of me to say this at such an early stage; the book is fairly long and I’m but a few chapters deep. Still, the blend of Harlequin romance emotions of the characters when looking at members of the opposite sex, plus the clinical analysis of anatomy – “From the look of her breasts, it was unlikely she had yet fed children.” – tells me the author is still working to free his fictional voice from his journalistic past. Unlike Mosley, the author is explicitly libertarian, so it ill be interesting to see how the book turns out.

I finally have the Spring issue back from the printer and the issue will be in the mail to members and subscribers on Saturday the 15th. As always, if you’re interesting in finding out more about the newsletter of the Libertarian Futurist Society, send me an email at editor@lfs.org.