I don’t think I can recommend Ray Bradbury’s writings any more highly than Neil Gaiman does in his introduction to the latest printing of The Machineries of Joy, but I’ll try anyway. I’ve enjoyed Bradbury since I first clutched a used copy of The Illustrated Man at age 13, but I think I just fell in love with his prose all over again.
science fiction
Review: “The Web of Titan” by Dom Testa
Get this series guys! If you love sci fi, space, adventure; get this one. It really pulls you in and keeps you interested. The drama between the boys and the girls, who likes who, how do they feel for each other etc; is what we teen go though a lot. And when you’re on a spaceship for years or more, relationships are going to happen.
Cover to Cover #413A: Larry Doyle
Interview: Larry Doyle joins us this week to discuss his latest project, Go Mutants!, a satirical comedy that examines a world where the aliens from 1950s “B” movies actually arrived on Earth, and they and their families have been integrated into human society.
Larry talks about his writing career, going from magazines to animated television to screenplays, and how the process of writing novels differs from writing for television or film.
Cover to Cover #398A: Connie Willis
Interview: Connie Willis’ latest novel is Blackout, and it’s actually just the first half of the story. All Clear is the concluding volume, and is due out in October 2010.
Connie tells the guys about some of the little-known stories that came out of the London Blitz, how she prefers to examine the human elements surrounding the disaster stories throughout history, and how she prefers science fiction over historical fiction as a platform to tell these tales.
Cover to Cover #394A: Daniel Suarez
Discussion: Daniel Suarez, author of Daemon and Freedom (TM), joins Mike and Mike for the entire show!
Beyond talk about writing stories that resonate with technology professionals and defense strategists alike, the discussion ranges from social networking, potential uses and abuses of Internet technologies, the ever-evolving (and now impossible to eradicate) sophistication of spam and bots, transhumanism, gene mods and the law, and more.
Cover to Cover #392A: Jake Black, “The Official Ender Companion”
Interview: Jake Black, co-author of The Official Ender Companion, joins Mike and Mke to chat about the definitive encyclopedia of the Ender universe. Jake talks about his introduction to and immersion into the stories and characters of the “Ender’s Game” universe, the process of making sure all of the facts and data were accurate and complete, and more.
Cover to Cover #389A: Lou Anders
Interview: This week, Lou Anders, Editorial Director at Pyr, joins Mike and Mike to talk about some of his many projects coming up: With Great Power… is an anthology of superhero stories; Swords and Dark Magic which is a major swords & sorcery anthology co-edited with Jonathan Strahan
Cover to Cover #383A: J.C. Hutchins, Part 2
Interview: Bringing you Part 2 of the big interview with J. C. Hutchins! (Check out Part 1 first!)
J.C. discusses with Mike and Mike the discoveries he’s encountered during the process of bringing 7th Son to print, and the differences in attitudes and perceptions between the traditional and the independent media, and what both sides should be able to learn from each other to make things better for everyone.
Cover to Cover #382A: J.C. Hutchins
Interview: The inestimable J. C. Hutchins returns to “Cover to Cover”, to talk about the final chapter of how 7th Son: Descent has finally made it to print and is in bookstores now.
Novelist Eoin Colfer on Resurrecting “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” — An AMC Interview
On the 30th Anniversary of the first publication of Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy comes And Another Thing…, the sixth book of the series penned by “Artemis Fowl” novelist Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer. Colfer discusses his reluctance to take on the project and his hopes for the future of Hitchhiker’s.
Cover to Cover #374A: Robert J. Sawyer
Interview: Rob Sawyer joins to mainly talk about the differences between writing for television and film, and writing for novels and short stories.
His novel, FlashForward, was picked up as a TV series, premiering on ABC-TV on this week, and he talks about the differences in pacing, writing style and the different needs that have to be met with a screenplay as compared to what’s needed in a manuscript.
Winds of Dune Author Brian Herbert on Flipping the Myth of Jihad — An AMC Interview
Dune author Frank Herbert’s son discusses picking up his father’s threads in Winds of Dune, out this month, and his hopes for Peter Berg’s film adaptation of the saga.
Cover to Cover #367A: David Weber
Interview: David Weber joins Michael and Michael to chat about his latest book, By Heresies Distresssed, the third volume in his Safehold series, following Off Armageddon Reef and By Schism Rent Asunder.
David talks about having to relearn how to craft his books after severely breaking his right wrist, and how learning and training the voice recognition software, and having to talk to create his manuscripts has changed how much he can work and also how he approaches writing his books (especially in terms of scheduling, planning and revising).
Review: “The Walls of the Universe” by Paul Melko
I really, really liked Paul Melko’s “The Walls of the Universe.” The problem is I wanted to love it.
Review: “WWW: Wake” by Robert J. Saywer
Good science fiction speculates on things that are theoretically possible given some of the conditions and advances of our current level of technology. In many cases, the advances may be years or decades away from becoming reality, but in the case of Robert J. Sawyer’s new novel, “WWW: Wake,” part of his speculated future has become a reality far too quickly.
