Here are some shiny things that caught my eye recently:
♦ Art Nouveau portraits.
Artist kishokahime created a series of Art Nouveau portraits of fantasy heroines from the 1980s (film and animation). I do prefer my Art Nouveau a little more ornate, but these portraits are lovely. Check out her deviantART gallery for portraits of Anastasia, Sarah from Labyrinth, Odette from The Swan Princess, Thumbelina, Crysta from Fern Gully, The Childlike Empress from The Neverending Story, Malta from The Sea Prince and the Fire Child, Lili from Legend, Black Lady from Sailor Moon, Sorsha from Willow, and Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice, with more to follow. Below is the first in the series, the Lady Amalthea from The Last Unicorn. Via.
♦ The Book Nook.
The cover to Irvine Welsh‘s Skagboys, a prequel to Trainspotting and Porno, really caught my eye. So many things to love about it, really–the simple layout, the marionette getting ready for a fix, the “facial” expression of the skeleton.
A Beginner’s Guide to Identifying First Editions: Part Two, which looks at “a few special circumstances that can be problematic to the process of first edition identification.”
Via the always great Book Mania!: “Leakey’s Second Hand Bookshop, Inverness, Scotland. Leakey’s is Scotland’s largest second-hand bookstore. Opened in 1972 and formerly home to St Mary’s Gaelic Church (built 1792), the historic premises are a perfect environment to browse through rows of tall wooden shelves stuffed with books on every subject imaginable. (Photo by Juls Chong)”
Leakey’s Second Hand Bookshop, Inverness, Scotland, by Juls Chong
From Katherine Salant at the Herald-Tribune: Even in the Nook and iPad age, home libraries are still in demand. Glad to hear it. Love the photograph below from the article. Via.
Home library with secret doors: The access doors to this 6,000-volumne home library are hidden behind bookcases. Once inside and alone with his books, the owner feels he’s transported back in space and time. The spiral stair leads up to a gallery that runs around the entire room. Photo provided by Katherine Salant.
Below is the sweet cover art by Robbie Trevino for my friend Zachary Jernigan‘s first novel, No Return, due out from Night Shade Books in March 2013. Here’s the novel’s description, via Amazon:
On Jeroun, there is no question as to whether God exists—only what his intentions are.
Under the looming judgment of Adrash and his ultimate weapon—a string of spinning spheres beside the moon known as The Needle—warring factions of white and black suits prove their opposition to the orbiting god with the great fighting tournament of Danoor, on the far side of Jeroun’s only inhabitable continent.
From the Thirteenth Order of Black Suits comes Vedas, a young master of martial arts, laden with guilt over the death of one of his students. Traveling with him are Churls, a warrior woman and mercenary haunted by the ghost of her daughter, and Berun, a constructed man made of modular spheres possessed by the foul spirit of his creator. Together they must brave their own demons, as well as thieves, mages, beasts, dearth, and hardship on the perilous road to Danoor, and the bloody sectarian battle that is sure to follow.
On the other side of the world, unbeknownst to the travelers, Ebn and Pol of the Royal Outbound Mages (astronauts using Alchemical magic to achieve space flight) have formed a plan to appease Adrash and bring peace to the planet. But Ebn and Pol each have their own clandestine agendas—which may call down the wrath of the very god they hope to woo.
Who may know the mind of God? And who in their right mind would seek to defy him? Gritty, erotic, and fast-paced, author Zachary Jernigan takes you on a sensuous ride through a world at the knife-edge of salvation and destruction, in this first installment of one of the year’s most exciting fantasy epics.
Artist Billy Nunez has re-imagined two children’s stories and set them in China. The first is The Wizard of Oz, wherein the Tin Man is a Samurai and the Cowardly Lion is a Cowardly Tiger. Second is “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” set in 16th-century China. Click through on the links above to see more illustrations for each story. I hope he publishes a book soon! Via.
The Wizard of Oz by Billy Nunez
Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Billy Nunez
♦ The Reading Spot.
Some fine fiction (and a poem) for your eye-jellies:
Speed of Love by Deborah Walker at Daily Science Fiction
The Stone Badger by Misha Nogha at Weird Fiction Review
Machine Guns Loaded with Pomegranate Seeds by Mike Allen at Strange Horizons
Chapter seven The Known Universe (cont.) of Edward & Amelia vs The Vampire King by Russell Hinson
The Queen’s Army by Marissa Meyer, which takes place in the world of Cinder and its impending sequel, Scarlet (speaking of which, you can read an excerpt from Scarlet here).
Isles of the Sun by Margo Lanagan at io9
This Is Your Problem, Right Here by David Steffen at Daily Science Fiction
Flax-golden tales: Slow by Erin Morgenstern
The Most Important Man in the Universe by Joseph Zieja at Daily Science Fiction
The Trap by Steven Kahn at Daily Science Fiction
In a giving mood? Check out 10 literary charities for the holidays.
♦ The Ninth Art.
Bill Willingham‘s Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland, a new standalone graphic novel featuring Bigby Wolf, just dropped. The art’s by Jim Fern, Craig Hamilton, Ray Snyder, and Mark Farmer. Daniel Dos Santos‘s cover is pretty magnificent, as you can see below. Here’s the official description:
Bigby Wolf embarks on a quest through the American Heartland to find a new location for Fabletown, a secret society of exiled fairy tale characters living among the “mundys.” In his wanderings, Bigby stumbles across Story City, a small town that seems to be occupied solely by werewolves. Oddly enough, they seem to already know and revere Bigby, but at the same time they’ve captured and caged him.
Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland tells an epic tale that began well before Bigby Wolf set foot in the bucolic plains of the Midwest. It began long ago when he served in World War II and became mired in a Nazi experiment that would change nations. It’s soon evident that murder in Story City is the least of their sins, and unraveling the town’s many mysteries may cost Bigby, the seventh son of the North Wind, much more than his own life.
David Malki!’s Wondermark on the Further Adventures of the Linguistics Major just made me laugh:
Tor.com has an excerpt from Derek Kirk Kim’s new graphic novel, Tune: Vanishing Point, which looks like fun. Here’s the description:
Andy’s life is going nowhere, fast. He left art school with his career all worked out ahead of time, but … to say it didn’t work out is the understatement of the century. Unemployed and living with his overbearing parents, Andy struggles to keep sight of the lofty goals that once drove him. But it’s hard, even when he reconnects with his old art school crush, Yumi.
Things look better, briefly, with Yumi back in the picture and an actual job offer on the table. But then Andy takes the job offer—to work at a zoo—and finds himself in an alternate dimension. The zoo? Is run by aliens. The exhibit? Is him.
The 29th post in Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Where the Wonder Women Are series is all about Hawkeye (yes, there’s a female Hawkeye—go check her out!).
♦ She Blinded Me … with Science!
Astronomy: Astronomers discover a planet so massive it defies classification; Mesmerizing visualization of the moon’s phases in 2013. Also, check out Dave Hensley‘s great photograph of The Milky Way (you’ll definitely want to click to embiggen). Via.
The Milky Way by Dave Hensley
Biology: A microscopic organism that eats DNA instead of having sex (I feel like a joke’s in there somewhere…).
Brain Power: Sterling, here’s 10 supplements you can take to enhance your intelligence.
Medicine: Eight people who survived by performing surgery on themselves (is the “by” in that title misleading?); RNA-based vaccine could wipe out the flu forever.
Neuroscience: The brain disorder (akinetopsia) that makes the world into a bad claymation film.
Math:
Physics: Frost flowers are naturally occurring flowers made of ice.
Psychology: Science explains why some people are attracted to jerks (good to know!).
Sexology: Your sex life is boring and every animal on Earth is laughing about it.
Social Science: Historical data reveals that having an older sibling can wreck your life.
Zoology: Seals: Graceful underwater, adorably useless on land; In this species of frog—Rhinoderma darwinii—males rear the young…in their mouths.
Cryptozoology: Surely this creature by John Kenn Mortensen deserves further study?
♦ Viewers’ Paradise.
I Have Your Heart is a Kickstarter-funded short, stop motion-animated film by Molly Crabapple (art), Kim Boekbinder (music), and Jim Batt (animation), and, yes, I did contribute. Boing Boing had a nice write up on the film and an interview with the three artists involved. Good fun!
Apparently, Judd Apatow once wrote a spec script for The Simpsons and now it’s going to be made! Color me intrigued. Via.
With 35mm film dead, will classic movies ever look the same again? Via.
10 TV shows better than the books they were based on.
Check out 21 pictures that sum up the whole history of science fiction.
A fuller trailer for Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Slayer came out last week. I like some of the visuals (the enormous carved faces spouting waterfalls, for example), but I’m not quite sure yet what to make of the film overall. Will it be disappointing? Delightful?
♦ The Horns of Elfland.
Pete Namlook, who founded the ambient music label FAX +49-69/450464, died recently. Here is his song “Heaven” from Silence II, a 1993 album made with Dr Atmo, which I really, really like. Via.
♦ The Writing Desk.
Chuck Wendig doesn’t pull punches (as you’d expect) when he talks about failing versus quitting (or, “your lack of confidence is neither interesting nor unique”).
You never know when you’ll need 10 historical euphemisms for infidelity. I particularly enjoyed the Shakespearean euphemisms, like “pour treasure into foreign laps.”
Etymological Evolution: 12 words altered by historical misuse.
LitReactor on Do you have to suffer for your art? Or can happy writers be successful?
Guillermo del Toro explains the biggest mistake people make in telling stories for children.
I am so down with Christina Oppold on the lost art of brevity.
Susan J. Morris offers five books for writers that are particularly good examples of technical expertise.
Martin White on what fantasy writers can learn from horror.
xkcd! I laughed out loud.
Rachelle Gardner answers on whether or not you should send that quick “thank you” email.
Joe Daly on technology and the art of the interview.
Joss Whedon’s top 10 writing tips (via Michael L. Joy on Facebook).
Damien Walter claims that London is fantasy’s capital city (I don’t disagree, but what do you think?).
8 signs it’s time to scrap your writing project.
♦ Puppets!
Behind the scenes of Neil’s Puppet Dreams, which is hilarious. Here’s the description:
In a revealing exposé of the inner workings of Neil Patrick Harris’ subconscious, the Nerdist Channel presents a gripping behind-the-scenes look at the making and inspiration for Neil’s Puppet Dreams. Bearing a rare disorder that results in a dreamscape filled with puppets, Mr. Patrick Harris and those who know him best tell all in this exclusive sneak peek.
Neil’s Puppet Dreams Premieres November 27th on on Nerdist Channel.
Via.
