What Is Techno Again?

The 3-Dimensions of Asimov’s Foundation

If you haven’t heard, Asimov fans, there are plans for a 3-D, motion-capture Foundation movie in-the-works. Few details have surfaced as of now, but you can read news of the director, co-producer, and script writer over at RadNerd:

This discussion somehow slipped through my sci-fi clutch, but Roland Emmerich will be directing a three-in-one film adaptation of The Foundation Trilogy, written by science fiction slash professional robot overlord, Isaac Asimov. Under Columbia Pictures’ banner, Michael Wimer (2012 and 10,000 B.C.) joins Emmerich as co-producer.

Good or bad idea? Does Foundation sail for you, or should they be adapting a different Asimov work?

Tags: Isaac Asimov, Michael Wimer, RadNerd, Robert Rodat, Roland Emmerich, The Foundation Trilogy
Posted in Books, Movies/TV, RadNerd, Writing | No Comments »

RadInk: A Wind Named Amnesia/Invader Summer

Dark Horse recently passed along A Wind Named Amnesia/Invader Summer, two excellent novellas rolled into one pretty little book. Vampire Hunter D fans will want to grab this one, as it’s written by the series’ creator. Those unfamiliar with Kikuchi’s work will definitely enjoy the two stories, as well.

Most books and comics never make it out of their papery, multi-colored form or burst out of their speech bubbles, and that’s okay—we nerds like ’em just the way they are. Here at RadNerd, we don’t always need fancy pants movie adaptations endorsed by big budget Hollywood mouths or plastered with Nicholas Cage’s face. A little less Nick is good for everyone. We love movies and TV just as much as the next joe, but sometimes going back to to the roots of what we adore just sounds better. You know … all those crazy words and stuff. Letters are like atoms for the literately-inclined.

Vampire Hunter D writer Hideyuki Kikuchi unleashes a science-fiction double feature with the new A Wind Named Amnesia/Invader Summer book. The merry folks of Dark Horse Comics pack two novellas into one paperback collection featuring the sporadic black and white illustrations of Yoshitaka Amano. You can now swipe the English translation and enjoy a refreshing culture switch.

Read the rest at RadNerd.com.

Tags: A Wind Named Amnesia, Dark Horse, Hideyuki Kikuchi, Invader Summer, RadNerd, Vampire Hunter D
Posted in Books, RadNerd, Writing | No Comments »

RadInk: Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of Videogames

Need one last gift for the holidays? Or maybe you just want to splurge on a little something for yourself? Put your wallet away, because over at RadNerd we’re giving away a copy of Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of Videogames (3rd Edition)—currently but temporarily available in print until the fourth edition hits shelves. It’s a pretty sweet giveaway, endorsed by author Leonard Herman himself. Entering is easy, so head over, take a gander at the contest rules, and leave your witty comment by 12 midnight (PST) this Friday, December 18.

It would be great if you’d spread the word … just make sure your comment is better than your friends’, right?

Most books and comics never make it out of their papery, multi-colored form or burst out of their speech bubbles, and that’s okay—we nerds like ’em just the way they are. Here at RadNerd, we don’t always need fancy pants movie adaptations endorsed by big budget Hollywood mouths or plastered with Nicholas Cage’s face. A little less Nick is good for everyone. We love movies and TV just as much as the next joe, but sometimes going back to to the roots of what we adore just sounds better. You know … all those crazy words and stuff. Letters are like atoms for the literately-inclined.

In a world of high scores and coin-operated frenzy, there’s more than one way to save the history of video games. Our own records of Italian plumbers and barrel-throwing apes began with our first console or handheld, and for writer Leonard Herman, his passion for the pixelated was kindled by a local bowling alley’s Pong machine and an Atari VCS that he took home six years later in 1978. With a trove of cartridges and magazine articles under his belt, Herman can definitely bring the power of video games to the players—one year at a time.

Tags: Leonard Herman, Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of Videogames
Posted in Books, Gaming, RadNerd, Reviews, Writing | No Comments »

Last Minute Holiday Buy Guide

We all know them. Every time the holidays roll around, we have to face them: Friends and family who couldn’t make a candy cane work with their aura. They’re the ones on our lists we save for last, because when it comes to a fitting gift, we’re left clueless.

Over at RadNerd I’ve compiled a holiday guide that’ll satisfy a variety of tastes—from music to video games, comics to manga, gadgets to cooking, fashion to nostalgia, and movies to books and everywhere in between. You’re bound to find a gift for even the pickiest recipient.

Head over to the website to check it out—and don’t forget to pass it along if you see something you fancy, too. The holidays aren’t here quite yet!

Tags: Gadgets, Guides, Holidays, RadNerd, Retro
Posted in Books, Comics, Gaming, Movies/TV, RadNerd, Writing | No Comments »

Gamers, Yes We Can

In a move that would probably make Rupert Giles (since we’re on a Whedon note here today) cry and babble on about standards and the delightful smell of musty books, libraries across the United States have declared this Saturday, November 14, “National Gaming Day.”

Yes. Libraries. Dewey, prepare to catalog.

The American Library Association has joined gamers worldwide in believing that games have the power to positively teach not only historically, but critically. From the old school method of wash, rinse, and repeat to latter day solving of complex puzzles, thinking on your feet, and using strategy and smarts to crush baddies, gamers are well aware of the potential of video games as mind-developing agents.

Potential, that is. Some games just kind of rot our brains, we admit, and some industry-loathing individuals will stop at nothing to prove that all video games offer is senseless violence, gore, and mental breakdowns, but more and more games are being used to stress thinking skills and creativity. Titles like Scribblenauts solely foster creative and verbal expansion … even if they don’t always work.

But when it comes to history, libraries aren’t commending the bashing in of dates and names. Instead, they’re finding worth in a game’s ability to recreate events and figures and immerse someone in a time period, exposing him to an unfamiliar, detail-rich world—and developers remember to do their homework nowadays. Games like the Italian Renaissance-themed Assassin’s Creed II and the World War II-exploring The Saboteur are pushing the boundaries of what a video game can accomplish, and not only in terms of graphics and gameplay.

As ALA President Dr. Camila Alire explains, “We have found that by adding board and video game formats to library collections we are providing users with tools to build strong literacy practices while sharpening technical and critical thinking skills.”

Try eating that for breakfast, Jack Thompson. We’ll stick to our army of librarian white knights.

Tags: American Library Association, National Gaming Day, November 14
Posted in Books, Gaming | 2 Comments »

RadInk: Peter and Max

As you can probably tell from the Books section of this blog, I enjoy spotlighting a few books from time to time. It’s definitely an area of my writing that has gone somewhat unfulfilled—comics, video games, and movies receive the bulk of my love and attention writing-wise, but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost heart for a good book. Quite the opposite, actually.

So I’ve decided to try something new. Keep an eye out for Rad Ink, a new ongoing feature over at RadNerd that promises nerdy book reviews. I’m kicking it off with Peter and Max: A Fables Novel by Bill Willingham. Head over to the website to scope out the full review, but here’s a preview:

Most books and comics never make it out of their papery, multi-colored form or burst out of their speech bubbles, and that’s okay—we nerds like ‘em just the way they are. Here at RadNerd, we don’t always need fancy pants movie adaptations endorsed by big budget Hollywood mouths or plastered with Nicholas Cage’s face. A little less Nick is good for everyone. We love movies and TV just as much as the next joe, but sometimes going back to to the roots of what we adore just sounds better. You know … all those crazy words and stuff. Letters are like atoms for the literately-inclined.

Bill Willingham broke that single medium rule by breaking his popular Fables series out of its panel-defined shell, giving the world Peter and Max: A Fables Novel. Yeah, you heard me. Novel. Got it? Good. Screw comic blockbuster, Willingham and his right-hand, illustrating man Steve Leialoha decided to appeal to the bookworm in all of us … or at least try to coax its shriveled body out into daylight again.

Tags: Bill Willingham, Fables, Peter and Max, RadNerd, Steve Leialoha
Posted in Books, Comics, RadNerd, Reviews, Writing | No Comments »

Book Review: Atonement

Published in 2001 by Ian McEwan, Atonement unfolds during the years of World War II and is crafted with a Modernist tradition of writing and understanding rare to such a present time in our history. Whether it’s McEwan’s ability to connect a modern audience to a tense and horrific period in time, or whether his engaging grasp on the English language makes the novel what it is, it’s hard to deny the magic of Atonement—a book that quickly became one of my favorites.

Many enjoy Atonement for the romantic and, in some ways, forbidden relationship between the independent-minded Cecilia and the strong-willed Robbie, but to consider the book merely a love story diminishes its worth. Atonement is, simply put, a puzzle composed of words, dubious narration, and complex composition. Arguably split into three sections—whose clarity and certainty declines at the novel’s completion—the final part inspires an emotional reaction of unanticipated strength. McEwan daringly challenges not only the way we read a book, but ideas of truth and history and ironically good and evil. Whether the story is overwhelmingly Briony’s or falsely so can be debated, but McEwan does not allow us one absolute answer. The novel’s end tears up what we thought we knew, betrays us, and puts us in a completely different state of mind than we began or even possessed for the majority of the book. The strong moral and emotional impact of Atonement, as well as the so easily shattered or cemented depth of its characters, proves McEwan’s talent as a writer who lives and breathes the written word.

Atonement presents a rich story that blurs the roles of fiction of nonfiction, of truth and the appearance of it, and whether any of it matters in the long run. Perhaps the most tragic element rests with the frightening reality of how ordinary and commonplace it all seems in our own world. Yet how many books nowadays grasp us by our souls and cause us to cry out in anger or demand justice for its actions—which are, in their purest form, fictional? McEwan understands that a novel’s worth emerges from the reader’s mind, and he fully and beautifully exploits that knowledge. My outrage will remain with me for some time, although perhaps the frustration partly lies with the readers, who are no less flawed human beings than the characters in the story. All personal confliction aside, Atonement is so bursting with life and the tragedy and irony that so often accompanies it, that not experiencing it seems a crime in itself.

Tags: Atonement, Ian McEwan, WWII
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Book Review: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

If you’ve ever wanted to read spy fiction, then you can’t go wrong with John Le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. The espionage tale follows British agent Alec Leamas, who longs to end his career and seeks to do it by carrying out one last assignment. He suffers dishonor and wades through dangerous secrets, but an even greater peril interferes when he engages in a romantic relationship with a simple Communist woman named Elizabeth Gold.

Isolation and empty concepts of identity seem to be patterns at the root of spy novels, but Le Carré’s work accomplishes something quite unique and devastating. The life of a spy quickly mutilates the passion of curiosity—especially for a double agent. Questions constantly weave in and out of the narrative, which Le Carré fashions carefully enough to make the reader plunge into the same convoluted world of espionage that Leamas endures. God is in the details, as some would say, and the author’s style certainly fulfills that idea.

But those questions, just like curiosity in a spy, get you nowhere. Gaps between and within chapters are purposely placed in order to keep the reader’s knowledge of the true, intimate text at bay; just when the reader thinks he understands what’s going on, something happens in between the lines that turns that perspective upside down. While the protagonist, Leamas, emerges with years of experience in the field, the typical reader comes with startlingly little—and our ignorance is put on display when events seemingly unfold before our eyes yet Leamas appears totally aware of their development.

The novel’s beauty lies not just in its commentary on the time period, but clearly in its craftsmanship; it flourishes in Leamas’ nature, as well. It’s arguable by the end of the book that we know even less about him than we did at the start, and perhaps Leamas himself has become truly lost. Moreover, the ending resonates a frightening reality about the life of a spy that should, by rough description, be quite expected. Yet it still manages to unsettle us, as it does the main character and Liz even before we reach the final lines—which leads one to wonder if Le Carré’s ultimate intention was to dress us all up in the manner of spies and then abandon us out in the cold, taking us for fools playing at a game we can’t understand. Fittingly, the same topsy turvy set of morals courses through the book and shines with vivid clarity in the last few chapters.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold holds a powerful element of transformation within the depths of its pages, and the real joy seems to bud from the mere experience of the read itself—making Le Carré story one not only worth exploring, but coming back to time and again. There’s a reason novelist Graham Greene praises it with the claim, “The best spy story I have ever read.”

Tags: John Le Carré, Spy Fiction, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Posted in Books, Reviews | No Comments »