Jesus On Mars by Phil Farmer will soon be back in print

 

The Official Philip José Farmer Email

Today is Philip José Farmer's 105th birthday!

As you probably know, Meteor House's annual tradition is to celebrate Phil's birthday by announcing their first book of the year. And this year it's Jesus on Mars in its first hardcover edition!

You can read all about the book by following that link, but I want to just talk about my favorite part. One of the bonus features of this new edition is the 26,000 word abridgment of the novel that was supposed to be published in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. When that fell through it was eventually published by a small press in, Riverworld War: The Suppressed Fiction of Philip José Farmer in 1980.

Thinking about the groundbreaking stories Phil had published up until then: "The Lovers," Flesh, A Feast Unknown, Image of the Beast, Blown, etc., I always thought the title, "The Suppressed Fiction..." was hilarious. Certainly the most ironic title of any of Phil's books, since neither story in the book was "suppressed."

Throw in fascinating essays by Keith Howell and Tracy Knight, artwork by the former, and the leatherette boards, gold foil stamping, and custom printed endsheets on the hardcover limited edition, and this is sure to be another gorgeous collectible from Meteor House.

Mike Croteau
The Official Philip José Farmer Web Page
www.pjfarmer.com

 

BURROUGHED BY MARY BAADER KELLY IS OUT NOW FROM ANGRY ROBOT

 

Burrowed by Mary Baader Kaley is out now!

If you had to endure a debilitating condition of body or mind, which would you choose? In this world, everyone suffers.

In the distant future, a genetic plague has separated humanity in two – Subterraneans who live in underground burrows to protect their health, and strong surface-dwelling Omniterraneans. Zuzan Cayan, a brilliant Subter girl with “light blindness,” is about to leave the safety of her burrow and earn a living. With her low life expectancy, however, her options are slim. That is until she’s offered the chance of a lifetime to study the population’s broken genetic code, fix the divide and reunite the world once again. But when a new virus turns fatal for the Omnits, Zuzan must find a cure or humanity won’t simply remain separate, it will become extinct. With enemies on all sides, Zuzan must hold on to the light at the end of the tunnel – or risk the world falling into darkness.

­ Order Now! ­

"Kaley’s debut, a cleverly crafted exploration of the morality surrounding a genetic virus, captivates with inventive science and adventure… Those who like meticulous detail and compassionate characters in their science fiction will enjoy this riveting thriller." – Publishers Weekly      "A great read for fans of postapocalyptic novels." – Booklist     “I really enjoyed this debut from Mary Baader-Kaley. It's very well-written, with characters who are believable and realistic (in those situations), and a storyline and pace that will keep you engrossed with every page. If this is only the standard of your debut, Mary, I can't wait to read your future work. If you enjoy good character-based sci-fi, then this is for you.” -Goodreads Reviewer

 

 

Jeff Beck, Guitarist With a Page in Rock History, Dies at 78

His playing with the Yardbirds and as leader of his own bands brought a sense of adventure to their groundbreaking recordings.

By Jim Farber

Jeff Beck, one of the most skilled, admired, and influential guitarists in rock history, died on Tuesday at a hospital near his home in Surrey, England. He was 78.The cause was bacterial meningitis, Melissa Dragich, his publicist, said.                                              During the 1960s and ’70s, as either a member of the Yardbirds or as leader of his own bands, Mr. Beck brought a sense of adventure to his playing that helped make the recordings by those groups groundbreaking.                                                                             In 1965, when Mr. Beck joined the Yardbirds, to replace another guitar hero, Eric Clapton, the group was already one of the defining acts in Britain’s growing electric blues movement. But his stinging licks and darting leads on songs like “Shapes of Things” and “Over Under Sideways Down” added an expansive element to the music that helped signal the emerging psychedelic rock revolution.                                                                                                              Three years later, when he formed his own band, later known as the Jeff Beck Group — along with a then little-known singer, Rod Stewart, and the equally obscure Ron Wood on bass — the weight of the music created an early template for heavy metal. Specifically, the band’s 1968 debut, “Truth,” provided a blueprint that another former guitar colleague from the Yardbirds, Jimmy Page, drew on to devise Led Zeppelin several months later.                          In 1974, when Mr. Beck began his solo career with the “Blow by Blow” album, he refigured the essential formula of that era’s fusion movement, tipping the balance of its influences from jazz to rock and funk and in the process creating a sound that was both startlingly new and highly successful. “Blow by Blow” became a Billboard Top Five, a platinum hit and his most popular work.                   Along the way, Mr. Beck helped either pioneer, or amplify, some important technical innovations on his instrument. He elaborated the use of distortion and feedback effects, earlier explored by Pete Townshend; intensified the effect of bending notes on the guitar; and widened the range of expression that could be coaxed from devices amended to the guitar like the whammy bar.                                                                                                          Drawing on such techniques, Mr. Beck could weaponize his strings to hit like a stun gun, or caress them to express what felt like a kiss. His work had humor too, with licks that could cackle and leads that could tease. Copyright The New York Times

Ray Nelson, Artist, Author, and Fan

 

Ray Nelson (1931-2022)

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Mike Glyer

Ray Nelson self-portrait

SF writer and Rotsler Award winning fan artist Ray Nelson died in his sleep overnight November 29/30 his son, Walter, announced today on Facebook. He was 91 years old.

As an author Ray Nelson was best known for his short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning,” which became the basis of John Carpenter’s film They Live. He also had a short story, “Time Travel for Pedestrians,” in Harlan Ellison’s Again Dangerous Visions (1972). Nelson collaborated with Philip K. Dick on The Ganymede Takeover. His 1975 book Blake’s Progress, in which the poet William Blake and his wife are travelers in space and time, has been called his best work by critic John Clute.

As an artist, in the 1940s Nelson appropriated the propeller beanie as a symbol of science fiction fandom. His fannish cartoons were recognized with the Rotsler Award in 2003. He was inducted to the First Fandom Hall of Fame in 2019.

The Ray Nelson website, which Walter set up, has more bibliographical information, and samples of his artwork. There you can also read a humorous article about Ray’s collaborator, “The Last Days of Philip K. Dick”.

Nelson was born in Schenectady, NY in 1931. He became an active science fiction fan while attending high school in Michigan. After graduation, he went to the University of Chicago (studying theology). In the Fifties he lived for four years in Paris, and met Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and William Burroughs among others of the Beat Generation, as well as existentialists Jean Paul Sartre, Boris Vian and Simone de Beauvoir. He subsequently co-edited Miscellaneous Man, the first “Beatnik” little literary review. In Paris, he worked with Michael Moorcock smuggling Henry Miller books out of France.

Honors Nelson received as a writer included a special citation from the Philip K. Dick Award in 1983 for The Prometheus Man. As a fan, in addition to the awards already mentioned, he was a Best Fan Artist Retro Hugo finalist in 2001 (commemorating work done in 1950) and received the 2014 FAAn Lifetime Achievement Award.

 Reprinted from File 770 Copyright by Mike Glyer 2022

Christine McVie,

 

BREAKING NEWS

Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac is dead at 79. The singer-songwriter was a hitmaker for one of music’s most popular bands.

 

Greg Bear (1951-2022)

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Mike Glyer

Greg Bear

Five-time Nebula winner Greg Bear died November 19, a week after heart surgery from which he never awoke. A CT scan showed stroke damage was caused to many parts of the brain by clots that had been hiding in a false lumen of the anterior artery to the brain ever since an earlier surgery eight years ago. After a review of the possible outcomes by the medical team, and following the wishes expressed in his advance directive, Bear was taken off life support and died two hours later.

The author of over 50 books, Bear’s novels won Nebulas for Moving Mars (1995) and Darwin’s Radio. Three other works of short fiction won Nebulas, and two of those – “Blood Music” (1984) and “Tangents” (1987) — also won the Hugo.

Bear’s writing was very successful in translation, too. He twice won Japan’s Seiun Award, as well as the Ignotus Award (Spain), and Prix Apollo (France). Altogether his works have been translated into 19 languages.

Bear sold his first short story, “Destroyers”, to Famous Science Fiction at age 15, and along with high-school friends helped found San Diego Comic-Con.

He also published work as an artist at the beginning of his career, including illustrations for an early version of the Star Trek Concordance, and covers for Galaxy and F&SF. He was a founding member of the Association of Science Fiction Artists. He even created the cover for his novel, Psychlone, a 1988 reprint from Tor.

In 1983 he married Astrid Anderson. They have two children, Chloe born in 1986, and Alexandra, born in 1990.

He was a guest of honor at the 2001 Worldcon, Millennium Philcon.

He served as President of SFWA from 1988 to 1990.

A resident of the Pacific Northwest, he was eligible for and won the first Endeavour Award in 1999 for Dinosaur Summer – and won it again the following year for Darwin’s Radio.

Bear participated in Sigma, a kind of think tank where science fiction writers share insights about the future with agencies laying real-world plans, twice making national news as one of the group’s representatives to Department of Homeland Security conferences.

Bear’s career honors include San Diego Comic-Con’s Inkpot Award (1984), the Robert A. Heinlein Award (2006) presented by the Heinlein Society, and the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society’s Forry Award (2017).

Reposted from File 770 Copyright 2022.

MARVEL MOVIE RELEASE DATES

 

Key Release Dates

• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever               

    

• • 
    

  • • Release Date:2022-11-11

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  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

    Release Date:  2023-02-17
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3       

  Release Date: 2023-07-28

• The Marvels / Captain Marvel 2

• Captain America: New World Order

  Release Date:

  2024-05-03
• Marvel's Thunderbolts

  Release Date:

  2024-07-26
• Blade 2024

  Release Date:

  2024-09-06
• Deadpool 3

  Release Date:

  2024-11-08
• Marvel's Fantastic Four      

  

• Release Date: 2025-02-14
• Avengers: The Kang Dynasty

  Release Date:

  2025-05-02
• Avengers: Secret Wars

  Release Date:

  2026-05-01