Books & Writing – Page 40

The Unbeliever in All of Us: A Review of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever

I first read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson when I was a youth. I was so enraptured by the story that I drew the cover of The Wounded Land on my bedroom wall with colored pencils. When I read an announcement online that the book publisher of the Thomas Covenant series had signed a movie deal, I was dumbstruck. The Unbeliever in a film? I was very excited, imagining that now, with the success of films like The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, not only are wider audiences ready for fantasy adventures, but the special effects may live up to the author’s visions. Now is the perfect time for films like Thomas Covenant and Xanth to be made into films. (Sadly, the movie options for Thomas Covenant expired and, as of yet, have not been renewed.) The more I thought about it, the more I realized that while the warm fuzzy feelings associated with the book remained, the details of his journey were no longer well defined in my memory. I thought the best way to fix that would be to read the series again. I am so glad that I have. From the moment I picked up the first book, Lord Foul’s Bane, I have been unable to quit reading them, sometimes for hours at a time. I’m getting so much more out of the books now, seeing it and feeling it differently as an adult than I did when I was young.

Thomas Covenant, author, husband and father, loses everything when he becomes a leper. What started as a bruise on his right hand soon becomes an infection that leads to the amputation of the two outer fingers on his hand. His idyllic life on Haven Farm Ranch comes abruptly to an end when his panic-stricken wife Joan runs away with their young son Roger and files for divorce. Ostracized by his community and losing his identity, he’s still trying and failing to come to terms with his new reality when, after a strange encounter with a homeless man, he finds himself pulled into another reality. This new place, called “The Land” by its inhabitants, sees his newly scarred deformity and the white gold wedding band he couldn’t bring himself to remove as a sign, a fulfillment of prophecy. They believe him to be the second coming of Berek Half-hand, a hero from long ago whose return was foretold. As he finds himself forced to push forward on a journey to deliver a message from the evil-incarnate Lord Foul to the peace loving High Lords of the Land, he struggles with his inadequacies, impotence, ineffectiveness and helplessness, while others repeatedly thrust the mantle of “savior” upon him.

To accept the Land as real goes against everything a leper is taught to survive. How can he, a leper, a helpless and hopeless creature, be anything special? They call him the White Gold Wielder. He calls himself Unbeliever. How can he believe? He’s someone to be pitied, someone to be feared. He’s horrible and wonderful. He’s a hero and he’s a villain. He is everything and nothing.

Stephen R. Donaldson has created such a rich and vivid world full of layered history and complex cultures. It’s beautiful and horrible. It’s as compelling as it is appalling, and the journey that Covenant goes on explores everyone’s feelings of ineffectiveness, of hopelessness, of feeling responsible for everything that is wrong in the world and yet feeling like a helpless victim of it at the same time. Filled with violence (and a rape in the first book), Donaldson doesn’t flinch as he drags his characters through Hell and back for a second go around. What amazes me more than the vivid world he’s created is the fact that he can make the reader feel empathy for someone as pitiful as Covenant. What many people may not see, and would criticize about the books because of it, is that every single one of us has within in us the capacity to do horrible things. Covenant does. We grovel in our helplessness, we blame others for our failures, we blame ourselves for things we could not possibly have controlled. We hate ourselves and deny ourselves and cause people to suffer because of our own lack of faith in anything. Covenant does all these things and more. He’s an antihero and a paradox.

Reading The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is not easy. You will be offended, angered and hurt, but you will find yourself conflicted and moved to tears for someone who is all too much like ourselves at our worst and at our best.

The Thomas Covenant series was first published in 1977, with The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant being published in 1983. In 2004, Covenant returned to the Land with The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, two volumes of which have not been published yet.

The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever
Book 1: Lord Foul’s Bane (1977)
Book 2: The Illearth War (1978)
Book 3: The Power That Preserves (1979)

The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Book 1: The Wounded Land (1980)
Book 2: The One Tree (1982)
Book 3: White Gold Wielder (1983)

The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Book 1: The Runes of the Earth (2004)
Book 2: Fatal Revenant (2007)
Book 3: Against All Things Ending (2010)
Book 4: The Last Dark (2013)

Robots & Donuts: The Art of Eric Joyner

Robots and donuts, two staples in the life of a geek, are celebrated in Robots & Donuts: The Art of Eric Joyner, an oversized art book which will soon also be available as a limited edition hardcover that includes a signed-and-numbered tip-in sheet featuring an exclusive image not in the regular edition softcover. The brightly coloured, surreal art of Robots & Donuts is primarily defined as pop culture art, appealing to the average genre fan with a taste for retro style and subject matter, but Eric Joyner’s paintings have increasingly found their way into the collections of serious art aficionados. No doubt, nostalgia unites the low- and high-brow art communities:

In the years following World War II the major export from Japan wasn’t electronic equipment, but toys, specifically tin toys. Crafted in the shapes of submarines, planes, trains, cars, and horses, one of the most popular motifs were toy robots. Constructed in virtually every shape imaginable from the 1940s throughout the 1960s, they ranged in appearance from horror to science fiction characters. Today, these toys are not only fondly remembered by collectors but are being re-created for a whole new generation!

Capturing this period in history became a passion of painter Eric Joyner’s and in Robots and Donuts he celebrates this forgotten era with images marrying the metal creations with images plucked from his imagination. And, almost always, with donuts. (Why? Well, who doesn’t love donuts?) This book also features a look into Joyner’s painting style as well as a glimpse at some of his other non-robot themed artwork.

A sneak peek of the art in Robots & Donuts is available through a Flip Book and Preview at Dark Horse Comics’ website.

If you don’t have serious donut cravings — [insert Homer Simpson drooling here] — and a desire to play with your old Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots by the end of this captivating, 176-page book, then you may have to turn in your geek member card.

Order now at Amazon.com:
Robots & Donuts: The Art of Eric Joyner

Pre-order at Amazon.com:
Robots & Donuts: The Art of Eric Joyner (limited edition hardcover)

Robots & Donuts: The Art of Eric Joyner and Robots & Donuts: The Art of Eric Joyner (limited edition hardcover) are distributed by Dark Horse Books, a division of Dark Horse Comics. For more information on the book and its author, visit Dark Horse Comics’ ArtBooks Zone and the website of Eric Joyner.

Star Wars: Luke Skywalker, Last Hope for the Galaxy: From Tatooine to Dark Empire

Dark Horse Comics has published the absolute compendium of comics featuring Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, the 832-page tome Star Wars: Luke Skywalker, Last Hope for the Galaxy: From Tatooine to Dark Empire. “Epic” is the word Dark Horse uses to describe the book, enthusing, “Luke Skywalker’s greatest adventures from over thirty years of comics are compiled in a single slipcased hardcover! A deluxe edition worthy of the hero who saved the galaxy, this massive volume follows Luke Skywalker on his journey from the moisture farms of Tatooine to the final days of the Dark Empire! Each story painstakingly selected from every Luke Skywalker comic ever published — from Marvel’s first issue to Dark Horse’s latest — this masterpiece collection is the ultimate portrait of one of the most widely known and widely loved heroes of modern mythology! All of the most exciting, most significant stories of Luke Skywalker are here in this breathtaking oversized hardcover. Never has there been a more magnificent assemblage of Star Wars comics, or a more perfect prize for any Star Wars fan!”

Includes:
“Luke Skywalker’s Walkabout” — Dark Horse Presents Annual 1999
“Falling Star” — Tales #15
“The Day After the Death Star” — Marvel UK Star Wars #97-99
“The Return of Ben Kenobi” — Classic Star Wars #10-11
“Crucible” — Marvel Star Wars #17
“General Skywalker” — Empire #26-27
“The Wrong Side of the War” — Empire #36-40
“My Brother, My Enemy” — Rebellion #1-5
“Riders in the Void” — Marvel Star Wars #38
“Splinter of the Mind’s Eye”
“Shira’s Story” — Marvel Star Wars #60-63
“Duel With a Dark Lady” — Marvel Star Wars #95-97
“Dark Empire”
“The Boy I Once Was” — Chewbacca #4

In honour of 2007’s 30th anniversary of Star Wars, Dark Horse Comics has also rereleased the highlights of their Star Wars comics line in the limited-edition hardcover Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collection: “Since 1991, it has been Dark Horse Comics’ privilege to bring its readers monthly adventures set in that galaxy far, far away. It is to celebrate thirty years of Star Wars, and to thank our loyal readers that we present this twelve-volume collectors’ showcase of some of the finest graphic novel sagas ranging from one end of the Star Wars timeline to the other.” These commemorative books, with their matching black-matte-and-silver covers, inset with glossy, full-colour art panels, will be a focal point of any Star Wars library, so be sure to get them while you still can.

Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars titles are recommended for ages 12 and up.

Star Wars: Luke Skywalker, Last Hope for the Galaxy: From Tatooine to Dark Empire and the Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collection are distributed by Dark Horse Books, a division of Dark Horse Comics, in partnership with Lucas Books. For more Star Wars information, visit Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars Zone.

I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun

A search at Amazon.com a few months ago for a LOLcat book led to the amazing discovery that one didn’t exist. That oversight has now been corrected: I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun is a hilarious guide to LOLcats by Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami — the duo who started the Internet meme and launched the hugely popular icanhascheezburger.com in January 2007 — and co-author “Professor Happycat”.

Professor Happycat pops up throughout the book in cartoon form to explain things to the reader, such as how to mangle spelling and grammar in proper LOLspeak fashion (LOL Speak Poetry Magnets are available for practice), and who Ceiling Cat and other prominent LOLcats are. The book collects over 200 full-colour LOLcat pictures from the website, some classic and some new, and all extremely LOL-worthy. Professor Happycat says, “Mah new book iz teh best book evr”, and it’s hard to argue with that statement if you’re a LOLcat fan.

A note from the publisher states: “In case you’ve somehow missed the LOLcat sensation, here’s the lowdown. It all began in early 2007, when, after a bad day at work,” Eric Nakagawa asked his friend Kari Unebasami via chat to send something to cheer him up. Kari sent him a photo of a smiling fat cat with the caption “I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?” superimposed onto the picture. Soon, Nakagawa and Unebasami created a blog at icanhascheezburger.com (named after the most popular LOLcat of all) and the phenomenon known as the LOLcat was born.”

The book is small and square, the perfect size to tuck into a bag and carry everywhere, or to stuff into a holiday stocking. It’s a great conversation piece and the perfect gift for geeks and cat-lovers of all ages.

Teh cute kittehs, they needs sequel now. Srsly.

Pre-order at Amazon.com:
I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun

I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun is distributed by Gotham Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), and its international affiliates. For more information, visit the official book website at lulzftw.com.

The Twinkies Cookbook

Twinkies, long a staple in the geek food pyramid, have remained essentially unchanged by their makers since their creation, so Hostess thought it would be fun to officially showcase the people who have been getting creative and playing with their food, in The Twinkies Cookbook: An Inventive and Unexpected Recipe Collection:

“As part of Twinkies’ seventy-fifth anniversary celebration [in 2005], Hostess put out a call for recipes, asking people to share their ideas for cooking — yes, cooking — with Twinkies. Hundreds of people from across the country responded with an amazing bunch of inventive, homegrown, and sometimes wacky recipes. Nearly fifty of these unexpected creations — both sweet and savory! — are presented in this nostalgic and colorful collection. A delight for the whole family, The Twinkies Cookbook is the perfect snack for the Twinkie lover in all of us.”

The cookbook’s introduction, Twinkies: History of a Sweet Sensation, tells the story of the Twinkie’s origins, and includes interesting quotes, trivia, and archival pictures. There are nine chapters of recipes and full-color pictures that follow: Novelty Twinkies, Twinkies for Chocolate Lovers, Fruity Twinkies, Twinkies Take the Cake, Twinkies à la Mode, Twinkie Drinks, Twinkie Stack-Ups, Gourmet Twinkies, and Twinkies and Meat. The recipes range from those simple enough for children to make, to a few time-consuming productions requiring special equipment and considerable experience in the kitchen.

As a bonus for pop culture fans, this book also clears up the much-debated urban legend that Twinkies have an indefinite shelf life. (Spoiler: The golden snack cake’s real lifespan is 25 days.)

Order now at Amazon.com:
The Twinkies Cookbook: An Inventive and Unexpected Recipe Collection

The Twinkies Cookbook: An Inventive and Unexpected Recipe Collection is distributed by Ten Speed Press (US and Canada). For more recipes and information, visit twinkies.com.

ghostgirl

Charlotte Usher, the titular “ghostgirl” in the book ghostgirl, walks through life feeling like she’s invisible. She yearns to be one of the popular girls in high school and win the heart of the boy of her dreams, but she can’t even manage to get noticed.

Sound familiar? If you grew up a geek, it does. Being a ghost is the perfect metaphor for the status of those who cling to the fringe of society, looking in but not fitting in.

Charlotte, the poster girl for not fitting in, seems on the verge of finally attaining the popularity she obsesses over when she’s assigned to be the Physics tutor for the school’s star athlete, and her crush, Damen Dylan… but promptly chokes on a gummy bear and dies. Death doesn’t deter Charlotte from her quest, though, so with the help of Goth girl Scarlet, a fellow outcast and the only live person who can see Charlotte, she sets out to achieve in the afterlife what she couldn’t while still alive. Along the way, both girls learn to accept, and find acceptance for, who they really are and where they belong, popular or not.

The book itself is a work of art, its tall and narrow trim size reflecting the shape of a coffin and featuring a coffin die-cut with stamped acetate inlay on the black, silver, and pink hardcover. The cover’s colour scheme is continued throughout the book in the silhouette illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, the flowery designs in the margins, and the silver gilt applied to the page edges. Beneath each chapter illustration is a plot-relevant quote, usually in the form of song lyrics, that emphasizes the novel’s frequent use of music and pop culture references.

ghostgirl originated as a Web project in 2002, so fans can extend the book’s experience by visiting the beautifully designed ghostgirl.com. There’s lots to explore while waiting for the next book in the series, ghostgirl: Homecoming (July 2009), including a MySpace page for main character Charlotte Usher.

Recommended Reading Level: Young Adult (12+) for mild sexual content, Goth Chic-style violence, and occasional adult language.

Order now at Amazon.com:
ghostgirl

ghostgirl is distributed by Little, Brown and Company, an imprint of Hachette Book Group USA, and Headline Publishing (UK). For more information on the book and its author, visit ghostgirl.com and the website of Tonya Hurley.

The I Can Has Cheezburger? Book is Coming Soon! Available for Presale Nao!

from I Can Has Cheezburger?:

The burger team is excited to announce our NAWT SECOND (#1) Book, I Can Has Cheezburger? A Lolcat Colleckshun. On stands October 7th, and available for pre-sale nao at these fine establishments!

Your local indie book store (find one nearby!)

Iz a portable collekshun of pix, wif 5 grammar lessons from Professor Happycat!

200!!! PIX! Some favorites, many new and never seen pix personally chosen out of bajillions by cheez and tofu. Use it to confuse grandma and give you lols and make your day infinity times better!

Quick facts:

full of awsum and kittehs
shape is square
release date October 7th
not edible (sorry!)
portable dose of lulz
lots of cute drawings…

and CATS LOVE IT!

If you made it to the bottom of this post… we made a special website for this book… lulzftw.com.from

Peter S. Beagle Needs Our Help

from Conlan Press:

A Call to Action in Support of Peter S. Beagle, Author of The Last Unicorn

Q: I’ve heard that Peter S. Beagle hasn’t been paid anything from sales of The Last Unicorn on DVD or videotape. True or false?
A: Sadly true. Since 1999, London-based Granada Media has sold more than 1.2 million DVDs and half a million videotapes of The Last Unicorn through various distributors around the world. They have also made cable and satellite deals in several different countries. Despite this success they have paid Peter absolutely nothing, claiming that the film has never made a profit. Peter and his attorney have been fighting with Granada over this since September 2003, and there is still no end in sight. At this time, the only Last Unicorn DVDs making money for Peter are the ones sold through Conlan Press — he gets more than half the income from those.

Q: I’ve also heard that he got cheated on his screenplay for the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings. True or false?
A: True. Peter was brought in as a consultant to tell producer Saul Zaentz and director Ralph Bakshi how to fix the unusable screenplay they’d already spent $50,000 on. To get Peter to write a replacement screenplay for free as part of his original $5,000 consulting fee, Saul Zaentz promised to pay Peter more than his usual screenplay rate for Part 2 of the project, and to hire him to write other films as well. None of that ever happened, though… and, in fact, Peter had to threaten to sue just to get the second half of that meager $5,000! Since then he has gotten nothing — while Saul Zaentz has gone on to earn nearly half a billion dollars from rights related to his ownership of the animated film. (That’s right: billion with a B.)

Q: Is there any way that I can help?
A: Yes. You can read the facts posted at conlanpress.com/youcanhelp/, then go spread the word. You can join the more than 1,100 Peter S. Beagle fans who have posted their names and support messages at conlanpress.com/html/fans_speak.html. You can write complaint letters and faxes to Saul Zaentz Productions, Granada Media, and movie industry magazines like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. You can donate directly to Peter’s legal support fund at conlanpress.com/html/donations.html. And finally you can buy Beagle books and related products through Conlan Press, where Peter gets more than half the income from each sale (a lot of which he uses to support the battle for his rights).

Q: What’s happening with the live-action film version of The Last Unicorn?
A: Since 1999 the live-action remake rights have been controlled by Continent Films, a small company in London. Continent has never raised significant development or production funds, and most of what they have announced via their website over the years has been false or wildly exaggerated. Nevertheless, they do control the live-action remake rights until at least 2015. Peter does not back their efforts — especially after reading what they did without permission to his screenplay — and is, in fact, actively trying to get them to sell their rights to some studio or producer capable of doing a good job.

Q: How can I keep current on these things and other Beagle-related news?
A: Simple! Sign up for Peter’s free email newsletter, The Raven. In addition to all the Beagle info that’s ready to report, nearly every issue has some little extra something by Peter (essays, poetry, song lyrics, what have you) that he wants to share directly with his fans. To get The Raven, sign up at either peterbeagle.com/raven/ or conlanpress.com/html/newsletter.html. Or else you can just send a sign-up request in by email to contact@conlanpress.com.

Personally Signed Beagle Items Available from Conlan Press

A Fine and Private Place (novel: Tachyon trade paperback, Conlan Press downloadable audiobook)
The Last Unicorn (animated film: 25th Anniversary edition widescreen DVD)
The Last Unicorn (novel: Roc/B&N deluxe edition hardcover, Roc 40th Anniversary trade paperback, Conlan Press downloadable audiobook)
Art prints/posters/computer wallpaper inspired by The Last Unicorn (various artists)
The Line Between (fiction collection: Tachyon trade paperback)
The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche and Other Odd Acquaintances (fiction & nonfiction collection: Tachyon trade paperback)
Sigunick & Beagle Acoustic — The Lost ‘62 Tape (28-minute live recording on CD)
Strange Roads (illustrated 3-story fiction collection inspired by the art of Lisa Snellings-Clark: DreamHaven limited edition chapbook)
Tamsin (novel: Roc trade paperback, Firebird mass market paperback)
The Unicorn Sonata (illustrated novel & accidental collector’s item: Turner Books hardcover)

Note About The Last Unicorn (Deluxe Edition):

There are fewer than 1500 copies left from the original 15,000-copy printing, and Barnes & Noble has decided not to reprint. Order soon if you want to be guaranteed of getting this deluxe edition. There aren’t that many left in inventory now, and those will probably sell out before the end of the year.

Connor Cochran
Business Manager for Peter S. Beagle
& Publisher, Conlan Press

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Are you such a devoted fan of The Legend of Zelda that you’ve played every game to completion (perhaps more than once), and read every related book in print? This October, VIZ Media comes to your rescue with an English adaptation of the Zelda manga to keep you immersed in the world of Hyrule.

The Legend of Zelda manga series, officially approved by Nintendo, began publication in Japan in February 2000 and covers nine of the most popular Zelda games. VIZ Media’s adaptation will mark the first time the fan-praised series has been officially released in English.

The first title set to be published in North America is Ocarina of Time, the dustjacket description of which reads, “In the mystical land of Hyrule, three spiritual stones hold the key to the Triforce, and whoever holds them will control the world. A boy named Link sets out on a quest to deliver the Emerald, the spiritual stone of the forest, to Zelda, Princess of the land of Hyrule. The journey will be long and perilous, and Link will need all his skill and courage to defeat evil. The battle for Hyrule and the Sacred Realm has begun!”

In Ocarina of Time , the adventures of the game’s hero, Link, are divided into two volumes — known as the “Child Saga” and the “Adult Saga” — that relate the story of how the young Link left his forest home and grew up in the process to become the destined Hero of Time. The story and art by Akira Himekawa, including the bonus preliminary sketches he did in preparation for the project, are consistently top-notch, and the books remain mostly true to the video game plot, occasionally adding extra material to expand upon or explain things from the game series. Ocarina of Time reads from right to left, as in the original Japanese book format, and is rated “A” for All Ages.

Now VIZ Media just needs to produce plush toys to accompany the Zelda manga. Cuddling an adorable little Link or Zelda doll while following their stories on the page would add a whole extra layer to the reading experience, and allow the reader to act out the cute crush between the two characters as portrayed in Ocarina of Time.

Pre-order at Amazon.com:
The Legend of Zelda , Vol. 1: Ocarina of Time, Part 1
The Legend of Zelda , Vol. 2: Ocarina of Time, Part 2

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time‘s English translation is distributed by VIZ Media. For more information on the full range of The Legend of Zelda titles, see Manga from The Legend of Zelda Series.

The Legend of Neil, a NSFW-rated Web series that spoofs The Legend of Zelda, is also recommended for adult Zelda fans. Its creator is Sandeep Parikh, who plays Zaboo in the award-winning Web series The Guild.

The Art of WALL-E

The Three Laws of Robotics, made famous by Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, are:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

The mechanical creatures that populate the world of WALL-E suggest a fourth law: “A robot must be so cute as to merit its own deluxe art book.”

The Art of WALL-E by Tim Hauser is that book. The latest offering in the Pixar “The Art of…” series — which includes The Art of Monsters, Inc., The Art of Finding Nemo, The Art of The Incredibles, The Art of Cars, and The Art of Ratatouille — this volume is a definite must-have for art enthusiasts of all ages, whether you’re a fan of Pixar and WALL-E or just animation art and robots in general.

Designed as a companion piece to the film, and featuring a wide variety of media — pencil, markers, pastels, charcoal, and more — rendered by the talented team of Pixar artists, The Art of WALL-E showcases the highlights of the conceptual art created during production of WALL-E. The beautifully reproduced images, including preliminary sketches, character studies, storyboards, and colorscripts, are interspersed with anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories from a variety of people who worked on the film, providing revealing insights into the incredible work necessary to bring the completely imagined, futuristic world of WALL-E to life. The nostalgically retro feel of the art is reminiscent of the 1960s style of The Jetsons, whose lovable robotic housekeeper, Rosie the Robot Maid, appears to be an inspiration for the design of WALL-E and his friends.

Order now at Amazon.com:
The Art of WALL-E

The Art of WALL-E is distributed by Chronicle Books (International/US) and Raincoast Books (Canada).