News for 2009

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Doctor Who

The demise of the Tenth (and arguably most popular Doctor), played by David Tennant is to be shown over the Christmas period in a special two part episode. Most of us know this already, but here we can confirm the dates and times as 6pm Christmas Day and 6.40pm New Years day on BBC One.

These promise to be very special episodes...

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A giant UFO has been filmed hovering over the Kremlin in Russia by passers by, and experts are so far baffled over the footage. The video, which is now the most viewed video on the Russian Youtube, if genuine can be arguably the best footage yet over the growing evidence of UFO activity.

According to the Daily Mail, the UFO was seen hovering over the Kremlin for a number of hours and was reported by hundreds of people. The UFO is...

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This is one of those rare finds on the internet, a very unusual review of the Star Wars film, Episode 1 Phantom Menace. At 1 hour and 10 minutes, this is a review like you will have never seen before.

Narrated in a very unusual, dead pan voice, the reviewer clearly knows his stuff, and leaves no stone unturned. It is however very very strange but also oddly addictive viewing, It's also been approved by Simon Peg no less.

...
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Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish on ability to climb a tree it will live its life believing it is stupid
- Albert Einstein
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Soul Stealers

Those ever so angry robots have announced new covers for 3 upcoming books, including the sequel to the incredible novel Kell's Legend.

Titled "Soul Stealers", the front cover actually features a quote from our very own review. We at Science fiction andfantasy feel very honoured and would like to extend thanks to both angry robot books and...

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David Gemmell Award Winner

The incredible novel Kell's legend, by Andy Remic has been nominated for a David Gemmell award!

The David Gemmell award was created to honour the best works in fantasy while also raising the awardness of the fantasy genre and celebrate it's historic and cultural Importance.

The award also of...

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Borders Books

The recent collapse of the book seller chain Borders has left many publishers very concerned over the £5m - £7m debt however news has emerged recently that this will be recouped by the ongoing sale of existing stocks.

The administrators handling the close, MCR told publishers that it had sufficient funds to settle claims and was...

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The Bulgarians are among us...

According to the Bulgarian government scientist Professor Lachezar Filipov, Aliens are already here on earth and have been visiting us for some time. They also claim to be in contact with these Aliens and are working on deciphering a complex set of symbols that were sent to them.

Furthermore the Aliens are currently...

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There is a great video trailer released for the upcoming book by Aliette De Bodard Servant of the Underworld, which you can view below. In addition you can also wet your appetite for what promises to be a very fine book over at those Angry Robots.

The Servant of the underworld is due out in the UK and Australia on the 7th January 2010, so save that money you get for Christmas and Buy it then! Our US and Canada friends can also get...

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Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish on ability to climb a tree it will live its life believing it is stupid
- Albert Einstein
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Warhammer 40k Ultramarines Film

For all warhammer fans out there, Games Workshop have finally announced that a film based in the Warhammer 40k universe is going to be made. Titled "Ultramarines", the film is presumably going to feature the most famous chapter of space marines who fight evil and protect the 40k universe under the...

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Gaiman Wins another award

Neil Gaiman, the incredibly talented author of Neverwhere, American Gods and Stardust has won the 2009 Booktrust teenage prize for his Young Adult's novel "The Graveyard Book".

The Graveyard Book is about a child who is abandoned in a graveyard and is found and raised by the undead spirits that reside there.

The...

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angry robot books

Kylie joins those lovable but yet very angry robots and before I get sued, I don't actually mean that petite female singer but the equally impressive Australian Author Kylie Chan.

Author of the hugely successful Dark Heavens Trilogy, Kylie has been signed by Angry Robot to distribute the impressive novels outside of...

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Writing a novel

It's NaNoWriMo month, doesn't seem like a year since we reported about the international book writing month, and now we already 5 days into it, at 2700 words a day that means we are already 13500 word behind !

NaNoWriMo is a fun approach to writing novels, completely free and completely open, the goal is to write a 50000 word novel...

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Doctor Who

Throughout the day there has been a series of news leaked about both the Doctor Who specials, the news series featuring the Eleventh Doctor, and finally confirmation of the Water of Mars airing date.

The Water of Mars will be shown on Sunday the 15th November at 1900hrs, on BBC One. Still on the subject of the Water of Mars special,...

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The Gathering Storm

The long awaited next installment in the Late Robert Jordans epic series, "The Wheel of Time" is finally released today. Brandon Sanderson is the author who has been tasked with creating the final 3 novels in the series from Robert Jordan's unfinished manuscripts.

The Wheel of Time is one of the truly great fantasy epics,...

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Amazon's e-reader, the Kindle is going to be available outside the USA for the very first time, including in the UK and it has emerged that the reasons for the long delay in the UK (the kindle has been available in the US since november 2007) has been in making an agreement with a mobile network provider.

What's even more surprising is...

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Gamestfest 2009

Gamesfest is one of the biggest game conventions in the UK, and this years looks set to be an outstanding event.

Scheduled at the Watford Colosseum on the 24th October 2009, Gamesfest is a fairly informal event and aims to feature the best in RPG's, Board Games, CCG's, War Games, Comics, Books, Film & Video gaming.

There...

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British Fantasy awards 2009

The biggest and best British fantasy convention, FantasyCon was held over the weekend, courtesy of the British Fantasy Society. During the convention, the British Fantasy Awards 2009 were celebrated. The Winners include the legendary Doctor Who series for Best Television and Vincent Chong for Best Artist (The...

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Is Star Wars Science Fiction?

There are quite a few articles around the net that are trying to debunk the idea that >Star Wars is actually Science Fiction, with some claiming it's actually fantasy instead. On the surface Star Wars would seem to define Science Fiction very well, it has space ships, lasers, aliens, faster than light travel and even a...

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The Gathering Storm

The Gathering Storm is the 12th novel in the much acclaimed Wheel of Time series by the Late author of fantasy, Robert Jordan. The series is being completed by Brandon Sanderson and will include 3 novels, The Gathering Storm, Shifting Winds and Tarmon' Gaidon (TBC).

The whole first chapter of The Gathering Storm, now set for...

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Storm Glass is the first novel in a new series by the acclaimed fantasy author Maria V. Snyder.

With her unique magical abilities, Opal Cowen has always felt unsure of her place at Sitia's Magic Academy. But when the Stormdancer clan needs help, Opal's knowledge makes her the perfect choice - until the mission goes awry.

Pulling her powers in unfamiliar directions, Opal find herself tapping into a new kind of magic as...

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Beautiful Dead Arizona

The sequel to Beautiful Dead, a young Adult novel about life, dead and the limbo in-between (the beautiful dead of the title) is on it's way soon. Beautiful Dead: Arizona continues the story of Ellerton High as Darina mourns the death of her boyfriend Phoenix.

At the height of her grief, when the apparitions of...

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Dr Michio Kaku

The BBC have reported that many of the science fiction ideas including invisibility cloaks, teleportation and even time travel may be closer to reality that you might think.

The news story follows a recently published book by the renowned theoretical physicist Dr Michio Kaku, who is the co-founder of string field theory (often...

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The clockwork vampires are invading!, the new novel "Kell's Legend, written by Andy Remic and shortly to be published by Angry Robot Books features clockwork vampires invading the land of Falanor.

A small group of heroes set off to warn the king, Kell the ancient hero, his granddaughter Nienna and her friend Katrina. They are joined with Saark, the ex champion of the King, brought into disgrace after an affair with the queen.

...
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Google Books

The online giant Amazon is joining forces with digital Titans Microsoft and Yahoo to sign up to the Open Book Alliance in a coalition to fight Google's attempt to create the world's biggest virtual library.

The Open Book Alliance opposes a recent legal settlement worth $125 million between book publishers and Google which...

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Rough Guide to the (Hitchhikers) Guide to the Galaxy

To mark the 30th Aniversary and the release of the sixth novel in the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy trilogy, the Rough Guide are launching the "Rough Guide to the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy".

With over 16 million novels sold so far, with the journey from Radio to...

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Doctor Who

The BBC have released a few of the classic Doctor Who novels for free as e-books on the BBC website. Many of these novels are quite rare and even feature brand new original artwork and extensive additional notes written by the original authors.

Novels available at the moment include Human Nature written by Paul Cornell and featuring...

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Zombies could wipe us all out!

According to new scientific research, an attack of Zombies could wipe out civilisation unless dealt with aggressively and fast.

These conclusions are the result of a mathematical excercise carried out by researchers at the University's of Ottawa and Carleton and shows that in many respects a...

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Google Books

The Nominations for the World Fantasy Awards 2009 have been announced, with authors including Neil Gaiman (for both the Graveyard book and the novella "Odd and the Frost Giants"), Kage Baker for "House of the Stag", Jeffrey Ford for "The Shadow Year" and Daryl Gregory for "Pandemonium".

The winners will be announced during the World Fantasy...

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Terry Pratchet

Terry Pratchett, one of the most successful authors on the planet, who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease in December 2007 has made an emotional plea for the right to choose to die when his quality of life deteriorates to the point that he can no longer carry on.

Terry Pratchett spoke out after the...

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Doctor Who

The Guinness book of records has recently honored the Doctor Who series by proclaiming it the most successful sci-fi series of all time.

The award was based on many factors including broadcast ratings, DVD sales, book sales, itunes traffic, and even estimated illegal downloads. Russell T Davies accepted the honor on behalf of the...

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Doctor Who

The next Doctor Who special "the Water of Mars" has a new trailer, released in America over the weekend at the San Diego Comic Con. The trailer gives a good indication that this is going to be one very big special episode and will also set the stage for the Christmas specials.

You can see the trailer over at the bbc website here

...
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Matt Smith

Production of the new series of Doctor Who, featuring the 11th Doctor (played by Matt Smith), began this week along with his new companion Amy Pond (played by Karen Gillan).

On arrival in Cardiff for the very first day of filming, Matt said:

"I feel very privileged and proud to be part of this iconic show. The scripts are...

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Amazon removes books from customers kindles

The New York Times have recently reported that e-book seller Amazon have deleted purchased books from users Kindle e-readers after the publishers reversed their decision to offer an electronic version of the George Orwell novels 1984 and Animal Farm.

After deleting the already purchased and...

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Google Books

For the very long time many children (and adults) have been enthused by science fiction and by the immense expanse that is space, a fascination which has set imaginations alight as early as the 1920's by magazines like Amazing Stories (also known as Amazing Science Fiction) along with early authors including HG Wells, Jules Verne and Edgar...

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A robot in Japan, called Ninomiya-kun has been created that can actually read books that have been placed on a special book stand. The robot is a special joint research venture with both the Kitakyushu National College of Technology and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The book reading robot is a one metre tall "child sized" bot with an aluminium frame and uses cameras in it's eyes to pick up the written characters on...

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iLiad Ereader

Borders have recently launched their own e-reader which they have named the iLiad, competing with the Sony reader in the UK and also the Amazon reader in the USA.

Until now the only e-reader in the uk market was the Sony Reader (in partnership with Waterstones), despite the Amazon Kindle being available in the USA for well over...

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Google Books

Anti Trust regulators are to Investigate the Google Books deal which saw book publishers settle with the search engine giant for a sum total of $125m.

This settlement has been to compensate copyright holders of books featured on the Google Books search service and also gives Google a share of online book sales and adverts....

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Locus Awards 2009

The Winners of the 2009 Locus Awards have been announced during a ceremony in Seattle, USA. The winners include Neal Stephenson for "Anathem" in the Science Fiction category , Ursula K Le Guin for "Lavinia" in the Fantasy category and Neil Gaiman for his Young Adult novel "The Graveyard Book".

The Locus awards are an annual...

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Revelation Space Series

Alistair Reynolds, the author of the hugely successful Revelation Space series, has signed a £1 million book deal with Gollancz for his next 10 novels.

Welsh born Alistair Reynolds began writing science fiction short stories while at college, and then later while he worked at the european space agency in...

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David Gemmell Award Winner

Blood of Elves, a novel by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski has won the first ever David Gemmell Legend award at a prestigious ceremony held at the Magic Circle headquarters in London.

Blood of Elves is the first volume in the Witcher Saga, originally published in the authors native country of Poland in 1994 and...

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angry robot books

Angry Robot books are set to invade the publishing scene with their first release, Moxyland by Lauren Beukes, due to be published on the 1st July 2009.

A new imprint of HarperCollins, Angry Robot Books is dedicated to releasing the very best in modern adult science fiction and fantasy.

Clearly passionate about...

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The Worlds first Cyborg is here, with a robot being controlled by cultured Rat neurons via bluetooth.

Created by those clever people at the University of Reading, the Rat neurons are placed on a multi-electrode array (MEA) to form the brain of Gordon the robot.

The brain itself is housed in a special temperature controlled unit which contains a nutrient rich medium and the brain signals are sent via bluetooth to a small...

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Warpdrive Spaceship

Those clever bods over at the Discovery Channel have asked a leading physicist to figure out what a real space ship with a warp drive would look like, and how it could (in theory) work.

Dr Richard Obousy has come up with a design that is scientifically accurate from current understanding of spacetime and superstring theory.

...
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British Fantasy Awards 2009

The Short-list for the 2009 British Fantasy Awards has been announced, with nominations including Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" which is being nominated for the the august derleth fantasy award and Tim Lebbon's "The Reach of Children" for best novella.

Also nominated are Stephen King for both the short fiction story "N" and...

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David Eddings passes away

It is with a very heavy heart that we report that the much loved, well respected and very talented author David Eddings has passed away on Monday 2nd June 2009, aged 77.

David was the author of the hugely popular Belgariad and Malloreon series, amongst others. In his later years it was made public that his...

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Outpost Gallifrey, the most popular (and one of the oldest) Doctor Who Fansite on the internet is set to close on 31st July 2009, along with the accompanying Doctor Who forum.

Outpost Gallifrey is legendary amongst Doctor Who supporters and has been going since 1996, making it one of the most ancient websites around. In that time it has had over 37 million visits.

Shaun Lyon, the owner of the website made the...

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The Strain is a trilogy of Vampire books written by the very talented writer and director of films including Pan's Labyrinth - Guillermo del Toro and popular thriller author Chuck Hogan.

The story follows a prolific strain of virus infecting New York that turns people into bloodthirsty Vampires.

The Strain

They have always been here. Vampires. In secret and in darkness. Waiting. Now their time has come....

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The Stainless Steel Rat

Harry Harrison has completed the first draft of a brand new Stainless Steel Rat adventure. Reports so far suggest that the Russian version will be the first one realeased with a date planned for december 2009.

There is as of yet no mention of a UK release date..

One of my personal favorite science...

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Kindle DX

Amazon has announced a new version of its Kindle reader, called the Kindle DX, which features a 250% bigger size and a built in PDF reader.

Primarily aimed at newspaper readers, the new version follows amazons backward policy of increasing prices, with the DX retail price £87 higher than the already increased price of the Kindle 2.

...
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Song of time

Ian R Macleod is this years winner of the coveted Arthur C Clarke award, with his 5th book, Song of Time. The news was announced at the Apollo West End theatre as part of the start of the Sci-fi London film festival.

Ian R Macleod faced very tough competition from long established authors including Alastair Reynolds and Paul...

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The hunt for gollum

The Hunt for Gollum premiers this bank holiday weekend at sci-fi London. For those who haven't heard, The Hunt for Gollum is an entirely fan made non-profit film.

Made to a budget of just £3000, The Hunt for Gollum looks very impressive and has been created in the same style as Peter Jacksons Epic Trilogy.

The 40 minute...

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Powers by Ursula K Le Guin

This years winners of the Nebula awards have been announced over the weekend at the UCLA, presided over by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).

Ursula K Le Guin has won best novel with her new book, "Powers" while best Novella was won by Catherine Asaro for "The Spacetime Pool".

The winner of the...

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Dark Matter

Astronomers have found evidence of the most distant water ever located in the universe, the water has been found in a another galaxy billions of light years away.

This astounding discovery was made by a joint USA - European venture and has been announced at the "European Week of Astronomy and Space Science" conference.

The...

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Doctor Who

Doctor Who has been chosen as the best scifi theme tune for a television series in an online vote on the long established and very popular website total scifi.

It beat series like red dwarf ("I want to lie ship wrecked and comatose"), Mark Snows X-files tune, Buffy and Star Trek.

Total Sci-Fi editor Matt McAllister commented...

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The Co-Creator of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), Dave Arneson has died of cancer aged 61. He had been battling the illness for the last 2 years and passed away on tuesday.

Being an avid table top gamer, Dave attended a convention in 1969 and met Gary Gygax. They became great friends and their first collaboration, along with Mike Carr, was a set...

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Terry Pratchet

Terry Pratchett's Discworld has come one step closer to reality after road names at a new housing estate in somerset have been named after streets in Ankh-Morpork.

Peach Pie street and Treacle Mine road are included in the Kingswell Rise development in Wincanton. Sir Terry visited the town on Sunday to officially...

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Dark Matter

Scientists have detected an unexplained source of positrons in space after using a space based research satellite called Pamela ( Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics), launched in June 2006.

This satellite carries instruments designed to investigate Dark Matter particles in space. It has detected an excess of...

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Worlds Most Powerful Laser Scientists in the USA have just finished constructing the worlds most powerful Laser, aimed at recreating the conditions at the heart of the Sun. The goal of the experiment is to demenstrate the feasibility of Nuclear fusion, which could mean abundant clean energy.

The Experiment aims 192 Lasers at a tiny amount of...

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Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman, who was a chemist for Maxwell House before becoming an Actor, would like to see more Science fact in Science Fiction films. He is leading a campaign and plans to host events so that scientists and directors can meet in an effort to "get it right".

Dustin is a new member of the Science and Entertainment Exchange...

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Mars According to planetary scientists, salt water pools may still exist on Mars, just below the surface of the planet. It has been previously thought that any remaining water on Mars must exist solely as either ice or vapour due to the low pressure and temperature.

Nasa's most recent Mars probe, the Phoenix Lander has found the presence of...

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A very talented rendition of how Harry Potter could have been pitched to a reluctant editor. Amongst the best lines are: "What'll happen with the next four books?. Rather than writing short, concise, carefully edited stories, she'll just write until her hand...

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The British library

The British library has admitted to losing more than 9000 books, some of which have not been seen for 50 years.

Amongst those missing are Renaissance treatises on theology and alchemy, a 1876 illustrated edition of Alice in Wonderland, a medieval text on astronomy, first editions of 19th- and 20th-century novels, and a luxury...

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To celebrate the launch of the film Watchmen, Doctor Manhattan has appeared over the Thames to the surprise of London residents on Wednesday night (4th March 2009).

The blue skinned superhero appeared over London's river and towered over 70 feet, floating in the air.

This fantastic PR stunt was created by using the worlds largest water...

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Nebula Awards 2008 The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) have announced that the nominees for this years Nebula Awards have been finalised. The Awards ceremony will be held in Los Angeles between the 24-26th April. The Awards have been given annually since 1965 for the best novel, novella, novelette and short story. The have also been two awards added,...

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Doctor Who

Doctor Who has scooped an special effects award (FX award) from the 7th annual VES (Visual Effects Society) Awards for "Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial" in the episode "Silence in the Library".

The VES announced the winners in a black tie event at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles,...

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Lindsay Duncan

The Companion for the Second Doctor Who Special has been announced as the tony award winning actress Lindsay Duncan. Lindsay is also a noted screen actress and won her award for her role in the Noel Coward play Private Lives.

Lindsay has also provided the voice for the protocol droid TC-14 in The Phantom Menace, and has been cast in Tim...

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Alien life may be all around us

Alien life may exist all around us according to a physicist at Arizona State University. Talking at a major science conference in chicago, Professor Paul Davies explained that there could very well be "shadow lifeforms" existing all around us, just that no one has ever bothered to look.

He also advised that it is quite...

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Philip K Dick

Philip K Dicks widow, Tessa Dick has re-worked the final novel the legendary science fiction writer was working on when he passed away in 1982.

The novel, titled "The Owl in Daylight" has been a labour of love for Tessa and she has described this self-publication as a tribute to Philip. She went on to say that her version of the...

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 Viral Websites

New Viral Websites have appeared for the upcoming films 2012 and Terminator Salvation.

The Institute for Human Continuity (IHC) has been created to ensure the survival of the human race beyond 2012. It claims there is a 94% probability that cataclysmic forces will decimate the planet in 2012. The website includes news about latest...

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Terry Pratchet Terry Pratchett has raised the issue of using mercury in tooth fillings by blaming the cause of his early onset Alzheimer's condition on this practice and has described the use of mercury as "Toxic Waste".

He has been quoted as saying:

"Having something like mercury in your mouth seemed to me to be a really...

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Watchmen video game With the release date of the Watchman film getting ever closer (9th March 2009), a fantastically nostalgic 8-bit arcade game has been created, completely free to play in your browser over at Minute Men Arcade.

Growing up in the 80's I must admit to feeling quite a bit of nostalgia playing this, reminding me of those Arcade classics...

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As predicted at the end of January this year, Amazon has unveiled a new Kindle e-book reader featuring a slimmer less clunky design, more storage space and quicker operation. That's the good news, the bad news is not only is it the same price ($359) but there are still no confirmed plans to release the reader in the UK (or anywhere other than the USA...

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JK Rowling

JK Rowling, the best selling author of the Harry Potter series, has been Knighted in France. The title of Knight of the Legion of Honour was bestowed by the French president Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysée presidential palace. Sarkozy told Rowling:

You've helped give young people back the taste for reading and writing

He...

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Heroes are outlawed!, as the fever of the upcoming film approaches critical mass, a new Watchman viral video has been released which shows the Keene act of 1977 which outlaws any costumed adventurers and vigilantes.

...

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According to Edinburgh scientist Duncan Forgan, current research suggests that there could be anything between 361 and 38 000 Intelligent Alien Civilisations in our galaxy.This has been partly based on the recent discoveries of more than 330 exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) which includes a clearly "earth mass" planet found orbiting a sun like star Gliese 876.

This has led to the belief that exoplanets are much more...

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The Hunt for Gollum, the fan made film created especially for Lord Of The Rings fans has finally got a release date of the 3rd May 2009, premiered at the SCI FI London festival and also online simultaneously at the website Daily Motion.

The film is shaping up to become a milestone in fan made productions, not just with the simultaneous release but...

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Is Amazon Launching a New version of the Kindle?, there is much speculation swirling around the internet after a picture was spotted with a sleeker looking Kindle reader. Amazon haven't done anything to deny the rumor, instead they have organised a press conference on 9th February at the New York Morgan Library & Museum.

The event will...

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Red Dwarf

It has been confirmed that the brand new Red Dwarf episodes will be shown on Digital TV this easter. The first episodes, a two part story called "Back to Earth" will be shown on Friday 10th April 2009 at 9pm on digital channel Dave. This will be followed by a special episode with no sets, special effects or autocue and finally a behind the scenes making of...

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The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard book by Neil Gaiman has won this years Newbery Medal, the USA's most prestigious award for Children's Literature. The Newbery has been awarded annually since 1922 and is named after the 18th century book publisher John Newbery.

The award is presented by the American Library Association (ALA) and past winners...

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Aurealis Awards

The winners of the 2008 Aurealis Awards, given for the best works in Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy have recently been announced. The winners are:

Best Science Fiction Novel: "Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait" by K.A. Bedford Best Science Fiction Short Story: "The Empire" by Simon Brown Best Fantasy Novel: "The Two Pearls of...
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The nominations are in for the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) awards, with the winners due to be announced during eastercon LX 2009 (11th April 2009), which is the National British Science Fiction convention and is staged in London.

BSFA Nominations

The Nominations are:

Best Novel

Anathem by Neal Stephenson Flood by Stephen...
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An MP in the Ribble Valley has called on the government to protect independent booksellers after a much loved and well known independent book shop, Kaydee bookshop, in Clitheroe, Lancashire is having to close it's doors.

Kaydee Bookshop was named independent bookseller of the year in 1992, but due to to the incredibly tough current market is...

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The Guardian online has been recently running a series called 1000 books you must read, and today turns to the Genres of Science fiction and fantasy. For some reason Horror has also been included in this category and there are also a surprising variation in these books being recommended.

Included in the list are old favorites like The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Isaac Asimov`s Foundation American Gods but also includes a few...

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Terry Pratchet

Sir Terry Pratchett (OBE) has been working with the BBC to film a special 2 part documentary about how he is living, coping and fighting early onset Alzheimer's.

The series shows Sir Terry's personal journey through the reality of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and his quest to understand the condition as he...

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Lee Evans

According to a comedy website called Chortle Lee Evans is going to be playing a role in the next Doctor Who special, to be shown at Easter which has been titled Planet of the Dead. This is the same special episode that sees Michelle Ryan as the companion.

Lee Evans, while a very hyperactive stand up comedian (who draws very large...

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It has been widely reported that Barak Obama, the new president of the USA is a big fan of Science Fiction. He knows his superheroes and much prefers the struggling Spiderman / Batman characters rather than the "have it easy" Superman Heroes.

He told an audience in Wyoming that he "grew up on Star Trek" and that he "believes in the final frontier". He...

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foundation

Sony has won the rights to make the film of one of the greatest classic Science Fiction Novels, Foundation by Isaac Asimov. The project is due to be directed by Roland Emmerich who's most recent film 2012 is due to be released in Cinemas 13th November 2009.

Isaac Asimov originally wrote Foundation as short stories for Astounding Science...

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2012, to be seen 13th November 2009

The new 2012 film, which see's an apocalypse of a worldwide scale, has been delayed by Sony from the original date of 10th July to the 13th November. A number of reasons are thought to be the cause of this delay, mainly due to the strong line up of summer films Sony already...

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michelle-ryan

Michelle Ryan has been spotted on the set of the next Doctor Who special "Planet of the Dead", scenes of which were being filmed at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.

This gives some credit to the rumors flying around that she was going to be the next...

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Mars

There has been new evidence that could indicate life on the Red planet Mars, NASA scientists report. Large quantities of Methane in the atmosphere must be caused by one of two possibilities.

The first is a geological process, the second a biological process. If Methane is being caused by a biological process it is most likely to be microorganisms...

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A Hologram?

Ok before I get labelled a nutter (what do you mean too late!) I had better explain this bold question. For the past 7 years German Scientists have been conducting an experiment (called the GEO600) to look for gravitational waves - ripples in space-time thrown off by super-dense astronomical objects such as neutron...

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Tolkien

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun by JRR Tolkien is set to be published in May 2009 following christopher tolkiens editing.

The volume was originally written in the early 1920's even before the hobbit and the lord of the rings and tells the story of the Norse legend of Sigurd and the Fall of the Nilfungs. This was also the legend that inspired...

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Pandemonium

Pandemonium, the fantasy novel written by Daryl Gregory has won the 25th annual William L Crawford award for best book length work of fantasy.

Daryl's debut novel is a chronicle of one man's desperate quest to free himself from a demon that took him over when he was just a child.

The award is named after the publisher who...

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Brains!!!

A Laboratory in Japan is claiming to have created a prototype that can read and visualy record human thoughts. The ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories first move was to "tune" the device by showing test subjects 400 images and measuring their cerebral responses.

Then they carried out their first, successful test. The letters...

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Ian McKellan

Is Ian Mckellan to play Gandalf in the Hobbit?, though not totally confirmed, it has been confirmed he will be involved in the new film being directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

He was quoted as saying:

" As Guillermo del Toro's directing it, I should be so lucky. And in New Zealand, a place I love, so it's almost an ideal job...

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Doctor Who

The Actor Who will play the eleventh Doctor in 2010 has been announced in a special Doctor Who Confidential.

Matt Smith, who has previously acted alongside Billy Piper in the 2006 adaptation of Philip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke and also in the follow-up, The Shadow in the North, will be the youngest doctor ever at 26 years old, 3...

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