.The BBC has commissioned a third series of Doctor Who in addition to the second series already planned As Christopher Eccleston will not be returning for the next series, Casanova actor David Tennant has been cast as his replacement. But Billie Piper, who plays the Doctor’s assistant Rose Tyler, will return for the whole of …
Paperback 720 pages (October 1, 2004) Publisher: Orbit ISBN: 1841491810 I was attracted to Irvines’ ‘Well of Echos’ by the excellent covers, and a good review of the first book in SFX. Three books in and I’m still there and awaiting the fourth, so he must be getting it right somewhere. Sometimes though, ‘where’ is …
Paperback, 688 pages (August 12, 2004) Publisher: Gollancz ISBN: 0575074876 At times, this almost lived up to the promise of its concept, hack and slash fantasy from the point of view of the other side. The opening battle is excellently thought out and does a good job of establishing the characters of the main protagonists. …
Paperback 384 pages (April 1, 2005) Publisher: Gollancz Language: English ISBN: 0575076429 Steph Swainson is following in the footsteps of China Mieville and others in the growing ‘new weird’ movement, and currently something of a darling amongst certain elements of the Guardian literary set. The fact is, all the hype is justified and I’m a …
Paperback 704 pages (January 6, 2003) Publisher: Voyager ISBN: 000647988X This autumn, George R R Martin will release A Feast for Crows, the fourth book in his massive epic fantasy sequence, A Song of Fire and Ice. If you haven’t tried it yet, you might have time to read this, it sequels and catch up. …
Paperback 288 pages (November 9, 2000) Publisher: Gollancz ISBN: 1857989317 This is something written a while back I’ve only recently got around to checking out. Haldeman won critical claim with his ground breaking Forever War, and rightly so. The book is also a fast read, at times it flies by. This is not to say …
Paperback 160 pages (March 26, 2004) Publisher: Titan Books ISBN: 1840238011 Holy Russian takeover Batman! It’s Elseworlds time, with the DC universe getting a Eastern block makeover. Thanks to Mark Millar, Superman’s birthing pod landing near a collective farm in the Ukraine instead of Kansas. This was one of DC’s event releases in 2003, and …
Paperback 96 pages (August 26, 2005) Publisher: Titan Books ISBN: 1845761596 In short, dark, disturbing, gripping and emotive. The killer team of skinhead geniuses comprising of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (who did so well of new X-Men and JLA: Earth 2, amongst other things) have produced a tour-de force high-concept gritty sci-fi/ animal story. …
Paperback 304 pages (February 28, 2005) Publisher: Image Comics ISBN: 1582404607 Whilst fan-boys and girls worldwide weep for the demise of JMS’s planned Babylon 5 movie, they can console themselves with the fact that he writes kick-ass comics on an almost daily basis. A while back, he wrote this, and despite being a JMS fan-boy …
Paperback 96 pages (March 25, 2005) Publisher: Titan Books ISBN: 1840239247 Warren Ellis is well and truly back at the forefront of comic writing. As well as the return of the wonderful Planetary, thanks to Titan we have this collection of a one off min-series from while back to enjoy. It is alternate history time …
All in all, this is a deliciously low-key take on post-apocalyptic science fiction, set in a Britain that has suffered economic collapse, lost a major war and become shunned by the rest of the world. Even the nature of the apocalypse is suitably British, involving a failed political venture never properly described (we are, after …