The Great Geek Manual

Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “The Identifier” by Mark Patrick Morehead at PseudoPod.
• Listen to “The Mermaid’s Tea Party” by Samantha Henderson at Podcastle.
• Listen to “A Programmatic Approach to Perfect Happiness” by Tim Pratt.
• Listen to “Willpower” by Jason Stoddard at Dunesteef.

More Links

• BooksShouldBeFree is a great website for downloading free classic audiobooks.

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Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “The Clapping Hands Of God” by Michael F. Flynn at Starship Sofa.
• Listen to “Down on the Farm” by Charles Stross at Tor.com.
• Listen to “Learning to Fly” by Garth Upshaw at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “Metal Dragon Year” by Chris Roberson at Transmissions From Beyond.
• Listen to “Not My Slave” by Derek Palmer at Dunesteef.

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Read the flash fiction “Away In An Incubator” by Duncan Shields at 365 Tomorrows.
• Read the flash fiction “Vindication” by Patricia Stewart at 365 Tomorrows.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Harper Teen is offering a preview of The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong, as well as the next two books in the series, The Awakening and The Reckoning.
• Jim Butcher has finally released a preview of Changes, the next book in The Dresden Files. The man knows how to jump to the point.
• Listen to an audio sample of Blake Charlton’s novel “Spellwright” read by Mark D. Hines over at Vimeo. Includes four chapters.

Poetry

• Cultural Climate by F.J. Bergmann at Strange Horizons.

Short Stories

• Read “Alone With Gandhari” by Gord Sellar at Clarkesworld.
• Read “The History Within Us” by Matthew Kressel at Clarkesworld.
• Read “The House and the Baboon” by Bill Ectric at Candlelight Stories.
• Read the Nekropolis short story “The Midnight Watch” by Tim Waggoner.
• Read “Small Burdens” by Paul M. Berger at Strange Horizons.

Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “The Gambler” by Paolo Bacigalupi at StarshipSofa.
• Listen to “Three Days and Nights In Lord Darkdrake’s Hall” by Leah Bobet at PodCastle.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• Vertigo has posted the prequel to its I, Zombie series, entitled “Trick or Treat.”

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Pyr is offering a preview of Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
• Read a the first chapter of Kim Harrison’s upcoming Black Magic Sanction.
• Tor Forge is offering previews of many of its upcoming March releases, including , including Michael Moorcock’s The MadGod’s Amulet.
• Vera Nazarian is offering an excerpt of her book, Mansfield Park and Mummies.

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Paperback Book Releases

The Folding Knife by K. J. Parker
Geosynchron (Book Three of the Jump 225 Trilogy) by David Louis Edelman
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin
Xombies: Apocalypticon by Walter Greatshell

DVD Releases

Beyond Sherwood Forest
Erica Durance of Smallville does a SyFy movie. In it Maid Marian and Robin Hood defend England from the the Sheriff of Nottingham’s dragons. Yeah. You should have stopped reading at “SyFy.” Did the producers not grasp the concept of hit points?!

The Box
You know the story it’s based on. You know it stars Cameron Diaz. Why do you pretend you’re not going to rent it. They already know you are. That’s why they didn’t bother trying very hard. Read the rest of this entry » » »

Book: Hidden Empire
ISBN-13: 978-0765320049

Author: Orson Scott Card
Series: Sequel to Empire
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Science Fiction
Release: Dec. 22, 2009
Length: 336 pages (Hardcover)

Rating: C- (65 / 100)

Verdict

Though this book is marketed as a tie-in to the 2009 video game Shadow Complex, Hidden Empire bears more resemblance to Card’s Mormon fiction Seventh Son than to the epic science fiction of Ender’s Game. It’s three hundred pages of overly-simple characters facing philosophical dilemmas punctuated by infrequent action sequences that lack any emotional punch.

Long-time fans of Card’s work may enjoy another nostalgic taste of their favorite childhood author, but most readers are going to be disappointed by this flaccid, heavy-handed morality tale too dull to be considered science fiction and too pedantic to be called a political thriller.

Pros: Intriguing underlying concept. Extremely contemporary setting. Great quotes.

Cons: Preachy. Heavy-handed with the politics. Overly-simple characters. Distinct lack of action sequences. Disappointing ending.

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Hardcover Book Releases

Live Free or Die (Troy Rising) by Jon Ringo
The Ruling Sea by Robert V.S. Redick
Shadow Prowler by Alekse Pekhov

Paperback Book Releases

The Book of Unhidden Secrets by DaNae Hagelberg
Defender Of The Terran Empire by Poul Anderson
Death Got No Mercy by Al Ewing
The Empress of Mars (The Company) by Kage Baker
The Folding Knife by KJ Parket
Jade Man’s Skin (Moshui) by Daniel Fox
Raven’s Ladder (Auralia Thread) by Jeffrey Overstreet
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Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “Biographical Notes to ‘A Discourse on the Nature of Causality, with Air-planes’” by Benjamin Rosenbaum at PodCastle.
• Listen to “The City Quiet as Death” By Steven Utley and Michael Bishop.
• Listen to “Dreams of the White City” by Jay Lake at Transmissions From Beyond.
• Listen to “The Language of the Whirlwind” written by Lavie Tidhar at Clarkesworld.
• Listen to “The Mechanical Aviary of Emperor Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar” by Shweta Narayan at Shimmerzine.
• Listen to “A Princess Of Earth” by Mike Resnick at Dunesteef.
• Listen to “Pulp Cover” by Gene Wolfe at StarshipSofa.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• There’s a new Torchwood Comic online. In it, the aliens have landed… see how Captain Jack and the rest of the Torchwood team fend them off in our brand new and exclusive Torchwood Comic.

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Book: My Dead Body
ISBN-13: 978-0345495891

Author: Charlie Huston
Series: Joe Pitt Casebooks
Publisher: Del Rey
Genre: Hard-boiled noir / Horror
Release: October 13, 2009
Length: 336 pages (Hardcover)

Rating: A- (95/100)

Verdict

Charlie Huston is the cure for what’s ailing vampires today. He’s single-handedly succeeded in putting the starch back into the genre and breathed a whole new life into the best traditions of Raymond Chandler. And while the entire Joe Pitt series is highly recommended reading for fans of hard-boiled noir, horror, pulp fiction, or urban fantasy, it needs to be said that My Dead Body is Huston’s piece de resistance.

Nowhere are you going to find a grittier or more action-packed noir novel, and if you’re a fan of the genre, that should be all that needs to be said.

Pros: Huston has a flair for razor sharp dialog. Big screen action sequences. Gritty, realistic characters. No sparkly vampire angst.

Cons: Dialogue can become a bit confusing due to Pitt’s choice of punctuation.

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