I was a little late to the party on ‘The Egg’, Andy Weir’s popular short story that was published before his novel The Martian went on to become a bestseller and soon to be released Ridley Scott movie. Clocking in around a thousand words, The Egg is a quick read that will only cost you the time it would take to watch the thirty second ad that will play before your twenty second cat video on youtube. So, it’s worth your time, whether you’re cat enthusiast, cat casual or cat neutral. I urge you to hop over to his site and check it out. It’s a good one (and has nothing to do with cats. Cat videos are just the best method of measuring time on the internet).
The Egg
By: Andy Weir
You were on your way home when you died.
It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless.
You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death.
Earlier this week it was revealed that Harry Potter scribe J.K. Rowling was the secret author of a crime fiction novel called The Cuckoo’s Calling, which she published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The book, which had already been out a few months, had been reviewed well but sold in relatively modest numbers. Until now, that is. Once Rowling was outed as the author, sales of the book supposedly jumped up 150,000%, which is pretty absurd and great if you ask me. I was very tempted to dig through old reviews of the book to see if there were any scathing comments about Robert Galbraith never amounting to anything or selling more than a few copies of his books. That would have been quite entertaining. Either way, the book is selling like steroids at the All-Star game right now and you’ll be lucky to find a copy at book stores. Take that, Fifty Shades of Grey!
In book adaptation news, photos are emerging for the movie version of YA bestseller The Maze Runner. The story, which honestly plays a bit like a Cube/Hunger Games mash-up, will inevitably be lumped together will the slew of YA fantasy/sci-fi movies on the horizon, including Ender’s Game and Catching Fire, but it has the capability to stand on its own feet if it’s done well. It will be interesting to see what the infamous rolling balls of death known as the ‘grievers’ will look like.
Also, there is talk that the Guillermo del Toro/Charlie Kaufman version of Slaughterhouse-Five may once again have legs after initially wasting away in limbo. Many of the projects (or budgets) that del Toro will be allowed to take on may hinge of the success of his recently released Pacific Rim, so the next couple of months will be very telling for him. While his Robots vs Kaiju film has had a sluggish start to its domestic box-office, an international cast and Asia-centric material has the movie performing well internationally. Here’s to hoping that the trend continues overseas and the movie makes some money. Idris Elba cannot cancel the Apocalypse unless you go see the damn movie.
Links:
– Pictures From Upcoming TheMaze Runner Movie (io9)
Finally, a trailer for Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium. The class war and super weapon elements don’t seem like extreme departures from District 9, but we’ll see what is in store for us in August when the movie drops.
Well, predicted it to an extent. The Millions recently posted an article about John Brunner’s ‘Stand on Zanzibar,’ the 1969 science fiction novel set in 2010 that has more than a few accurate and eerie prognostications of what the future would hold. This includes predicting the relative ballpark for inflation, the rash of shootings that plague our schools and even citing a future president named Obomi. While some are depicting ‘Zanzibar’ as a sort of off the beaten path novel, it isn’t quite as obscure as they make it out to be. It did win the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1969. Either way, be sure to check out the article on the Millions’ site. Cool stuff.
I just want to quickly divert everyone to a cool post io9 did today on sci-fi and fantasy novels to cheer you up when you’re feeling blue. It’s a cool list with some of my favorite books on it. The books that I’ve read on the list do have a very uplifting element to them whether it be adventurous escapism, good-natured humor or great overall writing. Be sure to check the list out.
In celebration of Ray Bradbury’s life, I would urge everyone to check out the recently released Shadow Show: All-new Stories In Celebration Of Ray Bradbury. It is a collection of short stories inspired by the late great sci-fi pioneer, along with some words about what he meant to each author contributing to the anthology.
I have already checked out the story by Neil Gaiman and enjoyed it thoroughly. I can’t wait to make my way through the entire collection and hear about how Bradbury influenced great authors like Margaret Atwood, Dave Eggers, Harlan Ellison, Joe Hill and many others. So, be sure to pick up a copy if you are a Bradbury fan or like generally awesome stuff.
Also, in unrelated news, shark attacks are up this year and I’m officially never going in the water again. My irrational fears are becoming less irrational (still pretty irrational though since I don’t live near the ocean).
