Once Upon a Geek

Van Allen Plexico’s latest novel, Sentinels: The Shiva Advent, is an engaging and fun read. At first I was unsure whether I’d enjoy the book as I’m not usually a fan of superhero prose. Compounding my concern was the fact that this is the fifth book in the Sentinels series and I haven’t read any of the previous volumes. Well … I’m pleased to report that I was enthralled before the first chapter was over! The mysteries presented early on compelled me to continue and I found myself wanting to learn more about the interesting characters.

This novel makes a great jumping on point in the adventures of the superhero team called the Sentinels. In the first chapter, the team is decimated by a murderous robot called the Vanguard. The rest of the novel features the rebuilding of the team either through rescue or the addition of new members. The story concludes with a huge confrontation against Vanguard. This is an ideal scenario for someone new to the series like me. By tearing apart the team, it provided an opportunity to learn about each hero individually and to be on the ground floor for the new characters.  The Sentinels team features several of the typical superhero archetypes (i.e. super-strong flying man, displaced god, armored avenger, etc.), with some characters having direct analogs amongst Plexico’s favorite team, Marvel Comic’s Avengers. In fact, the title character Shiva has many characteristics in common with the mighty Thor.  While some characters may be representative of established heroes, they are not mere carbon copies.  These characters have original back stories and interesting personalities.

I was shocked that once I started the book I couldn’t put it down.  As I mentioned, I’m not typically a fan of superhero prose, but Plexico has somehow managed to capture the essence of comic book adventures using only words on a page.  While the story is evocative of the superheroic Bronze Age of comics, it lacks the corniness that sometimes accompanied those tales of yore.  You’ll find the spirit of Stan Lee’s characters and Roy Thomas’ plots living-and-breathing in Van Allen Plexico’s writing.

The novel represents the first chapter of “The Rivals” trilogy and features a great cliffhanger.  If you love old school Avengers tales, especially ones dealing with cosmic forces, then this book is for you.  Sentinels: The Shiva Advent was published by White Rocket Books in 2009 and is available by clicking here.

I recently picked up a very good book called The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman.  In five days I’ve read 240 pages, and I’m about 15 pages from finishing the book.  While I love reading, I’m rarely able to fly through a book this quickly unless I’m on vacation (which I’m not).  It’s a testament to how good it is.  Here is the description from the publisher:

“Grad- school dropout Matt Fuller is toiling as a lowly research assistant at MIT when he inadvertently creates a time machine. With a dead-end job and a girlfriend who left him for another man, Matt has nothing to lose in taking a time-machine trip himself—or so he thinks.”

Maybe I’m the last person on Earth to discover Joe Haldeman, but I’m impressed.  He’s imaginative, creates interesting characters and settings, and his prose feels comfortable making for a swift read.  There is a quote from Stephen King that helped convince me to pick up the book: “If there were a Fort Knox for the science fiction writers who really matter, we’d have to lock Joe Haldeman up there.”

I heard about the book through the Science Fiction Book Club.  On a whim, I decided to give it a try.  I’m glad a I did.  It’s an original take on time travel, with some very creative extrapolations of the future.  I will definitely be reading further Joe Haldeman books.

If you’re a time travel nut like me, it’s definitely worth checking out!

Because nobody demanded it! Here are some updated pictures of my Comicatorium (a.k.a. Shag’s Sanctum Sanctorum).  Did some rearranging recently and I’m pretty pleased with the results so I figured I’d show it off here.  My thanks to the Irrepressible Gena for her assistance and inspiration.

Biggest change below is the new flat-screen monitor for the desktop!  Hooray!  Love it!

Added a new bookcase, which will help get some things organized.  I still need to fill the shelves (which won’t take long).  Yes, the top shelf of the left bookcase is entirely full of Doctor Who audio dramas, and the middle bookcase is almost entirely full of Doctor Who books and RPGs (with Doctor Who videos and magazines stacked on top).  Some of those book shelves are actually stacked three deep.  Feel free to be jealous or horrified.  Your choice.

This corner is most interesting because all the yard equipment is gone!  We enclosed an outside shed-like-thing and moved all the yard equipment out there.  So my Comicatorium is no longer an impromptu garage.  Also, got my Tom Fleming prints framed and hung.  Loving them!  Thanks to Sterling for buying the Aquaman print and starting my love affair with Fleming’s work.

Finally, here is the overflow of comic boxes from my closet.  The nice thing is that they are alphabetized and organized!  Hooray!  I’m now up to 47 comic long boxes.  I’m dreading ever moving again.

I’m totally excited for the new Star Wars nine-book series, Fate of the Jedi.  The third book comes out today, Abyss.  I’ve really been enjoying the Legacy of the Force series (still have a couple to go on those) and look forward to these next adventures.

Here is a description of Fate of the Jedi from Wookieepedia:

Fate of the Jedi launches a huge story arc, with heroic roles for the galaxy’s most beloved characters — Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa Solo, and their surviving children, Ben Skywalker and Jaina Solo. While Luke and Ben set off on the journey of a lifetime — of discovery and hardship, of obstacles and victories—the others remain in more familiar territory, dealing with the aftermath of the civil war that rocked the galaxy in the Legacy of the Force.

THE FUTURE AWAITS…

It has been two years since the death of Darth Caedus. Chief of State Natasi Daala has ushered the Galactic Alliance into a time of unprecented calm, and now the entire galaxy stands poised to freely embrace the same enduring peace that Jacen Solo once sought to impose as a Sith Lord.

In this new era, Luke Skywalker finds himself battling control of the very order he founded. After Jacen’s fall to the dark side, much of the galaxy sees Jedi Knights as rogue soldiers too dangerous and unstable to leave unfettered. It is a view shared by Chief Daala, who has sworn to bring the order under government control–or disband it entirely.

But the greatest threat to the Jedi remains unseen, a faceless menace even more lethal and insidious than the Sith who have plagued the Jedi for millennia. Awakened by Jacen Solo during his five-year odyssey, this hidden peril is reaching out from the darkest corner of the galaxy, assaulting Jedi Knights in ways that even Luke has yet to perceive–but which he must quickly thwart if he is to have any hope of redeeming the New Jedi Order.

Below you’ll find some videos from San Diego Comic Con featuring the authors discuss the Fate of the Jedi series.  The authors discuss where they got the idea for the series, how they collaborate on the series (out of nine total books, each author writes three), their favorite bits of the series to write, and the audiobook versions of the books.

Star Wars Fate of the Jedi Interview pt. 1 | SDCC 2009

If you can’t view the embedded video, click here.

Star Wars Fate of the Jedi Interview pt. 2 | SDCC 2009

If you can’t view the embedded video, click here.

I’ve got a few recommendations for the old school Doctor Who fans around here.  That’s not to say more recent fans wouldn’t enjoy these, it’s just I believe these are targeted for us old fogies.

DOCTOR WHO – THE FORGOTTEN

Within the past couple years, IDW has picked up the Doctor Who comic book license here in the United States. They’ve really done an outstanding job with their original content and reprint books!  They’ve done a few mini-series, lots of one-shots, and have just started an ongoing series.  The one I’m recommending to old school Whovians is a mini-series called The Forgotten.  In the story, the Doctor and Martha finds themselves stranded in a strange museum dedicated to the Doctor himself.  Additionally, the Doctor has lost his memories of every one of his previous incarnations.  Throughout the series he finds objects that bring back his memories of each incarnation one-by-one.

This was a really neat opportunity for IDW to tell short stories with each of the Doctors.  They went as far as to show the first two Doctor’s stories in black in white! There are also numerous cameos by old companions.  Writer Tony Lee did a really good job finding the “voice” for each actor that has played the role, and artist Pia Guerra found a way to capture each actor’s likeness while still making it look like a comic book (as evident in the image above).

If you are a fan of the original series, you gotta check this out.  It’s worth it. You can find Doctor Who The Forgotten in trade paperback form.  If your local comic book store doesn’t have it in-stock, just ask them to order it for you.

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DOCTOR WHO: THE COMPANY OF FRIENDS

During what I consider to be the second era of “lost years” (1996 – 2005), there were several non-televised efforts to keep the spirit of Doctor Who alive.  The BBC published a long-running series of monthly novels, Big Finish began their monthly audio adventures, and Doctor Who Magazine continued their long-running comic strip.  In each of these, the Eighth Doctor (portrayed by Paul McGann) was considered to be the “current” Doctor.

Also during this time the popular non-televised companion, Professor Bernice Summerfield, was spun-off into her own series of books and audio adventures.  Summerfield premiered during the first era of “lost years” (1989 – 1996), appearing in the Virgin Doctor Who: The New Adventures novels and the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip.

Big Finish’s new audio release The Company of Friends features companions of the Eighth Doctor from this era of “lost years”.  There are four short stories, each running about 30 minutes.  Each story is dedicated to a companion from one of the spin-off series.

• From the BBC novels, you’ve got Fitz Kreiner.  Fitz was a fun companion.  In some ways, he was supposed to represent the readers themselves.  He was a 27-year-old slacker that came from the year 1963.  He smoked, drank and liked to think of himself a ladies’ man (which he was not). He often found himself out of his depth in futuristic and alien settings, but was always loyal to the Doctor and was the longest serving companion in the Eighth Doctor novels (55 novels).
• From the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip, you’ve got Izzy Sinclair.  She was a 17-year-old science fiction fan and amateur paranormal investigator from the year 1996.  She had an infectious enthusiasm and of course always found ways to get into trouble.  Izzy was the longest serving companion in the Eighth Doctor comic strips, appearing in nearly all of the Eighth Doctor’s adventures between 1996 and 2003.
• Professor Bernice Summerfield, mentioned previously, gets an adventure here also.  Even though she traveled with the Seventh Doctor, as a spin-off character her appearance here makes sense.  Her reunion with the Eighth Doctor is lots of fun.
• Finally there is Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein.  I know, “Huh?”  While Shelley wasn’t truly a companion of the Eighth Doctor, there have been vague references in several Big Finish stories about an adventure the Doctor had with her.  Since the Big Finish adventures are spin-offs themselves, this is their nod to their own adventures.

Overall this is a fun series of stories.  Whether you are a fan of these “lost years” adventures, or new to the subject matter, I think anyone could enjoy these stories.  You can download a digital copy from Big Finish or order the CD version from a number of online retailers (I recommend Who North America).

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WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

You may find this an odd suggestion at first, but I firmly believe that Gene Wilder (as he portrayed the role of Willy Wonka) would have made an outstanding Doctor Who.  I realize he’s not British, but outside of that, he played the role perfectly.  Next time you watch the 1971 version of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, watch Wilder’s portrayal closely.  He is brilliant, bizarre, spontaneous, and full of enthusiasm.  He’s very Doctor-ish.

The first ever ONCE UPON A GEEK contest!  Enter here for your chance to win one of five copies of The Wolverine Files from Simon & Schuster Books!

The Wolverine Files by Mike W. Barr (Star Trek, Camelot 3000, Batman & the Outsiders, etc) is a gorgeous 160-page hardcover that details the complete story of Wolverine. Every aspect of Wolverine’s life is covered by this book.  There are chapters covering his: origin, history, territories, allies, women in his life, enemies, travels in space, alternate realities, and even his various costumes.

One of my favorite things about this book is that it’s written as a report from SHIELD operatives. All the contents are designed to look like memos, interview transcriptions, or reports. There is even a “Classified” manila envelope on the inside cover stuffed with reproductions of some cool Wolverine drawings!  Now the most striking thing as you first look at the book is the slipcover; it’s been sliced by Wolverine himself (see image to the right).  The gashes in the slipcover are actual cuts.  It’s really cool!

I gotta say I’m really impressed by this book. In addition to all the bells & whistles I’ve outlined above, the content itself is exceptional.  The book is full of beautiful artwork by pretty much every artist to ever draw the character.  Some of these images really take me back.  Whether they are by Dave Cockrum, John Byrne, Marc Silvestri, Jim Lee, Frank Miller, Barry Windsor-Smith, or any number of others, they are reproduced exceptionally well here.  The written passages are also very good.  Barr does an excellent job covering the relevant facts about Wolverine and his exploits, and presents them in an organized and interesting manner. I get a real kick out of the blacked-out classified bits in the text.  They are a nice reminder of the “top secret” nature of this document.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy, you can order one from Simon & Schuster by clicking here.

Entering the Contest

This book normally retails for $40.  However, the super-cool folks over at Simon & Schuster are providing ONCE UPON A GEEK with five copies to give away absolutely free!  Here is how the contest is going to work…

• In order to be eligible to win one of the five copies of The Wolverine Files, you must e-mail me at shag@onceuponageek.com before the end of the day on Wednesday, August 5th.
• In your e-mail you need to answer two questions:
  • Question #1 – Who is the writer credited with the creation of Wolverine?
  • Question #2 – What is your favorite Wolverine story? You don’t need to know the issue numbers or storyline titles, just the gist of the story is enough.
• I’ll collect all the responses.  If you’ve answered Question #1 correctly, and provided an answer for Question #2, you’ll be included in the drawing.  I will then randomly draw five names from those eligible.  Those five individuals will win a free copy of The Wolverine Files!
• You may only enter the contest once and must provide a legitimate e-mail address (so I can reach you if you win).
• This is the first contest I’ve run, so I’m sure there are some loopholes in my guidelines.  Just keep in mind if you’re a “rules lawyer” and find some loophole, I’ll be following the spirit of the contest, not the letter of it.

Good luck to you all!  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. Below is more artwork from the book.

Remember, to be eligible to win you must e-mail me at shag@onceuponageek.com before the end of the day on Wednesday, August 5th.

Don’t know how I missed this, but a new Star Trek: New Frontier novel by Peter David was released back in April.  I picked it up this weekend and can’t wait to read it!  The new book is called Treason and has been published in oversized softcover format, sometimes called trade paperback format (not to be confused with the comic book format with the same name).

If you aren’t familiar with the Star Trek New Frontier line, then you don’t know what you are missing.  The idea behind it was to create a Star Trek book series with its own continuity and not one that is purely a reaction to the television shows. Peter David is the co-creator of the series and has been the author of nearly every story. There have been 17 novels, multiple crossovers, several short stories, and two comic books in the series.  New Frontier centers on the adventures of Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and his crew aboard the U.S.S. Excalibur.  The stories are full of action, humor, solid characterization, and minor characters from Star Trek’s 40 year history.  You should definitely check them out.

I also picked up a book from 2007 that I’ve been meaning to get, Star Trek Mirror Universe: Obsidian Alliances.  There have been a handful of these Mirror Universe anthologies.  This particular one features a Voyager story by Keith R. A. DeCandido, a Deep Space Nine story by Sarah Shaw, and a New Frontier story by Peter David.  In the New Frontier story we find out what happened to Mackenzie Calhoun in the Mirror Universe.

Finally, this weekend I also stumbled across my Captain Mackenzie Calhoun action figure that had been put away in a box.  This 4.5 inch figure was produced by Playmates Toys back in September 1998 as a special mail-away figure.  They advertised it in the back of several Star Trek novels and the figure was only available via mail order through the Star Trek Communicator fan club magazine.  There were approximately 10,000 of these figures produced. To be honest, the figure doesn’t really look that good, but it is fully articulated and comes with the sword Calhoun used when fighting for Xenexian freedom. They attempted to make the figure highly-detailed, right down to Calhoun’s purple eyes and the scar on his cheek. Unfortunately, it just didn’t come out that great.  Still, it’s kind of nice to have a figure of this lesser-known Star Trek badass.

Today’s post is in honor of Memorial Day because SGhoul swears that Jim Dale is dead.

In case you hadn’t heard, the Trustees of the Pooh Properties have finally authorized a sequel to A.A. Milne’s classic, The House at Pooh Corner, more than 80 years after its publication.  While I appreciate the significance of this, the announcement seems rather lackluster since Disney has been producing original Winnie the Pooh stories for decades.

However, the good news about Return to the Hundred Acre Wood is that the audio version will be performed by Grammy Award-winning reader Jim Dale!  He is the British actor who voiced the amazing renditions of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, and was the narrator on the TV series Pushing Daisies.

He is going to be absolutely brilliant reading this!  I can’t imagine anyone else voicing new adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  I originally was going to let this Pooh sequel pass me by, but now I’m likely to pick up the audio book.  I’ll be looking for it in October when it’s released.

For the past few days, I’ve been haunted by the same thought over and over.  Should I quit buying comics?

It all started when I was in a used bookstore on Saturday.  This was one of those rare occasions when the children were with a babysitter and I could really take my time looking through the selection.  As I took in all the various science fiction novels, I found myself wishing I had more time to read books.  As it stands right now, the only books I really make time for are the occasional TV/movie tie-in, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who.  When I was younger I used to read a much wider range of science fiction novels.  Unfortunately, my free time has really diminished as I’ve gotten older and I’ve been forced to be very selective with that time.  I started to wonder – in order to have more free time to read novels, what would I need to change about my life?

I’ve got several hobbies, each competing for my free time.  Activities such as reading comic books, role-playing, reading a few novels, surfing the web, and blogging are what I focus on mostly.  That is, of course, outside the time I spend with my wife, two children, doing my share of the housework, and at my job.  In order to make more time for novel reading, I would need to cut back on another existing hobby.  On Saturday, comics seemed like they might be a good choice to cut back on.  After all, I’ve been complaining quite a bit about comics for a few years.  I’ve got concerns with the price of single issues, as well as the direction DC has been following.  Hmmm… that many concerns are worth thinking about.

If I were to quit buying new comics, I’d still hold onto my old comics.  Anytime I got a hankerin’ for comics, I could just bust-out some back issues.  Also, I’ve got tons of comics I’ve bought that I haven’t gotten the chance to read yet.  Between reading novels and back issues, I wouldn’t be lacking for reading material for the rest of my life.

Would quitting new comics really give me enough time back?  To be frank, blogging is what eats up the majority of my free time nowadays.  While I enjoy it tremendously, it really is a time-sink.  I love y’all, but if I quit blogging I’d get back a bunch of free time.  Now the question is, would I have to give up both new comics and blogging in order to make time for more frequent novel reading?

Could I quit new comics if I wanted to?  I’ve done it before, but obviously got dragged back in.  Also, there are certain characters I don’t really want to lose touch with.  For example, I’m really anxious to see what happens to Ronnie Raymond (Firestorm) during Blackest Night.  So there are certain challenges for me with quitting.

Also, I really enjoy blogging.  I like putting my thoughts down in pixels and sharing them with the world.  I’ve made some new friends through blogging and I’ve reconnected with some old ones.  I like my little corner of the blogosphere and would really miss it.

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After great consideration, I’ve resolved to continue buying new comics and blogging for now.  I’m just going to cut further back on the number of comics I get, so I’m only buying titles that I’m totally jazzed about.  I’m also going to work on ways to streamline my blogging, so it doesn’t take as much time.  I gotta say though, the idea of walking away from it all is pretty tempting.  I’m sure I’ll be considering this again in the future.

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By the way, that noise you hear is my wife cursing.  I’m sure she started reading this blog entry and was over-the-moon happy about the prospect of me no longer buying comics. More than likely, she’d already formulated plans to redecorate my home office by the third paragraph.  Sorry dear.

The Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC) totally rocks!  I’ve been a member for years.  Each time I complete my commitment, I rejoin to take advantage of their bargains. Book clubs have a reputation for being overpriced, but the SFBC has a generous introductory offer and frequent bargains that definitely save you money.

I recently completed my commitment, so I rejoined the club and took advantage of their introductory offer again.  Here are the books that I ordered when I rejoined this time and their normal retail price:

• The Marvel Encyclopedia ($40)
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed graphic novel ($16)
• The DC Universe Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded ($40)
• Star Wars: Legacy of the Force – Revelation ($8 for the paperback, but the SFBC version is hardback)
• Star Wars: Legacy of the Force – Invincible ($27)
• Star Wars: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor ($27)

To purchase all of these books at full price would cost you $158 before sales tax.  Even if you got a 30% discount, which Borders and Barnes & Noble sometimes offer, you’d still pay $110 before sales tax.

I paid $18.70 for all six books (that includes shipping).  A savings of about $140 off retail price.  Not bad at all.

Now I’m sure you are wondering what the catch is.  There really isn’t a “catch”, just an obligation.  By joining the club, I’ve agreed to buy four more books from them over the course of the next two years.  That really isn’t a problem.  They are constantly adding interesting new books to their inventory, so selection isn’t an issue.  The price for those four books will be slightly higher than buying them in the bookstore (mainly because of shipping), but only a few dollars.  If you consider the $140 I saved through the introductory offer, the extra few dollars for the final four books is nothing.

Quick tip when taking advantage of the introductory offer… Review all the available books and note which ones interest you.  During the introductory offer, be sure to select the most expensive books that interest you as they are free.  For example, I got the DC Encyclopedia and Marvel Encyclopedia in my introductory offer (each retails for $40).  By selecting the expensive books that interest you, you get the best savings.

Not surprisingly, the SFBC will encourage you to buy other books from them.  They send you a monthly flier promoting the “book of the month”.  If you take no action, they’ll send you the “book of the month” and bill you for it.  To avoid that, all you do is go online once a month and decline the “book of the month” selection.  Even if you forget, they still send you the flier first and that will jog your memory to go online and decline the selection.

Something I consider a plus of the book club (but others might consider a negative) is that nearly all books are hardback.  So if a book is released to the bookstore as a paperback, it will be a hardback through the SFBC.  This is true even when there isn’t a hardback available through the bookstores.  For example, the book Star Wars: Legacy of the Force – Revelation was only offered as a paperback in stores.  However, by ordering it from the SFBC I got a hardback version.  Personally, I love that!  I’d much rather read a hardback than a paperback.  It’s worth noting that SFBC hardbacks are slightly smaller than normal hardbacks and don’t really hold much resale value at used bookstores.  As far as I’m concerned, I don’t care about that.  I tend to hang on to books and I don’t buy them with resale value in mind.

Just to clear up any doubt, this post is not a commercial.  The SFBC is not sponsoring my blog or giving me anything for writing this.  I just genuinely believe in the club.  By clicking here you can review their inventory and their introductory offer.

It’s well worth your time if you like to read!