Posts Categorized: News

News

Mira Grant’s Feed and sequels optioned for film

By Aidan Moher May 22nd, 2012

BLACKOUT by Mira GrantFrom Seanan McGuire’s LiveJournal:

Ahem. From today’s announcement at Publishers Weekly:

“Film rights: Mira Grant’s trilogy, Feed, Deadline, and Blackout, optioned to Rachel Olschan, producer at Electric Entertainment, by Pouya Shahbazian of FinePrint, on behlf of Diana Fox at Fox Literary.”

WE OPTIONED THE FILM RIGHTS TO FEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, this doesn’t mean this will necessarily be a movie (although I hope there will), but it takes us a huge, huge step closer to that becoming a reality. Everyone I’ve dealt with has been amazing, supportive, and enthusiastic, and now there’s a beautiful chance that maybe, we can see Shaun and Georgia Mason on the big screen.

I’ve not read any of the books in Grant’s Newsflesh Trilogy, but given the back-to-back Hugo nominations (for Feed and Deadline), it’s certainly on my radar. I generally advise only cautious optimism when a book or series is optioned for film, given the general nature of Hollywood becoming excited about a project for a week and then letting it evaporate long before it reaches theatres, but, given the nature of these books and the popularity of post-apocalyptic SF, I think the Newsflesh Trilogy haa a better-than-average chance of actually materializing into (likely) a film (rather than a trilogy of films). We’ll see, though.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, today is the official release date for the final volume in the trilogy, Blackout.

News

John Scalzi wins the Internet, upsets insecure white dudes

By Aidan Moher May 15th, 2012
Wolfenstein 3D difficulty settings

John Scalzi published an article today on his blog titled “Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is.” I felt the need to pass it along, without much in the way of comment. It’s not exactly related to the usual topics covered here on A Dribble of Ink, but it’s interesting, important and Scalzi’s a prominent figure in our community. Gender is a hot-topic issue in the SFF community these days (see here, and here, and here) and Scalzi, as he traditionally does, tackles the subject of gender- and race-privilege with an even hand. The “fun” really begins in the comments section, as is wont to happen on the Internet.

Dudes. Imagine life here in the US — or indeed, pretty much anywhere in the Western world — is a massive role playing game, like World of Warcraft except appallingly mundane, where most quests involve the acquisition of money, cell phones and donuts, although not always at the same time. Let’s call it The Real World. You have installed The Real World on your computer and are about to start playing, but first you go to the settings tab to bind your keys, fiddle with your defaults, and choose the difficulty setting for the game. Got it?

[…]

Now, once you’ve selected the “Straight White Male” difficulty setting, you still have to create a character, and how many points you get to start — and how they are apportioned — will make a difference. Initially the computer will tell you how many points you get and how they are divided up. If you start with 25 points, and your dump stat is wealth, well, then you may be kind of screwed. If you start with 250 points and your dump stat is charisma, well, then you’re probably fine. Be aware the computer makes it difficult to start with more than 30 points; people on higher difficulty settings generally start with even fewer than that.

[…]

You can lose playing on the lowest difficulty setting. The lowest difficulty setting is still the easiest setting to win on. The player who plays on the “Gay Minority Female” setting? Hardcore.

Please, read it and let me know what you think.

News

Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Thorns and sequels optioned for Film/TV

By Aidan Moher May 11th, 2012
PRINCE OF THORNS by Mark Lawrence

I’m pleased to announce that Stephen Susco, writer of THE GRUDGE, and writer/producer of upcoming films HIGH SCHOOL (June 1st) and THE POSSESSION (Aug 30), has optioned the film and tv rights in Prince of Thorns and the Broken Empire trilogy published by Ace/Berkley in the US and Voyager in the UK.

Great news for Lawrence and fans of The Broken Empire series. I’m always skeptical about announcements like these, because an option being taken on a book series is only the very first, small step in a film or television series being produced, but it’s neat nonetheless. Lawrence’s novel is known for both its nihilistic and brutal world and the dark humour of the protagonist, Jorg, and it will be interesting to see how this transitions to screen, without making audiences squeamish.

If interested, you can read my review of Prince of Thorns from earlier this year.

News

The King’s Blood by Daniel Abraham, an exclusive excerpt

By Aidan Moher May 10th, 2012

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Daniel Abraham. So, in my ever increasing efforts to promote the genre’s second-hardest working author (because, let’s be honest here, no one can hold a candle to Brandon Sanderson), and one its best-kept secrets, here’s an exclusive excerpt from The King’s Blood, the second volume in The Dagger and the Coin. It’s a tremendous novel and improves on its predecessor in almost every way. If you’re interested, you can read my review of The King’s Blood.

The King’s Blood is available now in the UK and North America from Orbit Books.

THE KING'S BLOOD by Daniel Abraham

Cithrin bel Sarcour

Cithrin bel Sarcour, voice of the Medean bank in Porte Oliva, stepped out of the bank's office with her head high, her features composed, and rage burning in her breast. Around her, Porte Oliva was entering its springtime. The bright cloth banners and glittering paste jewels of the First Thaw celebrations still lay in the streets and alleyways, slowly decaying into grime. Snow haunted the shadows where the midday sun couldn't reach. Cithrin's breath plumed before her as if her heart were a furnace belching pale smoke, and she felt the bite of the air as a distant thing.

Men and women of several races bustled on the cobbles before her. Kurtadam with their slick, beaded pelts; thin-faced, pale Cinnae; brass-and-gold-scaled Jasuru; black-chitined Timzinae; and fleshy, rose-cheeked Firstblood. Some nodded to her, some stepped out of her way, most ignored her. She might represent one of the greatest banks in the world, but as far as the hazy sky over Porte Oliva cared, she was just another half-Cinnae girl in a well-tailored dress.

When she stepped into the taproom, the warm air caressed her. The related, yeasty scents of beer and bread tried to gentle her, and she felt some of the knot in her gut begin to ease. The anger slipped, showing itself only a mask for the despair and frustration beneath. A young Cinnae man came forward to take her shawl, and she managed a tight-lipped smile as she relinquished it.

"The usual table, Magistra?" he asked.

"Thank you, Verril," she said. "That would be kind."

Grinning, he made an exaggerated bow, and gestured her on. Another day, she might have found it charming. The table was at the back, half hidden from the main room by a draped cloth. It cost a few coins more. When she felt capable of civil conversation, she would sometimes sit at the common benches, striking up conversation with whoever was there. There were more sailors and gossip of travelers farther south at the docks, more word of overland trade north where the dragon's road opened to the main square and the cathedral and the governor's palace, but the taproom was nearest to her bank–her bank, by God–and not every conversation needed to be a bid for advantage.

The Kurtadam girl who most often served in the daytimes brought a plate of cheese and brown bread with a tiny carved-wood bowl full of black raisins. More to the point, she brought a tankard of good beer. Cithrin nodded sharply and tried to make her smile genuine. If the girl saw anything odd in her, the soft fur of her face covered it. Kurtadam would make good card players, Cithrin thought as she drank. All of them wearing masks all the time.

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