Vin Diesel to Punch More Stuff in ROCK ‘EM SOCK ‘EM ROBOTS Movie

In true Vin Diesel fashion, the Fast & Furious star is set to do a hell of a lot more punching when he stars in Universal’s upcoming Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots film.

In yet another example of Hollywood definitely not running out of original, creative ideas, the film will be based on the classic children’s game where players compete to knock the opposing robot’s block off.

According to Deadline, the film’s screenplay has been written by Ryan Engle (Rampage, The Commuter), and follows a father and son duo (with Diesel playing the former half) who form an unlikely bond with an advanced war machine. Sounds an awful lot like Real Steel to us.

That 2011 film was set in the near future where robot boxing was the planet’s predominant sport, and followed an ex-boxer (played by Hugh Jackman) and his son as they took on the whole robot boxing world with a meagre little training robot named Atom.

It’s a sweet and heartwarming underdog story, and this new Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em film will have to work extremely hard if it’s to differentiate itself successfully.

Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Red Rocker and Blue Bomber on the silver screen: the pair made a delightful little cameo in Pixar’s Toy Story 2 all the way back in 1999, and also popped up in The Incredibles five years later. Diesel’s film, however, will be the first time we’ve seen the toy in live-action.

Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots is currently in pre-production, and as yet is without a release date, while Vin Diesel will next be seen in this summer’s F9, the ninth film in the Fast & Furious series.

FURIOSA to Film in 2022 with Chris Hemsworth Along for the Ride!

furiosa

Director George Miller has announced that his upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road prequel will begin filming in Australia next year.

The film, which focuses on the character of Furiosa, will shoot in New South Wales in 2022, before its release the following February.

With the announcement came the news that Thor actor Chris Hemsworth will be joining the cast of the film, which already includes Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) as a younger Furiosa, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman).

The film will take place over a number of years as it follows the character of Furiosa, first seen in 2015’s Fury Road, where she was played by Charlize Theron. Though Max himself is the series’ protagonist, Furiosa is seen by many as the heart of Fury Road. It’ll be interesting to see how Miller decides to fill in her backstory – especially as she works perfectly well without one.

Regardless of its narrative, fans can certainly expect more of the batshit-insane action that made Fury Road so beloved by all, and led the film to a whopping six Oscar wins from ten nominations. We’re secretly keeping our fingers crossed for more of the fire-spouting electric guitar.

It was also revealed that the film will be the biggest production ever shot in Australia, and will support more than 850 local jobs and contribute around $350 million to Australia’s economy. With so many people across the world facing economic hardship thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s great to see big-budget productions supporting local workers like this.

Furiosa will be revving into cinemas in February 2023.

Olivia Colman Joining New MCU Series, SECRET INVASION

secret invasion

Oscar-winner Olivia Colman is heading to the superhero genre as she boards Marvel Studios’ upcoming Secret Invasion series.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor has joined the cast of the Disney+ series that so far includes Samuel L Jackson (Spider-Man: Far From Home), Ben Mendelsohn, (Captain Marvel), and Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami). It’s unclear as yet what part Colman will play in the series, but we’d love to see her sink her teeth into a villainous role.

The actor has gone from strength to strength over the course of her career, from humble beginnings in Channel 4’s Peep Show to an Oscar for her role in The Favourite, and critical acclaim for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix’s The Crown. It was only a matter of time before she fancied a play in the Marvel sandpit.

The Secret Invasion series was one of a wave of new shows announced by Marvel and Disney back in December, which also included the likes of She-Hulk, Moon Knight, and Ms Marvel.

Specific plot details are being kept under wraps right now, but it’s almost certain the series will follow the comic storyline of the same name in some form, which details the (you guessed it) secret invasion of Earth by the shape-shifting Skrulls, who audiences were introduced to way back in 2019’s Captain Marvel.

Given that, in that film, the Skrulls were portrayed as refugees on the run from the Kree, we may well expect the infiltrators to be a splinter group of the race, perhaps tired of their people’s alliance with Earth.

This alliance was something we learned about in the post-credits scene to Spider-Man: Far From Home, which revealed that Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury had in fact not been Nick Fury, but had instead been Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos posing as Nick Fury for the entire film.

Fury himself was off-world for the duration of Far From Home – but where or doing what are unknown at this point. The series will presumably pick up some time after this sequence takes place.

Mr Robot’s Kyle Bradstreet is on board the series as head writer, and Secret Invasion is aiming to shoot this autumn in the UK and Europe.

TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Reboot Gets Rating and Official Title

texas

Things have been quiet on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series for a while now, but the latest reboot has its official title: the highly creative Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The news comes courtesy of the MPA, who gave the film an R rating in the US (equivalent to either a 15 or an 18 over here in the UK) for “strong bloody horror violence and gore, and language.” The ratings board also confirmed that the film will hit cinemas at some point in 2021, though a firm release date has yet to be set.

The new info is right on brand for the horror franchise, which is notorious for its gory style of terror across all of its eight films. The upcoming film is the ninth in the series, but will apparently be a direct sequel to Tobe Hooper’s 1974 original and ignore the events of all the other films. This method has worked for long-running horror franchises in the past (see: David Gordon Green’s Halloween reboot-sequel in 2018 – itself due a sequel later this year), but this new film isn’t the first in the Chainsaw series to try it.

The original series continuity ran for four films between 1974 and 1995. A Michael Bay-produced reboot was released in 2003, with a prequel following in 2006. In 2013, the series was rebooted again with Texas Chainsaw 3D, which disregarded all other films bar the original. A prequel to this new continuity, titled Leatherface, was released in 2017. No subsequent film since the original has had the intended or desired impact, which is presumably why studios keep hitting the reset button. And don’t worry if you’re confused about the timeline: we are too! This mess gives X-Men a run for its money, and that’s saying something.

The new film has been produced by Fede Alvarez, director of Don’t Breathe and the Evil Dead remake, written by Chris Thomas Devlin, and directed by David Blue Garcia. Garcia was hired late in the game after previous directors Ryan and Andy Tohill were fired only a week into shooting – the reason for their firing is unclear at this stage.

The reboot sees a 60-year-old Leatherface terrorising sisters Melody and Dreama, who head to the Texan countryside on a business trip (don’t worry, that last bit doesn’t make sense to us either). Mark Burnham is playing Leatherface, while Olwen Fouere is on board as Sally Hardesty, the protagonist of the original film. Elsie Fisher and Sarah Yarkin also star.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre will be bludgeoning its way into cinemas later this year.

Carey Mulligan Joins Adam Sandler’s SPACEMAN

spaceman

Carey Mulligan, star of Emerald Fennell’s BAFTA-winning Promising Young Woman has joined Uncut Gems star Adam Sandler in Netflix’s Spaceman.

According to Deadline, the Oscar nominee will be playing Sandler’s wife in the film, which is based on Jaroslav Kalfar’s novel Spaceman of Bohemia. The novel follows an astronaut (played by Sandler in the adaptation) sent on a mission to the edge of the galaxy to retrieve some strange ancient dust. As his life back on Earth begins to fall apart, he turns to the only thing that can help him piece it back together – which, obviously, is a mysterious creature from the beginning of time that’s been hiding on his ship.

Channing Tatum is on board as producer, while Chernobyl’s Emmy-winning Johan Renck will be directing from a screenplay by Colby Day.

Based on Deadline’s scoop, Mulligan seems to be playing the ‘Worried Earthbound Wife’ character popularised by Claire Foy in Damien Chazelle’s (otherwise excellent) First Man. It’s a strange move for the actor, who recently made huge waves with her stellar turn in the ferocious Promising Young Woman.

In that film, Mulligan plays a woman who punishes predatory men who wish to take advantage of her. It’s a very angry film that does its best to tackle rape culture in the 21st century, and to go from that to this seems like an odd choice for her.

There’s also the age gap to consider: Mulligan is 35, and on-screen husband Sandler is 54. That’s a gap of 19 years between the two – hasn’t Hollywood realised that huge age gaps like this are quite uncomfortable for audiences to watch?

Still, maybe Spaceman will do something different and buck the trend entirely. Or maybe it won’t. We’ll have to wait and see when it arrives on Netflix at some point in the future.

Alfred Molina Spills the Beans on Doc Ock Return

doc ock

In a conversation that’s likely to give poor Kevin Feige an aneurysm, veteran actor Alfred Molina has revealed details of his role in the upcoming Spider-Man sequel No Way Home.

Speaking to Variety last week, he was more than happy to share some information about his return as the villainous Otto Octavius, aka Doctor Octopus. Molina previously played the character in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 all the way back in 2004, and is set to reprise the role in this year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, the third instalment in Marvel and Sony’s new Spider-Man trilogy.

It’s worth stating at this point that Molina’s involvement in the film had never been confirmed until now: rumours were rife late last year, but neither Marvel nor Sony had commented on Molina’s casting. Molina admits that it was “supposed to be some great big secret,” but feels comfortable discussing it now that it’s “all over the internet.” Those infamous Marvel snipers have clearly been given some time off thanks to the pandemic…

Perhaps the biggest reveal from the conversation was that of No Way Home picking up from “that moment” in Spider-Man 2 in which Octavius sacrifices himself and drowns. If you recall from that film, he comes to his senses in his closing moments and decides to destroy the experimental fusion reactor he and his mechanical tentacles had created.

We also learned that Molina will be digitally de-aged for the film, in the vein of Samuel L Jackson’s appearance in Captain Marvel, which took place in the 1990s. the actor is now 67, and admits he was initially worried about the role’s physicality, before he remembered “it’s the tentacles that do all the work!”

“My basic physical move as Doc Ock, as the actor, is just this,” he said, before glaring intensely at his webcam and making a menacing noise. “I just do that a lot, and the arms are doing all the killing and smashing and breaking. I’m just going —” he glares, “with a kind of mean look on my face.”

Molina joins previous Spider-Man actors Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon in the film, which is also rumoured to feature Jamie Foxx’s Electro (from 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2), as well as previous Spider-Men Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

Spider-Man: No Way Home swings into cinemas in December 2021.

Beedle & Grimm Launch Deluxe Ravenloft Box

The much anticipated Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft supplement for Dungeons and Dragons comes out on May 18th and fans have been cheerfully waiting for this new version of much loved classic to hit the shelves.

Of course, those of us with a little more cash to spend won’t settle for a simple book; luxury gaming company Beedle and Grim have announced the their Shadowy Silver Edition of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft,  available for pre-order now.

Beedle and Grim specialise in official D&D supplements that come with accessories to make the gaming experience a touch more special. Founded by actor, official voice of Shaggy  and D&D super-fan Matthew Llilard, the company has produced some unique and memorable pieces for various D&D supplements.

The  Shadowy Silver Edition of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft  will include the main book, broken down into four easy-to-use booklets, three different pieces of jewellery intended to capture the feeling of the Gothic Horror world of Ravenloft, a deck of encounter cards, various in-universe handouts, Battle-maps for various adventures, player maps in case players are foolhardy enough to explore Ravenloft on their own and four short bonus adventures. The box is available in four seperate designs.

All of these will be produced with the incredible high quality we’ve come to expect from Beedle and Grim.  Find out more here.

Horror Channel Gets Supernatural in May

horror supernatural

Things get spooky on Horror Channel in May as Supernatural Week haunts from May 15th. Launching the week is the channel premieres of the hugely popular Paranormal Activity and the superb It Follows.

The full line-up is:

Saturday May 15th – Paranormal Activity (2007)

Sunday May 16th – Christine (1983)

Monday May 17th – Sinister (2012)

Tuesday May 18th – Flatliners (1990)

Wednesday May 19th – The Quiet Ones (2014)

Thursday May 20th – The Devil’s Candy (2016)

Friday May 21st – Firstborn (2016)

Saturday May 22nd – It Follows (2014)

For more information, head over to http://www.horrorchannel.co.uk/

Tune in on Sky 317, Virgin 149, Freeview 68, Freesat 138.

2021 Hugo Award Finalists Announced

The finalists for the 2021 Hugo Awards and associated awards have been announced.

 

There were 1,249  valid nominating ballots collected from members of the 2019 and 2020 World Science Fiction Conventions, also known as Worldcon. The awards have been around since 1953.

The Hugo Awards are major indicator of the state of Science Fiction as Worldcon members tend to be genre’s most dedicated fans. They tend to consume a great many new works of science fiction every year and are willing to travel across the world to attend genre book conventions.

The Hugos are followed closely by fans and professionals alike for this reason. The awards also include The Lodestar Award (for Young Adult Fiction) and The Astounding Award for new writers. These latter awards are technically not Hugo Awards, despite being presented at the same ceremony and having the same level of prestige; they just have a different shaped award handed to the winner.

A ‘new’ category this year is Best Video Game.  The campaign to make this massive part of the industry a permanent part of the awards continues.

A full accounting of the finalists can found via the official Hugo website here, and we present the list below for your convience. Of particular note is the fact this appears to the year for World Science Fiction Fandom’s most valued player Alasdair Stuart, who has been nominated for a total of four seperate awards.  Another item that amused Starburst is that the Natalie Luhrs’ essay “George R.R. Martin Can Fuck Off Into the Sun, Or: The 2020 Hugo Awards Ceremony (Rageblog Edition)” has been nominated for Best Related Work.

Best Novel

  • Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Gallery / Saga Press)
  • The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
  • Harrow The Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com)
  • Network Effect, Martha Wells (Tor.com)
  • Piranesi, Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)
  • The Relentless Moon, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books)

Best Novella

  • Come Tumbling Down, Seanan McGuire (Tor.com)
  • The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo (Tor.com)
  • Finna, Nino Cipri (Tor.com)
  • Ring Shout, P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com)
  • Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi (Tor.com)
  • Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey (Tor.com)

Best Novelette

  • “Burn, or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super”, A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny Magazine, May/June 2020)
  • “Helicopter Story”, Isabel Fall (Clarkesworld, January 2020)
  • “The Inaccessibility of Heaven”, Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine, July/August 2020)
  • “Monster”, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, January 2020)
  • “The Pill”, Meg Elison (from Big Girl, (PM Press))
  • Two Truths and a Lie, Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com)

Best Short Story

  • “Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse”, Rae Carson (Uncanny Magazine, January/February 2020)
  • “A Guide for Working Breeds”, Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, ed. Jonathan Strahan (Solaris))
  • Little Free Library, Naomi Kritzer (Tor.com)
  • “The Mermaid Astronaut”, Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, February 2020)
  • “Metal Like Blood in the Dark”, T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2020)
  • “Open House on Haunted Hill”, John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots – 2020, ed. David Steffen)

Best Series

  • The Daevabad Trilogy, S.A. Chakraborty (Harper Voyager)
  • The Interdependency, John Scalzi (Tor Books)
  • The Lady Astronaut Universe, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books/Audible/Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)
  • The Murderbot Diaries, Martha Wells (Tor.com)
  • October Daye, Seanan McGuire (DAW)
  • The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager)

Best Related Work

  • Beowulf: A New Translation, Maria Dahvana Headley (FSG)
  • CoNZealand Fringe, Claire Rousseau, C, Cassie Hart, Adri Joy, Marguerite Kenner, Cheryl Morgan, Alasdair Stuart.
  • FIYAHCON, L.D. Lewis–Director, Brent Lambert–Senior Programming Coordinator, Iori Kusano–FIYAHCON Fringe Co-Director, Vida Cruz–FIYAHCON Fringe Co-Director, and the Incredible FIYAHCON team
  • “George R.R. Martin Can Fuck Off Into the Sun, Or: The 2020 Hugo Awards Ceremony (Rageblog Edition)”, Natalie Luhrs (Pretty Terrible, August 2020)
  • A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler, Lynell George (Angel City Press)
  • The Last Bronycon: a fandom autopsy, Jenny Nicholson (YouTube)

Best Graphic Story or Comic

  • DIE, Volume 2: Split the Party, written by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, letters by Clayton Cowles (Image Comics)
  • Ghost-Spider vol. 1: Dog Days Are Over, Author: Seanan McGuire, Artist: Takeshi Miyazawa and Rosie Kämpe (Marvel)
  • Invisible Kingdom, vol 2: Edge of Everything, Author: G. Willow Wilson, Artist: Christian Ward (Dark Horse Comics)
  • Monstress, vol. 5: Warchild, Author: Marjorie Liu, Artist: Sana Takeda (Image Comics)
  • Once & Future vol. 1: The King Is Undead, written by Kieron Gillen, iIllustrated by Dan Mora, colored by Tamra Bonvillain, lettered by Ed Dukeshire (BOOM! Studios)
  • Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, written by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings (Harry N. Abrams)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

  • Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), written by Christina Hodson, directed by Cathy Yan (Warner Bros.)
  • Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, written by Will Ferrell, Andrew Steele, directed by David Dobkin (European Broadcasting Union/Netflix)
  • The Old Guard, written by Greg Rucka, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Netflix / Skydance Media)
  • Palm Springs, written by Andy Siara, directed by Max Barbakow (Limelight / Sun Entertainment Culture / The Lonely Island / Culmination Productions / Neon / Hulu / Amazon Prime)
  • Soul, screenplay by Pete Docter, Mike Jones and Kemp Powers, directed by Pete Docter, co-directed by Kemp Powers, produced by Dana Murray (Pixar Animation Studios/ Walt Disney Pictures)
  • Tenet, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner Bros./Syncopy)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

  • Doctor Who: Fugitive of the Judoon, written by Vinay Patel and Chris Chibnall, directed by Nida Manzoor (BBC)
  • The Expanse: Gaugamela, written by Dan Nowak, directed by Nick Gomez (Alcon Entertainment / Alcon Television Group / Amazon Studios / Hivemind / Just So)
  • She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: Heart (parts 1 and 2), written by Josie Campbell and Noelle Stevenson, directed by Jen Bennett and Kiki Manrique (DreamWorks Animation Television / Netflix)
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 13: The Jedi, written and directed by Dave Filoni (Golem Creations / Lucasfilm / Disney+)
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 16: The Rescue, written by Jon Favreau, directed by Peyton Reed (Golem Creations / Lucasfilm / Disney+)
  • The Good Place: Whenever You’re Ready, written and directed by Michael Schur (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group)

Best Editor, Short Form

  • Neil Clarke
  • Ellen Datlow
  • C.C. Finlay
  • Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya
  • Jonathan Strahan
  • Sheila Williams

Best Editor, Long Form

  • Nivia Evans
  • Sheila E. Gilbert
  • Sarah Guan
  • Brit Hvide
  • Diana M. Pho
  • Navah Wolfe

Best Professional Artist

  • Tommy Arnold
  • Rovina Cai
  • Galen Dara
  • Maurizio Manzieri
  • John Picacio
  • Alyssa Winans

Best Semiprozine

  • Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ed. Scott H. Andrews
  • Escape Pod, editors Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya, assistant editor Benjamin C. Kinney, hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart, audio producers Summer Brooks and Adam Pracht and the entire Escape Pod team.
  • FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, publisher Troy L. Wiggins, executive editor DaVaun Sanders, managing editor Eboni Dunbar, poetry editor Brandon O’Brien, reviews and social media Brent Lambert, art director L. D. Lewis, and the FIYAH Team.
  • PodCastle, editors, C.L. Clark and Jen R. Albert, assistant editor and host, Setsu Uzumé, producer Peter Adrian Behravesh, and the entire PodCastle team.
  • Uncanny Magazine, editors in chief: Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, managing editor: Chimedum Ohaegbu, non-fiction editor: Elsa Sjunneson, podcast producers: Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky
  • Strange Horizons, Vanessa Aguirre, Joseph Aitken, Rachel Ayers, M H Ayinde, Tierney Bailey, Scott Beggs, Drew Matthew Beyer, Gautam Bhatia, S. K. Campbell, Zhui Ning Chang, Rita Chen, Tania Chen, Joyce Chng, Liz Christman, Linda H. Codega, Kristian Wilson Colyard, Yelena Crane, Bruhad Dave,  Tahlia Day, Arinn Dembo, Nathaniel Eakman, Belen Edwards, Sarah Davidson, George Tom Elavathingal, Rebecca Evans, Ciro Faienza, Courtney Floyd, Lila Garrott, Colette Grecco, Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright, Julia Gunnison, Dan Hartland, Sydney Hilton, Angela Hinck, Stephen Ira, Amanda Jean, Ai Jiang, Sean Joyce-Farley, Erika Kanda, Anna Krepinsky, Kat Kourbeti, Clayton Kroh, Maureen Kincaid Speller, Catherine Krahe, Natasha Leullier, A.Z. Louise, Dante Luiz, Gui Machiavelli, Cameron Mack, Samantha Manaktola, Marisa Manuel, Jean McConnell, Heather McDougal, Maria Morabe, Amelia Moriarty, Emory Noakes, Sarah Noakes, Aidan Oatway, AJ Odasso, Joel Oliver-Cormier, Kristina Palmer, Karintha Parker, Anjali Patel, Vanessa Rose Phin, Nicasio Reed, Belicia Rhea, Endria Richardson, Natalie Ritter, Abbey Schlanz, Clark Seanor, Elijah Rain Smith, Hebe Stanton, Melody Steiner, Romie Stott, Yejin Suh, Kwan-Ann Tan, Luke Tolvaj, Ben Tyrrell, Renee Van Siclen, Kathryn Weaver, Liza Wemakor, Aigner Loren Wilson, E.M. Wright, Vicki Xu, Fred G. Yost, staff members who prefer not to be named, and guest editor Libia Brenda with guest first reader Raquel González-Franco Alva for the Mexicanx special issue

Best Fanzine

  • The Full Lid, written by Alasdair Stuart, edited by Marguerite Kenner
  • Journey Planet, edited by Michael Carroll, John Coxon, Sara Felix, Ann Gry, Sarah Gulde, Alissa McKersie, Errick Nunnally, Pádraig Ó Méalóid, Chuck Serface, Steven H Silver, Paul Trimble, Erin Underwood, James Bacon, and Chris Garcia.
  • Lady Business, editors. Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan.
  • nerds of a feather, flock together, ed. Adri Joy, Joe Sherry, The G, and Vance Kotrla
  • Quick Sip Reviews, editor, Charles Payseur
  • Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, ed. Amanda Wakaruk and Olav Rokne

Best Fancast

  • Be The Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace
  • Claire Rousseau’s YouTube channel, produced by Claire Rousseau
  • The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan, producer
  • Kalanadi, produced and presented by Rachel
  • The Skiffy and Fanty show, produced by Shaun Duke and Jen Zink, presented by Shaun Duke, Jen Zink, Alex Acks, Paul Weimer, and David Annandale.
  • Worldbuilding for Masochists, presented by Rowenna Miller, Marshall Ryan Maresca and Cass Morris

Best Fan Writer

  • Cora Buhlert
  • Charles Payseur
  • Jason Sanford
  • Elsa Sjunneson
  • Alasdair Stuart
  • Paul Weimer

Best Fan Artist

  • Iain J. Clark
  • Cyan Daly
  • Sara Felix
  • Grace P. Fong
  • Maya Hahto
  • Laya Rose

Best Video Game

  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Publisher and Developer: Nintendo)
  • Blaseball (Publisher and Developer: The Game Band)
  • Final Fantasy VII Remake (Publisher Square Enix)
  • Hades (Publisher and Developer: Supergiant Games)
  • The Last of Us: Part II (Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment / Developer: Naughty Dog)
  • Spiritfarer (Publisher and Developer: Thunder Lotus)

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book (presented by the World Science Fiction Society)

 

  • Cemetery Boys, Aiden Thomas (Swoon Reads)
  • A Deadly Education, Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
  • Elatsoe, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
  • Legendborn, Tracy Deonn (Margaret K. McElderry/ Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
  • Raybearer, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet / Hot Key)
  • A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, T. Kingfisher (Argyll Productions)

Astounding Award for Best New Writer (presented by Dell Magazines)

 

  • Lindsay Ellis (1st year of eligibility)
  • Simon Jimenez (1st year of eligibility)
  • Micaiah Johnson (1st year of eligibility)
  • A.K. Larkwood (1st year of eligibility)
  • Jenn Lyons (2nd year of eligibility)
  • Emily Tesh (2nd year of eligibility)

 

Classic DOCTOR WHO Story THE ICE WARRIORS is Coming to Vinyl

who ice

Demon Records has announced the partially-lost Doctor Who story The Ice Warriors will be released on vinyl on June 4th.

From the press release:

The Doctor and his friends land on Earth in the future, and find it in the grip of a new Ice Age. They join a team of scientists struggling to hold back the huge glaciers that threaten all human life. A giant creature is discovered inside the ice and quickly comes to monstrous life – it’s an Ice Warriors from Mars! It intends to find its crashed spaceship, where a whole crew of Warriors is waiting to be revived… 

 

Presented across a trio of 140g Molten Ice vinyl discs, this 1967 TV soundtrack – only four episodes of which survive as film recordings – is narrated by Frazer Hines, who co-stars as the Doctor’s companion Jamie, with Deborah Watling as Victoria. The guest cast includes Bernard Bresslaw as the Ice Warrior Varga, Peter Barkworth as Leader Clent, and Peter Sallis as Penley. Incidental music is by Dudley Simpson, and the familiar strains of the Doctor Who theme are courtesy of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

 

The coloured LPs are presented in fully illustrated sleeves which, when assembled together, form the cover image. Original episode billings, and full cast and credits, are included.

You can pre-order the record here: https://amzn.to/3aaWA8q