Jedi Discrimination

So this guy, see, who has founded an international Jedi religion, see...he claims Tesco discriminated against him when they wouldn't let him wear his hood out in public. He also claims that Jedi have to wear their hoods in public, and has made noises about suing them. But! The best part of this story is Tesco's utterly deadpan takedown in response. You have to read through to the end to get it.

Ultraman Movie!

I can't wait.

A Primo Takedown of Derek Jeter-olatry

...by the guys who once did Fire Joe Morgan, one of the funniest sports blogs there ever was. Now they've (briefly) reunited to run some stuff out there for Deadspin (which is also funny but not as funny as FJM was). You must read this. I've got nothing against Jeter, who is a terrific player, but the way people write about him...I'll say it again. You must read this.

Also, fire up your alternate-history scenarios: JRR Tolkien trained to be a codebreaker before WWII.

Also also: Mark Helprin writes really good books but is kind of a dick.

Now back to writing.

Is There a Snake with *Two* Feet Somewhere?

Pictures like this one, and the accompanying Telegraph article, get you thinking...

Bilious Comment of the Day

Dear People Who Constantly Moan and Groan About How Full Your Inboxes Are:

You know we can all tell that this is your passive-aggressive way of letting us know how important you are, right?

Protests Bring Out the Best in Americans

Roundup of New and Forthcoming Stuff, Plus Links of Interest

Looks like I'll have not one, but two Iron Man novels coming out next year. One, Iron Man: Virus, is due out in January; the other will be the novelization of the Iron Man 2 movie. I'm guessing it will show up sometime near the movie's May 7 release date. This is my first novelization (other than a killed-at-the-last-minute novelization of The Beast that Sean Stewart and I wrote back in 2001); it's a blast so far. (And no, I can't tell you anything about the script.)

On the short story front, "Dragon's Teeth"--a sort-of prequel to "Wizard's Six"--is due out soon in F&SF, where I've also got another story, "Remotest Mansions of the Blood," waiting in the wings. "The Dream Curator" will lead off Postscripts 20/21, which will also include stories by...well, looking at the PS Publishing website, I see the lineup isn't announced yet, so I'll keep my mouth shut. But it's going to be a treat.

And reviews of Buyout continue to appear. Fantasy Magazine:

What matters in Buyout is the increasingly frantic collision of morals and beliefs into one another, until a crescendo of an ending the simultaneously denigrates and exalts the notion of an absolute credo.

And Green Man Review had this to say:

I was at a loss on how to place this book -- everything needs some kind of context -- but I eventually remembered one of the classics of science fiction's Golden Age, The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth, two of the period's great satirists. Buyout is the same order of beast, bitter, Swiftian satire, loaded and pointed right at us.

Thought of the Day and Bad Astronomy

From David Mitchell, in the Guardian: "The media like nothing more than to be contrarian about their own manufactured consensus on which the paint is still not dry..." The best part is that he's talking about a survey in which women are alleged to have professed a preference for guys who are a little bit overweight and smell like beer. Casual brilliance, in the way that a newspaper column allows you to be casually brilliant if you are capable of it in the first place.

Also, if you're not stopping by the Bad Astronomy blog at Discover.com, you really should be.

Pynchon Sells Out

Not really. At least, Inherent Vice isn't any kind of sellout. I refer, of course, to the question of whether the great man himself broke his self-imposed silence by narrating this book trailer. I kind of hope he did.



The book is pretty good, I think. It traces a lot of the same trajectories as Vineland and Lot 49, but in a much less thinky way. It's almost as if Pynchon, in his seventies, has decided to leave the coming generations of readers with a book that will serve as a zippy, fun gateway drug leading to the rest of his oeuvre.

Comic Book Club

I regret and apologize for the lengthy hiatus. To get everyone back up to speed and encourage them to healthful activities tomorrow night, I will note that I am going to be the August 4 guest at the Comic Book Club at the Peoples Improv Theater in NYC, hosted by Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage. I'm not sure what I'm in for, but whatever it is will happen tomorrow, August 4th, in the evening, on 29th Street between 6th and 7th. Hope to see you there in the live audience that has the chance to pepper me with unanswerable questions in between the gibes and sallies of the show's hosts. Topics sure to arise include Daredevil Noir, Buyout, the writing of comic books, and an enrapturing blend of pop-cultural and comic-book-related conversational moments. If you've listened to the show's podcast, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, stop by tomorrow night or catch the podcast. See you there...