Friday, August 5, 2011

Fantastically Fun Fridays: August 5, 2011

The Magician KingFirst of all, we'd like to congratulate the winners of our Hugo poll--N. K. Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and Ian McDonald's The Dervish House!  We like that there was a tie--this means that we are twice as likely to correctly predict the winner of the actual Hugo (unless, of course, you're a goblin in the Harry Potter series).  Thanks to everyone who voted!

Next week, we are celebrating the release of Lev Grossman's latest novel and the sequel to The Magicians--The Magician King, which will be released Tuesday, August 9th.  We've gotten things started early today by looking back at how the awesome-ness of The Magicians extends past the borders of the book itself, and we'll be featuring Magicians/Magician King themed content all next week.

While we definitely suggest you spend the weekend reading The Magicians if you haven't already, here are a few more fun things to keep you occupied until Monday:

  • First, NPR has posted its poll for the best science fiction/fantasy novels ever--head over there and vote for your favorites, and then let us know what you voted for here in the comments! (NPR)
  • An unpublished play by W.B. Yeats entitled Love and Death is now available online--as scans of the original manuscript!--and it includes a character who is a "spirit hunter," which seems pretty cool. (Boston College Libraries)
  • Michael Moorcock gives advice on how to write a swords-and-sorcery novel in three days. (Wet Asphalt)
  • A few Game of Thrones goodies: first, a behind-the-scenes video of the creation of some of the visual effects for the series, and second, a look at what Game of Thrones would look like as an old-school RPG. [note: both contain spoilers, and both might be considered mildly NSFW] (YouTube/College Humor)
  • New Dr. Who trailer! (BBC)
  • If you were inspired by our post about The Last Unicorn this past week, you might be interested in these special deals on Last Unicorn merchandise--including signed products! (Conlan Press)
  • There's a new Ultimate Spider-Man--Miles Morales! (USA Today)
  • Best reason for detention ever. (Tumblr)
  • And one final thought to mull over this weekend--there might actually be a multiverse. (BBC)
And with that, happy weekend everyone!