Previosly Unknown Map of Middle Earth Discovered

A map of Middle Earth featuring annotations from its creator, J.R.R. Tolkien was recently discovered in a copy of a book owned by illustrator Pauline Baynes.

Baynes had been tasked with illustrations by publisher Allen & Unwin in 1970, and worked with Tolkien to her own map of Middle Earth.

Star Wars VII Trailer 3 - OMG

I like to watch trailers but I was kind of shying away from Star Wars VII trailers because I did not want to see any spoilers. I still remember the time when there were no trailers, and the decision what movie to see was based only on TV and newspaper adds. That was when I saw the original trilogy and I wanted to preserve some of that feeling for this one.

But, alas, I am weak. After so much hype on the Internet, I played it and I am so glad that I did.
It caused all kinds of goosebumps and left me on the brink of tears. When Han Solo said, "It is true. All of it.", I swear, it was one of the most iconic moments in movies that I have ever seen. It relates to both the events in the movies and the real life, a some sort of bridge between generations that grew up on Star Wars, and the new ones. I wish that my kids were a bit older so that they could see this at cinemas.
This movie could surpass Avatar at the box office. Easily. Looks like JJ Abrams has taken the right approach and I cannot wait till December.
See you in cinemas, and of course

May the Force be with you!

Blade of Tyshalle – Perfect Blend of SF and Fantasy II

I have just finished the second book in the Mathew W. Stover’s Act of Caine sequence and I am amazed. This is one of the best books I have ever read. Considerably more ambitious than the first one, this book successfully raises everything to a whole new level.

At the beginning we find Hari Michaelson as a well-off administrator who is trying to cope with his disability resulting from his spine being severed by the sword Kosall at the hand of his arch enemy Berne. Some seven years after the events in the first book, Hari lives with his wife Shanna and her daughter Faith, who share the connection with the Chambaraya, the Overworld River. Ma’Elkoth is a prisoner in some sort of the Overworld Museum, where he teaches magic, and he is Hari’s best/only friend.

Heroes Die by Matthew Stover – Perfect Blend of SF and Fantasy

Heroes Die is the first book in the Matthew Woodring Stover’s Acts of Caine trilogy. The author created a world that consists of the future dystopian Earth and a parallel world called Overworld, which is actually a fantasy setting bearing the characteristics of the majority of books published in this genre after Tolkien. This provides for a very interesting dichotomy – on the one side we have a science fiction milieu in which there is an overcrowded Earth, the population of which is divided into castes, with very strict rules and harsh system of punishment. On the other side is a fantasy world rich with magic, all kinds of creatures, and filled with adventures. 

This is not a new thing.