Genre News

Got a few more bits of interesting news, that I'll post together.

First up, Online Degrees keeps sending me SF related lists they've done but by the time I get around to posting them, they're already up everywhere so I generally don't bother.  Their new list, the 10 Best Post-Apocalyptic Movies [Edited July 2013 to add: I've removed the link per an email request by Online Derees], is pretty good if not earth shattering (ie, you've probably heard of, if not seen, all of them already).

Sea Lion Books has new graphic novel coming out in July that sounds pretty awesome. Pariah.  From the press release:

They’re not super powered, they’re just super smart. The teen protagonists who lead us through the world of Pariah, a twelve-book graphic novel series from the mind of Oscar-winning film producer Aron Warner and published by Sea Lion Books, are the next generation of heroes in the comic book world. Eisner-nominated illustrator Brett Weldele (The Surrogates) will bring the stories to life in ink, and Philip Gelatt will pen the scripts set in Warner’s world for the twelve books. As buzz builds about this unlikely collaboration and the unique story of Pariah, the series will premiere at San Diego Comic Con on July 20 – 24th. 

"I came up with Pariah after reading an article about in vitro genetic manipulation,” Warner says. “We take medications every day without fully understanding how they work. It’s kind of terrifying if you think about it. In Pariah, kids grow up with incredible intelligence as a side effect of modern ‘cures.’ The problem is that they’re so smart, they question everything – even things we hold as sacred. All of our laws, morals, and even physical constraints will be torn apart and re-built. These kids are adrift in every way, equipped with mental tools we can’t even imagine. On top of all of that, they’re persecuted, feared and hated. As if being a teenager didn’t suck enough…”

The Vitros, as the characters are called, are a group of several hundred kids from all over the world who possess beyond-human intelligence produced via genetic manipulation. As teenagers in the process of trying to uncover their identities, they live relatively normal lives, though not without a fair amount of suspicion thrown at them from the fringes of society. When the Vitros are framed for a deadly explosion at a laboratory that releases a virus on the population, the government systematically begins to round up these pariahs, sending our heroes on the run from the authorities and their lives.

Says Sea Lion's Publisher, Derek Ruiz, "Aron has captured the essence of being a Pariah as seen through the eyes of a group of scientifically created teens. They are a Petri dish of innocent souls infinitely more intelligent than anyone else on Earth. Yet their creation and existence has left them shunned and condemned.”

What happens when the society that created them also tries to destroy them? The Pariahs fight back this July. For updates and additional information join Pariah on Facebook or follow PariahComicBook on Twitter.

Phoenix Pick's free book of the month is, "a Hugo and Nebula winning novelette by Charles Sheffield, titled Georgia on My Mind."  Go to their website, follow the instructions and enter the code for June: 9992231.  You can also sign up to receive their free ebook offers every month.

Lastly, this is a video my husband and I stumbled upon a few days ago.  It's a cute interpretation of what crop circles really mean called Invasions.  It's a French animated short, but there's no language so don't worry about having to read subtitles if you don't know French.  I grabbed it from the director, Clement-Morin,'s site.  He has several other videos as well.



Invasions from Clément Morin on Vimeo.