Fantasy

The 'Lord of the Rings' film trilogy has raked in billions for others, but for the heirs of beloved author and creator J.R.R. Tolkien, nothing.

"Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-Lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne." And not one ducat for the guy who created it all. Stinks.

A book’s ending can certainly make or break the entire read. After all, the final impression is most likely to be the strongest and most enduring. A few SF/F authors give their opinions on the question of good and bad endings here. Got any nominees yourself?

Obvious spoiler alert here if you haven’t read the books listed.

Which young adult sf/f titles, if any, would you recommend to an adult reader who would not otherwise consider reading YA fiction because they think it's only suitable for kids?

A lot of standards appear, but Scott Westerfield shows up in many answers from the all-star panel.

Winners of this year's Nebula Awards, presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, were announced this evening, Saturday April 26, 2008. Best novel: Michael Chabon - The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Click through to see short story and cinema winners.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) will be handing out the Nebula Awards Saturday evening, 26 April 2008, at a ceremony in Austin, Texas. SFScope is not in Texas, but SFWA has announced that there will be a live feed of the ceremony available on line.

I’m happy to see The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks and the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny made this list. Both would make great movies IMO. But if I had to choose just one it would be the latter. There is some grand special effects potential there. Opinions?

The results of this year’s Tiptree Award have been announced. The winner is The Carhullan Army (Daughters of the North in the U.S.) by Sarah Hall. The James Tiptree, Jr. Award is given for for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender, and is intended to reward those women and men who are bold enough to contemplate shifts and changes in gender.

I understand (second-hand, since I don't surf much) that there is some concern out there in InterNet Land that the Hugo ballot features only four women nominees this year (last year there was only one). As it happens, gender distribution of SF writers is something I keep track of.

A lot of books these days are hybrids of several genres. The Cassie Palmer series, for example, appeals mainly to fantasy, mystery and romance fans. The question I get asked most frequently is, does trying to please the readers of so many genres, each of which has its own rules and expectations, cause any problems?

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (lovingly– and mercifully– abbreviated as F&SF wherever possible) is a digest-sized (think Reader’s Digest or Prevention, or the old TV Guide) magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy short stories, book and movie reviews, an occasional related non-fiction article, and cartoons.