SpaceGypsies

While I am disappointed that Terra Nova hasn’t returned for Monday nights, Alcatraz is a pleasant surprise. In fact my 28 year old son sat here with me watching the entire premier, and he continues to watch it with me along with Castle.  You may say that doesn’t mean anything, but if you knew my son you’d realize it is!  He’s very critical when it comes to science fiction, so for him to take an hour out of his homework schedule it’s got to be good.

The show’s theme centers around the disappearance of the entire population of the prison’s inhabitants on the day they were to be transferred to other facilities, due to the closing of the prison.  The incident was covered up by the government with a fake paperwork trail showing the prisoners transferred, as well as death certificates for many of them.  Now these men are reappearing in the present day committing the same gruesome crimes they were incarcerated for,  have not aged a day since 1963, with no idea where they have been the past 60 years.

As for the actors, you almost can’t go wrong with Sam Neil in the starring role as Emerson Hauser,  the man who was suppose to oversee the transfer of the prisoners, now tracking them down and returning them to a secret facility.   Co-starring with Neil are  Jorge Garcia (formerly from Lost) as Dr. Diego Soto a college professor, writer and historian turned comic book store owner, who is an expert on the history of Alcatraz and it’s inhabitants.  Sarah Jones (Son’s of Anarchy, Lone Star) as Detective Rebecca Madsen, a San Francisco detective who’s partner was murdered by one of the missing prisoners, recruited by Hauser to join the team.  Incidentally Jones’ uncle is a former Alcatraz guard who now owns a bar in San Francisco.  And  Parminder Nagra (ER, Bend It Like Beckham) as Lucy Banerjee a Psychologist who had been working in the prison before it closed.  Unfortunately Lucy was shot in the first episode, and remains in a coma.  It will be interesting to see what Abrahms has planned for that character since she has not aged as day herself.

Alcatraz is brought to us by Producer J.J. Abrahms (Lost and Alias) stays true to form with twists, turns, and plenty of action, packed with psychological intrigue.   While science fiction premise of time and space displacement are not new,  Alcatraz is different for television.  The question is whether it can garner the same audience as Fringe is reserved for future episodes, but for now the writing is excellent.

If you have missed an episode you can catch up with full episodes, as well as clips, actor bios, full recaps and downloads at fox.com/alcatraz.

Happy Viewing

Ceramicat

NOTE: Space Gypsies has had the chance to read this amazing Steampunk Bedtime Story!  It is amazing and our official review will be out this week. We endorse Her Majesty’s Explorer and recommend you buy it TODAY, February 28, 2012 and help be part of Steampunk Publishing History! 

Her Majesty’s Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story LAUNCHES Tuesday!

Blurbs and reviews are rolling in to Coal City Stories for  its first publication Her Majesty’s Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story, which is to launch TODAY February 28^th, 2012.

According to the official press release from Coal City,

Praise is rolling in from around the Steampunk community for a first of its kind Steampunk children’s book.  Her Majesty’s Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story, featuring a bonus story, “Three Cheers for Steamduck,” was written by Steampunk novelist Emilie P. Bush and illustrated by William Kevin Petty. Amazon.com exclusively has the book at a special discounted price on Tuesday ONLY. The link to the book is HERE: http://www.amazon.com/Her-Majestys-Explorer-Steampunk-bedtime/dp/0984902805/

The tale is receiving glowing from illustrators, authors, bloggers and publishing organizations inside and out of the Steampunk Community. Here is what some early reviewers are saying:

For more information, see these links: 

THE BOOK LINK to AMAZON.COM. The book will be available on the 28th – for a special discounted price!http://www.amazon.com/Her-Majestys-Explorer-Steampunk-bedtime/dp/0984902805/

The Launch Page:  http://www.facebook.com/events/347525985265865/

The Her Majesty’s Explorer Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/HerMajestysExplorer

The blog: http://coalcitysteam.wordpress.com/

The Video Book trailer: http://youtu.be/kHb3Wpe3F2o

The Tease Read by Captain Robert of Abney Park: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2931604900935

Chenda and the Airship Brofman: http://www.amazon.com/Chenda-Airship-Brofman-Emilie-Bush/dp/1449542549

The Gospel According to Verdu : http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-According-Verdu-Book-Brofman/dp/1461026466/

AMAZON UK Kindle link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Majestys-Explorer-Steampunk-ebook/dp/B007AV8LVC/

AMAZON GERMANY Kindle Link: http://www.amazon.de/Her-Majestys-Explorer-Steampunk-ebook/dp/B007AV8LVC/

Amazon Italy Kindle edition: http://www.amazon.it/Her-Majestys-Explorer-Steampunk-ebook/dp/B007AV8LVC/

Amazon France Kindle Edition: http://www.amazon.fr/Her-Majestys-Explorer-Steampunk-ebook/dp/B007AV8LVC/

The third book in the Stargate Atlantis Legacy series has arrived from Fandemonium! Authored by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold, the book series is a continuation of the Stargate spin-off that ended before its time. It picks up right where the series left off with the first novel, Homecoming, and begins a whole new saga that is truly worthy of the franchise. Homecoming was followed by The Lost, and now Allegiance is the latest in the planned series of six books.

WARNING: This review assumes that you have read both Homecoming and The Lost! If you have not checked out this series yet, – where the heck have you been!? – go back and check out my review of Homecoming to learn why you really should!

The longer a series goes on, the more complicated things can get. This is maybe more true of a book series that is published one book at a time over a protracted period than it is for a TV series. There is a reason why I spent the weeks leading up to the newest Harry Potter book release re-reading all the other books to refresh my memory. You never knew when some seemingly trivial detail that you easily forgot about was going to come back and bite everyone in the butt. When I ordered my copy of Allegiance I was a bit concerned that I would need to re-read the previous books to really keep pace with the story, but when I got my copy I found a pleasant surprise. A prologue was included, perfect for refreshing my memory of the events of the series. I could kiss the authors for that, and I hope they keep including them because there are three more books to go!

The book starts out with everyone sitting around the conference table, trying to get their heads wrapped around what just happened. They finally know what the readers have known for quite some time: Rodney McKay has been changed into a Wraith, and the process whipped his memory clean. He believes he has always been a Wraith, so when his friends came to his rescue he fought them and stunned John Sheppard before the team was beamed to safety, leaving Rodney the Wraith behind. Read the rest of this entry »

Remnant is the creative brain child of Penny Dreadful Productions and a collaborative effort of Atlanta’s creative community. Remnant made its debut as a line of steampunk inspired costumes at Dragon*Con 2011. The costumes, displayed beautifully in the photography of Dim Horizon Studio, were an instant hit among fans and Atlanta’s thriving independent film community took notice. Drawing inspiration from the intricate costumes, rich back story and Amy Houser’s fabulous poster art with logo by Jim Ware, PDP are setting out to create a multi-platform experience that includes costumes, films and live entertainment.

Space Gypsies recently met with Matt Young to talk about Remnant.  Matt and his brother Jared form the production company The Brothers Young. Space Gypsies readers might remember The Brother’s Young from the astounding “Galactic Perry’s Learning Starship.”

What drew you first to Remnant?

I first saw the costumes at Dragon Con when PDP debuted them.  Jared and I were immediately drawn to the world that PDP was starting to create.  We really felt like we could bring the costumes to life through the medium of film.  Jared and I wrote a short film for each costume, 6 total.  The goal was to tell the story of an individual character.  Each video is a glimpse into that characters life on the eve of a battle.

You are known for children’s television and parody/comedy works such as Doritos commercials and Galactic Perry, how was the Remnant experience different? How much fun was it and why?

Remnant is a very fun world to play in from a storyteller’s perspective.  We did not feel the need to be funny, which immediately relieves a large amount of stress.  Jared and I love visuals and we felt like our history with our past productions benefited us in Remnant.  The combination of incredible costuming from PDP, make fx from Andre Freitas at AFX, Film production from Owen Smith at Kalon Media and some Brilliant co-directing by our buddy Chance White really made for a great end product.

 Tell me about the location shots?

Many of the sets were constructed at our Studios in Marietta, Ga, including all green screen shots.  We also had the benefit of using Afterlight Pictures’ office space.   We shot on location 2 out of the 6 production days.  We shot at the Duluth Train Museum, which is an incredibly rich and diverse environment and we shot at The Old Roswell Mill machine shop which sit next to the covered bridge.  We felt like both these locations were a great combination of old and new, modern and historic.

And green screen was used?

There are a handful of CGI shots in Remnant.  Chance White and friends will be doing a good bit of post to bring these shots to life.

What do you see as the next natural step for Remnant? 

Remnant has such wonderful potential.  The opportunities for stories are endless.  We are planning an interactive live show in the coming months and we would love to start building support for a feature film.

How did the concept translate to film?

I think the concept is going to translate very well to film.  You always to be careful, it is easy to film something that looks cool.  But what is your story?  We are always focusing on building a compelling story that people will want to be a part of.

How amazing were the special effects?  What else do you want to say about them?

We were blessed to have two creatures designed by Andre Freitas.  I think everyone will see that they bring some extra artistic production value to an already fantastically rich world created by PDP.

Any word of moving forward with Perry Con II?

Haha, shockingly enough Perry is not dead.  Our friends at School of Humans Productions are working diligently at securing us some more funds to bring the next episodes to life.

PDP’s Remnant: More Information!

Photography - Dim Horizon Studios

Penny Dreadful Productions - Penny Dreadful Facebook

Remnant - Remnant

Production - Brothers Young Production

Makeup Special FX - AFX Studios

This article was originally published in the ever wonderful Steampunk Chronicle and has been reposted here with permission. You can view the original article HERE.

A Peek into the Doomsday Device called “Angelmaker”

Professor Upsidasium gives us a review of the upcoming novel “Angelmaker” by Nick Harkaway.

By Professor Upsidasium

Anglemaker is about the clockwork of fates and destinies that interconnect us all, asking the question “Is our collective internal bearings true? And if not, what were to happen if someone went about ‘fixing’ that…?” More chillingly, it dares, “…And what would happen if that someone got it horribly, terriblywrong in the attempt?”

Ages, like gears, mesh together behind the backdrop of a dreary, very mundane contemporary London where the unfortunately named Joe Spork is living in the twin shadows of his father and grandfather.  Grand-dad Daniel was a master-class clockwork artisan and daddy-dearest Mathew was a master-class gangster in the 50s.  Overwhelmed by their legacies, Joe has grown into a disappointed and disappointing shade of a man, drifting without many options, stuck between gears.  When the ancient Edie Banister tests Joe’s ability to fix ever-stranger bits of clock-driven machinery, it brings both of them to the attention of vast forces seeking to find and control the “Angelmaker,” a nearly mythical device which could either push mankind into a hopeful nirvana or destroy the whole human race.

Anglemaker as a book dives head-first into several titanic ideas.  Flipping the normal “Old technology meets new influence” paradigm of many fictions, Angelmaker brings the past unexpectedly erupting into a future (our present) ill-equipped to deal with mad science and illuminati-style conspiracies and aging British super-spies.  Will this blow the mind of many people overly-engrossed in the “what makes something steampunk” debate? Most definitely!  More importantly, no matter what school of [adjective]-punk you subscribe to, is this a highly entertaining read.   I had to go back over more than one chapter just for the sake of the near poetic text.  The action sequences were broken-glass sharp, and the romances were just as heartbreakingly painful at times.  While I can finish most books of this length in a few dedicated hours, Angelmaker took me a full week to work through like a box of treats you don’t want to consume at once, or too soon.  I found myself reading passages out loud not just for the fun of watching my other half’s reactions to the great shenanigans, but also to soak in the luxurious language of this text.

There are broad and gracious nods at much of Steampunk’s early root materials, in particular with notes of Jeter’s Infernal Devices and Morlock Nights in the mix, but Anglemaker retains a robust and original army of characters endlessly whirling about each other like the teeth on wildly flailing cogs; some will mesh and blend while others will painfully clash, showering down sparks whenever they meet.  Joe Spork is on his hero’s journey, trying to plumb the depths of his own family’s hidden history in time to avoid global calamity, but he is not the sole point of view here; few things can prepare you for the counter point of Edie Banister’s career as a globe-trotting spy for the Edwardian throne and their secretive cabal of super-makers.  Decked out Steam-trains, ultra-submarines, and dangerous liaisons in strange countries all figure prominently for Edie, who brings the depth and perspective to what could be mankind’s greatest peril.  When she hands the keys of this legacy to Joe, all hell literally breaks loose, and I think you are going to enjoy every minute of it.

Nick Harkaway brings a fully realized, alternate, hidden history to the page and dares you to imagine a time when modern men are forced to pay heed to the forgotten springs and switches laying buried in the artifacts that our world is built on and in the histories that we build our lives upon.

Angelmaker will be released March 20, 2012 and you should immediately add this to your growing steampunk library.

Professor Upsidasium is a contributor to Steampunk Chronicle.  He uses the Visuatronic Audiographic Steampunk Archive to capture images and sounds of events he has been to and individuals he has had the pleasure of speaking with.  You can follow his ramblings on Twitter or explore the current iteration of the archives on YouTube.