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Online StoreThe Golden Compass opened in the US in early December 2007 and has since taken only £35 million at the box office. This is an extremely poor return. There had been plans to adapt the second and third books from Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials into films but the question now must be whether on not Warners will risk this in light of The Golden Compass’s poor showing.
There is a new date in the fantasy calendar. There are already two dates in the year celebrated by Tolkien enthusiasts, there is the Birthday Toast on the 3rd January (JRR Tolkien’s birthday) and the Oxonmoot on September the 22nd (Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday). March the 25th marked the Downfall of Sauron in the Lord of the Rings and on this day Middle-earth fans around the world met to read and listen to the Lord of the Rings in its entirety.
The first Tolkien reading day was in 2003 and the tradition is still going strong.
Lord of the Rings book review
JRR Tolkien biography, bibliography, interviews and latest news
Bloomsbury believed in JK Rowling and her Harry Potter series when all the others didn’t. This foresight saw Bloomsbury’s annual profit rise from £5.2million to in excess of £17million. The reason for this was the release of the final book in the series - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
JK Rowling has now finished the Harry Potter series but the books will continue to sell worldwide for many years to come. Bloomsbury are using the money earned to good effect; by promoting new talent and allowing them to make new acquisitions.
There has been talk for quite a long time now regarding HBO adapting George RR Martin’s fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire for the small screen. Here is a quick update on where everything stands at the moment.
HBO, as of January 2007 now own the television rights to A Song of Ice and Fire. Writer producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have completed the pilot script and this has been signed off by George RR Martin. However, a strike by the Writer’s Guild of America in November 2007 severely held up proceedings until February 2008.
HBO are also considering a television series based on the King Arthur legend and it is believed that only one of these two proposed adaptations will be authorised.
So, the ball is now firmly in HBO’s court and it is for them to decide which of these two television series will appeal most to their viewers.
Although the two-film prequel to the Lord of the Rings is still very much up in the air Ian McKellen has received a nice message from Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh. They have said that they could not imagine the new films without their original Gandalf. McKellan is obviously pleased to hear this news and has kept his diary free for 2009.
McKellen did a fantastic job in the role and though certain parts of the film may have left lovers of the book slightly miffed, Gandalf was superb throughout and a credit to JRR Tolkien’s work.
Sir Ian McKellen is becoming a bit of a national institution in the fantasy genre. His narration of Michelle Paver’s Chronicles of Ancient Darkness is possibly the best I have ever heard. His voice is simply perfect for magical tales and he creates an atmosphere like no other actor can.
Philip Pullman’s new book entitled Once Upon a Time in the North takes readers back to the very start of His Dark Materials. The Guardian online newspaper has published an exclusive extract from this new book.
The battered cargo balloon came in out of a rainstorm over the White Sea, losing height rapidly and swaying in the strong north-west wind as the pilot trimmed the vanes and tried to adjust the gas-valve. The pilot was a lean young man with a large hat, a laconic disposition and a thin moustache,and at present he was making for the Barents Sea Company Depot, whose location was marked on a torn scrap of paper pinned to the binnacle of the gondola. He could see the depot spread out around the little harbour ahead - a cluster of administrative buildings, a hangar, a warehouse, workshops, gas storage tanks and the associated machinery; it was all approaching fast, and he had to make quick adjustments to everything he could control in order to avoid the hangar roof and make for the open space beyond the warehouse.
To enjoy the full extract then please visit the Guardian’s book review section - http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2267310,00.html
JK Rowling and Philip Pullman have done much to get kids back to reading books but unfortunately glossy magazines and celebrity gossip is still preferred by the young generation.
Reading is a great way for children to develop their brain and future academic success is often related to just how much reading is done by the age of sixteen.
A study by the National Year of Reading asked children between the age of 11 and 14 what their favourite books were. JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series and CS Lewis’s Narnia Chronicles were extremely popular.
Hopefully new authors will continue to spring up and once again get the children in the UK back to reading.
Arthur C Clarke recently died at the fine old age of 90. Clarke was the man behind 2001: A Space Odyssey and although better known in the science fiction world he also made significant contributions to the fantasy genre. Pratchett in particular talks about the effect of 2001 on changing the way that the general public perceived science fiction and fantasy.
George RR Martin has joined a growing band of science fiction and fantasy writers who are coming together in support of Terry Pratchett and Alzheimer’s Research. Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with the disease at the end of 2007 and has since donated almost half a million pounds to the cause. George RR Martin has donated many rare and signed books for auction with all proceeds going to the campaign.
Donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust here - http://www.alzheimers-research.org.uk/. There is also a message from Terry Pratchett on the homepage.
Pat Cadigan has launched an official ‘Match It For Pratchett’ campaign with the hope of raising half a million pounds to match Terry Pratchett’s recent donation.
Ian Cameron Esslemont’s debut "Night of Knives" will be released in the UK on the 5th May 2008. The novel will be set in the same world as Steven Erikson’s Malazan Books of the Fallen, Esslemont is the co-creator of this world.
Esslemont is, like Erikson, a Canadian and there is a second book in the pipeline called Return of the Crimson Guard and this will be published in August 2008.
Here is a snippet from the Transworld UK press release
It gave the Empire its name, but the tiny island and city of Malaz is now a sleepy, seedy back-water port. However, tonight things are a little different. Tonight its residents are bustling about, barring doors and shuttering windows. Because tonight a once-in-a-generation Shadow Moon is due and threatens the good citizens of Malaz with demon hounds and other, darker, beings…
Steven Erikson biography, bibliography, interviews, latest news and book reviews