Best of F&SF

I recently realised that I haven’t been reading my quota of science fiction for quite some time now. That’s why I picked up “The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction”, anthology of best stories in 60 years of F&SF magazine, edited by Gordon Van Gelder.

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How the magical half lives

When I friends asked me what “The Magicians ” by Lev Grossman is about, the very inadequate explanation I came up about was, it’s a mix of Harry Potter and Narnia, if those had typical college-going teenagers in it. Of course, this one sentence doesn’t do any justice to the book.

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Ghosts of the time past

The greatest trials of the literary heroes come when they are faced with their intellectual equals. Like Sherlock had Dr. Moriarty, Feluda had his Maganlal Meghraj. In The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer (book VI of the series), Artemis Fowl II faces his most dangerous enemy yet, his almost equal.

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RIP Robert Asprin

Deveels and dragons. Pervects and Trolls (trollops too). Mafia and molls. Not to forget, demons and magicians…If you don’t know what I am talking about, you have missed one of the most hilarious sci-fi (or is it fantasy) series ever.

There are some series which make you laugh. There are some which keep you turning the pages. And then, there are some which keep you rolling on the floor from the first page, till you have finished the book, and even later. Myth- series by Robert Asprin falls in the third category.

RIP Robert Lynn Asprin (June 28, 1946 – May 22, 2008). We will M.Y.T.H. you.

Quote of The Day:
“When things are blackest, I just tell myself ‘cheer up, things could be worse!’ And sure enough, they get worse!”
– Skeeve (from Hit or Myth)

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Movie Review: Prince Caspian

“Prince Caspian” is the second installment in “The Chronicles of Narnia”, one of the “Big Three” of fantasy world (others being LoTR and Harry Potter).

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Movie review: The Spiderwick Chronicles

Based on the book series by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, “The Spiderwick Chronicles” is one more fantasy movie on the premise that the world around us is not exactly what it looks to be.

Jared Grace, his twin brother Simon and elder sister Mallory have shifted with their mother to their great-aunt’s house. Young Jared is unhappy about his parents’ divorce and his anger gets him in trouble.

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Movie Review: The Golden Compass

If the deadline for “Book to Movie challenge” was even a week later, this would have been my unhesitating choice.This seems to be the year of movies based on books. Considering the popularity of corresponding books, The Golden Compass (based on the novel by Phillip Pullman) is perhaps the most awaited after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

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He sees dead people…

Remember Moaning Myrtle (it hasn’t been that long)? And remember how despite her epithet “moaning”, each and every encounter with her ends up being hilariously funny? Well, “Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help” by Douglas Anthony Cooper is full of such Myrtles, each with differing degrees of humour and potential for humour.

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The Story Within A Story Within…

What if I tell you that one of my earliest inspirations for reading books was a movie? A movie I saw as a kid… And since the day I clued onto the fact that books can be converted into movies (and sometimes vice-versa), I have been searching for the book.

Reading a book you liked as a kid again is like watching the TV serial you liked after a long time, or like going to visit your school again. After the initial euphoria is over, you have every chance of getting disappointed. But “The Neverending Story” by Michael Ende lived upto all my memories and expectations.

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Of Beauty and Caring

When I saw the trailers of the movie (and then saw the book), I was expecting something like Narnia or “The Never-ending Story”, a light-hearted story with an imaginary kingdom and all. But “Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson goes beyond just a kiddy book, with its message of hope and strength and beauty.

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