Published in 1983, it’s the first book in the Vlad Taltos saga, of a planned 17 volumes. Steve likes the number 17; he’s said so.

The 11th book in the series, Jhegaala, just came out this month, in hardcover from Tor.

Immortals, sorcery, political intrigue, assassins, thieves and familiars. What’s not to love?

Feature Discussion: RoboDave, Brian-209, Summer and Jen discuss the 1987 hit movie RoboCop. A groundbreaking movie when it first came in, in terms of production as well as treading into new territories of movie ratings controversy, much can be said about RoboCop, and we try to hit all the fun points.

Brief Story Description: The city of Detroit is besieged by crime, and an overworked police force is struggling to keep from being outgunned. Because of the city’s financial problems, Omni Consumer Products (OCP) won the outsourcing contract to retool the city’s law enforcement ranks, in order to protect future plans to raze Detroit and build a better future city, Delta City, on top of it.

After a disastrous demonstration of the ED-209 enforcement robot, the corporate plans to implement RoboCop program is fast-tracked, but the project can’t proceed until a Detroit office has been gunned down.

Part man, part machine, all cop. And something more.

Listener Feedback: You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. You can also email all of us at ninjas-at-kickassmysticninjas-dot-com, and yes, you can also email in recorded commentary.

Movies mentioned:

Link: Criterion Collection: RoboCop
Link: Wikipedia: RoboCop
Link: RoboCop Archive
Promo: Adventures in SciFi Publishing

This 1987 feature film starred Peter Weller, Ronny Cox, Nancy Allen, Kurtwood Smith and Miguel Ferrer. It was director Paul Verhoeven’s second US made film (after Flesh & Blood starring Rutger Hauer), and it was #1 at the box office for 3 weeks.

RoboCop won the 1987 Saturn Award as Best Science Fiction Film, and won an Academy Award for Sound Effects Editing.

Want to jumpstart your geeking? Check out the original movie trailer on YouTube… and hear the Terminator theme being used as the background music.

This review was originally published July 2004, and the Limited Edition Region 1 DVD set by UK-based Network Videos was expensive and hard to come by.

In Fall 2007, the series was finally released domestically by Acorn Media, split into two sets, Set 1 featuring Michael Praed’s Robin, and Set 2 featuring Jason Connery’s Robin. Both sets can be found at places like Best Buy and Amazon, and a complete series box set is scheduled for release in July 2008.

Robin of Sherwood (1983-85)
Limited Edition Complete Collection
release date: 7/14/2003

starring Michael Praed, Nickolas Grace, Jason Connery

“A hooded man shall come to the forest. There he will meet with Herne the Hunter, to become his Son, and do his bidding.”

This collection contains all 3 series, 26 full episodes clocking in at nearly 22 hours, not including extras. It’s also a numbered Limited Edition Region 1 set, produced exclusively by Network Videos, one of only 2500 produced, quite likely making this DVD set rarer than the the novelizations of the series.

Even after 20 years, this series still holds a special place in the hearts of many, including mine. Seeing these episodes in clearly remastered digital glory rekindled the magic, even though it’s been nearly 15 years since I’d seen them last, on worn and barely viewable VHS tapes made from the series’ brief run on Showtime from 1984-86.

Though the characters were written to feel a bit more contemporary than the real inhabitants of England circa 1120, the story-telling doesn’t feel dated. The passionate performances, especially in
episodes from Series 1 and 2, still make you love the outlaws and hate the aristocracy.

The video quality is the same as I recall from the original broadcasts, but there is some noticeable artifacting during a few of the fast-moving close shots during some sword fights. The intentional softness of the picture remains, without detracting from overall image clarity, and maintaining the dreamlike quality throughout the series that the creators wanted.

The Dolby remastering of the audio has resulted in the sound being a bit uneven. While the dialogue volume varies from disc to disc, the Clannad themes and incidentals pop, enhancing the ethereal atmosphere of the series.

Two of the discs are incorrectly labeled: the bonus disc of extras isn’t labeled as such, and Disc 2 (Series 1, episodes 4-6) is labeled as being the bonus disc. The DVD case inserts also still contain the UK particulars describing the discs (Region 0, PAL encoding), which contradicts the information on the set box. Both are very minor nitpicks compared to the quality of the rest of the set.

Contents:
Disc 1: Series 1, Episodes 1-3
Robin Hood & The Sorcerer (parts 1 and 2), The Witch of Elsdon

Disc 2: Series 1, Episodes 4-6
Seven Poor Knights from Acre, Alan-A-Dale, The King’s Fool

Disc 3: Series 2, Episodes 1-4
The Prophecy, The Children of Israel, Lord of the Trees, The Enchantment

Disc 4: Series 2, Episodes 5-7
The Swords of Wayland (parts 1 and 2), The Greatest Enemy

Disc 5: Series 3, Episodes 1-3
Herne’s Son (parts 1 and 2), The Power of Albion

Disc 6: Series 3, Episodes 4-6
The Inheritance, The Sheriff of Nottingham, The Cross of St Ciricus

Disc 7: Series 3, Episodes 7-10
Cromm Cruac, The Betrayal, Adam Bell, The Pretender

Disc 8: Series 3, Episodes 11-13
Rutterkin, The Time of the Wolf (parts 1 and 2)

Disc 9: Bonus Extras
“Making of Robin of Sherwood” 5-part documentary; Clannad promo for “Robin the Hooded Man”; Outtakes from Series 1, Series 2 and Series 3; Swordplay short; Showtime network promo from 1985; footage from TV-am and Electric Theatre Show features; Still galleries and Photo Retrospective

Episodic extras include:
Separate tracks for new Dolby Surround, original mono, and music only audio tracks; Commentaries by creator Richard Carpenter, director Ian Sharp, stars Jason Connery, Mark Ryan, Clive Mantle, Nickolas Grace.

DVD review by Summer Brooks

Yes, we put the promo at the beginning, because once we got rolling on the discussion, we never took a break. ‘Tis why we’re geeks.

Feature Discussion: Summer, David and Jen tackle Joe R. Haldeman’s The Forever War, which was first serialized in Analog magazine in 1972, then published in novel form in 1974. It was the Nebula Award winner in 1975 and the Hugo Award winner in 1976.

Brief Story Description: This is the story of William Mandella, a student who is conscripted into an elite force being trained to fight in Earth’s first extraterrestrial war. The problem is that while they age normally while traversing deep space, time is speeding by faster on Earth. How can you go home again when you’ve aged only a few months or years while the only home you’ve known has aged 50-500-1000 years or more?

Listener Feedback: You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. You can also email all of us at ninjas-at-kickassmysticninjas-dot-com, and yes, you can also email in recorded commentary.

Books mentioned:

Link: Wikipedia: The Forever War
Link: We Read Science Fiction: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - Cams #4
Link: Joe Haldeman’s Tangled Website
Promo: Parsec Awards 2008

Originally serialized in Analog magazine in 1972, it was first published in novel form in 1974, and it won the Nebula Award in 1975 and the Hugo Award in 1976.

The original story as read in Analog, and the first two versions of the novel contain an abridged and “more upbeat” version, different from the author’s original vision for the middle of the story. In 1997, the “Author’s Preferred Edition” was finally published, and comprises the first part of a trilogy, followed by “Forever Free” and “Forever Peace”.

A discussion topic will appear in the forums soon.

Not surprisingly, the Ninjas voicemail number is gone. But we can probably handle smallish recordings emailed to us… check first before sending longer comments.

Feature Discussion: Summer, David, Brian and Jen tackle Invasion of the Body Snatchers, both the 1956 version startting Kevin McCarthy, and the 1978 remake starring Donald Sutherland and Jeff Goldblum. The 1956 version was based on a story called “The Body Snatchers” by Jack Finney, that was first serialized in Collier’s Magazine in 1954, and published as a novel in 1955.

Brief Story Description: A handful of people uncover an alien plot to take over the human race, and go to great lengths to remain themselves and warn the rest of the world.

Silly aliens… Earth is for Humans! You might catch something here unless you’ve had all of your shots.

Listener Feedback: Give us some! You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. You can also email all of us at ninjas-at-kickassmysticninjas-dot-com, and yes, you can also email in recorded commentary.

Movies mentioned:

Link: Wikipedia: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Link: Wikipedia: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 Film)
Link: Wikipedia: “The Body Snatchers” by Jack Finney
Promo: The GeekSpin

Discussion will include both the 1956 version and the 1978 version, so make sure you study up!

This review was originally published July 2004, the DVD set having become scarce by then. Since then, the DVD set was rereleased by A&E Home Video in 2005, and can still be found at places like Best Buy and Amazon.

Sapphire and Steel (1979-82) (DVD)
Featuring Joanna Lumley, David McCallum
Directed by Shaun O’Riordan
Official DVD release date — November 18, 2003

“Sapphire and Steel have been assigned.”

The blurb on the back of the case reads: “The spiritual precursor to The X-Files, SAPPHIRE AND STEEL is one of the most atmospheric, mysterious, and compelling television programs ever made. Joanna Lumley and David McCallum star as alien investigators sent to Earth to monitor and police ruptures in time.”

Each adventure is a carefully crafted mystery, building the suspense more through imagination rather than cheap surprises, with Sapphire and Steel using their extrasensory and deductive powers to figure out not only what problem with time exists, but what the objective of changing time might be so they can set things right again. The adventures tend to start out very slowly, but the unfolding of the stories are worth the wait.

This definitive set, containing all 6 assignments, totaling 34 episodes and clocking in at over 15 hours, has been remastered for digital transfer. Both the video and audio are crisp, but sometimes the volume is uneven between the opening credits and the episode dialogue.

The set is also fairly hard to find. Despite originally being part of A&E’s “Cult TV” series, only one of the major online DVD retailers, DVD Planet, lists the set, and that may be because they’re the last ones with copies in stock. It’s not mentioned in any of A&E’s print brochures, nor is it available from their online shop, which is a shame. I believe this would be a pleasant discovery for a number of SF and mystery fans.

Contents:
Disc 1: Assignment 1: “Escape Through A Crack In Time” (6 episodes, running time 2:42)
Disc 2: Assignment 2: “The Railway Station” (8 episodes, running time 3:36)
Disc 3: Assignment 3: “The Creature’s Revenge” (6 episodes, running time 2:42)
Disc 4: Assignment 4: “The Man Without A Face” (4 episodes, running time 1:48)
Disc 5: Assignment 5: “Dr McDee Must Die” (6 episodes, running time 2:42)
Disc 6: Assignment 6: “The Trap” (4 episodes, running time 1:48)

Extras include:
partial audio commentary by either writer/creator P.J. Hammond or Producer Shaun O’Riordan, during either the intro or one episode of each adventure; star biographies, and a gallery of stills from P.J. Hammonds’ collection of series press clippings.

Personal recommendations: Start with Assignments 2, 4 and 5.

DVD review by Summer Brooks

I couldn’t decide if it would be better to repost them with the original dates (thus dating them before KAMN existed), or just post them new, with a tagline saying when they were originally done. Brian liked the posting them new idea, so that won out.

I’ll be reposting those reviews here over the next few months, probably one a week or so. Comment as you see fit.

Yes, it’s been a while. We’re still around, though!

Feature Discussion: Welcome newcomer ninja stunt double Jen Crawford. Jen is a big fan of 90s TV, so we’ll have to explore that in future KAMN episodes.

David, Brian and Jen chat about “The Broken Lands”, Book One of the “Empire of the East” trilogy by Fred Saberhagen, first published in 1968, and most recently printed in an omnibus collection of the entire trilogy by Tor in 2004. Book Two is “The Black Mountains” (1971) and Book Three is “Changeling Earth” (1973). “Changeling Earth” was later renamed “Ardneh’s World”, and a followup story, “Ardneh’s Sword” was published in 2006.

Fred Saberhagen passed away in June 2007.

Brief Story Description: In the distant future, society has crumbled. Dark forces now rule the land, keeping all humans under their oppressive thumbs.In the darkness of the shadows and whispered on the winds, there is talk of a rebellion. In the swamps, a small band has formed. Determined to regain their freedom, the rebellion, heavily outnumbered, plans to overthrow an army of thousands . . . with the help of one incredible weapon.

It is only a legend, a story left over from the Old World before magic and the wizards came to the land. A weapon of technology. It is the mystical Elephant, and whoever masters it holds the key to freedom, or defeat. One young man, determined to avenge the death of his family, sets out to join the rebellion and find Elephant. What he discovers will change everything.

It’s always about the elephant.

Listener Feedback: Give us some! You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. If you want to leave a voicemail comment on anything we’ve discussed, you can call us at 206-666-5266.

Books mentioned:

Promo: INFECTED by Scott Sigler
Link: Empire of the East (Saberhagen’s website)
Link: Wikipedia: Fred Saberhagen

It’s the year that Matt Stover’s epic Heroes Die becomes eligible for KAMN discussion.

This is the book that rekindled my interest in fantasy by showing me that fantasy could be so much more, and yes, validating the feeling that I hadn’t been getting enough story in my stories.

I was honored to finally meet Matt at a World Fantasy Con a few years back, fortunate to consider him a friend, and smart enough to know that over drinks at a bar next to him and Scott Bakker, my smarts are so outclassed, it’s fall-down funny.

If you read this book and get hooked/floored by it as most others who have read it, don’t neglect the sequel, Blade of Tyshalle, and keep your eyes open for the upcoming Caine Black Knife, due out fall 2008.

Most people love his Star Wars books, and I am one of the folks who believe that Revenge of the Sith could have been so much better if Matt’s dialogue from the book had been used in the movie, but if actions speak, then know that Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle are books that I’ve bought and given to other people to read (there’s only 4 other books I’ve done that with). None of those people were dissatisfied.

Published initially as separate volumes, it was consolidated into the omnibus edition sometime around 1978-79 for reprinting, and has been that way ever since.

Book 1: The Broken Lands, 1968
Book 2: The Black Mountains, 1971
Book 3: Changeling Lands, 1973

Feature Discussion: David, Brian and Summer chat about the 1987 cult feature Near Dark, written by Eric Red and Kathryn Bigelow, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, starring Adrian Pasdar, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein and Tim Thomerson, and featuring a soundtrack by Tangerine Dream.

The Ninjas talk about this not-too-widely known vampire film with both a wild west and a romantic twist in it. The second twist comes from the fact that the word “vampire” is never once uttered during the entire movie… not by the immortals, and the victims don’t really stick around long enough to be able to say it either.

Did you know that Kathryn Bigelow is planning a remake/reimagining of Near Dark? We didn’t, but an IMDb listing is rarely wrong… it’s still In Development, so no public details are available yet.

For those of you with premium movie channels, Near Dark will be airing on TMC on December 24, 2007. Check your local listings, and have some fun. But for some real fun, definitely check out the 2-disc DVD set… the bonus features are almost as long as the feature itself.

Listener Feedback: Give us some! You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. If you want to leave a voicemail comment on anything we’ve discussed, you can call us at 206-666-5266.

Movies and music mentioned:

Promo: PodCulture: Equal Opportunity Geekness
Link: IMDb: Near Dark (1987)
Link: Wikipedia: Near Dark

A lot of requests.

I haven’t put it on the schedule yet, simply because of how much work I’ve been doing lately, but for some reason I kept getting hints and reminders about Foundation over the past 2 months.

Last night, I experienced another hint. I went to a new store that deals in secondhand stuff; knick knacks, toys, videos, and of course, books. Of course, I went to the SF section to see what was there, and I found a few gems right away.

First, if anyone needs the Night Shade Books collections of Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane stories, let me know. I found hardcover copies of both “Gods in Darkness” and “Midnight Sun” rather cheap. I already own the limited editions of these, but I knew these needed rescuing, since the boys at Night Shade had told me two years ago that they’d sold completely out. These books aren’t even listed on their website anymore.

What I found next followed in the pattern of hints from the universe about Foundation. On my first pass through the SF section, I hadn’t actually noticed the books. Then I went around the corner to look at the next shelf, which turned out to be Classics, and the title that jumped out at me from the very top shelf was Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare.

Yeah. That’s what I said, too.

It’s a large book, comprised of all of The Bard’s plays, plus annotations by Asimov. Huge book, the inner page says “Two Volumes in One”.

I own a copy of the The Complete Works of Shakespeare, edited by David Bevington (huge red book, anyone who took a college English class on Shakespeare in the 80s knows what I’m talking about). This Asimov guide is larger… and I’m still trying to figure out how that happened… the Asimov guide is physically shorter than the Bevington, contains half as many pages (840 to 1730), but it’s about half an inch thicker.

Anyway, it was only $4, so I thought about buying it, just for grins. Then I went back around the corner for a second pass through the SF section, and that’s when I noticed them. One paperback printing of Foundation, from the 60s or early 70s, and 2 harcover collections of the Foundation Trilogy, one with dust jacket, one without. I decided to get the trilogy copy with dust jacket… again for $4. I figured since I’m buying Asimov, I might as well get the Shakespeare tome. I’m curious about this book, but I don’t know when I’ll get to reading it.

But now, if Brian and Dave already have Foundation, we may be able to cover that sooner rather than later. If not, I know where a mmpb copy of it is, and another copy of the trilogy in hardcover.

Oh, and if anyone wants a box full of those ancient videodiscs, lemme know. There were some good movies in there, including The Empire Strikes Back. But who has a videodisc player that still works anymore?

Vampires, cowboys, and romance, with a Tangerine Dream soundtrack. What’s not to like?

Feature Discussion: David, Brian and Summer discuss the Hugo and Nebula Award winning 1970 novel “Ringworld”, by Larry Niven.

The Ninjas talk about this classic SF novel, and also discuss how this type of story has held up over time. David’s a big fan of the Ringworld series, and even he admits there are some issues with some of the more recent sequels.

The talk ranges from the spinoff Man-Kzin Wars novels, and the newest novel set in Known Space, “Fleet of Worlds”, co-authored with Edward M. Lerner (check out the Dragon Page Cover to Cover interview with Edward about “Fleet of Worlds”)

Who knew that there were at least 10 volumes in the Man-Kzin Wars collection?

Listener Feedback: Give us some! You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. If you want to leave a voicemail comment on anything we’ve discussed, you can call us at 206-666-5266.

Books mentioned:

Promo: Podiobooks: 7th Son, Heaven, Playing For Keeps
Link: Known Space: The Future Worlds of Larry Niven
Link: Wikipedia: Ringworld
Link: Tor-Forge Author Pages: Larry Niven

There are a lot of books and movies and tv shows that we won’t get to, or at least not get to any time soon, so I don’t see any reason why we can’t post written reviews here, or include the occassional audio review in a KAMN episode. Same Ninjas rules apply… anything 10 years old or older is fair game.

If you want to submit some reviews, just send them to summer [at] kickassmysticninjas [dot] com or brian [at] kickassmysticninjas [dot] com. Submit written reviews as included plain text, not attached Word docs, and audio reviews should be kept to 3 minutes or less (MP3 format please, to conserve space). If you can’t email them, then use something like YouSendIt.com, or maybe we can arrange something else.

Also, the old reviews I had done for Fantastica Daily (a site that no longer exists) will be online here soon. I will most likely post them with their original post dates, from 2004, so keep an eye out.

Did you know that Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner have co-authored “Fleet of Worlds”, a book that will be on shelves Oct 16, 2007, and while not a prequel, has direct ties to “Ringworld” and one of its main characters?

Check out Dragon Page “Cover to Cover” in a couple weeks to hear an interview with Edward Lerner about that, and other “Ringworld” related stories coming up.

Fathom Events is promoting theatrical screenings of Poltergeist all across the US on October 4th, to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.kickassmysticninjas.com/media/Fathom_PG.swf" height="152" width="270" /]

The complete list of theaters having anniversary screenings includes three locations in the Phoenix area. Although I dislike seeing movies on Friday nights, I may have to make an exception, if I can round up enough geeks to make a field trip out of it…