Gearbox lifts the lid on HOMEWORLD REMASTERED

Gearbox have expanded on their plans for re-releasing Homeworld and Homeworld 2 later this year. The developers bought the rights to the Homeworld franchise last year when the previous company to hold them, THQ, went bust. Since then Gearbox have been working alongside the original developers (formerly at Relic, now at Blackbird Entertainment) to bring the games back to life for a new generation of gamers.

The most exciting part of this plan is the release of a brand new game, Homeworld: Shipbreakers, which will serve as a prequel to the series. That still seems a way off, however, with Gearbox's immediate focus being on re-releasing the original games. This project is now called Homeworld Remastered, as the work they are doing goes beyond a paint-and-touch-up job. There will be expanded game systems, whole new (and far more detailed) models and textures, upgraded audio and completely redone cut scenes by the original artists. However, for those fearing for the purity of the originals, the original, untouched versions will also be included with the Remastered editions, just brought up to compatibility with modern operating systems.

The games will be released digitally, but Gearbox are also planning a limited edition which will include an art book, the original game manuals, keychains and possibly a map of the Whirlpool Galaxy (where the games are set). Fans are being asked for their input on the Gearbox forums (so far, most are also asking for a soundtrack CD). Most notable is a replica of the Mothership from the game, with a 12" model with internal LED lighting being mooted. Generally I am immune to this sort of merchandising appeal, but frankly I'd sell a kidney for one of these.

Originally released by Relic Entertainment and Vivendi in 1999, Homeworld was the very first real-time strategy game to be set in full, 3D space with movement possible on all planes. It depicted the flight of a few tens of thousands of refugees from the destruction of their planet and the discovery that their true homeworld, Hiigara, lies halfway across the galaxy with enemies harrying them all the way. The game was noted for its atmosphere, vivid setting, awesome music and cutting-edge visuals (inspired by the art of SF cover artists Chris Foss and Peter Elson), as well as its sublime gameplay. A stand-alone spin-off game, Homeworld: Cataclysm, was released in 2000, followed by a full sequel, Homeworld 2, in 2003. Unfortunately, the original code and assets for Cataclysm have gone missing over the years, so at the moment only Homeworld and Homeworld 2 are being updated.

Most of the team involved in the creation of the franchise left Relic after 2006 to found a new studio, Blackbird Entertainment. After working on ports and supporting other projects, they began work on Shipbreakers, a new 3D RTS game, in 2010. Last year Gearbox rescued the game rights to the Homeworld series and teamed up with Blackbird to relaunch the franchise. Shipbreakers was retooled as a Homeworld prequel and is hoped for release in 2014 or 2015.

Helix: Season 1.0

Dr. Alan Farragut and his team from the Centre for Disease Control are deployed to a remote, high-tech base in the Arctic to investigate the outbreak of a potentially lethal virus. People on the base are dying, others are being driven insane and base commander Dr. Hiroshi Hatake is less than cooperative. As the crisis escalates, it becomes clear that the virus is getting out of the control of those who created it, and they are willing to take drastic steps to ensure the truth never gets out.

Note: Ronald D. Moore only acted as a creative consultant during the planning of the series and has zero day-to-day involvement in its making, so SyFy were taking liberties with its marketing here.

Helix is a science fiction medical thriller which mixes influences from medical shows, The Thing and zombie thrillers. It's an attempt to create a show in which there is more scientific accuracy (or at least more use of the real scientific method) than in most series and which mixes moments of character introspection with scenes of action and horror. It is also a near-unmitigated failure.

Helix has some of the ingredients needed for success: a charismatic and superbly-played antagonist in Hatake (played with gravitas by the always-splendid Hiroyuki Sanada), some interested backstory mysteries and a plot which makes sense of hitherto implausible coincidences as it goes along. There are also some very good make-up effects for the infected. Also, and by the sixth episode this was pretty much why I was still watching, it has some awesome corridor design. The top-level corridors of the Arctic base in Helix are chunky, futuristic, cool but also practical. It's rather a shame that the series spends so much time down in the bowels of the base which looks like the corridors of an abandoned hospital, but those top-level corridors were great.

On the downside, and this could get long, we have some quite staggeringly badly-paced scripts. Events unfold with all the grace and inertia of a sloth on tranquilisers. Entire episodes go by in which characters seem to do nothing but yell at how they're not getting any answers and then go running around corridors and/or air vents for a bit. The CGI is just plain embarrassing: a few establishing night-time shots of the base are good, but everything else is abysmal (especially scenes where the CG virus strands breaking out of their containers are in the same shot as actors). There is zero sexual tension between Billy Campbell's appallingly wooden lead and Jordan Hayes's character, Sarah (who is better-acted but has almost nothing to do). Kyra Zagorsky's Dr. Walker shows a lot of promise but she spends most of these first six episodes cowering in the corner of an office having hallucinations. Meegwun Fairbrother's character has all the facial expression, charisma and presence of a particularly dull brick. And all to often the writers fall back on a comically badly-used device where jaunty music is played over scenes of dramatic tension, apparently to exploit tonal dissonance, but instead it just looks ridiculous.


Helix's first six episodes (*) are nothing short of appalling. Badly-written, badly-paced, badly-produced and in some cases woefully acted, it is only lifted by Hiroyuki Sanada's performance (and even he starts looking bored after the first few episodes) and by those amazing corridors. The show is airing on SyFy in the United States and now not at all in the UK (Channel 5 dropped it after the sixth episode).

New ASoIaF TV tie-in editions revealed

HarperCollins Voyager and Bantam Spectra have revealed their new tie-in editions for the new season of Game of Thrones, and they are taking rather different approaches to it.

First up is HarperCollins, who are using their fourth paperback volume for the job. A Storm of Swords Part 2: Blood and Gold, appropriately is the second half of A Storm of Swords. For the cover, they have surprisingly gone with a re-coloured version of last year's HBO logo rather than the current year's. With each season having its own logo, there was no need to re-use last year's one.

With the UK paperback volumes of ASoIaF split into seven volumes (so far), they have enough books to cover most of the series, and of course more than enough when The Winds of Winter comes out.

For the USA we have Bantam's cover for A Feast for Crows, which does feature this year's logo. This is a little bit more awkward, as after this Bantam only have their one-volume paperback edition of A Dance with Dragons for next year and then they run out of books to match up with seasons. The Winds of Winter may be out in hardcover in late 2015 or early 2016 (hopefully), but based on the last two books it likely won't be released in paperback until after the show concludes (in 2018 at the latest).

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT announced

Warner Brothers Games have confirmed that the fourth and concluding game in the Batman: Arkham series will be released this year.

Arkham Knight will conclude the story begun in Arkham Asylum (2009) and continued through Arkham City (2011) and Arkham Origins (2013). Like Asylum and City, Knight has been developed by Rocksteady Games. Origins was outsourced to WB Games Montreal and was not as well-received as the earlier games, being criticised for both reused content from Arkham City and a plethora of bugs.

Arkham Knight will feature a fully-drivable Batmobile for the first time in the series' history, along with the combat-and-stealth focused gameplay of all of the titles. The gameplay area is much larger than the previous titles, with long and wide streets to allow for better vehicular action. From the story details released so far, it sounds like the game will be set after Arkham City, focusing on the Scarecrow, Two-Face, Penguin and Harley Quinn as the primary enemies. The biggest change is that Knight will be released on consoles exclusively on PS4 and X-Box One, with no PS3 or X-Box 360 version planned. The game will also be released on PC as usual.

No release date has been set, but it's likely to be October or November to capitalise on the Christmas market.

As with the previous games in the series, this will be a lot of fun and taking off the restraints of the previous console generation should deliver an amazing-looking game. However, it'll be interesting to see if Rocksteady can overcome the issues with repetition in the gameplay that were already becoming an issue with Arkham Origins.

Tor expect to publish new JV Jones novel in 2015

Via Twitter, Tor Books have confirmed that they anticipating publishing the fifth Sword of Shadows novel by J.V. Jones, provisionally entitled Endlords, in 2015.

In response to a request for an update by a fan, Tor replied:

"J. V. Jones is currently hard at work on the 5th Sword of Shadows novel, which we're hoping to bring you sometime next year!"

The previous volume in the series, Watcher of the Dead, was published in 2010. Jones her not updated her website or her Twitter since 2011, leaving readers pondering the fate of the series. However, lengthy gaps between volumes are not unusual: the third volume, A Sword from Red Ice, was published in 2007 five years after the second, A Cavern of Black Ice.

Release date for DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS 5th Edition

Information acquired by The Escapist indicates that the 5th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons will launch this summer, as indicated a few months ago by Wizards of the Coast.

The 5e starter set, which will likely include a simplified version of the rules, will be released on 15 July for $19.99. The Player's Handbook will follow on 19 August for $49.95. This price has been controversial, matching the Pathfinder core rulebook's price but not likely being anywhere near as big. The Dungeon Master Guide and Monster Manual will likely follow in September and October.

The 5th Edition of D&D has been in development for between three and four years, with the rules being publicly tested for the past two. Wizards of the Coast and their parent company Hasbro are betting a lot on the release of 5th Edition; after an initially strong start in 2008, the 4th Edition of the game soon slumped amidst controversy and Wizards lost market share first to Paizo's rival Pathfinder fantasy rules system and, more recently, Fantasy Flight's new Star Wars roleplaying game. Hasbro's attempts to launch a D&D movie to help boost the franchise ran afoul of legal action from the creators of the previous D&D live-action films, with a hearing to be held later this month.

If the new edition of D&D fails (and early responses by beta players have been mixed), it is possible that WotC will shelve the pen-and-paper RPG altogether and focus on developing the franchise in other media.

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

The abrupt death of his father and elder brother puts Prince Yarvi on the throne of Gettland. It's not something he ever wanted: born with only half a hand, he's spent his life training to become a Minister, a man of learning and science. Thrust onto the throne, Yarvi must instead take up the sword to avenge his dead kin and defeat his kingdom's enemies, from within and without.

Half a King is the first novel in a new trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. It's also his first novel for a new publisher and the first set outside his signature First Law world, not to mention his first Young Adult novel. It's a change of gears for the British author, and there's a fair bit riding on how he manages to pull it off.

Those hoping for a radical change in direction or prose style will be disappointed, though conversely those hoping he'd stick doing at what he does best will be overjoyed. This is still very much a Joe Abercrombie novel, meaning there's an air of both cynicism and humour to proceedings and there's a fair amount of violence. There isn't much swearing and no sex at all, but beyond that the only way you'd know this was a YA novel is because the author said so on his website.

The main character is Yarvi, initially presented as a crippled, intellectual man forced to exist in a society where valour with a sword or axe is praised above everything else. Yarvi is constantly on the back foot until put into a situation where his wits and education can be used to the mutual benefit of himself and a band of companions. Abercrombie paints deftly the relationships between Yarvi and his new companions, such as the enigmatic swordsman 'Nothing', the master navigator Sumael and the bowman Rulf, fusing them into a genuine fellowship over the course of many trials and adventures: a harsh overland march through a frozen, barren wasteland is particularly vivid. Working with less than half the word-count of any of his previous books, this is also his most concise, focused novel to date.

The benefit of that is that there are not many wasted words and the story moves extremely briskly. The downside is that the worldbuilding doesn't get as much of a look-in as it sometimes needs to. My review copy didn't have a map and it doesn't look like the final version will have one either, which is a shame because the geographical interrelationships between the various kingdoms of the Shattered Sea and the northern wastes from where Yarvi has to make his overland journey are not strongly presented in the text. Characterisation outside of the central group is also a little vague: the machinations and plots of the main villain seem a bit random without further exploration of his character. These issues mean that Half a King does not satisfy as much as a complete package as Abercrombie's prior novels.

However, whilst this is the opening of a trilogy it is surprising that Abercrombie is able to bring as much closure as he does to the novel. There are still loose ends to be addressed in the sequels, but there are no cliffhangers. Given the relatively rapid release schedule of the trilogy (the second volume is due at the start of 2015), Abercrombie could have been forgiven for adopting a more serialised approach than he does.

Half a King (****) is in many ways vintage Abercrombie: action-packed with a vividly-told plot and characterisation is which straightforward on the surface but gives way to hidden depths underneath. The concise page count makes for a focused story but also doesn't leave much room for deeper explorations of the world. Still, this is a fast-paced, gripping story with a few nice twists. The novel will be published on 3 July in the UK and 8 July in the USA.

Rush

1976. Two racing drivers are competing for the Formula One World Championship. Racing for Ferrari is Niki Lauda, a studious, restrained, methodical and logical driver. Racing for McLaren is James Hunt, a flamboyant British playboy who prefers partying to doing homework about downforce and aerodynamics. Their radically different styles of driving are put to the test in a season-long showdown that will leave one of them physically scarred for life.

Rush is the movie dramatisation of the events of the 1976 Formula One championship season. This season is infamous for its nailbiting, year-long battle between Hunt and Lauda. The showdown is often cited as being the transformative moment for F1's popular appeal, turning it from a niche sport into a global phenomenon as a result of the sale of TV rights for the whole season, allowing motor sports fans across the world to see every race rather than odd highlights.

It's also noted for another shocking event: at one of the races Lauda's Ferrari spun out and burst into flames. It took a minute for Lauda to be pulled from the car, during which he suffered burns to his entire body. He was rushed to hospital and was not expected to survive, even being given the Last Rites by a priest. Unbelievably, Lauda survived and recovered. Even more unbelievably, he was back in the racing seat just six weeks after the accident, determined to take the championship to the last race, which he did.

If director Ron Howard had made up this story, people would be howling to the rafters about its contrived nature. However, the fact that it is true adds an air of authenticity to the drama which really helps sell the tension.

As well as its story and tension, Rush also does very well with its actors. Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl play Hunt and Lauda to perfection, with Bruhl in particular going to some lengths to nail Lauda's very precise and distinctive way of speaking, familiar to hundreds of millions of people around the world from almost forty years of working in F1 (as a driver and more recently as a team executive for Mercedes). Other actors tend to fade a little in less-prominent appearances, but Alexandra Maria Lara brings dignity to the role of Lauda's wife, Marlene, and Natalie Dormer has a small but memorable role as a nurse treating Hunt for a crash injury early on in the movie.

Where the film falters is its treatment of the races. Millions of people watch F1 every year all around the world and faking the races with CGI was never going to work (you can tell straight away). Indeed, the few scenes where CGI is clearly used are distracting. At the same time, Howard was never going to get a budget large enough to accurately rebuild 20+ 1976 F1 racing cars and race them at the real circuits, where they have survived (in fact, the $38 million budget is rather small for such a film). The result is a compromise: several real cars are built and raced around, enhanced with CG where necessary, with the distracting use of full-CGI scenes and backgrounds kept to a minimum. This all works reasonably well, but it means that the actual racing is kept to a minimum, with the focus on the drama.

This is where the film comes unstuck. Howard establishes early on that Hunt is the playboy who lives on the seat of his pants and loves partying and women, whilst Lauda is the serious technician who knows the engineering of F1 cars better than several of his dedicated engineers. And that's really it, neither of them change or evolve through the film. Hunts gets married because he thinks it's good for his image and this doesn't work out, which we could guess. Lauda is arrogant and opinionated and is sometimes proven wrong, teaching him occasional moments of humility which never seem to last. A frequent problem of adapting real events into stories is that real life is too disorganised and people too varied to fit into the boxes required by drama, and in this case there isn't enough meat to the story arcs to justify the amount of time that is spent on the non-racing segments.

As a result, Rush (***) feels a little bit lightweight. The racing scenes, where they actually exist, are good. The battle on track and the off-track battle of wills between the two drivers is well-handled, driven by excellent performances. But there isn't enough actual character development to justify the amount of time spent on the non-racing segments, and there isn't enough money or practical ability to focus on the racing segments more successfully than they do here. It all ends up being fun, but with a sense of also being underwhelming compared to some of the actual documentaries covering the events. The film is available now in the UK (DVD, Blu-Ray) and USA (DVD, Blu-Ray).

WorldCon 2014 announces Jonathan Ross to host Hugo Awards, controversy follows, Ross withdraws

WorldCon 2014, to be held in August in London, announced earlier today that British comedian, talk-show host and celebrity Jonathan Ross will be acting as Master of Ceremonies for the Hugo Award Ceremony. An extraordinarily negative reaction to this decision followed via Twitter and Facebook, resulting in Ross withdrawing before I even had time to finish writing this blog post.

For those not in the know, Jonathan Ross is probably our closest equivalent to an American interviewer like Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien. His Saturday night ITV chat show pulls in 3 million viewers a week or more. Ross is also noted for his geek-friendly views. He is a big fan of TV shows such as Game of Thrones and has championed things like anime, video games and horror movies which other TV commentators would not touch with a bargepole. Ross is also married to scriptwriter Jane Goldman, who co-wrote the movies Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class and Stardust, and has himself written several comic books.

However, the controversy stems from Ross's brand of comedy, which is often confrontational and relies on stereotypes. His humour has been categorised as sexist and occasionally borderline racist (most notably making remarks about the differing skin colours of Madonna and an adopted baby, to her face). Most famously, Ross and fellow comedian Russell Brand got into serious trouble for leaving sexist jokes about the granddaughter of actor Andrew Sachs on his answerphone during a radio show, although they both later apologised. Some of Ross's comments to female guests on his talk show also rely on crude sexual humour a bit too often (one interview with Gwyneth Paltrow in particular seemed to devolve into rather unpleasant sexist jokes quite quickly).

In the interests of balance, Jonathan Ross has also stood up for equal rights in the past: during his BBC morning radio chat show, he made scathing comments about the BBC's lack of ethnic representation amongst its television and radio presenters, comments that could have cost him his job.

For the purposes of hosting the Hugo Awards, I can understand why LonCon decided it'd be a good idea to employ Ross (though it should be noted that he is not being paid). Ross is a huge, bona fide celebrity. It'd raise the profile of the Hugos and Worldcon in the UK more than almost anything else would, and would ensure wider newspaper and television coverage. Ross is certainly one of us, as his personal, extensive collection of vintage toys, games and comics should attest. But he's also a divisive comedian, one whose humour seems to rely too much on belittling others, often on the grounds of gender or sexuality; almost certainly not from some deep-seated prejudice, but more a lazy reliance on obvious sources of humour.

With the other battles SFF fandom is fighting at the moment in trying to make the genre fairer and more inclusive, this was never going to be a popular choice. Indeed, it is impressive how this decision unified almost everyone against it, with multiple fans, authors, editors and attendees suggesting they would boycott the convention and demand refunds if it went ahead with Ross in place. Indeed, one of LonCon's own committee members had already resigned over the issue. Charles Stross also pointed out that inviting someone whom the tabloids are actively trying to attack at every turn is a bad idea regardless of anything else they may say or do.

Even before I finished writing this blog post, LonCon announced that Ross had withdrawn from hosting the event. This is not surprising given the response on social media. However, I think the original idea of getting a well-known, high-profile celebrity to do the job was the right one. I'd love to see someone like Charlie Brooker (an increasingly high-profile British TV personality and writer of the critically-acclaimed Black Mirror SF series), Mark Gatiss (an actor/writer/director/producer on numerous SF projects) or, indeed, Jane Goldman, do the job. It'll be interesting to see who the replacement is.

God's War by Kameron Hurley

The world of Umayma is divided between two warring superpowers, Nasheen and Chenja, and a whole host of  neutral nations surrounding them. The nations are divided by religion, each preaching a different version of their holy book split along gender lines. Nyx is a native of Nasheen, a bel dame assassin sent out to do dirty undercover missions too dangerous to entrust to standard law enforcement. When Nyx gets in over her head, she ends up in prison and is eventually released as a free agent, a mercenary for hire. When the Queen of Nasheen gives her a special mission that can set her and her team up for life, Nyx jumps at it...only to find herself trapped behind Chenjan lines unsure of who is the enemy and whom she can trust.

God's War is the opening volume - volley may be a better term - of The Bel Dame Apocrypha. This is an SF take on the New Weird, set on a planet well over 3,000 years in the future where the natives practice different forms of Islam that have evolved from the various present-day versions of the religion, but along very different lines. Nasheen is a matriarchy where women have the power and do everything from ruling to fighting (either on the front or in boxing rings). Chenja is a more conservative and repressive nation where women are kept firmly in the home and not allowed much in the way of freedom.

The New Weird elements creep in the form of technology. For reasons not really explained in this opening volume, the colonists on Umayma does not use traditional power sources. Instead everything from lights to weapons to computer consoles are powered by bugs of varying size and capability. Special types of people, 'magicians', can manipulate these bugs for offensive and defensive purposes, sometimes to devastating effect. Also, there's other people who can transform themselves into animals, somehow. This isn't really explained either, although one revelation suggests it's a form of long-forgotten genetic engineering.

Kameron Hurley is also not an author particularly interested in exposition or infodumping. The novel opens in media res and leaves the reader scrambling to keep up with what the hell is going on. Chapters alternate between Nyx, a bel dame assassin who later turns independent contractor, and Rhys, a Chenjan refugee and magician who reluctantly teams up with Nyx for protection from her racist countrymen (and women), as well as employment. There are occasional chapters from the POV of other members of Nyx's team, but for the most part the novel is a two-hander alternated between these two very different characters and their worldviews. Rhys and Nyx are studies in contrasts, with him being religious, a man of deep conviction and faith, whilst Nyx is all but an atheist with occasional forays into depression and nihilism, whose answer to most problems is violence. Oddly, they complement one another well and most of the setbacks they face come about when they are separated.

Hurley is balancing a huge number of issues and ideas in this novel: religion, politics, gender issues, war, science and morality all play their parts against the backdrop of a mystery thriller plot. Occasionally the book staggers under the weight of these elements and bogs down. There's a few too many times when our 'heroes' are betrayed, captured and interrogated before escaping/being rescued, like an unusually violent episode of mid-1970s Doctor Who. Hurley's prose is razor-sharp and intelligent, but sometimes bogs down in quieter moments between the action into repetitive character introspection, giving a somewhat stodgy feel to some passages.

But when God's War catches fire, it catches fire like petrol thrown on a bonfire. There's a fearsome mixture of violence, attitude, politics, religion and action at work here, resulting in the most caustic and driven SF debut novel since Altered Carbon. But whilst that novel didn't seem to know quite what to do with its attitude and drive beyond fuel a mildly diverting techno-thriller, Kameron directs her writing skills here in much more productive directions. This is an exhausting, nerve-shredding and vital novel.

God's War (****) is an action-packed, smart book which occasionally stutters in its pacing and is a bit too often just confusing. But it also brims with attitude and verve and represents the arrival of a refreshing new voice in SFF. It is available now in the UK and USA.