On Saturday - September 18^th, 2004 - our guest was British fantasy author China Miéville chatting with us about his books, writing and various other subjects. Also on this show we'll have an interview with Del Howison of Dark Delicacies discussing the current state of fantastic fiction along with the challenges of being a bookseller in the 21^st Century.

China Miéville is an author who proves that fantasy can be much more than just tales of recycled Medieval cultures using magic as a deus ex machina. Using imagination, wit and intelligence China crafts stories set in a self-consistent world filled with magic and strange creatures that feels every bit as real as the world outside your doorstep.

If you're looking for something new and different to widen your reading horizons, be sure to check out his books. You won't be disappointed.

Del Howison and his wife Sue are the proprietors of Dark Delicacies, a bookstore devoted to tales of horror and the supernatural. One look at their store, or a few minutes spent talking to them, and you'll realize that their business is a labor of love. I always enjoy chatting with Del about horror books and related subjects because he really has his finger on the pulse of the business and can offer interesting observations about where we are and where we're going.

China Miéville

Del and Sue Howison of Dark Delicacies

The 2003 Hugo Awards

The Hugo Awards for 2003 were presented Saturday evening, September 4th 2004 at Noreascon 4, the 62nd World Science Fiction Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. The winners were:

BEST NOVEL
Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold (Eos)
{You can listen to her Hour 25 interviews from July 17, 2001, July 20, 2002 and May 17, 2004.}

BEST NOVELLA
"The Cookie Monster", Vernor Vinge (Analog, October 2003)
{You can listen to his Hour 25 interview from September 29, 2002.}

BEST NOVELETTE
"Legions in Time", Michael Swanwick (Asimov's, April 2003)

BEST SHORT STORY
"A Study in Emerald", Neil Gaiman (Shadows Over Baker Street, Michael Reeves and John Pelan, eds., Del Rey)
{You can listen to his Hour 25 interviews from October 6, 2000 and June 30, 2001.}

BEST RELATED BOOK
The Chesley Awards for Science Fiction & Fantasy Art: A Retrospective, John Grant & Elizabeth L. Humphrey with Pamela D. Scoville (Artist's & Photographer's Press Ltd.)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (New Line Cinema); directed by Peter Jackson; screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson; based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM
"Gollum's Acceptance Speech at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards" (Wingnut Films/New Line Cinema); written and directed by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson)

BEST PROFESSIONAL EDITOR
Gardner Dozois

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST
Bob Eggleton
{You can listen to his Hour 25 interviews from LosCon 2000 and January 22, 2001.}

BEST SEMIPROZINE
Locus, Charles N. Brown, Jennifer A. Hall & Kirsten Gong-Wong, eds.

BEST FANZINE
Emerald City, Cheryl Morgan, ed.

BEST FAN WRITER
Dave Langford

BEST FAN ARTIST
Frank Wu

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer [Not a Hugo]
Jay Lake

The Retrospective Hugo Awards for best science fiction works in 1953 were presented Friday, September 3rd. The winners were:

BEST NOVEL
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

BEST NOVELLA
"A Case of Conscience", James Blish (If, Sept. 1953)

BEST NOVELETTE
"Earthman, Come Home", James Blish (Astounding, Nov. 1953)

BEST SHORT STORY
"The Nine Billion Names of God", Arthur C. Clarke (Star Science Fiction Stories #1, Ballantine)

BEST RELATED BOOK
Conquest of the Moon, Wernher von Braun, Fred L. Whipple & Willy Ley (Viking Press)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM
The War of the Worlds (Paramount Pictures), directed by Byron Haskin, Screenplay by Barre Lyndon, based on the novel by H.G. Wells

BEST PROFESSIONAL EDITOR
John W. Campbell, Jr.

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST
Chesley Bonestell

BEST FANZINE
Slant; ed. Walter Willis; art editor James White

BEST FAN WRITER
Wilson "Bob" Tucker

The Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award, for writers whose works exemplify the style and insight of Cordwainer Smith and which deserve revival, was announced on Friday, September 3rd. The winners were the collaborative team of Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore.

The Libertarian Futurist Society announced its annual Prometheus Awards at the convention. The award for Best Novel of 2003 went to F. Paul Wilson for Sims (Forge), and the Hall of Fame award for classic fiction went to Vernor Vinge for his short story "The Ungoverned".

Dateline: Mars

NASA is releasing all of the images from the two Mars Exploration Rovers almost as soon as they arrive at JPL. The raw images for the Spirit rover can be found at this Web Page and raw images for Opportunity can be found here. The images that have been released to the press, along with animations and explanatory text, can be found here. You can find larger versions of the images shown below at that last NASA Web Site.

Note: The data flow from the two Mars rovers has been greatly reduced for the last couple of weeks or so while Mars passes behind the Sun as seen from the Earth. During this time communication with the rovers will be impossible, but things will pick up again once Mars is no longer obscured by the Sun.

Opportunity

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

This stunning image shows Endurance Crater from its sandy floor to its rocky rim. One look at the depth of the rover's tracks on that sandy floor should convince you of the wisdom of not trying to drive Opportunity any farther into the crater.

Spirit

True Color - Image Credit: NASA/JPL

False Color - Image Credit: NASA/JPL

These two images show the results from using the Rock Abrasion Tool to drill into an interesting rock. That hole on the left is the deepest one that was made in any Martian rock by either rover. As you have seen in previous weeks, the false color image brings out details that are hard to see in the true color version and can reveal information about the composition and grain size of the rock that would otherwise be invisible.

Listen to this show

Click here to listen to the entire show. {1:47:49}
Or

Click here for the show's intro music.{0:41}

Click here for the show's opening. {4:46}

Click here for our discussion about Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. {16:03}

Click here for the news. {20:11}

Click here for our interview with China Miéville. {30:13}

Click here for the introduction to Del Howison. {1:09}

Click here for our interview with Del Howison. {32:52}

Click here for the show's closing.{1:54}

Click here to listen to an interview we did with Del Howison in October of 2000.

Click here for links to all of our previous Shows that you can listen to on the Hour 25 Web Site.

If you enjoyed this show and would like to know when other interviews are uploaded to the Hour 25 web site, then send an email to me at wwjames@earthlink.net and I will add your name to the free Hour 25 Newsletter mailing list. That way you'll get a brief notice in your email every time a new show gets uploaded to the web.

Links for more information relating to this week's show

China Miéville

Click here to go visit a Web Site about China and his books prepared by his publisher and click here to visit an unofficial China Miéville Web Site.

Here are some other interviews with China that you can find on-line; Booksense, Strange Horizons and 3am Magazine.

Click here to go to the Dark Delicacies web site. And if you happen to be in the LA area, then you really should drop in at their store and have a look around. This is one of my favorite haunts. {Dark Delicacies is located at 4213 W. Burbank Boulevard in Burbank, California. Their toll-free phone number is 1-888-DARKDEL and the local phone number is (818)556-6660. They are open Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Tuesday through Friday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. , but they are closed closed on Mondays.}

Also during the interview with Del we mentioned Bookfellows {also known as Mystery and Imagination Books}, another friendly bookstore found near Los Angeles. This is another of our favorite haunts.

Space and Other News

You can get more information about the Genesis mission, as well as status reports on the on-going accident investigation, at this NASA Web Site.

This NASA Web Site will give you information about the X-37 Project and this Web Site has a collection of pictures of the X-37.

While researching information about the X-37 I rediscovered this web page from SpaceRef that discusses the difficulties associated with air dropping the X-37 from a B-52. This might have some bearing on why DARPA decided to hire Scaled Composites to do that job.

Say what you might about Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, those folks certainly have a cool Web Site.

Space Related Organizations
If you are interested in learning more about current space activities there are many local and national organizations you might want to know about. Joining these organizations and taking part in their activities is a good way to stay abreast of things going on in space as well as a way to show your support for those activities. Listed below are some of those organizations.

The Organization for the Advancement of Space Industrialization and Settlement has long been place for persons living in the Los Angeles area to gather and discuss the promise of space. Be sure to check out their Web Site for information about their meetings and other activities.

The Orange County Space Society is another Los Angeles area organization that provides a focal point for persons who are interested in space developments to get together and share their ideas. They have created a number of displays explaining the history and importance of space exploration that have appeared at various public events. Be sure to check their Web Site for information about their meetings and other events.

The National Space Society has a long history of being an advocate for a vigorous space program and provides much information to its members through their magazine and Web Site.

The Space Frontier Foundation is a strong advocate for a non-governmental space program and serves as a focal point for much activity in that arena. Their annual conference in Los Angeles during the Fall is a great way to find out what is happening in the non-government space arena.

The Space Access Society is focused on reducing the cost of going into space by promoting non-governmental launch vehicle programs. Their annual conference in the spring is a major source of information on non-traditional launch vehicle activities.

The Planetary Society is focused on the exploration and has a wealth of information for its members and others.

Space News - Mars

For more information about the Mars Exploration Rovers be sure to check out the MER Web Site at JPL or this Mars Rover site at Cornell University.

To learn more about the Mars Express mission you can go to this ESA Mars Express Web Site, this Mars Express Web Page from JPL, this NSSDC Mars Express Web Page, or this Web Page from Mars News.Com.

For more information about the Exploration of Mars be sure to go to the JPL Mars Exploration Site, the Center for Mars Exploration at NASA Ames, or the Mars Missions Web Site at the Planetary Society.

Information about the data returned by previous Mars missions can be found at this Mars Web Page at the NSSDC.

Information about the Phoenix Mission to Mars can be found at this Press Release from the University of Arizona. You can view a 3D picture of the Mars Phoenix spacecraft here.

For more Mars news be sure to check out the Mars News.Com Web Site.

Percival Lowell did much to shape our ideas about Mars in the early years of the 20th Century. You can learn more about his work by reading this on-line copy of his 1895 book Mars.

Space News - The Cassini Mission to Saturn

Much information about the Cassini mission can be found at the Project's Official Web Site at JPL.

JPL is constantly releasing pictures from Cassini. You can find them by going to this JPL Web Page.

Additional information about the Cassini mission can be found at this ESA Web Site.

For On-Going Updates on Space News

Links relating to the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia can be found here.

The Reusable Launch & Space Vehicle News Web Site Web Page that is part of the Hobby Space Web Site is a really good place to watch for news about, well... Reusable Launch Vehicles and related subjects. I check it out just about every day and often find news there that doesn't show up anywhere else. Give it a look. {And while you're there be sure to check out some of the site's other pages. Wow! Is there a lot of information there.}

The Space Today Web Site is a great place to find space news from all over the 'net.

The Spaceflight Now Web Site carries real time information about current space missions and presents a lot of space and astronomy news. This is the place I go to when I want up to the minute information about current space missions. Do I need to say more?

The NASA Watch Web Site is another great place for getting information about current space missions. Check there also for news about other 'goings on' within NASA. Highly recommended.

ISS News

The Florida Today Web Site has a very interesting report about the causes of the ISS budget problems and their impact on the space program. It makes very interesting reading.

Click here to view the press kits for various ISS missions.

Check out the NASA International Space Station Web Page or the Boeing Web Page to learn more about this project.

A great source of news about Russian space activities, including their work on the ISS, can be found at the Russian Space Web.

Do you wonder where the Space Station is right now? You can use your browser to view real time maps showing the location of the ISS by going to this link at the NASA Space Link Web Site or here at the Johnson Spacecraft Center. Please note that your browser must support Java to make use of this satellite tracking software.

You can find out when the ISS - or many other spacecraft - can be seen from your location by going to this NASA Web Page. Please note; your browser must support Java for this application to work.

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China Miéville and Del Howison Listen to this show