It’s funny, but in a way, Richard A. Knack’s novel World Of Warcraft: Dawn Of The Aspects (paperback) may be his most Warcraft-ian book to date. And we’re talking about a guy who’s written nearly a dozen of them. But it’s not because of the story he tells in it, but rather because it was originally released in installments on the Internet like DLC.
With all five parts now being collected in a single volume from Gallery Books, Knaak made himself available to talk about how this book came to be, how playing the game inspires him, and his other non-Warcraft fantasy novels.
With his 1987’s novel Infernal Devices, writer K.W. Jeter presented a unique and (ultimately) influential work of steampunk fiction. Now — after twenty-five years and as many other books — he’s following it up with Fiendish Schemes (Tor Books), a sequel of sorts that catches us up with the original book’s main character, George Dower.
In J.W. Rinzler’s The Making Of Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi (hardcover, Kindle), we learn, in great detail, how the titular sci-fi movie was made, complete with behind-the-scenes photos, numerous new interviews, original concept drawings, script pages, and other bits of movie minutiae. But if you think this makes the book just for film students or people who have to know every single trivial detail about this film, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Amazon have announced that they’ll release the new Kindle Paperwhite, their sixth generation ereader, on September 30.
The new Kindle will boast a new, easier-to-read display with better contrast and a built-in light to lessen eyestrain, as well as updated touch technology.
Image Comics have announced that they will release a trade paperback collection of Ryan Browne’s webcomic God Hates Astronauts on October 9.
In God Hates Astronauts, the announcement explains, “NASA hires the Power Persons 5 to keep the nation’s farmers from launching themselves into space in homemade rocket ships. The bad news is that NASA is wasting their money, because this gang of hooligans is going to hang out, get drunk, have extra-marital affairs, and occasionally save the day in spite of themselves.”
God Hates Astronauts: Volume I will not only include the original webcomic, but also a hundred pages of “rare and all-new material not available on the web.”
This, the release says, will include “18 all-new two-page origin stories written by Browne and drawn by some of the best talent in comics, including Tradd Moore, Tim Seeley, Riley Rossmo, Tom Scioli, Nick Pitarra, C.P. Wilson III, Zander Cannon, Jenny Frison, Chris Mitten, and Hilary Barta,” as well as more than 20 pin-ups from such artists as Rebekah Isaacs, Mike Norton, Chris Burnham, and Tom Fowler, and “a reference guide that explains the parodies and inside jokes.”
Out Of Print have launched a new line of iPhone cases that — like the cool t-shirts they sell — are all emblazoned with imagery from the jackets of classic novels and other literary references.
And, as with all of Out Of Print stuff, they will donate a book to the charity Books For Africa for every item sold.
Available for the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPhone 5, the 4 and 4S cases, the press release states, “feature a canvas plus plastic hard shell, access to all of the buttons and collaboration with speck designs. The iPhone 5 cases feature a slim hard shell snap-on case with a smooth matte finish and access to all buttons.”
There are current six different iPhone cases based on the covers of classic novels:
Shout! Factory and Morgan Creek Productions have announced that an extended director’s cut of Clive Barker’s 1990 fantasy horror movie Nightbreed will be released next year on both physical and digital formats through Shout!’s imprint Scream Factory.
There’s been video games based on comic books, and comic books based on games. But Batman: Arkham Unhinged: Volume 1 from DC Comics takes the unique path of being a comic that’s based on a game that’s based on a comic. And while its tales of the Dark Knight aren’t as good as the one told in the game, or in the regular comics, the book does serve as a nice compliment to Batman: Arkham City.
