David J. Williams

Mike Collins over at the awesomely-named Rescued by Nerds has reviewed BURNING SKIES. Mike starts off by saying that MIRRORED HEAVENS was “easily my favorite book of last year” (!), but he has this to say about the sequel:

So my verdict on BURNING SKIES? I can say without any hesitation that it wipes the floor with MIRRORED HEAVENS. This is Dave on steroids. The action is bigger, the conspiracies are deeper and the stakes are through the roof. . . .

Most of the book takes place on the fantastically conceived Europa Platform where we go from one wild action scene to the next. The pace is absolutely relentless and thrilling all the while. We learn bits of relevant information in the course of all the action. It reads fast, but it’s not lacking in depth. It builds to a conclusion that I certainly didn’t expect. One character makes a reveal that changes everything you’ve thought to that point and Dave ends with the boldest cliffhanger I’ve read in a long, long time. This is like Darth Vader revealing he’s Luke Skywalker’s father big. It’s a stunning conclusion. . . .

After Mirrored Heavens I thought Dave was very much a writer in the vein of Richard Morgan. Bombastic action scenes and a tough edge. After Burning Skies I think Dave is standing toe to toe with Morgan at his best. I can’t pay him a higher compliment than that.

BURNING SKIES is available from Amazon and other fine bookstores!

Ah, Terminator Salvation. I wrote yesterday about how there’s a lot less daylight between this movie and Star Trek than I think people give it credit for . . . but today I need to tackle T4 on its own terms. And no, this (obviously) wasn’t anything approaching the level of Cameron. Christ only knows what JC would have done with two hours and two hundred million to spend on the future war that we’d only seen in glimpses. Correct me if I’m wrong here, but there was a line in one of the trailers that I don’t think ever made it into the movie—Connor’s statement that “I don’t know if we can win this war.”  That sense of desperation just wasn’t there.  Cameron’s future rebels didn’t even dare to venture out in the day, it was so bad.  You never saw the sun in his Machine War–one more thing that made those vignettes in T/T2 cool as hell, whereas Salvation doggedly went all Road Warrior on us.

Of course,  Salvation also got caned by Everybody and Their Cat for being way too dark, so it would have taken a genius like Cameron to make it (literally) darker still and get away with it.  The writers also clearly had problems deciding whether to focus on Bale or Worthington, and ultimately split the difference in a somewhat suboptimal way.  Yet while Bale never really found his groove, Worthington was an instant star (as soon as we get past that first scene involving Helena Bonham Carter).

And the overall arc in Salvation—that this is all part of Skynet’s elaborate trap—was #$# cool. Of course, if you’re going to lure the leader of the resistance into your HQ, you might want to send a little more hardware into the room to get him than one quasi-obsolete Governor of California.  And while Worthington was compelling, he wasn’t nearly magnetic enough for Moon Bloodgood to act like a total moron and just bail him out so he can go do his Terminator thing.  But I’m sticking with my premise of yesterday–this was a Good/Decent Movie released at the Wrong Time that thus became the Worst Piece of Shit Ever.  The mob will gnash its teeth and howl for blood.  Like Skynet, they shall have it.

Looking for something to get your mind off Salvation? Go buy BURNING SKIES!

But first, the winner of Friday’s contest: Jeff Alsted of Orange County sent in the attached of BURNING SKIES proudly displayed in the front-table of a Borders in Irvine, thereby winning himself both the book (and the ARC) and avoiding the need to shoplift the #$# thing . . . . second and third winners were Sarah Billings in Seattle and “Mr. Scrubs” in Manhattan, so congrats to all and now everyone else can get out there and buy the book!

Ok, onto Terminator Salvation . . .  jesus, this movie sure has been taking its licks, huh?  Aintitcool gave it one of the heaviest bitch-slaps they’ve ever administered, and then Night at the Museum 2 took it out with yesterday’s trash. But folks, let me tell you a tale I call Riding the Zeitgeist.  Picture two Hollywood directors, trying to figure out their next big thing, and trying to decide whether to make that thing Star Trek or Terminator.  Abrams picks the former; McG the latter.  They both (and here’s the part where you have to bear with me) make decent, but flawed movies replete with some serious plot holes and inconsistencies, as well as a wooden character or two.  Abrams is universally praised for his film, and McG totally trashed for his.

Hmm.

Speaking as someone who’s (naturally) totally and ruthlessly objective, it seems pretty clear to me that it really comes down to the fact that once again, timing’s everything.  Because look, it’s spring.  Birds are singing.  Crickets are chirping. We’re trying to get past the fact that the economy is on IV.  This latter circumstance being particularly critical, because a big nostalgic optimistic flashy upbeat SF movie is going to clean the clock of a depressing post-apocalyptic movie EVERY FUCKING TIME under these conditions.  This kind of instinctual nose-for-audience is why JJ Abrams is at the apex of Hollywood, and McG’s handlers are going to spend the next few weeks trying to prevent bad news from reaching him.

But imho SALVATION was a good movie.  Not a great one.  Certainly nothing approaching Cameron level. And maybe that’s the real tragedy here: the Terminator bar is now officially reset to decent-action-movie rather than iconic-classic-you’ll-talk-about-for-decades.  But you know what?  I’m going to review it tomorrow instead, because this blog post is already getting up there and I don’t feel like writing a #$# dissertation.

Not yet anyway.

And while you’re procrastinating over that Tuesday inbox and gnashing your teeth over Terminator, why not check out BURNING SKIES?

So BURNING SKIES is now in stores across America, and it’s only fitting that the Legions out there have a chance to get in on the action.  That’s why I’m running Yet Another Contest; this one is simple.

1. Find a copy of BURNING SKIES in your local bookstore.

2.Photograph it on the shelf.

3. Send the photo to me at djw@spamsuxautumnrain2110.com (but don’t forget to remove the “Spamsux.”)

4. The first three people to send the photo in will receive what is certain to be a collector’s item in the years to come:  an advance reader copy of BURNING SKIES (distributed by Bantam for publicity purposes earlier this year), featuring more typos than you can shake a stick at, as well as a “director’s cut”.  Yes, something happens in the ARC that DOES NOT HAPPEN in the book I signed off on, and it’s a pretty big difference.  It involves a certain character and his long-lost love-interest, and that’s all I’m gonna say.

So go for it!  Just for yucks, the winners will also get a copy of the mass-market of MIRRORED HEAVENS, with all those cool appendices.

BURNING SKIES is available now from Amazon and other fine booksellers (and maybe even some crappy ones as well).

And just like that . . .we’re onto round two!! BURNING SKIES is now in bookstores, taking the saga of Autumn Rain to the next level, and I’m in Albany, NY to read tonight at Flights of Fantasy, at 381 Sand Creek Road, 7 p.m. So if you’re in the area. . . come out and witness the first stop on the tour! The end was merely the beginning . . .

UPDATE:  here’s my overall schedule for the summer as of right now .. further updates will be here.

• Tuesday, May 19th: Flights of Fantasy, Albany (7 p.m.)
• Friday & Saturday, May 22nd-23rd: Balticon, Hunts Valley, MD
• Saturday, June 6th: Hour of the Wolf, NYC
• Saturday, June 13th: Borderlands Bookstore (3 p.m.);
  Writers with Drinks (7:30 p.m.)
• Wednesday, July 8th: Powell’s Books, Portland
• Thursday, July 9th: University Bookstore, Seattle

What a week! I’ve crossed 92K on book three, and meanwhile io9 has featured a kickass trailer for BURNING SKIES–check it out! The book comes out this Tuesday, but there’s still time to pre-order. . .

And now for the moment everybody’s been waiting for. . . the contest . . . .I printed out everybody’s emails, and then Spartacus the Cat picked out the winners before heading off to enjoy some gourmet fish.  So here they are, along with their favorite characters:

Roland Dobbins . . . who digs Jason Marlowe!!

Billy Cripe . . . who can’t resist Claire Haskell!!

Eric Brumbaugh . . .who feels the same way!!

Roland’s email was the first to attract Spartacus’ attention, so he also gets a copy of the ARC (advance reading copy).  Anyway, that’s two votes for Claire, and one vote for Jason.  Amidst all of the entries, though, Jason and Claire pretty much ran neck and neck, with the Operative having to settle for third place.  Meanwhile, my editor’s favorite character, Seb Linehan, only received two votes!  Apparently no one has much of a soft spot for a wise-cracking mass-murderer.  Sigh.

We’ve got only a week to go before the release of BURNING SKIES, but there’s no reason to let that stop you from the chance to win a copy of the BOOK ITSELF. I’m giving away two, count ‘em TWO copies, as well as one of those beasts known as an ARC . .an advance reader copy that Bantam circulated among reviewers a while back. The ARC lacks upfront diagrams and is riddled with typos, but it’s still a Historic Document, so you know you want it.  And all you have to do to get it is . . . .

SEND AN EMAIL TO DJWSPAMSUX@AUTUMNRAIN2110.com AND TELL ME WHO YOUR FAVORITE MIRRORED HEAVENS CHARACTER IS.

There’s no right answer.  If it’s your fave, it’s your fave.  I don’t even care if you’re lying.  But you might want to delete the “spamsux” in the above.

Okay?  Winners will be announced on FRIDAY.

And if you hate competition, then just pre-order BURNING SKIES now and save yourself the stress!

From a packed late Sunday showing on a gorgeous spring evening alongside the Potomac River . . . .

What I Liked:

(1) Abrams being ballsy enough to take the franchise in a radically different direction. Of course, if this parallel universe business takes off, then we’re going to get endless permutations of reboots, but that’s a lot better than the same ol’ stuff. This was a bold move, and it looks to be repaid fully in box office glory.

(2) The Evil Starship, complete with Evil Interior Decorations.  Not a cushion in sight  . . .

(3) That giant drill sequence.  That’s the part I’ll watch again and again on the DVD. And I won’t be the only one.

(4) Watching the dude in the red suit get sucked into the drill.  Probably the only coy inside joke I thought they got mileage out of.

(5) Planet becomes singularity, wrecks everybody’s day.  If you ever see this in real life, just run.

Not So Much:
(1) Kirk seemed like he was far more likely to win the Darwin Awards than end up in command of a ship.  The bit where he opened the pod’s hatch and traipsed off into a wilderness he knew nothing about was particularly classic.

(2) I’m not an expert on military law/justice .. but .  . once you’ve beaten up people on a ship’s bridge and been banished from that ship, I don’t think you’re still in the chain of command anymore.

(3) Eric Bana just wasn’t doing it for me as a super villain.  Though he scored some points with that brain-beetle. . .  .

(4) All the women on the Enterprise have skirts that go down to their belly-buttons.  I appreciated this aesthetically, but c’mon.  After a while, the future started to feel like a big frat-party.

(5) The awards ceremony at the end.  Brought back blacked-out flashbacks of the last scene of STAR WARS . . .

All in all:  delivered what it was supposed to, though I find myself unable to hail it as the second coming like everyone on Twitter seems to be doing.  Must be a zeitgeist thing . .

Tune in tomorrow for a chance to win copies of BURNING SKIES!

I participated in the latest round of SF Signal’s MindMeld: Q: Which SciFi films and/or television shows do the best job in adhering to realistic science? Which ones do the worst? Find out how I manage to come up with an answer that calls for Jar-Jar Binks to be annihilated by space-to-ground weaponry. I’ve also got a friendly exchange in the comments with colleague Mike Brotherton on whether or not OUTLAND can be taken seriously, in spite of the fact that some Hollywood producer got a little too interested in the spacesuits and what ought to happen when you’re not wearing one.

My novel BURNING SKIES can be pre-ordered on Amazon.

The challenge: Praise me, Spartacus the Wonderbeast.

The prize: Dave’s miserable prose, translated into Spanish

The winner: