All posts by Edward Willett

I'm a freelance writer in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. I've written more than 30 books (I've lost count) on a variety of topics. My nonfiction titles include books on computers, diseases, genetics, and the Iran-Iraq War, some for children and some for adults. I've also written several biographies for children, on individuals as diverse as J.R.R. Tolkien, Orson Scott Card, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and the Ayatollah Khomeini. I've loved science fiction and fantasy since I was a kid (thanks, Andre Norton, Madeleine L'Engle and Robert A. Heinlein!) and have also written young adult fantasy and science fiction. More recently I've turned to adult science fiction. My first adult SF novel, Lost in Translation, was published by Five Star in hardcover in 2005 and reprinted in paperback by DAW Books in 2006. My new SF novel for DAW, Marseguro, will be out in February, 2008. I write a weekly newspaper science column, I love good wine and good food, I'm married and have a daughter, and I'm a professional actor and singer when the opportunity presents itself, and act and sing just for fun when I can't find anyone to pay me for it. My website is at www.edwardwillett.com, and my blog is at edwardwillett.blogspot. com. And that is probably more about me than anyone could possibly want to know...
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Star Wars meets Lara Croft on stage in Fight Girl Battle World

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Noshir Dalal as Adon-Ra and Melissa Paladino as E-V; photo by Theresa Squire You know, when I decided that it would be fun to be the Futurismic blogger who kept tabs on science fiction stage productions, it never occurred to me there would be so many. But here it is another week, and here’s yet another SF-on-stage extravaganza:  Fight Girl Battle World, produced by Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company, created by co-artistic directors Qui Nguyen and Robert Ross Parker, written by Nguyen (who also did the fight choreography) and directed by Parker. (Via BroadwayWorld.)

Here’s how they describe it:

Star Wars meets Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in this action-packed space odyssey for the stage! Set in a futuristic universe where the human race is on the brink of extinction, Fight Girl Battle World is the story of E-V, the last human female in all the known galaxies, and her quest to find the last human male before he is destroyed by alien forces. Accompanying her is a rag-tag team composing of an ex-military General, an alien spaceship pilot, and an overly sarcastic robot sidekick.

The production combines stage combat, puppetry and multi-media. Performances begin March 6 at Center Stage, NY (48 West 21st Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues). The show officially opens on Sunday, March 9, and will run through March 39.

(Photo: Noshir Dalal as Adon-Ra and Melissa Paladino as E-V; photo by Theresa Squire)

[tags]Star Wars, Lara Croft, theatre, science fiction[/tags]

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Scientists create dynamic holographic display

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3ddisp_hol Scientists from the University of Arizona have figure out how to make holographic displays, viewable without special eyeware, that can be erased and rewritten in a matter of minutes. (Via PhysOrg.)

Dynamic hologram displays could be made into devices that help surgeons track progress during lengthy and complex brain surgeries, show airline or fighter pilots any hazards within their entire surrounding airspace, or give emergency response teams nearly real-time views of fast-changing flood situations or traffic problems, for example…and no one yet knows where the advertising and entertainment industries will go with possible applications…

The prototype display is only four inches by four inches and only comes in red, but larger displays in full colour are considered possible. The researchers are aiming for a one-foot-by-one-foot display next, then a three-foot-by-three-foot display. Eventually they hope to be able to display life-sized holographic images of humans that can be updated every few minutes.

Watch a video here.

The researchers point out that a great deal of data is lost when three-dimensional information, such as that collected by an MRI or CAT scan, is displayed in two dimensions on a flat computer monitor. As they say, “…when we develop larger, full-color 3-D holograms, every hospital in the world will want one.”

And two minutes after the first one is installed, hospital staff will be referring to the room it’s placed in as the “holodeck.”

(Image: University of Arizona.)

[tags]medicine,optics,holograms,technology[/tags]

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My book is out, and I’m giving it away

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Cover art for Marseguro by Edward Willett I’d like to interrupt our regular Futurismic programming to announce that my new science fiction novel Marseguro is now out from DAW Books and available from fine (and probably even some not-so-fine) bookstores everywhere, with a fabulous cover by Steve Stone. Not only that, I’m giving it away!

First, the book. You can read the first two chapters online here, and watch a video trailer here. Here’s the cover blurb:

Marseguro, a water world far distant from Earth, is home to a small colony of unmodified humans known as landlings and to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created by geneticist Victor Hansen from modified human DNA. For seventy years the Selkies and the unmodified landlings have dwelled together in peace, safe from pursuit by the current theocratic rulers of Earth–a group intent on maintaining human genetic and religious purity.

Then landling Chris Keating, a misfit on any world, seeks personal revenge on Emily Wood and her fellow Selkies by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship. When the Earth forces capture the signal and pinpoint its origin, a strike force, with Victor Hansen’s own grandson Richard aboard, is sent to eradicate this abomination.

Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates. And what Richard Hansen discovers may alter not only his own destiny but that of Marseguro and Earth as well…

Now, the contest: I’m giving away signed copies of the book this month to mark its release, and I’ve set aside one just for Futurismic readers. If you’d like to put your name in the hat for the draw, please send me an email at edward(at)edwardwillett.com, and mention Futurismic in the subject or body. This contest will remain open until February 17; I’ll make the draw February 18.

Of course, you’re also welcome to enter the non-Futurismic version of the contest, in which I’m giving away one book a week. You can find details on my blog, here.

I now return you to normal posting.

[tags]science fiction, novels, contests, promotion[/tags]

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A touchless computer interface

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home-finger-604x220

There’s not a lot of technical detail about exactly how this works, but a company called Elliptic Labs is developing a very science-fictiony touchless computer interface (Via Gizmodo):

Elliptic Labs is paving the way for use of computers and screens without touching, simply with the finger or hand in the air. Manipulate images, play computer games, control robotics or use touch screens without touching or without holding a hardware control unit.

Their technology is based on the work of Dr. Tobias Dahl from the University of Oslo, who is also the company’s founder. According to the website, their technology can recognize “with high precision” the position and properties of a finger or hand or other object up to 1.5 meters away from the sensors, which can be placed on or next to a monitor: no need for a clunky “data glove” or anything on the hand at all. The company says the technology is so compact it could even be fitted on to a mobile phone. You can view video demonstrations of it here.

Since I’m a Windows user I’ve occasionally made rather violent hand gestures at my computer, but it’s never taken the slightest notice. Perhaps that’s about to change.

(Image: Elliptic Labs)

[tags]technology, computers[/tags]

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H.G. Wells on a roll: Time after Time becomes a musical

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H_G_Wells Another entry in my quixotic quest to keep you posted on SFfish stuff on the stage: hard on the heels of the stage version of The Time Machine I blogged about earlier comes the news that Time after Time, the movie in which H.G. Wells uses his time machine to pursue Jack the Ripper to the modern era, is being turned into a musical. (Via SyFy Portal.)

Although it’s still early going on the project, playwright and lyricist Stephen Cole says:

“We have done several readings and the show is ready for a full fledged production…We have a prominent director interested who’s chomping at the bit and a producer with money. We’re looking for a proper venue to try it out and work on it. Musicals are tough to get right and the more work you can do in front of a real audience the better.”

Why Time after Time and not The Time Machine itself? Because, says Cole:

“I met a director who was interested in a sci-fi musical, so I considered ‘The Time Machine’ and told him to watch ‘Time After Time’ for reference…Eventually I realized a musical with Morlocks would be a surefire flop and became more enamored with Meyer’s film. Then I got the rights.”

Personally, I think a chorus kick-line of Morlocks would be boffo box office, but that’s just me.

(Image: Wikimedia Commons.)

[tags]H.G. Wells, musicals, theatre, science fiction[/tags]