Michael Crichton, bestselling author, film producer, film director, medical doctor and television producer, passed away on November 4th, 2008, age 66, in Los Angeles from cancer.   He is survived by his only child, daughter Taylor Anne, and his wife Sherri Alexander.  (Crichton has also been married 4 times previously.)

Michael Crichton (Full name: John Michael Crichton) was probably best known for his science fiction and techno-thriller books (JURASSIC PARK, THE LOST WORLD, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, CONGO), stories that relied heavily on his medical background for plot points and storylines.  His books, whether they were based on the military, the medical, the adventure or the cybernetic fields were almost always written along the line of “what if something went worng…[sic]“  While not anti-tech himself, he could see how arrogance and ignorance could cause an amazing amount of damage, and he used to his novels to educate people to those possibilities.

While in medical school, he wrote books under the pseudonyms John Lange and Jeffery Hudson.  A CASE OF NEED, his 4th published novel (originally written under the Hudson name, but later re-released under Crichton) won the 1969 Edgar Award for Best Novel. He also co-authored DEALING with his younger brother Douglas under the shared pen name Michael Douglas.  The dustjacket back contains a photo of Michael and Douglas at a very young age taken by their mother.

Besides devoting time to his extensive writing career, he was also the creator and executvie producer of the TV series E.R.,  along with writing screenplay adaptations of his books.

At 6’9″, he was one of the tallest bestselling writers around.  Worldwide, his  beloved books have sold over 150 million copies.  At this time of his death, a 26th (untitled so far) novel was in the works and is expected to be published posthumously in May 2009.

Another of my favorite book cover art illustrators is Michael Whelan. His use of color and light always makes me think of sunsets and his people are well-detailed. He has a highly identifiable style that uses quite a bit of ‘underlighting’ that I admire.

Michael Whelan’s covers have graced some of my favorite authors’ books: Anne McCaffrey, Stephen King, Stephen R Donaldson, Robert A. Heinlein, Piers Anthony and Larry Niven, among others. (Hmmm, makes me wonder if I read the books because I like the authors, or if I buy the books because of the covers, thinking the authors are my favorites just because… LOL)

Here are just a few examples from Michael Whelan’s official website store where copies of his original cover paintings are available for sale:

FRIDAY (Robert A. Heinlein) A SPELL FOR CHAMELEON (Piers Anthony)
ROBOTS OF DAWN (Isaac Asimov) THE SUMMER QUEEN (Joan D Vinge)

THE DARK TOWER (Stephen King)

You can also find Michael Whelan’s work on eBay or check out books of Michael Whelan’s complete works at Amazon

Just in from the Forbidden Planet (UK) newsletter:

Three DOCTOR WHO authors will be signing copies of each of their new Doctor Who books in the Forbidden Planet London Megastore Saturday Jan 12th.

Trevor Baxendale – WISHING WELL
The wishing well is a tourist attraction which supposedly has lost treasure buried at the bottom. But there is something far more sinister waiting in the well for anyone who goes looking for the treasure. The Doctor tries to warn them but no one listens. They’ll soon be wishing they had.

Simon Guerrier – THE PIRATE LOOP
What happened to the Starship Brilliant? That’s the one question the Doctor can’t answer but Martha is intrigued and persuades him to land the TARDIS on the ship a few days before it vanished. The Doctor finds out the terrible truth and comes face to face with badger-faced space pirates.

James Swallow – PEACEMAKER
In the town of Redwater, in the American West of the 1880′s the peace is shattered by two figures that have come searching for ‘the healer’. They have guns that shoot bolts of energy instead of bullets. The Doctor and Martha are about to find out just how wild the West can be!

They’re also taking pre-orders for the signed books. (For those of us who can’t afford the plane fare!)

Another artist whose book cover art I really like to collect is fantasy and sci fi illustrator ROWENA (full name Rowena A. Morrill). Most of her work, like Boris Vallejo’s (see that blog entry), features photorealistic characters in brilliant color paintings that jump off the page and catch the eye, with sexy and alluring women and men, menacing dragons, famed storytellers and wicked wizards among the many characters she has brought to life.

To me, her style is instantly recognizable, and the books her paintings grace have a favored, facing-front position on my shelves. I love to enjoy the detail and care that appear to go into each one. (Plus it doesn’t hurt that her art features prominently on many of my favorite authors’ books: Anne McCaffrey, Piers Anthony, Terry Brooks, and more…. A double bonus!)

Here are just a few examples of my favorite works of hers, both book cover art and posters (not to mention she does gorgeous fantasy trading card art, too):

FOR LOVE OF EVIL – Piers Anthony
(Book Cover Art)

ON THE SURFACE…

(Painting/Poster)

Her black and white illustrations are just as striking and almost step off the page (this one reminds me of Vargas’ airbrush work with its perfect skin rendering and amazing face and hair detail):

SCHEHERAZADE
(Pencil/Pen on Paper Drawing)

You can check out more of her work and buy signed posters & paintings of your own at her official website: ROWENA

Find books with Rowena Morrill art at Amazon.com
Find posters & books with Rowena Morrill art at eBay.com

According to the Associated Press today, Madeleine L’Engle, the author best known for her books A WRINKLE IN TIME and A SWIFTLY TILTING PLANET, passed away today at age 88.

Madeleine L’Engle
(11/29/1918 – 09/07/2007)

She was by far and away one of my favorite science fiction/fantasy writers, especially when it came to the Murry family from A WRINKLE IN TIME. I started reading her books back in the 3rd grade or so, re-reading them again every couple of years for just the pure joy and fascination of them.

I love that she never wrote down to her audience – she never considered herself a children’s author to begin with as stated in a 1993 Associated Press interview:

“In my dreams, I never have an age,” she said. “I never write for any age group in mind. … When you underestimate your audience, you’re cutting yourself off from your best work.”

She also liked to have her characters quote from major writers and thinkers, such as Shakespeare and Dante, which helped push the reader a little to go out and read the rest of such works for themselves. She never just wrote a basic children’s story, with the characters needing to just go from A to B to C to accomplish the plot. Each novel has levels and subtexts along with the main, allowing you to read it over and over over the years in order to get all the subtle meanings and nuances.

One of my favorite lines, of course, is the classic “It was a dark and stormy night” that begins A WRINKLE IN TIME. (Originally used in a book in the early 1800′s and then later as the beginning line of the infamous Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for the ‘best’ florid, pompous, and formulaic prose, L’Engle uses it both tongue-in-cheek and seriously at the same time – quite an accomplishment.)

Madeleine L’Engle gave me my first “taste” of how well science fiction could be written even when “couched” as kid’s book – her books will always be ones I judge others by. She was also a great example for persevering when you have a wonderful story to tell: A WRINKLE IN TIME was turned down by dozens of publishers before it saw the light of day. She will be missed… And if you’ve never read her work, in any of the many genres they encompassed, be it sci fi, fantasy, biography, or children’s literature, you don’t know what you’re missing!

For more information on this author, check out the Official Madeleine L’Engle website

Here is just a small sampling of the many, many books she wrote starting back in 1945 with THE SMALL RAIN to her last book published in 2005, THE ORDERING OF LIVE: THE NEW AND COLLECTED POEMS OF MADELEINE L’ENGLE.

One of my all-time favorite books is Frank Herbert’s DUNE. Today I finally got my hands on HUNTERS OF DUNE, the long-awaited ‘sequel’ to the original 6 DUNE books. I’d been reworking my way through the original series (DUNE, DUNE MESSIAH, CHILDREN OF DUNE, GOD EMPEROR OF DUNE, HERETICS OF DUNE and CHAPTERHOUSE DUNE) to get all the backstory fresh again in my mind before continuing on in the DUNIVERSE as they say, especially now that the ‘last’ book in the ‘trilogy’ (8 books later!) is out: SANDWORMS OF DUNE. (Kind of reminds me of Douglas Adams’ ‘trilogies’ with their 6-8 books!!) Funny how the backs of the books after DUNE MESSIAH proclaim each to be “the astounding climax to the story that is DUNE” (or something similar to that) only to have yet another book come out a few years (or in this instance, decades) later continuing that very same story… Hummmm…

While I like the ‘prequels’ Frank Herbert’s son Brian Herbert, who along with Kevin J Anderson, has written based on Frank Herbert’s original notes (HOUSE CORRINO, HOUSE ATREIDES, HOUSE HARKONNEN, BUTLERIAN JIHAD, MACHINE CRUSADE, BATTLE OF CORRIN), they felt a little too much like STAR WARS 1, 2 & 3 – since we’d seen what had already happened to the characters by RETURN OF THE JEDI, the ‘earlier’ episodes (or in the DUNE case ‘prequel’ novels) just don’t have enough surprise in them for me as seeing/reading the originals had. A little bit of a ‘been there, done that’ flavor to them. Just like the Star Wars prequels, though, the DUNE ones did have some good sections with enough ‘new’ background info to help flesh out the whole multigenerational story arc. I’m hoping that HUNTERS OF DUNE, also based on notes left by Frank Herbert, will give me the continuation of a story left hanging by a master, and not too much rehash of the previous events to ‘fill this one out’ to book-length.

The one book that was quite interesting in the somewhat ‘prequel’ category, though, was THE ROAD TO DUNE, where Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson took the early notes for the original DUNE and fleshed them out, showing how the whole thing evolved from a fairly pedestrian story/novella to the now classic book. It also includes Frank Herbert’s correspondence, giving insight into his personal ‘voice’.

It should also be fascinating to see how the ‘character prequels’ by BH/KAJ will be: PAUL, JESSICA and IRULAN, all supposedly based on their early years which have only been hinted at or slightly fleshed out in the earlier books. These will be more Brian Herbert/Kevin J Anderson based work, so the comparison will be fascinating between these and the ones where they had the working notes of the original author to spring from…

I picked up a set of Paranormal Romance paperback books that looked like possible ones to sell online, only to find myself pulling out a couple to read. (There I go again, ‘playing’ with the merchandise…)

One that caught my attention was PARALLEL ATTRACTION by Deidre Knight. Now I don’t know about you, but I think of paranormal as ESP, telekenesis, and will stretch it for the magical, such as vampires, werewolves, witches and such. However, I DON’T consider aliens from another planet ‘paranormal’. And that’s what the bulk of the characters are – from another planet.

I suppose, though, calling it Science Fiction Romance wouldn’t sell as well. (Something about polar opposite markets maybe?) Your typical Sci Fi reader isn’t usually found over in the Romance area of a bookstore and vice-versa, at least not without some prodding and pushing by the people peddling them.

I guess Paranormal Romance sounds a little more melodious to the marketing mavens, so that’s where books like these are herded, into the same corral as the others they can’t quite categorize. But consider the surprise of the reader who’s expecting a little more fantasy and magic instead of sci fi freedom fighting in her/(his) book. (Maybe they should come up with another category after all…?)

All in all, though, this book is actually quite good, for both genres, and I’m looking forward to finding the sequel by Deidre Knight, PARALLEL HEAT.