Pacifi c Rim: Man, Machines And Monsters Ex-Heroes ideas, stickers, 3D models, blueprints, designs...
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September 2013 114 Guy Haley has another book coming soon – The Death Of Integrity. It’s about Space Marines, not his time as SFX’s deputy editor. Release Date: OUT NOW! 478 pages | £7.99 (paperback)/£5.99 (ebook) Author: Guy Haley Publisher: Solaris Two more books, Ex-Patriots and Ex- Communication, are also available now. A fourth, Ex-Purgatory, is due in October. Release Date: OUT NOW! 310 pages | £6.99 (paperback)/£4.74 (ebook) Author: Peter Clines Publisher: Del Rey Subscribe at www.sfx.co.uk/subscribe Del Toro designs Release Date: OUT NOW! 159 pages | £29.99 (hardback) Author: David S Cohen Publisher: Titan Books Even if the idea of a giant robot punching a giant inter-dimensional nasty in the mush with a rocket-propelled fist isn’t enough to get your inner 11-year-old screaming “Take my money!”, few would deny that Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro is one of filmmaking’s most exciting visualists. It’s for this reason that this lavish landscape hardback, covering every aspect of the film’s production, is such a treat. It’s bursting to the Lovecraftian gills with concept art, abandoned ideas, stickers, 3D models, blueprints, designs from del Toro’s own notebooks, propaganda posters and behind- the-scenes pics. Naff Pan Pacific Defense Corps badges aside, it’s beautifully presented. The text, however, doesn’t reach the heights of the visuals. Penned by Variety journo David S Cohen, it’s certainly extensive, featuring interviews with every major player, but is as dry as day-old toast and even manages to make del Toro sound a little boring. Also, be warned: it’s packed with spoilers, so steer clear of the final few pages until you’ve seen the film, or risk flying into a Kaiju-like rage. Jordan Farley The Kaiju and Jaegers were originally as tall as the Empire State Building, before being shrunk down to around 250 feet. Pacific Rim: Man, Machines And Monsters Knifehead and, below and right, concept art for Gipsy Danger. The title of Guy Haley’s new science fiction novel is loaded with a triple meaning. The crash of the ESS Adam Mickiewicz on an alien planet. The crash of civilisation as the human colonists aboard the ship turn on one another. And the crash of an economic system, much like the troubled capitalist system most of us are trapped inside today. Crash has something to say about all of these, and Haley is an author with a growing voice. Last year’s Champion Of Mars showcased Haley’s love of pulp-era SF, but here we have a much harder edged, conceptually driven sci-fi vision. It concerns Dariusz, a washed-up engineer at the end of his career, and Cassandra, a rebellious space pilot hungry for adventure. Along with a half-million other humans, they’re on the cutting edge of space exploration. But in Haley’s world humans aren’t boldly going for any higher purpose than profit. The “Pointers”, the 0.01 of humans who control virtually all wealth, are desperate to maintain their dominance, but must escape Earth’s limited resources to do so. Science fiction is never a genre to shy away from politics, but in Crash Haley manages an up-to- the-minute critique of the contemporary political and economic situation, wrapped inside a tense survival story; he’s emerging as one of the bright stars of SF writing. Damien Walter Crash Occupy the 0.01% Zombies are awesome. Superheroes are awesome. Mash them together and you’ve got awesomeness squared, right? First published by a small press in 2010 and now receiving a wider release, Peter Cline’s tale of a post-apocalyptic LA community defended by caped heroes is shameless pulp escapism. The setting is neat, with survivors holed up in Paramount Studios. The cast of heroes is interesting, featuring the likes of the fire- breathing St George; Gorgon, who can suck life force with a glance; and Stealth, the genius-IQ female leader with ninja moves and the detached speech patterns of a computer. Through flashbacks, we learn more about their superhero origins and the early days of the outbreak. It’s a gimmicky concept, but the two genres mesh rather well, sometimes in ways that feel natural: when you need to remove an infected limb and cauterise the stump, what could be more appropriate than to have a hero who turns into a ball of energy to hand? If there’s one problem it’s this: while it’s impossible to deny the appeal of a zombie being hurled into a tree or swung around like a club, the slugfests Ex-Heroes is crammed with play better presented visually; in prose, page after page of action can get a little wearying. Any Hollywood producer emboldened by World War Z’s box office success could do worse than snap up the rights. Ian Berriman Ex-Heroes Superhumans vs living dead
Transcript of Pacifi c Rim: Man, Machines And Monsters Ex-Heroes ideas, stickers, 3D models, blueprints, designs...
September 2013114
Guy Haley has another book coming soon – The Death Of Integrity. It’s about Space Marines, not his time as SFX’s deputy editor.
Release Date: OUT NOW!478 pages | £7.99 (paperback)/£5.99 (ebook)Author: Guy HaleyPublisher: Solaris
Two more books, Ex-Patriots and Ex-Communication, are also available now. A fourth, Ex-Purgatory, is due in October.
Release Date: OUT NOW!310 pages | £6.99 (paperback)/£4.74 (ebook)Author: Peter ClinesPublisher: Del Rey
Subscribe at www.sfx.co.uk/subscribe
Del Toro designs
Release Date: OUT NOW!159 pages | £29.99 (hardback)Author: David S CohenPublisher: Titan Books
Even if the idea of a giant robot punching a giant inter-dimensional nasty in the mush with a rocket-propelled fist isn’t enough to get your inner 11-year-old screaming “Take my money!”, few would deny that Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro is one of filmmaking’s most exciting visualists.
It’s for this reason that this lavish landscape hardback, covering every aspect of the film’s production, is such a treat. It’s bursting to the Lovecraftian gills with concept art, abandoned ideas, stickers, 3D models, blueprints, designs from del Toro’s own notebooks, propaganda posters and behind-the-scenes pics. Naff Pan Pacific Defense Corps badges aside, it’s beautifully presented.
The text, however, doesn’t reach the heights of the visuals. Penned by Variety journo David S Cohen, it’s certainly extensive, featuring interviews with every major player, but is as dry as day-old toast and even manages to make del Toro sound a little boring.
Also, be warned: it’s packed with spoilers, so steer clear of the final few pages until you’ve seen the film, or risk flying into a Kaiju-like rage. Jordan Farley
The Kaiju and Jaegers were originally as tall as the Empire State Building, before being shrunk down to around 250 feet.
Pacifi c Rim: Man, Machines And Monsters
Knifehead and, below and right, concept art for Gipsy Danger. The title of Guy Haley’s
new science fiction novel is loaded with a triple meaning. The crash of the ESS Adam Mickiewicz on an alien planet. The crash of civilisation as the human colonists aboard the ship turn on one another. And the crash of an economic system, much like the troubled capitalist system most of us are trapped inside today. Crash has something to say about all of these, and Haley is an author with a growing voice.
Last year’s Champion Of Mars showcased Haley’s love of pulp-era SF, but here we have a much harder edged, conceptually driven sci-fi vision. It concerns Dariusz, a washed-up engineer at the end of his career, and Cassandra, a rebellious space pilot hungry for adventure. Along with a half-million other humans, they’re on the cutting edge of space exploration.
But in Haley’s world humans aren’t boldly going for any higher purpose than profit. The “Pointers”, the 0.01 of humans who control virtually all wealth, are desperate to maintain their dominance, but must escape Earth’s limited resources to do so.
Science fiction is never a genre to shy away from politics, but in Crash Haley manages an up-to-the-minute critique of the contemporary political and economic situation, wrapped inside a tense survival story; he’s emerging as one of the bright stars of SF writing. Damien Walter
CrashOccupy the 0.01%
Zombies are awesome. Superheroes are awesome. Mash them together and you’ve got awesomeness squared, right?
First published by a small press in 2010 and now receiving a wider release, Peter Cline’s tale of a post-apocalyptic LA community defended by caped heroes is shameless pulp escapism.
The setting is neat, with survivors holed up in Paramount Studios. The cast of heroes is interesting, featuring the likes of the fire-breathing St George; Gorgon, who can suck life force with a glance; and Stealth, the genius-IQ female leader with ninja moves and the detached speech patterns of a computer. Through flashbacks, we learn more about their superhero origins and the early days of the outbreak.
It’s a gimmicky concept, but the two genres mesh rather well, sometimes in ways that feel natural:
when you need to remove an infected limb and cauterise the stump, what could be more appropriate than to have a hero who turns into a ball of energy to hand?
If there’s one problem it’s this: while it’s impossible to deny the appeal of a zombie being hurled into a tree or swung around like a club, the slugfests Ex-Heroes is crammed with play better presented visually; in prose, page after page of action can get a little wearying. Any Hollywood producer emboldened by World War Z’s box office success could do worse than snap up the rights. Ian Berriman
Ex-HeroesSuperhumans vs living dead
SFX238.books5.indd 114 7/8/13 7:34 PM
