Maxine Kiss is the latest in a long line of demon hunters. It’s a responsibility with Earth-shaking consequences, both blessing and curse, bestowed upon her by her mother who received it from her mother who, in turn, had it passsed down to her from her mother before her, and so on dating back some thousand years. Her weapons against the forces of evil are demons themselves – dormant during the day when they assume the form of tattoos that adorn her body, they awaken at night to do her bidding. Theirs is a symbiotic relationship. She depends on them to keep her alive while they keep her alive knowing that her death would mean the end for them as well. However, both are also well aware of the fact that, one day, Maxine will pass her demon-hunting legacy down to her daughter – and, when that day comes, her former demonic allies will abandon her, leaving her at the mercy of her merciless enemies.
Against common demon hunter sense, Maxine has elected to settle down and enter into a relationship. Things seem to be going swimmingly – or as swimmingly as possible given her profession – until the police show up at the homeless shelter run by her boyfriend, Grant, asking about her. It turns out a private detective was found murdered on the bad side of town and search of his person turned up a newspaper clipping with her name written on it.
Maxine’s investigation into the matter leads her to Bloody Mama, the Zombie Queen, who charges Maxine with a formidable task. Millennia ago, Earth was the battleground of a great war that culminated in the defeat of an army of demons and their imprisonment in a dimensional fortress. But, over time, the walls of that once formidable fortress have weakened and soon, the veil separating the two realities will be breached, allowing the long-contained demons free reign. And only Maxine Kiss can stop them.
It’s great premise with an even greater character in Maxine, a powerful warrior with a surprising amount of depth, much of it conveyed through her relationship with Grant. Although charged with the task of ridding the world of evil forces, Maxine is conflicted. The violent means she has long used to deal with the darklings runs counter to the measures presently used by the man she loves. Instead of destroying demons, he rehabilitates them through the power of music, demonstrating an alternate, if not preferable method of dealing with them. But old habits die hard, especially ones reinforced through generations of demon hunting, and Maxine finds herself torn. Exacerbating matters for her is Byron, an orphan, who she takes under her wing after saving him from a zombie attack. He is both a problem for her and a potential target for her enemies, and her developing relationship with Byron and her role as his protector also shines some wonderful light on her dark, often pained, persona. It’s the perfect compliment to the novel’s setting, Seattle, whose grey skies and somber environs offer a grim backdrop to the action. But like the book and Maxine herself, the city’s shadows also offer the possibility of brightness and hope.
These hints of illumination are sprinkled throughout the book, occasionally hinted at in surprising developments, often displayed in the flashes of humor delivered by the likes of the most unlikeliest of characters: Tracker, a fearsome yet contradictorily comic force to be reckoned with, and Maxine’s own demons, “the boys”, led by the mischievous Zee. They go a long way toward not only rounding out Maxine’s character, but keeping the reader engaged throughout.
Overall a very enjoyable read although I did find the beginning of the novel a tad overwhelming. The reader is dropped headlong into the story and there were moments when I wasn’t sure what was going on (and I briefly considered hunting down the prequel and reading it first), but I was able to play catch and, eventually, I came to appreciate the author’s unwillingness to spoonfeed the details and, instead, push us to piece together the narrative just as Maxine rises to the challenge and pieces together the multiple mysteries that drive her.
The Iron Hunt is fast-paced and fraught with enough twists and turns to earn itself a place as urban fantasy’s answer to The Big Sleep. No one and no thing is who or what they seem and there are secrets around every corner. Liu’s prose style flows effortlessly between sparse and succinct to lyrical and almost poetic in its imagery. A nice change of pace for me and a pleasant surprise.
So, those were my initial thoughts. What did everyone else think? Start posting your questions for author Marjorie M. Liu!
Mailbag:
kat writes: “I just wanted to say that it is really cool how you answer everyone’s questions on here. People attack you but you don’t filter it you just post it like it is.”
Answer: Thanks, kat. Truth is there are occasions when I do moderate comments – for intance, if it’s spam, offensive, or what I would term “generally douchey” such as, for example, the comments you’ve been trying to post under an alternate screen name. Thanks for stopping by. Now, off you go, back to your angry little corner of the internet.
Diageo writes: “I’m having a weird problem. My comments keep disappearing? Seems like some kind of WordPress glitch?”
Answer: Sorry, kat/Diageo. I’ll look into the issue and get back to you within the next 3-5 days. Please stand by.
Tim writes: “Would it be completely off base to say that the Stargate franchise is dead on SyFy after SGU ends its run?”
Answer: Well, never say never but let me put it this way – Next year, I doubt I’ll be paying another $21.30 postage due on their annual Christmas gift.
Deni writes: ” Ok, if two Goa’uld mated, supposedly the child born to them would have all the genetic knowledge of all the Goa’uld, right? In “Forever in a Day”, there was a mention that the child would also know all the secrets of the Goa’uld, as well. I guess what hubby wanted to know was if it only the Harsesis would have all that information or if a single Goa’uld would know the same things.”
Answer: No, the child would be far more formidable because the knowledge possessed would be genetic in source. The same couldn’t be said for individual goa’ulds.
hal ehrlich writes: “In the past (SG1 and Atlantis) when someone would walk through the gate we would see a short little scene where you saw a wormhole and then they appeared to come out of the new gate.
Now when someone walks through the gate you hear a little noise for a split second then they appear to come through the other gate.
Did you decide not to do the wormhole scene since these gates dont travel too far compared to the gates in the Mikly Way and Pegasus galaxies ?”
Answer: No, I think it was simply a stylistic choice intended to diffentiate the look and feel of the shows.
Bryan writes: “Hi Joe, given the finite size of the Destiny.. but potentially unlimited nature of fiction, what pseudo-percentage of the ship remains unexplored?”
Answer: Probably around eighty percent. In the back half of season 2, the crew begins to check out these unexplored sections of the ship. And they make an incredible discovery (see The Hunt).
Bryan also writes: “What OS do you use personally? traditionalist Windows on PC, OSX on Mac?”
Answer: I’m a recent Mac convert.
dasNdanger writes: “See, if I knew you were still doing mailbag questions, I would have asked you more stuff!!! Like…can you sing? Or…do you listen to Sinatra? Or…what’s the worst thing you ever did to your sister? Or…does Todd have any other tattoos that we can’t see? If so, how do YOU know??!”
Answer: Can’t sing, don’t listen to Sinatra, I once let her take the blame for my drawing stick figures on the wall, he has a heart-shaped tattoo on his right butt cheek, Carl told me.
Alex writes: “I bought a copy of the commemorative SG-1: Celebration of 10 years book from Gateworld. I assume you have it as well and was wondering if yours has like 15 duplicate pages in it right smack in the middle?”
Answer: No, but mine does have a well-chewed corner compliments of one of my dogs.
Quade writes: “Do you think syfy might be sitting on the remaining episodes of SGU to drum up publicity and viewership? And if so, do you think it could help in getting a renewal or pickup elsewhere?”
Answer: No and unlikely.
Michael writes: “Will we see the Ancients in some form, either human or ascended in the back half of season 2?”
Answer: Nope.
Johnny writes: “In the realm of anime, have you ever given GunxSword a watch?”
Answer: Couldn’t get into it.
Patricia Lee writes: “If you launch your comic book series this year, will you and Paul be attending COMIC-CON in San Diego this year?”
Answer: Probably.
Shawna Buchanan writes: “Can you explain why Simeon was allowed to just wander around the ship menacing people in a clearly villainous way with only one guy guarding him when everyone else who they had even the least cause to suspect of potentially doing something bad was kept under lock and key?”
Answer: All of the Lucian Alliance members were kept under lock and key until they (seemingly) started cooperating with Homeworld Command at which point they were permitted limited freedom under escort.
Josh writes: “Would earth be in any great danger from a Lucian alliance attack? I mean, they got some pretty nice tech now from Atlantis and from the Asgard, so it almost seems that if the Lucian alliance would decide to attack earth, it wouldn’t really be as big of a threat as everyone is acting like in SGU. Anyway, whats your take on this?”
Answer: Alliances. Season 2.
Rich writes: “Sort of touching on a previous post by someone else – is the question of getting a SG-1 or SGA movie into production solely a question of money?”
Answer: Nope. There are a bunch of other issues as well.
Mihai Marius writes: “Is it possible that Amanda Perry is not dead?”
Answer: Hope. Season 2.
Sparrow_hawk writes: “So, Joe: did you know that Sets 2 and 3 of Gintama are available?”
Answer: It’s on my list of dvd’s to pick up. Would you happen to know whether or not it’s Funimation. After suffering through two Funimation shows (Baccano and Claymore) that MAKE YOU sit through the previews for upcoming releases (you can’t fast-forward through them; you have to watch them EVERY TIME you want to watch a new episode) I am done with them.
Fulring writes: “Somebody posted a question about solar flares intercepting wormhole while recharging and we know that episode 2.12 ‘Twin Destinies’ deals with Rush coming back from the future, is this going to happen on the mentioned way?”
Answer: Maybe. Maybe not.
Furling also writes: “What happened with Tria (Aurora-class battleship from ‘The Return’)? Is it left between galaxies?”
Answer: Yes, still there.
noelm writes: “I’ve lost track of all the new projects you have a’cooking. Can you run through them again for us?”
Answer: One comic book series in the works, two t.v. pilots (horror-comedy and dramedy) ready to go, two more pilots (dark comedy, fantasy) being written. Also beating out a possible SF novel.
g.o.d. writes: “if SGU gets another season, movies, miniseries or whatever the plan is, will we find out who the Planet builders are and why did they build Eden? And the nature of the obelisk?”
Answer: That was the plan if we had gotten that third season pick up.
asdasdg writes: “Destiny has a subspace link with all the seed ships so is it possible that one or two could have retraced steps to come rescue Destiny while it was being attacked by the Blueberry Aliens only to reach Destiny when it is fighting the Drone Command Ship?”
Answer: No because the seed ships are so far out in advance of Destiny that they would never get there in time to offer assistance.
asdasdg also writes: “Why didn’t the Seed Ship have a lockout on the navigational controls like Destiny did with the master code?”
Answer: The seed ships don’t contain the valuable data Destiny possesses. Liken them to bees. Destiny is the queen. The seed ships are the worker bees.
Ian Z. also writes: “You said that you guys would handle it better, and that’s obvious because I’m an outsider. My question was what you thought of it? Have you guys been doing this stuff? Or are you also an outsider?”
Answer: Trust me when I say that every possibility is being looked into.
TheSGC writes: “You think Brett Favre is coming back?”
Answer: Channeling Carl Binder – He announced his retirement so, yeah, he’ll probably come back.
max writes: “Was the plan all along from the conception of the series to kill off the potential girlfriend of Eli ,and also Simon the villan?Or was that done later on due to budget concerns?”
Answer: Nope, that was always the plan.
max also writes: ”
One other question: has most of the non-Canadian cast members moved from vancouver back to their country since the announcement of the cancellation?”
Answer: Yes.
Major Davis writes: “I know the priority is on SGU, which makes sense, but you’ve said several times that Brad’s plan will revive all three limbs of the franchise. However, when asked about SG-1 and SGA, you say you don’t know whether Revolution and Extinction will get made (should SGU get revived)….. Which leads me to wonder, how does BW’s plan include SGA and SG-1?”
Answer: You’ll have to wait and see.
maggiemayday writes: “How are you enjoying The Stand?”
Answer: Read both The Stand and The Dome and I have to sayI prefer King’s shorter novels (ie. Misery).
Randomness writes: “Have you seen Dokuro Chan Joe?”
Answer: No, but I’m intrigued.
Gimpy writes: “Any posibility that a major motion picture would be made that is stargate based? As was the case with star trek after it was originally canceled.”
Answer: There’s certainly a possibility, but I’d imagine something like that wouldn’t happen for a while.
Jeffrey writes: “And you do realize that SG-1 wasn’t averaging a 2.0 in its last year, right? It was somewhere around a 1.4.”
Answer: I wasn’t arguing that Atlantis was responsible for any decline, simply pointing out that you can skew the numbers to bolster any argument of your choosing. If not SG-1’s last year, then feel free to pick the previous year, or the year before that.
Hey Joseph, is this your twitter account?
http://twitter.com/josephmallozzi
Please let me know. BTW I’m the Dude behind @SaveSGU.
Tim writes: “Would it be completely off base to say that the Stargate franchise is dead on SyFy after SGU ends its run?”
Answer: Well, never say never but let me put it this way – Next year, I doubt I’ll be paying another $21.30 postage due on their annual Christmas gift.
Lmao. 🙂
SyFy channel is a lost cause for scifi shows. Hopefully another network will see how valuable the StarGate franchise is and pick SGU up soon. 🙂
Thanks for making me laugh, Joe. (first two mailbag answers) Oh, and the sci-fi novel I’m reading by Allen Steele right now is quite good.(Spindrift) It’s been teased that the aliens have four arms/hands and four legs/feet. Can’t wait to get a complete description.
Have a good night!
Hello Joe,
Thanks for the heads up. Ya know… I was always partial to Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight by Stephen King. While I also enjoyed The Stand and assume it is only available unabridged… I prefer his short stories and novelas.
Thank you again for keeping us fans in the loop about the goings on, both home and in the office, and say Hi to the pups for us.
Best Wishes.
Bryan
Do the dogs do any tricks? 🙂
That’s ok, growing up watching Stargate I always thought of the Ancients as sort of an idealised people/entity that the characters like Daniel Jackson could aspire to, particular in his journey leading to ascension. It offered a look into unrealised potential maybe, which I guess thinking about it is what the whole basis of SGU is about. It will be a shame if the series isn’t continued on in some form, despite certain reviews, I found the series a worthy successor (not saying I wouldn’t like to see SGA in the future 🙂 ).
Thanks, Joe. 🙂
I don’t know why SyFy just doesn’t become the wrestling channel…seems that’s the way they are heading…and I hate wrestling…I rarely watch it anymore and it used to be on almost 24/7.
re” Stephen King…see I love his longer novels and like his novellas, can’t stand his one-two people ones: Gerald’s Game, Misery, etc..
The Iron Hunt
by Marjorie M. Liu
Good review Joe. I agree with what you thought. I really liked this book. I had no problems getting into it. I thought Marjorie’s writing style was easy to read and it moved right along for me.
I’ve always thought I did not like zombies, but after reading this book and a couple other choices from your book of the month club (like Boneshaker), I have come to realize I have always liked zombies. I loved “the boys”! Marjorie’s description of their movements around Maxine’s body was so good. I could feel them on me! When she got ‘thrown under the bus’ and they all moved to her face, I thought that was pretty cool!
This book had a ton of mysteries that kept me reading for answers. In trying to figure out why Byron was such a target, I tricked myself. Toward the end, I started thinking maybe he was Maxine’s son, come back from the future, and that is why they wanted him so bad. I thought she would have her own daughter, but then maybe a son too.
I have Marjorie’s next book in this series Darkness Calls. I am looking forward to reading it too. Thanks for the recommendation and getting me to read books I would have never picked up on my own. You are broadening my horizons! Thanks. Questions for Marjorie will follow.
Thanks for answering.
Joe, if SGU ever gets a third season on a different network, what will be the compromises we will have to live with if there will be any?
other than that, I hope SGU finishes its story but not to quickly though, I wish for as many seasons as possible. Kind of a long shot now obviously. Back then the plan was five seasons, but in all honesty were you guys ever willing to stretch it a bit for another extra season or two? And during the brainstorm phases, was there any talks of a spin-off in the future had SGU been successful or was SGU planned to be the final stargate show?
And how did you know who Kat was?
Yeah, Favre is probably coming back. He’s addicted to the game…and hot brunettes?
I don’t know whether you’ve heard of the Sci-fi genre Warhammer 40,000, but it produces a lot of good reads. Prospero Burns is a good one, it reached the NY Times Bestseller list at 16 (mass market paperback fiction). You should check it out.
Also, will Lou Diamond Philips be a recurring character as Col. Telford or will he be killed off?
Joe, I know you have a more refined pallet.. but I have a simple “recipe” for delicious tomato pasta.
1) In a frying pan, cook approximately 1/lb or more of frozen ground beef until cooked (..scraping it, etc).. chunks of beef should form if cooked frozen and not fresh, freeze it before cooking if you must.
2) Boil pasta, macaroni or “shells”and strain when cooked.
3) Mix the pasta and the ground beef using Tomato juice instead of sauce or paste, a full can of Heinz works best (1.36 L).
4) Warm and serve, season to taste.
It’s not very elaborate, nor sophisticated, but the combination of Tomato juice.. beef juices.. and pasta is delicious and it’s very easy to make and inexpensive.
If you try it some day, or have before, send me an email?
-Bryan.
Mr. Mallozzi, please help some nerds out. We crave the dimensions of Destiny. Using some nerdy math, we calculate that, thanks to that huge bulk in the center-back of Destiny, she ought to have more floorspace than can be calculated from mere width and height alone. Please help our nerdy little selves reach enlightenmen– I mean, release from our conundrum.
I can’t believe you are against the Steelers being in the Super Bowl. The best football franchise in history. I am very hurt. When we win our 7th Superbowl, perhaps you will change your mind.
@Joe: Fortunately, Gintama is on Sentai Filmworks not Funimation. I hate those stupid Funimation previews, too.
Tell Syfy if they send me the Christmas gift next year, I’ll be happy to pay the $21.30!
And if you send me all your BTS photos of the SGA crew, I’ll pay you lots more than that!
😆
Just… 😆
Thanks, sir, I needed that. 🙂 I can’t sing, either…in fact, the only flat thing on my body is my voice. 😛 I think I asked you about your sister before, because I remember that answer. With your imagination, I’m surprised you didn’t come up with something better….like hair remover in her shampoo, or earthworms in her shoes, or super glue in her hair spray. Really, Joe…I’m a bit disappointed. Mr. Das once convinced his older brother to stick his finger in the capacitor socket of the clothes dryer…and afterwards when his parents asked him why he did that to his brother, Mr. Das said, ‘so he’ll know not to do it the next time!’ See…that’s brilliance. 🙂 I never did anything bad to my sister…in fact, she used to beat me up and blame stuff on me all the time. She was a bully. She’d throw spiders on me and make me cry, then I’d get slapped by my dad because I was crying. 🙄 There was no justice in my house! So when I grew up, I figured out how to get back at her…
…with snakes. 😈
I love snakes. 😀
Just remember that… 😉
Nites, Joeykins!! And tell Carl to take pictures next time!
das
OK, for the first time, in, say, ever, I actually have a question about a series.
So, why do the Wraith use organic material in their hives when it’s obviously way less efficient and they had ten thousand years Ancient-free to upgrade their ships?
Hi Joe,
Sorry for not being on here as often as I normally am, I am a full-time acting student in Winnipeg, attending the Academy of Acting, and also working on my own film & hopeful tv ideas (no budget but looking into stuff now). I certainly can understand the fun of plate-spinning with many different projects!
I have been keeping up with the different fan efforts in my articles on WormholeRiders, my last blog can be found at http://wormholeriders.com/blog/?p=22340 where, at that date, I was able to contact as many of the other campaign leaders as I could get before deadline who are working on the shared effort to let MGM know how many of the fans there are worldwide.
Please know, there is a LOT of SGU Love out there, and we are sharing and spreading the SGU Love as much as possible!
All the best,
Marjorie Roden
Canada
PS: Joey, I forgot to ask…
Where can we send you fun stuff now?? Still the studio??
😈 I mean… 🙂
das
Marjorie…your book is amazing. I will admit it is my first zombie read…and I thought Joe’s write-up was very reflective of what I felt.
My thoughts would often return to Maxine’s tattoos. How she was endeared to them. Do you have tattoos of special meaning? I kept thinking that there was a connection between this brilliant fresh look at tattoos being more than ink.
Wonderful read..enjoyed much of it on a plane far above the earth. *smiles* Thank you…
Say one were to dial all the gates in a galaxy at once and step through, what would happen? Would the matter simply be too degraded and simply fall apart? Would you exit at the nearest gate? Or one at random?
Obviously you wont be cloned as the gates dont supply you with the energy that makes the matter of uor bodies.
1) On 1/17/11’s mailbag, you answered 80% of Destiny is left to be explored. On the series finale of Stargate Atlantis, how much of Atlantis was explored by the expedition?
2) Mortal Kombat just got greenlit for a 10 episode Internet-based webi-series. Are webi-series a possibility for SGU’s future (i.e. posting new episodes on MGM’s SGU website like how they currently do with full episodes of season 2, featurettes, the Kino webisodes, blogs, fan question submissions)?
Hi Joe,
SGU is awesome, so bummed about the cancellation.
I’m curious about Colonel Young’s use of reading glasses which started toward the end of the first season, was there any particular significance to that?
Thanks for the great show!
I’m trying to be hopeful that Brad will be able to pull SGU back out of the black hole that Syfy sent it into. But I was wondering:
Will the ratings on the second half of SGU have any effect on whatever decisions are being made now for SGU?
And if David Hewlett’s episode “Seizure” significantly increases the ratings, would that have any impact in reviving an SGA movie?
And a non-related SGU question:
Can you still have Q&A’s with folks we’ve come to know, even if it’s on other projects they’re doing?
And for anyone that’s interested, today’s the 17th anniversary of the 1994 Northridge quake in LA. Here’s a sense of what it was like – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_At9Ry-ZMg&feature=related
I’m not sure if anyone has asked this yet but regarding Dr. Caine… He lived long enough to see the aliens arrival so did he in fact die the moment they got there (or soon thereafter) or is there something else going on?
SGU has been a fun ride so far. I hope you guys get to at least finish it up. Also if you get a chance say hello to Louis Ferreira for me from a Portuguese-American fan.
Seriously Joe, you need to write for a wider audience.
I believe you should be doing a more social show, easier to approach and more entertaining, maybe even controversial.
I would definitely cast Ricky Gervais in the lucian alliance. You know, after T-bag nothing to lose 🙂
I started following your blog years ago when I got sucked into SGA, was very amused by your foodie antics, and am a huge fan of SGU (sadface). But it’s your book reviews and suggestions that will keep me following for as long as you blog. I had taken a break from new scifi after one too many bad grabs from Borders’ shelves made in haste while my two-year-old tugged me toward the kids’ section. Between you and Scalzi, I’ve had a steady stream of good reads for months, and I rest peacefully knowing that I have two such like-minded readers whose recommendations I can bank my meager book budget on. Thanks!
Are we allowed to create SGU fan videos using video and audio from SGU and upload it to YouTube?
Hey Joe, I was just wondering if any of the cast from SG-1 or SGA are going to be in any of the episodes of the back half of season 2? Not including of course the already announced episode with McKay and Woosley.
Josh
Hi Joe, I’m from Wales in the UK and i 100% Love SGU and so do half the people i work with. Its easily my Favourite Stargate. Is there anything us fan across the world can do to get SGU back on our screens. I think that everyone of us is prepared to do anything to help out. I heared someone talking about buying the DVD’s and Downloads from like ITUNES but will this really help?
Note: I sometimes forget which name I use on here, but as I’m not using other names to be a douche and use the same email address every time, I hope it will be okay.
Alright, in SG1 there was a very strong theme of actions being a test for godhood–how someone used their power. There was also a strong aspect of “gods are not” in that sufficiently advanced aliens were treated as that rather than supernatural beings even eventually, the ancients.
In SGA this seemed to be even more the case with the ancients.
But in SGU there seemed to be a very… spiritual… tone to the characters. The whole attitude to the universe itself seemed different, more I guess mystical and willing to see things as simply beyond comprehension. Was this due to the situation? Was it just these particular characters? Was this a conscious decision for the show or did it just develop organically?
“After suffering through two Funimation shows (Baccano and Claymore) that MAKE YOU sit through the previews for upcoming releases (you can’t fast-forward through them; you have to watch them EVERY TIME you want to watch a new episode) I am done with them.”
Play them on your computer! Software players allow skipping through the bollocks unskippable crap that DVDs are littered with. Every even halfway decent graphics card has a HDMI output these days so you just need a cable from your computer to your TV. Throw in a wireless keyboard and mouse and you can control the computer right from your sofa.
While we’re mentioning David Hewlett, any idea what’s going on with Starcrossed, lately?! Last I heard he’d regained the right, and was aiming for a Web-show with it.
“paloosa
I’m trying to be hopeful that Brad will be able to pull SGU back out of the black hole that Syfy sent it into. But I was wondering:
Will the ratings on the second half of SGU have any effect on whatever decisions are being made now for SGU?”
I would not be surprised if SyFy channel changes the day or time to an even worse one. Nor would it be surprising if they never show the last half of the SGU season at all.
“More ghosts and wrestling for everyone”, should be their motto. Someone should sue them for false advertising as they are not a SciFi channel at all. However, maybe that was precisely their intention when they changed the spelling of their business’ name?
Hi again Joseph,
I was wondering if you could give us an idea of how, at this point in time, SGU will go on after season 2 in descending order of likelihood.
eg, television season 3, direct-to-dvd movies, books, comic strips, something completely different (ie. online series AND television series, with the online series delayed by a week but with all advertising profits going to MGM alone).
-Chris
Just as a follow up to my previous question regarding YouTube uploads. Are we allowed to hold competitions for people who get creative with the copyrighted SGU footage?
(Sorry about having so many questions, just that we’re about to launch a new website that will unite all SGU campaigns and we want to make sure we don’t get shot down for copyright issues.)
You should watch it then. If anything Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan is the first anime I’ve seen with the most random and pointless deaths, well the main character is the only one that dies lol. Poor guy.
Random example being. Dokuro sees a mosquito on the guy and throws her spiked club at him leaving a huge hole in his body + blood and revives him.
So random.
Two editions of this show are out on DVD, the dub one in the dark colored box which also has the sub titled, and the subtitled only edition. You could probably save a little if you don’t watch the dub.
Anyway by the way. That Kotaku article on Stargate Universe that I found and posted on here has 22,000 views. What an amazing website. It’s like they made 22,000 eyes aware of Stargate Universes unfortunate cancellation, sure okay some won’t care but some will. You can’t buy that kind of publicity.
In my opinion the show needs more high profile websites doing articles like that. Good or bad because it makes a wider audience aware of whats going on.
What do you think about the tone of the show in retrospect?
To me it looks like it was a great idea, back then when you started, to have a grittier, more realistic and dark Stargate show, but the then global crisis hit, people lost their jobs or had them in jeopardy, had to cut corners, and just couldn’t find the strength to get involved with the problems of TV characters on a weekly basis. They instead looked for easy entertainment like Eureka and Warehouse 13, even Sanctuary for their hour of escapism.
P.S. I still haven’t forgiven the death of Ginn, you know…
Hey Joe.
I hope you are doing well today. A few questions here!
1) If a new SG series ever comes into play waaay down the road, do you have any ideas as to what you would use as the look-and-feel, storyline, and setting? Have you even thought about it?
2) When will we know about the fate of SGU (or the Stargate series itself)? You’ve been teasing it for several weeks now! Any time-line?
3) Is there any chance we will see Joe Flanigan in Stargate again if no SGA movie is made? I miss that guy.
4) How’s Richard Dean Anderson doing? Is he willing to come back for a movie? Is he in the 2nd half of this season of SGU?
And by the way. Apparently 1000 extra people joined the SaveSGU facebook page within 24 hours. That’s pretty amazing. Wishing everyone the best of luck with that.
Answer: Thanks, kat. Truth is there are occasions when I do moderate comments – for intance, if it’s spam, offensive, or what I would term “generally douchey” such as, for example, the comments you’ve been trying to post under an alternate screen name. Thanks for stopping by. Now, off you go, back to your angry little corner of the internet.
Hahahaha…nice Joe.
Will we be seing the SGC in season 2 ?
Does Louis Ferreira speaks Portuguese?
Great work with SGU 🙂
Waiting on the Comic book series……
Always thought The Lucian Alliance would’ve made a good spinoff series.
The Stand has always been my fave King story, if not book. Oh, and ‘Salem’s Lot.
Ever wonder why so many of the creepiest stories come from or are set in Maine?
DD
The Iron Hunt does sound good. I’ll look it up.
Thank you for the hints on upcoming projects! Sounds like you will be busy. Good thing, because you have to keep the “kids” in the lifestyle they have become accustomed to. 😉
Have you made any new and “easy” food dishes lately?
We have to decide vacation plans. I always vote for a beach but the boys “have” to choose a theme park. Apparently, hubby/son can’t be happy on a vacation without standing in long lines in the summer sun for a bout of motion sickness.
So if you had to choose between Disney and Universal, which would you pick? Any suggestions fellow bloggers?
Hi Joe,
Have you ever read Stephen kKng’s Duma Key? I read last year. Yes, it’s long but moved very fast I thought. Very different for his other books I’ve read. Speaking of The Stand, have you seen the mini series? I thought it was a pretty descent adaption and I thought the casting was great.
-Jennifer, Orlando FL
Mr. Mallozzi- I share your distaste for DVDs which force one to watch commercial advertisements before a viewing selection can be made.
Fortunately, as fellow Mac users, we have a way around this. Take a look at this bit of software:
DVD Player Patch 20101106 for Mac
http://download.cnet.com/DVD-Player-patch/3000-13632_4-75324910.html?tag=mncol;8
If you prefer to watch your DVDs on a screen other than your Mac’s, remember that Macs have video out which can drive even very large 1080p displays.
Hi Joe. Great blog (visit all the time but this is my first post).
My question is how do you do it all? So many projects, so much time for the fans, so many hobbies? Do you sleep enough / at all? How do you not burnout?
Hi Joe,
Long time reader first time poster – couple of possibly silly questions:
– In SG1’s Prototype, if Khalek had been allowed to ascent, could he have gone and rescued ol’ Dad from the fight with Oma?
– Following on from that, must have been a bit lonely at the ascended top there for Adria for a while. Could her and Khalek have, uh, made a go of things?
On a serious note, I hope you do manage to keep SGU going in some form. I’m a UK fan and it’s a shame that international viewership doesn’t seem to matter one bit as to whether series like these get renewed or not 🙁
Cheers,
Rich
Hi Joe, possibly a difficult to answer question and possibly one you’ve been asked before.
How can radio communications work 2-way through a Stargate? Radio is Light (Photons) therefor matter. So the one way restriction should apply here. And also there should be a delay while the matter traverses the wormhole.
Well, only just found out that Destiny is, for the time being, going no further.
I could rant and whine about this and that but there’s no point, the decision has been made and all i can say is i hope we some more Stargate in the future.
Kudos to the cast and crew for making the series what it was and good luck to them in their future endeavours.
Oh, if you’re ever in my neck of the woods [North-East England… unlikely i know…]… give me a shout, I’ll buy you a drink, or several.
I’ll finish with a question: Do you watch any non-US TV shows [anime excluded] and if so what [and if not are there any that have made you think ‘oooh…. i’d watch that if they showed it’]?
>(Baccano and Claymore) that MAKE YOU sit through the previews for upcoming releases (you can’t fast-forward through them; you have to watch them EVERY TIME you want to watch a new episode)
Isn’t there a button on your player to switch through inbuilt trailers? I haven’t had to watch a single trailer from Funimation when loading up their DVDs. It should be a single press button that skips directly to the DVDs menu.
Sorry, didn’t read through all your answers, just noticed this comment you made when viewing just now.
Hi Joe,
First of all, I respect you, for the reasons; (i) writing/producing a great show like SGU, (ii) putting up with “so called” stargate fans, who do nothing bu post stupid comments here and bash the show (and franchise) in every possible way online, (iii) having (not totally my way but) taste in diverse quisinere.
I am a long time stargate fan (near ten years) and I believe SGU is the best of the franchise (tie-in with some SG1) and the cancellation really depressed me. I (have been and) am totally disappointed at the fan response to the show, as SGU offers a much deeper story, realistic characters and much better effects compared to the siblings yet people choose to see a much weaker offering (SGA). That said aside from the (lack of) fan support I am also not very surprised with the cancellation, as today, the TVs are turning into reality show craps, satisfying people who cannot dream beyond another person’s life whose life is slightly more fun than their stupid and boring life.
I have recently started watching the first season second time with my wife (not a scifi person at all) and she found the story quite intriguing despite the fact that she has no information about stargate, ancients or Sgt. Siler at all. Meaning, You, other producers, writers cast and crew did an amazing job with this. Please, take my word, do not believe if anyone tells you otherwise.
Now the time for questions:
(this one comes from the wife, who is a surgeon) 1 – Aren’t there any ancient medical devices or hand weapons on board Destiny designed by Ancients? TJ should not suffer that much as a medic!
2 – Will (would ) we see Destiny’s exact location in relation to earth, some number of light years etc? Will we have detailed specs of the ship (speed etc)?
3 – This is pretty streching but is there any chance Tauri would ally with Langara for use of their Naquadria to dial Destiny?
4 – Is it safe to assume Rush and Young will have a more stabilised relationship from now on?
Hi Joesph,
I liked your book review. I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like this type of story and I think I will go give it a try. Hey don’t laugh but confession here- I liked the Twilight series, but I know theres got to be stuff out there that is ten times better than it. Right? I am taking it on faith that this book will be better and it won’t disappoint me. And if it does o well at least I tried something new. 🙂
I have three main questions for you:
1.) Relates to the post Chris left above. Can fans make websites or movies that show support of their favorite shows and the makers of them? Are there some guidelines that fans should abide by? Imagery, video? I would like to tell about the show, help make viewers aware of Stargate Universe’s cancellation and get them on fire/excited to show support to MGM, producers of the show and to possible outlets. (Heck I’d really like to see all the cast and crew get their SGU jobs back too).
…(random thought)…I saw one of David Blue’s tweet a while ago about an interview for another possible job and it made me catch my breath there for a bit.
2.) Question on ratings and DVR’s. I’m sorry I have a confession to make. I have other life commitments too that sometime make it hard to watch the show “live”. 🙁
Was I and others hurting the show by trying to catch it air the second time that same night on Syfy or trying to DVR it so we wouldn’t miss it?
I was kind of wondering because I saw fans mad and posting comments about how DVR’s do not help the (Nielsen) ratings. It also seems that posts from others (on other sites) say ratings were to blame for the cancellation.
3.) I know Destiny is way the heck out in space but is there any chance that we might see something more dealing with the Furling or Ancient people (if there is a third season)? Could a couple from either group have struck out on their own a long time ago that we might see them now? I ask because….
I love to see things tie in with the other series. (Seeing the stargates in the seed ship satisfied my curiosity of how all the gates (in the other series) got to where they all were – that was rocking! Also seeing Jack, Samantha and Daniel at the beginning of the first season really helped the transition of believing in this new cast as the next Stargate explorers or what have you.
And for the radio communications comment from the other commenter, come on now where is your suspension of disbelief? It is a television show, and a good one at that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief
Thanks for the blog. Please keep it up,
Scott
Well I must have been subject to the Word Press glitch or the other options. Whichever it is I really don’t care but it was fun for a while. Good luck with your future endeavors and I”ll still hold out for more Stargate. But no more comments on your blog.
Hi Joe
I had stopped reading for a while and decided to use your reading list as a suggested list to get started again. Marjorie Liu’s “The Iron Hunt” is the first one I picked up and I have to say, I’m glad I did. I am now reading “Tiger” and Stephen King’s latest (The Dome, I think, or something like).
I agree with much of your commentary on Liu’s book. I did find that I wasn’t 100% sure what was going on in some bits, but the characters and the story were compelling enough that I was happy to let events unfold and reveal themselves to me. I do prefer that kind of compact storytellling as opposed to an information dump that can badly detract from a tale. I’m still not 100% sure i’m clear on all pieces, but I’m trusting that later stories will fill me in.
The writing is strong. Even when she was thrown into the wasteland, the images are stark and poetic in their way without ever shifting into the category of “too much.”
I also like the sprinkling of sci-fi among the urban fantasy. I’ve grown tired of urban fantasy (so much of the same thing redone) but this was different in tone and world. Part of what makes it work is that, though Maxine is supernatural by trade, she is very human and filled with human frailty. What also works is that the ‘bad guys’ have individual motivation and that we don’t have a simple good/evil dichotomy. That is hinted at with the differences between how Grant copes with the demons and how Maxine does.
Having said that, I adore that the main character is a strong, capable woman from a line of strong capable women who have to make hard decisions but, at least in the case of Maxine, never entirely lose the softer side.
It’s interesting that most of the characters have a secret and that to some degree, we know as much about each as Maxine herself does. That kind of close POV is hard, but Liu handles it well. The characters a fleshed out well enough that I want to hang around and find out more. I’m curious to find out what Grant and Bryron really are. That I want to get the next book in the series speaks well of Liu’s storytelling, worldbuilding and characterizations.
I’m also oddly drawn to the “boys”. Just what every girl needs, her own pet demons. Hey, they purr!
For Marjorie: I noticed that no non-supernatural or non-damaged human characters are in the close circle of people with whom Maxine interacts. (Or if they are, I don’t remember them). Was that a conscious decision? Why not provide one traditional human?
Was this book first conceived as a self-contained story or did you always plan to do a series? In building a world as complex as this one, how far out into the story do you plan the plot? Does the plan change much once you start writing?
My overall conclusion? I liked this a lot. A well told tale mixed with adventure and love and loss and despair and hope. Just the thing to get me back into reading.
I enjoy Misery. Have you read The Shining? Far, far better than any movie incarnation, Jack or not. I do love me some Jack.
Tomorrow morning I will be in an electronic queue to buy Burning Man tickets. Huzzah! Also my birthday, and Hot in Cleveland premiers. I had to bake my own birthday cake, but that’s normal. Pineapple upsidedown cake this year. With the obnoxious candied cherries. Hubby is home tonight, unexpectedly, so I do get a bit of a celebration after all. Yay!
Wow, I hope you are sure that Kat didn’t get an IP from a pool or posted from a place where other people use computers – or you have turned another fan to the dark side *g*
I enjoyed The Iron Hunt, but Joe, you have to stop selecting book one of a series! You’re making me crazy! On the one hand, it’s nice to find a new author I enjoy. On the other hand, I now have a lot of tantalizing unanswered questions rattling around in my brain and now I have to hope my library has the other books in the series or I have to add to my already burgeoning book collection.
I know I shouldn’t judge a book this way, but I was a little put off by the cover and the main character’s name (Maxine Kiss – really?????) It just struck a sleazy romance note in my mind. But maybe the author is going more for “kiss of death” …..
Your review summed up the major points pretty well, Joe. I like the setting (Seattle), I liked most of the characters – especially those associated with the deal Maxine’s ancestor struck with the demons long ago (“The Boys”, Oturu and the Tracker). I’m looking forward to learning more about that whole plot thread. The whole Wild Hunt thing is fascinating and I wish there had been more of it. But I expect there will be in later books.
I got a little bogged down in the story when Jack Meddle and Sarai were tossed into the mix (wolves and unicorns???), but after backtracking a little and restarting, the story started to flow for me again.
The thing that didn’t ring true for me is Maxine’s romance with Grant. Okay, he’s hot and well worth a fling , but he does so many things that are counter to Maxine’s upbringing and mission that I have a hard time seeing why they are still together. And Maxine’s mission is to destroy everything that Grant is trying to save. Maybe I just need more back-story to really understand that relationship better.
I’ll have author questions later this week. Thanks for another great book selection, Joe.
I must administer scorn over your hatred for my beloved Pats. A terrible gameplan separated them from another Super Bowl victory.
But I must ask, do you watch Dexter? I am really getting into this show. I ask because I noticed you mentioned that a pilot in waiting is dark and humorous, which is what I would classify Dexter. And that characters are deep and well written. One of the best shows on today, aside from House, SGU, and Castle. Agree?
Hey Joe, can you get the word out please.
I just caught Twitter name @SaveSGU (SaveStargateUniverse) and their Facebook page as
http://www.facebook.com/SaveSGU
calling Brian’s mom a moron. Sherry is a friend. Won’t tolerate that crap.
Joe, are you a fan or follower of J. Michael Straczynski by any chance?
Hi Joe:
That book, “The Iron Hunt” sounds a lot like “The Iron Chef”. Do you suppose that the similarity of names is what drew you to it?
Check out http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/heavy-on-the-butter-a-week-of-following-century-old-recipes/article1874954/
Maybe you should try some turn of the century recipes too. And then let us know your results,
Speaking of which, are you going to bring back The Weird Food Purchase Of The Day”?
Patricia
@PBMom
Yeah I just came from there.
I like reading your posts too but it’s a mess I for one would not like to see get dragged on here. 🙁
I hope Joseph deletes this whole comment after you get a chance to read it. (I hope that doesn’t sound bad to you).
And yes I am a follower of ALL the pages on Facebook and Twitter too.
Trying to stay neutral myself.
Sorry,
Scott
Hi Joe,
I am finally back to BoTM now that the stupid thesis is done (you can now call me Dr. antisocialbutterflie). This one was a really great book to jump back into the swing of things. I had been introduced Marjorie’s writing through a two-story fantasy romance where the male protagonist was a gargoyle. The story was so original and surprisingly well done. Building on that initial impression The Iron Hunt didn’t disappoint.
As a connoisseur of the urban fantasy it is easy for the author to fall into certain overdone tropes, the demon hunter being an oft abused protagonist. These stories can be gut-wrenchingly bad to the point of hilarity. The Iron Hunt was refreshingly different.
As mentioned in your post and by previous commenters the prose was driven forward at a break neck pace without being overly forceful. The forward momentum reminds me of Jim Butcher’s writing style, devoid of lulls and unfortunately stopping points. I didn’t find the missing bits of information (likely present in the prequel short story) too distracting and didn’t feel like it detracted from the novel at all.
I did wish that a little more time was spent on some of the lesser characters, particularly Jack, Sarai, and Tracker. There seemed to be a lot of potential there that was skimmed over to maintain the pacing.
Questions for Marjorie:
1) Where did the inspirations for the demon tattoos come from?
2) I’m not sure how to ask this without sounding snotty, so I will just say it. How do you find so many original ideas in a genre flooded with cliche and pandering to audience expectation?
Thank you for such a refreshing read.
Did you hear about the SaveSGU Drama Joe?
Someone explains here
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/8818gb
But SaveSGU creator has been abusive to BJS’s mom, and disrespectful to Mark Savelas wife, and of course going on some kind of crazy ego trip.
Heck, SaveSGUs twitter/facebook shows all the detail.
Horrible way for a campaign leader to act, especially towards the relatives of people involved with the show.
Two things…1 who’s Carl? What Todd? The wraith? Because I highly doubt that he has a heart tattoo on his butt.
2. My brother drew on the walls and blamed me for it as well. I got really mad at him because my parents believed him. NOT a fun day. Might want to tell her that you’re sorry.
For the mailbag… If you could have one thing to eat before you die, what would it be?
Thanks!
Maria
@maggiemayday: Have a wonderful birthday!
hi joe!
I was wondering what would happen if someone were to dial Earth from another stargate while both Atlantis and the gate at the SGC were both active ?
Would the gate on atlantis have a different gate address or would it have the same addresss as the one at the SGC, or wherever they are running the gate from ie. Homeworld Command at the Pentagon or Cheyene mountain ?
Since Atlantis is a flying city maybe the address stays the same kind of like Destiny ?
i love this book so what i’ve read all of majorine m liu’s books they are awesome