In the meantime, however, I'd like to say thanks to everyone who is making Xenagia a success. Getting a new site going on the modern Internet is a considerable amount of work, and much of that comes in getting "critical mass", that count of users who are enough to make a site self-sufficient.
So, thanks to everyone who has read the forums, looked over our reviews, and perused the book index. Thanks to everyone who has told friends about the site. And thanks to everyone who has actively contributed to the site through their own reviews, through forum postings, and through entry of new books into the index. I hope to see you all back next year, as we work to grow Xenagia from its small beginnings to being one of the top science-fiction, fantasy, and horror sites on the Internet.
This Week: Peace; Strike Talks Dead; Other TV & Movie News; Other Threads of Note.
-Shannon
Site News
PEACE: Honestly, this is the main point of this week's newsletter: to remind you that our next book group is going to be about _Peace_, by Gene Wolfe. It was his first novel, and it's generally regarded as one of his best. Read it over the Christmas holidays while you're on planes, in cars, or just hanging out and relaxing, and we'll start discussing it when you get back, on January 1st.
Peace @ Amazon US
Peace @ Amazon UK
Media News
STRIKE TALKS DEAD: The biggest news in the media world is that not only are the Hollywood strike talks dead, but they're so dead that the studios now seem increasingly intent on misrepresenting the position of the writers in the media, while the WGA is now filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. The only bright point seems to be the WGA's attempt to force the six studios to bargain individually, rather than allowing them to continue to bargain as a group through AMTMP.
Meanwhile, out here in TV land, we're seeing series come to a conclusion, with Heroes and Pushing Daisies being among the first down, while the networks are starting to advertise the reality offerings they're going to bringing to our screens in 2008.
Personally, I predict a long strike at this point, with TV moguls gleefully cackling over the fact that reality shows will replace writers and putting out a half-a-season of them to a public that will be increasingly sick of them by the end of the season. As summer breaks and the networks find themselves with plunging ratings, no pilots, and no contracts, they'll be forced back to the bargaining table to do what they should have done now. However, it could already be too late to avoid big changes, and I foresee the result being a permanent erosion in TV viewing habits, as people are driven to DVDs--not available during the last strike--which will in turn force the networks to reevaluate how they consider shows' popularities, since an increasing number of viewers will thereafter watch them via other means than broadcast, speeding up a trend that's been ongoing for a few years.
The only possibility I see to avoid this future is if the WGA manages to peel away one or two studios who will be most benefited by bargaining individually, but the rest of the studio collective is going to do their best to prevent that, so I find it an unlikely result.
However, the results of a long strike could actually be beneficial for our genre shows, since they've always done well in DVD sales and thus any methodology that considers DVDs more and broadcast ratings less will value them more highly. But, it'll still be a dry spring unless you're a fan of Big Brother.
Writer's Strike
OTHER TV & MOVIE NEWS: Surprisingly, there's been a bit of other news from various movie and TV producers, including info on the X-Files movie, Doctor Who, and JMS' newest projects. Though some of these will clearly be on hiatus throughout the strike, it's notable that Doctor Who should be a rare new SF TV show that we get to enjoy next year, thanks to it being produced in Wales.
Doctor Who Casting Spoiler
JMS' B5, and Other Projects
X-Files Location Shots
OTHER THREADS OF NOTE: Finally, here's a few more of our most interesting threads from last week:
Clark Ashton Smith
His Dark Materials Theology
Singularity Sky Book Group
