SCI-FI MOVIE PAGE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

Sneak a peek at our staffers’ shopping lists for this holiday season for the latest SF books, music, games and DVDs . . .

Music

LORD OF THE RINGS – RETURN OF THE KING (THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS)
Howard Shore, Reprise Records

Four CDs of orchestral soundtrack goodness incorporating just what it says: every single note recorded the last installment of Peter Jackson’s epic movie trilogy. Highly recommended not just for completists but more casual buyers as this collection encapsulates the aura of Howard Shore’s epic score as several leitmotifs from the previous two films are repeated here again. If you want to buy only one Lord of the Rings collection, then this is the one!

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA – SEASON 3 – ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK FROM THE SCI-FI CHANNEL TELEVISION SERIES
Bear McCready, La-La Land records

Regular series composer Bear McCreary adds in more strings this time around for the exciting soundtrack music for this hit TV series. The emphasis is still on world music with loads – and we do mean loads! – of drumming though.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON - SOUNDTRACK
Music composed Philip Sheppard

Suitably spacey orchestral score for this “Ron Howard presents” documentary about the moon landings.

Books

SEASON OF THE WITCH
by Natasha Mostert

In this gothic thriller set in London a telepathic hacker becomes emotionally involved with two beguiling sisters who might just be witches! One can easily see this one being turned into a glossy The Cell-like Hollywood flick!

THE GUNSLINGER BORN (THE DARK TOWER GRAPHIC NOVEL)
by Peter David, Stephen King, Robin Furth, and Jae Lee

Comic book adaptation of the first volume in Stephen King’s epic Fantasy series set in an alternate reality. This is a long-term commitment: King’s epic series spans seven books! So there are lots more where this came from!

THE ROAD (OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB)
by Cormac McCarthy

Forget about this being an Oprah’s Book Club pick. For starters, any book club that picked Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections can’t be all that bad. Thus far some of the Oprah book club’s choices have been surprisingly literary. Same goes for this post-apocalyptic tale by the writer of No Country for Old Men, recently made into a movie by the Coen brothers.

THE DREAMING VOID
by Peter F. Hamilton

Space Opera by the kilogram! Yet another huge tome by the author of the brilliant Night’s Dawn trilogy. Perfect holiday reading!

MATTER
BY Iain M. Banks

As a matter of principle we read every single Iain Banks sci-fi effort and his latest "Culture" novel Matter will be no exception. Just don’t expect it in your x-mas stocking this year as it only sees release next year February . . .

Games

CRYSIS COLLECTOR’S EDITION
Electronic Arts

It kicks off as a military first-person shooter, but soon some more SF-y stuff including a vicious Predator-like alien is thrown into the mix. In typical Bush “Axis of Evil” style the villains are North Koreans and to strengthen the Predator analogy action is set on in the jungle on a tropical island . . .

RICHARD GARRIOTT'S TABULA RASA
Ncsoft

One of those on-line RPG games that is designed to destroy whatever vestiges of a social life you may have left . . .

ENEMY TERRITORY: QUAKE WARS
Activision

Latest incarnation of the one of the granddaddy 3-D shooters boasts spiffy graphics and of course multi-player action!

DVDs

THE X-FILES: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION

All nine seasons of this influential show newly collected on 61 DVDs!

ANGEL - COMPLETE SERIES COLLECTOR'S SET

All five seasons collected on 30 discs of this Buffy spin-off series by Firefly’s Joss Whedon.

DOCTOR WHO - THE COMPLETE THIRD SERIES

This latest season of the new Doctor Who revival doesn’t disappoint – take our word for it!