The Open Page: Book & Print News – 4/22/08

1) Nominees have been announced for this year's Compton Crook Award, which is given to the best SF, fantasy or horror debut novel of the year by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. The winner will be announced at Balticon 42, May 23-26, in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. The winner receives a $1,000 cash prize. The nominees are The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, The Outback Stars by Sandra McDonald, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin and One Jump Ahead by Mark L. Van Name.

2) Kathryn Lasky’s children’s fantasy series, Guardians of Ga’Hoole, is being adapted into an animated feature film. Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) will direct for Village Roadshow and Warner Brothers, from a script by John Orloff and John Collee. The movie is set in the Forest of Tyto, where Barn Owls live in peace until their kingdom is threatened by an evil that could destroy their home. The film is tentatively scheduled for late 2009/2010.

3) IDW Publishing will be releasing an illustrated horror anthology with the Simmons Comic Group called Gene Simmons’ House of Horrors, a collection from the first three issues of Simmons’ horror comic quarterly series. The anthology will be edited by Simmons, best known for his rock days with superband KISS, and will include stories by Chris Ryall, Tom Waltz, Dwight MacPherson, Sean Taylor, Nick Simmons, Leah Moore, and John Reppion. The book's cover is by artist Matt Busch, and the volume features the work of artists such as Andy Kuhn, Jeff Zornow, Steph Stamb, Esteve Polls, Grant Bond, Jon Alderink and others.

4) UK author Tim Lebbon is better known in the U.S. than on his home turf, but time for that to change. The author has done a two book deal with new UK publisher Allison and Busby. The publisher will be putting out Lebbon’s new fantasy novel Fallen and his horror novel The Everlasting in Britain in August 2008.  For more information, visit the author’s  website at www.timlebbon.net.

5) Busy author Steven Savile will be writing a series of tie-in novels for Stargate SG-1 with Fandemonium/MGM, the studio’s publishing arm. Savile is also doing two noir crime novels, Snuff and Hate Mail, with U.S. publisher Full Moon Press, to be released next year.

6) At the New York Comic Convention, Marvel Comics announced that they will be working with Hugo and Nebula Award-winning science fiction writer Orson Scott Card to adapt two of his most acclaimed novels, Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, into comic books later this year. The award-winning Ender series follows the saga of Ender Wiggins, a young boy trained to help fight an alien army. Card also currently writes the Ultimate Iron Man series for Marvel and will be serving as editor for the adaptations of his work. The Ender’s Game comic will be scripted by Chris Yost with art from Pasqual Ferry.