Fantastically Fun Fridays: August 26, 2011

Hooray!  It's Friday!

Yesterday, a former student of mine who now works at Orbit sent me a link to a trailer that she had worked on for Brent Weeks' The Black Prism.  It's pretty cool.

The idea of having a trailer for a book is an interesting one--part of me likes how it creates excitement for the book, but part of me also wonders about using visual images to promote a text-based narrative.  Does using these images somehow take away from the ability of the book to stand on its own? 

For me, the ideal book trailer is one that creates excitement for the book without showing the characters or the events of the story, so that the book has the first crack at creating these images in the reader's mind.  The trailer for the Spanish version of Pat Rothfuss's Wise Man's Fear is a great example of this--it sets the mood, but lets the book stand on its own.

What do you think?  Are there other fantasy book trailers that are available and worth watching?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Here are some other fun odds and ends to help you ease into the weekend:

• Jim C. Hines brings you fantasy literature's answer to Sir Mixalot. (jimhines.com)

• I have always wanted to be Sydney Bristow, and Geek Zodiac confirms that being a super-spy is, in fact, my destiny. (Geek Tyrant)

• Can you name them all?  Let's start easy with this science fiction landscape.  Got them all?  Good.  Then try out the "Trexels" print from John Martz and Koyama Press.  Need an even bigger challenge?  Here you go: Where's Wall-E? (Flickr/John Martz/Hopewell Studios)

• "In the basement rollin' dice...I'm a wizard...Roll a D6!" (YouTube)

• Great essay by Campbell nominee Saladin Ahmed on the supernatural in Islamic lit. (Fantasy Magazine)

• Need an idea for redecorating your basement?  You could go with a Portal theme, complete with this nightlight and these mirrors.  Just make sure you have cake, too! (Imgur/Technabob)

Happy weekend, everyone!