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All calendar dates on this site are in standard American notation:
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1/06/01: Welcome to Templeton Gate 2.0 I realize it is still very simple compared to a lot of other sites you may visit, but then again there are many that in my opinion have too many "bells and whistles" - fancy buttons and icons that are distracting from the content. My emphasis will always be on the authors, books, and films, etc. that I am recommending, and if there are those who don't revisit this site because of its simple design then they probably aren't going to agree much with what I think is worth reading and viewing either. Along with some new images we have moved the menu bar to the left. This created a narrower margin field for the essays, so I think they will be easier to read. I have also added some new essays on Isaac Asimov, and others will follow concerning The Foundation Trilogy and the Robot novels as soon as I am able to complete them, although it is possible I will write about someone else before that. I also added two Asimov sites to the Links page. I want to thank my son Alex again for all his help with the image designs and his patience with me. I don't know a tenth of what he does about computers, but I am learning a little more each day. We are contemplating a few other changes in the near future that will hopefully make your experience here more enjoyable. As always, I would appreciate your feedback. One thing I did not have time to do was check every link and image on every page, so if you spot a link that does not work or an image that does not load please let me know as soon as possible. Either email me or post it on the Templeton Gate Forums. 1/12/01: For lack of a better title, I have just posted My First Rant. 1/15:01: Oh, my aching back! I've spent the last three days slaving over my hot HTML editor, and I would guess I got about 10 hours sleep during that whole time. Was it worth it? I have no idea, but at least I have the worst of my headaces behind me. Adding to the different links as I add pages will be a snap compared to this. I have compiled four different pages, for books, films, and TV series available through amazon.com, as well as a page devoted to all the titles I have mentioned that are currently out of print. Also, each book or film is also linked within the articles themselves, although I would not be a bit surprised if I haven't missed one or two (or a dozen), or accidentally provided the wrong link on a title. There are several of the essays that I have edited somewhat, inserting some titles or other information. For instance, in two different RAH pieces I had mentioned an online poll of the best 100 novels of the 20th Century. I now have created a link to the archive of that poll and added it to the "Juvenile" and "His Life and Works" pages. I also put it on the Frank Herbert page, since Dune came in at #14, just ahead of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land. By the way, the ranking I have mentioned is from the readers' part of the poll. There is also another list compiled by the editors at Random House. And on the Links page I added a section for online retailers - amazon, the Science Fiction Book Club, Barnes and Noble, and Columbia House. The other day I posted on the forums about a reprint of Orphans of the Sky, available from Stealth Press, but now I realize it can be purchased through amazon as well, so if you had been thinking of adding this to your collection or replacing an older copy, feel free to use that link. I realize there are a multitude of sites with a link to amazon, and this site's association with them will not amount to much, but I think it is going to be interesting to track the new stuff being published as well as hopefully seeing some older titles come back in print. I mean, can you believe that Arthur C. Clarke's Hugo and Nebula award winner The Fountains of Paradise is currently out of print!?!?!? How did anyone let that happen? One other thing and then I've got to get a little sleep. I have added some images of book covers to the Heinlein Juvenile page. All of them were scanned from the copies I now have, even though in the past I had other editions. I gave a whole set of them to Alex but I have now replaced them on my shelves. What is there now is just a test, even though I like the look of it. Alex thinks all the images should have the new border, but so far he has not had the time to complete those. When he does we will put them up and ask for a vote as to which looks better. Eventually I would like to add a lot more images like that, not just books, but also film and television scenes, and who knows what all. I'm hoping we can keep coming up with fresh ideas to make the site more enjoyable. Thanks for all your support and encouragement, and I'll be talking at ya again later. 1/20/01: This week I have been working late hours trying to compile lists of all the Hugo and Nebulas, not just the winners, but all the nominees too. It has been like an SF history lesson, and I hope when I have them completed you can enjoy them as much more than just a list. It is interesting to see what the competition was in certain years and how the two awards either complimented each other, or conflicted. It has brought back so many memories of stuff I haven't read in many years, and I am including the novellas and short stories too, since almost all the genre writers start out with short works. Also, it has been a bit sobering for me, since things I recall as "recent" really are quite a few years back, and it surprised me about how many writers who are still very active and popular go back many more years that I had realized. Can't say for sure now when the pages will be ready, as I will be linking any available ones to amazon. I just added a few new amazon images to those pages, and also re-worded my intro there, so you might want to take a look at that again. Regardless of where you do get your books, I hope you enjoy them immensely! Later. 1/30/01: I finally got around to adding images to another page, this time it was the Gene Wolfe essay. Please note that the bookcover images on that page are scanned from my copies (except for The Books of the Short Sun and Strange Travelers, which I have not bought or read yet). Those I copied off amazon. The newer editions of these books, most of which are available from amazon, feature different cover art. I think you should be able to tell by the size of the images which ones I have in paperback and which in hardcover. All of the hardcovers I got from the Science Fiction Book Club, including the four volumes of the Book of the New Sun and the two volume set of the Book of the Long Sun, but unfortunately none of those are available from the club now. They are offering a one-volume edition of the Book of the New Sun however, but it is the only one of his books you can get from them at the moment. I really love the cover art by Don Maitz on Shadow/Claw/Sword/Citadel that I have, and I think all of the books I have feature better covers than those of the current printings. I decided that the book covers look best without the border that is around the author's portraits, but more than likely whenever I get around to images from films and TV shows they will get the border and the "scan-line" look. Perhaps Alex can make those borders look more like a movie screen or a TV. I am still working on the Hugo/Nebula awards lists. So far I've tried about three different designs looking for the one that looks best, and since there are so many titles to check and link to amazon it may be another week before it's ready. I am also thinking of doing a page devoted to the John W. Campbell and the Philip K. Dick awards. 2/04/01: The Hugo & Nebula Award pages are now up and ready for inspection. There are several other related pages, all of which you can access from links on that main page of the 2000 awards. All of the new pages are also mentioned on the Authors and Books page, and all of the new book titles have been updated on both the Books at Amazon and Out of Print pages. I am very tired already from having to type the phrases "out of print" and "unavailable" so many times, maybe someone can help me come up with an alternative way to say that. Since most computer users are used to seeing and using acronyms all the time I might start using a new one - "OOP." 2/09/01: I have added an image to the Frank Herbert page. Since I have mentioned several times that I didn't start reading SF until 1967, you will know that the magazine cover I have added is not one I bought new. A friend of mine found it recently at a flea-market sale and was kind enough to give it to me. 2/11/01: I have gone back to gray for the links, although it is not as dark a gray as we were using before. Also, I wanted to stress again that if you do not have the Helvetica font on your computer then you are not seeing the pages in the way that Alex and I designed them. Helvetica is a much broader and bolder font than Times New Roman, and in my opinion it is much easier to read. Hopefully we will soon have information for you on that. 2/16/01: I've added some more links recently. I already mentioned cordwainer-smith.com on the forums the other day, and I found a link on that site for another book review page, called Ex Libris. Also, I added the SFWA's recipients of the Author Emeritus Award to the Hugo-Nebula Pages. They began that particular award in 1994 to honor writers who have a long and distinguished career, but who were not as well known and not likely to be considered for Grand Master. This year's honoree for Author Emeritus will be Robert Sheckley, with the Grand Master Award going to Philip José Farmer. 2/17/01: Another link has been added, for a John Varley site. This is not the johnvarley.com page I mentioned in my article - that one is still in the building stage. If I'm not mistaken I came across this one in my initial search but it must have been under construction at the time (and what website isn't always under construction of some sort, at least any that are worth looking at?). It mentions an upcoming novel entitled Irontown Blues, but does not give any specific information on when it is due. There is a letter from Varley posted there that mentions it as being part of what he is referring to as his "metal" trilogy, following Steel Beach and The Golden Globe, so it is obvious it also fits into his ever-growing Eight Worlds sequence. 3/22/01: Miracle of miracles! Finally an update! 3/31/01: I was finally successful in logging into to Tripod and I added an article concerning Harlan Ellison's Screenplay for I, Robot. Also, I have added a book title to the SF References page, and I made a few minor revisions in my article on Babylon 5, although I still intend to add a lot more to that page in the future. 4/06/01: Today's update is a page on the film Blade Runner. I apologize for going against my previously stated intention of avoiding spoilers in reviews, but I hope you will agree that it was necessary in this case. 4/20/01: I finally finished my article on Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. You might wonder why it took me so long since it is not a long article or very detailed in its analysis. I probably started it over at least five times trying for the right balance of descriptive detail without revealing too many elements that would spoil the books for anyone who has yet to read them. Also, I changed the image on the Blade Runner page, and as you may already be aware, I've changed the font style as well. So far I have made this change only on the Asimov articles, and the ones on Blade Runner and Ellison's I, Robot Screenplay. I will be working some more on this over the weekend and will eventually change all the pages over to this new font (Arial). 5/05/01: I added a short article on Roger MacBride Allen, and soon I will add a page with a review of his first two novels. Also added a link to his website. Since no one responded to my post on the forums regarding Allen I have to assume most of you are unfamiliar with his work, but based solely on his first two books I am recommending him highly. 5/10/01: I just uploaded a review of Roger MacBride Allen's first two novels, known collectively as Allies and Aliens. I also finally got around to adding the most recent Nebula Award-Winners to that page, and also added an image to the review page for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish. . . Hello all, Alex here. I just thought that this should be on the main page. Friday morning, Douglas Adams, author of such hilarious books as "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy," "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency," and "The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul," passed away at the age of 49 from a heart attack. He will be dearly missed by his fans. I'm not very good at writing this sort of thing, but I certainly hope that wherever he is now he's finally found the question to the Ultimate Answer. . .thanks for all the laughs, Doug.
Slaughterhouse Five A page on the film Slaughterhouse Five has been added. Also, as you've already noticed, we have linked this site to a webring of others devoted to science fiction writing. Even though my efforts have been analytical rather than creative, we do have the "Member's Creations" Forum. I have reason to believe that forum will become much more active in the near future, and I again offer the invitation to anyone else who might be interested in writing book or film reviews. Just email me and we can talk about it.
Poul Anderson Just uploaded a page on Poul Anderson, and added a link to a good site devoted to his work on the Links page. As Anderson is a very prolific writer, and since I mention many of his books in the article, it was necessary to add many titles to the Out of Print page under his name. Fortunately, the majority of the novels he has released over the past dozen years are still in print, and I included them on the Books at Amazon page, and they are also linked within the article itself.
Arthur C. Clarke A new article about Arthur C. Clarke has been added, although I am sure I will return to add other comments on him and several of his books at a later time.
Phillip K. Dick Sorry for such a long time since the last update. Today I posted an article on Philip K. Dick, and I also added a link to philipkdick.com.
A.I. Finally finished my article on the film A. I. I would have like to have said more about it, but didn't want to spoil it too much for anyone who has yet to see it. Hopefully we can discuss it on the forums, as I feel it deserves a lot more attention than any other film I have seen this year.
Norman Spinrad Again, it has been longer than I had wished since the last update, but this evening I have added a page on Norman Spinrad. One of the main reasons it took longer than anticipated is I kept thinking of other things I wanted to say about his work, and over the last couple of weeks I have also been sampling some of his shorts stories and portions of his novels. Damn, I wish I had more time to read. Right now I feel like re-reading all of his stuff! Also, be sure to visit his Homepage, there is a lot of good information there.
Hugo And Nebula Awards List I have updated the Hugo-Nebula pages to reflect the latest winners, and reorganized the pages somewhat, creating a new separate page just for the Retro-Hugos.
Clifford D. Simak Article Online I've just uploaded a new page devoted to the work of Clifford D. Simak, and also added a link to the best webpage I could find on him.
It’s about time! Finally, after a long period of slacking off and procrastination, I've finished a review for the Templeton Gate! The review in question? An overwhelmingly positive analysis of Peter Jackson's Dead Alive (also known as Braindead). Head on over to the films section and check it out!
Silverbob time! A new page on Robert Silverberg has just been added. Also added some new Links and made some slight revisions to several other pages, most notably adding images to the Babylon 5, Dune Mini-series, and Star Trek: TOS pages.
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