Science fiction booksReviewHis self-published debut sold 5m copies. The follow-up offers the same flat, sweary prose, fistfights and scientific mini-lectures - on the moon
Andy Weir’s first novel, The Martian, enjoyed a measure of success liable to make other writers slump slack-jawed and drooling, like Homer Simpson before a doughnut. Initially self-published, it became a word-of-mouth hit, got picked up by a regular publisher, sold 5m copies and was made into a blockbuster film by Ridley Scott. Read More...
Steeleye Span in 1973, left to right, Bob Johnson, Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Peter Knight and Rick Kemp outside the Royal Albert Hall. Photograph: Keystone Press/AlamySteeleye Span in 1973, left to right, Bob Johnson, Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Peter Knight and Rick Kemp outside the Royal Albert Hall. Photograph: Keystone Press/AlamyFolk musicObituaryBob Johnson obituarySteeleye Span guitarist whose rock, blues and folk influences became crucial to the band’s successWhen Steeleye Span ended their most recent tour with a sold-out show at Cadogan Hall in London, they began it with The Green Man, a song about environmental concerns written by their former guitarist Bob Johnson that had been lost for 40 years and never performed or recorded until 2023. Read More...
Television industryObituaryJohn Whitney obituaryPioneer of commerical radio and deviser of popular television dramas including Upstairs, Downstairs and Danger UXBThe television producer and broadcasting executive John Whitney, who has died aged 92, was a pioneer of commercial radio and independent television drama in postwar Britain. His biggest hit as a producer was the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs, which ran for five years from 1971 on ITV, and was revived in 2010 by the BBC. Read More...
