We’re having another Author Explosion at Seattle Geekly this week. On Thursday’s show we’ll be talking with four northwest authors about their work and hopefully hooking you up with some reading material to get you through our next little hiatus. Just to remind everyone, Episode #43 will be our last show for 2009! We are taking the next two weeks of and will return triumphantly in January with Episode #44, our Best In Geek 2009 list.

It being the time of year for “best of” lists, I wantedd to start off the news with a few choice ones that I have run across.

• American Film Institute 10 Most Outstanding Motion Pictures and TV Programs of the Year
• i09′s Best Science-Fiction Books of the Decade (the term “science-fiction” must be defined very broadly to cover several titles on their list)
• i09′s Best New Character of the Decade
• Comic Book Resources’ 100 Best Comic Storylines of All Time (they are still counting down and will be adding a new entry every day until they have all 100)

The rest of your Monday news is under the fold

Boardgames

Fans of the Warhammer 40,000 universe will want to check out Horus Heresy, the latest “big box” game from Fantasy Flight that was announced Friday.

In the Horus Heresy board game, the most legendary battle in the history of the Warhammer 40,000 universe unfolds across the razed plains of Terra and in the frozen orbit above. Deadly fighting ranges from the Emperor’s golden Inner Palace to Horus’s flagship, the Vengeful Spirit.

Taking the side of traitor or loyalist, two players control either fearless Space Marine legions or deviant Chaos Space Marines, mighty Titans, Imperial Armies both loyal and traitorous, and a fearsome array of other units, including the Emperor and Horus themselves.

The game comes with over one hundred sculpted plastic playing pieces, a three-dimensional map and six scenarios of varying levels of difficulty. Interestingly the game does not use dice. Instead it uses a “card-driven combat system [that] incorporates escalating damage, gives players the opportunity to allocate resources between attack and defense, and brings to bear the unique special powers of each unit type”. The game will retail for around $100 and is expected to be in stores next March.

Comics

Cerebus/Spawn crossover back in print after fifteen years. Todd McFarlane and Dave Sim’s highly acclaimed collaboration in SPAWN #10 guest-starring Cerebus returns to print for the first time since its original run in 1994 with the publication of the upcoming Spawn Origins Collection: Deluxe Edition Vol. 1. Cerebus creator Dave Sim will also be reprinting the issue in a future Cerebus collection as well.

“It hasn’t been reprinted since it first came out. I’m very glad that’s all over with after 14 years. Todd sent me black and white scans of Spawn 10 which will be published in a Cerebus Miscellany volume someday and, hopefully, Spawn 10 will be included in any and all future collections if the Toddmiester decides to make that official McFarlane policy.”

In addition to the Cerebus crossover, the Spawn Origins Collection includes classic Spawn stories written by Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Grant Morrison and, of course, Todd McFarlane.

TV

The *shudder* SyFy channel has picked up Stargate Universe for a second season in spite of mixed reactions from fans according to The Hollywood Reporter. SGU just aired its midseason finale and will finish off the first season starting in April. The new season will begin in the Fall of 2010.

Video Games

Spike TV aired their Video Game Awards this Saturday. The winners included –

• Game of the Year: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Best Xbox 360 Game: Left 4 Dead 2
• Best PS3 Game: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Best Wii Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
• Best PC Game: Dragon Age: Origins
• Best Handheld Game: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
• Best Shooter: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• Best Fighting Game: Street Fighter IV
• Best Action Adventure Game: Assassin’s Creed II
• Best RPG: Dragon Age: Origins
• Best Multiplayer Game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• Best Music Game: The Beatles: Rock Band
• Best Game Based On A Movie/TV Show: South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play!
• Best Downloadable Game: Shadow Complex
• Most Anticipated Game of 2010: God of War III

Another tidbit of news from the Spike VGA show was the announcement of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 and the release of the first trailer for the game. Enjoy!