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Avatar fans will get a return trip to Pandora after all, just not in the way they may have expected. Avatar producer Jon Landau tipped MTV News off to James Cameron's latest Avatar project - a prequel novel that leads up to the events in the film. Fans can expect to learn more about Jake's relationship with his twin brother Tommy, Tommy's involvement with the Avatar program, and Grace's school for the Avatars and Na'vi.

While Cameron has never written a novel before, I think it's a good format for him. For one thing, he'll be unfettered by budgetary restraints, and when it comes to film, the guy likes to spend money. In a novel, he can dream big, and not have to worry about who's going to foot the bill. Secondly, if you've ever read any interviews with Cameron, the man is a huge science and technology geek. A novel will give him the chance to discuss science and tech in a way that just can't be explored in a film, without the risk of it coming across as boring or seeming like obvious exposition.

Landau thinks Cameron could have the novel ready by the end of 2010.

YouTube user FortunaStoryteller is one seriously dedicated Avatar fan. She took it upon herself to translate "Colors of the Wind" from Disney's Pocahontas into Na'vi -- the fictional language spoken by the aliens of the same name from James Cameron's Avatar.

The language was originally developed for the film by linguist Paul Frommer, who plans on expanding its vocabulary in the same way that Star Trek fans have expanded Klingon. I'm not entirely sure how FortunaStoryteller was able to translate all of the words on her own, but it certainly sounds like authentic Na'vi -- a dialect that, to my ears, seems inspired in part by the languages of the Pacific Islands. FortunaStoryteller's voice is clear as a bell, and her song choice is inspired, considering Avatar's detractors have derided the film as ripping off elements of the environmentally-friendly Disney flick.

You can see the song in its entirety after the jump.

Everyone's a film critic, right? Even the occupants of the Vatican. Earlier this week news outlets picked up the Vatican newspaper and radio station criticisms of Avatar, the gazillion dollar box-office buster with such damning words as.... "Bland" while applauding its "extraordinary visual impact."

Vatican Radio dismissed it as"rather harmless." Not exactly harsh words.

L'Osservatore Romano, owned by the Holy See, states, "Not much behind the images." I couldn't agree more, although I'm in the minority of non-Avatarites.

It's hardly the first time the Vatican had opinions on Hollywood productions in recent years. Disney was under fire for their involvement with Kevin Smith's Dogma (although interestingly enough, they didn't take on Smith himself).

Not surprisingly, the biggest issue the Vatican has with Avatar is the naturalistic spirituality of the Na'vi, something the Vatican has long derided and feared.

The Na'vi's spirituality centers on Eywa, an earth mother goddess, and to them, a literal living goddess, which is at least two major strikes against it in devout Roman Catholic eyes, as it's dangerously neo-pagan, which makes it an easy target. L'Osservatore almost diplomatically states that Avatar "gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature." Vatican Radio, on the other hand, snarks that it "cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium." Even that is more observation than damnation.

With over a billion dollars banked after release, the opinions of naysayers of any stripe aren't going to make any significant impact on the profits.

Welcome to Captain's Log -- your (semi) daily round-up of sci-fi randomness from around the web. Here's what's happening:

Go Team Venture! We're finally getting Venture Brothers toys, according to Entertainment Earth.

"When the aliens come, they will eat the fatties first." -- A line BoingBoing shares from a new health club ad campaign.

Michael Cera has become a light-saber wielder! [Cinematical]

Geekologie shares a tutorial on how to Photoshop yourself into a Na'vi.

Science is so cruel: Science Blogs reports that researchers use a laser to shave the barbs off fly penises to see what function they serve.

Superhero Hype reports that we should get ready for a line of Iron Man 2 spy gear for kids. Closing the door might not be enough to rid yourself of the watchful kid eye.

Did you know that Dell now has "Alienware"? [The Awesomer]

The plot of James Cameron's Avatar centers around the indigenous Na'vi people who inhabit the planet Pandora. While the Na'vi are aliens to us humans, many aspects of their culture and spirituality reflect those of ancient and indigenous cultures of Earth. Just to whet your appetite, here's a superficial review of some elements of Na'vi culture that are mirrored in human cultures.

"The People." Again, influenced by at least Native American cultures, if not others. Native American nations are known by outsiders by one name, but they call themselves another, which usually translates to "the people." For example, the word Navajo translates to "enemy of the cultivated lands" in Pueblo, but the people commonly known as "Navajo" call themselves "Diné" (or Dine'e) which translates roughly to "the people."

"I See You." The Na'vi not only greet each other with this phrase, it is used within rituals. It's similar to the Sanskrit "namaste." While it's associated with yoga practices, it has among its interpretations, "the divine in me sees and honors the divine in you." Another artificial language has a similar greeting; the Klingon greeting "oH QaQ 'e" translates to "I see you; it is good."

Hunt/Kill Ritual. Many Native American cultures invoke a short ritual honoring the animals they've killed during hunts, as well as only kill when necessary. These rituals include thanking the animal for its sacrifice, for its flesh that will feed the hunter and his/her family, and using as much of the animal as possible.

Earth-based and Mother Goddess Religion. While there are many earth or nature based religions ancient and contemporary, the most obvious reference here is simply, "Mother Earth."

[Welcome to the Sci-Fi Lunch Break, where we'll be supplying you with a cool bit of audio/visual goodness to break up the monotony of the work day. You bring the turkey on rye, we'll bring you something out of this world to watch while you eat it.]

Usually the Internet has to wait for something to become popular before its denizens start dressing up like it. Alas, further proving that there is little typical about James Cameron's Avatar, it has broken that cycle by inspiring an enthusiastic YouTuber's Halloween costume nearly two months before the movie is set for release.

Attempting to pull off Sam Worthington's character of Jake Sulley, the fan in question explains that it took countless days of planning and roughly five hours of makeup on the final day, which sounds like a lot of a devotion, but if you ask me it was worth it. Baring the necessary facial reconstructive surgery to make it look like he was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and taking some Skele-Grow to bump his height up another two feet to truly complete the look, I'd say this is a damned impressive bit of cosplay; particularly considering he would only have been able to use promo materials as his sources and not the end product.

His tail could use a bit of work, but the modded Nerf gun he has more than makes up for it. Plus the guy has a good sense of humor, as evidenced by a picture of him in front of a toy display at a store. Enjoy: