I was asked what kind of sci-fi I liked . . . I suppose ''áll'' is the most accurate answer!
I found sci-fi when I was about 10 (funny, about the same time I got fed up with Sunday School) and found the ''Kemlo'' series, by R A Martin, in the library, I was hooked on the first book. Actually have a copy of ''Kemlo and the Star Men'' from back then - very surprised with the non-patronising quality of language used in it, equal to Rowling or Pullman at least Suppose it appealed to the overly analytical science geek that I was even back then (and have never fully grown out of since...)
Reading mostly space opera at the moment, go in phases but depends on what available on Kindle mostly these days.
A friend once knocked Sci-fi and I had to defend it. First saying it is more ''speculative-fiction'', sometimes no real science in it at all. Then that it was any fiction written about the world of, possibly literally, tomorrow - it could be entirely about the world of the Internet and some, as yet, un-thought-of aspect of it.
Then came the concept of genres, I contended that sci-fi had just about every other genre - romance, psychological, philosophical, detective, comedy etc etc within its bounds. Like the ''ordinary'' genres it also encompasses all qualities from crap to masterworks. I like a theme that introduces me to new possiblities in how to think, makes me stop and digest what is written.
[To save correcting errors I have a small keyboard with a mouse pad plugged into the tablet. Trouble is it is foreign in its coding so I get odd accents over some letters - bear with it, lot easier than the onscreen keyboard for me!]
I suppose I have a few favourite series; the Liaden series for starters. Seems to be a whole lot of female main characters these days (not that I mind that if it is well written) but some blokes seem to want to include loads of (usually lesbisn) sex in the stories - get fed up with that very quickly, especially if it is otherwise a well written, inventive, story. Like a bit of innovation in my literature.
I also like fantasy, from the ''science grounded'' ''Recluse'' series by Modesitt to the very inventive ''Thaumatology'' series by Teasdale (though that latter is the worst offender for unecessary amounts of repetitive, gratuitous lesbian sex.)
I have been known to read other genres . . . Ocassionally . . Very ocassionaly. Got a bio lined up, one Captain Eric ''Winkle'' Brown, RN and test pilot extra-ordinary; flown more types of plane than any other person and lots of 'firsts' in other respects. Tried to push a Spitfire through the sound barrier (achieved Mach 0.92 in a dive!) But few have heard of him.
I also like sci-fi, though mostly movies. :smilenod: I don't get round to reading much sci-fi these days. A while back I wanted to read 'Dune' after watching the original 1984 version but couldn't find a copy in its original language, English. ::) Last book I heard (audiobook) was Ender's Game, and that was quite a long time ago.
QuoteA friend once knocked Sci-fi and I had to defend it. First saying it is more ''speculative-fiction'', sometimes no real science in it at all. Then that it was any fiction written about the world of, possibly literally, tomorrow - it could be entirely about the world of the Internet and some, as yet, un-thought-of aspect of it.
I don't pay too much attention to purists, it's science fiction or fictional science, I don't know. :P I don't think one needs to necessarily be pissed off by the fact that we can't hear explosions in space, because frankly, it would be less of an effect if cool space battles were like they would have been in silent cinema.
Edited for clarity
QuoteI don't think one needs to necessarily be pissed off by the fact that we can hear explosions in space
Know what you mean, SilverPhinx, but it does tend to annoy the physicist in me!
What they all miss is the drama that a fairly close explosion might cause. Imagine, the light travels fastest, then any gaseous wave front (analogous to a sound wave) to rock your ship about. Next come the small particles, a pinging and pinking on your hull. Then, gradually, the larger and larger bits bashing you about . . .
Far more dramatic than just a bang!
Surprised Dune not available in English, it is one of the classics of the genre, if bloody hard work to slog through the whole series!
As for the screen versions: Lynch's 1984 version does not follow the book so well as the later TV series - but in terms of casting, direction and cinematography it is strong enough to hold its own IMHO.
I'm a Sci-fi fan also - books and movies.
Didn't care for Lynch's Dune. Of course that's because I hadn't read the books before seeing it. As a movie, it's pretty pictures to go along with the book, IMHO. Doesn't stand on it's own.
Other movies: Silent Running, Alien, Star Trek and Wars (of course), also time-travel movies (like to see how they resolve the paradoxes)
For books, I tend toward hard sci-fi. Read a lot of Bear's writings. Also liked Clarke and Asimov.
A couple years back, I got to narrate the "Heaven's Shadow" trilogy. Quite a good set, but *lots* of characters to keep track of!
Quote from: Gloucester on June 25, 2016, 02:31:00 PM
Know what you mean, SilverPhinx, but it does tend to annoy the physicist in me!
What they all miss is the drama that a fairly close explosion might cause. Imagine, the light travels fastest, then any gaseous wave front (analogous to a sound wave) to rock your ship about. Next come the small particles, a pinging and pinking on your hull. Then, gradually, the larger and larger bits bashing you about . . .
Far more dramatic than just a bang!
That would be awesome in a 4D theater! 8)
Quote from: Gloucester on June 25, 2016, 02:31:00 PM
Surprised Dune not available in English, it is one of the classics of the genre, if bloody hard work to slog through the whole series!
As for the screen versions: Lynch's 1984 version does not follow the book so well as the later TV series - but in terms of casting, direction and cinematography it is strong enough to hold its own IMHO.
Quote from: joeactor on June 25, 2016, 02:43:52 PM
Didn't care for Lynch's Dune. Of course that's because I hadn't read the books before seeing it. As a movie, it's pretty pictures to go along with the book, IMHO. Doesn't stand on it's own.
Yeah, books in English are become a rarity here, you'd have to order them online and they can take an eternity to arrive, not to mention with an added price in some cases.
I'll probably get round to watching the newer Dune series, not so sure I wan't to read it now. :lol:
Do English books suffer bafly translated to Portugeuse?
A friend once described a book as bring, "De-nuanced out of existence," on being translated from French to German!
Quote from: Gloucester on June 25, 2016, 04:37:01 PM
Do English books suffer bafly translated to Portugeuse?
A friend once described a book as bring, "De-nuanced out of existence," on being translated from French to German!
Each language has it's own particularities, its own "soul" so to speak, which can be explored. It's not that some translations are bad, though some are. Mostly its the things that are lost in translation such as wordplay (which I like), neologisms and idioms are the main reasons why I prefer to read good books in their original language. Books that employ simpler language can be translated easily enough without
as much loss.
I tried reading a translation of Shakespeare, it really doesn't work, it's just not the same. :sadshake: And I don't mean that literally. :P
Speaking of Shakespeare and science fiction, I picked up a copy of these (https://www.amazon.com/William-Shakespeares-Star-Wars-Doescher/dp/1594746370) which were available in a bookstore, untranslated.
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51BMnyxtdML._SX339_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Funny stuff. :grin:
Language, its origins and uses, is another favourite subject of mine.
I have sort of answered your comments, SilverPhinx, on a new topis - Language.
Double feature?
Will Dr. X build a creature?
Quote from: No one on June 25, 2016, 08:28:28 PM
Double feature?
Will Dr. X build a creature?
Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear.
Quote from: joeactor on June 26, 2016, 02:54:01 PM
Quote from: No one on June 25, 2016, 08:28:28 PM
Double feature?
Will Dr. X build a creature?
Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear.
Ah! Fash Gordon!
I remember him well from Saturday Morning Flicks at the Grenada, Sydenham, when I were but crutch high to a London Bobbie.
The 1980 film was a classic spoof as well. I had a crush on Melody Anderson (Dale Arden) . . . for a week or so!
I've always loved science fiction. When I was a kid, my parents got exasperated with me only checking science fiction out of the library and tried imposing a quota on me. I ended up winning that standoff through childish stubbornness. I think they decided that the greater good was that I read. I was checking books out of the adult section of the library by second grade (and not that adult section, though I did learn some of that as well from my reading.
By third grade, I started writing my own science fiction. The early stuff was really knock-offs: Dr. Who, Scooby Doo, Star Trek, and Twin Peaks. But, through all of this, I forged my own identity. I still write novels. I won't claim they're any good.
I have been trying to write "hard" science fiction, though I don't think it's truly "hard." Merely, I keep real science in mind and try not to cross it. Favorite authors that inspire me include: A.E. van Vogt, Clifford D. Simak, Robert Heinlein, John Le Carre (not sci-fi), Graham Greene (also not sci-fi), and, lately, James S.A. Corey.
Can you tell us whst name you write under, Waski?
Quote from: Gloucester on June 27, 2016, 06:24:56 AM
Can you tell us whst name you write under, Waski?
So far, I write just for fun. I haven't tried to publish. Some day, if I feel like I write something that's good enough I might try.
Yes, I really do write novels for fun. I'm strange. ;)
Quote from: Waski_the_Squirrel on June 27, 2016, 04:44:39 PM
Quote from: Gloucester on June 27, 2016, 06:24:56 AM
Can you tell us whst name you write under, Waski?
So far, I write just for fun. I haven't tried to publish. Some day, if I feel like I write something that's good enough I might try.
Yes, I really do write novels for fun. I'm strange. ;)
Not strange at all, er, unless I am sort of strange as well... I used to write sort of explanations of sciency things for fun, or for the pleasure of writing - assembling ideas and concepts in a meaningful way. That the few friends who read them quickly gained an understsnding of, say, volume v density (Archmedes) was a bonus. No market though.
Have you never thought of offering them to Amazon under a pseodonym? I know a couple who have done this, even if Amazon offered the first ones at £0.00! Please, though, get your work proof read with editorial advice offered before doing so. There have been a coulple of sci-fi stories I have bought that had great plot themes but loads of typos spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors (to a pedant like me) on every page. I could notvreadvthem, onevwas republishedvafter another reader rewrote it for the author!
(I would never use an onscreen keyboard for serious writing - buckets of typo errors for me!)
I am currently working on a similar basis with a local author who is writing about the old buildings of our village and the history behind them. We have similar writing skills but I am the objective eye who has actually covered most of the village history already, but never published other than articles in the village magazine (which I edited for 7 years.)
Quote from: Waski_the_Squirrel on June 27, 2016, 04:27:27 AM
I've always loved science fiction. When I was a kid, my parents got exasperated with me only checking science fiction out of the library and tried imposing a quota on me. I ended up winning that standoff through childish stubbornness. I think they decided that the greater good was that I read. I was checking books out of the adult section of the library by second grade (and not that adult section, though I did learn some of that as well from my reading.
I got into science fiction very young, myself, and also encountered parental opposition to this proclivity. My mother read a couple of the books I'd got from the library and was dismayed at some of the concepts they contained, like consciousness transfer from one being to another. Luckily she didn't get her hands on any of the somewhat smutty New Wave (http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/new_wave) books, which might have lead to a serious embargo!
Though like
joeactor I generally prefer hard SF, I'm not that particular and can excuse many things if the writing is good. I've lately tended toward the modern space opera writers like Alistair Reynolds and Iain M. Banks.
The only science fiction I have read since my teens is 'Oryx and Crake' by Margaret Attwood. She looked at the scientific possibilities arising from then current areas of research and knowledge, and wrote a post-apocalyptic novel based on it. It was a bit pessimistic, (spoiler alert), but ended with a note of optimism.
The Day of the Triffids was the most memorable I remember. I guess this is what you would call soft science fiction and it got very political in a communist way at the end if I remember rightly.
Quote from: Essie Mae on June 27, 2016, 08:11:12 PM
The only science fiction I have read since my teens is 'Oryx and Crake' by Margaret Attwood. She looked at the scientific possibilities arising from then current areas of research and knowledge, and wrote a post-apocalyptic novel based on it. It was a bit pessimistic, (spoiler alert), but ended with a note of optimism.
The Day of the Triffids was the most memorable I remember. I guess this is what you would call soft science fiction and it got very political in a communist way at the end if I remember rightly.
You should read, "The Handmaid's Tale" by Atwood, Essie - more "alternative future fiction" than science. Even the film was quite good.
Quote from: Recusant on June 27, 2016, 08:00:43 PM
Quote from: Waski_the_Squirrel on June 27, 2016, 04:27:27 AM
I've always loved science fiction. When I was a kid, my parents got exasperated with me only checking science fiction out of the library and tried imposing a quota on me. I ended up winning that standoff through childish stubbornness. I think they decided that the greater good was that I read. I was checking books out of the adult section of the library by second grade (and not that adult section, though I did learn some of that as well from my reading.
I got into science fiction very young, myself, and also encountered parental opposition to this proclivity. My mother read a couple of the books I'd got from the library and was dismayed at some of the concepts they contained, like consciousness transfer from one being to another. Luckily she didn't get her hands on any of the somewhat smutty New Wave (http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/new_wave) books, which might have lead to a serious embargo!
Though like joeactor I generally prefer hard SF, I'm not that particular and can excuse many things if the writing is good. I've lately tended toward the modern space opera writers like Alistair Reynolds and Iain M. Banks.
Banks is brilliant, have to look out for Reynolds, don't remember comming across him.
Quote from: Gloucester on June 27, 2016, 08:28:16 PM
Quote from: Essie Mae on June 27, 2016, 08:11:12 PM
The only science fiction I have read since my teens is 'Oryx and Crake' by Margaret Attwood. She looked at the scientific possibilities arising from then current areas of research and knowledge, and wrote a post-apocalyptic novel based on it. It was a bit pessimistic, (spoiler alert), but ended with a note of optimism.
The Day of the Triffids was the most memorable I remember. I guess this is what you would call soft science fiction and it got very political in a communist way at the end if I remember rightly.
You should read, "The Handmaid's Tale" by Atwood, Essie - more "alternative future fiction" than science. Even the film was quite good.
I did both and agree.
In terms of the situation that is, unfortunately, becoming an everyday experience for some, it seems that the US government retains a sci-fi author as a consultant on future trends in warfare. This is according to "Boston calling", a prog on BBC Wotld Service but I csn't cortobirste it online.
However I did find this:
QuoteLast year, the U.S. Marines launched a sci-fi writing contest, ultimately publishing three entries that explore potential future warfare scenarios.
The U.S. military isn't the first to use science fiction as a creative planning tool — institutions like Lowe's, Hershey, and Del Monte have already employed sci-fi consultants.
https://futurism.com/from-sci-fi-to-reality-the-future-of-warfare/
QuoteWHAT BETTER WAY FOR THE MARINES TO PREPARE FOR FUTURE WARS THAN WITH SCI-FI?
https://www.wired.com/2017/01/better-way-marines-prepare-future-wars-sci-fi/
I might suggest that, if they want "out of the box" consulting they could look into the sc-fi ideas about society and the Internet, some "predictions" are already coming true.
Ah, just heard that bit of the prog again, seems David Brandt and another gave a talk on possible "apocalyptic aftermaths" other than the concept of the nuclear winter. Wish I could hear that talk,
I didn't know where else to put this. I even thought of starting a new thread possibly titled, "Fake News", or " Funny National Enquirer Stories".
But science fiction is as good a place as any for this crap. (And I used to respect the "The Telegraph", not sure what's going on over there in the UK anymore when you read cockamamie stories like this one)
...And what the bloody hell are "Cataholics"? Do they have a pope? Seriously, I just can't take it. :-X Ugh.
:puke:Cats are nice and enjoy spending time with humans, study finds (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/27/cats-nice-enjoy-spending-time-humans-study-finds/) :puke:
(https://i.imgur.com/yStGi6o.jpg)