Author Topic: Science Fiction / Fantasy (Read 384986 times)

PatH · « **Reply #200 on:** May 22, 2009, 01:13:45 AM »

Science Fiction / Fantasy

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Welcome to the whole universe! This is where we gather to share our experiences in science fiction and fantasy. We like everything, from Gregory Benford to Stephanie Meyer—hard science to magic and fantasy.

Come in, sit down with us, and tell us what you are reading or have read, what you like or dislike.

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Discussion Leader: PatH

Babi · « **Reply #201 on:** May 22, 2009, 08:31:16 AM »

I will miss Medium; my daughters and I all enjoy it. I suspected we had seen the last
of it when I saw an item on TV of a new show Patricia Arquette will be starring in
this fall. I hope it's as good as medium.

I was curious about the new Star Trek movie, PAT. Thanks for posting your SIL's
recommendation. I'll put it on our Netflix list.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #202 on:** May 22, 2009, 09:02:10 AM »

Great News! CBS picked up Medium! They will announce details later.

Steph · « **Reply #203 on:** May 22, 2009, 10:05:02 AM »

Medium was picked up by another channel. They are going to show it after the Ghost show on
Fridays. I think the Medium is the better show. The girl who is the star of the Ghost show cannot resist showing off her (hmm) assets.. It is remarkable. Everyone other female on the show is covered up and then out she comes.. now sleeves, plunging everything. Ah well. found out she was originally aplus size model..
Yes, I thought that this Star Trek was really good. I liked one of the early ones the most..I think it had Khan in the title.

PatH · « **Reply #204 on:** May 22, 2009, 11:04:41 PM »

That was "The Wrath of Khan", my second favorite. Ricardo Montalban played Khan. My favorite is the next one, "The Search for Spock".

I'm home now, and will try to find the earliest possible chance to see the new one.

Babi · « **Reply #205 on:** May 23, 2009, 09:01:53 AM »

Since Patricia Arquette is going to be working in another show, I am guessing
CBA will be showing re-runs. Maybe not.

I enjoy "Ghost Whisperer", STEPH, but I have to agree about the star's style of
dressing. But then, she is the producer...or is it director? In any case, she
does what she likes, and she definitely likes being the center of attention.

Steph · « **Reply #206 on:** May 23, 2009, 09:48:56 AM »

I have no idea about Patricia Arquette, but CBS announced they had purchased(?) or acquired Medium and it would follow Ghost Whisperer on Friday nights.
Wrath of Khan.. and Ricardo Montalban.. One of those early movie stars who made me very happy to watch. Gorgeous man.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #207 on:** May 23, 2009, 02:16:03 PM »

Lots of confusion but it seems that CBS owns Medium and snapped it up when NBC dropped it. Mentalist, starring yummy Simon Baker, is moving to Thursday which puts CSI in greater jeopardy; without William Peterson CSI is hopeless IMHO. There are some new SF series planned for next year. Google TV fall Schedule and look for the Variety site where the new season is objectively described without the network hype/bias in most of the press stories. (For some reason my software no longer allows me to copy and paste URLs.)

Babi · « **Reply #208 on:** May 24, 2009, 09:21:23 AM »

I hate it when competition for prime time spots means two of more of my favorite shows are on at the same time. Think goodness for the technology to record some of them.
I agree that Wm. Peterson has been a loss to CSI. I still watch it, tho'. I think one could consider the CSI series as Science Fiction, as it is fictional stories with a strong scientific core.
The one that frequently annoys me is CSI Miami. 'Horatio' cannot seem to do or say anything without posturing for the camera. Whenever that one is competing with another show I like, Miami CSI loses.

Steph · « **Reply #209 on:** May 24, 2009, 09:45:56 AM »

Horatio drives me nuts. Wont watch the show. I still watch CSI, but darn it all, dont like the new guy,, still grieving over the guy they murdered.. Now NCIS is doing stupid things with Zivah.. She is the character I like, they could send Tony to the moon and I would be happy.
Science fiction shows that I like are few and far between. MDH hates them, so have to retreat to another tv to watch them.

Frybabe · « **Reply #210 on:** May 24, 2009, 11:39:58 AM »

I agree with you about Horatio. I heard long ago, but never confirmed that David Caruso started out as a model, hence the posing. I don't remember doing all that posing when he was on NYPD Blue, but then I didn't watch that much. CSI: Miami is my least favorite of the CSI group and like you, Babi, if something else is better I watch that instead. Some shows just don't catch my interest so I don't even watch them later on On Demand. Too bad, some of the actors in the show I do like.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #211 on:** May 24, 2009, 01:31:28 PM »

What are they dong to Zivah? She deserves better. She is why I watch the show, although the rest of the ensemble works very well, too. I regard Tony as the comic relief. Never watched Miami cause I can't stand david Caruso. I hope CBS brings Flash Point back; I love those guys. Sure glad Numbers is back. Another Fox xhow I like is Bones. The last show of the season was a hoot!

mrssherlock · « **Reply #212 on:** May 24, 2009, 06:06:32 PM »

While we are still on this TV thread have you seen Primeval? It's on BBC. Ihappened to catch the last episode of season one on SF channel and got hooked so I've ordered the DVD from Netflix for seasons 1 & 2 since season 3 just atarted on BBC.j Here's more: http://www.bbcamerica.com/shows/primeval/

Steph · « **Reply #213 on:** May 25, 2009, 09:00:38 AM »

I like Bones as well, and my husband adores it. I understand from various gossip things that the main character in Bones is not easy to work with. A truly militant vegetarian,, possibly a vegan and doesnt wear leather, etc either..
I am hoping for the best with Zivah.. They made her such an interesting character with such strength and intelligence.

Babi · « **Reply #214 on:** May 26, 2009, 08:14:19 AM »

Oh, that last Bones was literally 'somethng else', wasn't it? I loved
that quirky departure from format.

I sometimes get annoyed with Tony, but I remember what an excellent job
he did when he took Gibbs place for a while. There's much more to the
character than he reveals most of the time, preferring to play the gadfly.
I feel confidant that Ziva will be back.

My grandson is a vegan. He generally has to bring/buy his own food when
he visits. He is a very sweet young man, but he does adhere to his diet.

Steph · « **Reply #215 on:** May 26, 2009, 08:53:16 AM »

We have a young friend who is a vegetarian, not a vegan.. She eats chicken and fish. She has three small boys and a husband who likes meat.. Soooo McDonalds has reared it ugly head. She is really struggling with their joy at Hamburgers..
Reading the latest Sookie and loving it.. Quinn is now gone from her life. When will she stop and look at Sam..

PatH · « **Reply #216 on:** May 27, 2009, 07:45:08 PM »

Jackie, thanks for the recommendation of "Primeval". I put the first disc at the top of my Netflix queue, but somehow it didn't take, so I'm getting "Daywatch" instead. That's the second of Sergei Lukyanenko's trilogy. The first, "Nightwatch", is somewhat unintelligible unless you've read the book, and also somewhat bleak. Reviews suggest the second movie is fairly psychedelic in effect. We'll see what I make of it. It's obviously popular, since it's also available for instant play.

Steph, if your friend eats chicken and fish, she's not exactly a vegetarian. There are so many different levels of meat-non meat diets that I've found the only safe thing to do is to ask for specifics. As long as I know the rules, I don't mind accommodating any diet whatever. It's an amusing challenge.

Steph · « **Reply #217 on:** May 28, 2009, 08:29:57 AM »

I agree that chicken and fish do not sound vegetarian to me, but she is quite adamant that she is a committed vegetarian.. Who knows.
I do know someone or did some years ago when was so much into it that she wouldnt eat at your house, because your dishes and pots, etc had cooked meat.. Weird.. Since I knew for sure that when she traveled for her job, her husband and teens cooked all sorts of meat. She just never knew.

PatH · « **Reply #218 on:** June 10, 2009, 11:47:23 PM »

Catbrown: I see from one of your posts in "The Night Villa" that you are in Berkeley. I used to visit there a lot when my daughter was going to law school and my SIL was in grad school. Is my favorite sci-fi bookstore, the Other Change of Hobbit, still going strong?

For non-Berkeleyites, it's a great new and used sci-fi/fantasy bookstore. It reminds me a little of Terry Pratchett's descriptions in "Guards! Guards!":

"...even big collections of ordinary books distort space, as can readily be proved by anyone who has been around a really old-fashioned secondhand bookshop, one of those that look as though they were designed by M. Escher on a bad day and has more staircases than storys and those rows of shelves that end in little doors that are too small for a full-sized human to enter. The relevant equation is: knowledge=power=energy=matter=mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read."

"Books bend space and time. One reason the owners of those aforesaid little rambling, pokey secondhand bookshops always seem slightly unearthly is that many of them really are, having taken a wrong turning in their own bookshops in worlds where it is considered commendable business practice to wear carpet slippers all the time and only open your shop when you feel like it."

The proprietors of "Hobbit" definitely fit, and you would sometimes have to work hard to get them to take your money.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #219 on:** June 11, 2009, 12:09:32 PM »

James Schmitz is one of those "Golden Age" authors who was breathing the same air as Asimov, Clark, Bradbury, and Heinlein. Eric Flint , of 1632 alternate history fame, has been editing and reissuing allhis works, seven paperbacks in all. The Telzey stories take up the first four, #6 is all his other short stories - 730 pages of them; Witches of Karres will be #7. I've read them all and enjoyed them. Stories from the 50's and 60's have their little anachronisms but the story lines are still strong. Sort of deja vu; wondering what I was doing when I read these the first time?

PatH · « **Reply #220 on:** June 11, 2009, 07:23:16 PM »

Jackie, I missed him the first time around, guess I should try him now?

Steph · « **Reply #221 on:** June 12, 2009, 07:54:50 AM »

Oh I loved James Schmitz and read all of them. The Witches has( I believe) a followup book.. At least I seem to remember reading a bit more on the Witches, especially the littlest one. Telzey is quite a number.. Thanks for reminding me of a long time favorite author.
He was like another favorite. Just did not write nearly enough. Zenna Henderson was also like that. She didnt write very much, but what she did was pure heaven. Her people felt so real..

Babi · « **Reply #222 on:** June 12, 2009, 09:27:51 AM »

PAT, I loved your quote from "Guards, Guards". That was one of the first Pratchett books I read and I didn't remember that quote. Thanks for posting it.

I don't know Schmitz or Zenna Henderson. I'll have to check on them.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #223 on:** June 12, 2009, 02:57:45 PM »

Babi: You are in for a real treat when you read Zenna Henderson. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/zenna-henderson/ She first showed up in Analog or F&SF and I couldn't read enough of her stories. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenna_Henderson My library doesn't have any listing for her; her work is probably only available used.

Babi · « **Reply #224 on:** June 12, 2009, 05:40:37 PM »

JACKIE, unfortunately my library doesn't have a single Zenna Henderson book.
I did pick up "The Witches of Karres" this morning and have started that. I am bemused, and interested to see what manner of man our hero will become under the tutelage of the witches.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #225 on:** June 15, 2009, 12:39:27 PM »

Finally we got a chance to view the first Primeval DVD from Netflix and found, after three hours of excitement and dread, that CC is included. Believe me, I'll use it for the next episodes since the actors speak softly and the various British accents are not always easy to understand. This one goes right to the top on my list of favorites. Prosfessor Nick Cutter, his lab assistant Stephen, his graduate student Connor, and reptile specialist, Abby, stumble across a living, breathing anachronism, a creature frpm Earth's prehistoric ages, roaming around the countryside. Sightings multiply and the Home Office spends its time thwarting the scientific study in order to prevent panic. BBC America has split the 23 episodes into three "seasons" of 6, 7, and 10 episodes.

Steph · « **Reply #226 on:** June 16, 2009, 08:09:04 AM »

Zenna Henderson is truly hard to find.. Used science fiction places may have some.. She is worth the search. She was a teacher and her writing was remarkable.

Babi · « **Reply #227 on:** June 16, 2009, 08:13:38 AM »

Primeval must have been on one of those stations I didn't get
pre-Cable, JACKIE. Sounds interesting. I'll get the first one
and then decide if I want to watch 'the whole thing'.

We have a used book store in our area. I'll have to write myself a
note to look for Henderson there, STEPH.

PatH · « **Reply #228 on:** June 20, 2009, 09:20:37 PM »

So I put Primeval at the top of my queue, but somehow it didn't stick, and I got Daywatch instead. This is the second movie based on Sergei Lukyanenko's trilogy: Nightwatch, Daywatch, and Twilightwatch. I've read the first two books--they are about the conflict between Good and Evil reduced to Russian beaurocracy. The movies are good, but if you haven't read the books I think you would have a hard time figuring out what's happening. If you have read the books you'll spend your time grumbling about what they've changed. And by the end of the second movie we are still in the first book. But the movies have a good quality to them--the gritty, flashy, grubby, sordid life in Moscow. I guess my recommendation is: if you've read the books, try the movies, otherwise give them a miss.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #229 on:** June 21, 2009, 04:56:59 PM »

Seems that my satellite service does not allow me to utilize CC or subtitles. Turned subtitles on and got nada of disc 2 of Primeval. Add to that my hearing is failing and I'm having a hard time. Has anyone tried those things like Bluetooth that are supposed to help your hearing for TV,etc? I saw one of those special accessories for TV sound cost $150! If I have to I'll get it but I'm wondering if the $39.95 set won't work.

PatH · « **Reply #230 on:** June 21, 2009, 08:01:50 PM »

AAARRRGH, Jackie, that is so unacceptable. I hope you can solve the problem, but don't have any useful information to help. Can you watch DVDs on your computer? That's how I watch them anyway, since my computer screen isn't much smaller than my TV screen, and I can just sit close. My hearing is failing too, but not so far yet, but CC or subtitles add a lot for me.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #231 on:** June 22, 2009, 10:51:24 AM »

Pat: I've watched DVDs on my monitor though it is only 19"; not bad. Turning on the CC option must have a solution; I'll call the satellite custormer service geeks.

Does anhone watch Eureka? The new season is starting soon and we're catching up watching reruns on the SF channel. Those folks in Eureka are slightly out of kilter but it sure is fun waiting for the shoe to drop.

Speaking of TV i've claimed never to watch reality TV but must admit that there are some things I'm addicted to: Ice Road Truckers, this season, has a young, shapely blonde driver amidst all those burley road wrestlers. When she has to put on her chains, they weigh almost as much as her 120 lbs, she is nearly done in. The suspense is sleep-destroying. The History Channel has another engrossing series, The World after People. This shows the degradation of the world when there are no people to maintain it. Not at all maudlin, simply pragmatic illustrations as to what happens to, say, dairy cows when no one is around to milk them, or how plant life can bloom on a derilict sky scraper when the wind-driven grains of earth accumulate and seeds arrive via birds or more wind. The graphics make the scenarios seem all too real but, again, the lack of emotion in the narration turns it into almost a scientific exercise.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #232 on:** June 24, 2009, 07:10:59 PM »

Poring over the new books on FF I found Laura E Reeve's Peacekeeper, book one of a new series about a woman who is an N-drive pilot in real life but is a Major in the intelligence service on the side. Seems there are several factions competing for advantage in space and Ari (Ariane Kedros) has unique skills to offer. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/r/laura-e-reeve/

Babi · « **Reply #233 on:** June 25, 2009, 08:34:11 AM »

I'm always looking for a good new Sci/Fi writer, JACKIE. Now if I could just
persuade my library that if you're going to purchase a book from a series, you
should buy all the series. Books 1 and 4 only of a series is distinctly
annoying.

PatH · « **Reply #234 on:** June 25, 2009, 11:22:17 AM »

Quote from: Babi on June 25, 2009, 08:34:11 AM

Now if I could just persuade my library that if you're going to purchase a book from a series, you
should buy all the series.

Yes, Babi, that's so annoying. You'd think anyone could figure that one out.

Steph · « **Reply #235 on:** June 25, 2009, 04:41:58 PM »

Oh yes, I must chime in. It is amazing how many libraries do not have copies of all in a series. I have been known to frantically search for the missing volume. Now must libraries have a computer search engine for their county or state.

Babi · « **Reply #236 on:** July 09, 2009, 09:09:21 AM »

I am reading Elizabeth Moon's "Remnant Population" and thoroughly enjoying
it. My thanks to whomever recommended it. I will be reading more of her
books.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #237 on:** July 09, 2009, 01:03:26 PM »

Those of us who are regular watchers of the Sci Fi network have learned that it has changed its name to Syfy, hoping to attrct nore viewers. Just so they don't take all the good stuff away. Eureka comes back this month and there are some new series arriving also. See more about it here: http://www.syfy.com/ Don't you just love how Eureka, that typical small town of geniuses, has to rely on its plain jane sheriff to rescue it from the dire results of its follies?

Frybabe · « **Reply #238 on:** July 09, 2009, 02:31:41 PM »

Why ever did they change their name. Seems stupid. I guess they thought they were being hip or something.

I hope they do reruns of Eureka or put it up on On Demand (Comcast). I work the nights it is on. And no I don't have a DVR.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #239 on:** July 09, 2009, 09:10:32 PM »

Fry: One disadvantage of the DVR is that the data is stored on a hard drive; our particular machine does not have the capability of downloading or transfering the data so we are continually deleting old stuff to make room for the new. Sure wish I could put some of it on a DVD.

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Author Topic: Science Fiction / Fantasy (Read 384986 times)