Author Topic: Science Fiction / Fantasy (Read 385134 times)

Steph · « **Reply #2000 on:** November 18, 2013, 09:10:15 AM »

Some libraries do not carry much science fiction and then complain that they cannot attract teen boys..The answer is obvious.. I had a whole room of sci fi in the used book store and got teen boys by the dozen. They would come in ( sneaking a drink and sandwich) and settle on the carpeted floor in the room and read and chat.. I just let them do it..They all need a place to hide..

PatH · « **Reply #2001 on:** November 18, 2013, 08:57:39 PM »

My library is intermediate; they have some sci-fi, with gaps; surprises both in what they have and what they don't. They seem to be buying new stuff, though; I've found some good ones on the new books shelves.

Steph, I wish your bookstore had been in my neck of the woods. I would have loved it.

Frybabe, I still have a couple of steampunk books in my TBR pile--haven't really gotten into it yet.

Steph · « **Reply #2002 on:** November 19, 2013, 08:51:49 AM »

I loved my little store, but we wanted the freedom to travel and my landlord kept raising my rent.. so the answer was to sell the lease and the books.. so I did, but I still miss it. I had the nicest customers.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2003 on:** November 27, 2013, 05:23:13 PM »

I finished Speaker for the Dead yesterday. At first I was a little disappointed but, by the time I finished, I was absolutely fascinated by Ender's psychological and philosophical approach to a problem or event.

The book does not start where Ender's Game left off. Far from it; both in space and time. Ender, who was a hero at the end of the first book is now universally reviled. The symbiotic relationship between plant and animal on this particular planet was strange. I wasn't too interested in that being more interested in the interactions human to human, piggy to piggy, and human to piggy. The name given to the forest people, piggy, was a little distasteful to me, though. Now I am in a waiting in line for the next in the series, Xenocide.

PatH · « **Reply #2004 on:** November 28, 2013, 11:28:47 AM »

I just reread Ender's Game. It's still good, though rather brutal. I couldn't find my old original copy, though, so it was the newer version.

It's been forever since I read Speaker for the Dead, so I've forgotten most of it, probably should reread it.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2005 on:** November 29, 2013, 08:56:12 AM »

I would recommend it PatH.

BTW, I watched Cloud Atlas yesterday. I'll have to watch it again at some point to get a better understanding of the events, but I had a similar feeling about the story as I did of Speaker. It isn't so much the story itself as the message behind the story. That rang out loud and clear. Have to courage to speak up and act on injustices, push the envelop of what is comfortable and break out of the status quo.

PatH · « **Reply #2006 on:** December 05, 2013, 11:50:56 AM »

This is a copy of a review of Gravity I posted in Movies.

During the holiday I saw Gravity with my daughter and SIL. It's truly excellent. Don't go when you're looking for calm, though; you'll be on the edge of your seat the whole time. It's a tightly plotted story of astronauts trapped in space by a disaster, trying to get to safety. There is much action, but only one brief scene is gruesome, and you can foresee it and look away as it starts. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, the only actors, are excellent.

SIL, the family movie expert, said it was the first movie he had seen in which the 3-D added something and didn't detract, and I would agree. He also admired director Cuaron's strategy of telling the story in long scenes, with no cutting back and forth.

Astronaut Mark Kelly, in the Washington Post, said that Cuaron has accurately captured what it's like to be in space, and inside a space station. He then pointed out some fatal flaws in the physics of the story, but said, and I agree, that it doesn't really matter.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/mark-kelly-gives-an-astronauts-view-of-gravity/2013/10/11/2b4e5e6c-3286-11e3-9c68-1cf643210300_story.html

Frybabe · « **Reply #2007 on:** December 06, 2013, 07:40:43 AM »

Thanks for the review, PatH. Still not sure I'll watch it or not, though.

I've started Xenocide, which is the third of the Ender series. So far, it doesn't interest me too much. I find myself skipping over a good bit of the beginning, reading just enough to get the important/relevant (hope I am not missing much) action. There is a lot of background on the Chinese girl who will apparently play a big roll later on in the book and more psychological/philosophical/moral dialog, this time between Valentine and Miro (who became disabled in the second book). A fleet of warships is on its way to Lusitania to destroy the planet in order to ensure that a virulent contagion has absolutely no chance to spread to other planets. The lives of three species are at stake: the human colony, the newly established hive colony, and the piggies who need the contagion to survive.

Steph · « **Reply #2008 on:** December 06, 2013, 03:03:16 PM »

No gravity for me.. but I just saw and loved Philomena.. Not sci fi..

PatH · « **Reply #2009 on:** December 06, 2013, 05:38:00 PM »

I've forgotten the details of Xenocide, but I do remember that he went on rather long about the Chinese girl, and also, it seemed to me there was a logic flaw in the resolution of the problem of the descolada--don't remember what it was, though.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2010 on:** December 07, 2013, 10:02:11 AM »

PatH, I am still at the point where Miro and Valentine are still in space on their way back to Lucitania (I think), and the Chinese girl is just starting to try to solve where the fleet went. This bit is more interesting - so far. Card seems to like to spend a lot of time on philosophical/moral dilemmas. I guess I just got too used to reading too many SciFi actioners.

Since I am caught up with Evan Currie's Warrior's Wings series, I have gone back to the second of his Odyssey series.

I also have two more of Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak mysteries from the library that need reading. Sadly, I gave up on the idea of joining the December Poirot discussion because of all my other reading (plus Latin class). I'm waiting patiently to see what we read for January.

Steph · « **Reply #2011 on:** December 09, 2013, 09:12:18 AM »

I am assuming you have read her three science fiction series. I loved them and became acquainted with Dana through them.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2012 on:** December 09, 2013, 10:57:32 AM »

Steph, I have two of them in my TBR pile. I don't remember a third. Will check.

PatH · « **Reply #2013 on:** December 09, 2013, 12:22:35 PM »

I have one kicking around somewhere--should find it and read it.

Steph · « **Reply #2014 on:** December 10, 2013, 08:50:59 AM »

There is a third or was.. possibly out of print.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2015 on:** December 13, 2013, 07:23:41 AM »

Finished Xenocide. Weird, but as much as I wanted to skip through it, I couldn't. Philosophical discussions in the book included free will, what is good, what is real, and the nature of God. (Oh, how I disliked reading Plato in college) The ending was a bit surprising and not altogether welcome. I see more conundrums, self-doubt, and angst coming in future readings. But of course I am going to have to read further to see what Card did with these new manifestations of Ender, Valentine, and Peter.

Steph · « **Reply #2016 on:** December 14, 2013, 09:26:17 AM »

Sounds like a book I can miss. I tend to fantasy or space opera.

PatH · « **Reply #2017 on:** December 14, 2013, 07:07:31 PM »

You're convincing me I should reread Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide. Looking at my paperback of Xenocide, I see I bought it in 1992, a year after the copyright date, so I can be forgiven for forgetting almost all of it. But I do remember having some dissatisfactions and wanting to argue with Card about some things (except I'm hopeless at holding my own in that sort of argument). No one ever made me read Plato; I'm not sure I would have done well with him.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2018 on:** December 15, 2013, 08:27:51 AM »

Yes, Plato was very difficult for me. I fairly groaned when I recognized some of the Plato based arguments. I no longer (no at all a surprise) have Plato's Dialogues.

Last night I finished watching a four part series from PBS about the cosmos, narrated by Brian Greene. The last one was especially interesting after reading Xenocide. It involved the notion of "multiverses". What struck me was the view of multiverses not as thin sheets of many universes but as many marble shaped universes floating in something, kind of like bubbles in a liquid. It jibed with my own very uninformed speculations of same. On occasion, over the years, I have wondered if our universe was just one of many floating in a pond like medium. What if our little universe is like some microbe in a much larger whole. Just as we look into a microscope to see tiny, tiny creatures, are we also under a microscope?

I've requested Children of the Mind. I'll be sad to see Ender go, but curious as to what Card has in store for the new Peter and Valentine.

Steph · « **Reply #2019 on:** December 15, 2013, 09:39:25 AM »

Plato.. Hmm, that does not turn me on to the book.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2020 on:** December 18, 2013, 11:25:29 AM »

Has anyone seen this movie? http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi23569945/ Space.com says it is one of the most "realistic depictions of space exploration since Moon or 2001: A Space Odyssey." I never heard of Moon, so I'll have to look that one up.

Speaking of the Moon, I see the Chinese have a rover on it now. They are there to see what minerals are worth exploiting (among other things). We keep cutting back our space program. It won't be long before the Chinese and others (did you know India is in the space race too?) have a significant lead.

Our efforts seem to be focused on Mars, a much more distant and difficult task. As much as I would like to see live bodies on Mars before I croak, I've always thought that the first step should be a moon base. I only hope the earthbound shuttle program was helpful towards space exploration.

I'm keeping an eye on the ISS coolant problem just now. Sounds serious.

PatH · « **Reply #2021 on:** December 18, 2013, 08:06:07 PM »

Goodness. I never even heard of Europa Report, or Moon either. I'm getting behind the times. Looking at that trailer makes me appreciate the technical aspect of Gravity, though. Europa is pretty good at the effects, but Gravity is even better. I'll have to look for those two movies.

My 4 3/4 year old grandson initiated me into the mechanics of getting Curiosity down to Mars' surface. Amazing--it was essentially lowered by a hovering rocket-borne crane. Behind again--I don't know about the coolant problem.

I'm disappointed too at our dropping the ball in space.

PatH · « **Reply #2022 on:** December 18, 2013, 08:29:28 PM »

I haven't read Children of the Mind. Let us know how it is, Frybabe.

On a much less serious note, I finally read The Hunger Games. I wasn't going to, but my daughter thought I would enjoy it in a mild sort of way and lent it to me. As usual, she got it about right. It's kind of slight, but well narrated, and holds your interest. The basic writer's problem: since all the characters you care about are going to have to kill each other off, how do you keep the reader's sympathy, and how do you keep the survivor from looking like a monster? Collins does a reasonable job.

Unfortunately, I seem to have read about far too many postapocalyptic, dysfunctional, authoritarian dystopias lately, and don't really need another one.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2023 on:** December 19, 2013, 09:12:46 AM »

Europa Report came out in June, Gravity in October. Big names in Gravity, none in Europa Report. Rotten Tomatoes says that Europa Report "puts the science back into science fiction". I also saw the phrase "slow burner" used, somewhere, to describe the movie. Gravity is action and emotional kick. We all know which one got all the publicity. I'd like to see Europa Report. I'm not sure about Gravity; it kind of reminds me of Marooned which I also did not see.

PatH · « **Reply #2024 on:** December 19, 2013, 10:17:29 AM »

I enjoyed Gravity, partly because it was so well done, but you're right, Frybabe, that the story itself is about emotion, and you could make almost the same story in a non-sci-fi setting. Whereas that trailer for Europa Report looked like real science fiction, emphasis on both the science and the fiction.

Steph · « **Reply #2025 on:** December 20, 2013, 08:26:12 AM »

Not crazy about seeing Gravity.. Space opera with stars.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2026 on:** December 23, 2013, 10:34:06 AM »

I've started Children of the Mind, the last of the Ender series. It strikes me only now, that Ender has ended up with a split personality. I am enjoying this "I am not myself" dialogue and the struggle that Peter and Young Valentine have to establish a self-identity apart from the contorted, more or less one-dimensional view that Ender's memories and fears bestowed upon them.

PatH · « **Reply #2027 on:** December 23, 2013, 11:45:10 AM »

I never read Children of the Mind. I've brought Speaker for the Dead with me to Portland, though, and if the grandchildren don't let me reread it here, there's always the long plane ride back. It's frustrating trying to remember enough to appreciate your comments fully.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2028 on:** December 23, 2013, 12:38:00 PM »

I'll be interested in your comments when you do read it, PatH. In the meantime, I stopped in at the library a while ago, and came back with the first of the later Ender books starting with Ender in Exile. I think the next three are about the Formic Wars that keep being mentioned. Ender's Shadow was on my wishlist, but I took it off. If you remember Bean from Ender's Game, that is who "Shadow" follows. I don't think I want to get into the Ender universe sidecars.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2029 on:** December 27, 2013, 11:25:40 AM »

I've finished Children of the Mind, and enjoyed it very much. One of the sequences about truth was very interesting. The premise, as I understand it, is that no-one can know the real truth of a situation. Each person has their version of the truth, or that they believe to be the truth. The version of the truth is in itself a fiction, maybe close but not entirely the real truth. The line that strikes me the most is on of the chapter headings, "What matters is which version of the truth you believe."

The afterword was also very enlightening. At some point shortly after he started the Ender series Card became acquainted with the writings of Kenzaburo Oe. Card also has a mentally disabled child. Oe's writings influenced Card's writing and some of the direction that the Ender series took.

Now on to Ender in Exile which is starting out with the debate over whether Ender should be sent home or kept in space after the formic war for his safety and for the world's safety. Ender is thought of as a hero, a monster, and/or a weapon to be protected or used.

PatH · « **Reply #2030 on:** December 27, 2013, 01:42:19 PM »

Frybabe, I'm certainly learning a lot from you about Card and the series. I had no idea he had a disabled child. That certainly tends to affect your thinking. Have you read Oe? I've often thought I should, but haven't yet.

I didn't get much grown-up reading done on my trip--mostly books like Dinosaur A to Z read to my grandson.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2031 on:** December 27, 2013, 08:28:25 PM »

PatH, I have Oe's The Silent Cry in my TBR pile. His autistic son is a composer. I think you will enjoy this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4e3pI8k6zY According to Wikipedia, his first album sold over 1Million copies.

Card's son, Charles, passed away at age 17; he had Cerebral Palsy. Card, a Mormon, is very outspoken in matters anti-gay. Those that would boycott Ender's Game because of this will be disappointed to learn that he is not getting a penny from the film, having sold the rights years ago. Card is apparently planning some Ender's Game sequels for the YA crowd that revolve around the transformation of the old Battle School to a Fleet School for commanders and colonial explorers.

My partner at the library on Fridays has read Ender's Shadow. She remembers it as being fairly humorous. Guess I will have to put it back on my TBR list.

Steph · « **Reply #2032 on:** December 30, 2013, 08:58:24 AM »

I read a Card some time ago and was not impressed. Guess I may give him another go round.

PatH · « **Reply #2033 on:** December 30, 2013, 07:49:42 PM »

Thanks for the clip of Hikari Oe's music, Frybabe. It's very nice.

Frybabe posted the same link in the music discussion on our sister site, and Bubble answered with an article describing the horrendous decisions Oe and his wife had to make about their son, and how their son's problems shaped Oe's writings.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1995-03-19/entertainment/9503160806_1_hikari-kenzaburo-oe-composer

The other sci-fi writer I know of with disabled children is Jack Campbell, whose three children are "in the autistic spectrum". Do any of you see this reflected in his books? I don't; he's not big on psychological nuance, and the values in his books are the straightforward military ones of honor, courage, duty, doing one's best. Still, if you have to fight your way across the galaxy, he's the one to pick.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2034 on:** December 31, 2013, 07:04:37 AM »

I finished Ender in Exile last night. There is notably less philosophizing in it. The book covers his time just after the the war when Ender was kept from going home for fear that he would be used as a weapon or assassinated. It covers his trip out to his new position as governor of the first colony, his years as governor, how he found the hive queen cocoon, his writing the two books that inspired generations, and how his deeds and name were turned from hero into "Ender, The Xenocide". The afterword explains the changes Card made to Chapter 15 of the original Ender's Game to eliminate discrepancies between it and the newer books. The last several paragraphs Card devoted to a very nice tribute to our troops, particularly mentioning Afghanistan and Iraq, who were put in harm's way and who sacrificed their future for the cause of freedom, justice, and democracy.

PatH · « **Reply #2035 on:** December 31, 2013, 08:34:56 AM »

I'm glad he explains the changes he made, as I can't find my ancient copy to see for myself.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2036 on:** December 31, 2013, 11:50:10 AM »

I have requested Ender's Shadow, but I don't think I want to read any of the other "Shadow" series. While this one is about Bean during Battle School and the war, the rest have to do with the Earth wars that went on after the formic wars and involve Ender's former battle group members. The Shadow series is about how Earth finally became united under Ender's brother Peter (the Hegemon). Card is in the middle of a prequel series about all three Formic Wars. Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, and Earth Awakens (sched. for 2014). I will likely read those.

Steph · « **Reply #2037 on:** January 01, 2014, 09:04:22 AM »

Card seems to be doing his version of what life should be.. hm.

PatH · « **Reply #2038 on:** January 01, 2014, 06:54:50 PM »

Steph, when I read Card's books, some time ago, I kept having issues with his assumptions. It'll be interesting to see what I think now.

I ended the old year by ordering the next of Bujold's Miles books. This should make for a cheerful touch to the new year. I'm surprised how scarce the earlier books seem to be, considering how popular she is.

A new year for us sci-fi/fantasy addicts. I want to thank all of you for all the good conversations we've had, and especially for the authors you have introduced me to. There aren't many of us, but we do have a good time.

Steph · « **Reply #2039 on:** January 02, 2014, 09:31:02 AM »

Terry Pratchett has a new book. I knew he had announced he had Alzeimers, so was not sure he was still writing.. I think the name is Slog.. but not sure.

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Author Topic: Science Fiction / Fantasy (Read 385134 times)