Sci fi...love or hate?

[ouchfeelsgood]

I've always enjoyed reading sci-fi. I like the fact that it's a genre that can imagine worlds and societies well removed in both time and space from our own. Good sci-fi usually has many societal messages permeating the plot, and if well written, can be quite thought-provoking.

I tend to prefer sci-fi books that are well-grounded in science, falling within the realm of believability; as opposed to fantasy-based sci-fi.

Favorite author is Arthur C. Clarke.

 

[BiBunny]

Hitchhikers guide is great, if you really liked it, look up Spider Robinson, he has a similar absurdist style

Yay! I'll do it. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Xelebes]

Guess.

 

[Netzach]

i just watched this today for the first time and it sent me into one of the deepest naps I've taken in a long while.

I don't know if this is good or bad - it's only like an hour long isn't it?

 

[teknight]

Buried in light

This is gonna be a bit daft, since you said it's harder to find, but, you wouldn't know of any places online that have it, would you? It sounds interesting (says the guy that lived through the transition in Eastern Europe)

 

[Netzach]

This is gonna be a bit daft, since you said it's harder to find, but, you wouldn't know of any places online that have it, would you? It sounds interesting (says the guy that lived through the transition in Eastern Europe)

I axed the comment because I realized it was Jem Cohen not Chris Marker.

It's pretty much nearly impossible to get, the Video Data Bank in Chicago might be the best bet.

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

I love Spider Robinson. Delightful twist of humor. I've read all of his books but I don't have them anymore. My ex burned every book I had just before we split. Never had the chance to replace them.

Special burning-blender-on-liquify in hell.

 

[callinectes2]

Hitchhikers guide is great, if you really liked it, look up Spider Robinson, he has a similar absurdist style

I'm with Bunny with the Hitchhiker's love. I will check out Spider Robinson as well. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Lizzie_Borden]

I miss

Earth 2

Pretender

Oh gosh

My youngest brother and I watched Earth 2 religiously... I'd forgotten all about that show.

And I still miss the Pretender. And Quantum Leap. Used to watch that on TV1.

I tend to enjoy a fair chunk of the 'mainstream' sci fi stuff on offer, I haven't dabbled much in the serious stuff though.

 

[FurryFury]

Oh gosh

My youngest brother and I watched Earth 2 religiously... I'd forgotten all about that show.

And I still miss the Pretender. And Quantum Leap. Used to watch that on TV1.

I tend to enjoy a fair chunk of the 'mainstream' sci fi stuff on offer, I haven't dabbled much in the serious stuff though.

Kewl!

Surprisingly Kyle X Y was good too for a while.

FF

 

[kikmosa]

/////

 

[kikmosa]

.....

 

[midwestyankee]

This reminds me - if anyone really thinks I'm being just a snob all "I love T zero" I have a total weakness for shit TV of the past. The A Team is exemplar.

George Peppard - leatherdaddy? Discuss. The gloves, the cigar, the need to humiliate the vanquished. *sigh*

I love it when a plan comes together. I think you have Hannibal well pegged here. But he was definitely a cheerful perv, don't you think?

 

[Aurantica]

I'm like that too. I like sci-fi, but it has to be GOOD sci-fi

 

[teknight]

I'm like that too. I like sci-fi, but it has to be GOOD sci-fi

What is good sci-fi for you?

 

[Homburg]

Hold on now, there's sci-fi and then there's sci-fi. I mean, Star wars is in the category, and that's just crap (princesses in space and knights that fight lasers with magical swords using magic and WWII naval combat tactics? No thanks.

You are dead to me. Dead.

I think that good sci-fi can
- throw light upon some aspect of the human condition/society in general by creating circumstances to emphasize that aspect.
- help to analyze society
- make you think "What if" and "How can we get there"
- some of it helps to illustrate difficult scientific concepts (some of the crazier quantum physics type stuff
- it's an allegory for the author's contemporary society.

This is not "good" sci-fi. This is "hard" sci-fi. Not saying they're mutually exclusive, just that the characteristics you describe hold more to "hard" sci-fi. Star Wars is very definitely not "hard".

Harry Turtledove- he does alternate history- what would happen if x event in history had gone the opposite way, or had not happened at all....

Ursula K LeGuin....

Loved both turtledove and LeGuin.

--

I try to read Heinlein now and find him totally insufferable. Something about his tone appeals to the adolescent mind, like Ayn Rand.

This is true, and why I won't go back and reread his stuff for the most part. My enjoyment of Heinlein resides at a particular place in my history. Well, okay, I'll read "Starship Troopers" again. God, I loved that book.

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I'm weird with sci fi, it has to be comedic, like Douglas Adams, Spider Robinson, even Piers Anthony...anyone here know Spider Robinson?

Yup. I tended to like his essays almost more than his fiction. Weird, eh?

--

Overall, I dig me some sci-fi, but I read very little of it. I read very little fiction period. I just don't have the time/interest. I read the hell outta some non-fiction, but my intersect with fiction is writing it for my game. I'd much rather be a participant than an observer, I guess.

 

[teknight]

You are dead to me. Dead.

BRAAAAAAINS!

Star Wars is very definitely not "hard".

It's hard to swallow!
Yes, yes, yes. I'm dead, I'm dead.

You are however right on the whole good-v-hard thing.

 

[teknight]

Questions for the sci-fi minded

What did you guys think of Andromeda? I'm so torn about that show- it started out strong, and what's more it was more plausible than others (well, for my tastes), but it went awry...badly.

And what about Space: Above and Beyond? Have you guys seen that show? I've only ever caught a few episodes, so I was always murky on the details, but it seemed, again, plausible (well, you know, for scifi).*

Last by not least: I found it very hard to watch the ending to BSG (the new series). It seemed to go beyond the bounds of what was possible within the story. (will the writers out there remind what the term for that is?)

Edited to comment on the *:
it seemed plausible at the time (10 years ago?) when I was a huge WW2 ..uhh...student? and didn't know enough about physics (not that I do nowadays) to realize that space fighters are just a bad idea.

 

[FurryFury]

I liked space but the new BSG didn't do it for me. My husband loved it. Couldn't get into Andromeda.

 

[teknight]

I liked space but the new BSG didn't do it for me. My husband loved it. Couldn't get into Andromeda.

I got into BSG 'cause of 6- Tricia Helfer. I had no clue the show was gonna be on sci-fi when it started...but she caught my eye...and things went from there

 

[Homburg]

And what about Space: Above and Beyond? Have you guys seen that show? I've only ever caught a few episodes, so I was always murky on the details, but it seemed, again, plausible (well, you know, for scifi).*

Edited to comment on the *:
it seemed plausible at the time (10 years ago?) when I was a huge WW2 ..uhh...student? and didn't know enough about physics (not that I do nowadays) to realize that space fighters are just a bad idea.

I watched it. It was a bit silly, and some ideas were just ludicrous, but it wasn't completely awful.

The only "spacefighter" sim that I really dug from a physics perspective was Descent. It had full 3-axis thrust and rotation and actual intertia. It was a rather difficult game to play (I think I played Descent II) due to the way it worked, but it allowed for some brilliantly appropriate maneuvers and hijinks.

 

[teknight]

I watched it. It was a bit silly, and some ideas were just ludicrous, but it wasn't completely awful.

The only "spacefighter" sim that I really dug from a physics perspective was Descent. It had full 3-axis thrust and rotation and actual intertia. It was a rather difficult game to play (I think I played Descent II) due to the way it worked, but it allowed for some brilliantly appropriate maneuvers and hijinks.

OOh! I played Descent, the original. All I recall was that it was like Doom, but with 3d motion.

 

[Keroin]

What did you guys think of Andromeda? I'm so torn about that show- it started out strong, and what's more it was more plausible than others (well, for my tastes), but it went awry...badly.

Lousy show, awesome catering.

Kevin Sorbo is sooooooooooo nice. Seriously nice. Actually, I don't know what it is about sci fi shows but the cast and crews on them always seemed to be really cool and really...normal.

 

[Homburg]

OOh! I played Descent, the original. All I recall was that it was like Doom, but with 3d motion.

Descent II rocked. Loved the movement and the physics engine.

--

Lousy show, awesome catering.

Kevin Sorbo is sooooooooooo nice. Seriously nice. Actually, I don't know what it is about sci fi shows but the cast and crews on them always seemed to be really cool and really...normal.

I really wanted to dislike Kevin Sorbo, but he just seems like such a nice guy. Glad to hear that this was the case.

 

[Keroin]

I really wanted to dislike Kevin Sorbo, but he just seems like such a nice guy. Glad to hear that this was the case.

The whole cast was really nice. (Well, except for one guy but I won't name names). But Kevin, he's a class act all the way.

Had one of the best days of my entire life working on that show.