Over at The List Universe, they’ve been bold enough to post a list of what they consider the “Top 15 Great Science Fiction Books”. And I have to say, I agree with most of these. Click through to read what they have to say about each one, then come back and tell me which books you think are missing. My own thoughts about each book in this list can be found below.
A good friend and occasional commenter here, Greater Czarina (a.k.a. Hildy Silverman), happens to own and publish and operate a great quarterly magazine called Space and Time. It’s been around for more than 40 years, and deals in what she calls “strange and unusual fiction, poetry, and art” of the fantasy, horror, and science fiction variety.
As somebody who mostly reads genre fiction these days, when Hildy bought the book a few years ago, I was thrilled by the news. I’ve really enjoyed reading the issues every few months, and really really enjoy knowing somebody WHO OWNS A MAGAZINE. Seriously, how cool is that?
Another personal bonus is that Space and Time gave me the opportunity to live out a lifelong dream — writing a comic book. Well … half a comic book anyway. A 10-page story that has played out over the course of a year, and was illustrated with much brilliance by Jeremy Simser, another good friend of mine who draws storyboards for a living. The final 4-page installment appears in Issue #106, which hits the shelves any day now. So visit the website — which I recently redesigned — and learn how you can subscribe to this magazine, read some great fiction and poetry, and support a fellow gagglefrakker.
(Note to self: “gagglefrakker” sounds like a really nasty word. Never use it again.)
Edited to add: I just added to the site the first 6 pages of the comic story. Enjoy!
As kids grow more savvy every year, it becomes increasingly more difficult to keep them believing in Santa Claus for very long. Why? Because it’s all based on magic, and enjoyment of Harry Potter aside, kids simply have a hard time putting their faith in magic these days. But the writers at io9.com have a solution. Try replacing magic with science fiction …
Five Sci-Fi Rebirths For Santa Claus
It’s an inspired idea really. Santa Claus becomes much more plausible, and even a bit cooler, when you attribute all of his Christmas “miracles” to awesome abilities like Teleportation, Cloning, Superpowers, and Nanotechnology. But my favorite of the five is the notion that he uses Time Travel. After all, why deliver all those gifts on Christmas Eve when you can deliver them year round instead, and simply time travel to Christmas Eve? Brilliant! Although the idea that Rudloph’s red nose gives him the ability to teleport might just be a close second.
via io9.com
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our Founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.” – Barack Obama
Okay, so this isn’t really a political blog, it’s a sci-fi blog. And I’m not interested in arguing issues with anybody right now. But it occurred to me last night that part of what appeals to me about science fiction is seeing realized, even if only on paper or on a movie or TV screen, amazing things that I might never hope to see in my lifetime. And that it’s silly to ever say never.
A century ago, the Wright brothers had just figured out how to get a rickety one-man plane off the ground. The notion that millions of people each year might fly across the world every day in huge metal tubes … or that an airplane might fly faster than the speed of sound … or that something like an airplane might actually leave the Earth’s atmosphere and carry a man to the surface of the moon … these were pretty much considered ludicrous — the realm of science fiction.
“It’s 1984 and you’re seated in a dark theater. A beautiful woman … is on the run from an unstoppable killing machine, a marginally human force focused only on death. Her death. Shoot it, light it on fire, blow it up … it just won’t stop. Merciless and unrelenting, its sole goal is to kill this particular woman, preferably in some unspeakably horrible way.
“Now answer me this: Are you watching The Terminator or one of the Friday the 13th flicks?”
Such is the premise of an interesting post by Todd Brown over at AMC’s SciFi Scanner. It’s a great point, and he traces it all the way back to the granddaddy of all genre-bending classics, Frankenstein — a “horror” monster created through scientific means. So where do you draw the line … and why are we even drawing lines to begin with? Give it a read, and let me know what you think.
Okay, so last week, Yahoo! posted a list of its users’ “Top-30 Sci-Fi Films“. And I’m not sure what to make of it. First off, it’s Yahoo Users, so you can’t take it TOO seriously — the average user must skew somewhat young, and probably doesn’t make a living reviewing movies.
On the up side, I was actually surprised to see that half the movies on the list were more than 10 years old, with most of that half more than 20 years old. On the down side … all three X-Men movies? Revenge of the Sith? I Am Legend? Only one movie older than Star Wars? Really? (More of my commentary after the list itself.)
30. Serenity (2005)
29. X-Men 3: The Last Stand (2006)
28. I Am Legend (2007)
27. Donnie Darko (2001)
26. X-Men 2: X-Men United (2003)
25. Deja Vu (2006)
24. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
23. Ghostbusters (1984)
22. V for Vendetta (2006)
21. The Terminator (1984)
Continue reading
This is a project I started working on a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t really want to share it with the world until I’d proved the concept to myself. Ten installments later, I think I’ve done that. From here on, I plan to crank out one of these a week. Unless it just turns out nobody’s reading it and/or the people who are reading it don’t think it’s funny. So let me know what you think …
<<< Previous Strip – Next Strip >>> Continue reading
I really need to watch this one a second (and maybe third) time, but in the interest of getting the conversation started, here are Ten Quick Questions about the mid-season finale of Battlestar Galactica … Continue reading
Since more people seemed to comment on my Ten Quick Questions recap of the show last week, I’ve decided to give it another try. So here you go: Ten Quick Questions about this week’s episode of Battlestar Galactica … Continue reading
I just got back from my Vegas Vacation, and don’t have time to write up a formal recap. So instead, I’m going to pose Ten Quick Questions about this week’s episode of Battlestar Galactica … Continue reading