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posted by janrinok on Thursday August 23 2018, @11:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the best-page-turners dept.

In Science Fiction, some awards have become almost meaningless as they came to be dominated by interests other than the pure enjoyment of a truly good story. The Hugo Awards, for example, have descended into a left/right catfight. They have become as meaningless as a Nobel Peace Prize.

Some, like yours truly, have entirely stopped reading about awards after getting burned once too many times and rely almost entirely on word of mouth or serendipity to find new authors and worthwhile books.

Our recent discussion of "The winners of the 2018 Hugo Awards" brought the idea (from bzipitidoo) that perhaps Soylent News could do a better job of pointing out new works of Science Fiction that could be of interest to soylentils and janrinok supported the idea, going so far as offering a kidney to the best author. (I think he's British, so he might have meant a kidney pie. [Not true, but funny])

Mind you, we would need to separate Science Fiction from Sci-Fi, Fantasy and other genres that have been mishmashed into one by most publishers and awards organizations.

So what do you think? What is the best new author/book in Science Fiction?


Original Submission

Related Stories

The Winners of the 2018 Hugo Awards 133 comments

The Hugo awards, being the favorite they are with SN readers, are out again!

As posted at The Vox.

The first-ever threepeat of the Hugo Awards — the prestigious, long-running fantasy awards handed out annually at WorldCon — just issued a giant rejection of right-wing gatekeeping in the struggle to diversify the world of science fiction and fantasy writing.

N.K. Jemisin's groundbreaking fantasy series the Broken Earth trilogy has won critical acclaim, been optioned for development as a TV series, and received numerous accolades from the sci-fi and fantasy community. And on August 19, it achieved yet another milestone when Jemisin became the first author in the Hugos' 65-year history to win back-to-back awards for every book in a trilogy. Jemisin won the award for Best Novel three years in a row, starting with The Fifth Season in 2016, The Obelisk Gate in 2017, and now The Stone Sky in 2018.

Meanwhile, The Verge reports:

The 2018 Hugo Awards were held last night at the World Science Fiction Convention in San Jose, California. The Hugo award, voted on by members of the fan community, is considered the highest honor for science fiction and fantasy literature.

Like the previous couple of years, women almost completely swept the awards. N.K. Jemisin took home the top honor for The Stone Sky, the third installment of her Broken Earth trilogy. Other winners include Martha Wells for her first Murderbot novella All Systems Red, Suzanne Palmer for her novelette “The Secret Life of Bots,” and Rebecca Roanhorse for her short story “Welcome to your Authentic Indian Experience™.” (Roanhorse also took home the John W. Campbell Jr. Award for Best New Writer.)

Jemisin’s win gives her a history-making hat trick: she’s won the top award for each Broken Earth installment, the first two having been for The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate. It’s a significant achievement, earned for Jemisin’s groundbreaking writing, blending of genres, and outstanding storytelling.

The complete list of nominees can be found in The Verge's story. Additional reporting can be found at the Guardian, on TOR.com, and elsewhere.


Original Submission

Community Reviews: SoylentNews Book Club is Alive 51 comments

Want to read some books? Many of our users have shown interest in having a book club. Now it's finally time to kick it off.

Your soytyrant has pre-selected the first three books so that you have more time to read them, should you choose to do so:

September: Mars, Ho! by Stephen McGrew
October: Foundation by Isaac Asimov
November: The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.

The plan is to read a book, and discuss it on the 1st of the following month. Suggestions for new books (of any genres, not just "science fiction") will also be collected at the same time. You can start listing some of your suggestions right now in this comment section. We'll pick up to eight of them and run a poll on September 15th to decide the book for December. And so on.

The first book is Mars, Ho! by Stephen McGrew, one of our more literary users (not to be confused with Mars Ho! by Jennifer Willis). The book is available for free on McGrew's website, although there are some purchasing options available if you want to support him. From the description:

Captain John Knolls thinks he's just been given the best assignment of his career -- ferrying two hundred prostitutes to Mars. He doesn't know that they're all addicted to a drug that causes them to commit extreme, deadly violence when they are experiencing withdrawal or that he'll face more pirates than anyone had ever seen before. Or that he'd fall in love. A humorous science fiction space novel, a horror story, a love story, a pirate story, a tale of corporate bureaucracy and incompetence.

All book club posts will be in the Community Reviews nexus, which is linked to on the site's sidebar. You'll likely want to click on that link once the posts fall off the main page.


Original Submission

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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday August 23 2018, @11:49PM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Thursday August 23 2018, @11:49PM (#725477) Homepage

    The Hooknosed Harpies from the Star of David, written by Lev Sheckelzoid (not his real name)

    He even wrote a children's book, The Loud, Lethal Legumes from the Lowlands

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by ikanreed on Thursday August 23 2018, @11:55PM (29 children)

    by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 23 2018, @11:55PM (#725480) Journal

    That's an odd way to say "the right hated seeing minorities in sci-fi stories and built an astroturf campaign to manipulate votes." I mean, it's a technically true, but it's the exact same "right spitefully burns everything down over perceived slights. followed by people asking why are we so divided on BOTH SIDES" story that permeates everything about our stupid political world.

    But regardless, I'm happy with pretty much any sci-fi that's not Cory Doctrow's awful stream-of-consciouness style, "realistic near future" garbage fire.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Friday August 24 2018, @12:36AM (7 children)

      by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Friday August 24 2018, @12:36AM (#725494)

      Come on America! You're all grown up now, why can there only be two of anything over there?

      All your friends have lots of political parties, and any number of different points of view, but you guys can only ever muster two.

      I believe in you, I know you can do better.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:07AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:07AM (#725507)

        Sorry, Zombie, but that just isn't going to happen ... especially in the current political climate. We have to be able to blame someone, and it's always easier to point the finger at one enemy.

        If we are in power, then they are the opposition - the obstructionists! If they are in power then we are the oppressed - the resistance!

        We've always been at war with Eurasia ... or was it Eastasia? See how confusing that can be?

      • (Score: 2, Flamebait) by jmorris on Friday August 24 2018, @02:27AM (1 child)

        by jmorris (4844) on Friday August 24 2018, @02:27AM (#725557)

        Electoral math means things eventually collapse to two parties. But we currently have a crapload of warring factions in the runup to what increasingly looks like a hot civil war to thin it back to a couple of survivors.

        On the "Progressive" side you have Socialists, Democratic Socialists, Communists, Progressives, Modern Liberals, Feminists (in both the TERF and non TERF flavor), Environmentalists and Idiotarian Libertarians, Social Gospel Pseudo Christians, Muslims, just to start off. Not to mention the whole rainbow of racial and gender identity activists battling for dominance.

        On the "Right" you have old line Liberals (known by that name everywhere except the U.S.), Mainline Conservatives, Paleo-Conservatives, Neo-Conservatives, Anti-Idiotarian Libertarians, Objectivists, the Alt-Light, Alt-Right, NRx, Reactionaries, TEA Partiers, Christians, etc. And with every "Fuck White People" tweet a growing White racial identity trying to figure out why it needs to exist.

        Then ya get fringe factions that can't even be plotted anywhere near the Left-Right line. For example we got both real and ironic Nazis who oppose the Progs but, by definition, can't be on "the Right". Neither fish nor fowl. Now add in about a third of the country that doesn't really know or care what they believe politically.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @03:55AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @03:55AM (#725601)

          Muslims and Christians are a political class now? Put down the pipe you've had too much.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Marand on Friday August 24 2018, @02:59AM (2 children)

        by Marand (1081) on Friday August 24 2018, @02:59AM (#725575) Journal

        Come on America! You're all grown up now, why can there only be two of anything over there?

        All your friends have lots of political parties, and any number of different points of view, but you guys can only ever muster two.

        The US has had more than two major parties in the past, more than once in fact, but it seems to always eventually devolve into a two-party system. I think this is generally attributed to a tendency of the "first past the post" voting system employed, and is called Duverger's Law [wikipedia.org]. Basically, the idea is that plurality voting (first past the post, e.g. "you only vote for one candidate") discourages the existence of more parties because voting for anything but the biggest two ends up being a wasted vote. People defensively vote for one of the candidates that seem most likely to win, because anything else unlikely to matter, which makes it that much harder for a third party to rise.

        To be fair to the early Americans that set these systems up originally, it's one of those things that seems like a good idea until hindsight and new information becomes available. Plurality voting seems like a fair, natural choice, because it works fine at smaller scales (small groups, one-off votes, etc.) where the potential flaws don't matter as much, and it's simple to implement and understand. One person, one vote; easy. They didn't have the benefit of access to decades of election data, so it probably seemed like an obvious choice with few or no negatives.

        In theory it's still possible to fix the problem. However, that fix is to change the voting system entirely, which would require the two incumbent parties to agree on a change that's generally known to have the potential to weaken their political power. In other words, not bloody likely.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Friday August 24 2018, @03:35AM (1 child)

          by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Friday August 24 2018, @03:35AM (#725592)

          I'm always told "it's first past the post", but the UK has FPtP also, and currently has 8 parties in parliament, so I don't buy it.

          According to Wikipedia, the US has had two parties since the Civil War, and has never had three parties or more for more than a few years.

          You're exactly right about changing the system, too many people make too much money from the status quo for it to change.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @09:00AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @09:00AM (#725710)
            Many US election rules seem to assume Two Parties. So outsiders tend to be more disadvantaged.

            Many US voters seem more religious-minded about their party affiliations too.
      • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Friday August 24 2018, @05:54PM

        Come on America! You're all grown up now, why can there only be two of anything over there?

        All your friends have lots of political parties, and any number of different points of view, but you guys can only ever muster two.

        I believe in you, I know you can do better.

        Primarily, it's because we don't have the parliamentary system [wikipedia.org] here in the US.

        What's more, unlike most western democracies, members of the legislative branch of government may not serve in the Executive branch at the same time they are serving in our legislative branch. There is no such thing as a "shadow cabinet" [wikipedia.org] here. In fact, for our Federal/National government, the only elective positions in our executive branch are that of President and Vice President. All other members of the Executive branch are either political appointees or civil servants.

        Where you are (please correct me if I'm wrong here), most likely the party (or coalition of parties) which achieve a majority in the legislative branch form an executive branch from the members of the majority. This is *not* the case in the US. Also, the "winner-take-all" system we have (at all levels of government -- we have at least three in most places) generally precludes multi-party coalitions and the wide range of political voices seen in parliamentary systems.

        Rightly or wrongly, that's the system we have at the national level. And that same system is, overwhelmingly, duplicated at state and local levels.

        If we wish to change that, we need have such changes approved by 2/3 of each house of our legislative branch (note that the 535 folks included there are the ones that benefit most from the current system) and 3/4 of state legislatures.

        Which is why, at least until 30 years ago or so, the major political parties in the US (the Republican and Democratic parties) maintained "big tent" [wikipedia.org] policies and platforms.

        That's changed pretty radically for the Republican party in the last generation or so. They are now the party of big business, restrictive social policies and white people. This has allowed them to be much more successful at multiple levels of government, as they no longer need to make a broad constituency happy.

        The Democratic party is *also* the party of big business. But they have attempted to be inclusive of non-religious, less restrictive social policies and a broad range of ethnic and religious groups. This has fragmented their message, especially at the state and local levels.

        It's a good deal more complicated than that, but those are the basics. What's really needed are elected representatives who care more about the good of the United States than about retaining their own power and influence. I'm not holding my breath.

        --
        No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
    • (Score: 4, Informative) by Thexalon on Friday August 24 2018, @12:45AM (2 children)

      by Thexalon (636) on Friday August 24 2018, @12:45AM (#725497)

      TFS fully believes the claims of the "Sad Puppies" or whoever they are now, who decided that the reason why a certain author's books weren't being nominated for Hugos had nothing to do with their quality and everything to do with some sort of discrimination against him because he was a right-wing white guy. In short, he was butthurt because he hadn't won a Hugo, and wanted to change that.

      This claim is not disprovable, because we don't know for certain why people nominated and voted for certain books over other books. Nevertheless, there are good reasons to think that the claims were total BS that were being put out there for the purposes of selling more of said right-wing white guy's books. Among the many complaints of the Sad Puppies was that the Hugos were preferring works that were deemed more "literary": Well, it's an award for literature, what the heck did you expect? On top of that, Hugos can and have gone to white guys in recent years. And lastly, nobody is "owed" an award.

      Honestly, the Hugos seem like an anachronism to me. Reading Isaac Asimov's anthology of the Hugo-winning novelettes and short stories (which he "brilliantly" decided to call The Hugo Winners), you get a good sense of where the whole thing got started. He described the early annual conventions where they were handed out, and gives the impression of a few hundred friends meeting once a year in a hotel ballroom rather than the thousands of folks at WorldCon nowadays, with the awards basically being given out by authors to each other because they liked each other and each others' work. And as far as being butthurt over not winning any Hugos, it took Asimov a very long time to win his first Hugo, a point which Asimov routinely brought up in both the anthology and apparently as the usual M.C. for the events in question in what was plainly mock dismay. I get the impression that something might have been lost somewhere in all the noise and hype.

      That said, some friends of mine who are much more avid sci fi readers than I am were thoroughly impressed with the quality of this years' winners, for whatever that's worth. I haven't read them, so I can't judge their quality directly.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
      • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Friday August 24 2018, @06:56PM (1 child)

        by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @06:56PM (#725975) Homepage Journal

        So the Hugos started out with authors giving each other awards? Then the Nebula awards are presumably today's equivalent to the Hugos back then.

        • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday August 24 2018, @08:01PM

          by Thexalon (636) on Friday August 24 2018, @08:01PM (#725998)

          It was more that the authors and fans were a relatively small and tight-knit group, and were also the only ones who cared enough to vote on the awards early on. So it wasn't like, say, the Golden Globes, where it's explicitly actors & directors awarding actors & directors, it's more that the authors were a majority of those that cared enough about Hugos to vote on them.

          --
          The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 24 2018, @01:22AM (13 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @01:22AM (#725517) Journal

      What is odd, is that you on the left cannot recognize any minority on the right. Remember Doctor Carson, a successful black guy who made a bid to be president of the United States? To you, he was just an Uncle Tom. No minority can be conservative, or independent, or libertarian - they all "owe" their votes to the Democrats.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:44AM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:44AM (#725524)

        That is one of the stupider things you've written recently. +5 impressive

        • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 24 2018, @01:48AM (1 child)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @01:48AM (#725527) Journal

          Please, you give me too much credit. I borrowed that stupidity from the left. It all belongs to them.

          • (Score: 0, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @02:14AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @02:14AM (#725551)

            You are so stupid you had to borrow more? Time to live up to your name.

      • (Score: 5, Informative) by PartTimeZombie on Friday August 24 2018, @02:29AM (9 children)

        by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Friday August 24 2018, @02:29AM (#725559)

        As an outsider who is neither a Democrat or a Republican, I can tell you that Dr. Ben Carson is viewed as neither a doctor, or a successful black man, but as a total fuckwit.

        America dodged a bullet when he dropped out of the race.

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 24 2018, @02:35AM (6 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @02:35AM (#725561) Journal

          So, uhhhhhh - Carson didn't really perform neural surgery on any patients? And - he didn't make any money doing so? Or, are you arguing the allegation that he is black? Do your views make him un-black, maybe? I think I'm beginning to understand - he's a white guy in the closet, and he should come out now.

          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @02:45AM (3 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @02:45AM (#725567)

            I see him as a once successful and brilliant neurosurgeon who happened to be a total fuckwit as a politician.

            • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 24 2018, @02:54AM (1 child)

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @02:54AM (#725573) Journal

              Ahhhh, that's better than the above. Carson may or may not be a fuckwit as a politician, but you do give him credit for being a smart mofo who managed to save a lot of lives.

              • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @05:17AM

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @05:17AM (#725643)

                I just want to chime in that I'm not making fun of you for decent comments. You make a good point, too many people mock Carson but it is crazy hard to stand up in front of the entire country.

            • (Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @04:31AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @04:31AM (#725613)

              You've just described all politicians.

          • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Friday August 24 2018, @03:27AM (1 child)

            by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Friday August 24 2018, @03:27AM (#725585)

            Conversations about Dr. Carson tended to go something like this:

            "That Ben Carson is a brain surgeon"

            "Oh, the guy running for president? Must be a smart cookie"

            "He doesn't believe in evolution"

            "Ha, yeah whatever. Wait, really? What a fuckwit".

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @08:49AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @08:49AM (#725706)

              And that is exactly how it should go.

        • (Score: 3, Informative) by ikanreed on Friday August 24 2018, @05:25AM (1 child)

          by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @05:25AM (#725646) Journal

          Oh yes, the white genuinely mentally unwell asshole we got instead was so much better.

          Also we weren't "spared" cain, he's secretary of housing and urban development, and there's been some scandals quietly swallowed up by the ongoing fuckstorm that is trump.

          • (Score: 3, Informative) by jmorris on Friday August 24 2018, @06:02AM

            by jmorris (4844) on Friday August 24 2018, @06:02AM (#725659)

            I guess they all look alike to you, but Herman Cain and Ben Carson are two different black Republicans. One is a world famous neurosurgeon (retired) who is now leading the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the other is a pizza baron turned talk radio host.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @04:53AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @04:53AM (#725625)

      It's strange to see muslims randomly walking through sci fi scenes.
      Can anyone explain the black elf [wikia.com] in the Shannara Chronicles. Is this supposed to be a Dark Elf or something?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @05:20AM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @05:20AM (#725644)

        No, it is simply another salvo in the war against racism. Why are there no black elves? Why are all the dark skinned creatures in LOTR the baddies?

        I love LOTR, but you can't deny the rather significant racism even if it was unintentional.

        • (Score: 2) by jmorris on Friday August 24 2018, @06:17AM

          by jmorris (4844) on Friday August 24 2018, @06:17AM (#725663)

          Because elves are part of the myths invented by Europeans. And Tolkien was explicitly creating a myth cycle for his people, the English.

          If one is reading a African myth it would be a bit silly if there were random people from other areas unrelated to the setting for the story. Don't remember protests over the lack of Asians in Wakanda for that matter. It isn't racism to realize everybody is not interchangeable units of production.

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday August 24 2018, @11:36AM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @11:36AM (#725748) Journal

          Why are there no black elves?

          Because Morgoth had a lock on black while the other deities all were light-side. So bad things were dark and good things were light.

          I love LOTR, but you can't deny the rather significant racism even if it was unintentional.

          Unintentional? Elves lived indefinitely, were the fairest, and generally smarter than the humans. And the only consolation prize the humans got were that they got to go to ghetto heaven when they died, far away from sullying the final places of the elves. Orcs/goblins/etc were just tools of the bad guys. They didn't get to go anywhere when they died. The Ents were the only ones with a lock on photosynthesis. Dwarves got to grub in the dirt and be the wealth collectors for the dragons (as well as the second-hand greed stereotype in the books).

          But sure, let's make a big deal out of Tolkien not having dark-skinned elves in his books. Real significant racism there.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @12:04AM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @12:04AM (#725485)

    'nough said

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Kymation on Friday August 24 2018, @12:06AM (5 children)

      by Kymation (1047) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @12:06AM (#725487)

      That's a pretty powerful recommendation.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Friday August 24 2018, @12:44AM (4 children)

        by fido_dogstoyevsky (131) <axehandleNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Friday August 24 2018, @12:44AM (#725496)

        Only over time.

        --
        It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
        • (Score: 3, Funny) by MostCynical on Friday August 24 2018, @03:28AM (3 children)

          by MostCynical (2589) on Friday August 24 2018, @03:28AM (#725589) Journal

          Don't be derivative

          --
          "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
          • (Score: 3, Funny) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday August 24 2018, @03:48AM

            by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Friday August 24 2018, @03:48AM (#725597) Journal

            Watt do you mean?

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @03:59AM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @03:59AM (#725603)

            But then how will we change?

            • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday August 24 2018, @07:04AM

              by MostCynical (2589) on Friday August 24 2018, @07:04AM (#725673) Journal

              Inevitably

              Over time

              --
              "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @08:55AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @08:55AM (#725708)

      I too like Joules Verne, he's always so ... energetic!

      Joule [wikipedia.org], Jules Verne [wikipedia.org]
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by aristarchus on Friday August 24 2018, @12:32AM (17 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Friday August 24 2018, @12:32AM (#725492) Journal

    This is not going to end well!

    Or, alternatively,

    That degenerated fast!

    So the question is, will the lack of politics mean that the Poor Boys/Sad Puppies/Eurovolk/alt-right will have total control over this? Because when eds here talk about politically neutral, the usually mean "bury the aristarchus submission!"

    So, in closing, #Freearistarchus!!!

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @12:38AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @12:38AM (#725495)

      but not with my dick.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 24 2018, @12:53AM (11 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @12:53AM (#725502) Journal

      Apparently, you don't know what "science fiction" is, or you would be on the Sad Puppie's side. Space opera and science fiction have some things in common, but they are not the same thing at all. Sci-fi can stand on it's own without drama. Those other types of story that depend on drama are something else. Those stories that require the beatdown of one class of people at the expense of another class of people are something yet again.

      Robert Heinlein was the first author that I was aware of who put gays into space. Not one of these modern-day wannabe authors.

      • (Score: 3, Disagree) by qzm on Friday August 24 2018, @01:25AM (7 children)

        by qzm (3260) on Friday August 24 2018, @01:25AM (#725518)

        No, sorry you are wrong and history clearly shows that - you seem to be WAY too focused on semantics.
        I suspect you also have not read much space opera..

        Space opera is a common form of Science fiction - and many of the Science Fiction greats have written it..
        As in Hard Science fiction - another common sub-genre, and probably closer to what you seem to be focusing on.
        There are quite a few perfectly valid sub-genres.

        Dragons flying around carrying princesses who are rescued by knights with magic swords 'in the future' is not Science Fiction.

        Of course this will all end badly because certain groups cannot accept that they do not CONTROL.

        • (Score: 2) by sgleysti on Friday August 24 2018, @02:48AM

          by sgleysti (56) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @02:48AM (#725569)

          Apropos of nothing, I will seize this opportunity to drop the opening lines of the Operating Thetan Level III materials from Scientology:

          The head of the Galactic Federation (76 planets around larger stars visible from here) (founded 95,000,000 years ago, very space opera) solved overpopulation (250 billion or so per planet, 178 billion on average) by mass implanting.

          Very space opera indeed.

        • (Score: 4, Interesting) by jmorris on Friday August 24 2018, @05:35AM (5 children)

          by jmorris (4844) on Friday August 24 2018, @05:35AM (#725648)

          Yes, many of the greats indulged in it, especially in the pulp days, for one very good reason: It pays. Many of the old masters were pure mercenaries like that. Some apparently enjoyed doing it, and why not? There should be an audience for a variety of stories, including space opera. A lot of stories though have space stuff and futuristic looking things and still can't really be called science fiction. Unless you are one of those weirdos who insist Star Wars is Science Fiction.

          I'll go farther and really get a fight started. A lot of Star Trek isn't either. Hell, half of the scripts for ST:TOS are thinly rehashed plots from other genres crudely shoe horned into space and the structure of Star Trek. But another huge tranch of episodes and a lot of other so called "science fiction" isn't for another basic reason. Science fiction is about "what if", speculation about the future, consequences of new tech, ideas, etc. When a story uses a futuristic setting as a vehicle for social commentary about the present, nope, out of bounds. And there goes another huge tranche of Star Trek episodes.

          Another example would be Futurama. Not Science Fiction. It might be set a thousand years in the future but every episode, every regular trope, every gag is a commentary about now and the science fiction genre, fandom, etc. of the time it was made. It is a meta commentary / satire / comedy or something else hard to classify.

          To be clear, political commentary IS in bounds, the intersection of the future, technology and the social and political ramifications are entirely in bounds and drive a good chunk of indisputably good hard science fiction. But it must be forward looking, asking "What if", whether as either a positive possibility or a cautionary tale of a possible future to avoid, it must always be about a "what if" at the core of the story. If it is preaching a message for political change today it is not science fiction.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @09:00AM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @09:00AM (#725711)

            If it is preaching a message for political change today it is not science fiction.

            You just took away all the meaningful scifi, including all dystopias. What use is there imagining the future if not to play scenarios of "what happens if...?"

            • (Score: 2) by jmorris on Friday August 24 2018, @05:04PM

              by jmorris (4844) on Friday August 24 2018, @05:04PM (#725908)

              If it is just projecting political trends for the "what if" it isn't Science Fiction, it is Political Fiction. or just a drop the pretense and call it a political tract packaged as fiction. Atlas Shrugged comes to mind.

          • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Friday August 24 2018, @07:04PM (2 children)

            by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @07:04PM (#725978) Homepage Journal

            When a story uses a futuristic setting as a vehicle for social commentary about the present, nope, out of bounds. And there goes another huge tranche of Star Trek episodes.

            There goes H.G. Wells' The Time Machine.

            • (Score: 2) by jmorris on Friday August 24 2018, @08:33PM (1 child)

              by jmorris (4844) on Friday August 24 2018, @08:33PM (#726011)

              Pretty much. Although the idea of time travel in it was the seed for a lot of other authors, and it is certainly a pivotal literary work, it is not itself Science Fiction. It was entirely a vehicle for social commentary on the time of the author. Science Fiction as such really hadn't been invented yet, literature was just beginning to explore "speculative fiction" and getting the ground rules established. Some of Well's other works qualify. If judged on the time it was written I'd even give Frankenstein the nod as Science Fiction, the science just didn't hold up well. Turned out we were a LOT farther from creating life than it was plausible to believe at the time she wrote the book.

              And to be honest, the number of times a time travel story has been even close to logically consistent is a very low one, even within the constraints of the particular fictional universe's concept of how time travel 'works.' Many try, almost all fail badly. Time travel in the synopsis is a huge red warning sign of major suckage to come.

              • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Monday September 03 2018, @11:35PM

                by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Monday September 03 2018, @11:35PM (#730030) Homepage Journal

                Verily, the rare time travel stories that get it consistent -- with whatever rules they use -- are true marvels.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @04:43AM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @04:43AM (#725617)

        I remember reading sci-fi as a kid. It wasn't my preferred genre, but I distinctly remember a few stories that I really liked such as A Pail of Air. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Pail_of_Air [wikipedia.org]

        With the exception of Contact, it's been almost 40 years since reading Sci-fi, but I don't remember any stories having anything to do with sex. Of any kind. But I do remember my grandmother walking out of Empire Strikes Back (not scifi) over the amount of sex. (yes, that really happened)

        • (Score: 2, Informative) by pTamok on Friday August 24 2018, @06:49AM

          by pTamok (3042) on Friday August 24 2018, @06:49AM (#725670)

          I guess you haven't read much of the recently late Harlan Ellison [wikipedia.org], or Robert A. Heinlein [wikipedia.org] then.

          If it is a genre you want to learn more about, try reading the anthology Cybersex. It's not something that floats my boat, but writing well about sex is difficult, even for good authors. The "Bad Sex in Ficton" [literaryreview.co.uk] award finds it far too easy to find candidates. Here's some reporting [theguardian.com], and some quotes [theguardian.com].

        • (Score: 1) by charon on Friday August 24 2018, @07:08AM

          by charon (5660) on Friday August 24 2018, @07:08AM (#725674) Journal
          I vividly remember reading that story as a kid and loving it. But I never paid attention to the author and had no idea it was by Fritz Leiber. The same Fritz Leiber who wrote the worst book to ever receive a Hugo award, The Wanderer [wikipedia.org]. God, that book is horrible.
    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:09AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:09AM (#725510)

      I say let that creepy spammer have the award (along with the Soylent News Spam Award).

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:13AM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:13AM (#725513)

        Some awards can only be won posthumously.

        • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday August 24 2018, @03:33AM

          by MostCynical (2589) on Friday August 24 2018, @03:33AM (#725590) Journal

          Can only subscribers nominate volunteer offer to kill someone?

          --
          "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @12:54PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @12:54PM (#729488)

          Are you volunteering, SJW?

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 24 2018, @12:48AM (2 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @12:48AM (#725498) Journal

    Watch that Chinese guy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Cixin [wikipedia.org]

    That guy may have done his best work already - or he may blow us all away with something bigger and better one day soon. If Hollywood were to cut a deal, the Remembrance trilogy could become the next huge Star Wars or Star Trek thing. His short stories are pretty great too. "The devourers are coming, the devourers are coming!"

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @12:59AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @12:59AM (#725504)

      Mod parent up. Liu Cixin has more talent in one book than you'll find in a whole trilogy by the SJW Hugo Best SciFi by Black Transexual award winner.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @09:09AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @09:09AM (#725713)

        Eww, all his characters are yellow skinned and slant eyed. DO - NOT - WANT!

        (for trolling the RWNJ only, have not read his work)

  • (Score: 2) by EventH0rizon on Friday August 24 2018, @12:49AM (4 children)

    by EventH0rizon (936) on Friday August 24 2018, @12:49AM (#725499) Journal

    I think this is a great idea.

    But rather than just judging new books I'd love to see other Soylentils views of any SF title, like a SN Rotten Tomatoes.

    If, before I fork out for the next Great Thing, I could see how other readers of this site rated it, I'd be that much more confident.

    I am always looking for something to fill the void left by Ian M Banks. I still can't believe he's gone.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @12:52AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @12:52AM (#725501)

      Maybe we can organize a book club in the journals and submit reviews to the main page under a "Community Review" section?

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Friday August 24 2018, @01:00AM

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday August 24 2018, @01:00AM (#725505) Journal

        That's exactly what the Community Reviews nexus is for. We would also be willing to put a book club thing on the front page in that nexus. For example, 1 post at the start of the month telling you to read a book, and another post after 1 month discussing the book and picking another one. In between, we could use the poll to vote on a selection of choices.

        We also have the spoiler block which is useful in these situations.
        --
        [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:46AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:46AM (#725526)

        Huh, in a twisted way this whole left/right fight might end up with conservatives broadening their horizons as they find solidarity amongst other cultures. The Lord of Pasta works in mysterious ways.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @05:15AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @05:15AM (#725641)

          May his noodly appendage reach out to you in your moment of need. Pasta-man.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @12:50AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @12:50AM (#725500)

    I haven't read much recently written scifi, and I would love to be introduced to some authors who aren't dead or close to it. I tried to read Liu Cixin but the writing style didn't appeal to me, which might have been a product of poor translation, or maybe because I was comparing to Le Guin and Cherryh that I had been binging. What are the best books written in the last 10 years? Any good ongoing series?

    • (Score: 2) by sgleysti on Friday August 24 2018, @02:53AM

      by sgleysti (56) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @02:53AM (#725572)

      I really enjoyed The Peripheral by William Gibson, although some fans of his older works aren't so keen on it.

      I also loved Spin by Robert Charles Wilson.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:05AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:05AM (#725506)

    Reality Winner just got five years. There's a good chance Elizabeth Holmes will be joining her before then, so we can forget about boring SciFi books if we can figure how to smuggle in a camera for that hot prison lesbian action.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:08AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:08AM (#725508)

      Suck my tits and twat.

      • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @09:15AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @09:15AM (#725717)

        Cuz ya work for NASA?

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Friday August 24 2018, @01:16AM (13 children)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Friday August 24 2018, @01:16AM (#725514) Journal

    Okay, I haven't kept up much with SF literature since the 90s. I was really hoping for some recommendations from others!

    However, I can list a few of my favorites:

    Lord of Light, Doorways in the Sand, This Immortal, by Roger Zelazny.
    Foundation, Foundation's Edge, Foundation and Earth, by Isaac Asimov.
    Ringworld, by Larry Niven.
    The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, by Ursula LeGuin.
    Uplift War, David Brin.
    Mote in God's Eye, by Niven and Pournelle.
    All the Weyrs of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey
    The Shadow of the Torturer, by Gene Wolfe
    Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne
    Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle

    Yes, I know, the Pern stuff has time travel, and time travel is way, way overused. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells is a great story. After that, time travel was done to death. I found All the Weyrs of Pern an uplifting, feel good sort of story, and tried to ignore the time traveling it had.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by qzm on Friday August 24 2018, @01:39AM (2 children)

      by qzm (3260) on Friday August 24 2018, @01:39AM (#725521)

      A few of the authors I have read in the last 12 months (some of which are also on your list).
      Listing books? thats a lot of work, I tend to read an authors complete works, or at least skim them.

      Ian M.Banks
      Frank Herbert
      James Corey
      Kim Stanley
      Neal Stephenson
      Stephen Baxter
      Gary Gibson
      David Brin
      Alastair Reynolds
      Peter Hamilton
      Larry Niven
      Neal Asher
      Joe Haldeman
      Stanislaw Lem
      Greg Benford
      Greg Egan

      I would however have to question if Arthur Conan Doyle belongs on a SciFi list..

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by pTamok on Friday August 24 2018, @07:00AM (1 child)

        by pTamok (3042) on Friday August 24 2018, @07:00AM (#725672)

        I would add Charles Stross [isfdb.org] and Ken MacLeod to that list, and note that it is Iain M. Banks [isfdb.org], and Peter F. Hamilton [isfdb.org]. You might also want to add in Harry Harrison [isfdb.org].

        If you are a completionist and read all their works, it'll take a while.

    • (Score: 5, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 24 2018, @01:43AM (6 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @01:43AM (#725522) Journal

      Do you have any interest in military stories? David Drake wrote the Hammer's Slammers series, and a fairly large number of other books. All of his writing is filled with violence, including senseless violence, so if that doesn't appeal don't bother. Tom Kratman writes in a similar manner, with the difference that he's a bit more political and current-issue minded.

      And, again, I'll mention Baen books. The Baen universe doesn't have much room for wishy-washy bullshit. You really can't go wrong by picking a book off of their site. Eric Flint, Mercedes Lackey, David Weber, John Ringo and Mike Massa - and more. https://www.baen.com/ [baen.com]

      Jim Baen passed away a few years ago. The most memorable thing about him, in my personal opinion, was his stance on piracy. Piracy is unimportant. The more people that "steal" his books, the better. If they are reading his books, they get hooked, and they keep coming back for more. In effect, "Pirate my books! I love it!"

      The Free Library makes it possible to meet many of these authors at no cost: https://www.baen.com/allbooks/category/index/id/2012 [baen.com]

      Coincidentally, I see Kratman's essay, 'Training for War' listed on that page. Kratman is anathema to the whole progressive/SJW movement. His ideas on training epitomize that.

      • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Friday August 24 2018, @03:43AM

        by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Friday August 24 2018, @03:43AM (#725594)

        I wasn't that keen on Hammer's Slammers, but have read a fair few of his other stuff, and they're always rollicking (that's a good thing).

        Flint's great, Lackey's great, Weber's great, Ringo's pretty good, and IMO Massa is a bit patchy.

        My library is full of Baen books.

      • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday August 24 2018, @05:12AM (4 children)

        by bzipitidoo (4388) on Friday August 24 2018, @05:12AM (#725638) Journal

        Does The Mote in God's Eye count as military? If you want more explicitly and wholly military SF, I've read Starship Troopers, Ender's Game, Stirling and Drake's The General series, Drake's The Voyage, A Hymn Before Battle (because it was in the Baen free library), and Saberhagen's Berserker, and I did find all of them at least somewhat enjoyable reads. I've been meaning to get around to The Forever War.

        As statements intended to warn readers of the horrors of war, they're fine. However, I find the premises implausible. The idea that we'll bump up against hostile space faring aliens, get into a fight that's dramatic and desperate, and yet we eventually manage to come out on top, strikes me as extremely improbable. Oh, and of course the aliens are the evil aggressors who deserve to lose. It's such an obvious sop to our wistful desire to feel that we're special. We are still very young. A 10k year old civilization with delusions of martial glory (that's us) would be at most a bothersome baby to a million year old alien civilization that could be at least a Type II. To a Type III civilization, we'd be less than a mosquito. The only fight that is likely to be close to equal is a fight with ourselves-- a rebellion or a civil war. Some of those stories are of course internecine fights.

        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by jmorris on Friday August 24 2018, @06:12AM (2 children)

          by jmorris (4844) on Friday August 24 2018, @06:12AM (#725662)

          However, I find the premises implausible.

          After mentioning _Mote in God's Eye_ you say that? Do you realize how HARD they worked to carefully rig the story to permit a first contact situation where humans could win and it not be ridiculous? They carefully had them locked into a star system where they couldn't discover the technology to escape from so it was plausible they could be an old race more advanced than us yet not have already spread across the galaxy. Then they rigged the plot in several other ways to make it possible to beat them but the final result was not certain even at the end of the book. They were explicitly aware of the problems with other first contact / war with aliens stories and wrote the book as an exploration of the problem.

          And you do know that Drake's The Voyage is just the Greek classics with the serial numbers lightly shaved off, right?

          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 24 2018, @02:08PM (1 child)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @02:08PM (#725804) Journal

            And you do know that Drake's The Voyage is just the Greek classics with the serial numbers lightly shaved off, right?

            Those of us who read the forwards, afterwards, prologues, commentaries, and assorted other addendums to books are well aware that Drake has re-written many famous stories, battles, and epics. ;^) The man is as honest as he is entertaining.

            • (Score: 1, Troll) by jmorris on Friday August 24 2018, @05:15PM

              by jmorris (4844) on Friday August 24 2018, @05:15PM (#725920)

              Point being that taking any broader message about conflict with aliens from that book is a real stretch since the aliens are also just Greek mythology with the serial numbers lightly sanded down. Fun read, not science fiction by any stretch.

        • (Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 24 2018, @02:05PM

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @02:05PM (#725799) Journal

          Given your titles, it seems that like myself, you've read a heckuva lot of books that are dated now. Have you read Laumer's Bolo books? They are notable, in that, the aliens aren't exactly the evil aggressors. If I remember correctly, there are about a half dozen alien races. We kicked ass on a couple of them, we made peace with a couple - then we met an empire. They weren't bad guys, so much, as they were warriors, much as we are. They miscalculated, we miscalculated, each called the other's bluff, and it turned into lots and lots of shooting. The more shooting took place, the deeper the hatred. Eventually, each side goes for the "Armageddon option", and both civilizations are destroyed. The dark ages close in on both of us. Except - one set of refugees meets another set from the other side on one world, and come to an understanding. Another set of refugees ran long enough and far enough to escape the final collapse.

          The story is actually pretty plausible, if you only accept interstellar travel. :^)

          Of course, in the final analysis, we are both sides in the story . . .

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @05:13AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @05:13AM (#725639)

      Of all of the time travel fixes I know of, this was the best. Pity they had to destroy their only means of escape to do it, but hey, it's not like they were going to leave anyway.
      Real shame there are no more Pern books after Anne left us. Time for a series re-read I think. After I finish this Wheel of Time reread.

      • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Friday August 24 2018, @07:16PM (1 child)

        by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @07:16PM (#725986) Homepage Journal

        I liked the Wheel of Time. But ...
        By the third book so much had happened that I completely lost track of the plot and gave up.
        A volume-by-volume summary would be welcome; each summary to be read after the corresponding volume, and used for reference during the next.

        -- hendrik.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @12:51PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @12:51PM (#729487)

          Ah, do a read. Get an ebook. I read the first book as a comic in PDF.
          It's much better when read straight through. It gets bogged down in the 7th to 10th books Winter's heart et al. Still good though. I'd pay for the PDF versions if I could buy them for a reasonable price. The books themselves can be had for $5 each now so, awesome!

  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday August 24 2018, @01:55AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday August 24 2018, @01:55AM (#725534) Journal
    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:59AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @01:59AM (#725541)
  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by jmorris on Friday August 24 2018, @02:57AM (12 children)

    by jmorris (4844) on Friday August 24 2018, @02:57AM (#725574)

    Splitting Science Fiction from Sci-Fi is the part where the fist fights will break out. Fantasy is usually easy enough to push off into a different genre but even stuff written as hard science fiction can quickly look like Sci-Fi as events march on. Science fiction is always a projection from a present into the future. As time passes all science fiction looks "dated." The boundaries get fuzzy quickly.

    For example, I see Julian May got a Hugo nomination for _The Many Colored Land_ and when you start reading it you get a space opera vibe. I have read where she says that opera feel is very intentional btw. When they go back in time and things get really weird it is tempting to toss it into the fantasy camp. But as one reads on through the rest of the series it becomes clear she was aiming for as "hard" a science fiction grounding as she could manage and still get an outrageous tale of outsized Heroes and Villains doing mighty deeds. She mostly pulls off the hat trick of a story that qualifies as hard Science Fiction, Space Opera and Fantasy. So where does one put it? Granted that one is an outlier but there are many more books that blur two of the boundaries. Or worse, age across from hard to soft Science Fiction. Now add in Clark's Law that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic and the potential for confusion only grows.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @03:09AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @03:09AM (#725577)

      Interesting, informative, and insightful all in one post... thank you!

      • (Score: 2) by chromas on Saturday August 25 2018, @07:47AM

        by chromas (34) Subscriber Badge on Saturday August 25 2018, @07:47AM (#726171) Journal

        It's the Soylent Hat Trick™.

    • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday August 24 2018, @03:41AM (3 children)

      by MostCynical (2589) on Friday August 24 2018, @03:41AM (#725593) Journal

      Scifi channel became SyFy and things like Sharknado and Buffy get played, because they need a place to put "alternative reality fiction"

      By extension, they could even show Brady Bunch re-runs.

      Wince the channel didn't go back, it must rate better than it did when it was SciFi.

      --
      "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
      • (Score: 2) by jmorris on Friday August 24 2018, @04:48AM (1 child)

        by jmorris (4844) on Friday August 24 2018, @04:48AM (#725620)

        Didn't you see The Last Sharknado: It's About Time? All six films are now a perfectly science fiction time loop story thing now. (snerk) No it isn't science fiction but it was at least funny as hell at least some of the time. It was listed as a "science fiction disaster comedy" so ok. When Science Fiction gets too stuffy to occasionally embrace a sendup of the genre is taking itself too serious.

        Buffy on the other hand. No. But then they also ran WWE "fights" on the "SyFy" channel and Ghost Hunters so who cares at that point. It isn't about ratings, every channel seems to have a compulsion to launch as one thing, heavily brand as that and then run entirely different crap. MTV used to be a radio station with video, are you old enough to remember that one? CNN was all news, not whatever crap they are putting up on that channel now several hours a night. CNNHN was just news, every thirty minutes, for those times when you didn't want to wait an hour while Larry King was interviewing some newsmaker (or celebrity) to find out what else was happening. A&E was Arts and Entertainment, highbrow arty crap, not Reality TV and zombies. History Channel ran documentaries, usually involving Hitler. Not even counting cases of poverty, like MSNBC being unable to afford weekend programming and falling back to reruns of Locked Up, that is at least sorta understandable.. but couldn't they run reruns of news sorta things, old Dateline episodes or something?

        If "The Jews" run the media they must not be as smart as advertised because they are failing at branding. :)

        • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday August 24 2018, @10:02AM

          by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday August 24 2018, @10:02AM (#725725) Journal

          Buffy season 4 definitely had a sci-fi angle, and is far more appropriate for that channel than WWE and some of the other crap. Who's gonna complain about Merlin or Earthsea or something being on Sci-Fi?

          I can't believe that there is a Sharknado 6 already. I've only seen the first 3.

          --
          [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday August 24 2018, @10:05AM

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday August 24 2018, @10:05AM (#725726) Journal

        Technopagan, s02e11, the entirety of season 4... I'd say Buffy is at home on a science fiction related/tangential channel.

        --
        [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 2) by coolgopher on Friday August 24 2018, @05:05AM (1 child)

      by coolgopher (1157) on Friday August 24 2018, @05:05AM (#725634)

      Huh. With a name like that I always thought she was a he. Live and learn. Thanks.

      Still not much of a fan of the writing though, tbh.

      • (Score: 2) by jmorris on Friday August 24 2018, @05:56AM

        by jmorris (4844) on Friday August 24 2018, @05:56AM (#725656)

        Well she wasn't one of these modern feminist authors that try to make that the center of their career but if you read _The Pliocene Companion_ "10th book" in the series that has interviews and such with her it isn't a mystery. That and it shows in the writing. Very few authors can avoid it, whether male authors writing female characters or female authors writing males ones, it will almost always be just a little off. Which is why most fans assume that after the strokes started Virgina Heinlein was doing an increasing amount of Robert's actual writing to keep the family business going, because it showed. Likewise, few fans were overly shocked when David Eddings finally fessed up to having had a bit of help from the Mrs. and started listing both names on the covers.

    • (Score: 2) by jelizondo on Friday August 24 2018, @06:36AM (1 child)

      by jelizondo (653) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 24 2018, @06:36AM (#725668) Journal

      It's up to you, IMHO.

      When you post your suggestions, you can write Science Fiction, Sci-Fi or Fantasy. We will disagree, certainly. Is "Ender's game" science fiction or sci-fi? See, I understand your comment, I simply don't want everything including the kitchen sink labeled as Science Fiction, which to me is Clarke, Pohl and a few others. Even Liu Cixin (The three body problem) would qualify as Science Fiction to me but others might disagree.

      • (Score: 2) by jmorris on Friday August 24 2018, @07:45AM

        by jmorris (4844) on Friday August 24 2018, @07:45AM (#725687)

        Ender's Game is a great story. Probably fails the Science Fiction test for lack of an identifiable "what if" element, everything in the story is just there to drive the character development of Ender. The sequels (the ones with Ender, never got around to the others) are closer but still more character studies than speculation about the future with a pretty generic "futuristic" setting that isn't examined and clearly not the point of the stories.

    • (Score: 2) by theluggage on Friday August 24 2018, @10:34AM

      by theluggage (1797) on Friday August 24 2018, @10:34AM (#725731)

      Splitting Science Fiction from Sci-Fi is the part where the fist fights will break out. Fantasy is usually easy enough to push off into a different genre but even stuff written as hard science fiction can quickly look like Sci-Fi as events march on. Science fiction is always a projection from a present into the future. As time passes all science fiction looks "dated." The boundaries get fuzzy quickly

      ...and of course, anything longer than a very short story will inevitably be a mixture of hard/soft SF subplots. Even Greg Egan's books (SF so hard that it needs a bibliography, explanatory websites and supporting software) include character development and allegories to present-day culture (E.g. the Orthogonal series: the crew of a spaceship in a lovingly-described alternative geometry universe face a gender politics crisis because of a shortage of contraceptives...)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @12:48PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @12:48PM (#729485)

      There are some seriously effed up things in those books

  • (Score: 1) by Drake_Edgewater on Friday August 24 2018, @11:36AM

    by Drake_Edgewater (780) on Friday August 24 2018, @11:36AM (#725747) Journal

    I'm still listening to classical music from an old SN story (I must be old here ;), so I look forward for book recommendations from my fellow Soylentils!

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