false 11 442 402 true 5626944 read 1 true 4675491 currently-reading 39 true 4675490 to-read 99 false 4704567 own 57 false 4704560 kindle 31 false 5259401 discworld http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77955520 to: Enchanted, Inc. (Mass Market Paperback) by Shanna Swendson
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60792696 to: Legacy of the Ghost: Book 2: Lord of Chaos Trilogy (Kindle Edition) by Tanner Artesz
bookshelves: kindle, own
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77490239 The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time, #1) by Robert Jordan
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69909359 Perdido Street Station (Mass Market Paperback) by China Miéville
bookshelves: kindle, own, to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50165614 to: The Handmaid's Tale (Paperback) by Margaret Atwood
bookshelves: kindle, own
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76394033 The Tombs of Atuan (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 2) by Ursula K. LeGuin
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/235835-why-do-most-of-the-sf-shows-on-mainstream-tv-not-last Liz made a comment in the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club group:

My husband and I blame time slots. Traditionally it seems that sci-fi on the major networks has been restricted to 9 PM Friday nights. Because every good TV exec knows that sci-fi geeks stay at home Friday nights. ;)

More recently they get scattered throughout the week. And I think that has improved ratings. Plus shows like Heroes and Lost are appealing to everyone, not just the sci-fi fans.

Regardless of when it airs, a sci-fi TV show is expensive to produce. Probably a bit less now with the advances in CGI but they almost all require some type of extensive post-production work. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/235008-thoughts-on-the-republic-of-gilead-spoilers Liz made a comment in the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club group:

As easily as they took over the bank accounts and stopped the women from working, I think whoever took over could also disable cellphones and the internet. Of course, that in itself would cause riots. I was working in a public library on 9/11 and had some really pissed off people because the internet was slow. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/234596-first-impressions-no-spoilers Liz made a comment in the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club group:

Absolutely. I just looked the novel up on Wikipedia and read this (bolding mine):
<quote>In interviews and essays Atwood has discussed generic classification of both The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake as "science fiction" or "speculative fiction", observing: "I like to make a distinction between science fiction proper and speculative fiction. For me, the science fiction label belongs on books with things in them that we can't yet do, such as going through a wormhole in space to another universe; and speculative fiction means a work that employs the means already to hand, such as DNA identification and credit cards, and that takes place on Planet Earth. But the terms are fluid."[2:]

Langford observes parenthetically: "(…The Handmaid's Tale, won the very first Arthur C. Clarke award in 1987. She's been trying to live this down ever since.)" and goes on to point out: "Atwood prefers to say that she writes speculative fiction—a term coined by SF man Robert A. Heinlein. As she told the Guardian, 'Science fiction has monsters and spaceships; speculative fiction could really happen.'[2:] She used a subtly different phrasing for New Scientist, 'Oryx and Crake is not science fiction. It is fact within fiction. Science fiction is when you have rockets and chemicals.' So it was very cruel of New Scientist to describe this interview in the contents list as: 'Margaret Atwood explains why science is crucial to her science fiction.' … Play it again, Ms Atwood—this time for the Book-of-the-Month Club: "Oryx and Crake is a speculative fiction, not a science fiction proper. It contains no intergalactic space travel, no teleportation, no Martians." And one more time: on BBC1 Breakfast News the distinguished author explained that science fiction, as opposed to what she writes, is characterized by 'talking squids in outer space.' "[3:]

In distinguishing between these critical generic labels science fiction and speculative fiction, Atwood has observed that while others may be using the terms interchangeably, whether classified as "science fiction proper" or as "speculative fiction", her narratives give her the ability to explore themes in ways that "realistic fiction" cannot do.[2:]</quote> ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/235395-amybody-watch-v-last-ight Liz made a comment in the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club group:

I only caught the first 15 minutes - gonna re-watch all of it with DH soon. But what I caught of it; I wish I hadn't seen (and loved) the original. As another friend of mine said this morning, the original took 8 hours, this did it in 1. It felt very rushed to me. I don't think it should be a scene by scene reimaging but they could have spent a bit more time developing the story.

I seem to recall that one of the reasons the original TV series got cancelled was budget. Putting in the friday night sci-fi death slot didn't help either. Will ABC be able to keep the CG budget up enough to make the show realistic? ]]>