Lena’s Comments (group member since Nov 17, 2014)

Lena’s comments from the Spells, Space & Screams: Collections & Anthologies in Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Horror group.

Which is kind of creepy but doesn't make me love my dogs any less. Lol, yes exactly!

Dog facial muscles adapted to mimic humans: https://www.pnas.org/content/116/29/1...

Ridley Scott is back making SciFi to scare you!
https://youtu.be/otSnQ1CspJk

Netflix Ratched is high color horror... that reminds you that you dress like a slob: https://youtu.be/TNb4FtFCyvk

Eighty pages into On the Java Ridge (Staunch 2018) which means this is already going better than Merfolk May. My library says The Western Wind (Staunch 2019) is in transit.

I never had the stamina for debates. I preferred to listen and then agree or agree to disagree. I agree with Mr. Cohen, his words resonated.

I would love something like that but the children are casualties either way.

And here is when I have to take a step back and say I was friends with Christian Scientist in college. He was a physics major, so smart so nice, not the least bit homophobic - not anything you would expect. Healthy as a horse. Yet his beliefs precluded him from taking medicine.

But he never tried to get anyone else to do the same. I guess I’ve been thinking of him.

I disagree because even conversations are not what we are getting. Just crazy people. And it’s never a popular opinion here to limit speech and falsehoods. Rhetoric is killing people. Here are 14 diseases the anti-vaxers have brought back.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/...

Over 150,000 Americans have died from coronavirus, it’s not a conspiracy.

I don’t want more rhetoric I want this to stop.

Graeme wrote: "About 20% in, I have a suspicion that Caleb has [spoilers removed]"

Graeme, am I missing something?

Liam Neesan is back as AARPs most awesome action star: https://youtu.be/Yci3KJlcV84

We before me.

(view spoiler)[I stole We Before Me from my college website. It’s the moral they are using to guide them through this difficult time. (hide spoiler)]

We would be better off without anti-maskers, anti-vaxers, and white supremacists. People are dying due to their disinformation and hate. I don’t think its wrong to use whatever algorithms they use to quiet those screamy sites and stop taking their money. That way if you really want to find hateful people, you still can, but they won’t have the same impact on the general population.

Sacha Baron Cohen rips into Facebook: https://youtu.be/irwVRMH04eI
He was surprisingly well spoken.

The discussion has been exemplary this month!

Small Things Daniel H. Wilson ★★★☆☆
When I started Spells, Space & Screams I picked Guardian Angels and Other Monsters as our inaugural Book of the Month, still the best collection I’ve ever read, and David H. Wilson took the time to join in on the discussion. I don’t think this story was a good example of his work. Still, the mix of an alcoholic scientist, nanobots, dark discoveries, and endless guilt made an alright story. The visuals had an Annihilation (2018) vibe.

Maybe I’m feeling punchy but the fact that they felt they had to say this was a parody struck me as hilarious.

Spider the Artist by Nnedi Okorafor ★★☆☆☆
Sort of charming but the robots make no sense. They were built to repulse natives from the oil pipeline and do repairs. Now they play music, make selective friendships, all while killing natives and oil workers alike. Oh, and they can act like a medical ultrasound. Next year juggling, bad poetry, and chimpanzee collecting.

Score, my library system has a hardcopy. I just requested it and should have it in time through the new contactless pickup.

No it was not an emotional story, which i was expecting, but what felt like a new conversation on the politics of robots in society. I cried buckets at Spielberg's AI... my poor date, lol. And maybe i liked the story more because i have been rewatching West Wing.

Maybe you’re right and it was meant to be satirical but this guy spent his life inventing AI and I believe he thought it through beyond the science to what would happen at a governmental/societal level. Trying to legislate the values of the next generation is common, at least in the US. I’ve just never read it put boldly on display in a SciFi story.

We Are All Misfit Toys In the Aftermath of the Velveteen War by Seanan McGuire ★★★★½
Mira Grant, goddess of the gut punch. Mira Grant, queen of Dark and Clever SciFi. (view spoiler)[I’ve never read her fantasy work under her real name or know if there is a change in tenor when she writes as Seanan. This felt all Mira Grant! (hide spoiler)]Artificially intelligent toys kidnap their best friends and hold a generation hostage in a devastating Cold War.

I highly recommend The Kingdom of Needle and Bone: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...