Mark’s Comments (group member since Apr 13, 2012)

Mark’s comments from the The Sword and Laser group.

Want some soup?

New trailer for Il Mandalorian

https://youtu.be/SWJrG3Ua5Kk

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I set my goals really low, 6 for each, but this year I'm most surprised that my sword is higher than my laser. I think of myself as a solid laser!"

I'll fall short on my laser count this year too. I think I'm reading more fantasy series titles these days.

Trike wrote: "Buzz wrote: "Fascinating article on ageism in women characters and science-fiction…

Space ageing: why sci-fi novels shun the badass older woman https://flip.it/jBRRJv"

Anyone else disappointed th..."

New thread with info about the list mentioned in the article

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Buzz posted a link to this Nature article over in Quick Burns

Space ageing: why sci-fi novels shun the badass older woman
https://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...

and Trike voiced curiosity about the list of science fiction novels featuring older woman that was mentioned in the article.

The author, Sylvia Spruck Wrigley, included a version of the list in an article published in the Science Fiction Research Association Review, Winter 2019, titled Throw Grandma Out the Airlock, page 57.

http://www.sfra.org/resources/Documen...

I made a Goodreads list out of the latest version from the author's newsletter

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

and found another Goodreads list with a similar aim, but broader in scope

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

This list is based on a list compiled by Catherine Lundoff which has additional references.

https://catherineldf.dreamwidth.org/2...
https://catherineldf.dreamwidth.org/3...

Baby Yoda art abounds! This image of hungry baby Yodas by @beeple

Baby Yoda Has Conquered the World

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/...

Count me in as well.

Trike wrote: "Anyone else disappointed that she doesn’t include a list after she writes, “But I have so far confirmed just 36 English-language novels in the genre that feature old women as major figures.”?"

Looks like Ms. Wrigley might be writing a book about it. This cover image is on her website, but I don't see any publication info.



Update: Signing up for her mailing list at https://intrigue.co.uk promises a copy of the up-to-date list of science fiction novels featuring old women.

4 of 12 for me. Ninefox Gambit, HP1,Martian Chronicles and Trail of Lightning.

I've been struggling with the Snow Queen, but Hogfather looks interesting.

This is the way.

Speaking of Michael Moorcock's Elric...

Ok, we weren't speaking about it, but I put it on a list early in this thread

Michael Moorcock’s Elric Saga Optioned for TV

https://www.tor.com/2019/11/20/michae...

Tassie Dave wrote: "He, the baby, does need a nickname. I suggest, Tadpole :-)"

Tadpole makes me think of Jabba's offspring who looked like a bloated wrinkled tadpole.

One more Gutenberg Project book

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62

The Black God's Kiss in Weird Tales Oct 1934 is available from archive.org (the same place where S&L podcasts are archived). The damaged pages in the download don't affect this story.

https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

And this is C.L Moore, author of The Black God's Kiss, who was born in 1911. The Black God's Kiss was published in Weird Tales, Oct 1934

>

Whoa. The Black God's Kiss is the weirdest story ever told. It says so right there on the cover.

John (Taloni) wrote: "I AM NOT READING BEOWULF THIS DECEMBER!"

The Story of Beowulf, Translated from Anglo-Saxon into Modern English Prose

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50742

A Christmas Carol in Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens

Available for free from Project Gutenberg

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46

and so is

Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women by George MacDonald

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/325

Tassie Dave wrote: "It would be almost impossible to pinpoint the first fantasy book ever written."

But Wikipedia sez so! (After asking for a donation)

And I found a copy of Phantastes on my bookshelf. I have about 15 Ballantine Adult Fantasy paperbacks there. I don't remember reading this book, so all Veronica has to do is pick it!