Bobby’s Comments (group member since Mar 15, 2013)

Bobby’s comments from the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

Lynda wrote: "Steven wrote: "Hello everyone! I'm new to this group, and I see I'm in the right place. I grew up reading early sci fi and fantasy novels instead of comics. I mean REALLY EARLY — like Dunsany/Willi..."

You know, I never did get around to Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser but always meant to! Is it too late...?

Michele wrote: "So it says this group has over 3200 members, but only 9 votes each for the two latest polls. And not many nominate stuff either.

Are you indifferent to the choices? Are you enjoying the diversity ..."

There's just too much out there. A lot of times, I don't know the books selected and I'm reading something else entirely.

Ariel wrote: "Bobby wrote: "Lynda wrote: "I contend that SF is actually a very old genre. Just saying. I think it has as much to do with myth and legend as it does with scientific speculation although today ques..."

Hahaha, I actually think there is an extent to where that is exactly the delineation between the science fiction fan and the fantasy fan, though I consider myself as both.

Lynda wrote: "I contend that SF is actually a very old genre. Just saying. I think it has as much to do with myth and legend as it does with scientific speculation although today questions raised by science dema..."

Myth notwithstanding, I think science fiction in particular has to do with the alteration of man's view of the Universe from a spiritual/supernatural mindset to a more humanist mode. And for me, that places the birth of science fiction at Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus. Whaddaya think?

Karina wrote: "Well hello,
Sci-fi is a really new genre i'm knowing, but i love it, and every day i want to read more of this kind of books and authors. I'm a veteran in fantasy, the genre that blows my mind eve..."

Hi Karina! Well, welcome to another realm that will blow your mind! Even though you didn't ask for any, I'm going to recommend some books because I'm re-reading a bunch of them right now with my nephew and man, am I having a blast!

If you haven't already you must read:

Dune
Stranger in a Strange Land
Lord of Light
The Martian Chronicles
Foundation
Childhood's End
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Neuromancer

I say "must". Ha! These are just some of my all time favorites. Enjoy!

And I'm fairly positive you're waaay better at English than I am at whatever your native tongue is! :-)

Ivan wrote: "So far, Frank Herbert seems the best world builders to me."

Man, I'm glad somebody else said it. These fools be playa hatin'.

Pickle wrote: "China Miéville does a great job in Perdido Street Station of creating New Crobuzon"

YES!!!

Um, quotes from reviewers, sure. And I'm a little skeptical about people saying they ignore them completely. But that's probably because I pay attention to them. There are just sooo many books out there, sometimes it's great to have someone who reads for a living sort through the chaff for you. And sure, sometimes I read a book that's gotten great reviews and I hate it. And vice versa. That's with anything.

Quotes from authors, not so much. I'm not even sure why that is. Stephen King I pay attention to because he's so willing to blast people if he doesn't like them and praise them if he does. He cares so much about the craft and about writers, that I don't think he gives them without meaning it. Maybe I'm naive. But he's just about the only one. I just generally think an author has an agenda. A friend asked them, it's a favor for an agent or publisher, something. But like, when Stephen King says "I have seen the future of horror, his name is Clive Barker." I feel safe going with that. And whether or not Barker was the future of horror, he was masterful, so thanks Mr. King!

I should say also, it depends on what the reviewers are saying. If I'm reading a horror book and I see the word "terrifying" or some such a few times from a few different people, they got me.

Wow. I just happen to have that very collection in my paperbacks but I've never read it. Bout to fix that.

Matina (Alassra) wrote: "I adore fringe!"

I wouldn't say I adore Fringe but I dig it. I watch it differently than I watch any other show. I binge watch a lot of stuff but with Fringe, I'll get hooked for four or five episodes, than put it away for a couple of weeks, than my lady will say, "Hey, feel like watching Fringe?" And I'll be like, "Yeah!" It's good when I just need a fix of sci-fi and horror (or at least horrific, sometimes that show gets really fucking gross).

Red Dwarf is probably my favorite sci-fi show, though.

It's GoodReads so I generally don't have a reason why I write reviews. I certainly don't have time to write hundreds of reviews that I'm not getting paid for. Usually, for whatever reason, something hits me and I just wind up writing it. Sometimes, it's something about the book that I've always wanted to say. With my five star reviews, I've started looking for some passage that I think really captures the magic of that person's prose style OR a passage that really encapsulates why I love the book. But heck, it's whatever really.

Hilarious that you started off the Sci - Fi movie thread with a post about a classic musical.

Some hold up! The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was my first favorite movie. I still dig it. (Maybe that says more about me than the movie. )

Bryce wrote: "I had a hard time learning how to read when I was a kid. So naturally I hated anything to do with it. I'd say when I was around 10 or 11 a friend of mine let me borrow Terry Goodkinds Wizard's Firs..."

I get that. I was the opposite. Loved reading, got to it early. But I loved guys from years before me as well. Bradbury, Asimov, Heinlein, Zelazny. All of which I recommend if you haven't gotten to them yet. Dune, The Martian Chronicles, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Foundation Trilogy...if you haven't gotten to them yet.

Exactly! I forgot about Encyclopedia Brown. Yup! The Mad Scientists Club. The Black Pearl...

Spooky1947 wrote: "fairytales and Dr. Seuss...when I was a tot my favorite days were when the mailman brought me a package from the I Can Read Bookclub..."

Oh man! You know what I used to dig? In school every couple of months, they'd bring in a catalogue of books. And I'd hit the peeps up for three or four that looked cool and would just be chomping at the bit until they arrived! And man, when they did come in, that would make my week at least!

I remember in like, Fantastic Four seventy something, they went to fight Psycho Man in the Microverse -- talk about science fiction. Jaw dropping work by Kirby.

http://www.ff1by1.com/wp-content/uplo...

There's an extent to where I'm just hard-wired that way. I gravitated early to comic books, super-heroes, Godzilla and other monsters, so on and so forth. But I would definitely say it was Marvel Comics that paved the way.

Marie wrote: "The characters in the urban fantasy I'm writing range from bright and cheerful to dark and monstrous.
And they are all considered real monsters.
I don't tend to do much research, especially when i..."

Marie wrote: "The characters in the urban fantasy I'm writing range from bright and cheerful to dark and monstrous.
And they are all considered real monsters.
I don't tend to do much research, especially when i..."

On the other hand, a lot of times, research, knowledge, gives weight and credence and investment to the reader. They can buy into it a bit more, don't you think?

Brenda wrote: "First, a caveat: you will find that there are nine-and-ninety ways of doing this, so any one response will not be universal.

When I do it, I do no research in advance at all. I write it, and only ..."

I'm actually super glad you said this. I have a story hung up right now specifically because of all the (intimidating) research I've told myself had to happen. And certainly, I can't publish without it but I could finish the story first and then see how the research bears out what I've done already.