Tony’s Comments (group member since Dec 19, 2018)

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

Andrea wrote: "Definitely shouldn't present a user with an error before he's had a chance to even make the error."

I agree completely, but GR is certainly not alone in this regard. It's a sign of lazy design / programming, but I have noticed it becoming far more common.

I started The Citadel of Weeping Pearls, which will fill the Silkpunk slot in my Bingo.

However, I'm really struggling to get into it, so I may have to put it aside and start something else.

I have finished Rendezvous with Rama. To this day, 50 years after publication, it remains a classic of the hard sci-fi genre. I am certain I have read it before, but I remembered almost nothing.

I don't think I will go on with the rest - at least not straight away - as Clarke was the editor on them, not the author. It fills the Bingo slot for Award Winning.

I have now watched Beyond the Time Barrier. There were some good sci-fi movies made in the 50s and 60s - this is not one of them 😆

Andrea wrote: "Robin wrote: "Did I mention that instead of zapping people with rayguns, these Daleks trundle around squirting people with fire extinguishers?."

... I still found moments to be not very kid friendly though."

In the 60s and 70s, the fact that Doctor Who was often a scary show for kids was never a concern, and no one thought that it was unsuitable for kids. There are lots of jokes about watching while peeking out from behind the lounge.

Doctor Who never induced that sort of reaction in me, but I was terrified the first time I saw The Blob (the Steve McQueen version). I guess I was 11 or 12 at the time and it gave me some serious nightmares. Watching it now, it is a classic B-movie.

I have started Rendezvous with Rama. I have Rama: The Omnibus, but I don't know if I will read the sequels - they were all written at least 15 years after the original, and with a co-author. I'm not sure they will match up to the excellence of the original.

I have finished Space: 1975: Space Opera Stories with a 1970s Twist and I quite enjoyed it. There are a variety of different styles - not all dragged me back into the 70s, but most of them did.

I'm a definite re-reader. Sure, a few times I have found I'm not enjoying the book the way my memory tells me I did, but most of my rereads are positive experiences. There are a number of books that I reread regularly.

I have started the anthology Space: 1975: Space Opera Stories with a 1970s Twist, which I backed on Kickstarter a couple of years ago, but haven't got around to reading until now.

Andrea wrote: "Metropolis actually started off really good, but was wayyyy too long. For something from the 40's or so, it had amazing sets."

If you mean the Fritz Lang film Metropolis, you're out by a couple of decades - it was made in 1927. But I agree, it's longer than it needed to be.

I finished The Massacre of Mankind, which I quite enjoyed, although I feel it was longer than it needed to be. It also fills the Invasion slot in my Bingo for this year.

I am about halfway through The Massacre of Mankind. Baxter is much more of a hard SF writer than Wells, which makes it a very different experience, but I am enjoying it so far.

Audrey wrote: "There's more?? I will have to look into it. It was good."

Yep, Haldeman wrote Forever Peace in 1997 (23 years after The Forever War) and Forever Free in 1999.

Audrey wrote: "Finished The Forever War"

Are you planning to go back and read the rest of the trilogy Audrey? Or just finish with The Forever War? I know he wrote them 25 years later.

No worries Michelle. We're used to most Amazon sales being not available here.

Michelle wrote: "There are many Tolkein books on sale in the U.S. kindle store for $2.99."

That would seem to be a US-only sale. None of Tolkien's books are on sale in the AU Amazon store.

My first Doctor was Jon Pertwee, although I don't recall which episode. I have since seen all the surviving episodes of the seasons that came before, and watched all the seasons since.

I commend your determination in getting through all of the Mission Earth series by Hubbard. I read them back in the early 80s, and the only reason I finished was that I was too stubborn to give up 😆 I didn't really enjoy them, but Hubbard was never one of my favoured SF authors. I thought Battlefield: Earth was OK, but probably could have been half the size.

The other problem I had reading the Mission Earth series was that I kept getting approached by people who wanted to talk to me about Dianetics 😣

I have started reading The Massacre of Mankind

I have finished The Einstein Prophecy. It's a fairly low-key horror story, based on Christian mythology. Set in 1944, against the backdrop of World War II and the Manhattan Project, the author has taken some historical liberties, but nothing too egregious. A lot of readers may not even notice them. It maintained a fairly slow pace throughout, but I enjoyed it.