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

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

Isabella wrote: "We were visiting Kangaroo Island, so probably a tiger snake?"

Yes, most likely. There are only two types of snake on Kangaroo Island, and both are venomous. However, unless the guy really pissed the snake off and it bit him multiple times, he probably would have survived - any tourist area will have supplies of anti-venom on hand. Even with several bites, the anti-venom will probably be effective, but tiger snake venom is seriously nasty stuff.

I read the graphic novel Nightwings, an adaptation of the Robert Silverberg novel. A 48-page graphic novel is far too short to do justice to a 256-page novel, but the artwork is gorgeous.

Isabella wrote: "...when there was a snake sun bathing on the path and M. Français went right up close for his pictures. Its bite was pretty lethal, though I can't remember what kind it was."

Queensland has plenty of venomous snakes to choose from - if you were along the coast it could well have been an eastern brown snake or a coastal taipan - both of those are pretty lethal. There are about a dozen venomous snakes in Queensland. The coastal taipan is cousin to the western taipan, which is considered to be the most venomous land snake in the world. However, only a couple of people a year (on average) are killed by snakebite in Australia - and most of them are from doing exactly what that Frenchman was doing.

We did once find a gorgeous diamond python sunning itself on the balcony of my parents house - we had to make sure all the cats stayed away until the authorities could come and collect it.

I read the graphic novel Hell on Earth. It's a nice adaptation of the Robert Bloch story. I'm not usually a fan of Keith Giffen's artwork, but it works very well here.

Still making (slow) progress on Great North Road, but I am enjoying it. I read Me & Joe Priest - a graphic novel set in a dystopian future where humanity has become sterile. The artwork was good, and the story had some good ideas, but too often descended into reading like a script to a bad 80s sci-fi movie, mixing Mad Max and a bunch of other genres.

I also have more books than I care to count, and the 12 bookcases in my apartment are all completely full, as well as a couple of stacks of books that are taller than I am. I do occasionally have a bit of a clean out, but I primarily buy ebooks these days. And there are 15-20 boxes of my parents books in the garage, as well as another half-dozen boxes of mine.

What you won't find in my garage is my car, cause there is no room for it :)

I'm currently a one-cat family, but she is young (just out of kitten-hood) and considers that the time I spend reading could be more profitably employed by playing with her :)

There are a lot of books that I have reread, some many times. I have read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings dozens of time, and I have read Doc Smith's Lensman series, and ERB's Barsoom series half-a-dozen times. There are many, many more that I have read 2 or 3 times.

Robin wrote: "Ever since Mr Covid stole my day job, I have been trying very hard not to spend any money unnecessarily. So, I am rereading from necessity."

Robin, are you aware of Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org/)? They list hundreds of books in the public domain that have been turned into ebooks and are all available for free. There are similar sites. For more modern books, there is a site call Free EBooks (https://www.free-ebooks.net/) - this is a site that hosts books that are self-published, so the quality is variable. You can join for free, and download 5 books a month as a free member. There is a good chunk of SFF available. Paid membership is $20 for a lifetime membership (at least, that's what it was when I paid) and allows unlimited downloads. They do tend to get enthusiastic on emailing offers though.

The balance between male and female readers of SFF has been changing over the years, as has the general social acceptance of reading SFF. In the 30s and 40s, reading Astounding or Amazing or Galaxy really was pretty much a guy thing. In the 60s the counter-culture movement embraced Lord of the Rings and that got a lot more women reading fantasy. And then there is the juggernaut that is Harry Potter - not only did it lead to a lot more kids reading fantasy (and more girls than boys), but it also led to the creation of the "adult cover". When I was managing bookstores, we used to have the HP books in both the Children/YA section, and the SFF section, depending on which cover they had.

I think kids who grow up reading SFF (and the YA market is very accepting of the genre, even if it is dominated by paranormal) are more inclined to continue reading it in later life - and the customers who had grown up reading HP and/or Twilight, were not the customers who read 50 Shades - the 50 Shades readership was far more women who didn't read much before 50 Shades.

I used to regularly get questions from mothers about suggestions to get their sons reading (and it was almost always sons not daughters) and I would ask what tv and movies they liked. Often the answer would be "Iron Man and that stuff" and I would suggest they buy some graphic novels. Reading comics and graphic novels doesn't have the same negative connotations through much of Europe and Asia that it does in the English-speaking world. While most comics are pure escapism, there are some authors who tell complex stories, or stories that examine the human condition. Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing in the 80s told some excellent, and disturbing, stories, and the X-Men has always had anti-mutant paranoia at its core - a clear allegory for racism.

Robin wrote: "There is a general perception that Sci-Fi is cold, technical and just for guys. Fantasy Is seen as two dimensional, macho and silly. These are views held in the main by people who have never read either genre but have loud voices."

Critics tend to only see what they want to see. There certainly is some sci-f that can be described that way - Project MARS: A Technical Tale - is a perfect example. Wernher von Braun was a brilliant rocket scientist, but an appallingly bad author :)

I have had discussions with people about the fact that a lot of books in the SFF genre are dross, which is true - but that is also true of fiction that isn't SFF. 50 Shades of Grey sold a gazillion copies, but it's definitely dross. The same era that gave us Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle also gave us the (far more numerous) "penny dreadfuls".

Jim wrote: "Turning her on to Harry Potter took her from hating reading to hating to stop."

I don't think JK Rowling is a great wordsmith, but she is a great storyteller. The effect she had on the desire of kids and young adults to read - all around the world - was truly remarkable.

I will certainly agree that King Crimson, Yes, and Tull are all "proper prog" :)

K.G. wrote: "Hey Robin! I know of a Pict, grooving together in a cave with several small species of furry animals... maybe he has the answer? :) (Sorry, obscure Pink Floyd reference...)"

Hehe, not obscure to an old prog rock fan like me :)

I read a few more short stories in the Rogues anthology - only 3 to go. I have started Great North Road. As is not uncommon for Peter Hamilton, it's a massive tome, and will fill the 900+ page slot in my Bingo.

K.G. wrote: "Anyway... anyone writing a sci-fi or fantasy books that feature birds? Inquiring avarian minds would like to know! :)"

The obvious ones are owls in the Harry Potter books and ravens in the Song of Ice and Fire series - both used as messengers. I'm sure there are others, but none off the top of my head.

A galah's body is about the same size as an average cat, so with their wings spread they can look very big, but I think the thing that scares off most cats is that they are very loud. A flock of galahs can generate a lot of noise when they are talking to each other. Ibises might look pretty, but they are considered a pest here - they dig through garbage bins and leave a scattered mess, and they will happily drink from water bowls left out for other animals, which washes the dirt off their beaks and dirties the water bowl. Pigeons are pretty much the same the world over :)

Living in a 3rd floor (4th floor for you Americans) apartment with a small balcony, I don't encourage the birds to come around - too much bird poop to clean up. It doesn't stop me from getting regular visits from pigeons (unless they notice my cat on the balcony), and occasional visits from galahs (the cat is, sensibly, scared of them and will run inside) - but they don't poop on the balcony.

At the front of the apartment building, we get mynahs and plenty of ibises (known in Australia as bin chickens, as they raid the garbage bins). Oh, and the occasional crow,

Welcome to the group Blue and Robin. Robin, you will find that there are a number of old geezers in this group, and you're not even the only Pom :) - group members are scattered across the globe. I'm an Aussie.

Nearly August and I have only just finished my first Bingo column - column 4
B4 Purple Cover (Broomsticks & Burials)
I4 Non-fiction (FAB Facts)
N4 Stand Alone (Alien Space Tentacle Porn)
G4 Mythology (Norse Myths)
O4 Humour (Doctor Whom)

I finished Gerry Anderson's Fab Facts: Behind the Scenes of TV's Famous Adventures in the 21st Century. An entertaining book with some great photos and a lot of interesting facts that provide a fascinating look behind the scenes at Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation shows.

I finished Doctor Whom: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Parodication. There were sone funny parts but a lot of the humour seemed forced. Disappointing, but it does fill the Humour slot in my Bingo. I have started Gerry Anderson's Fab Facts: Behind the Scenes of TV's Famous Adventures in the 21st Century, which will fill the Non-Fiction Bingo slot.