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

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

I have started reading Manners and Monsters, which will fill in the Fantasy of Manners Bingo slot.

I felt that season 2 of Discovery had more of a Star Trek feel than season 1 had although I agree that the tech level of Discovery was always going to be a problem. And yes, the change to the Klingons was completely unnecessary. I'm enjoying season 3 so far.

I have finished Prelude to Foundation. It's not horrible, but it's much longer than it needed to be, and I'm not convinced it really adds much to the overall Foundation story. It seems as though it was written to fill in a chronological gap, without there being a story gap that needed filling. 2 1/2 / 5

Gene Doucette has written a 6-book series called the Immortal series, It's about Adam and how he has survived through the ages.

I finished the Star Trek graphic novel The Modala Imperative. It was a fun story. I thought the relationship between Spock and Bones was very accurate to the TV show, and I was quite aware of the irony in having Kirk be such a strong defender of the Prime Directive.

James Philip has written a whole series of books developing an alternate history based on the Cuban Missile Crisis starting WWIII. The first is Operation Anadyr. There are over twenty of them so far.

John Birmingham is writing a sequel to his World War 2 trilogy - in which a international naval task force (slightly advanced from our time) is jumped back into WWII. In the sequel, the timeline is moved forward about a decade from the end of the Second World War and the Soviets start World War III. There are also a few short stories set during the early 1950s in that timeline.

I have started reading another Star Trek graphic novel - The Modala Imperative - which features both the original crew and the Next Gen crew, although not interacting with each other.

I finished The Star Lost. The artwork was nice and the plot was pretty good - and had enough gaping plot holes to make it seem like a regular Star Trek episode :)

I am continuing my reread of the Foundation series with the first of the actual Foundation books - Prelude to Foundation.

I finished watching Lovecraft Country. I'm not sure which services it was on overseas, it was on Binge (and Foxtel) here in Australia. I really enjoyed it and I thought it had a good Lovecraftian vibe to it. I get the impression that it may not have had official approval from the Lovecraft estate - they used a town named "Ardham" rather than "Arkham" and it doesn't have any outright Cthulhu references - but a lot of Lovecraft's work was outside his Cthulhu Mythos anyway.

Definitely not for the squeamish and it has a lot of blatant racism - but that is accurate to the timeframe in which it is set - late 50s or early 60s America.

I finished The Luna Missile Crisis. I do like alternate history novels and this was not bad, but there were a few moments that just didn't ring true to me. It fills in the Published in 2020 Bingo slot for me.

I have started The Star Lost, a Star Trek graphic novel, which will also fill in the Media Tie-in slot.

I finished Pebble in the Sky and read the graphic novel Star Raiders - disappointing story but lovely artwork. I have now started The Luna Missile Crisis, which will fill my BINGO slot for a book written in 2020.

Not quite streaming now since I know it has already been on in the US (and presumably Canada), but one of the local streaming services - Stan - has picked up Brave New World and will start showing in on Oct 30.

Andy wrote: "https://time.com/collection/100-best-...

Another list, put together by an author panel for TIME. As always, these are subjective. I’ve read 30 of this lot."

I've read 24 on that list with at least another dozen that I have copies of but haven't read yet.

I have started reading the last book in the Galactic Empire trilogy - Pebble in the Sky

I finished The Doomsday Testament. A very minor sci-fi tie-in - the macguffin is a meteor of dark matter - otherwise a pretty well-written thriller.

That's exciting if they do a good job.

I finished reading The Currents of Space, the second book in the Galactic Empire trilogy - a trilogy in which the books really don't have much connection to each other.

I have started reading both Norse Myths and The Doomsday Testament

I am continuing on my Foundation reread - I have started the second book in the Galactic Empire trilogy The Currents of Space

Finishing The Fleet completes the 1s column for me.

Shared World - The Fleet
Colony - Zero Limit
Genre Blender - The Naked Sun
Alternate Form - Camelot 3000 (graphic novel)
Standalone - There and Back Again

I finished the shared world anthology The Fleet. No really terrible stories, but no really exceptional stories either.