Doctor Who: The Library of Carsus discussion
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Did you hear that Denis Villeneuve is going to make Rendezvous with Rama?! I’m so excited! He’s done such an excellent job with Arrival, Blade Runner 2049and Dune.
Rick wrote: "Did you hear that Denis Villeneuve is going to make Rendezvous with Rama?! I’m so excited! He’s done such an excellent job with Arrival, Blade Runner 2049and Dune."Had seen that.
Mixed feelings, as I love the book and have been hoping someone good would make a movie version, but adaptions make me nervous.
Loved Bladerunner, so have good feelings that he'll do right by Rama.
Have you seen Arrival? One of my top ten favorite films. And Dune was excellent as well. I was hoping to maybe go see it again this weekend. Plans are cooking, but not materialize.
Haven't seen Arrival yet.Want to, but am so behind.
Arrival is in my top ten favorite movies of all time.
Liesure Hive: the start of the bright and shiny JNT era.Good story, nice world building.
Really solid acting from Tom and the supporting cast.
Only complaint is the ending is a bit rushed and there's a lack of K-9.
One of those worlds/stories that deserves a sequel.
Has big finish done anything with it?
Rick wrote: "Not that I’ve stumbled upon yet."Well, Nick Briggs, if you're reading this, and I'm sure you do, as this thread is a goldmine of ideas, feel free to do a Leisure Hive box set.
Travis wrote: "Rick wrote: "Not that I’ve stumbled upon yet."Well, Nick Briggs, if you're reading this, and I'm sure you do, as this thread is a goldmine of ideas, feel free to do a Leisure Hive box set."
With appearances by the Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, and Tenth Doctors.
Rick wrote: "Travis wrote: "Rick wrote: "Not that I’ve stumbled upon yet."Well, Nick Briggs, if you're reading this, and I'm sure you do, as this thread is a goldmine of ideas, feel free to do a Leisure Hive ..."
That'd be fun.
7 and Ace getting caught up in the political shenanigans appeals.
Or a Doctor-less stories about the 2 races trying to cope with each other, with humans stuck in the middle.
So, the 'Around the world in 80 days' trailer with David Tennant is a bit of a mess.Looks great, most of the jokes fall flat and in the quest for a more diverse cast, they erased the Indian girl and so made the French butler black.
Love the book, but the movies are all over the place.
Travis wrote: "So, the 'Around the world in 80 days' trailer with David Tennant is a bit of a mess.Looks great, most of the jokes fall flat and in the quest for a more diverse cast, they erased the Indian girl a..."
That one I’ve not read. We’re reading From the Earth to the Moon and 'Round the Moon by Verne for my sci-if/fantasy bookclub this month and I’m rather disappointed. I loved Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth, but this - not so much.
Travis wrote: "… Or a Doctor-less stories about the 2 races trying to cope with each other, with humans stuck in the middle."Definitely sounds like something Big Finish would do for a box set.
Rick wrote: "Travis wrote: "So, the 'Around the world in 80 days' trailer with David Tennant is a bit of a mess.Looks great, most of the jokes fall flat and in the quest for a more diverse cast, they erased th..."
Around the world in 80 days is my favorite Verne novel and probably on my top 10 favorite books list.
The moon books are fun, but can be very dry.
Verne loved showing off that he'd done research, with massive info dumps.
Do like the Baltimore gun club. So want to use them in a Blackout story, but haven't figure it out yet.
The third book with them is more of a comedy.
This was my review of From the Earth to the Moon -
From The Earth To The Moon by Jules VerneMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
This was not at all what I was expecting. I’ve read the wonderful (and fanciful) The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells and was expecting something along similar lines. This is nothing like Wells’ delightful adventure tale. Honestly, I was thinking this might even be more along the lines the classic, adventurous travels by Verne himself Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth. Nope. Nope. Nope. What we have here is basically a farce, a social commentary in which Verne pokes fun at the United States for all it’s trumped up bravado and self-importance. Published in 1865, this novel envisions a United States that has nothing to do now that the Civil War is over and all those gun manufacturers look for something to entertain themselves with. Since the people of the US can’t go on murdering each other, now that the war has ended, they decide to build a giant gun and send a bullet to the moon. Sure, makes perfect sense. A lot of this book is just Verne demonstrating his love of calculation and playing around with the notion of this possibility. But the very idea of shooting a giant bullet at the moon, is never really questioned. I mean … why? It’s even presented as a way of selling hello to anyone living on the moon. Seriously! It isn’t until a Frenchmen reveals his intent to completely override this giant bullet endeavor and exchange it with his scheme of riding aboard said bullet, do things start to take on a more adventurous flavor. See, Verne presents the Americans as just a bunch of half-simpleton, gun-loving idiots who just want to shoot-the-moon for no other reason than to say they did it. The end result is that the “giant bullet” is redesigned as a capsule for three travelers and off they go. The intent is to reach the moon, but there’s no plan to safely land, let alone any kind of supposed method for return - and yet off they go into the wild blue. What the heck?! Sure something is briefly mentioned of having some kind of attached rockets to slow the descent, but after the care and consideration that Verne put into describing the actual launch … basically Verne was just flummoxed and in way over his head. This vehicle is just going to crash on the lunar surface and the travelers are supposed to somehow survive and climb out to begin their explorations in the “rarified atmosphere” of the moon, hoping to find signs of the theoretical “selenites.” I’m sorry, and all apologies to the esteemed M. Verne, but this story is a complete farce. From start to finish. Verne uses his calculations as a cover, to add some sort of legitimacy or credibility, to these shenanigans. While the aforementioned book by Wells is certainly less researched, it does actually offer a fanciful possibility instead of a tongue-in-cheek farce. Yes, Verne makes some rather remarkable predictions, but it all collapses in the face of his delivery. This was just disappointing. Will I read the sequel? Of course. Round the Moon was written 5 years later, likely because of how this story ended, Verne’s readers undoubtedly screamed for more. In fact, I’ll probably start it in a couple days, but after other classics I’ve read from Verne, this one just pales in comparison.
View all my reviews
Mod
Rick: RE: shooting a large bullet to the moon - have you read Ill Wind by Kevin J. Anderson & Doug Beason? The science is actually pretty accurate (I had the chance to ask the authors if it was possible to do this and they said yes - at least into a low orbit around the Earth).
Lori, it’s not the science I’m questioning, it’s the psychology. The characters seem to think it’s perfectly acceptable to shoot a giant gun at the moon, and remember that some of them actually think the moon is inhabited, as a completely acceptable way of saying hello to our neighbors. I’m sure if someone fired a giant gun at the earth, everyone would be totally fine with this as a great way for these aliens to say hello. Clearly Americans are simply just: CERTIFIABLY INSANE AND ARMED WITH A LOADED FIREARM.
Rick wrote: "Lori, it’s not the science I’m questioning, it’s the psychology. The characters seem to think it’s perfectly acceptable to shoot a giant gun at the moon, and remember that some of them actually thi..."The gun crazy Americans always seemed like the most realistic part of the book to me.
Travis wrote: "The gun crazy Americans always seemed like the most realistic part of the book to me."😹😹😹
Certainly the most believable.
😹😹😹
Rick wrote: "Lori, it’s not the science I’m questioning, it’s the psychology. The characters seem to think it’s perfectly acceptable to shoot a giant gun at the moon, and remember that some of them actually thi..."It's worth remembering, too, that their using it like we would a rocket or spaceship in anything these days. The difference is that Verne didn't have a point of reference beyond artillery. Though, as Lori has pointed out, it's actually not that crazy of an idea and there's been a surprising amount of R&D over the years in "Verne guns."
I also should take a moment to point out I wrote a sequel story to Verne's two Moon novels for Sherlock Holmes: Stranger Than Fiction with Holmes coming into contact with Barbicane and Nicholl two decades after the events and a group who thinks the literal moonshot was a hoax.
Mod
I see what you mean, and would like to point out that Westerners have long thought they have the right to poke their noses into other people's territories without a 'by-your-leave'. Americans tend to be the worst of the lot ... I wouldn't be surprised if Verne wasn't inspired by the pulps or penny dreadfuls of the "wild wild west".
Lori S. wrote: "I see what you mean, and would like to point out that Westerners have long thought they have the right to poke their noses into other people's territories without a 'by-your-leave'. Americans tend to be the worst of the lot ... I wouldn't be surprised if Verne wasn't inspired by the pulps or penny dreadfuls of the "wild wild west"."Verne also seemed to take an almost apolitical view to Americans, too, perhaps because he was French. After all, he does have Confederate blockade runners as the heroes of The Blockade Runners, after all, and you can see some of his views in Around The World in 80 Days, too.
Mod
Even in the early days the US was always giving a good impression /snark ...
I haven't actually read any Verne personally. (Shame on me!)
Again, people, I’m not talking about the science. I’m talking about the psychology.
I realize Verne was poking fun at Americans. It’s just frighteningly narrow-minded, psychotic and juvenile to think that shooting at someone’s home is an acceptable way to say hello.
Mod
Yes, it is a nutso way to do things.
Rick wrote: "Again, people, I’m not talking about the science. I’m talking about the psychology."Well, two things: it is an outsiders' view of post-civil war America (a view that has not changed much in a century and a half) and it's a bit of a satire.
Verne is not a laugh out loud humorist, but has had several books that poke fun at the USA, the British and occasionally the French.
Got Frazer Hines memoir for Christmas!
Travis wrote: "Got Frazer Hines memoir for Christmas!"Sweet!
Hines Sight was fun.It's a fluffy read, Frazer writes like he talks, and can be a bit off a lad, so expect lots of women, drinks, and sports.
But, he also comes across as just a nice guy, who likes a good time, and a bad pun.
Also, because he likes working as an actor, he rarely turns an offer down so got to cross paths with a lot of people.
When BF gets Matt Smith to do adventures, they need to set it in that time before the 'Snowmen', when he was hanging around Victorian England, being grumpy and occasionally helping Madam Vasta and Co.Or when he was hanging out at the monastery before 'Bells of St. Johns'.
Travis wrote: "When BF gets Matt Smith to do adventures, they need to set it in that time before the 'Snowmen', when he was hanging around Victorian England, being grumpy and occasionally helping Madam Vasta and ..."Yes to both. Just NO CLARA please.
Rick wrote: "Travis wrote: "When BF gets Matt Smith to do adventures, they need to set it in that time before the 'Snowmen', when he was hanging around Victorian England, being grumpy and occasionally helping M..."They'd both be pre-Clara, so you're safe.
Travis wrote: "They'd both be pre-Clara, so you're safe. "Nah, the WORLD is safe from Clara’s Machiavellian machinations.
Rick wrote: "Travis wrote: "They'd both be pre-Clara, so you're safe. "Nah, the WORLD is safe from Clara’s Machiavellian machinations."
You know BF is eventually going to do a Clara and Lady Me box set, as the two of them travel through time and space smugly lecturing everybody while making the worst choices possible.
And then they'll team up with river song, as the holy trinity of Moffett magic girls.
Back to Jules Verne, before I get too snarky: got "Five Weeks in a balloon" for Christmas.Looking forward to it, as I haven't read it since college.
2022 may be the year I fill in all the gaps in my Verne reading, while I wait for new Doctor Who.
Travis wrote: "You know BF is eventually going to do a Clara and Lady Me box set, as the two of them travel through time and space smugly lecturing everybody while making the worst choices possible.And then they'll team up with river song, as the holy trinity of Moffett magic girls."
And I’ll grudgingly purchase the latter, but I won’t buy the former.
Rick wrote: "Travis wrote: "You know BF is eventually going to do a Clara and Lady Me box set, as the two of them travel through time and space smugly lecturing everybody while making the worst choices possible..."River Song is probably the least annoying of the three, but she is also the most egregious example of Moffett magic girl.
All three have potential, but there's a lot of work needed and bad writing to be scraped off before I'm going to like or be excited by the return of any of them.
Rose Tyler - 1 box set Rose Tyler: The Dimension Cannon Donna Noble - 1 box set Donna Noble: Kidnapped!
Martha Jones - 1 box set The Year of Martha Jones
Jenny, the Doctor’s Daughter - 2 box sets Jenny - The Doctor's Daughter, Series 1, Jenny - The Doctor's Daughter, Series 2: Still Running
Lady Christina - 2 box sets Lady Christina: Series 1, Lady Christina: Series 2
Tales from New Earth - 1 box set Tales From New Earth (wish there were more)
Winston Churchill- 2 box sets The Churchill Years: Volume 1, The Churchill Years: Volume 2
Rory, the Lone Centurion - 2 box sets The Lone Centurion Vol. 1, The Lone Centurion Vol. 2: Camelot
The Master - lots of appearances! But also Master! & Masterful and all the War Master box sets (7 or 8 of these I think) The War Master: Only The Good, The War Master: The Master of Callous, The War Master: Anti-Genesis, The War Master: Rage of the Time Lords, The War Master: Hearts of Darkness, The War Master: Killing Time, etc
River Song - 9 box sets (and counting) The Diary of River Song: Series 1, The Diary of River Song: Series 2, The Diary of River Song: Series 3, The Diary of River Song: Series 4, The Diary of River Song: Series 5, The Diary of River Song: Series 6, The Diary of River Song: Series 8, The Diary of River Song: Series 7, The Diary of River Song: Series 9
Paternoster Gang - 4 box sets (and counting? Hopefully) The Paternoster Gang: Heritage 1, The Paternoster Gang: Heritage 2, The Paternoster Gang: Heritage 3, The Paternoster Gang: Heritage 4
Missy - 3 box sets (and counting) Missy: Series 1, Missy: Series 2, Missy: Series 3, Missy and the Monk
New UNIT - 13 box sets! (And counting) … I could go on … but nothing with uniquely featuring Clara or Lady Me or Amy or Bill as yet. And they can’t use anything from 13th Doctor (yet)
That should keep you busy for awhile.
The week sucked, but got to watch 'Book of Boba Fett' and there's new Who in a couple days.
Travis wrote: "The week sucked, but got to watch 'Book of Boba Fett' and there's new Who in a couple days."Yeah, it’s been a rough week for me too. Who knew working in a library would become so chaotic during a pandemic? We’ve been handing out free home Covid-19 test kits for awhile now, but things have gotten kind of out of control recently. The build up before Thanksgiving was pretty bad, lots of demand for kits and not enough to go around. But it’s gotten even worse as Xmas approached. We ran out of kits just before the holiday and didn’t know when our orders for more would get fulfilled. We’ve had non-stop requests for kits and it’s was getting pretty ugly. The phone would not stop ringing. As soon as we hung up, it would literally ring again. Day after day. I’d be headed home with the sound of the phone still ringing in my head. We did get our orders fulfilled today, which will be some relief, as we could finally go back to handing out kits again. The nice thing now though is that I’m off on a planned staycation from now until January 10th. I’m going for deep dive into Doctor Who audios I’ve been saving up. 😸
Yeah. It's been nuts.We had at least one call out every day for the last 2 weeks.
So, short handed in the middle of the holidays, while they're tightening covid restrictions and there's been a weather alert every other day.
At this point, the idea of being quarantined sounds like a reward.
I’ve got Flux on order. Coming in February. No news on Eve of the Daleks yet. Probably March or April, so I'll likely not get “caught up” until well in to 2022.
General rule, is I don't pay for any extras when I get a streaming service.Exception to that rule is Doctor Who.
Same thing with my "I really don't have any more room on my DVD shelves" rule.
… Except for Doctor Who. 😉 Yep, I’m right there too. That’s one of the reasons I broke down and started picking up the Blu-ray season sets of the classic series. They take up a LOT less space than the individual arc DVD releases. I’ve already gotten lots of extra space for any new seasons for the new series coming out, and they’ve not even released half of the classic seasons yet. The next one coming is Tom Baker season 6 (aka classic series season 17). They’re even including the animated version of Shada. Sweet. And it includes the only arc I still don’t own: City of Death.
But I also live alone, am not married, and have no kids or dependents.
Rick wrote: "… Except for Doctor Who. 😉 Yep, I’m right there too. That’s one of the reasons I broke down and started picking up the Blu-ray season sets of the classic series. They take up a LOT less space than..."
That's why I envy my single friends...their endless shelf space.
Happy new year everybody!At this point, I can't say I'm wildly optimistic about it, but I'm willing to give it a chance.
No way home is freaking amazing, but it monkeys with reality so much, I was looking for Stephen Moffetts' name in the credits.Probably the best Spider-man movie ever.
Doctor Who: The Library of Carsus
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