My list of recommendations in Sci-Fi and Fantasy, containing only non-(white,male) authors. 14 authors I genuinely like or love, who have moved me or my worldview with their writing: https://rixx.de/blog/sff-perspectives/
I had a whole weekend of nothing to do and no child to parent lined up, so I waffled on my previous decision and started reading past the events of The Expanse. Cibola Burn was a fun read (I blew through 500+ pages in 2 days), but I found the motivation and persistence of the villain(s) a bit preposterous. I'll be interested to see how it gets adapted for the screen. Based on how the previous books were adapted, I expect to see significant deviations from the source material in season 4. Too many major characters are sidelined in this story for it to make it to television intact; they're going to have to invent some new plot-lines to keep them busy for 3 episodes.
I'm finishing Abbadon's Gate just now, and it occurs to me that I'd really like to read a novel set on a generation ship, such at the Nauvoo was intended to be. Can anyone recommend a good one?
@cwebber@emacsen Another great episode. I'm not neurotypical, and I was a classic "computer nerd" at school. I was into video games, programming (a bit of #BASIC and #Pascal), #SciFi and fantasy, D&D etc. I was a school librarian all through school, and at high school I was part of the nerd crew who hung out in and around the library. I mostly abandoned this around the time I left school, and only came back to hacker culture later via activism, and being involved in projects like #Indymedia.
Over the break I started reading Leviathan Wakes again, and realized that I had actually never finished. It's a fun page-turner, but I think I like the TV version better. The plot points are all lifted directly from the book(s), even if sometimes they happen a little differently, but the characters are way more fully realized on the screen. Also, book Holden is kind of an un-likeable douche. The authors seem to know that, but that doesn't go very far to making him less of an un-likeable douche. I'm 3/5 of the way through Caliban's War now. I think when I've caught up to the TV series I'll stop. I'd rather experience the rest of it for the first time that way.
A more personal #introduction. I enjoy #SciFi and #comedy. I've done some writing of both short stories and comedy skits, and keen to share more creative work along these lines, under #CreativeCommons licenses. I'm a keen performer, from #Shakespeare to #improv to #juggling to playing music, and keen to get back into these activities too. I'm passionate about #permaculture, the #Transition movement, and other forms of ethical and ecological design. I'm also vegan (been post-meat since mid-90s).
@wolftune I'm familiar with Nina's arguments. Sita Sings the Blues is not a typical example of the medium. For one thing, animation is much cheaper to make than live action, and can be made entirely in the studio by one person. If and when we come with way of funding big budget #SciFi films without copyright, I will buy the drinks for the party :-) @CharredStencil@djsumdog@LWFlouisa
@djsumdog I choose #CC licenses according to the nature of the work. My #SciFi stories go under #BY-NC. They are my creation, and if anyone wants to publish them commercially they can damn well pay me. Wikis and blog posts I create for public interest projects like #Disintermedia and #Counterclaim are under #BY-SA, to make them compatible with other public interest reference works like Wikipedia. There's nothing to gain from banning a commercial distribution nobody has any reason to engage in.
@jeremiah sure, that's what I'm pointing out. Like Curtis (whose docos are normally much better), the author has started with an assumption that all politics can be reduced to bad corporations vs. bad government, and that every political actor takes one side or the other. They've then rendered the history of the EFF according to this assumption, jettisoning or changing anything that doesn't fit. The result, like Curtis' doco series on tech, is alternative history #SciFi, presented as nonfiction.
I've been watching Electric Dreams. I haven't read any of Dick's writings, but most of the episodes are more like vague scenarios with a lot of retro-futuristic trappings where something weird happens than they are traditional stories. They're well produced and well acted, but I'm not finding them particularly satisfying.