The Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Spy, and Superhero Genre

[LateForLunch]

Sir Ling?  He was a knighted Chinese person?

Who knew?

 

A lot of people have Chinese names these days. For instance, if you notice after there is a police shooting involving a young male black suspect, when they interview the mother you discover that an astonishing number of them have exactly the same Chinese name. The mothers always say, "Mah-Sun was a good boy!" and "Mah-Sun din't nevah have' naw gun!!" and "Mah-Sun was not in no gang!!" , "Everybody loved Mah-Sun" !!

[geronl]

THE DOMES

Scene: Outside of a beautiful house on a hill of flowing grass on a nice, bright day and mountains in the distance.

A family of 4 is looking at it with a real estate agent who is looking for the key.

Scene changes.

It's night in the urban jungle. A car full of gangbangers playing loud music. They are smoking their crack and loading weapons. It's pretty obvious a drive-by is about to take place. Soon they see the family in front of the house and they all start shooting. Bodies litter the ground and scores pop up next to the purple color of their gang. The outline and street lights of the area change from red to purple as the territory changes hands.

But... the family isn't actually there, they are safe. They have no clue they were "shot up" in some live game. You see the urban jungle and the family's house are located apart, separated by the thick barriers of the domes. The exterior of the domes in both of them is false, there is no brightly lit grassy hill any more than the house was within shooting range for a drive by.

THE DOMES

Every dome is different, the way you live your life can change which dome you are allowed to live in. From the friendly suburban communities to the dark, violent ghetto. There is even a prison dome where escapes are allowed to happen time to time, but these always end badly for the escapees. The air outside the domes is pretty toxic, even though the river bottom where they are located is better than most places on Earth.

Scene: Bad Dome (The Urban Jungle)

Bad Dome, Bad Dome whatcha gonna do... whatcha gonna do when the bots come for you?

Occasionally cop bots are sent into the urban jungle of Bad Dome to take out some bad guys, survive this encounter, normaly a shoot-out or vehicle chase or a 24-hour manhunt and you get off Scot-free. If you are captured alive, you go to the prison dome. Yes, this is all recorded for broadcasting.

This program filmed live with the men and women of Bad Dome. All suspects are considered Guilty until proven innocent in a trial by ordeal!

There are probably a lot of stories that could be set in a place like THE DOMES....

[kevindavis007]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwRz6ET_1po

[Ghost Bear]

Star Trek TV series losing Bryan Fuller as showrunner

Another setback for the eagerly awaited Star Trek TV series revival. Bryan Fuller is stepping down as showrunner on Star Trek: Discovery.

The acclaimed writer-producer of Hannibal and Pushing Daisies has shepherded the project for months. Now Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts (who worked with Fuller on Daisies, as well as worked on ABC’s Revenge and The CW’s Reign) will serve as showrunners. Fuller will stay on board as an executive producer.

Excerpted, more at the link: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/10/26/star-trek-tv-bryan-fuller

[geronl]

Star Trek TV series losing Bryan Fuller as showrunner

Another setback for the eagerly awaited Star Trek TV series revival. Bryan Fuller is stepping down as showrunner on Star Trek: Discovery.

Why would he have a problem  with STD?

 

[geronl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwRz6ET_1po

Nice, but it doesn't tell us much about the film

[Gefn]

Pete - have a hunt around for Tales of the Unexpected. Roald Dahl wrote a lot of them - some are a bit obvious, some are scary as hell - but all psychological. Almost claustrophobic, the best ones are.

Edit to add - it was a TV series.

The best one was the one Roald Dahl wrote for Alfred Hitchcock and later for Tales. The one where the pregnant lady wacks her hubby over the head with the slab of lamb, and serves it to the cops for dinner. It was originally a short story called "lamb to the slaughter"

It's a long way from Charlie Bucket.   

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete @EC

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tales+of+the+unexpected+full+episodes

@Machiavelli

Thank you!

[kevindavis007]

Check this out:


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/arrowstorm/magellan-sci-fi-feature-a-near-future-space-thrill/?ref=FBcontest

[kevindavis007]

Ok... I think I'll pass..



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeLsJfGmY_Y

[Gefn]

Just learned that Red Dwarf XI is coming out on DVD a week from tomorrow in the USA. It's available pre order on Amazon .,

Dang Brits have already seen it. I'm so jealous!!!!

[uglybiker]

THE DEATH STAR WAS AN INSIDE JOB!!!!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN9LdTkR85Q

[Smokin Joe]

THE DEATH STAR WAS AN INSIDE JOB!!!!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN9LdTkR85Q

Oh, man! That is just beeyootiful!

[Machiavelli]

10 Science Fiction Books about Politics

Mark Yon
SFFWorld
November 8, 2016

In this collection of potential reading, Mark Yon suggests books that you may appreciate whilst considering your vote.

It may have escaped your attention that during this week there are elections in the US.

Whilst we do not endorse any particular candidate or party at SFFWorld (and the person mainly writing this is non-US anyway!)  but on behalf of SFFWorld we thought we would compile a list of ten SF books that use politics as an important part of their world. Be warned – not all of these are future visions you may like…

More

[Smokin Joe]

10 Science Fiction Books about Politics

Mark Yon
SFFWorld
November 8, 2016
More

Thanks for posting that. I have read half of the books on that list. I reckon I have some catching up to do.

[Ghost Bear]

Thanks for posting that. I have read half of the books on that list. I reckon I have some catching up to do.

I've also read five of the ten books on the list. Not a bad list, although I would say that while the politics in the stories are important to the plots, politics aren't necessarily the focus of the story.  YMMV.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

10 Science Fiction Books about Politics

Mark Yon
SFFWorld
November 8, 2016
More

I'm kind of surprised nothing by John Ringo made the cut.  Maybe next time on the Political books about Science Fiction list.

[LateForLunch]

The Death of Doctor Island by Gene Wolfe. It's not so much politics as about spiritual realization in a cruel world which indirectly relates to all things political.

[Smokin Joe]

I've also read five of the ten books on the list. Not a bad list, although I would say that while the politics in the stories are important to the plots, politics aren't necessarily the focus of the story.  YMMV.

I agree. All the ones I read dealt with (at their core) different models for governance, and the approaches thereof. The claustrophobic domination of INGSOC, the hedonism of the Brave New World, the borderline Fascism of Starship Troopers, the degeneration of interrelationships to livestock/keeper in The Time Machine...

I was surprised to not see Fahrenheit 451 in the list, maybe that is just a little too close to today's interlaced media driven culture for comfort, and the snowflake excuse given for burning all the books because they made people unhappy...
although Stand on Zanzibar comes close to that model, just without the same totalitarian overtones.

I really should make a point of reading the other 5.

[Ghost Bear]

I agree. All the ones I read dealt with (at their core) different models for governance, and the approaches thereof. The claustrophobic domination of INGSOC, the hedonism of the Brave New World, the borderline Fascism of Starship Troopers, the degeneration of interrelationships to livestock/keeper in The Time Machine...

I was surprised to not see Fahrenheit 451 in the list, maybe that is just a little too close to today's interlaced media driven culture for comfort, and the snowflake excuse given for burning all the books because they made people unhappy...
although Stand on Zanzibar comes close to that model, just without the same totalitarian overtones.

I really should make a point of reading the other 5.

Just a warning, The Reality Dysfunction is just the first book in a trilogy, each book being a 1000+ page door stopper.  But I enjoyed them all. Hamilton can really write big-time space opera. Although each book has a slow buildup at the start, the last third of each is packed with action.

[Smokin Joe]

Just a warning, The Reality Dysfunction is just the first book in a trilogy, each book being a 1000+ page door stopper.  But I enjoyed them all. Hamilton can really write big-time space opera. Although each book has a slow buildup at the start, the last third of each is packed with action.

Actually, I like long books, otherwise most come off like Louis L'Amour, which were okay to read when you had an hour or two to kill, but just didn't have the meat of something like Exodus.

[Ghost Bear]

Actually, I like long books, otherwise most come off like Louis L'Amour, which were okay to read when you had an hour or two to kill, but just didn't have the meat of something like Exodus.

Well then, if you like long books, Peter F. Hamilton is definitely an author you should check into.  He has written several series, all of them featuring hundreds-of-pages-long books.

[Smokin Joe]

Well then, if you like long books, Peter F. Hamilton is definitely an author you should check into.  He has written several series, all of them featuring hundreds-of-pages-long books.

Speaking of long books and series, I was surprised Frank Herbert wasn't there, either. Dune, the sequels and prequels were all good reads, although the sequels lost it a little around book 2 or 3 (there are 6 books in all), the prequels written about the different houses by his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson are good, too. (Atredies, Harkonnen, Corrino, etc) There are 16 books total in that group. The whole dune series is available at amozon in a group.

[Ghost Bear]

Speaking of long books and series, I was surprised Frank Herbert wasn't there, either. Dune, the sequels and prequels were all good reads, although the sequels lost it a little around book 2 or 3 (there are 6 books in all), the prequels written about the different houses by his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson are good, too. (Atredies, Harkonnen, Corrino, etc) There are 16 books total in that group. The whole dune series is available at amozon in a group.

Yes, lots of politics in the Dune series. I read the first three, but the fourth (God Emperor of Dune) defeated me: one of the few books (especially when I was younger) that I started but did not finish. I quit in disgust at the way Duncan Idaho was being treated. 

I never went back to it or read any of the subsequent books in the series, although I have occasionally re-read the first three.

[geronl]

Well then, if you like long books, Peter F. Hamilton is definitely an author you should check into.  He has written several series, all of them featuring hundreds-of-pages-long books.

The James A Michener of sci-fi