Karsa Orlong
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Posts posted by Karsa Orlong
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Two of the books arrived today:
Stranger in a Strange Land is out of stock at the moment
Thanks again, Michelle
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I've only read Heroes Die so can't comment on the rest. It was pretty good and I'll probably read Blade of Tyshalle at some point. Can't say it changed my life, though
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You are but one! My reviews are aimed at people in general. I can't say people who like Sci-Fi will DEFINITELY like it, that would be a lie. They MIGHT. See how I cover my potentially awful recommendations?
It's okay, you keep right on digging
It was just a little too convenient for me. It was pretty much the only thing preventing them from realising it much earlier. And if someone says 'frog' and then talks about a big amphibious creature.. I'm gonna think frog! This is why I'm not a writer, I lack imagination!
No comment
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For anyone else like me who has fond memories of England's performances at Italia 90 and Euro 96, and who didn't see it the other week, this was just brilliant:
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I'll be reading book 2 soon(ish), so may be able to provide a more positive second opinion.
I thought the second book was very good, actually
It was the third one that was the problem for me. I often feel that these trilogies would be better as two-parters. Get rid of all the padding and strip the story down. I get the impression that authors invest so much time in creating their worlds that they then feel obliged to spend as many books in them as possible regardless of whether the story actually needs it or not -
No need to apologise, I was just amused when you said an SF fan wouldn't find it a worthwhile read when you know one who did
I actually liked the idea of hibernation instability, thought it added some depth to a couple of the characters in terms of their frustration. It's quite a common theme in SF novels I've read that involve cryo-sleep, that something goes wrong along the way. I've come across worse plot devices, for sure. Whether or not you're invested in the characters is another matter entirely, of course. I enjoyed the action scenes and found it a genuinely thrilling book.
It never occurred to me that the note at the start might lead one to imagine a giant frog. If it had turned out to be that I probably would've hated it
I guess that should be a lesson to authors who put those sorts of notes at the start of a book 
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Not even remotely my thing, but if you're a fan of sci-fi action survival stories, you might enjoy this. I guess. I feel like even if you're into that, this should still be a fairly mindless bit of entertainment, not a seriously worthwhile read.
Ouch
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I mentioned it in my review last year - not that it's much help to you nowGreat reviews, Bobbly, especially The Curse of the House of Foskett and Random Acts of Senseless Violence. I haven't read the latter yet, but I wish someone had forewarned me of the animal cruelty in the former.
It was particularly distressing given my love of catsGiven that there are a lot of animal lovers here - and this is the second time I've encountered something like this in the last few days - I'm thinking of adding a warnings section to my reviews. I'm just not sure how to do it without spoiling
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Yeah! It's about the Norwegian team that originally found the alien ship. Rather confusingly, it's just called The Thing again
It's actually not all that bad, it's just got a lot to live up to (IMO) -
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you'd classified it as "hard" sci-fi.
I actually don't know if I'm using "hard" correctly. Probably not. I guess what I'm trying to say is "more realistic, tied to logical progression of what we know now". If that makes any sort of sense......
Actually, maybe you know this, Star Trek was originally billed as Wagon Train in Outer Space.
So, I guess it's the human drama that appeals to me, and the setting is possibly secondary.Yeah, that was exactly how Gene Roddenberry envisioned it. I think, for it to be called hard SF, the Enterprise would have to have spinning sections to generate all that gravity they seem to walk around in, and there'd be no noise in space. For a start
I reckon it sits somewhere around the middle between hard SF and soft SF, a bit like the Vorkosigan Saga books. The more I type these classifications the less I like them, though I think you hit the nail on the head with the human drama part. At its best it was always about using science fiction stories to examine the issues of the time, whilst allowing Kirk to get his shirt ripped to expose his nipples and also get the nearest female to swoon and fall into his arms (in soft focus) -
Clearly you missed this gem!
I saw that. I still have no idea who or what it is
I did end up buying Station Eleven and On Stranger Tides from the monthly deals.
On Stranger Tides is good fun
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Well it's quite alright, you don't have to read them - but I should probably note with any future recommendations I make that just because I like something doesn't mean it's actually good, because this has happened to me a few times and I feel so guilty hehe.
There's a good chance I won't like your recommendations because I suspect sci-fi will never broadly appeal to me, but I'm going to try a few so I can be sure it's really me and not just my poor book-choosing skills
Oh you can't go around feeling guilty about that sort of thing - if I did I'd never get up in the morning
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Oh, shush, you sound like Steve.
Yes, he does sound sensible
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For anyone interested (and who has Sky), Agent Carter gets its UK premiere on Fox (UK) at 9pm on 12th July. It's well worth a watch.
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You never did get around to the other two then?
Um . . . no
I really don't have a leg to stand on if you don't like my recommendations, do I?
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I love the maid - Molly (I think that's her name, can't remember
). She's hilariously ditsy. I think he rationed her appearances well in the first two books, but in this one there's far too much of her, to the point where she stops being funny and starts being a bit annoying
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Was it? I thought it was someone else. It's okay, it's not great, I just loved one of the characters
Actually, no it wasn't
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After last month's binge on the Kindle Daily Deals there's absolutely nothing there this month that I fancy
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Actually, I liked both of those films. As I told you on the other thread, I really liked the original The Thing better.
Given what happens to the dogs in John Carpenter's The Thing I'm not too surprised! The John Carpenter version is more faithful to the novella upon which both films are based, Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell. The first movie, The Thing from Another World, is great fun in that classic 50's SF kind of way but they've changed the original premise so much from the Campbell story it almost shouldn't be compared, IMO.
ETA: Btw, I wouldn't compare either of them to the 2011 prequel
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It was the Will Smith one I kinda liked
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One trilogy I love is the Coldfire Trilogy, but I recall someone on here thinking it was a load of rubbish, so I clearly have awful taste
Oops, I think that might have been me
Disney Acquires Lucasfilm; Star Wars Episode 7 set for 2015 Release
in Music / TV / Films
Posted
My knee-jerk reaction is to think it's the worst idea ever. But then I think about the new Trek movies and how good the younger cast has been, so who knows. If they come up with a great story to back it up it might work. Whatever happens, it's inevitable that I'll go and see it