Posted on 12/14/2015 11:33:24 AM PST by EveningStar
Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction classic "Childhood's End" has been reimagined for the 21st century, and brought to the small screen, in a new TV miniseries debuting tonight (Dec. 14).
When a fleet of spaceships appears in the sky above Earth's largest cities, the alien beings onboard insist that they have arrived to help the human race. The visitors slowly begin to eliminate war, disease and poverty -- but what will be the cost of building heaven on Earth?
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Have you heard about the proposed Indie Star Trek film? It`s to be called Axanar and deals with the early Federation, to be exact The Four Year War with the Klingon Empire which culminated in the Battle of Axanar in which Kelvar Garth of Izar leads the Federation fleet to victory over the Klingons. https://www.youtube.com/user/startrekaxanar
“Anyone remember the made for TV version of ‘Brave New World?’ Awful.”
The problem seems to be that the hollyweird lowlives never seem to be smart enough to understand the book they want to “reimagine.”
I’m still astounded that Rob Reiner failed to goon up “The Princess Bride.” Not that it’s science fiction, but the principle holds.
I`ve heard that, an amazing man.
“Asimov was also unusual in the amount of non-fiction he wrote, from a guide to Shakespeare to science writing.”
Asimov’s Guide to Science not only got me through chemistry, it got me interested in science.
I saw him in a hotel lobby in New Orleans once.
“Hopefully SciFi (I have their stupid SyFy name)”
I thought “SyFy” was silly at first, but it does give them something to trademark and in searches it does eliminate about a billion “sci-fi” returns.
Frank Herbert too. I love his short story collections.
Does anyone remember a book about a giant cylindrical space ship going out to colonize. The cylinder was so big that there were clouds and weather in the middle and it looked like earth with farms and towns on the inside of the cylinder. The cover folded out somehow to show this amazing cylinder?
I cannot remember the name of the book, and have looked for it for years.
Childhood's Endis one of the great all time SF classics and has long deserved a quality treatment. Beyond the technical difficulties, the themes were too shocking for it to be attempted in the 20th century. It will be interesting to see if SyFy is able to rise to the challenge. Based on their butchering of Herbert's Dune, I wouldn't get up a lot of hope.
Nully,
Are you going to watch it? I’m going to tape it, I’ve been waiting for several months for this but cant watch tonight.
I want to binge watch the entire thing this weekend.
I don’t know anyone who likes SF in real life. Classic Science Fiction.
iTunes has a nice free sneak peak if you are interested.
That was a great book. I have read so many science fiction novels and short stories when I was younger I have a hard time remembering them but I really remember this one.
I stupidly loaned out three sci-fi books, one was thick and had about twenty or so great short stories, and they were never returned. The short story book had one about an alien race attacking Earth and the main character, a pastor, found out the aliens were winning because they were actually being helped by God.
It seems He made several planets and civilizations and then allowed the one that He favored most to take out and colonize the others. It actually was a great story and I wish I could remember the author and I really wish I could find that short story book again. It was published around 1975.
Asimov’s guide to shakespeare was used middle school through college for me.
And his laws for robotics remain the simplest logical solution (if it can be implemented) for preventing a terminator.
A December XKCD comic even explained that.
http://www.xkcd.com/1613/
“Songs of Distant Earth” is a good book by Clarke, and the atheism in the book is evident.
SyFy channel actually did a good job with the Frank Herbert Dune miniseries.
I'd love to see Riverworld by Philip José Farmer. Sadly, Sci Fy already bolloxed that one, and now it's unlikely we'll ever see a proper Burton/Clemens mashup on the flat screen.
A lot of the sci-fi since 2000 falls into a couple of depressing categories:
* clit-lit - climate disaster literature that lectures you on the evils of the modern world and horrors future generations face
* dystopian literature of societies sorting people out by tests and holding them there by oppressive structures, but methods get more bizarre because it is well tread; think evil corporations making girls to be living dolls and unwanted kids harvested for organs because abortion was illegal or “women are breeders but we don’t take care of the most important resource we have!”
* sci-fi that is really fantasy
* stories that summaries to “transhumanism is awesome!”
* evil corporations control food/water/medicine/cure and life is heck stories, often combined with dystopia and clit-lit; a few recent ones even had companies that controlled the air or reality.
I’m not familiar with modern writers I’m afraid the only one I know is the one who wrote “Agent to the Stars” which I read and liked very much.
I’m lucky that when I was in 6th grade I discovered Bradbury and from him went to Asimov, Clarke, Campbell, Heinlein, etc. All the classics from the 40s, 50s and 60s. I had a really good Jr. HS librarian who really got me hooked on those authors,
I never really cared for fantasy novels. As for the anti modern world disasters books I’ve read 1984 and Brave New World and Utiopia and other classics. The best one other than the above mentioned IMHO is “Where Latr the Sweet Birds Sang” and even that is from the 70s.
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