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OK, how does I Robot involve biology? How about Snow Crash? Cryptonomicon? Reamde? How about Enders game? Tons of examples. Just explain the involvement of biology in those stories. Kim Stanley Robinson's latest, Aurora, has really interesting biological and ecological elements. Makes it...

Google is full of references for biological science fiction. bestsciencefictionbooks.com/synthetic-biology-science-fiction.php http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science_List_Detail.asp?BT=Biology http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/bio3/bio03syl.htm http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/eco.html has...

I keep thinking I should read the series. I have the first book on my tablet, but just never seem to start it. I liked the movies well enough. I like that the harry potter series popularized the idea of a magic university, which was incorporated into "the name of the wind" and "the magicians"...

Well, it ain't hard science fiction. I'm not skilled at assigning subgenres, but space opera, space fantasy, or whatever works for you. The only thing I'm adamant about is that it is science fiction. "The Force" is a bit much, but the technology is portrayed as science based...

I'm not laying claim to anything other than what those words invoke for me. They seem to have a similar effect on many others. You seem especially offended by that? You seem unwilling to defend your rationale and too eager to deflect and go on the attack. WOW, you are really reaching. Yeah...

Well, I'll stick with my definition of Science Fiction as fiction containing concepts at least presented as having been developed by science, however "impossible", and Fantasy as not invoking science. Trying to draw a line regarding your feelings about the supposed plausibility of the science...

IMO, star Wars is in the "Space Fantasy or Space Opera" (your words) sub genres of science fiction. Works can easily belong to multiple sub-genres. You can't just disappear a whole recognized genre of fiction (science fiction) and replace it with an ill defined sub genre of your choice. This...

mystery and action are broad genres of fiction, just as science fiction is, and have definitions understood by all (with the usual fuzziness). Its more like you would arbitrarily declare the action genre to only include car chases. You are not fine tuning the meaning, you are stealing a phrase...

to me (and many others http://www.goodreads.com/genres/science-fiction) Science Fiction is an a broad genre of fiction, and has sub genres such as Hard Science Fiction, Space Opera, and even Streampunk. For you to say Space Opera is not science fiction is just destroying any meaningful use of...

Actually, Ramona 1 was a Time Lord on the par with the 4th Doctor in the "Key's to Time Trilogy" (Episodes 98-103) just before Lalla Ward. She was a great and good looking companion, but not around for long. Funny you ask that, because Lalla Ward was a character in the "Key's to Time...

No followup? Were you that disappointed?

If you happen to be the one guy they write back in. It's which universe.

Hard to see how one could enjoy dying every few years. Especially bloody violent deaths at the hands of evil doers. How do you guarantee you would be re-written? seems like you would like Scalzi's Redshirts Universe.

A friend of mine uses the words "scooby snack" to describe fast lightweight reads. This is a series of simple books, overly simplistic relationships and some interesting implications of the effects of the "impossible". I blasted through 12 of them, and will read more when they get written. I...

If had had to pick the two novels that were the most fun for me to read, I would pick "pushing ice" and "snow crash". Not sure I can explain why though.

I'll take a world with nexus 5 (Ramez Naam) Or, a fresh new Earth at the end of Stephenson's Seveneves (although the ring seems cool too) Maybe Earth in Old Man's War while you could get recruited and regenerated in your old age.

Not a book, but Brian Green's fabric of the cosmos video series will give you new perspectives. What is space (It isn't "nothing"), Really cool explanation of the rationale for multiple universes in one of them. Great explanation of space-time and relativity, etc etc...

Ahhh... I understand. There is a fine line between explaining, and intelligently weaving the technology/science into the story (making it integral to the story). The story becomes about interacting with the science, not about explaining the science. Using the science to make a story is...

How have you been led astray? The Martian is a chocked full of science, well written, story. The science is well woven into the storyline, and doesn't feel like a "data dump". Sometimes it gets just a bit hard to visualize, but not as bad as Neal Stephenson's latest "Seven Eves" . The only...

Science fiction has no effect on progress and little effect on products. The star trek communicator had no effect on cell phone designs. Any similarity is due to just common sense design. Public acceptance of ideas is not enhanced by science-fiction (a small minority even read science...

I would feel safe saying that Science Fiction makes ZERO contributions to actual science. It does help with cultural acceptance of new concepts, but that is different. Science looks for and makes adaptations to account for anomalous data. Anomalies accumulate relative to the accepted paradigm...

You make a good point. But, sorry, everybody just agrees that FTL is science and magic is not. o_O I guess FTL is at least posed as having been developed by science whereas flying dragons and magic swords are not posed as products of science (generally). A book containing advanced science...

I probably shouldn't have brought Clarke into it. I'd take it back if I could. I was just impressed with seeing science fiction so far back.

http://vehicleshowcase.madmaxmovie.com/

Since Clarke "invented" the geostationary satellite (I know, he didn't, really, I'm just being snide), I guess Lucian of Samosata invented all this in the 2nd century: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_History In sum, typical science fiction themes and topoi appearing in True Stories are:[3]...

Neal Stephenson's Seveneves is pretty hard. Interesting so far, if a bit over-descriptive.

I was fine with the originals, Mad Max, Road Warrior (the best), Thunderdome. A co worker saw it and said it was great, he was on the edge of his chair through the whole thing. I went with few, if any, expectations (people not liking movies because of expectations is a pet peeve of mine). I...

I don't need or expect realistic (in fact I intentionally didn't use that word). This was WAY beyond unrealistic (try stupid). Guardians of the Galaxy was hardly realistic, for example, and I loved it. I just found Mad Max tiresome. If it had been 25% chase battles and more drama, ...

WOW ---- it must be a generational thing. That movie was the biggest DUD I've seen in a long time. No Plot, no character, no theme. Just a 95% car chase fight scene movie. (Yes, easily 95%). Sure, the CGI technology and 3D were spectacular. But the totally contrived, impractical, weapons...

I'm really interested in what you think after you read it. Post on this thread, or PM me.

hmmm --- I see Pushing Ice in this thread in posts #27 and #37, your post being #38. How are you getting different post numbers?

KSR's Mars Trilogy went from good to tedious. I really enjoyed the first book, managed to finish the second, and gave up in the third. I want to give a second mention to Pushing Ice (and most anything else by Alistair Reynolds) . To any who may not have seen it, the below is a decent list...

Well, I got fooled into reading The Martian by the name and a recommendation (assuming it was actually about a Martian, not a stranded astronaut) . I then kept reading it because the story flowed well, and the science was not distracting. That's the trick, weaving the technology into the...

After season 2 I read 2.5 books, then stopped when it caught up to the end of season 2. I felt it was better to read the books later rather than start nit-picking the TV show where it diverged from the book. I really enjoy the show. My GOT advisor/expert said to go ahead and finish the books...

That movie certainly opens up neuroscience way past science fiction. That's pure mental impairment. Intense imaginative film. There is a book on your topic https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786472340/?tag=pfamazon01-20 There are many films where people connect their brains to something and enter...

Tried Gene Wolfe, Thomas Pynchon, and retried Dan Simmons. Not for me. Maybe too "oblique". I'll take Asimov, Dick, etc. any time. I guess I'm not "Literary" enough. Just give me some BV Larson Star Force. And I'm not a pure science fiction snob. I tend away from fantasy, but I really...

You can reply if you actually liked Great Expectations and for some strange reason never read more Dickens :) I had never heard of Aniara. Looks ... well ... EPIC. Not so sure about trying to read translations of epic poems. I'll try it if I can get it through my library (inter-library...

Yeah, I can understand the confusion (if that's what you want to call it). Literary is pretty hard to pin down. (and I should have specified MODERN SCIENCE FICTION) Philip Dick has been called the antithesis of literary. (don't get me wrong, I love his books). His characters are 1 dimensional...

An coworker's loves Charles Dickens and reads all sorts of other books with "high literary content". Most science fiction doesn't qualify as great literature. Lots of shallow character development, generally simplistic moral conflicts, etc. Mostly we have good stories in interesting...

The Martian (a poorly named book) is a great read and about as "hard" as they come.

Any Alistair Reynolds -- Pushing Ice is a great novel. Revelation Space series is good. Poseidon's Children Series is good John Scalzi Old Man's War series is easy reading Redshirts is great entertainment. Fuzzy Nation is a fun read Charles Stross -- Accelerando Jack...

One book that just ignores the paradox issues and travels back in time by dieing is The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (Claire North ) The idea of a society across time is approached in a unique way. (but you might think of groundhog's day). I enjoyed it (maybe 7/10)

Besides Clarke/Bradbury/Asimov/Heinlein/? I would add Phillip Dick, but he is not for everyone, I guess. I'll read anything Charles Stross writes (but not all are great) Also Alastair Reynolds (I loved "Pushing Ice") Other authors I look forward to are Neal Stephenson, Vernor Vinge. I started...

Sandra Bullock is wrong for the role since her face won't respond to gravitational effects.

I really have trouble with the simplistic middle-ages like settings, and see it as just that --- simplistic, easy to manage, easy to create contrast and romanticism. But I'm not an ardent fantasy fan so that may be an oversimplification. The Stross's Merchant series at least managed to...

Stanley from Lexx? Not sure why, but I enjoyed him and love plugging Lexx The Fifth Element - too cute to ignore The 9th doctor Sponge Bob (joking) BTW, Geoff the gay robot skeleton says Robbie the Robot is a douche.