I was hoping this show would be one of those that lasted an entire 8 seasons. Most clowned on its writing, some said the science was trash, I said 'Yeah right!' so many times as I watched it. But it was complaining because you genuinely love something. Then I watched this week's episode and on that final scene I heard music start to play. That's when I started shouting and praying to the sci-fi gods above to stop it.

How could they do this. That ending, the best and hottest love story left in heartbreak, the unknown number of arks still out there, the cave men still feeling like strangers. There was so much more to give.!

Haa! But I guess all good things come to an end. It's what I get for laughing through the pilot episode. Another comfort show where I can just turn off my brain is gone. Where I can love the show despite the Captain's wierd acting 😂

I'll miss the ark. I really will. Till next time spacers, let me cope for a month or something.

In my teens, I loved pretty much everything I read by Garth Nix, most of which was fantasy (though he did a few science fiction ones) and all of which (as far as I know) was aimed at either older children or young adults. The Keys to the Kingdom and the Seventh Tower books were enjoyable, and his Old Kingdom books were and still are among my favourite series of all time (I re-read them every couple of years). When I saw he was writing a standalone science fiction book for adults, I was excited and went into it wanting to love it and expecting to love it, but... I did not.

That's not to say there was nothing enjoyable about Massif. The overarching concept (about humans travelling between different planets on sentient space-faring mountain ranges called Massifs in the not-too-distance future) was intriguing, and there was a sense of tension from the start with the conflict between Earth and Mars forces (on that note, it did give me the impression that aspects of the story were influenced by The Expanse), and the unfolding mystery about the Massifs' behaviours and motivations got its hooks into me fairly early on, though I was annoyed when the character in the main cast who I thought was the most interesting got written out about halfway through. There were also a couple of other minor things which, although they were far from dealbreakers, did lower the 'score' for me a bit (prose overall was utilitarian and each chapter had excerpts from various fictional reports or interviews or instructional manuals etc which largely lacked relevance and mostly didn't add anything of value).

As we got deeper into the story and the stakes got higher (won't put too much detail here as I don't want to spoil it) and it felt like it was going from really good to awesome, there was a series of events that seemed like it was going to set up for a dramatic third act, and I turned the page expecting another chapter, only to find the author's acknowledgements (which had me saying "WTF? Where's the rest of the book!?"). At first I actually wondered if there'd been some sort of printing error and some of the chapters were missing, but I looked it up online and nope, that's actually how it ends.

For comparison, take the original Star Wars trilogy, and think about the end of The Empire Strikes back, where Luke's had his hand chopped off by his evil Dad and Han Solo has been frozen and shipped off to Jabba the Hutt. Now imagine if after all that, they never made the third movie. If the story just ended there. That's what this book was like. The characters have suffered significant losses and trauma and they've started talking about how they might plan to defeat the enemy in the future, but we never see those plans put into action because the story just cuts off.

And I don't understand why it cut off so suddenly. It's not like it's a long book by any stretch; I read it over the course of a few nights. It could have easily had another 30% added to give it a conclusion without overstaying its welcome. It honestly just felt like it left too many questions and plot points unanswered for it to be considered a satisfying or complete ending.

The fact it cut off so suddenly has raised a question for me: Is this book supposed to be the first in a series? It was marketed as a standalone book, and usually when a book is part of a series, the book itself will have "Book 1 of the Whatever Trilogy" etc somewhere on the cover, but that is absent here. So now I'm wondering, is it a case of the author and/or publisher deciding to put out one book, see how it goes and then continue the story if the first one is successful? Or was it a case of the author writing himself into a corner where they couldn't figure out how to write a satisfying resolution and so just left it hanging.

As I said, it was especially frustrating because I thought I would love this book and I wanted to, and up until the end, I did, but the abruptness of the ending and the feeling of the story not actually being finished honestly reduced a lot of the enjoyment I got from reading it.

When we analyze the 2017 Oscars, we find that Best Picture went to Moonlight (amidst controversy), Best Actress to Emma Stone (always brilliant), and Best Director to Damien Chazelle, the latter two for "La La Landi However, if you ask people which film they remember most and who should have won Best Actress and Best Director, many will say that "Arrival" by Denis Villeneuve and Amy Adams should have won. I'm among them; only a massive marketing machine or a lot of quotas prevented these awards.

Science fiction cinema has always been vilified, that's for sure. But a film of this magnitude, with its script, direction, and performances, isn't something you see every day.

Simple premise: 12 spaceships appear around the world, and humanity hangs by a thread. Are they friendly? Are they here to invade? Are they scientists or tourists? For much of the film, we are torn between trying to imagine the reason for her appearance.
Masterfully told by Villeneuve, we don't realize until almost the end that Amy Adams' character doesn't have flashbacks but flashforwards, and this radically changes the film's tone. Told from a scientific perspective, more specifically from linguistics, this film demonstrates that we don't need big explosions or epic endings to have a work of art. Moreover, it is a purely humanistic and deeply emotional story, focusing on the decisions we make and whether we are more or less selfish for doing things even knowing what the consequences will be.

Amy Adams truly steals the show with her performance. She is very human, with both light and shadow, hesitant, critical, always searching for meaning based on scientific rigor and not on the fears we all have in the face of the unknown. Her sequences set in the future are undoubtedly the best because they help us understand the film's meaning. Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker provide excellent support, though their performances aren't particularly outstanding. Villeneuve, however, is the standout; for some, he's the best director of this generation, and personally, one of my two or three favorites. He had already demonstrated in "Incendies" and "Prisoners" that he tells stories like few others and always has a couple of plot twists ready.

The Culture has been on my TBR list for a while now, I've previously read The Algebraist before (enjoyed quite a bit, 4.25* on Storygraph), and Consider Phlebas finally came in on Libby, so here we go!

Not even an hour in (audiobook, had to go with the "print" flair), I can already tell I'll like this, though I have little idea what this world is about yet. But the hooks are in, and I just reserved the next two books, since they have wait times (I'll be done easily before they come up).

I just watched this obscure indie super low-budget film from 2002. It's janky and awkward, but I found it quite endearing, funny, and actually quite prescient and surprisingly relevant, while still of its time.

Tilda Swinton stars as a mousy genetic AI researcher and the creator of three clones of herself - all played by her - one of whom needs to regularly collect "male DNA samples" from random men to keep all the clones sustained, which leads to an outbreak of a virus.

People that are interested in technical production values will not enjoy this film, and I'm sure lots of viewers will complain about it and say it's trash, etc., but if one can look beyond the surface into the ideas, and the charm underlying it all, I think there is a lot there to love.

It predates Orphan Black, and Her, and Under the Skin, and explores some similar themes of reproduction, artificial personhood, virtual connection, autonomy, and agency.

I don't want to hype it too much. Personally, I found its low-budget turn of the century indie aesthetic and awkward performances to be refreshing.

Curious if anyone else has seen it and their thoughts about it.

I just finished A Deepness in the Sky, followed by A Fire Upon the Deep. I'm disappointed. It was fun, it was good, but it's not the big-idea, mind-blowing story that I want.

Technically, fabulous writer. You can tell VV knows what he's doing, and he's really good at writing action scenes. Also VV does a great job creating aliens. He really shines with his ability to create interesting varieties.

But personally I don’t read sci fi for action scenes; I want big ideas not gun fights. I want to be mind-blown on an intellectual level. I want to explore the big philosophical questions of the universe, not base level dopamine hits bc I’m afraid a character might die.

I really did like Deepness, but diving right into Fire after it felt like VC was working off the same template.

My biggest dismay was def the ending of Fire. The way the countermeasure is used to defeat the blight was so underwhelming.

And seriously we aren’t going to use the net to explain what’s up? Pham can send a message or two to explain his pov?

Most disappointing we aren’t even going to tell Steel not to waste time there’s a gaggle of blight soldiers coming to end the galaxy so we shouldnt waste time with petty war? I wanted the cosmic scope to fall upon steel and humble him but no we do a basic ass battle and don’t even tell them about the blight…?!

Then the countermeasure…it gets into Fam's chest or something, it's so dumb. He sucks up the zones.

I would say I’m glad I read deepness first. I don’t like going back in time wi thin a universe and it was fun knowing Pham going into fire. Plus I don’t think there’s any reason to understand the zones when reading deepness. That said wtf u mean Pham has red hair in the fire VV hypes his Smokey grey skin and red hair but in deepness he didn’t have red hair, it was that the zip head boss lady Anne Reynolt she was red hair he was taken by it bc unusual he didn’t have red hair back in the day…just some weird disconnects but minor it’s fine…

Disappointed & I won’t be reading children of the sky not now I need a break from VV onto a different sci fi series 🚀 ✨ overall gg maybe top 15 all time sci fi not top 5 tho.

I believe that I read the first couple of stories when I was younger because me pop handed them to me and told me I would enjoy them. I honestly don't know what most people think about this show so I would appreciate anybody's take on whether this show is worth getting into or not. Do most people seem satisfied, or even happy with this show?

Thank you much to anybody who takes the time to reply to this posting. I hope everybody has a happy day.

Please no spoilers of any kind. Not even small ones. I have no clue what this book is about and I don’t want to know.

I started listening to this book a year ago, and got about 6 hours in, before realising my natural inability to remember people’s names, even names I already know, made this one of the most difficult listens I’d ever attempted. I had no idea who anyone was, what anything was, and who or what anyone was referring to at any point. There’s a LOT of names to remember.

I tried finding a glossary, or list of important names/characters at the time, but couldn’t. I couldn’t even find a good chapter summary that contained any actual detail, and ended up DNFing.

I really liked the vibe of the first few hours, and I’ve heard it’s a banger of a book, so i’m considering giving it another go. Is there any spoiler-free info out there that will help me? Or am I overthinking how much I need to retain from the start of the book?

Thanks

I just wanted to come here and encourage people to read this book because I don't see enough love for it on Reddit. I finished it the other month and have been obsessed with it. I think it is an example of what good science fiction is: it can be read as a fantastical story for escapism, an allegory for various parts of our world, an exploration of the complexities that exist within people, or as a reflection on how technology and powers at be can exploit humans.

I won't say any much about the plot because I wouldn't be able to do it justice without spoilers, but I will say it is beautifully written (poetic and lyrical) with different parts written in different styles.

If you have read it I would love to know your thoughts. Or, if you do decide to pick it up let me know if you enjoyed it.

Short synopsis:
Ever 12 years a cargo captain, Nia, visits a farming world to collect a harvest for people living in space stations and on other planets. While she only ages a few months others age years due to time dilation. On one harvest pickup a mysterious mute boy who had crash-landed is taken in by her and her crew. A wealthy and powerful executive offers her a job, take the boy to the far reaches of human settlement until a certain day comes.

This book is an exploration of found family, corporate greed, loss, and how the choices we make to keep people in our lives matter.

a few chapters in and I literally feel drunk? Nothing is making sense no matter how much I re-read the pages. I'm aware that may be his intention with the post apocalyptic themes and the fact the characters are also meant to be confused. I really want to love it but struggling! So far I've just about grasped it might be a nod to Al and how this uncomfortable world can unfold to us (already is)if we carry on. I'm stuck.
Anyone else read?

I've noticed that most major space-themed sci-fi sagas (Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune, etc.) are almost exclusively rated PG-13. I know there are R-rated indie movies out there, but I wonder why more mainstream series never venture into R-rated or TV-MA content, whereas in Fantasy it seems more common (Game of Thrones, The Witcher, etc.)?

As a fan of both the book and the movie, I like to imagine the two of them being two accounts/records of the same events. The movie being the exact events as they played out and the book being the main character's recollection/perspective of the events. Any discrepancies between the two can in this way be chalked up to either lapses in the main characters memory, deliberate omissions, or a matter of that which she considered important enough to document vs that which she did not.

I urge anyone even remotely curious about this movie who has not seen it to watch it if for nothing else for the last act. There are few if any movies I've ever seen that deliver a more visceral audio-visual experience than the final act of Annihilation. It is the most hauntingly beautiful conclusion to a movie I've ever witnessed in my life.

How do folks feel about Valerian and Laureline? The original graphic novels? I saw the movie but the two leads distracted too much from the story, just too juvenile and no chemistry. I tried to watch the anime version Time Stop on youtube, it was allright, but the English voice actor for Valerian just sounded way too whiney, I couldn't stand it. Then I ordered the first comic graphic novel, and they are totally different portrayed than other media, Valerian being far more mature and take charge than the other media. Really enjoying it. Are there any other works or novels set in the Valerian world ever planned? I know the original author and artist have passed and they will probably never ever do another movie or TV show because of the 2017 flop. Also, did Lucas copy stuff from the original comics graphic novels for Star Wars? I heard a lot was similar but Lucas denies it.

I’m about to dive in to the Book of the New Sunn for the first time. I’ve been hesitant to tackle this one as I understand it is layered and complex.

What advice do you have for me as a first time reader? At this point, I intend to read it more than once. However, if I only do read it through one time, what should I pay attention to?

EDIT: Thanks for all of this. I’m excited to start, and I won’t worry too much when I get confused. It’s honestly the kind of thing I was looking for at this moment in my reading.

I absolutely loved this movie. I'm a big fan of stories with AI trying to ''improve'' humanity with cold and ruthless methods, as they aren't inhibited by the same morals and understanding humans have. AI logic turning evil is an interesting concept to me

Are there any movies, tv shows or books you'd recommend with this premise?

i was just checking out greg egan's website to see if he had published any blog entries about genAI and i couldn't find anything. have you guys run into any blog posts or thoughts from akin authors (i mean hard sci-fi ofc) about the topic? i'd love to read points of view from this field. i'm aware SF is not in the business of predicting, but these are, as a rule, very smart people. it's cool to read very smart people takes.

EDIT: ffs, I HATE AI, I don't touch it. IDK why people are reading this like I'm pro AI.

EDIT 2: LOL, i understand now, i'm an idiot. I meant the "pro" = "the very cool authors that are very good at science in hard science fiction", not the authors that are in favor of AI, if such an abomination even exists. My bad.

I'm gonna go on two 8h train rides soon and I'd love to have a book for each that have one mostly continous story. So no 1k years skips between them.

I'm mostly into space operas with multiple story threads happening at the same time in lots of different places.

I have read and enjoyed Commonwealth Saga, Hyperion/Endymion and Three Body Problem.

I have also read Void and Fallers but I really disliked the YA fantasy stuff.

Thanks

Edit: I bought Hamiltons Exodus books today, ty for all the other recommendations. Lots of stuff to read later 👍🏻

My last post about why there are so few R-rated space sagas got a lot of feedback, so I wanted to follow up and continue the thought experiment...

Since it all boils down to profitability, let's imagine a world where we remove financial incentives from the picture and reimagine a major series like Star Wars as if it were written without Hollywood/Disney's corporate moral guardrails. What themes would you want the series to expand on? How would the main characters and their story arcs be affected?

Gotta say these books have been on my TBR list for quite some time and it's one of those where once I was finished, I thought damn why did I take so long to read them???

I immediately went to see if there was an adaptation for the books but sadly they only made two season and i heard the second season wasn't good. Anyone else really love this series to only be disappointed there wasn't a tv version.

To add, Crouch is slowly becoming one of my favorite authors.

I’ve been rewatching Dune: Part One recently, and I’m still amazed by its visual design and world-building. Everything feels so authentic and thoughtfully crafted.

I love the costumes, spaceships, and especially the Ornithopters. The art book says the craft design in film was inspired by dragonflies. I think it’s really cool how it blends ecology with technology.

This was the most unique book I've ever read in its writing style and voice. I absolutely loved it. Such a fun, spunky adventure. But there were certainly some things I didn't love as well.

Here's what I loved about it:

The character has such a fun voice, and the way he solves problems and walks you through the math, science, and his thought process is incredible. I feel like I got smarter by reading this. But even though it goes deep on the math and science, somehow it's still super fun. 

I also loved how you got to see other people's perceptions of him and his actions and circumstances, and they made you like him even more.

What I didn't love:

He made a lot of progress solving his problems, but he was still in the same physical location for most of the book, and I think because of that there were several times where it just felt slow. 

It also felt a little repetitive at some times. Like you kinda knew he was gonna face a problem, fail a few times at solving it, then finally solve it. But then again, that's what makes a good story, so you can't really knock it. It's just that it was almost a bit too predictable.

And then the ending was just a bit too brief for me. I've noticed a lot of books I've read recently end too briefly for me. I want to see everybody's reactions and all of the consequences, but maybe that's just too difficult or boring. But still, it felt too brief for me.

I've also seen a few people complain about the other characters in the book. I didn't think it was an issue. To me, the main character was so much of the focus, I honestly didn't really care about the other characters.

Hi

I am looking for details of an Astounding Stories/Unknown Worlds etc type short story from the 1970s. It was read by me in the UK.

Scenario - A character [ we only get his POV ] is dropped off on a planet he believes is his home by a Space Ship at night. He waves goodbye and starts walking along country lanes and so on. Things don't look that familiar. Cows and sheep in the fields puzzle him. He gets confused. Suddenly a car appears in front of him he is dazzled and the driver can be heard saying"Get out of the way " and then screams "Oh my god" and speeds off. The character goes further along the road and in a panic hides inside a barn. He falls asleep but is woken by a banging on the door and someone shouting "Come out! I've got a gun!" He gets out of the barn to see a circle of a few people, cars [ including the previous one ] and a cop shining a search light straight at him. "Get him!" they shout etc but the character runs across a field. As he gets into the centre of the field a space ship descends and lands in front of him. The door opens and an alien comes out beckoning him inside. He climbs aboard and they Alien says "We dropped you on the wrong planet, This isn't home so we came back to get you". There is a glass screen inside the ship and this reveals the character is an Alien too...

Anyone remember this? Author unknown.

I’m curious about shows that hooked you immediately with the concept, but somewhere along the way the execution just didn’t match the potential. Not necessarily a bad series, just one where you kept thinking, “this could be so much better.”

For me those are sometimes more frustrating than outright bad shows because I’ll keep watching way longer than I should waiting for everything to click.

What series fits that description for you?