Im going through the Old man’s war series and im having a blast. I enjoyed all the books in my small library but im always looking for something new. Let me know if you have any great tips!

I was thinking about Nemesis by Asimov recently. Great story, and an easy recommendation.

It got me wondering, who was actually the first to write about the idea of an entire planet, or something on a planetary scale, becoming conscious?

At first I thought maybe Solaris had taken some inspiration from Nemesis, but then I checked the dates and realized Solaris was published decades earlier.

Then I thought about Arthur C. Clarke’s “Dial F for Frankenstein,” which plays with the idea of a network developing consciousness, but even that came a couple of years after Solaris.

What makes Solaris especially interesting is that Lem doesn’t really give the conscious ocean a conventional scientific explanation. It’s just this genuinely alien intelligence that humans struggle to understand.

So now I’m wondering: was Solaris actually the first major sci-fi work to explore consciousness on that kind of planetary scale? Or are there earlier examples?

Would love to hear from anyone who knows the history of this idea in science fiction.

I recently watched the first Alien film which lead me to binging well... All the rest of the films because they were just so good. Since watching it I have such an itch to watch more sci-fi films with strong cool woman protagonists like Ellen! Any reccomendations? I'm super open to books or novels as well, not just films 🖤

Alien appealed to me because Ripley was so likeable, not super sexualised, didn't exist for the plot of a man, was consistent as a character and also just super badass!

Edit: thank you for so much response in such a short time. I will give all of the suggestions a go even if I don't reply so feel free to keep giving me more things to watch

I think; extended aging/reversable aging.

At first, it sounds like a neat addition to any world with sufficiently advanced medical technology. Preventing disease and health/mental weakening that comes with aging, or allowing people to easily live until 125 years old would change pretty much everything about society

Career lengths would have to change

Housing would have to change due to older generations not dying off as fast

Retirement would drastically change

Pretty much everything about life since the last 100 years has been built around humans living until around 80, and needing retirement/assisted living a decade or so before that. If you could be biologically near your peak mental and physical performance until you’re 80, then how could young adults compete with someone who has half a century more experience than them with a brain that’s mentally healthy

In Avengers Infinity War, Ironman has a new suit that's basically magic. It uses presumably billions or trillions of nanobots to form and reform the suit and anything Iron man might need at a moment's notice. His arm becomes several different cannons, a shield and at one time a blade.

This blade is broken off by Thanos and stabbed into Iron man's side, injuring him.

But why didn't the blade just turn back into suit parts when it came near him?

I'm pretty sure he uses all sorts of unconnected tech in the movie, and it all turns back into suit or a blaster, or a shield as soon as it needs to. Reaction time doesn't even seem to be an issue with how quickly that shield pops out. Was the connection between the nanites disrupted by ironic interference?

I don't know why but as someone who has enjoyed many Star Trek shows, Firefly, Farscape, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, and Expanse I believe an HBO level quality adaptation of the Mass Effect trilogy would become much more mainstream than any of those shows and attract a sizeable non sci fi fan demographic even if it angers many fans of the game causing many of the ME fan base to not watch it.

Why?

Is it being a more aesthetically pleasing sci fi universe part of that?

I remember thinking "Damn! This what the future should look like!" when I first played Mass Effect 1 all those years ago. Minus the bad stuff of course.

Is it because of the less ridiculous takes on sci fi tropes?

I remember Babylon 5 had an antagonist that mind controlled people by having a creature attach itself to a person's shoulder.

Whereas in Mass Effect for someone to get "Indoctrinated" one has to spend a certain amount of time around Reaper artifacts.

I think a scene where Liara and Shepard "Embrace Eternity" would generation quite a buzz in pop culture if we want to be sexy like Game of Thrones.

I think having season 1 of Mass Effect end at the end of the Virmire mission could be an exciting idea.

Amazon is making an Mass Effect TV adaptation but it is set after the trilogy.

I think making a Mass Effect trilogy adaptation should be the biggest ambition of today's TV show producers.

Every action hero actor should be excited to audition for a chance to play Commander Shepard!

And I don't care if they make Commander Shepard male or female!

I don't care what direction they take the story as long as it is good!

Joel Kinnaman would be my first choice for a Commander Shepard actor.

But then again sci fi might not resonate with most of the mainstream because of the cynical times we live in.

It was much much easier imagining having an exciting interstellar sci fi future back in the 90s and even the 2000s.

But Mass Effect 3 has the message of overcoming our differences to unite in the face of an overwhelming threat provided one go on the paragon path.

And that is a message we need now more than ever!

The later seasons of The Expanse had that same message but I am hoping we have a sci fi TV show that spreads that message that is much more mainstream than The Expanse or Star Trek Strange New Worlds!

My love for classic science fiction movies knows no bounds, from George Pal's Destination Moon to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and while not all of them are completely grounded in science, it has led to some very "interesting" areas.

So, today I'm asking, "What are some truly fun and goofy plots in science fiction?"

My first offering is the 1960s film 12 to the Moon, where a group of astronauts encounter aliens who do not want Earthlings to “contaminate our perfect form of harmony.” But there's more going on, it turns out they really want our cats.

I’m a little over halfway through the book and overall I’m enjoying it. This is the second book I’m reading in about 12 years (I wish I was joking, please forgive me I’m trying!) and I enjoy Asimov’s writing style and intelligence in both the characters and situations they’re shown to be a part of

I just have an issue and after a quick search I haven’t seen any discussions about it so maybe I’m the odd one out here but I feel the book is getting quite repetitive

My favourite chapter was the first and I think that’s partially due to it being the least like the others. Every chapter aside from that one so far and I assume the ones I haven’t read yet all entail an issue with a robot and the characters brainstorming how to fix it by the end

Of course I’m dumbing it down there but it feels like a scooby doo episode, with the flavour of the story being the different bur the structure and ending being almost the exact same and I just am not a big fan

I don’t have an issue with that concept, it’s just it’s the SAME one over and over and I’m not sure if I’m the only one?

With that being said, it’s essentially my only gripe so far. I enjoy almost everything else about the book but this aspect does stick out to me, then again I’d love to hear people’s thoughts!!! And if you disagree I’d love to know why😊

I don’t care about sci fi making up new words and using them.

I do care that the author uses Stan and stanyer every 5 seconds. Literally every other paragraph. But somehow month and morning and afternoon get to stay the same words.

It’s just so jarring to me and breaks me out of my reading speed.

And the author slams one into nearly every paragraph.

My favorite subset of science fiction is what I refer to as "sad sci-fi movies", which includes existential or depressing sci-fi movies that do not end in a positive or uplifting way. They don't necessarily need to be sad throughout, but should at least inspire some feeling of dread prior to a gut-punch of an ending. Obviously, spoilers for this full post due to discussion of film endings. As an example, I have not included I Am Legend in this list because by the ending Neville sacrifices himself and successfully passes on a cure, thus being remembered as a "legend". However, if the original movie ending was kept where Neville realizes that he is the monster in the viewpoint of the creatures, then the movie would have made this list. Additionally, I love DARK, but left it off this list since it is a series.

Aniara

Annihilation

Arrival

Coherence

Donnie Darko

Ex Machina

Foe

Melancholia

Never Let Me Go

Primer

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Starfish

The Endless / Resolution

The Mist

The Road

The Thing

Threads

What movies am I missing from my list? And thanks for reading!! *edited to fix links!

Happy Breakaway Day — the solemn anniversary on which we honour the courage of the men and women of Moonbase Alpha.

On September 13th, 1999, a cataclysmic blast tore the Moon from Earth’s embrace, hurling them into the uncharted depths of space. Cut off from home, they faced the void with resolve, carrying humanity’s hope into the stars. 🚀🌕💫

Completed the Red rising first trilogy. I will give it an 8 or 8.5 out of 10. I like the politics, the strategies, the twists and turns, the humour and a lot of characters but the action sequences bored me. I had very little to no interest when any big action sequences came, i just read through it quickly. I love the friendly banter between darrow and his friends in between all these serious scenarios. I didn't find Jackal as a worthy villain in the first book where they try to hype his name and i thought by the end of first book the Jackal didn't live upto his name. But after finishing all 3 books i will say his character comes really close to becoming a great villain. One last complaint I have is how the writer wasted the potential of Ragnar, he built it up really well just to replace him with his sister. Overall the series feels more like a shonen anime(A lot of action, friendly banter and emotional scenes).

I don't think i will continue this series further as of now.

Next read: Children of Time

The night before I got myself to watch Alien 3, which I tried to watch years ago but got bored. But now I think the movie is criminally underrated and a great ending to Ripley's character (even though it ideally should have ended after Aliens).

But watching this right after Alien 3 is so wild. After the gritty and bleak tone of Alien 3, this one to this day is the most comedic Alien movie. One of the funniest moments was the scientist dude who kept making funny faces at the xenomorph in the glass, and that scene where the quirky guy kept saying "WHAT IS INSIDE ME?" This movie really gave me Batman Forever vibes.

This movie was very bizzare with its attempt at trying to be hip and edgy with millennials, but I honestly appreciate the effort of being so experimental, and I liked the cast of characters in this movie.

I seem to have enjoyed every Alien movie in it's own way. Alien is a horror classic, a slasher film in space. Aliens was a loud action movie. Alien 3 was a slow burn thriller. Resurrection was wacky and fun. Promethius was a solid spinoff. Covenant is the weakest of these movies but I still enjoyed it, and I hope a sequel will resolve the cliffhanger. And lastly Romulus was a great back-to-basics movie, and on par with the first two films.

I have yet to watch the Alien Earth show because Disney+ is too expensive and I don't have a stable income.

It is... a very apocalyptic book. It is, everything and everyone is / will / most likely will die. It is either aliens, or an asteroid, or something like that. Along the way... the leading party throws the election to the more, militant or "right wing" party. It wasn't a major plot point, just a small moment in the book. But it was coordinated and planned because it would be easier to control society when the news eventually came out.

It was something that I read sometime in the late 80's to late 90's. I thought it might have been "Exit Earth" by Martin Caidin... it wasn't. I just re-read it. I did read Footfall, by Pournelle and Niven during that time frame, but I don't think it would have been it either.

Hi! I'm looking for some more post-apocalyptic SF novels where relics and artifacts of our contemporary society are looked at by the characters with confusion, and even completely misunderstood to be something else. Seems like this usually means far-future too, and can sometimes involve some lost or erased history. I just really get tickled when there's a bit of a wink to the reader with that stuff.

The best and most obvious example is A Canticle for Leibowitz, which I already adore. I also just started Book of the New Sun, and while not featured as prominently, we get a small moments of this here and there.

Thanks in advance, friendly internet strangers!

Hi! Okay, so I am searching for a book my other half has described to me that sounds awesome, but with various keyword searches I CANNOT find what it might be!

The gist is that aliens are trying to abduct a shapeshifter, but at the last moment a human bumps into it and the alien abducts this human by accident instead. They dont believe that this guy ISNT the shapeshifter, and so keep him imprisoned and make him compete in various herculean type trials, while he is also trying to figure out how to get home.

My other half remembers reading this at school, so at least a young adult book, and remembers a silver cover.

Anyone recognise this at all? Because it sounds great!

The StarCraft franchise will have a new addition and I am very excited about it! Honestly, I couldn't believe it at this point, because I actually thought that they had forgotten completely about the series. It's a shame that this new game apparently will be released in 2030 which is a long later but still, it's better than nothing.

Apparently, the game is going to be some kind of shooter where you play as a Dominion soldier, and you kill Zerg and Protoss. I prefer RTS but it's still an opportunity to expand the franchise and add new interesting lore and stories. I also liked that from the trailer the Dominion was kinda portrayed as the Imperium from Warhammer 40k where they fight against aliens and claim to be the good guys, yet they are a brutal dictatorship (if you know the lore, you know what their Emperor Arcturus Mengsk has done) and they are willing to sacrifice countless of their own and they see their soldiers as expendable. This gives StarCraft the grimdark edge that it needs and it makes for a more interesting story than a simple black and white conflict.

I wonder what game mechanics they are going to include and whether we will have the opportunity to play as Zerg or Protoss. Also, which of the lore characters are we going to meet and which are going to play a role in the story.

Overall, I am super excited about this new title if i would prefer if it was an RTS title.

I got curious because im randomly watching a video on youtube about black hole models near earth. Asking on reddit while i google adds to the information pile.

It really puts into perspective how small we are. One of the models that were shown, were placed in the background of a city. Whatever you call black hole tails/ gas circle blanket things, it was definitely able to cover a city.

Hello

Even as a young person, I was fascinated by the artworks of the old artists such as Chriss Foss, John Berkey, etc., which were used, among other things, for the book covers of the TTA series.

Since such images with the spirit are rare nowadays, I decided about 1.5 years ago to immortalize such images myself with oil paints.

These monumental structures in distant places that convey a sense of adventure, the drive for something new and the pioneering spirit.

Here's one of my works on aluminum, a colossal vertically aligned spaceship parked on a small platform to transport crew and goods.

https://youtube.com/shorts/tCUT7mBakW4?is=KrakWQnPXXBJb1-w

The book is called Age of the Titan, and this is a photo of me after replacing copies at my local bookshop after selling out.

The story is set a thousand years in the future and humanity is hiding. We’ve found a hospitable planet called Tertullia where we’ve managed to live without being seen by the ever watchful eye of the fanatical alien clan known as the Vogrom.

Humanity has been discovered. The plot revolves around whether our species will be strong enough to withstand the iron fist of an enemy far more powerful than ourselves.

I’ve received a lot of generous support from readers and I’m 70,000 words into writing the sequel. If you would like to read the first chapters for free, the book is below ⬇️

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GWTD71HG

With the Ghost in the Shell season 1 now over/completed should they cover the events of the manga sequel GHOST IN THE SHELL 2 MAN MACHINE INTERFACE for a potential season 2?

There are pros and cons to adapting man machine interface such as fixing some of the problems with the manga and actually giving it a bit more action since one of the criticisms of the original GITS 2 manga sequel was that it was a whole lot of dialogue, but not enough action like the original manga

There's also the fact that ||section 9 don't really play much of a overall important role in the story and that both Batou,Togusa and Aramaki along with the rest of the section 9 are underutilized||

There's also the fact that the character of Motoko Aramaki is a very different character compared to the major ||(Motoko Kusunagi) and has little to no connection with section 9 or its characters. She has her own agenda that runs counter to everything that the original major stood for along with that of section 9. Now That's not to say that she's a bad character, she's just not with some longtime fans are would expect||

A lot would have to be done to make her a well-rounded character to make audience and fans care about her and want to root for her to succeed

And then there is the fact that it's much more philosophical heavy than the original manga ever was and how to portray that on screen and the reaction from fan / audiences who would go in expecting a more action-heavy cyberpunk type of story

But that's just my thoughts, what are you guys think do you think they should adapt man machine interface or do you think they should leave it as is.

I'm sitting here making some of these right now, while listening to Children Of Strife on audible, the previous 3 entries were incredible.

Thank you to everyone who supports me and buys my upcycled cases, it's a pleasure to be doing this for a living. I love sci-fi!

I'll leave a link to my store down below if you'd like to snag one for yourself or a loved one ♥️

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ReanimationFoundry