Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Code Project
  1. Home
  2. Other Discussions
  3. The Back Room
  4. Possibly the worst sci-fi I've read

Possibly the worst sci-fi I've read

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Back Room
question
49 Posts 14 Posters 0 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • O Oakman

    Chris Maunder wrote:

    One day I'm going to write my PhD on your lot.

    I double dare you.

    Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

    C Offline
    C Offline
    Chris Maunder
    wrote on last edited by
    #26

    It'll be under a pseudonym. I know you guys are good at hunting people down so I'll take no chances.

    cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

    O G 2 Replies Last reply
    0
    • O Oakman

      Stan Shannon wrote:

      When I pick up a science fiction book, if the protagonist isn't a white guy with an anglo-saxon sounding name, I put it right back down.

      One of the things I really liked about Starship Troopers, the book, is that Heinlein very carefully never let you know what the protagonist looked like or what his ethnic background was. Until the end of the book - when you find out he wasn't a handsome blue-eyed blonde, or even a tall dark and handsome Brazilian. Instead he was a Tagalog from the Philipines. I bet you would have shit a brick when you realised you had been rooting for someone with dark skin.

      Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

      S Offline
      S Offline
      Stan Shannon
      wrote on last edited by
      #27

      Oakman wrote:

      Instead he was a Tagalog from the Philipines.

      Tagalog is a language not an ethnic group. Besides, as I said, back in the days when I read that I was a raging liberal. But that might well have been what shaped my current attitude. When an author goes out of his way to create an ethnic character he is trying to make a point that has nothing to do with the story line. If I wanted to consider someone's religious principles, I'd just read the bible.

      Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

      O 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • S Stan Shannon

        Oakman wrote:

        Instead he was a Tagalog from the Philipines.

        Tagalog is a language not an ethnic group. Besides, as I said, back in the days when I read that I was a raging liberal. But that might well have been what shaped my current attitude. When an author goes out of his way to create an ethnic character he is trying to make a point that has nothing to do with the story line. If I wanted to consider someone's religious principles, I'd just read the bible.

        Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

        O Offline
        O Offline
        Oakman
        wrote on last edited by
        #28

        Stan Shannon wrote:

        Tagalog is a language not an ethnic group

        The Tagalog people is the second largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. . . The Tagalog people number about 15.9 million making them the second largest Filipino ethnic group [^]

        Stan Shannon wrote:

        When an author goes out of his way to create an ethnic character he is trying to make a point that has nothing to do with the story line

        You probably should stick to comic books - not DC or Marvel, but Archie won't throw you for a loop.

        Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

        S 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • O Oakman

          Stan Shannon wrote:

          Tagalog is a language not an ethnic group

          The Tagalog people is the second largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. . . The Tagalog people number about 15.9 million making them the second largest Filipino ethnic group [^]

          Stan Shannon wrote:

          When an author goes out of his way to create an ethnic character he is trying to make a point that has nothing to do with the story line

          You probably should stick to comic books - not DC or Marvel, but Archie won't throw you for a loop.

          Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

          S Offline
          S Offline
          Stan Shannon
          wrote on last edited by
          #29

          Oakman wrote:

          The Tagalog people is the second largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. . . The Tagalog people number about 15.9 million making them the second largest Filipino ethnic group [^]

          Well, all I can say is that in the entire time I was in the Phillipines I never heard anyone refer to themselves as a 'Tagalog'. That was the name of the language they spoke.

          Oakman wrote:

          but Archie won't throw you for a loop.

          Now there's a guy who could command a star ship. In fact, now that I think about it, Jughead looks a little like Spock.

          Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

          T O 2 Replies Last reply
          0
          • B Brady Kelly

            Greg Bear's Eon was momentous for me.

            C Offline
            C Offline
            Chris Austin
            wrote on last edited by
            #30

            I felt the same way about David Brin's Uplift Books.

            Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • C Captain See Sharp

              I thought only mega-nerds actually read sci-fi books.

              ENDGAME[^]

              C Offline
              C Offline
              Chris Austin
              wrote on last edited by
              #31

              Intel 4004 wrote:

              I thought only mega-nerds actually read sci-fi books.

              I read a lot of things unlike you.

              Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell

              C 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • C Chris Austin

                Intel 4004 wrote:

                I thought only mega-nerds actually read sci-fi books.

                I read a lot of things unlike you.

                Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell

                C Offline
                C Offline
                Captain See Sharp
                wrote on last edited by
                #32

                Chris Austin wrote:

                I read a lot of things unlike you.

                Alot of things? Like the marvelous works in the public bathrooms or the highway signs.

                ENDGAME[^]

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • O Oakman

                  Stan Shannon wrote:

                  When I pick up a science fiction book, if the protagonist isn't a white guy with an anglo-saxon sounding name, I put it right back down.

                  One of the things I really liked about Starship Troopers, the book, is that Heinlein very carefully never let you know what the protagonist looked like or what his ethnic background was. Until the end of the book - when you find out he wasn't a handsome blue-eyed blonde, or even a tall dark and handsome Brazilian. Instead he was a Tagalog from the Philipines. I bet you would have shit a brick when you realised you had been rooting for someone with dark skin.

                  Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

                  C Offline
                  C Offline
                  Chris Austin
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #33

                  Oakman wrote:

                  Instead he was a Tagalog from the Philipines. I bet you would have sh*t a brick when you realised you had been rooting for someone with dark skin.

                  Nah, Stan would have shouted PINOY AKO!

                  Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • S Stan Shannon

                    Oakman wrote:

                    The Tagalog people is the second largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. . . The Tagalog people number about 15.9 million making them the second largest Filipino ethnic group [^]

                    Well, all I can say is that in the entire time I was in the Phillipines I never heard anyone refer to themselves as a 'Tagalog'. That was the name of the language they spoke.

                    Oakman wrote:

                    but Archie won't throw you for a loop.

                    Now there's a guy who could command a star ship. In fact, now that I think about it, Jughead looks a little like Spock.

                    Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                    T Offline
                    T Offline
                    Tim Craig
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #34

                    Stan Shannon wrote:

                    Well, all I can say is that in the entire time I was in the Phillipines I never heard anyone refer to themselves as a 'Tagalog'.

                    After your experience in San Francisco on the way to the Phillipines, you were probably afraid to leave the ship. :laugh:

                    "Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." -- P.J. O'Rourke

                    I'm a proud denizen of the Real Soapbox[^]
                    ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!!!

                    S 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • T Tim Craig

                      Stan Shannon wrote:

                      Well, all I can say is that in the entire time I was in the Phillipines I never heard anyone refer to themselves as a 'Tagalog'.

                      After your experience in San Francisco on the way to the Phillipines, you were probably afraid to leave the ship. :laugh:

                      "Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." -- P.J. O'Rourke

                      I'm a proud denizen of the Real Soapbox[^]
                      ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!!!

                      S Offline
                      S Offline
                      Stan Shannon
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #35

                      Tim Craig wrote:

                      After your experience in San Francisco on the way to the Phillipines, you were probably afraid to leave the ship.

                      San Diego. And considering that I caught the clap three times in the P.I. I had no trouble finding the beach.

                      Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                      T O 2 Replies Last reply
                      0
                      • S Stan Shannon

                        Tim Craig wrote:

                        After your experience in San Francisco on the way to the Phillipines, you were probably afraid to leave the ship.

                        San Diego. And considering that I caught the clap three times in the P.I. I had no trouble finding the beach.

                        Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                        T Offline
                        T Offline
                        Tim Craig
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #36

                        Stan Shannon wrote:

                        And considering that I caught the clap three times in the P.I.

                        Gee, Stan, where were those high moral values you say everyone needs to be civilized? Where were those two millenia of christianity? I think you just got old and cranky and now you're just a humorless prude.

                        "Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." -- P.J. O'Rourke

                        I'm a proud denizen of the Real Soapbox[^]
                        ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!!!

                        S 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • C Chris Austin

                          Has to be "The Saga of Seven Suns" by Kevin Anderson. What's the worst you've read?

                          Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell

                          M Offline
                          M Offline
                          Mycroft Holmes
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #37

                          Don't tell me you read the whole book, I tried this one before I started using a reader, I took great pleasure in hurling it across the room. One of the things I miss about paper books, the really bad ones can be physically abused for being such crap.

                          Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

                          C 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • T Tim Craig

                            Stan Shannon wrote:

                            And considering that I caught the clap three times in the P.I.

                            Gee, Stan, where were those high moral values you say everyone needs to be civilized? Where were those two millenia of christianity? I think you just got old and cranky and now you're just a humorless prude.

                            "Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." -- P.J. O'Rourke

                            I'm a proud denizen of the Real Soapbox[^]
                            ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!!!

                            S Offline
                            S Offline
                            Stan Shannon
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #38

                            Tim Craig wrote:

                            I think you just got old and cranky and now you're just a humorless prude.

                            Some of us like to refer to that as 'growing up'. Maybe you should try it some time.

                            Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                            T 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • S Stan Shannon

                              Oakman wrote:

                              The Tagalog people is the second largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. . . The Tagalog people number about 15.9 million making them the second largest Filipino ethnic group [^]

                              Well, all I can say is that in the entire time I was in the Phillipines I never heard anyone refer to themselves as a 'Tagalog'. That was the name of the language they spoke.

                              Oakman wrote:

                              but Archie won't throw you for a loop.

                              Now there's a guy who could command a star ship. In fact, now that I think about it, Jughead looks a little like Spock.

                              Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                              O Offline
                              O Offline
                              Oakman
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #39

                              Stan Shannon wrote:

                              Well, all I can say is that in the entire time I was in the Phillipines I never heard anyone refer to themselves as a 'Tagalog'.

                              Say what you will, Stan, you are wrong about this. It is a fact that Tagalog describes an ethnic group. Fact.

                              Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

                              S 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • O Oakman

                                Stan Shannon wrote:

                                Well, all I can say is that in the entire time I was in the Phillipines I never heard anyone refer to themselves as a 'Tagalog'.

                                Say what you will, Stan, you are wrong about this. It is a fact that Tagalog describes an ethnic group. Fact.

                                Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

                                S Offline
                                S Offline
                                Stan Shannon
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #40

                                Oakman wrote:

                                Say what you will, Stan, you are wrong about this. It is a fact that Tagalog describes an ethnic group. Fact.

                                Fine. Find me any filipinos who actually refer to themselves as 'tagalogs' and I'll buy you a balut for breakfast. I'm actually pretty damn sure its a name we Europeans gave them because of the language they spoke. And, in any case, claiming that everyone who speaks tagalog is tagalog is the same as saying that everyone who speaks English is English. But, hey, I will throw that into the box I keep in my garage labeled: "facts completely unrelated to anything I give a shit about".

                                Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                                O C 2 Replies Last reply
                                0
                                • S Stan Shannon

                                  Oakman wrote:

                                  Say what you will, Stan, you are wrong about this. It is a fact that Tagalog describes an ethnic group. Fact.

                                  Fine. Find me any filipinos who actually refer to themselves as 'tagalogs' and I'll buy you a balut for breakfast. I'm actually pretty damn sure its a name we Europeans gave them because of the language they spoke. And, in any case, claiming that everyone who speaks tagalog is tagalog is the same as saying that everyone who speaks English is English. But, hey, I will throw that into the box I keep in my garage labeled: "facts completely unrelated to anything I give a shit about".

                                  Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                                  O Offline
                                  O Offline
                                  Oakman
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #41

                                  Stan Shannon wrote:

                                  I keep in my garage labeled: "facts completely unrelated to anything I give a sh*t about

                                  Awwww, I think your feelings are hurt. Is this always the way you react when you make a mistake?

                                  Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

                                  S 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • O Oakman

                                    Stan Shannon wrote:

                                    I keep in my garage labeled: "facts completely unrelated to anything I give a sh*t about

                                    Awwww, I think your feelings are hurt. Is this always the way you react when you make a mistake?

                                    Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

                                    S Offline
                                    S Offline
                                    Stan Shannon
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #42

                                    :rolleyes: Whatever...

                                    Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • S Stan Shannon

                                      Oakman wrote:

                                      Say what you will, Stan, you are wrong about this. It is a fact that Tagalog describes an ethnic group. Fact.

                                      Fine. Find me any filipinos who actually refer to themselves as 'tagalogs' and I'll buy you a balut for breakfast. I'm actually pretty damn sure its a name we Europeans gave them because of the language they spoke. And, in any case, claiming that everyone who speaks tagalog is tagalog is the same as saying that everyone who speaks English is English. But, hey, I will throw that into the box I keep in my garage labeled: "facts completely unrelated to anything I give a shit about".

                                      Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                                      C Offline
                                      C Offline
                                      Chris Austin
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #43

                                      Stan Shannon wrote:

                                      Find me any filipinos who actually refer to themselves as 'tagalogs' and I'll buy you a balut for breakfast.

                                      I'm married to a 1st generation Pinay and her family calls themselves Illacano.  Friends of their family who are Tagalog do in fact call themselves Tagalog.

                                      Stan Shannon wrote:

                                      And, in any case, claiming that everyone who speaks tagalog is tagalog is the same as saying that everyone who speaks English is English.

                                      Correct. I speak Tagalog and Illacano like my wife but I am neither.

                                      Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell

                                      S 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • M Mycroft Holmes

                                        Don't tell me you read the whole book, I tried this one before I started using a reader, I took great pleasure in hurling it across the room. One of the things I miss about paper books, the really bad ones can be physically abused for being such crap.

                                        Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

                                        C Offline
                                        C Offline
                                        Chris Austin
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #44

                                        Mycroft Holmes wrote:

                                        Don't tell me you read the whole book, I tried this one before I started using a reader, I took great pleasure in hurling it across the room.

                                        Yeah :(( I couldn't help myself, it was like watching a train wreck.

                                        Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • C Chris Maunder

                                          It'll be under a pseudonym. I know you guys are good at hunting people down so I'll take no chances.

                                          cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

                                          O Offline
                                          O Offline
                                          Oakman
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #45

                                          Chris Maunder wrote:

                                          I know you guys are good at hunting people down so I'll take no chances.

                                          Ve haf vays undt means. You haf reletifs in de olt country, maybe?

                                          Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

                                          1 Reply Last reply
                                          0
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Don't have an account? Register

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups