I swear to the flying Spaghetti Monster, if I had a time machine I would...

Ian Shlasko

Well done!

OriginalGriff wrote:

Thomas Covenant: Oh come on! Donaldson just puts me to sleep...

Really? Well, maybe I'm just more of a fan of epic storylines... I've read through Wheel of Time three times so far... Covenant is my favorite Fantasy series.

OriginalGriff wrote:

Stile - do you mean Piers Anthony? Would make pretty good films, but you would confuse a lot of viewers with the SF/Fantasy world switching.

Hopefully not TOO many viewers... Cause... um... the Guardians Saga (See my sig) mixes SF and Fantasy even moreso...

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OriginalGriff

Mixing SF and fantasy in books is fine: people who read books can cope. People who go to movies ... well, let's just say that Nicholas Cage is still working and leave it at that, eh? Donaldson I just don't get on with: it just seems as if he gets paid by the word, rather than by the story! :laugh:

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QuiJohn

John C wrote:

...Among many things go back and excise Star Wars from history and replace it with just about *any* of the excellent science fiction novels written to that point.

George Lucas wasn't interested in making that kind of movie though. He wanted a romping adventure in space, which he figured technology would allow him to do. The original film was a nearly perfect execution in classic storytelling; the universe was still pretty shallow at that point, really, and it didn't matter. It was great fun. And I think George Lucas did know the difference between what he was doing and something like Left Hand of Darkness. Hell, he gave us THX-1138, which I would put way up there as good, hard core sci-fi, and in a completely different category than Star Wars. Most of the good sci-fi I've read is unfilmable, as it gets so complex that there's simply no way to do it justice. The Foundation or Robot series may be distilled down to some essential components, but I have zero faith that Hollywood would do them justice. (Hell, look at I, Robot.) Right now I'm reading (well, listening to) Pandora's Star and enjoying it immensely. It would be a catastrophe of a movie, it's a gigantic premise with so many interlocking parts that to leave anything out would turn it into something else completely. And I will once again go on record as saying I love Star Wars, including the prequels, though the prequels do frustrate me at times. I think they are actually a brilliant premise, but the execution fell short in places. Still, I enjoy them as the most expensive independent films ever made, and they are beautiful to look at. I keep hoping Lucas will do as he said he would and get back to some experimental projects (along the lines of THX-1138). I doubt that will happen now though.

He said, "Boy I'm just old and lonely, But thank you for your concern, Here's wishing you a Happy New Year." I wished him one back in return.

Andy Brummer

Donaldson has been mixed for me. I really liked the Mordant's need series, but it's a lot lighter. I liked the first and the 3rd Covenant trilogies. The second was really slow. The first was cheap therapy for me as an angst ridden teen, and I've been finishing it out of loyalty. What is getting me in the last series is how contrived some of the "had to let you figure it out on your own" plot lines are. I loved the first book of the gap series, I've never hated characters more. It was a really intense read but the other books just kinda trailed off.

Curvature of the Mind now with 3D

Gary Wheeler

Elijah Bailey - Too cerebral. They'd screw it up. (Isaac Asimov, Caves of Steel) Robinette Broadhead - Everyone would hate him in the first movie. (Poul Anderson, Gateway) Thomas Covenant - Oh gawd, you've got to be kidding. I needed therapy after reading those. (Stephen Donaldson, Lord Foul's Bane) Stile - That would be fun. (Piers Anthony, Split Infinity)

Software Zen: delete this;

Gary Wheeler

Unfortunately, Card has gone to the well several times too many with the Ender books.

Software Zen: delete this;

Member 96

Good points all. My main beef I guess with Star Wars is that people have taken it way too far. For what it is, it doesn't deserve the cult like status it's achieved over the years.

There is no failure only feedback

Ian Shlasko

Andy Brummer wrote:

I liked the first and the 3rd Covenant trilogies.

THIRD!? Wow, I had no idea he was writing another one! Last time I read through the first two was like ten years ago... Ah, I see it's not finished... I'll wait. I do agree that the second is a little slower... I liked the concept of how the world changed, but yeah, it was a little strange at times. Now I'm really curious, though, because given the ending of the second series, I'm wondering how there could be room for more sequels... Favorite character: Bannor of the Bloodguard... One of the characters in Books 2-3 of my series has parts of his personality based on Bannor :)

Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)

Ian Shlasko

OriginalGriff wrote:

People who go to movies ... well, let's just say that Nicholas Cage is still working and leave it at that, eh?

Hmm... I'd like to think a mix could work... I blend magic and technology, in the spirit of Clarke's third law... Always hoped it would someday hit the big screen, or maybe a TV series like True Blood or Game of Thrones.

OriginalGriff wrote:

Donaldson I just don't get on with: it just seems as if he gets paid by the word, rather than by the story!

That's the impression I sometimes got of Robert Jordan :)

Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
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Ian Shlasko

Gary Wheeler wrote:

Elijah Bailey - Too cerebral. They'd screw it up.

Probably... I don't know, though... I thought they'd completely screw up I, Robot, but I think they did a good job of that... They used an action movie to trick the general public into watching semi-intelligent sci-fi... Granted, that was just loosely based on the basic concepts behind a short story, but Caves of Steel might work.

Gary Wheeler wrote:

Robinette Broadhead - Everyone would hate him in the first movie. (Poul Anderson, Gateway)

Close, but it was Fredrik Pohl, not Poul Anderson... And yeah, they'd hate him, but that's part of the fun.

Gary Wheeler wrote:

Thomas Covenant - Oh gawd, you've got to be kidding. I needed therapy after reading those. (Stephen Donaldson, Lord Foul's Bane)

Now, THERE'S a character they would hate... I loved that series.

Gary Wheeler wrote:

Stile - That would be fun. (Piers Anthony, Split Infinity)

:) Just listing the first book of each series, huh?

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Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)

Andy Brummer

As you can imagine, the bloodguard play a big role in the new series as do the giants, and the sand gorgons make another appearance. The third is definitely faster paced and better writing. At the end of the third book there are so many plots and sub-plots whirling around, it's hard to imagine that it can be all tied together. Bannor and Mhoram were two of the names in the first game of Bard's Tale I played on my Tandy 1000 in glorious tandy 16 color display.

Curvature of the Mind now with 3D

Ian Shlasko

Oh wow... Bard's Tale... That brings me back to the old PS/2 days, though I wasn't much into RPGs when I first played that, so I never got very far in it (I think I was only 5 or 6 when it came out) Didn't really get into that genre until someone lent me World of Xeen... Let's just say the name similarity between World of Xeen and Guardians of Xen is not entirely coincidental.

Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)

Gary Wheeler

I always mix up 'Pohl' and 'Poul' :-O.

Ian Shlasko wrote:

Just listing the first book of each series, huh?

Yeah. I figured listing each book, with its year of publication, would just be showing off.

Software Zen: delete this;

Ian Shlasko

Gary Wheeler wrote:

Yeah. I figured listing each book, with its year of publication, would just be showing off.

I would have said "The Heechee Saga", "The Apprentice Adept Series", etc :)

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Mycroft Holmes

Most of his stuff was both too raunchy and way to political to make a film of. Friday, Man from Mars and the Long sagas would make some excellent film subjects.

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

Phil Martin

Thats a bit harsh on George. Sure there are much better writers, but he's still bloody good. Overall though he's too cold for me. I'm too much of a sucker for good-guys-win, bad-guys-lose. A while ago I got into the Book of Words series. It took me a while to "get" it, but wow, J. V. Jones tells one good story.

Phil Martin

My vote goes for Stephen Donaldson's Gap series. I don't normally like his long winded style, but the cut-throatedness and a-moralness of it all just got to me. And bonus points for not attempting to explain the Sci Fi aspects, but just lived it instead.

Phil Martin

Thomas Convenant - I think I'd actually like that. So long as they compact it into a digestible length. If they took it direct from the book, I think it would be 4 movies of 6 hours each, with 5.5 hours of each movie just looking at landscapes in super slow motion :)

Ian Shlasko

Haha, so true... But what about a TV series? Like on HBO, so it has a real budget and doesn't censor (Though they might go a little too far at one point during the first book, if you know what I mean)... One season per book, just like True Blood does

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Steve Echols

Would love to see The Forever War made into a movie, and anything by Niven+Pournelle+-Barnes would also kick ass, specifically Lucifer's Hammer, Footfall and Legacy of Heorot.

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