Ron

When I first read about the coming changes to tags, I was reminded of a story I read in Fantasy & ScienceFiction magazine. I have gone back through many, many years of issues but I have been unable to find the exact reference I was looking for. The gist of the story, though, was that an author who was getting no real-estate for her writing was offered a job as an editor for a "Best of" anthology. Why? Because she wasn't writing for a sub-sub-genre system where every story had its own niche; her writing, while excellent, was too general. So instead of say, being listed as Drama, a story had to be Drama/Slash/Slash/Something-Or-Other to gather a following. And it didn't matter if a story was the best of the best in its genre, it had to land in the favorite, current sub-sub-genre of the time to be included in any anthology titled "Best of". The story was beautifully written, and I was stunned by it; is this what story writing will become I thought? It also ties in nicely with this sub-tagging that GA appears to be swinging into. Does GA really mean to micro-categorize stories in such a way that readers never have to exposed beyond their niche, a niche that grows ever smaller, never to discover unfamiliar writing?!

Firing-Crank!

I thought it looked like a dirty-dirty word and in a sense I was right.

This is one of my favorite words. This word means you could be anything, or... well, something or other.

Sheet music gives me cognitive dissonance. What?! Why?! What does it mean?!!!

Upon first look at the word of the day I thought that it sounded like a bowel disorder... As it turns out I wasn't far off.

While I do enjoy Mr. Dick's writing overall, I am not a fan of alternate history in general since I find it far too derivative in nature to be interesting. One can be creative, I feel, without wholly relying on the past to become transcendent.

@Daddydavekposted a recent status update that Amazon is showing a video series later this year based on the late Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time book series (a favorite even if I wasn’t always pleased with the author, and finished by Brandon Sanderson based on the author’s notes) and included a link with a preview. It didn’t look all that promising to me because it looked like Amazon was going for flash and bang, but it was a short video which tried to cram a lot of images into it, so who knows? With Amazon’s The Expanse based on the book series by James S.A. Corey (which I know, like me, you’re a fan of), they did such an outstanding job that I wonder if the books are any better. So, one could hope that Jordan’s work will be translated well into film. ABC filmed Legend of the Seeker which was based on the late Terry Goodkind’s The Sword of Truth novels, and it lasted two seasons. The books are another favorite fantasy series of mine. I made it through two episodes of the show and called it quits. Aside from the abominable film quality, crappy locations and bad actors, it had none of the elements that made the books so good.The show was like making a bad Planet of the Apes television series if done by CBS. Oh, wait, they did that! Then, also, Apple TV+ has Isaac Asimov’s Foundation coming. I’ve watched the preview and it certainly is polished but how well will it resemble the novels’ and the authors intent? Better to be careful for what you ask for, there’s a mixed bag of quality available. Though lately that quality has been on the upswing.

Was I not clear in my remarks that you quoted? Of course, the stylings of the son wouldn't be those of the father and when you add Kevin J. Anderson (I've read his Terra Incognita: Book 1 and 2 and his writing voice is hugely different from that of Frank Herbert) into the mix... well, I wouldn't expect the books to read the same. But the prequal books do add insight into what went on before and how we ended up with the world of Dune and its politics. I thought having the information provided in those books was useful and they weren't bad reading, and that was a plus. I'm hopeful, considering the director, Denis Villeneuve had a hand in writing the script. The reviews I read said as much but overall, they said there was a something-something lacking that prevented them from making an emotional connection. We'll see and I am looking forward to watching the movie, make no mistake. I'll be watching at home through HBO MAX and my 55" Sony screen. I'll miss the overall grandeur on the smaller screen, but I've got a kicker of a sound system to help compensate for the loss.

Just read the damn books, for crying out loud. Without reading and understanding the books there is bound to be trouble. I would even read the prequel books by the son, Brian Herbert and his co-author, Kevin J. Anderson as I have--that would add context and a deeper understanding as to the why-and-what-for of Frank Herbert's classics, with Dune being the subject here.

I’ve read three reviews of the movie and all seem to agree so far that Dune (part 1) is big and grand but lacking in feeling, or the important facet of making a connection with the viewer. Hans Zimmerman is responsible for The Dune Sketchbook (Music From the Soundtrack), and if you’ve listened to Zimmerman’s music for The Dark Knight Rises you will know that music is all deep base and excitement with drive, but whilst the Dune music has some deeper base underpinning it, it is a much slower work with faint choral voices that while providing texture don’t add a whole lot of meaning to the music—background stuff for sure—and after listening to the first three songs (nearly fifty minutes) I was not moved. I hope that Dune won’t turn out to be just another action flick of a movie, lacking depth.

I read this blog entry, but I didn't know anything about @Geron Kees and so I sort-of glossed over the interview, sorry. Then today on Thursday, I happened to read something on Nifty.org called Thrift Shop Nation dated from 2016 and I liked it, a lot. I thought the story would be perfect for GA, and I saw the authors name and I did a search for it here -- just in case. Low and behold, the first result was this blog entry. Was this just coincidence? That's likely. A touch of serendipity? I'm all for it! I'll be looking at your writings with interest, Geron Kees.

This piqued my interest and I checked with my 6 year old Windows 10 PC with the latest update - Google Chrome latest iteration, iPad Pro 10.5" - Safari and Chrome latest iterations, and iPhone X - Safari and Chrome latest iterations and I had no issues with loading Stellar's profile. The Stories page for Stellar popped up instantly as well.

I would like to add a favorite author's works in their entirety: Don H(anratty) authored some stories that contain some of the most likeable (I dare to say decent) characters you're likely to find. His most recent story at sixty-nine chapters is incomplete do to his death but it remains worth a reader's time and your likely emotional attachment to his characters (I dare you to try not to become attached). The three-part Working It Out series was completed before the big site switchover years ago and will provide considerable enjoyment to anyone who can appreciate multi-book stories. His chapters are not short on word count, but they are quickly digested. A highly recommended body of work.

I had a celery joke ready, but someone was quicker at the chopping board...

I went and looked up the chant from the Laverne & Shirley show. I found this on a message board by someone called flem-ish: “A shlemiel is somebody who often spills his soup, a shlemazl is the person the soup lands on.” flem-ish at least gets the gist right.

A roseate spoonbill was recently sighted in Washington D.C. which is far from its natural range.

But the cat still says, “No.”

Look, if you’re going to make critical story remarks in comments then you best have a somewhat thick skin in case you receive a proportionate (in which case you may be embarrassed) or disproportionate (in which case your jaw may drop in stunned disbelief) reply to your criticism, and not only from the author. There are more of us with experiences just like the individual that you quoted than you might expect, myself included. In my case, I moved on and learned a little bit about navigating egos—still not a professional ego navigator—and I learned that some word choices might be triggers. You have a ego; I have a ego; sometimes egos are easily bruised. This is why I previously stated that criticism, whether constructive (which criticism should be) or otherwise, should be made in PM’s or emails, as the case may be, to the author directly and NOT in the public domain… unless you have established a good rapport with the author and you know you can get away with snarky comments.

To add: W_L did recommend Alpha Heat to me, and the Xan character is worth fleshing out/reading about if it’s as well written as the initial book in the series—probably why the author chose to do so—especially with how this character must inhabit this universe what with his emotional and personal proclivity. This will have to wait, I’m woefully behind on my reading list. But, you should read ahead if you’re moved by the first book, which I highly recommend!

I would add that Jason comes from an upper-class family and is highly educated, more so than is the average for this world, and because of this it does account for the intelligent way he responds to situations while still betraying his youthful age emotionally. I thought this point came across well. Otherwise, I think, it is no strange stretch of the imagination to accept the pseudo-downfall of an entire people from a highly proficient technology to one that must begin anew. One can imagine what our situation might evolve toward should the entire female population suddenly die off. It would be utter chaos and the total collapse of current level technology; it would be lost as a result. I had no problem seeing this possibility as I read the book. I do agree that the ending wrapped up too neatly, despite the drama just prior to that ending. Overall, I found your summation of the story quite good and your personal incites were interesting. Though if this was meant to be a review you gave a lot more away than I would prefer, I'm glad I read the book before reading.

@SnowBear A train wreck or a scary movie are ridiculously hard to ignore, you see it happening and you want to turn away, but you just can't help but to keep watching and sometimes calling out. I find that a friendly PM to the author is the best way to nicely offer constructive criticism if the spirit moves you. And if the author blows you off in a bad way you can chuck that author right into the trash bin. Don't forget that you can always give a story an honest review even if you don't make comments.

You have my sympathy, Steve. I'm sorry for your loss.

Congratulations on your success @Mrsgnomie

It's sad to learn of Wayne's death and my sincere condolence goes out to those who knew him well and to those who were touched by his life in some way.