1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, Welcome to Stuff from the Science Lab from how 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey, guys, welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: This is Alison I don't know, like, the science editor 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com. This is Robert Lamb, 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:22,760 Speaker 1: science writer at how stuff works dot com. Today we're 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: talking about science fiction. We're stepping outside the laboratory and 7 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: we're entering the world of science fiction world that I 8 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: know you're very fond of, Robert. Yeah, I've been a 9 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: fan of a sci fi for for quite some time. Um, 10 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: I don't pretend to be an expert on it. Therapy 11 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: is plenty of classic sci fi books that I have 12 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,520 Speaker 1: not read, um, and we'll maybe get to one day. 13 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:44,599 Speaker 1: But yeah, I have a lot of love for sci fi, 14 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: and I know that you have been looking to get 15 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 1: more into sci fi. I have. Yeah, I've done a 16 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: little reading. I've read Brave New World, I did a 17 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy some stuff like that. But 18 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: I do I am looking for some more sci fi reading. Cool. Well, 19 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: that's what we're gonna talk about today. We're really gonna 20 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: kick off talking about like why it, Matt, Like, what 21 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: what is science fiction in relation to science? Which is 22 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 1: our core topic here and you know what it means. 23 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: And then we're gonna go through a few different titles 24 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: that I'm particularly fond of that I might recommend to 25 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: you or to anyone out there who's looking to get 26 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: into sci fi. And these three titles are good if 27 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: it gives you any contacts. I went to the library 28 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: at the public library the other night and I was 29 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: looking for these three books. I've done a little bit 30 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: of reading on them, but I haven't fully read them yet, 31 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: and I'm really looking forward to them. And anyway, these 32 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: three books that Robert that made Robert's list are all 33 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: checked out, so I think that's a good son. Yeah, 34 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,279 Speaker 1: and I think they're all they're all Hugo Award winners 35 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: as well, Yes, yes they are. So yeah. We'll just 36 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:46,759 Speaker 1: kick this off with the Webster's definition for science fiction, 37 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: um quote fiction dealing principally with the impact of actual 38 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: or imagine science on society or individuals, or having a 39 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: scientific factor as an essential orienting component. So yeah, it's 40 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: all about where, where where science touches society and how 41 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: that impacts our view of the future. One interesting thing 42 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:12,639 Speaker 1: I found about science fiction is that you would think 43 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: that it would be all about the technology, right, it 44 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: would focus on the technology. But in a lot of 45 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: science fiction, it seems that it always comes down to 46 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: the individual. The individual still remains important determining uh, the 47 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:27,399 Speaker 1: future of the world or the future of interplanetary society. 48 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: So I just thought that was interesting. Yeah. I think 49 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: like even the even the techiest um sci fi, you know, 50 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: it tends to come down to human stories like how 51 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:40,800 Speaker 1: what is how would technology change what we fundamentally are? 52 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: And what do they how do they illuminate what we 53 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: fundamentally are a lot of times that means illuminating of course, 54 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: our our strengths or our weaknesses, depending on whether you 55 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: have more of a lighthearted uh sci fi romp or 56 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: something just brutally dark. You know. An important distinction to 57 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: make in all of this is hard sci fi versus 58 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: soft sci fi? Right, um, and uh it comes out 59 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: of questions of is this actual science? Is it is extrapolate? 60 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: Is it it extrapolated from real um you know, studies, findings, etcetera. 61 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: Or is the science just kind of magic? Um. It 62 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily make the science fiction good or bad. You 63 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: have you know, really good hard sci fi, and you 64 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: also have some really boring hard sci fi out there. 65 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: Um but yeah, you're your Your hard sci fi is 66 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: going to be more rooted in in the actual science 67 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: of the thing, in realistic um visions of the future 68 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: based on the current course of science of science. For instance, 69 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: hard science fiction would be like Arthur C. Clark, especially 70 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: his uh, his novel A Fall of Moon Dust Stu, 71 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: which deals with moon colonization. Or Ben Bova has a 72 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: number of books dealing with the colonization of mars Um. 73 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: You know, these are these are all books that that 74 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: at heart are dealing with the actual science. If you 75 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: get into soft sci fi, I mean, the classic example 76 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 1: would be something like Star Wars. Yeah, because mean, I mean, 77 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: I'm sure there's some books that try and explain the 78 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:06,840 Speaker 1: science of Star Wars, but any in fact, we have 79 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: an article about the light Savers. But by and large, 80 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: Star Wars is not concerned with how the science of 81 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: anything works. It's about this about creating a you know, 82 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: a big space opera, big romantic, melodramaic, melodramatic adventure with 83 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: you know, superpowered individuals and super powerful factions and all this, 84 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 1: um uh. And then also you have smaller works, say 85 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:32,799 Speaker 1: like The Time Traveler's Wife, which I haven't read, but 86 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: but I understand that takes a sci fi element and 87 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 1: use it as a plot device for a character driven exploration. 88 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,840 Speaker 1: You know, so correct me if I'm wrong. But um, 89 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,360 Speaker 1: The Time Traveler's Wife is not really a book concerned with, um, 90 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: you know, the physics of time travel and um. Yeah, 91 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: and along those lines, we also have, um, very optimistic 92 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 1: sci fi. You have very pessimistic sci fi. And when 93 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: it comes to these visions of the future, you also 94 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: have your your very utopian visions of the future and 95 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: your dystopic visions of the future. And you know that 96 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,359 Speaker 1: kind of speaks for itself. Star Trek. Star Trek is 97 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: a classic example, yea of of a very uh, if 98 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: not utopian, then very optimistic vision of the future. You know, 99 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: it's rude to you know, it goes back to, you know, 100 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,359 Speaker 1: the excitement about the space race and then this idea 101 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: that technology was just gonna get better and better and 102 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: change the the the way that we live. Um. You know, you'll, 103 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,160 Speaker 1: I mean, even though there there's war and there's a 104 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: there's destruction and death in in the and and certainly 105 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 1: conflict in the in the Star Trek universe, Um, you 106 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: still see like whole like all of Earth is united, 107 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: is one people, whole systems of you know, of of 108 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 1: aliens are united as one people, you know, and that's 109 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: you know, and they even have this, uh, like the 110 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,919 Speaker 1: whole Prime Directive deal where they don't they don't mess 111 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: with with rising civilizations that haven't achieved you know, space 112 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: travel yet, you know. So they're they're already writing, you know, 113 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: writing into this future that we will have learned from 114 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: our past that we're not going to say, repeat the 115 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: exploitation and decimation of the Native American um people, you know, 116 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: on a cosmic scale, right, So they already have really 117 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: cool stuff like green technology, and there is an element 118 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: of morality threading the entire series. So let's look at 119 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,359 Speaker 1: some of the more pessimistic stuff. What about Avatar you 120 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: put that, I would say that Avatar is not just 121 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,800 Speaker 1: like Super Dark, because you have some sci fi that's 122 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: just basically saying humans are horrible and in the far future, 123 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: we're just going to be even more horrible. Um, but 124 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:40,039 Speaker 1: Avatar still paints a rather bleak vision of humanity's future. 125 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,600 Speaker 1: You know, it's like humans have destroyed their own planet basically, 126 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:44,280 Speaker 1: I mean it's they talk to speak of it as 127 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: a poisoned world, and they're headed off to another planet 128 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:51,280 Speaker 1: to exploit its resources and its native inhabitants. Um, you know, 129 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 1: continuing the cycle that you know, we started in colonial days. 130 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: And I was sorry, I see it. It's the distinction 131 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: of colonization versus new colonization. I guess. Yeah, it's just 132 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: kind of you know, it's it kind of comes down 133 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: to the whole you know idea, you know, the terror 134 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: of history. It's like our humans gonna just keep making 135 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: the same mistake over and over again. And you're more 136 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: optimistic visions involve us learning from our mistakes, and the 137 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: more pessimistic or in my opinion, realistic ones involve us 138 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: making the same mistakes over and over again. So let's 139 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: get into some of the classics. Let's talking about H. G. 140 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: Wells and Jules Verne. Yeah, yeah, these were these are 141 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: two of the big guys. Um. You know, you can 142 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: you can go back and find, you know, older works 143 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: that are technically sci fi, but these are the real 144 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: fathers of modern science fiction. UM. Wells, of course, is 145 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:44,120 Speaker 1: known for such works as the It's the Time Machine, 146 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: Verne twenty leagues under the sea, so you know, they're 147 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: they're they're writing. Especially Verne is right, wrote a lot 148 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: about the future, predicting what the future was going to 149 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: be like. And he was like a true tech like 150 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 1: tech geek, Like he would probably have a podcast with 151 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: with Jonathan Strickland today, you know, if you were around 152 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: um or Jonathan would and him would be tweeting back 153 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: and forth, because yeah, Verne was writing about you know, 154 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: air conditioning, automomobiles, facts, machine electricity, traveling to the moon, submarines. 155 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:17,080 Speaker 1: You know. In all this, um Wells was new Slatch either, right, 156 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 1: he was learning about time travel, of course, he was 157 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 1: learning about lasers and visibility, interplanetary war, um, even wireless 158 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: communications and answering machines. And just to give your perspective, 159 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: H G. Wells was alive of from eighteen sixty six 160 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: to ninety six. Yeah, and one thing I ran across 161 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:36,680 Speaker 1: when I was brushing up again on him was that 162 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: people pointed out that if Mary Shelley hadn't written Frankenstein, um, 163 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:45,439 Speaker 1: then Wells may have actually like hit all the the 164 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: key like sci fi plot elements, you know, and just 165 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:51,360 Speaker 1: you know, nailed them ahead of time because he was 166 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: just he was just on a frenzy towards the end 167 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:55,720 Speaker 1: of the nineteenth century, just like Book a Year, you know, 168 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: and each one is you know, a classic today. But 169 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: it's also worth mentioning again that, yeah, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, 170 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: in addition to being you know, horror, is definitely a 171 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: key early sci fi work. Yeah. The important thing with 172 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,599 Speaker 1: any of this, uh, any science fiction is that is 173 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: not what it tells you about the future, because obviously 174 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: none of it's going to be completely correct, um, but 175 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 1: but what it tells you about the time which was published, 176 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,319 Speaker 1: you know what, what were their thoughts in the Victorian 177 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 1: age about about their modern technology, about what the future 178 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,640 Speaker 1: was gonna was gonna hold for everybody? Um right, So 179 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 1: Wells and vern we're both concerned about humanity's path back 180 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: then and where I might leave in the future. They 181 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 1: were thinking that maybe it's going to be a stagnating 182 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: world like that of the Morlocks and the Eloi. Yeah, yeah, 183 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: one where um we're basically the the the class divisions 184 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: and industrialization would lead to an age where um, you 185 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: had you know, these these dreamy little elf people living 186 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:54,439 Speaker 1: on the surface world doing nothing with their lives and 187 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,680 Speaker 1: in their society while these monstrous, you know, troll like 188 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:01,200 Speaker 1: creatures actually think they were more spider like in the 189 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 1: in the book, but it's hard to get the image 190 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:07,080 Speaker 1: from the film out of your head. But but one 191 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:11,680 Speaker 1: of these monsters toiled underground to keep the surface system alive. 192 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: And and of course Verne wrote us, you know, several 193 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: books dealing with the future of warfare, and you know, 194 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: they're pretty pretty bleak in that regard that, you know, 195 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: we have all this amazing technology and we're going to 196 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: continue to use it to destroy one another. So what 197 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 1: were some of the outdated concepts that both Verne and Wells. Yeah, 198 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: these are things where you know, you read them today 199 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 1: and um and and they just doesn't make you know, 200 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: it doesn't jive as well, like you know, say, well 201 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: that's that's not the way it turned out at all, um. 202 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: Sort of like if you you know, you know, it's 203 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: sort of like if you've watched you know, two thousand 204 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: and one a Space odusy and you're like, whoa hold on, 205 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 1: our space stations don't look like that. Um. But but 206 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 1: generally the older the sci fi, the bigger the chance 207 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: that the science is really won't keep by today's standards. UM. So, 208 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,320 Speaker 1: like vern said, you have to give them credit for trying. Yeah, yeah, 209 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: because they're working with with the best that they had. 210 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 1: I mean, sci fi written today, even like the most 211 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: cutting edge sci fi you know, is it gonna hold 212 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: up in you know, a hundred years. Maybe maybe not. 213 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 1: This stuff holds up because I mean both of these 214 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 1: guys were great writers and uh and had something important 215 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 1: to say, you know. And that's when we keep going 216 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 1: back to him. So like Verne's Journey to the Center 217 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: of the Earth, Um, it has some outdated ideas about 218 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: the Earth's interior um and uh, and you know, and 219 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: he's trying to to educate the reader about about you know, 220 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: what extinct creatures existed in which geologic age, you know, 221 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,680 Speaker 1: and not all that holds up today. Um, it's you know, 222 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 1: but it's it's but it's fine because he was he 223 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: was writing for the modern you know, his modern audience, 224 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:44,319 Speaker 1: and it clues us into how they were thinking back 225 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:47,600 Speaker 1: in the you know, the Victorian era. UM. Likewise, the 226 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,680 Speaker 1: time Machine, there is great sequence in the end where 227 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:54,960 Speaker 1: the time traveler UM goes just travels like ridiculously far. 228 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: Then he's already ridiculously far ahead because what the Time 229 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: Machine takes place in uh eighty m eight hundred and 230 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: two thousand, seven hundred one, you know, so which is 231 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:08,319 Speaker 1: great because so many time travel movies like they go like, oh, 232 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: this is what the future is gonna be like in 233 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: N and you know, I'm like, oh, we didn't have 234 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: flying cars in NT seven, so you know, wells had 235 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: it right. He's like like, all right, they when you 236 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:20,200 Speaker 1: finally get to the year eight hundred, eight hundred thousand, 237 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: you know, then you can correct me. But but no, 238 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,439 Speaker 1: he had this this vision of the like the earth 239 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 1: when the sun finally stopped, you know, stops burning, and 240 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: the earth just stops in its tracks and and everything dies. 241 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:34,559 Speaker 1: And it's very bleak and beautifully written. But of course, 242 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,840 Speaker 1: uh it's it's based on outdated models of celestial mechanics. 243 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 1: It still works, though, I highly recommend high highly recommend 244 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: via Time Machine. What about the movies, um, you know 245 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: there they can be fun, but you know, it's you know, 246 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 1: each work of sci fi is is rooted in its day, 247 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,080 Speaker 1: you know, and sometimes when you have like an older 248 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: work of sci fi and it's produced in an other time, 249 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:02,439 Speaker 1: you end up with sort of a mixture of those 250 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: those things, so it's kind of a kind of deluded 251 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: in my opinion. So today we're gonna start off with 252 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:09,719 Speaker 1: three sci fi books that I personally am going to 253 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: read and we hope you will too if you haven't already. Um, 254 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: And we picked these three books because they are award 255 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: winners and stuff like that, but they're also held up 256 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 1: as classics in the pantheon of science fiction, and I 257 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: really like each of them, so I can speak to them, 258 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: you know. The first one that made our list was 259 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 1: Dune by Frank Herbert. I'm just going to read you 260 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,160 Speaker 1: the first line in case you've never read it. In 261 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: the week before their departure to Aracus, when all the 262 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 1: final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy in 263 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: Old Crone came to visit the mother of the boy, Paul. Yeah, 264 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: and so begins Dune, Herbert's novel, and it won the 265 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:49,560 Speaker 1: Hugo Award in nineteen sixty six, and it went on 266 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:53,199 Speaker 1: to also win the very first Nebula Award. June has 267 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:55,559 Speaker 1: had a bunch of sequels and even a prequel written 268 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 1: by Herbert's son Brian. Oh. Yeah, like a string of 269 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: prequel like the her kids are just going crazy with it. 270 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: So June follows paul a treatyse the son of a 271 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 1: powerful family kind of think of for our future equivalent 272 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:11,360 Speaker 1: of the Montagues or Capulets, and this powerful family is 273 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,720 Speaker 1: just gaining control of the desert planet Aracus. And Oracus 274 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:17,200 Speaker 1: is important because of course it's a source of milange, 275 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: and this is a drug that's pretty helpful for interplanetary travel, 276 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: psychic powers and other stuff. Yeah, crucial I would say, 277 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: like it's basically it's kind of it's kind of like 278 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: the Middle East of this universe, you know, with with 279 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 1: its oil, the planet that has the the the the 280 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 1: element that makes the whole system work. You guys might 281 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: remember us mentioning milange and doing on our podcast about 282 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: what drugs astronauts are one, didn't it come up on that? 283 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:47,640 Speaker 1: But milange is not one of the drugs at Astronauts. 284 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: It's not, it's not. It is actually fictional And so 285 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: Herbert's Soon is a hugely complex story, and it's one 286 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:55,920 Speaker 1: that has generated a serious fan base and some serious 287 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: book sales. The Library Journal says June is to science 288 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 1: fiction what the Lord of the Rings is to fantasy. 289 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 1: So why are we talking about doing today? Why didn't 290 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: it make our short list of three? Well? Um, well, 291 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: first I should point out that this is doing is 292 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 1: very much a space opera. Um. It's it's you know, 293 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 1: it's grand, it's epic, it's you know, it's I really 294 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:17,960 Speaker 1: like that term space opera. Yeah, I mean it's you know, 295 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: the first couple of times you hear it, you kind 296 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: of think of people singing in space, right, A large 297 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: woman with a hat with horns. Yeah. I don't take 298 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:29,360 Speaker 1: their any hats with horns in this, but but yeah, 299 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 1: it kind of grows on you. Uh not to say 300 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: that there's there aren't some some scientific ideas thrown around 301 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 1: in here. Um. For instance, Herbert was inspired by um, 302 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: by some some ongoing efforts to reclaim some some desert 303 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,760 Speaker 1: land in the US. And so there's a there's a 304 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:49,760 Speaker 1: good bit of ecological content in the in the books. 305 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 1: It's very well thought out and you know, very scientific 306 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: and perhaps accidentally, Um, you're going back to the milange. 307 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: There's the whole business where they take the pilots of 308 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 1: these of these huge spaceships take it because space is 309 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: so dangerous that and especially traveling at really high speeds. 310 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: It's so dangerous. You have to be able to see 311 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 1: a little bit in the into the future to UM 312 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: to successfully navigate, you know, UM and Interrestlingly enough, there 313 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:19,480 Speaker 1: have been some reports that the that the Soviet Union 314 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 1: actually looked into into the possibilities UM of using psychics 315 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: in their space program early on. I did a blog 316 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,680 Speaker 1: post about it though. Yeah. But but for the most part, 317 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: um Done is more concerned with larger ideas like what 318 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: what is the long term future of humanity and space? 319 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 1: Because this is like a far future world we're dealing 320 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: with where I think the the Earth no longer even exists, 321 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: you know, so it's just the you know, the far 322 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 1: future colonies that's sprang from Earth. You know. He gets into, 323 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: you know, concepts of like like what would religion be 324 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:54,000 Speaker 1: like in the future in a post Earth future? Um, 325 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:56,520 Speaker 1: you know, what's what's the rate? How to sexuality figure 326 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: into it? Uh, you know, gender issues, etcetera. So it's 327 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 1: a great adventure story that hits a lot of pretty 328 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:08,679 Speaker 1: serious issues concerning the human race. Also, the main character 329 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: overdoses on space drugs and he writes a giant sin 330 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:13,679 Speaker 1: or him to save the universe. How could you not 331 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,640 Speaker 1: love that? Pretty gnarly. Yeah, you gotta you gotta love that. Um, Now, 332 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 1: did you like the rest of the series. Um, I 333 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: love the first book. And the great thing about the 334 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:24,200 Speaker 1: first book I should mention too, is like the first 335 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: time I read it, I read it like in high 336 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:27,679 Speaker 1: school or junior high and loved it because it's a 337 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: great sci fi adventure, you know. But but then I 338 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 1: actually reread it last year and um, you know, it's 339 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:36,919 Speaker 1: it's been a decade or so and I'm a different 340 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:38,600 Speaker 1: reader now and it speaks to me on a whole 341 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:40,560 Speaker 1: different level. So it's I mean, I think it's the 342 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:44,400 Speaker 1: mark of a great, great book that that. But but yeah, 343 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: the second book is good, but not as good and 344 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:49,720 Speaker 1: in the third book it was in the fourth book 345 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: all right, you know, I enjoyed some things about them, 346 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:57,880 Speaker 1: but they kind of get progressively um dents and progressively dry, 347 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:00,879 Speaker 1: and uh, you know, this is just my opinion. A 348 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,320 Speaker 1: lot of people share this opinion. Some people love everything. 349 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:08,480 Speaker 1: My dentist actually like everything done related, and which is 350 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: awesome because again he can talk about it and I 351 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:13,640 Speaker 1: can garble about it when I go to see him. 352 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:16,159 Speaker 1: But but now I'm not a fan of the later books. 353 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,359 Speaker 1: Have you seen David Lynch's Dune? Yeah? Yeah, that's uh, 354 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 1: you haven't seen it? I have you? No, I have 355 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,439 Speaker 1: not seen it. I mean it's it's not I love it, 356 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,600 Speaker 1: but not as a as an accurate betrayal of of 357 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:30,679 Speaker 1: how I see the book in my head. Um. So, 358 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:33,199 Speaker 1: it's got some great costumes in it. Uh, you know, 359 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 1: Staying runs around in his underwear stabbing people. So again, 360 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,639 Speaker 1: what's not to love? Um, there's a great John Hodgment 361 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:43,840 Speaker 1: quote about the film. Can you read that for us? 362 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:47,920 Speaker 1: I must remind you this was the David Lynch version 363 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 1: of Dune in which everyone was sexy and deformed at 364 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 1: the same time. Yeah, so I love I love that quote. 365 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:55,680 Speaker 1: That pretty much sums up the film. In other news, 366 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: they've tried a couple of different adaptations of Dune, haven't they. Yeah, 367 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: there was like a scythe By mini series version of 368 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:03,879 Speaker 1: it that I think I watched part of it, but 369 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,360 Speaker 1: it didn't really speak to me. When we were researching 370 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: this podcast, I read that French director Pierre Morrell, director 371 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,360 Speaker 1: of Taken and From Paris with Love, I've never heard 372 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: of either of those films of you. Uh yeah, one 373 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 1: familiar with him. I haven't actually seen them, so I 374 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 1: can't really say much on you know, whether I think 375 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,880 Speaker 1: it's great or not. But but if if he's out 376 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: there listening and has some casting ideas, I think that 377 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:28,560 Speaker 1: he should get Eddie Murphy to play the entire Harconan 378 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:32,360 Speaker 1: family a clumps, you know, where it's like different fat 379 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 1: suits for different members of the family. So Morrell seconded 380 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,720 Speaker 1: to your opinion about Lynch's do not being perhaps treated 381 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: the story. Morrell commented to MTV News, Like many people, 382 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:46,639 Speaker 1: I was not fully satisfied with David Lynch's movie in ur. 383 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 1: I do respect David, and I think his interpretation and 384 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: vision were interesting, but not what we fans expected. Yeah, 385 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: you know it was. And it's also it's very much 386 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: a film actation stuck in its time and and speaking 387 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: each Dune was written in six and I mean this 388 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: is so in many ways, this is the book that's 389 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,919 Speaker 1: really like sci fi coming out of the sixties. You know, 390 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,560 Speaker 1: all these fantastic elements that we just talked about. So 391 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: if you haven't read it, by all means, consider reading Dane. 392 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:17,680 Speaker 1: That's our first book, and moving on to our second book, 393 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 1: Neuromancer by William Gibson the sky above the port was 394 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,359 Speaker 1: the color of television tuned to a dead channel. And 395 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: with that you're starting along with Case the protagonist. You 396 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:34,399 Speaker 1: would call him a protagonist, right, yeah, yeah, definitely. In 397 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: Computer Cowboy, William Gibson's heavyweight contribution to the world of 398 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: SCIPI back Neuromancer One. Not just a Hugo and a 399 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:45,320 Speaker 1: Nebula ward. It also snagged the Philip K. Dick Award, 400 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: and it herald the beginning of a new science fiction genre, 401 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: and that's one of the reasons why we're talking about 402 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,880 Speaker 1: it today. Yeah, this is the cyberpunk book. Everything that 403 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:58,239 Speaker 1: came after it from you know, from from you know, 404 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 1: from any any cyber punk book you might read. To 405 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: the Matrix, you know, his matrix is just chocked full 406 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:09,719 Speaker 1: of neuromancer gimmicks, you know. Um, And it's so this 407 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: is a this is you know, a great dystopian work. 408 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:16,400 Speaker 1: Most cyberpunks pretty dystopian, and I should define cyberpunk womb 409 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,320 Speaker 1: at it. The idea of cyberpunk is that it deals 410 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:23,920 Speaker 1: with ubiquitous technology. You know, when when technology high technology 411 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,440 Speaker 1: is available to at pretty much every level of society, 412 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:30,320 Speaker 1: and how that again both changes who we are and 413 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: illuminates things about who we are. So, like you're saying, 414 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: Matrix is a good example of cyberpunk that people might 415 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:40,240 Speaker 1: be able to relate to. Yeah, I mean, Matrix only 416 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:42,680 Speaker 1: goes so deep really with the cyberpunk stuff. But it's 417 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: it's definitely something that everybody's gonna be able to recognize. 418 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 1: And Gibson was the forefather. Yeah. Yeah, and it's and 419 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,399 Speaker 1: it's a lot of cyberpunk. Is follows some more elements 420 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:54,040 Speaker 1: in Neuromancer, and then it's kind of noir theme. There's 421 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: kind of you know, it's always like some sort of 422 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 1: a you know, sort of a shady you know, shady characters, 423 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: sort of rogue characters, you know, on the margins of society, 424 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:06,680 Speaker 1: um um, you know, mysterious benefactors, you know, that kind 425 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,160 Speaker 1: of thing. So they tend to be you know, kind 426 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 1: of kind of action adventure mystery kind of deals. So 427 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:16,520 Speaker 1: we'd recommend this just because cyberpunk is an integral part 428 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,399 Speaker 1: of science fiction today. Yeah, and its and it's you know, 429 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: like I say, it's rooted with questions about technology and 430 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 1: how it changes you know, who we are. Plus it 431 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 1: has some called beat elements and our elements Yeah, yeah, 432 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,200 Speaker 1: he was definitely. He was also inspired by by Bye 433 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:31,600 Speaker 1: Beat Um the Beat era, So you can really, especially 434 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: in this book, you really get a lot of that. Um. 435 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: And now one one thing to keep in mind is 436 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,720 Speaker 1: that it is one of the more violent and sexy 437 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: books by William Gibson. So um, you know it's it's 438 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:48,160 Speaker 1: kind of edgy and not for you know, every reader. Um. 439 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:50,879 Speaker 1: Though each each William Gibson book after this kind of 440 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,880 Speaker 1: gets a little tamer and a little more contemplative, um 441 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: and actually a little less sci fi like the last 442 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: two books that that Gibson has put out. I think 443 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:03,719 Speaker 1: there were Pattern Recognition and Spook Country, right, Yeah, like 444 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 1: those are both set just in the modern world for 445 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 1: the most part. It's really interesting. Yeah. And Gibson's even 446 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 1: even said that that he basically doesn't have to write 447 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,639 Speaker 1: sci fi anymore because the technology has reached the has 448 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: reached the point where it's you know, the future is 449 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:24,200 Speaker 1: now movies. Um. It seems inevitable. Yeah, that they've they've 450 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,320 Speaker 1: continued to be talking about a neuromancwer film. Um. I 451 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:30,119 Speaker 1: I don't have a lot of faith in it. Whatever 452 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: they put together, um, and inevitably, whatever they put out. 453 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:35,439 Speaker 1: People are going to be like, oh, this is just 454 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 1: like this is a matrix trip off man. So so 455 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: let's get to the third book on our list today, 456 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:45,560 Speaker 1: which is Ender's Game by Orson Scott Carts. Yeah, this 457 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:47,160 Speaker 1: book had me at the first line, I can hardly 458 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:48,719 Speaker 1: wait to go back to my desk and read it 459 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 1: and then podcast research. Okay, so the line is I've 460 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and 461 00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 1: I tell you he's the one. How can you not 462 00:23:57,840 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 1: be intrigued to find out what the heck this book 463 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,520 Speaker 1: is about. Yeah, it's similar to to Doing in that respect, 464 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,919 Speaker 1: which also dealt with the one. And that's the beginning 465 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 1: of Enders Game. So Enders Game is published in like 466 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: we said, by Orson Scott Card and it was the 467 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,160 Speaker 1: first in the Enders Game series. So the plot basically, 468 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 1: every parent likes to think because or her child is 469 00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:19,639 Speaker 1: a genius, myself included, but Ender Wiggins actually is. And 470 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,760 Speaker 1: that's good because humanity is hanging by a shred, as 471 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:26,640 Speaker 1: it tends to in science fiction, and it's hanging by 472 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,400 Speaker 1: shred because it has had these attacks from aliens called 473 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:33,680 Speaker 1: buggers and enders the world government's hope and as such, 474 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 1: the government starts ruthlessly training him to save the planet, 475 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: and the training takes the form of the game's reference 476 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:41,400 Speaker 1: in the title, Did I do that Justice Robert? Yeah, Yeah, 477 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: pretty much. I mean it's really the idea is that 478 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:46,359 Speaker 1: that aliens attack and the only reason that we were 479 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: able to survive is because we had one guy who 480 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:51,359 Speaker 1: was just an amazing leader, like one guy that just 481 00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: stood above everybody else. And then then everybody starts wondering, well, 482 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,120 Speaker 1: these guys are gonna attack again, and who's gonna lead us? 483 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: You know when that happens. So, yeah, they begin this 484 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 1: just systematic search that I think he made the comparison 485 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,439 Speaker 1: to the search for the Next Dolly. It's kind of 486 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:11,120 Speaker 1: like that, except the world of science fiction. So while 487 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: I was reading up on enders game, I came across 488 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: or Sin Scott Cards Amazon review turns out he was 489 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:20,119 Speaker 1: a playwright to Oh yeah yeah, so Card rights in 490 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 1: the end, a storyteller tells the tale that he believes 491 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 1: in and cares about, and the natural audience consists of 492 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: those readers who are also willing to believe in and 493 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,280 Speaker 1: care about that jail. So Card is actually a bit 494 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,159 Speaker 1: on the defensive here because he's taken a lot of 495 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: flak as your wont to do on Amazon reviews. Um, 496 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: some for his choppy prose style. I guess, um, Yeah, 497 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,120 Speaker 1: I mean I can't really get on the on boat 498 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 1: with the with slamming him for for his writing. I mean, 499 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: I I really enjoy his work. But but yeah, he's 500 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 1: come under sharp criticism for a number of things. Yeah. 501 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:54,919 Speaker 1: So he had this pretty funny quote at the end 502 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,600 Speaker 1: of his lengthy Amazon review and he says, if America 503 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,159 Speaker 1: can forgive Bill Clinton, surely there's room for a bit 504 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,679 Speaker 1: of forgiveness for the imperfections of a few bad writers 505 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:06,119 Speaker 1: now and then we'll see. And I wouldn't necessarily call 506 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:07,679 Speaker 1: him a bad writer. And you have to read the 507 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 1: whole review to get the context. But I thought that 508 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,920 Speaker 1: was a funny yeah, to say, yeah, well this, I mean, 509 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 1: certainly this want to you know, Hugo Award and a 510 00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:21,159 Speaker 1: Nebula Awardia and actually the sequel one. I believe the 511 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,960 Speaker 1: next year. I want a Hugo Award as well. But yeah, 512 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: it deals with some some pretty weighty issues. You know, 513 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,440 Speaker 1: how about our future in the cosmos? How would how 514 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,640 Speaker 1: would might we respond to some sort of alien attack? Um? 515 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:37,119 Speaker 1: And I know it's a fantastic notion, but when you 516 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,200 Speaker 1: when you talk to a cosmologist like that's that's really 517 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: an issue, Like Stephen Hawkings talks about this, you know, 518 00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: how you know, if there is alien life out there, 519 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:46,479 Speaker 1: how's it going to how are we going to attempt 520 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: to communicate with it? How can we possibly um, you know, 521 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:51,720 Speaker 1: deal with it? And if it's anything like us, then 522 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: God help us, you know, because it's probably gonna eradicate it. 523 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,399 Speaker 1: And there's also some cool stuff with with with with 524 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 1: time as well, the the the world leader that everyone 525 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:06,560 Speaker 1: is afraid, you know, what are we gonna do when 526 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 1: he's dad? They go so far as to put him 527 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,560 Speaker 1: in a spaceship and spend it scent it at high speeds, 528 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:15,200 Speaker 1: and the time dilation allows him to live much longer 529 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:17,840 Speaker 1: than he normally would, so he's still there to to 530 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,359 Speaker 1: teach whoever the chosen one is when they come along. 531 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: So it's more Lord of the Flies than Harry Potter. Definitely. Yeah. 532 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 1: And that's the only like the only thing about it 533 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:29,320 Speaker 1: that I could, you know, the only reservation I would 534 00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:31,640 Speaker 1: have in recommending it to some people might be you've 535 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:35,040 Speaker 1: got to be ready for some pretty pretty heart wrenching 536 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:38,879 Speaker 1: scenes because endure is you know, it doesn't indur just 537 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:41,120 Speaker 1: has a rough time. But it's a it's a it's 538 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:43,200 Speaker 1: a great read. And I would definitely recommend this one 539 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:49,360 Speaker 1: to to any female book readers out there who well, 540 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: because and this is this is a there's a large 541 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: generalization on one hand that uh that women prefer more 542 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:58,080 Speaker 1: character driven books, and certainly this is yeah, and this 543 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:00,880 Speaker 1: is and this is very character driven. Side I um, 544 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,119 Speaker 1: you know, because you really care about Ender and you 545 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:07,119 Speaker 1: really want, um want things to work out for him. Um, 546 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,280 Speaker 1: And on like a personal level, I have I know 547 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:11,680 Speaker 1: a number of I have a number of female friends 548 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 1: who love this book to death, And then I love 549 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:16,640 Speaker 1: this book to death too. If you're a guy out 550 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:17,840 Speaker 1: there and you're like, well, I don't want to read 551 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,359 Speaker 1: a book that girls like or whatever, then um, I 552 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,159 Speaker 1: would highly recommend um Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan 553 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:28,119 Speaker 1: because that is the most violent, um and brutal and 554 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: outrageous sci fi book that I think you could hope 555 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: to read. And it has a lot of cool science 556 00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: fiction in it, but it's very much a guy's book. 557 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 1: So let's talk about a couple of other great science 558 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: fiction authors that you may want to check out. Besides Gibson, 559 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: Herbert and orson stop card, there's of course Isaac Asimov, 560 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:48,600 Speaker 1: I Robot, Arthur C. Clark, whom you already mentioned, and 561 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:53,040 Speaker 1: then Philip Kate, Dick Ray Bradberry, and then there's u Ursula, 562 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 1: Kay Lagoon question Mark and I think that's how you 563 00:28:56,400 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 1: pronounced that. Correct me if I'm wrong, And and there 564 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:02,080 Speaker 1: there's a whole list of other authors. I'm sure we're 565 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 1: leaving some off the list and you're going to be 566 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:05,880 Speaker 1: furious about it, and by all means, let us know, 567 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:09,760 Speaker 1: because I'm always interested to hear who everyone's favorite authors 568 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:12,200 Speaker 1: are and uh and who indeed I should be reading. 569 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 1: And I'm excited to start delving into science fiction more. Yeah, 570 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: which one do you think you're gonna pick up? Ender's Game? 571 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,520 Speaker 1: Absolutely cool? Yeah, I think you'll do that one. I 572 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: wonder if I can get away with reading my desk 573 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: in the name of the podcast. Yeah, totally. You should 574 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 1: like buy a copy. This is part of my job 575 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:30,120 Speaker 1: as science editor, after all, don't you think so? If 576 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 1: you want to learn a little bit more about science fiction, 577 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,320 Speaker 1: type in science fiction on the search bar on our 578 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,400 Speaker 1: homepage and you might get some cool articles like science 579 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:40,600 Speaker 1: fiction musicals and how sci fi doesn't work, or even 580 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,840 Speaker 1: top five sides Born Superpowers. And now we have a 581 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 1: little listener mail Yeah, break up in the mail bag. 582 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:54,880 Speaker 1: We had to uh folks right in about the Virtues 583 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 1: of venom podcast we recently did, and one of whom 584 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:00,200 Speaker 1: was Mike. He works at a university lab in he's 585 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,440 Speaker 1: working with venomous snails that live in the ocean and 586 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 1: hunt fish, mollusks, worms, and other snails. And Mike writes 587 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: that they're doing basic level research trying to develop drugs 588 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:13,200 Speaker 1: for neurological disorders, and he points out the cone snail 589 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:15,080 Speaker 1: as one of the venomous creatures that we might have 590 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:17,880 Speaker 1: been interested, and he sent us a pretty cool video 591 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,959 Speaker 1: of a cone snail eating a fish. Oh wow, I'm 592 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:22,480 Speaker 1: gonna watch that when I get back to my desk 593 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 1: and a half lunch. In fact, there's a whole cone 594 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:28,040 Speaker 1: snail channel on YouTube in case you're not Yeah, so 595 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: check that out. I'm gonna subscribe to that. We also 596 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 1: heard from Jack who wanted to drop us a line 597 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:38,320 Speaker 1: from the Home of the Terrifying venomous Platypus and Jack 598 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:40,520 Speaker 1: writes that he grew up in North Queensland, Australia, near 599 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:42,480 Speaker 1: the James Cook University, which is at one of the 600 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 1: leading universities and marine stinger jellyfish research. Jack writes, in 601 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,080 Speaker 1: regard to the panny host comments, in case you guys 602 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 1: don't remember, we talked about people wearing panty hose to 603 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,280 Speaker 1: protect themselves from being stung by a jellyfish. So Jack rites, 604 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:57,320 Speaker 1: in regards to the panny host comments, while you joke 605 00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 1: about it, it is kind of true. In the battle 606 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: day is surf life, savers and even members of the 607 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: public used to wear a penny hose on their legs 608 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: and cut the gusset out of a second pair to 609 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 1: make a kind of penny hose top. I think it's 610 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:12,720 Speaker 1: the thing at the top of the penny hose. I'm 611 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: not sure. There might be an awesome thing. I don't know. 612 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 1: It could be an awesome thing to um Jack rights. 613 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:21,440 Speaker 1: These days, several companies have started producing what are known 614 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:25,840 Speaker 1: as stinger suits, essentially a land nylon body suit, and 615 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: you can find these if you do a little Google 616 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:29,960 Speaker 1: image searching. So you go to Australia, you just wear 617 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: this thing all the time, right you go to Australia, 618 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 1: you get one of these teletubby wetsuit things right at 619 00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:37,440 Speaker 1: the airport. Just yeah, just as if you're right into 620 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:39,720 Speaker 1: it and you get off the plane. Well, that's that's 621 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:44,040 Speaker 1: really cool, cool to know. Yeah, Australia, Land of venomous Creatures. 622 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:46,480 Speaker 1: Jack also alerted us to a venomous creature that we 623 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:49,400 Speaker 1: didn't mention, the stone fish. You should check it out. 624 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 1: Maybe you should write a blog about us, stone fish. 625 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:54,800 Speaker 1: So thanks for writing us, guys. You know, feel free 626 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:58,560 Speaker 1: to shoot us, shoot some feedback or some little tidbits anytimes. 627 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: We live here in Femia, so send us an email 628 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 1: that science stuff at how stuff works dot com. Oh, 629 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 1: and this is new. You can check us out now 630 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:09,160 Speaker 1: on Facebook and Twitter. Um. On Twitter we are lab 631 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,320 Speaker 1: stuff and uh on Facebook, we're a stuff in the 632 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 1: science lab. Look us up, you know, become fans of us, 633 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,400 Speaker 1: follow us. Uh, we're gonna be updating those on a 634 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:28,520 Speaker 1: regular basis. Thanks for listening, guys for more on this 635 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics because at how stuff works 636 00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 1: dot com. Want more how stuff works, check out our 637 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,040 Speaker 1: blogs on the house stuff works dot com home page