The cycle doesn't bottom out in 2013 or 2014. That's when it will likely peak. The last minimum was 2008. The issue is that current cycle is weak with few sunspots and there is debate about why that is.
Thanks a lot! Now I need to go and watch Road Warrior to cleanse my palate.
It's a good list but as the ensuing thread shows these lists are purely subjective.
For example, my un-researched off the top of the list is:
Lord of the Rings - That Tolkien Guy
Mythago Wood - Robert Holdstock
The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
Dracula - Bram Stoker
For the me the list is based on impact in my life as well impact on Fantasy writing itself.
Shortlist:
Chronicles of Prydain
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser - Fritz Leiber
Once and Future King - T.H. White
Earthsea - Ursula Leguin
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carol
Discworld series - Terry Pratchett
Conan Stories - Robert E. Howard
Eternal Champion Cycle - Michael Moorcock
- Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon, Jerry Cornelius
The Black Company Series - Glen Cook
Sandman - Neil Gaiman
Narnia - C.S. Lewis
Gaiman's 'The Graveyard Book' has potential but I think it needs a few years before I can call it.
The 'Are you kidding me!' not a chance list:
David Eddings
Tad Williams
George R.R. Martin
I won't include Wheel of Time because I haven't read it.
And host of other best selling fantasy authors who have mastered the high fantasy form.
The reason I consider these not even in contention is because, while they are fun and entertaining, they are they are very derivative. They play the high fantasy form but ultimately don't take it anywhere new and/or interesting. Which means I read them once, have fun, and then they're gone. They make little lasting impact on me.
Very interesting except for the part where he completely borks the concept of a hive mind. A hive mind does need a guiding mind on top. Queens in hives are only important in that they're the only ones who can lay eggs.
As someone who is raising his kids on Miyazaki movies I am suitably excited.
The irony, of course, is that in attempting to give my girls better role models than Disney princesses I am showing them movies being distributed here by Disney. Oh well, at least the effort is being made to bring these stories to us.
BTW, my six year old girl's ideal princess is Princess Nausicaa. This makes me a very happy father. :)
@Paul D: I'm a huge Frank Herbert fan having read most of what he wrote and what I read of the prequels was crap. Brian Herbert and Anderson are simply milking the estate rather than doing anything interesting.
@tollwaytroll: When did character development become 'rebranding'?
Too religious for Vulcan. I vote Minbari.
@pygar Except that the skeptics are the one's saying we don't know what it's the film. The article has a bunch of people saying 'look Ghosts' while the skeptics are saying we don't know what it is but it could be any number of more mundane things.
Believing only what you have evidence for yields a far more mysterious universe than believing whatever feels good.
@tetracycloide They were not part of a nuclear plant. They were built in the 30s as part of a massive coal fired plant.
@DrLocrian I'll agree that the Matrix was a good stylistic action flick.
eXistenZ was all right but it lacked the depth of the story and intriguing ambiguity of the 13th Floor. Both are better SF than the Matrix.
I have laughed at TNG and DS9 but usually for different reasons than the Matrix. :D
TNG and DS9 were series television that sometimes sucked, was often average but frequently very good. For an excellent breakdown of TNG suckage check out Wil Wheaton's first season TNG reviews at TV Squad.
With the Matrix what usually cracked us up were Keanu and the first grader philosophy. The whole thing felt ham handed.
Which reminds me...also on my list of great SF is The Thirteenth Floor, a VR movie that got it right.
I swear my wife and I almost got run from the theater we were laughing so hard during the Matrix. We put it up there with Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
SF that stands out in my head: Blade Runner, B5, BSG, Aliens, Firelfy, Ghost in the Shell, Cube, The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Road Warrior, TNG, DS9, Enemy Mine...
I'm at a loss to think of a time when this show has ever done a bait and switch on anything that's been revealed. Why should I believe they're doing one now?
It will be interesting to see how much influence there is from Herbert's locked in a ship stories: 'Destination: Void' and 'Under Pressure'. They're obviously very different stories but the theme of a crew stuck in a confined space with pressure applied is there. The reference to the ship's therapist made me think of Herbert's Chaplain/Psychiatrist in 'Destination:Void'.
@Asari: That quote is a great illustration of why I shun the prequels. I read one and it was so lacking anything approaching what you just quoted that I've stayed away since then.
