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San Francisco, 11:10 AM
Sat Nov 21
23 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #scifigiftguide more →

    Last Minute Shopping: What To Do When The Goods Are Gone

    Chilling Books to Read and Share in the Darkness of Winter

    The T-Shirts Every Nerd Needs This Holiday

    The Secret Career of 19th Century Naturalist Ernst Haeckel

    10 Graphic Novels That Make Thrilling Gifts

    20 DVDs To Give The Person Who's Seen It All

    Your Holiday Toy Woes, Solved

    Gift Ideas for the Ten Major Species of Science Fiction Fan

    For the Star Wars Fan

    For the Whedonverse Fan
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Slatz_Grobnik Slatz_Grobnik
    12/23/08

    In reply to Last Minute Shopping: What To Do When The Goods Are Gone
    Watchmen sold out? Around here, there's a positive glut.
     Reply
    Slatz_Grobnik was starred Slatz_Grobnik was unstarred
    Image of Presidentpez Presidentpez
    12/23/08

    In reply to Last Minute Shopping: What To Do When The Goods Are Gone
    Odds are if they have World War Z they have The Zombie Survival Guide. You should get them Kirkman's The Walking Dead in Trade paperback or hardcover instead.
     Reply
    Presidentpez was starred Presidentpez was unstarred
    Image of Meredith Woerner Meredith Woerner
    12/23/08

    @Presidentpez: More people have been buying Z because of all the press. But Kirkman's is a great suggestion too!
     Reply
    Meredith Woerner was starred Meredith Woerner was unstarred
    Image of Sproing Sproing
    12/23/08

    @Presidentpez: Dismember-Me Plush Zombie!
     Reply
    Sproing was starred Sproing was unstarred
    Image of Bret Ryckmen Bret Ryckmen
    12/23/08

    In reply to Last Minute Shopping: What To Do When The Goods Are Gone
    Man, for vamp novels, you really couldn't possibly do better than Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt series. First one's called Already Dead and is fantastic.
     Reply
    Bret Ryckmen was starred Bret Ryckmen was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    12/23/08

    @Bret Ryckmen: Also the first few vampy books from Anne Rice are pretty damn good. I still think The Vampire Lestat is good fun, though possibly the references to MTV would feel a bit dated.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    12/21/08

    In reply to Chilling Books to Read and Share in the Darkness of Winter
    Just spotted an error about Watermind. The heroine's boyfriend is a hunky Cajun musician. The underground (coked-out) journalist is a fairly minor character. And the plot takes place in Louisiana during the spring, so not much of a wintry feel.

    But if you ever wanted to read an X-Files story written by Philip K. Dick, Watermind is the book for you.
     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    12/22/08

    @Grey_Area: Fixed!
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of Mathmos Mathmos
    12/21/08

    In reply to Chilling Books to Read and Share in the Darkness of Winter
    By the way, if you really crave some seasonal melancholy, try immersing yourself in Tolstoy or Solzhenitsyn.
     Reply
    Mathmos was starred Mathmos was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    12/22/08

    @Mathmos: Especially Tolstoi's lost scifi novel, "Alien Alienovitch."
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of SuperSally SuperSally
    12/21/08

    In reply to Chilling Books to Read and Share in the Darkness of Winter
    If Twilight made you want to bash your head in because it's a romance novel playing dress up as a vampire novel, then stay away from The Host. I bought it on the recommendation here and was pissed. It's a romance novel dressed up as a sci-fi novel, except here, the main character doesn't even have to pretend to have any sort of agency like Bella Swan did. Oh no! she gets off the hook entirely by being a "pacifist" which means in Stephanie Meyer terms, that she gets the shit beaten out of her by her old boyfriend but still loves him. And has lots of other men who violently protect her. And still yet other men who violently beat her. Oh! And underage romance in this one, too.


    Some of the worst of the romance tropes repackaged with aliens. Enjoy!

     Reply
    SuperSally was starred SuperSally was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    12/22/08

    @SuperSally: Sure, if you want pure scifi (whatever that is), you won't like The Host. But there's nothing wrong with enjoying scifi crossed with romance. Genre bending is the stuff of life.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    12/20/08

    In reply to Chilling Books to Read and Share in the Darkness of Winter
    Golly, I feel bad that I've only read five of the books on this list. Thanks,Annalee,for more stuff to track down. Left Hand of Darkness definitely fits the bill for wintery goodness/depression but I'd also suggest Kim Stanley Robinson's Antartica.

    Season's Greetings Y'all!"


    At this point I will not mention some amazingly bitchin' Xmas stories from Connie Willis and Gene Wolfe.


    But I will later.

     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of RAHfanboy RAHfanboy
    12/20/08

    In reply to Chilling Books to Read and Share in the Darkness of Winter
    "A Winter's Haunting," by Dan Simmons. A sequel to "A Summer of Night," but it might actually be better as a stand-alone.
     Reply
    RAHfanboy was starred RAHfanboy was unstarred
    Image of TheRealVeon TheRealVeon
    12/20/08

    In reply to Chilling Books to Read and Share in the Darkness of Winter
    Where's "At the Mountains of Madness"? That's what I'm reading right now.
     Reply
    TheRealVeon was starred TheRealVeon was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    12/21/08

    @TheRealVeon: That's a great one too, but I've already included it on other "recommended" lists here so I thought I'd try to show people that I do, in fact, like things other than Mountains of Madness. But I must say, that's got to be one of my very favorite Lovecraft stories. He really knows how to do monsters.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of lightninglouie lightninglouie
    12/21/08

    @Annalee Newitz: Recommended Mountains to a customer who's taking a cruise to Antarctica. I'm sure she'll love it. It's Tekeli-licious.
     Reply
    lightninglouie was starred lightninglouie was unstarred
    Image of UnerBaazigar UnerBaazigar
    12/20/08

    In reply to Chilling Books to Read and Share in the Darkness of Winter
    Does "The Host" by Stephanie Myers have a sub-plot about same-sex relationships and how wrong they are? I'd be interested to know but I haven't read it yet because I tend to stay away from drivel written by gay-bashing hate mongers...
     Reply
    UnerBaazigar was starred UnerBaazigar was unstarred
    Image of Charlie Jane Anders Charlie Jane Anders
    12/20/08

    @UnerBaazigar: I read it, and I don't remember seeing that.
     Reply
    Charlie Jane Anders was starred Charlie Jane Anders was unstarred
    Image of Heresiarch Heresiarch
    12/20/08

    In reply to Chilling Books to Read and Share in the Darkness of Winter
    I haven't read Darwin's Radio, but its description sure doesn't fit the "gloomy winter darkness" theme you supposedly have going.


    Also, I don't recall a Heavenly Democracy getting set up at the end of "His Dark Materials." Or has it just been too long since I've read them?

     Reply
    Heresiarch was starred Heresiarch was unstarred
    Image of AlanBrutus AlanBrutus
    12/20/08

    @allread5: Well there is a re-occuring flashback to the ice age and dieing in a cave
     Reply
    AlanBrutus was starred AlanBrutus was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    12/21/08

    @AlanBrutus: That's exactly what I was thinking about, actually: All the scenes set in the ice age, and later in the arctic.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    12/21/08

    @allread5: In "The Amber Spyglass," the last book of the series, the angels are attempting to create what they call "the Republic of Heaven," as opposed to the "Kingdom of Heaven" they've sworn to topple. So it's a move from feudalism/totalitarianism to democracy.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of RomeoHobbit RomeoHobbit
    12/20/08

    In reply to Chilling Books to Read and Share in the Darkness of Winter
    Dear Lord, please don't inflict Jonathon Strand & Mr Norrell on anyone else. I intended to read every award winning SciFi novel, and I started with this. I got through Strange and died in Paladin of Souls. Please, go read Pirate Sun instead.
     Reply
    RomeoHobbit was starred RomeoHobbit was unstarred
    Image of Admore thinks really long names make you funnier Admore thinks really long names make you funnier
    12/21/08

    @RomeoHobbit: I'm pretty willing to nominate JS&MN and Left Hand of Darkness as top contenders for best two books on this list, having read most of it I can't say for sure that they are. Susanna Clarke's achievement is immense, as is the book.


    Also, I nominate Garth Nix's Abhorsen series, there's plenty of wintry darkness in those three.

     Reply
    Admore thinks really long names make you funnier was starred Admore thinks really long names make you funnier was unstarred
    Image of chr0me chr0me
    12/22/08

    @RomeoHobbit: I have to disagree. JS&MN is thoughtful, both funny and heartbreaking, and very much worth the time. As @Admore said, it's truly an immense achievement. I zipped through it when I first read it, and I've listened to the audiobook more than once since then. I can't recommend it enough.
     Reply
    chr0me was starred chr0me was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    12/22/08

    @chr0me: Agreed! I simply loved it. It was rich, funny, and thoughtfully constructed. Also, somewhat unrelatedly, every time I listen to Arcade Fire's song "Black Mirror" I think of JS&MN.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    12/15/08

    In reply to The T-Shirts Every Nerd Needs This Holiday
    I still want a shirt that says "NO KILL I"* in a molten lava typeface. I'd do it myself but I'm too busy being lazy.
     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of kuriakos kuriakos
    12/15/08

    In reply to The T-Shirts Every Nerd Needs This Holiday
    I liked The Day the Earth Stood Still
     Reply
    kuriakos was starred kuriakos was unstarred
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    12/15/08

    @kuriakos: Yeah, 1955 was a great year.
     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    12/15/08

    In reply to The T-Shirts Every Nerd Needs This Holiday
    Geez, I already finished my t-shirt shopping via ThinkGeek.
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
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