Recent content by jian

Yeah, it’s borderline, isn’t it? I’m honestly not sure but would incline towards no.

I guess they’re not sleepers (which means obscure or forgotten, I guess). Well, Omega Man probably is, it should take Capricorn One’s slot. Relatively few people have seen SG but many more people have heard of it and know about the twist via popular culture.

The sun dying is not covered by “hypothetical scientific or technological advances, the existence of alien life, space or time travel”. It’s not even a uniquely sci-fi trope, it shows up in plenty of fantasy. So no, sorry, no points for you. I think that’s a reasonable speculation about LotR...

Yeah, I basically disagree with all of that. Supernatural is required for fantasy, of course, but it’s by definition non-scientific. What definition of science fiction would you use that is any use as a distinction or classification? (Supernatural is of course relative to the time of writing...

Also the answer to the trivia question, “how did Mary Steenburgen meet the man she married before Ted Danson?”

I mean, it depends what you mean by science fiction and I’m certainly not keen to gatekeep about it, but I do feel it should have supernatural (as in, do not and have never existed in our world and is basically not possible with current science) science-based elements which are important to the...

Quintet isn’t that sci-fi either - it’s post apocalyptic but you could transplant it to any number of historical settings (such as any Gold Rush) and it’d work fine.

Watched the first episode on the plane and really liked it, will definitely watch the next two on the plane back. It just does a lot of ST stuff right, and the kids weren’t even that annoying.

Yes, we discussed this a lot in the other thread. https://www.enworld.org/threads/star-wars-maul-shadow-lord.712974/page-4#post-9852549 The explanation makes no effing sense but post-bisection Maul is actually a pretty great character.

Ah, she hasn’t written many in a modern setting and she’s probably weakest there, honestly: 19th century works well for her. Was it The Twisted Ones? That was her first foray into horror, I think, and it’s a bit uneven but I liked it well enough.

I guess it depends what you don't like? I think her worst book is Black Dogs, which is also one of her earliest - it's just generic fantasy, honestly. Her books can be split into ones for kids (Harriet the Hamster Princess, Dragonbreath etc, but also some fine one-offs such as Summer in Orcus...

Read Wolf Worm by T Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) which is in her usual recent line of macabre Gothic horror, and it's as good as you'd expect. The main character is a scientific illustrator who's employed to draw insects by an unpleasant entomologist in North Carolina in the 19th century; the...

Yeah, it’s not unlike the issue with some tree roots (especially willows) anywhere near fences or structures, which is that they could do some significant damage to the stability. A colleague once had a willow tree removed more than 40’ from their house because they were affecting the pipes...

So, just for clarification and cultural comparison, I would say that in the UK, the word “garden” refers to front/rear/side areas attached to a house which aren’t for parking and are primarily decorative or for leisure purposes. It should have some plants but a paved area designed for sitting...

Currently living in a flat in Vancouver so thankfully no garden issues, but had a house and garden in the UK for 30 years so yeah, remember the issues well. I did often wonder at times whether it was worth paving over the whole thing and just doing pots and ornaments, and so trade in the mower...