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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bendris Noulg" data-source="post: 1480649" data-attributes="member: 6398">Sorry...  You likely noticed I was wrapped up in a few threads, and I assumed that you started the thread in General... Considering how much I gripe about people that ass/u/me, I'll kick myself in the arse three times after posting. Hmmm...  I'll have to add those to my "to read" list.  (I've got a minor back-log that I hope to catch up on when my two oldest kids start school next year). I think a few "eye openers" for me have been the aforementioned Dune, both in scope of the "setting" as well as the "unspoken" conflict between science (Genetic Engineering via the Ixians), selective breeding (beginning with the Bene Gesseret sisterhood and later taken up by Leto II), natural evolution, and the will of God (although, arguably, natural evolution and the will of God were one and the same, although "mortal choice" remained a wild card). Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and I, Robot* both were stirring.  While the former was admittedly more "pulpy", both visited themes of the conscious desires of the "tools" we create in our own image (both physical and mental).  The which, 2001: A Space Odyssy fits the same mold, with HAL having a limited conscious but one that must deal with the conflict caused by opposing priorities entered into its programming. Also, in the other thread, I mentioned The Forever War.  That, too me, was a rather drastic eye-opener as well.  For the most part, most of the sci-fi I'd read prior to (and actually even since then) have been either you Star Wars/Star Trek shoot-em-ups or your epic political/opera scenarios akin to Dune.  The Forever War, on the other hand, came across as something truly unique; it was like Platoon or Full Metal Jacket, being incredibly gritty and harsh (or, as the person who recommended it to me said), "it's the first sci-fi tale that is honest about what war is like." * Anyone seen the trailer for the upcoming I, Robot release?  It doesn't show much of anything, and I'm not sure if the "rock'n'roll" element of the musical presentation is that truly fitting, but I'm certainly hoping it'll be a kewl movie. Ah, yes...  Wells was indeed a master of sci-fi.  To my knowledge, the only book he wrote that was too "far fetched" to ever be feasible was Journey to the Center of the Earth.  On the other hand, atomic warfare, space travel, genetic engineering, submersible sea vessels, and a host of other ideas he presented have all proven to be possible (many of them a part of our daily lives!), while others (such as Time Travel) may not seem feasible yet, but really have not been proven or disproven as possibilities. On the other hand, the "don't play God" message of Frankenstein is, indeed, a bit heavy-handed in its delivery, although, in all honesty, half of the good doctor's problems were about his actions after creating his monster.  At least the screenplay for the last movie version (coupled with Robert DiNero's most excellent performance as the monster) was able to temper that to a degree.  In either version, though, you do feel a bit of sympathy for the creature until he starts killing the Doctor's friends and family, after which point he's as damned as his creator. Okay...  I love this line of reasoning.  Spare me the Google search and list a few titles from him, if you would be so kind.  A man with this approach to writing and teaching is worth a chance on my bookshelf. Now I'm going to go and find out if I can really get my leg to bend the way I promised earlier in this post...<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f615.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":confused:" title="Confused    :confused:"  data-smilie="5"data-shortname=":confused:" /></blockquote>

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