The SFFaudio Podcast #058 – Jesse and Scott talk with John DeNardo from SFSignal.com about Science Fiction books, audiobooks, TV, movies and comics.
Talked about on today’s show:
SFSignal.com, Charles Tan (of the Bibliophile Stalker), books vs. movies, Blade Runner, SFSignal reviews audiobooks, the Warhammer 40K series, Infinivox, Aliens Rule edited by Allan Kaster, James Swallow, the Blake’s 7 audio dramas, Black Library, Dresden Files, Jim Butcher, WWW: Wake by Robert J. Sawyer |READ OUR REVIEW|, Mike Resnick’s Starship series, Orson Scott Card, Theodore Sturgeon, Alastair Reynolds, Hard SF, Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton, Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks, The Space Opera Renaissance edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, The New Space Opera 2 edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan, Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, The Science Fiction Hall Of Fame – Volume One, Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds, Tantor Media, steampunk, airships, Deep Navigation by Alastair Reynolds, NESFA Press, Subterranean Press, Phases Of The Moon by Robert Silverberg, “Book Cover Smackdown,” Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, Gentlemen Of The Road by Michael Chabon, interior magazine art, The Lifecycle Of Software Objects by Ted Chiang, The Merchant And The Alchemist’s Gate by Ted Chiang, The Story Of Your Life by Ted Chiang, reviewing Science Fiction books, PC Gamer, the philosophy of reviewing, The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James, Star Trek, Doctor Who, deus ex machina, social Science Fiction, Fringe, Eureka, Paul Bishop, Bish’s Beat, Flashforward, Robert J. Sawyer’s episode, Luke Burrage, iO9: Good Character Development Includes The All-Important “F*@% Yeah” Moment, Terry Pratchett Explains Why Doctor Who Is Ludicrous, Frequency, CERN, HBO, True Blood, Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris |READ OUR REVIEW|, A Game Of Thrones, Ringworld as an audio drama or a miniseries, V, Shogun, “In the interest of full disclosure”, books received vs. books reviewed, the ethics of reviewing free books, Karen Burnham, Spiral Galaxy Reviewing Laboratory, paranormal romance, Lisa Paitz Spindler, Danger Gal, recent arrivals, The Unincorporated War by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin, Brilliance Audio, Cory Doctorow, For The Win, Little Brother, Jesse’s Pick Of The Week: Logicomix: An Epic Search For Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Watchmen, Zeus: King Of The Gods by George O’Connor, Scott’s Pick Of The Week: The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby, About A Boy, Fever Pitch, John’s Pick Of The Week: Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds, We, Robots edited by Allan Kaster, The Complete Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale.
Posted by Jesse Willis
Nice podcast. In the same vein, perhaps a good future guest would be Annalee Newitz from Io9:
http://io9.com/5515231/sf-author-peter-watts-talks-about-hard-science-fiction-and-being-beaten-by-us-border-guards
SFF Audio had me first! :)
Been listening to the show for two or three episodes, and liking it. One nitpick for this episode: which old Dr. Who episodes were about science? I saw most of the Tom Baker and Peter Davidson episodes as a kid, and I’ve been watching all the DVDs I can get over the last few years, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that depended on real science. I love the show, new and old, but scientific accuracy (or even seriousness) never came into it. It’s kinda like the X-Men comics, where they talk about genetics and mutation, but those scientific concepts are simply springboards to impossible, fantastical things like laser eyes. Sorry to complain, I’m not trying to be a jerk or too nitpicky. That comment just threw me for a loop. Thanks.
Paul, it’s quite true that many episodes of Doctor Who (the original series) didn’t have much science. But it’s also true that a lot of it was science heavier, especially those during Jon Pertwee’s reign.
Take for example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Green_Death
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_and_the_Silurians
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mutants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sea_Devils
On that bad side, Pertwee’s era DW also practically invented technobabble, which is certainly not very SF. But it is the tone, that science is the way to understand the universe, rather than a kind of supernaturalism, was also quite strong throughout the Pertwee era.
The old show also had a tradition of representing what history may have looked like, basing it on solid archaeology in some instances. I am particularly fond of:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Aztecs_%28Doctor_Who%29
Even the original Dalek’s story (the second serial ever), was rooted in science. We don’t get any of that in the new stuff that I’ve seen.