Star Wars, Religion, and other Nerdy Subjects

[themiskyra]

Have to say, since 'tis the season to watch holiday schlock on TV, that the absolute worst Christmas special EVAR was this undigested piece of crap. Darn you Jacob, for permanently scarring my psyche with the memories of this. Darn you to Heck

Comments

[runewise]

Yet, there's not a shred of hard science behind Star Wars. It's a fantasy set in space, not a science-fiction piece, midichlorians or no.

[themiskyra]

You're quite right in that. It's what I like to term 'soft' sci-fi; it displays and utilizes the trappings of sci-fi (starships, other planets, alien races, fantastic gizmos, etc.), but it doesn't really go into the actual science of it all. 'Hard' sci-fi being that fiction where the science and technology are a main factor in the plot. Firefly would also therefore fit under the category of 'soft' sci-fi.

Not to be pedantic...

[twominutespite]

But I will be pedantic!

Hard sci-fi is where you try to be consistent with understanding of current science, rather than just inventing technobabble. Firefly fits more under hard sci-fi. (No aliens, terraformed planets, no sound in space.) Then you get to River's psychic powerz, which is more soft sci-fi.

[iliadawry]

It's stated in the Serenity RPG book that Inara is indeed Buddhist, and Buddhism is fairly common in the Alliance.

[themiskyra]

Ooh, sweet, thanks! I haven't read that one yet. :)

The papery kind of Sci Fi

[warren_locke]

I used to be a huge reader of science fiction when I was in school, but probably since I actually started College I read less and less of it... maybe a product of the fact that I read so much actual science all the time that when I was reading novels I wanted something a little different

Re: The papery kind of Sci Fi

[themiskyra]

Hey Eric! I'm doing well... I just had to take off some time from the onlineness to pay more attention to real life stuff. Not to mention start getting to sleep at a decent hour again... I'm getting old. : / Also got a bit burned out on Exalted and needed a break.

Still haven't picked up Mage: the Awakening. Something always seems to distract me from it! But it's on my Wish List, so maybe someone else will snag it for me. Still want to join up with you and Cassie on the new chat.

Also, you're an Asimov fan too! I did not know that! He was one of the first authors I started reading when I began on my sci fi kick when I was 9. I love the man's dry sense of humor. Though I haven't actually read the Foundation series... kept putting it off, saving it for a rainy day sort of thing. I have read his Robot novels and the Empire novels, and a huge number of his short stories (a format he was a master at).

Re: The papery kind of Sci Fi

[warren_locke]

Yep I'm an Asimov nerd, Foundation was the first real science fiction I ever read. I love the pulp-detective-in-the-future feel of the Robot novels, but Foundation is the real payoff to me. (Though I do have some issues with the direction it took with 'Foundation's Edge' and 'Foundation and Earth').

Also, you may not know there's a fourth Robots novel called 'Robots and Empire', which for some reason hasn't been published for some time. If you haven't read it, raid some libraries or used bookstores and see if you can find it, it's a good read and a bridge from the Robot set to the Empire set.

Re: The papery kind of Sci Fi

[themiskyra]

'Caves of Steel' was the first 'real' science fiction I read (I'd read some Star Trek novels, but many people would argue that's not 'real' sci-fi). I was hooked on Asimov after that. And yes, I have read 'Robots and Empire'; my hometown's public library had all four of the Robot novels in stock, lucky me. Though I didn't read 'Robots and Empire' until after I'd read the first Empire novel, so at the end of 'Robots and Empire' I had a whole "Ohhhhh... I get it!" moment when I made the connection between the two series.