October 2021 Reading Discussion

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Ballard admired William S. Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, Freud and the Surrealist. Ballard is in my top 10 favorite Authors. I first learned about him in a VILLAGE VOICE article from the mid 1980's titled JG BALLARD CRASHING BY DESIGN. Great article.
 
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Joseph Millard "The Gods Hate Kansas" (1964)

Clichés abound. However, it's not really that bad (well, perhaps it is) and at just 121 pages long can be enjoyed for what it is. One disappointment was, near the end, finding that the cover did have some tenuous connection to the story.

I see it was made into a film: "They Came from Beyond Space" (1967) though this one has passed me by.

SPOILER ALERT
The major point of interest for me: just prior to the events of the story, the hero had been involved in a serious accident, and in subsequent surgery had a silver plate inserted in his skull. This silver plate protects him from alien possession and enables him to fight the invaders. As soon as he realises this, he gets his friends to wear silver bowls on their heads.
Could this be the beginning of that well-known fad of wearing silver foil on ones head as a protection from cosmic rays/ aliens/ Mrs Smith's thoughts/ etc etc? Probably not, but.....
In this connection, I note one reviewer of the film wrote (quote from wikipedia)
"David Elroy Goldwater, an American critic, is not a fan of the movie, either. He writes that it has a 'lack of imperative, a lack of purpose. The stakes are low. It's unoriginal and unimaginative, with the same old emotionless robotic aliens we have seen 100 times'. Goldwater also notes that the silver helmet worn by Farge to protect himself from alien possession is 'unconsciously campy' and looks 'obviously like a spaghetti strainer'"
 
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Hugh said:
Joseph Millard "The Gods Hate Kansas" (1964)
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Can you describe the "Crimson Plague", mentioned in the text on the back cover? I'm reminded of this Book Search query:

2 SF books from the 60s. Unknown title unknown author.

Read these in a public library as a child. First story is about a meteor infecting the earth with a red fungus with very strange properties and not compatible with earth life. The red growth is growing and research to stop it ends up using some of the growths properties to temporarily bring...
www.sffchronicles.com www.sffchronicles.com

And wondering if it might be a match.
 
tachyon said:
Can you describe the "Crimson Plague", mentioned in the text on the back cover? I'm reminded of this Book Search query:

2 SF books from the 60s. Unknown title unknown author.

Read these in a public library as a child. First story is about a meteor infecting the earth with a red fungus with very strange properties and not compatible with earth life. The red growth is growing and research to stop it ends up using some of the growths properties to temporarily bring...
www.sffchronicles.com www.sffchronicles.com

And wondering if it might be a match.
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Ahh! Great question!

Unlikely to be the same. The aliens are able to take possession of you (unless you're wearing your silver cap) and then "tamper with the autonomous nervous system, like making that person's blood all rush to his head and face, making him fall into a state of catalepsy or suspended animation that can be mistaken for death."
 
Hugh said:
Ahh! Great question!

Unlikely to be the same. The aliens are able to take possession of you (unless you're wearing your silver cap) and then "tamper with the autonomous nervous system, like making that person's blood all rush to his head and face, making him fall into a state of catalepsy or suspended animation that can be mistaken for death."
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Thus the Hershey Kiss like aluminum foil hat.
 
Finished King's Justice by E. M. Powell. I would consider it a middle of the road murder mystery. On the plus side I was completely surprised by the person who was the murderer. Plus #2 it seemed very true to the 12 century setting. But Negative #1 toward the end of the book I started detecting some modern sensibilities which probably wouldn't be likely found in the 12 century. Negative #2 it seemed that the end of the book was overlong. Surprisingly this is a very popular book with over 1300 ratings with an average of 5 stars, as are books #2 and #3 each with well over a thousand ratings. I would rate it an average 4 stars and at this point I'm not planning on reading more of the series.

Started Semiosis by Sue Burke. This is an interesting S.F. book to me. It follows a group of about 30 original colonists who have escaped earth as global warming is ruining the planet. They are going to start a society with equality, cooperating with the natural order, and without capitalism. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and so far it is taking a generational approach telling one key story in each generation. I have fairly high hopes for this.
 
Parson said:
Started Semiosis by Sue Burke. This is an interesting S.F. book to me. It follows a group of about 30 original colonists who have escaped earth as global warming is ruining the planet. They are going to start a society with equality, cooperating with the natural order, and without capitalism. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and so far it is taking a generational approach telling one key story in each generation. I have fairly high hopes for this.
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you can NOT change human nature
 
so, finished with To End in fire by weber.... first, is in the honor universe, second is open ended,third... there's a cameo of honor... i give it 50/50 on the likeness... fourth... is more a joining of several threads... fifth ... it's readable. just for fans of weber honor universe.
 
tobl said:
so, finished with To End in fire by weber.... first, is in the honor universe, second is open ended,third... there's a cameo of honor... i give it 50/50 on the likeness... fourth... is more a joining of several threads... fifth ... it's readable. just for fans of weber honor universe.
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That's the Eric Flint one isn't it?
 
Vertigo said:
That's the Eric Flint one isn't it?
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yes. finished pastmaster by r a laferty... i reaaly didn't got into it. the new mitch rapp is still ratteling around in my brain... it's readable but i didn't liked the treason.... i guess i understand but it's against the character vince created in my opinion
 
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