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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2012-06-26 12:27 pm
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Open to suggestion

What panel topics would induce you to watch if I was one of the panelists?

I've suggested one on space colonization with me, Charles Stross and a couple of Space Colony True Believers, as well as something related to my f/m posts.
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[identity profile] kithrup.livejournal.com 2012-06-26 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
The prevalence of DOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

Greg Bear -- threat, menace, or distraction?

Cats.
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[personal profile] seawasp 2012-06-26 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"The Unchanging and Eternal Stars" sounds promising.

"Doom, Doom, and Doomy Doom" would be fun.

Space Colonization you already have -- as long as there's plenty of discussion of our Helium-3 mining.

[identity profile] james-nicoll.livejournal.com 2012-06-26 05:28 pm (UTC)(link)
The sad thing is I don't care about Bear. In fact, that's one of the great tragedies of SF from my personal point of view: the process by which SF authors transform my relationship to their fiction from one of keen interest to total indifference. With people like Paolo Bacigalupi while I loathe every aspect of their fiction, at least I feel something more than complete and utter detachment.

[identity profile] mmcirvin.livejournal.com 2012-06-26 05:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Was it all him, or you too? I think you mentioned coming back to Eon and belatedly realizing that even the parts of the premise that were trying to be hard SF made no sense.

[identity profile] james-nicoll.livejournal.com 2012-06-26 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd quote from Stover on anthopology here but by reviewing something I'm interacting with it so I am part of the process as well.

Eon is nonsense but at least it was pretty nonsense. Bear's more recent books are just a bit dull, retreats of stuff other people did better first.

[identity profile] mmcirvin.livejournal.com 2012-06-26 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
That's the impression I got from just reading summaries of them, but I wasn't sure if it was true.

At one time, I thought of Bear as a logical heir to Clarke; he had a similar way with evocative imagery, and his novels tended to have similar themes.

[identity profile] james-nicoll.livejournal.com 2012-06-26 05:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Speaking of authors whose later books dwindled into a sad echo of what once was....

[identity profile] nancylebov.livejournal.com 2012-06-26 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
My impression of Greg Bear was that he started as an interesting weird sf writer, but when he was influenced by Poul Anderson, his writing became more normal and less interesting.

[identity profile] mindstalk.livejournal.com 2012-06-26 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
James Nicoll and Leslie Fish on cat colony stories?

well done!

[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/krin_o_o_/ 2012-06-26 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)

....

DAMN. I'd actually go to that one!

[identity profile] scott-sanford.livejournal.com 2012-06-28 11:52 am (UTC)(link)
This one, definitely this one.
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