Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with sci-fi

The Origin of the Matrix

madmamasmith — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:30:53 -0800

Origin of the Matrix relating to a Science Fictional setting... I am reading Neuromancer by William Gibson and the main character mentions "the matrix", as something he "jacks in to". Now this is my first foray into sci-fi and I am only about 20 pages in but I was wondering where the term originated. Did The Matrix movie steal this term and its meaning from Gibson or was it already being used in previous sci-fi works? I have only ever heard it used in a sci-fi context so that's why I;m wondering. I'm admitting my lack of knowledge in this area, so please don't make me feel like a ding dong if the answer to this question is blindingly obvious to you! Also, while on the topic of Sci-fi, the last book I read in the genre was Ender's Game in junior high and I loved it, so please suggest any sci-fi reads I should check out.

Please tell me what to read!

Janta — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:22:54 -0800

Book-recommendation-filter: Can you help me find something to read? Parameters to follow. I'm desperate for new reading material. I typically read SF/Fantasy and some mysteries (innovative and edgy, I know), and lately I've found myself reading more non-fiction, simply because it seems like most of the SF/F out there has a lot of hackneyed, overblown prose and predictable plots. What I'd really like to find is SF/Fantasy that plays with the genre's conventions a little bit, I think -- actually, I'm interested in any book that twists the conventions of its genre. Additionally, I prefer books with a good deal of action, and absolutely love it when the characters engage in "witty banter" (it should be genuinely smart dialog, though). I'm not super-fond of hard/military SF, though if it focuses on the people more than the science and tech, I'll give it a try.

SF/F that I've enjoyed recently: everything by Terry Pratchett, most of Lois Bujold's books, Scott Lynch, John Scalzi, John Varley, Charles Stross, Guy Kay, George Martin, and Ken Scholes.

Bonus-round: I just re-read Soon I WIll Be Invincible; do you know of any books that mess around with the whole superhero/supervillain/metahuman concept?

Thanks, MeFites!

p.s. -- I've done the usual googling, looked at past questions, tried BookSeer and What Should I Read Next, and haven't had much luck.

The Nine Billion Stories About God?

jefficator — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:01:20 -0800

Please link me to Sci-Fi or Fantasy stories involving God--especially "surprise" God. I'm curious about Sci-Fi or Fantasy stories like the Nine Billion Names of God. Basically any stories in which God is a character--especially those in which God is a "surprise" character.

If you think a story might be relevant, please pass it along!

Thanks Everyone!

Are there more fantastical World War I novels?

Caduceus — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:08:45 -0800

I just finished reading Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, and really enjoyed it. I'd love to read other World War I novels with fantasy/science-fiction/steampunk twists. Are there any? I'd also take fantasy/sci-fi/steampunk novels about other wars, like the American Civil War, the Crimean War, the Napoleonic Wars, or possibly imaginary wars set in Victorian/Edwardian times. I've pretty much had my fill of Occult Nazis, though, so unless it's truly amazing, refrain from suggesting World War II novels.

I'd also take movies and games and other media, with the same restrictions, and with the caveat that I've already played Shadow Hearts and the sequel. I've also I've read War of the Worlds and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

Help me gain the wit that Iain M. Banks thinks I should have.

Nufkin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 09:42:13 -0800

In Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks there is a part where one of the Estodiens say to Quilan, 'I hope you have the wit to realise you past two little tests there, Major, not one'. It appears that I do not have the wit. Possible spoilers inside. This comes after Quilan's training when he first meets the second Estodien. One of their helpers circles around behind him and instead of him taking the hand offered in front of him. He spins and crouches down in his 'defense position'.

One test he passed was to know that he was about to be attacked; but what was the other? Was it as simple as him spotting someone who was out of place and a potential threat? But doesn't that just link into the 'first' test?

BookFilter: The War Of Forgetting?

HannoverFist — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:42:12 -0800

Yet-Another-Bookfilter - I'm trying to find an 80s-ish sci-fi book that I want to think was called "The War of Forgetting". The premise was something along the lines of: two warring factions get devices, described as "battery powered, about the size of a pocket calculator, with three antennae" which can take large cubic sections of space ( hundreds of feet on a side ) and "store" them in the device, removing them from our reality. The problem is that when something is removed, people's memories of the area/thing are removed as well - so everyone forgets what was removed and why. Later in the book, as reality gets more swiss-cheesed, people try randomly restoring these blocks and the results aren't pretty. I've been trying to find this book off and on for years, now I come to you good folk for help. Yes, it's somewhat ironic that I can't remember the title. :-)

Seeking "Hard" Sci-Fi Novel Recommendations

Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:49:16 -0800

Looking for sci-fi novel recommendations, preferably of the “harder” variety. My two favorite authors are Alastair Reynolds and Vernor Vinge. Some other books & authors that I’ve liked (and a few I’ve disliked) below the fold, to hopefully give a better sense of what I’m looking for. Thanks! Books/authors I’ve really loved or liked a lot:
• Almost everything by Alastair Reynolds
• Fire Upon the Deep, A Deepness in the Sky, and Marooned in Realtime by Vernor Vinge
• Neverness & the Requiem for Homo Sapiens trilogy by David Zindell
• Asimov’s Foundation and Robot Novels
• Dune (but not any of the sequels and definitely not the prequels)
• Ender's Game (but not any of the sequels or parallel novels)
• Cordwainer Smith's Norstrilia & his short stories

Books/authors I’ve liked:
• David Brin’s Uplift series, as well as Kiln People and Glory Season
• Dan Simmons’ Hyperion series
• Neal Stephenson’s Snowcrash (but mostly not his other works, which I've read many of)
• A whole variety of stuff by Philip K. Dick (my favorite is probably Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
• A whole variety of stuff by Stanislaw Lem
• 2001 by Arthur C. Clarke
• The Stars My Destination & Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
• Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars series (I'd only say that I "sort of" liked this series - more a fan of his ideas, not as much his style or characters)

Books/authors I have largely not liked:
• Vinge’s Rainbows End
• Clarke’s Rama series
• Robert Heinlein
• Larry Niven
• Singularity Sky
• Consider Phlebas

So basically, I’m looking for writers most similar to Reynolds and Vinge. As I say, I like the “harder” stuff, but I’m open to all suggestions. Thank you!

What is the title of this book?

Uncle — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:58:42 -0800

Identify a book for my girlfriend please. Read in the mid 90's maybe had 'children' in the title. Sci-fi novel about children held captive with woman in a castle after being placed with her through a government forced foster system (children are lent out to childless people for one month). They survive nuclear meltdown and years after by being put into suspended animation. When they wake up thousands of years have passed and they are kept subdued with drugged wine. David(?), the main character, escapes and finds a village of survivors who have become mutated from the radiation and inbreeding. They live off beetles and giant rabbits that have grown to the size of cattle. David has a close relationship with a girl in the castle and returns to save her?

Kick-ass sci-fi with kick-ass girls

cardamine — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:11:32 -0800

Recommend me some sci-fi with female lead characters! I've read a LOT of sci-fi and fantasy, and whilst some good fantasy novels have female leads (Gloriana and The Iron Dragons Daughter spring to mind...) I can think of very few science fiction books written from a woman's perspective. Browsing Amazon just now for example, every single recommendation is for a story about men.

I want to read something new - there must be great sci-fi out there with female main characters, but where?! I'd love to hear your recommendations :)

Sci-fi spitting in Mona Lisa's eye

bollockovnikov — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:56:52 -0800

Short Story Askme: I read a short dystopian story many years ago set in a run-down, post apocalyptic future. A queue of people line up on a street to spit at a painting. The painting represents all the problems of the past. It is implied that the painting is The Mona Lisa. What is the story?

Help me find more amazing, and epic, sci-fi and fantasy audio books

Kraki — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:06:12 -0800

Help me find more great, epic scope, sci-fi or fantasy audiobooks. I just finished all of Frank Herbert's Dune Series, both his own work, and the work of his son and Kevin J. Anderson. I've also listened to the entire Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov, and the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, as well as the Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan. (frustratingly enough, only the Foundation Series is fully complete at this time. Edit. I just found out that Dune 7 part two "Sandworms of Dune" is finished, but I can't seem to find the audiobook for it yet.)

Of those four I liked the Foundation Series and the Dune Series the best.

What are some other fantastic and (hopefully) long novels or series of novels?

Bonus points if the audiobook is read by Scott Brick

What is this science fiction book?

lazy robot — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:02:25 -0800

Several spaceships enter a region of space and disapear. Another spaceship goes to investigate, containing humans and other futuristic sentient species. They find themselves at the bottom of an ocean that is composed of deuterium isotope water. There are sentient creatures living on the ocean floor. Later, two humans are captured by a group of cockroachy creatures. Hilarity ensues. In the end, they escape. A sequel seems possible. What is the book? Who is it by? Is there a sequel?

Sci-Fi novels on unusual planets

mamessner — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:32:39 -0800

What are some great sci-fi novels that take place on planets with unusual climate/geography? Traveling through the Middle East, I just finished Frank Herbert's Dune, set on a desert planet, for the third time. I also loved Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, set on an ice planet.

What are some other fantastic sci-fi novels that take place on planets with unusual climates/geography? Gas planets, water planets, dual suns, etc. Since there are thousands of novels like this, I'm sure, I'd like to lower it down to award-winning novels in which the characteristics of the planet play a major role in the book, like the two named above. Stories (Nightfall comes to mind) could also work.

Thanks!

Lost Colony, Lost Title...

strangelove — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:44:26 -0800

Science-Fiction-Novel-Filter: Lost colony of Galactic Empire, in which a man is dispatched to the planet with an automated legged probe. There is a technology on the planet that is perceived as magic(?) to the natives... Lost colony of Galactic Empire, in which a man is dispatched to the planet with an automated legged probe. There is a technology on the planet that is perceived as magic(?) to the natives (who are human); this technology improves any inanimate object with continued use. A saw will develop diamond tips and become more efficient in use, nobles would hire people to wear their clothes so they retain their quality. Even the probe becomes subtly improved over time, enough so that the first-person narrator comments on how it appears more camouflaged and better suited to it's surveillance job.

I think the technology is nano-tech dispersed by the Galactic Empire prior to collapse, so the colonist would be able to adapt to the collapse. The man and probe are part of a team of people mandated to survey lost colonies.

I read this book maybe ten years ago, in English.

It would be great if this book is part of a series.

Thanks!

sodden vests? sounds uncomfortable...

russm — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:47:17 -0800

please help identify this "young adults" sci-fi-ish novel - "I'm an Est, for Ests are best, down to their sodding woollen vests"... read back in the '80s, set in a near-ish future UK in which everyone gets the same education but are streamed into their future lives based on their final exam results... if you score poorly you become a Prole and face a life of manual labour or service industry work... score well and you become an Est (presumably "Establishment"), and go into business or whatever... the rhyme above the fold is sung by kids in school, because, hell, who wouldn't want to be an Est...

4 main characters in their final year of school, exam results posted, one fails and is destined for Prole-hood, 2 pass and will become Ests, the last (smartest of the 4) has no result posted but a "please come see the principal" note... he goes to see the principal and is informed that since he scored 100% he's obviously not a team player and therefore unsuited to be an Est, so please leave with these men in white coats... turns out that a perfect score gets you streamed as a Tech, but the general public doesn't know about them because... ummm... something I don't remember...

oddly enough, I was reminded of this by cortex and TheOnlyCoolTim's comments in MeTa...

Mein Sci-Fi Kampf

pedmands — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:10:09 -0800

There was a post (I believe on Boing Boing) a few months ago about a sci-fi short story in the form of an internet message board. The message board was for a group of time travelers, and the new members were always being scolded for going back in time and killing Hitler (this was against the rules, as without Hitler we wouldn't have many technologies, etc etc). I have Google strings that I've tried inside... time travel sci-fi story message board
Hitler sci-fi short story
hitler sci-fi story message

ad infinitum...

I've tried the various strings in Google, on Boing Boing, and on MetaFilter to no avail. Anyone out there have this story?

I haz a weird movie memory.

ninazer0 — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:09:52 -0800

Help me locate a weird 80's sci-fi movie with almost no info. I don't remember much of the movie for....various reasons. However, I'd very much like to find it again and fill in the blanks.

It was called something like "Living on the Edge" or "Life in the Tubes" and was a sci-fi comedy. People were living in a futuristic subterranean suburbia. It was all done in a very "just regular folks" sort of style. Kids come home from school and mom prepares a snack, which is some sort of toad creature pushed through a grid so that it pops out in slices. One of the kids is playing a sling-shot/target shooting game in his bedroom and has picked parasites off the family pet to use as missiles, with a very messy result.

I'm sorry, but the plot (if it had one) completely escapes me. I recall that Mom was upset because the "tubes" had stopped working and she sent the two kids with a bucket to the engineer for some gloopy stuff for dinner. The kids didn't want to go because they were scared of the engineer.

It was made in the late 70's or early 80's. I believe it was a US movie, or possibly Canadian.

That's all I've got. Does this ring any bells for anyone???

Childhood movie memory

I, Credulous — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:38:43 -0800

A childhood memory of two science fiction films has been nagging me lately. I have just a little to go on... Movie One: is in colour, probably mid-sixties. The plot involves a "mirror image" of the Earth, orbiting 180 degrees from us, so on the other side of the Sun. Some astronauts from Earth discover it and land there. Everything's the same as our (future) world, but flipped left-to-right (they shot on the same sets and simply printed the film "flipped"). The "other Earth" may have been called Nemesis.

Movie Two: is in B&W, probably early sixties or very late fifties. There's something of a thriller aspect to this one. I recall a man sneaking into and office look at some files. Later, he goes into a darkroom in his apartment (office?) and removes one of his eye balls: it's a camera, concealed in a glass eye. He develops the pictures of the documents that he's snapped with his fancy eye.

Both are probably American productions.

I saw them on television, of course.

I will continue to function as an adult and a human being if I don't find out what these films are, but I'd really like to scratch this mental itch.

Dim memory of a dark world

pointystick — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:23:27 -0800

Television show where half the planet is always dark? For some reason I can't get this out of my head, even though I have a sneaking suspicion this was a stinker of a show. I seem to remember a sci-fi/fantasy movie or mini series on TV in the 80's or 90's that featured a world where half the planet was dark all the time. There may have been a physical barrier between the light and dark halves. I also recall (dimly) there were several subplots one of which involved a hospital or place-of-healing and another with a rural family. What was this show and was it dreadful?

Singularity + Sci-Fi = My Nerdy Request

pedmands — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:57:03 -0800

What are some good sci-fi stories (both short and full-length) that explore the idea of singularity? There's a lot of good sci-fi out there, and googling leads me to chase red herrings while trying to find summaries of collections and novels that aren't yielding what I'm looking for...

Ideally I'd like the story to outline Terry Gorssman's idea of singularity arriving in stages:

"According to Grossman and other singularitarians, immortality will arrive in stages. First, lifestyle and aggressive antiaging therapies will allow more people to approach the 125-year limit of the natural human lifespan. This is bridge one. Meanwhile, advanced medical technology will begin to fix some of the underlying biological causes of aging, allowing this natural limit to be surpassed. This is bridge two. Finally, computers become so powerful that they can model human consciousness. This will permit us to download our personalities into nonbiological substrates. When we cross this third bridge, we become information. And then, as long as we maintain multiple copies of ourselves to protect against a system crash, we won't die."

But I'd also settle for immortality and the possible dystopian nature of it. Macabre and tragedy yield brownie points.

What can you wonderful sci-fi-natics dig up for me?

Strange Sci-Fi Animated Film

ChaoticIndustry — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:44:40 -0800

A while back, on this site, some lovely soul posted a YouTube link of a very strange full-length animated sci-fi film from the 70s. The story involved men being kept as playthings/servants by a giant race on a strange planet. The humans wore some sort of collar that restricted their movements. It was a very unusual film, quite obviously NOT North American. I believe the original film was French and that it had not been available for many years. Can anyone recall the name of this film? Much thanks :)

Balls? Check. Ovaries? Not anymore...

junkbox — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:53:53 -0800

Help me understand the methaphor/mythology behind female sci-fi characters losing their ovaries (slightly spoilery for Alias, X-Files, and S2 of Battlestar Galactica). I just watched the Battlestar Galactica episode "The Farm," in which Starbuck awakens during her recovery from a gunshot wound to discover a mysterious scar over one of her ovaries. It reminded me of a similar scar Sydney Bristow received in S3 of Alias, as well as the fertility saga of Dana Scully in the X-Files.

Strong, ass-kicking female character has her ovaries stolen by an unknown but powerful group because she is somehow "special" or "chosen." Further plot developments usually include the discovery of hybrid "children" created from the harvested eggs, and the emergence of powerful maternal feelings that had previously been dormant/repressed. Both Dana Scully and Sydney Bristow were ultimately able to conceive and bear children of their own, although Scully gave hers up while Sydney got to live happily ever after. Not sure what will happen to Starbuck's ovaries, but no further spoilers, please.

As a woman with ovaries of my own, I have ambivalent feelings about this storyline, especially now that I'm about to watch it play out for the 3rd time. I think I'm bothered by how it subtly reinforces the idea that women who carry guns and fight bad guys must be disconnected from their maternal side (their ovaries), and that the only way they can develop as characters is to discover their repressed maternal instincts, recover their stolen ovaries and bear children of their own.*

So: are there essays or books (fan-produced okay, if they're quality) analyzing the lost-ovaries storyline and the different ways it works metaphorically? Can the Hive Mind offer a different viewpoint on why strong women in sci-fi keep misplacing their reproductive parts? Bonus points if you or your resource can identify the original lost ovaries in sci-fi or earlier mythology.

* I was a huge X-Files fan, and I'm confident that Battlestar Galactica will do something awesome with Starbuck's storyline. Not trying to pick on these shows, just trying to better understand what they're doing with these characters.

Help me ID this sci-fi short story

Auden — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:52:38 -0800

Help me identify this sci-fi short story, involving a hunter who is "impregnated" by a sphinx-like creature, and slowly evolves into such a creature himself while under scientific study. I'm trying to identify a sci-fi short story I read in an anthology roughly 20 years ago.

While not told in a linear fashion, the plot essentially involves a hunter who spots a "UFO", which emits a yellow cloud (thought to serve a spermatophyte-like function) after being shot.

While kept under scientific observation, the protagonist experiences several disturbing changes: He begins to dream of being a sphinx-like creature, has episodes of physical metamorphosis into a saucer-like object, and exhibits a defensive, murderous telekinesis. Eventually, he escapes his scientific captors after the transformation is complete.

Any ideas?

What sci-fi book is this?

flatluigi — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:37:14 -0800

I remember reading this sci-fi book a long while ago, but I can't remember anything easily googleable. Can anyone help identify it? I don't remember any of the character names, but I do remember some shadows of the plot. The main character, a big blue ox-like alien (with backstory parallels to the Paul Bunyan tales, yes) comes to this city, gathers friends which each represent the sleeping 'services' of the city, and reawakens the ancient services.

I remember that the blue ox's friend and the ancient inhabitants of the city were amorphous aliens called "toolies," perhaps. They used anything as 'bones' to provide structure to their bodies to move around. A female toolie who put on an elaborate human outfit to interact with humans at her job (as people were racist against toolies) was also a character. She had a part-time job as an archaeologist.

Other characters in the motley group were a long, worm-like taxi driver, a bouncing dog? that could shape-change, and a drug addict who somehow was transformed into a waste-disposer.

I also remember a chapter that was written especially to include as many sci-fi cliches as possible, including a story that looped around, a crazy hotel and its nonchalant manager, and a woman who wants to personally repopulate the world.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting story and it's stuck with me. I'd love to read it again, if I could only find it.

Looking for the name of a near-future sci-fi series from mid-90s.

sparklejess — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 14:18:05 -0800

I'm looking or the name, and possibly other information on a five or six part sci-fi series that aired in the mid nineties, I think on the BBC (not sure). It was set in London/UK and dealt with repercussions of various theorised technological advancements. The final episode is the one I remember clearest - an virus was infecting computers and nobody could immediately see a way of stopping it, but in stead of causing damage, it was amassing a network of nodes that together started to form an artificial intelligence. It was bypassing regular security, doing thing like sharing research data between rival medical laboratories, with the result of making discoveries that wouldn't otherwise have been made.

Towards the end, the authorities started to talk about shutting down the internet to stop its progress, and the final shot before the screen goes blank is of a kind of pale CGI face addressing the audience (but not speaking) for a second, then the feed/connection being cut off.

Does this ring any bells with anybody?

Thanks!