MobileRead Discussion/Suggestion Thread

[WT Sharpe]

The voting poll on the question "Should each month's category in 2013 be unique?" is up and will be open for 5 days.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=194940

Originally Posted by sun surfer

...Will the poll be hidden or open?...

Hidden until poll closes.

Originally Posted by sun surfer

...Also, what constitutes a repeat category? It would be good to have that clarified beforehand.

We discussed categories such as two non-fiction where one is biography and one is something else, and also how Mystery/Crime and Thriller/Suspense are essentially the same...will "repeats" include either of those?

That's a separate discussion. We never have been able to define what we mean by "Classic" to everyone's satisfaction either, but I don't want to let that gum up the process of deciding what categories we read in 2012.

[orlok]

Tom, what's happened to your Halloween avatar, and is that you???

[WT Sharpe]

That's me, and that's my hair flowing over my shoulders. I decided to put some real Halloween fright into folks here!

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

That's me, and that's my hair flowing over my shoulders. I decided to put some real Halloween fright into folks here!

I thought it might be a computer simulation of what Kenny Rogers might look like today if he had not done that to his face.

Actually that would be Halloween fright, Kenny Rogers today that is.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

That's me, and that's my hair flowing over my shoulders. I decided to put some real Halloween fright into folks here!

Much too friendly looking to be scary. Sorry, but it's a fail .

[Bilbo1967]

Yeah, not scary. The only thought that crossed my mind was that you must spend a fortune on hair conditioner.

(I'm just jealous, being as follically challenged as I am!)

[sun surfer]

Kudos for the cojones to post your real pic! It's nice to know what you look like; now there's a face to go with the posts. And you're handsome! And have a warm, friendly expression.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

Yeah, not scary. The only thought that crossed my mind was that you must spend a fortune on hair conditioner.

(I'm just jealous, being as follically challenged as I am!)

I do use a lot of conditioner!

Originally Posted by sun surfer

Kudos for the cojones to post your real pic!...

I've posted a picture here before, but this is the first time I've used one as an avatar. My grandson took the picture this morning.

Originally Posted by sun surfer

It's nice to know what you look like; now there's a face to go with the posts. And you're handsome! And have a warm, friendly expression.

Aw, shucks!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

In that both are driven by impossible occurrences and/or imaginary beings and things yes. Those two items pretty much distinguish both Sci-Fi and Fantasy from other fiction. So what would you call Star Wars novels?

I would call Star Wars science fiction. It does not overlap with fantasy. The boundaries there are very clear.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I would call Star Wars science fiction. It does not overlap with fantasy. The boundaries there are very clear.

Only if you include the apocryphal prequels that tried to explain how the force works "scientifically". If you don't include those, the force was treated like magic ("hokey religions"), thus fantasy.

Aren't you supposed to be on a cruise? Did Sandy mess up your plans? I hope not, that would stink.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Only if you include the apocryphal prequels that tried to explain how the force works "scientifically". If you don't include those, the force was treated like magic ("hokey religions"), thus fantasy.

Aren't you supposed to be on a cruise? Did Sandy mess up your plans? I hope not, that would stink.

Even with the Force, it's still science fiction.

As for the cruise, still in the hotel. Will be going on the ship later this morning. Sandy is a non-issue.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Even with the Force, it's still science fiction.

I don't find my self saying this much, but I agree 100% with Jon about Star Wars.

Sci-Fi and Fantasy are different. Yes, there is some slight cross over.

At this time, if there was a vote, I would say no repeat genre months.

I do think Crime/Mystery and Thriller/Suspense are separate. But there is much more cross over here than there is with SF/Fantasy.

BOb

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Even with the Force, it's still science fiction.

As for the cruise, still in the hotel. Will be going on the ship later this morning. Sandy is a non-issue.

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I don't find my self saying this much, but I agree 100% with Jon about Star Wars.

Sci-Fi and Fantasy are different. Yes, there is some slight cross over.

At this time, if there was a vote, I would say no repeat genre months.

I do think Crime/Mystery and Thriller/Suspense are separate. But there is much more cross over here than there is with SF/Fantasy.

BOb

Interesting. So “The Force” is science fiction, but Harry Potter levitating a broom to fly around on is fantasy? Or are the Harry Potter books also science fiction? I wouldn't sweat it though. Even if I could convince WT Sharpe to put this to a vote SciFi/Fantasy is so popular here I don't see the number of months devoted to it actually being reduced.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

Interesting. So “The Force” is science fiction, but Harry Potter levitating a broom to fly around on is fantasy? Or are the Harry Potter books also science fiction? I wouldn't sweat it though. Even if I could convince WT Sharpe to put this to a vote SciFi/Fantasy is so popular here I don't see the number of months devoted to it actually being reduced.

You win... Harry Potter is Science Fiction and Star Wars is Fantasy.

I did say there was some cross over with SF/Fantasy.

“Science Fiction has rivets, fantasy has trees.” ― Orson Scott Card


BOb

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

Interesting. So “The Force” is science fiction, but Harry Potter levitating a broom to fly around on is fantasy?

Yes.

"The Force" is a theoretically scientific concept; the idea of "auras" around living beings and an energy-force that binds the universe together is not unknown to science. In the genre, it's shorthand for some kind of awareness of particle physics not normally detectable by humans... if we could perceive magnetic fields, or gravitational ones, well enough to dodge objects with our eyes closed, that could be "the Force."

The "millions of souls crying out?" That, too, has a foundation in science. A thin one, admittedly, but still real--there have been experiments with subatomic particles reacting instantly across vast physical distances, faster than the speed of light would allow. A person in tune with such energy fields would be able to detect things happening a very long ways away. An ability to tell the difference between "disruption in nonorganic matter" and "disruption in living beings" is not much of a stretch at all.

Harry Potter, OTOH, does not attempt to imply psychic ability or particle physics or physical-mental training to explain its "magic." It defies the concepts of science, we are told, and "just works."

The Star Wars paradigm fits within a scientific understanding of the world; the HP paradigm does not. Some characters in the SW-verse disdain the abilities of the Jedi as "mystic mumbo-jumbo," but that doesn't mean they're "magic" as opposed to "science on a level not understood by most people, and the Jedi encourage that reputation."

As far as "but it doesn't really work that way!"... neither does warp space or FTL travel. The implausibility of a notion or bit of technology has nothing to do with whether it's SF or fantasy; what matters is the framework in which it's offered. Captain America's "adamantium" shield can't work either, nor can a serum turn a scrawny weakling into a super-soldier; that doesn't make it a fantasy story instead of an SF story.