SFL Archives Volume 25 readthrough

 SFL Archives Volume 25

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100% completion, 258 bookmarks

Movies, television shows referenced: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (tv-series), XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS (tv-series), THE X-FILES (tv-series), ANGEL (tv-series), STAR TREK VOYAGER (tv-series), GALAXY QUEST, FARSCAPE (tv-series), THE GREEN MILE, FIRST WAVE (tv-series), FUTURAMA, CHARMED (tv-series), FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON, OUTER LIMITS (tv-series), SUPERNOVA, PITCH BLACK, WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM?, CLEOPATRA 2525 (tv-series), THE 10TH KINGDOM (tv-series), GOD THE DEVIL AND BOB (tv-series), MISSION TO MARS, HELL SWARM, THE OTHERS (tv-series), HOLLOW MAN, SPACE COWBOYS, ANDROMEDA (tv-series), DARK ANGEL (tv-series), LEXX (tv-series), FREAKYLINKS (tv-series), THE INVISIBLE MAN (tv-series), RED PLANET, THE SIXTH DAY, DUNE (tv-series).

SF&F stories referenced: FINITY, INFINITYS SHORE, A CIVIL CAMPAIGN, THE TRIGGER, JUNIPER GENTIAN AND ROSEMARY, NEUROMANCER, CAVEAT: VIOLENT STARS, KINGS DAGGERS, RHAPSODY, SHIP OF DESTINY, A READ HEAT OF MEMORIES, INDIGO, A CLASH OF KINGS, THE GOLDEN GLOBE, LEGENDS, LAST AND FIRST MEN, RED MARS, BLUE MARS, WORLDWAR: TILTING THE BALANCE, THE FALSE HOUSE, OTHERLAND, MOVING MARS, THE WINTER QUEEN, GRIDLOCK, THE TOYOTOMI BLADES, THE MULTIPLEX MAN, SHIVA IN STEEL, DESOLATION ROAD, THE BLUE SWORD, WHIRLWIND, ARISTOI, PRAYERS ON THE WIND, FRANKENSTEINS AND FOREIGN DEVILS, STRANGE TRAVELERS, FORGOTTEN LIFE, THE ESSENTIAL HAL CLEMENT VOLUME 2, EIGHT KEYS TO EDEN, PLAYER OF GAMES, AGAINST A DARK BACKGROUND, LORD OF THE FIRE LANDS, THE ZERO HOUR, 1632, DEATHSTALKER, BAD MEMORY, FOREVER FREE, KNIGHT OF THE DEMON QUEEN, DRAGONSBANE, STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER, SAILING TO SARANTIUM, RAGNAROCK, THE STAR FRACTION, INFINITY BEACH, STARSWARM, CARPE JUGULUM, THE EXTREMES, LAST OF THE RENSHAI, THE SPARROW, ASHES OF VICTORY, THE MOREAU FACTOR, THE BLACK COMPANY, LORD OF EMPERORS, LIONS OF AL-RASSAN, SCENT OF MAGIC, THE NEW APOCRYPHA, VACUUM FLOWERS, THE SHATTERED SPHERE, GENESIS, TIME, SHARDS OF HONOR, ALL TOMORROWS PARTIES, NOCTURNE FOR A DANGEROUS MAN, VENGEANCE IN DEATH, THE BURNING CITY, VAMPIRE$, GODS DICE, FAMILY TREE, SIX MOON DANCE, MEMORY SORROW AND THORN, GREEN RIDER, ISLE OF THE DEAD, THE CYBERIAD, GREENHOUSE SUMMER, STATIONS OF THE TIDE, FREE LIVE FREE, CASTLEVIEW, PEACE, SPIRIT RING, MODERN CLASSICS OF SCIENCE FICTION, OPERATION LUNA, VENUS, GARDENS OF THE MOON, ASH: A SECRET HISTORY, THE CASSINI DIVISION, A SIGNAL SHATTERED, CRYPTONOMICON, ANGEL STATION, HARDWIRED, THE BRIDGE, RIVERWORLD, I OWE FOR THE FLESH, BONE WARS, A CASE OF CONSCIENCE, SHIP OF DESTINY, A STORM OF SWORDS, LOOK TO WINDWARD, DARWINS RADIO, BLOOD MUSIC, NULL-O, REPLAY, KISS OF SHADOWS, THE NAKED GOD, THE ROAD TO MARS, THE TELLING, REQUIEM, THE COLLAPSIUM, PARADOX, BLACK EVENING, DECLARE, A HYMN BEFORE BATTLE, PAVANE, CALLAHANS KEY, THE PROMETHEUS CRISIS, CHIMERA, INTERESTING TIMES, THIEF OF TIME, A STITCH IN TIME, COSMONAUT KEEP, THE PWER, SNOW CRASH, RULES OF CONFLICT, FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH, INVERSIONS, DEFENDER, THE HERO OF DOWNWAYS, LODESTAR, THE LAST HOTE TIME, ENGINES OF GOD, ABANDON IN PLACE, WHEN THE KING COMES HOME, LORD OF LIGHT, SOMETIME AFTER THE EQUINOX, TRANSFORMATION, AN OBLIQUE APPROACH, THE REDEMPTION OF ALTHALUS, PROPHECT, CERES STORM, WINTERS HEART, THE PLANT, THE LOST STEERSMAN, ANNO DRACULA, THE SEVENTH TOWER, THE GOLD COAST, ICE STATION, THE COMPLEAT MCANDREW, HELLFLOWER, DOWN THERE IN DARKNESS, SENTRY PEAK, A TERRIBLE BEAUTY, THE FOX LADY, SUCH A PRETTY FACE, MURDER IN THE SOLID STATE, MARROW, FRAMESHIFT, ZEITGEIST, BROKEN TIME, RIVER OF BLUE FIRE, DOOMSDAY BOOK, TITAN, WAR FOR THE OAKS, SHADOW OF A BROKEN MAN, THE KINGS PEACE, THERE ARE DOORS.

Pop culture references: Tekumel RPG system, "FANS ARE SLANS", 1990'S comics going grim-dark and violent, the Larry Saunders tv-show, Moona Lisa the 1960's horror tv-show hostess, Perry Rhodan the German SF serial having around 2046 episodes circa November 2000, K-Mart "blue light specials", having a Usenet accent(?),

Technology callbacks: Y2k bug on the SF-LOVERS mailing list software, WebTV, intelligent robots being Bill Joy's worst nightmare(?), Redhat Linux, PowerPoint presentations, 

Death notices: John Sladek, SFF author. Curt Siodmak, SFF author & Hollywood screenwriter. Keith Roberts, artist & SF author. L. Sprague de Camp, SFF author-editor. Catherine de Camp, wife of L. Sprague de Camp.

SFL requests/discussion topics:

>Re: Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures question

>Re: M.A.R. Barker

>Re: William Gibson Neuromancer

>Re: Opinions on the Peter Hamilton books

>Re: Opinions on Red Mars/Kim Stanley Robinson

>Re: Walter Jon Williams

>Re: Brian Aldiss primer

>Re: Iain Banks PoG & AADB background

>Re: What is it about the Black Company

>Re: The sad decline of Larry Niven

>Re: Sailor Moon a few thoughts and questions

>Re: Cryptonomicon - Why is it SF?

>Re: Philip K Dick

>Re: Opinions, please, on Philip Pullman

>Re: Terry Pratchett Discworld

>Re: Lensman series

>Re: David Brin's Uplift universe

>Re: Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time

>Re: Anno Dracula and sequels

-The amusing thing where Olaf Stapledon had no idea science-fiction existed as a literary genre, or that he was considered a scifi author.

-Some SFLer's finally free brave enough online to say they don't enjoy Kim Stanley Robinson's scifi writing, and that his writing/characters/character motivations in his Mars trilogy are not good.

-SFLer's start posting reviews of GALAXY QUEST, and most feel favorably towards the movie and the actors, while others feel Star Trek fandom is being mocked. Sam Rockwell stealing every  movie scene he's in and Sigourney Weaver's Wonderbra cleavage is brought up in almost every review of GALAXY QUEST.

-Hardware failure events on the sf-lovers server, and repeated instances of mailer daemon failure and internet gateway issues happen throughout SFL Archives Volume 25.

-Almost every SFLer submits a review of the movie PITCH BLACK in varying shades (pun intended) of critique. Vin Diesel being a up and coming actor to watch out for in the future comes up in almost every review of PITCH BLACK.

-The SFLer doing the "read and review all Hugo Award winning novels" project breaks down and can't finish DOWNBELOW STATION, and entirely gives up the readthrough project after finishing FOUNDATIONS EDGE.

-Half-life of SFF reader awareness circa 2000 seems to be about six months.

-SFLer's are growing increasingly tired of encountering Yet More of (Larry) Niven Writing About Sex.

-SFLer's really exhaustively comment on the movies MISSION TO MARS and RED PLANET.

-Now that Marion Zimmer Bradley is dead, SFLer's feel safe enough to start discussing the various ghostwriters contracted out by MZB. 

-Steven Erikson's GARDENS OF THE MOON comes out, and it mentioned how huge buzz on the Internet about pre-releases versions of GOTM lead to Erikson signing a nine-book, $1.2 million book contract with Random House.

-SFLer's react extremely poorly to the premiere and the first season of Gene Roddenberry's ANDROMEDA. One of the most memorable phrases describing a supporting character is "Twiki with tits".

-The backstory behind Philip Jose Farmer writing RIVERWORLD, and how the Riverworld character "Lem Sharkko" is PJF's revenge against scumbag SFF publisher Mel Korshak.

-A Locus magazine interview with Laurrell Hamilton has the highlights of Laurrell wishing she had made her setting slightly less "real world" and that when she wrote the first Anita Blake book she had no intention of ever having any sex scenes in any of the novels.

-SFLer's are finally fed up with Spider Robinson's endless least-effort-expended and smarmy Callahan's short story collections.

-L. Sprague de Camp dies and SFLer's have universal praise for him. SFLer's relate fond memories of encountering L. Sprague de Camp at SFF conventions, on airline flights, at tours, at SFF author house parties,etc.

-Whatever the hell a "Usenet accent"(?) is during public speaking at the NovaCon 2000 convention.  

-Installing a bunch of air filters in the gaming room at OryCon 2000.

-A retrospective on Russian SF writer Izaak I. Azimov.

(2021 note: I have no idea if Izaak Azimov is real or just a alternate-lifepath scenario that Isaac Asimov "could have lived" if his parents never emigrated from Russia.)

-Stephen King ends his attempt at writing serialized fiction with his serialized $1 per chapter novel THE PLANT.