The Gripping Hand.

We were discussing movies on a Friday night a couple of weeks ago at the Frog, since my friend Chris had finally seen Avatar.  Apparently Chris was initially willing to avoid it all together due to the mixed reviews he'd heard, but he was talked into going by his brother, who felt it heralded the dawning of a new era in filmmaking.

And perhaps it does.  Personally, I think that Avatar is one of a number of movies that demonstrate a variety of techniques and approaches that pave the path for the perfect adaptation of some classic of science fiction.  We have Avatar's flawless 3-D representation of an alien world, the impressionistic visions of 300, Sin City and The Watchmen, and the hard-edged realism demonstrated in District 9.  The only question is which novel to adapt for this breakthrough film?

Chris' instant response was "Ringworld."  After a moment's consideration, I told him that he could take any stuffed toy he wanted from the top shelf.

Larry Niven's 1970 award-winning novel would be a perfect candidate for a big-screen blockbuster.  Futuristic settings, exotic locations, non-humanoid aliens who are major characters, a plotline which is part adventure, part romance, part mystery, and part travelogue, and of course the Ringworld itself, a massive construct on a mega-planetary scale.

I mentioned this idea to Dave, one of my co-workers who is a serious science fiction fan as well, and he agreed.

"Yeah, yeah, I just re-read Ringworld a couple of months ago, that would be great."  Then his eyes went distant for a moment.

"Or you know what would be good?  Frederik Pohl's Heechee series, I'd like to see those books done as movies.  Or the Benford series, the Galactic Center books, I read those not too long ago."

I agree completely - either of those two series would certainly offer a more involved plot line than Ringworld, but they would both present an equally unique vision on film.

But then, there's a long list of books that would offer material of equal excellence for adaptation:  C.J. Cherryh's Downbelow Station, Niven and Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye,  Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card,  Neuromancer by William Gibson, the David Brin Uplift series, The Forever War, Snow Crash, Hyperion, Childhood's End, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Fountains of Paradise, the Amber series, The Stars My Destination, The Snow Queen, the Pern books, The Peace War...

*  *  *

One of the books that I listed above is The Mote in God's Eye, which deals with humanity's first encounter with an alien race.  Said aliens - the Moties -  have three arms, two small ones for everyday use, and one massive one that they use for heavy lifting and so on - the gripping hand, as they call it.

This three-way approach to things has affected their speech, as well.  Whereas we would discuss an issue on the basis of "on one hand, or on the other hand", the Moties conclude with "but on the gripping hand" to indicate the real point of a debate.

In this case, on one hand, there is obviously a plethora of brilliant science fiction novels that would be ideal subjects for movie adaptations.  On the other hand, Hollywood's caution in this area may be justified:  adaptations from SF novels are more noted for their failure than their success.

On the gripping hand?  State of the art 20 years ago would have allowed for adaptations from most if not all of the books I've listed.  Aren't we long overdue for someone to do the same thing for science fiction that Peter Jackson did for fantasy with the Lord of the Rings movies?

In other words, what are we waiting for?

- Sid

"Casual yet commanding."

RED SHIRT Cologne is made for the young, modern man of the Galaxy who doesn't hesitate, who revels in being alive today.

Every now and then, I stumble across something that illustrates a degree of ... commitment, let's say, to the genre that we lesser mortals can only admire, never equal.  This time, we present for your viewing pleasure....
Star Trek Cologne.

Yes, Star Trek Cologne..."Leave Logic Behind" with the scent of Pon Farr, or "Boldly Go" with Tiberius, a casual yet commanding scent

And if at some point in the future you're unable to think of a suitable birthday or seasonal gift for me, please god do not waste your money on buying one of these fine products with me in mind.  Even if I did wear cologne, in my opinion it would be a demonstration of remarkable personal courage to dab on a bit of Red Shirt before heading out on any sort of "away mission".

- Sid

Hello, Colin.

Hello, Colin.  Let's see….if memory serves, this would be a non-visitation weekend, so hopefully you're booking some Campbell time, getting in a little rest and relaxation on your own.

I mentioned to you that my new job came with a pay raise, but for whatever reason it's a lot more dramatic than I thought it would be in terms of surplus cash.  As a result, I went out yesterday and cautiously wasted a little money downtown, bought some DVDs and a couple of books. (I know, that doesn't sound too extravagant, but I did say "cautiously", after all.)

I'm pleased by the new movie repackaging system that's started showing up on the shelves at HMV - pairs or trios of movies that share a theme of some sort, combined in a single package.  I picked up a combination pack containing the critically acclaimed Pan's Labyrinth, which I just didn't get to while it was in commercial release, and The Cell, a Jennifer Lopez science fiction/fantasy vehicle from 2000 that I did see in commercial release, such are the vagaries of life.  The Cell wasn't as critically acclaimed, unfortunately - perhaps not a stellar movie in terms of plot, but very rich visually. Cost me a whopping eight dollars for the set - see above re:  caution. 

I also bought the special edition of GATTACA, nice little concept SF piece, and finally laid my hands on a used wide-screen copy of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  (I have seen so many full screen copies of that movie for sale, I was starting to wonder if a wide screen version existed…)  I did a blog posting some time ago which discussed steampunk and its lack of real penetration into the mainstream, but you know, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen came pretty close to creating a niche for steampunk mashup.  I wonder if they'll ever adapt the less approachable comic book sequel, which pits the League against H. G. Wells' Martians?

But all of that is just preamble.  What I really wanted to mention was that I picked up a trade paperback of China Miéville short stories, Looking for Jake - $17.00 at Chapters, so much for caution - and if you haven't already gotten it through The Science Fiction Book of the Month Club, I recommend that you keep an eye out for it in regular paperback format.  Which I suppose I could have done as well, but I've been coveting this particular book for some time - as witnessed by the fact that I basically read the whole thing in one sitting.

If memory serves, I introduced you to China Mieville when I was reading his Perdido Street Station, which coincidentally also came out in Y2K.  There's actually a good little piece in the collection I bought that's set in the same milieu, which discusses the fate of Jack Half-A-Prayer, the fReemade renegade whose arm has been replaced with a gigantic mantis claw. 

In fact, the whole book is full of impressive bits and pieces.  Some of them are a bit oblique, as with the tale of the feral streets, or viae ferae, to be technical, but as always Mieville's baroque writing style pulls the reader in and engulfs them totally.  In short form, he reminds me a bit of Clive Barker - come to think of it, there's a certain resemblance in their longer works too, a sort of poetic fascination with the grotesque.  But I think that Mieville has more of an urban fixation than Barker. In Mieville's stories, the sprawl of buildings and streets, alleys and walkways, is as much a character as it is a setting. 

You know, I like to think that I've done well by our friendship in terms of recommending authors. Not only can I take credit for China Miéville, as far as I know I aimed you at Terry Pratchett and Iain M. Banks.  But that's not intended to suggest that you're in any way behind, after all, you got me started on Little Feat and John Hartford - looks like a tie to me.

Talk to you soon,

- Sid