The Glade 4.0

First off, the book. Best hard science fiction I've read in years. It's Andy Weir's first book, and he originally self published on Amazon, if I'm remembering info in the afterword correctly. Dude coded his own program to simulate his orbital mechanics because nobody else has a ready tool to plot courses with the linear acceleration his ship's ion drive provides. But he still wanted to get the numbers right. That's probably the most extreme example of his research for this book, but it's all just as thorough and attentively conceived. I love the interviews where he describes his writing process as just figuring out new things that could go wrong, and trying to solve them with what a stranded astronaut would have on hand. And then, his main character's narration and voice makes the damn thing hilarious, to boot!

So, read the book of you're inclined to reading and have a few nights to curl up with it. It's worth your time.

Now, the movie -- everybody should watch it. It only blatantly Hollywoodizes one thing near the end, and managed to maintain the spirit of the book throughout the sensible cuts to edit for time. It doesn't back down from the scientific authenticity, it elevates and idolizes the engineering ingenuity and willingness to tackle immense hurdles, setbacks, and nigh-impossible challenges that our country's space program was founded on. And it nails the important characters portrayals.

There's no excuse not to watch this movie. Do it. Read the book if you can. Get excited about named space exploration again. Let's create and support a new generation of bold heroes willing to risk it all to advance our understanding of the universe and extend the reach and achievement of mankind.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I'm normally pretty blasé toward "hard science fiction" (while I adore and respect the hell out of STEM fields, I generally prefer more "fiction" in my "science fiction"), but this was great indeed. Between the sterling script (by Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Cabin in the Woods Mutant Enemy alum Drew Goddard!) and Ridley Scott's normal impeccable direction, it took what could have otherwise been a very dry survival tale and made it consistently engaging, thoroughly cinematic, and funny to boot. No real need for 3D, as even with it the image is pretty flat (aside from some flying particulate), but see it in IMAX if you can (unfortunately, The Walk ate up the local IMAX screen).

Read the book, 'Skeee. It's not all Drew by any means, as great as he is.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Reading the book now.

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Raell Kromwell

Saw this Tuesday - pretty damned amazing. Powering through the audio book too lol

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probably won't get to see it in theater, the joys of having a 1 year old...

I bought the book on my kindle the other day though, couldn't put it down. Like Farsky, I typically like more fiction in my scimitar, but this was the best book I've read in some time.

Best autocorrect, quoted for posterity...

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Saw this last Friday, was definitely not disappointed.

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

Haha, that is a good one. I love apple...

Finally got my sorry rear out of the house and went to see it.

Very happy I did. Excellent Science Fiction film.

Favorite line "I'm going to have to Science the hell out of this."

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

I did finish the book. It was the first time, in a long time something I read made me laugh out loud. The only bad part...it was over. I wanted it to keep going.

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Raell Kromwell