heinleinblog

Jeff Soyer of Alphecca fame has created an online novel called Colony. I’m just now starting to give it a read. It looks to be packed with stuff.

[tags]Alphecca,Colony,Heinlein[/tags]

The Cranky Insomniac says he’s a:

US Army veteran, libertarian hawk, musician, gun rights advocate, PR consultant and NASCAR fan who worked for NBC News in Washington for three years, in Hollywood for ten years and has a BA in political science from Columbia University.

OK …he passes.

But his email to me includes some interesting questions:

PS: I’d be forever grateful if you could explain to me how The Moon is a Harsh Mistress didn’t make that list of 100 SF books you have to read…

PPS: Am I the only hardcore Heinlein fan who thinks Starship Troopers was a really good film, as long as you forget that it’s based on the book?

The first question is easy: You are I are biased. Were we creating this list, we would gleafully and unashamedly fill it with Heinlein works, and fill whatever open spots remain with Heinlein’s Children.

Still, it’s hard to believe that JUST THREE of the Master’s works made the cut.

As to the other question, I agree that the movie Starship Troopers SHOULD have been promoted as an original work and not an adaptation of a novel, since there were so many departures in plot and characters from Heinlein’s classic.

Let’s say, for a moment, the movie had a different title and the characters had different names. It’s entirely possible that this movie would have been able to run WITHOUT traggering a copyright infringement suit from the Heinlein Estate. The departures were that significant. The bugs shooting plasma out of their asses and starships flying around in defiance of the laws of motion were enough, IMHO.

But would it have been a good movie? Granted, I might have cringed a little but less. But the over-the-top acting and the Nazi imagery would still have put me off.

No. It was NOT a good film. Even the shower scene — normally something that perks me right up — left me feeling exploited and sorry for the actresses who had to film it.

[tags]Cranky Insomniac,Starship Troopers[/tags]

First, The Heinlein Society site just added a gallery of Bonny Doon pics.

Second, James Gifford’s site:RAH also added sections to the Heinlein FAQ page, as well as nice essay.

Nice to be back, BTW.

Visit The Eternal Golden Braid, a Blogspot site operated by recent commentor Fred Kiesche.

It’s got a ton of posts about space, space exploration and the Golden Age of science fiction. No wonder he visits heinleinblog.

This guy runs a site that real-life lists inventions that made their first appearance in science fiction. Heinlein has two full pages. There stuff on this list I forgot about, or barely remembered because of the matter-of-a-fact way RAH managed to slip them into his stories.

I gotta admit, this one surprised me. Generally, I can tell from the ham-handed questioning what the results would be. I didn’t think I was that analytical. As a rule, I take these little quizzes with a larked sized grain of salt.

My referral logs show a visitor came here from a Google search for ‘ “starship troopers” stills shower.’ Sorry to disappoint. It’s funny how so many critics of the movie complain about deviations from the book (no powered armor, fascist imagery, sadistic drill instructors, bugs shooting plasma out of their butts into outer space, etc.), but I don’t hear as many complaints about the infamous co-ed shower scene. They must not have minded all that much. While other Heinlein books had plenty of wet and naked frolicking, it was a totally inappropriate in “Starship Troopers,” which tried to represent conditions inside the traditional infantry, albeit in a futuristic setting. I remember cringing at the scene when I saw it at the theater. It seemed like such an invasion of privacy. It certainly didn’t strike me as sexy. I considered that it might be the director’s attempt to demonstrate equality of the sexes and a sense of fraternity among the recruits. But, I’ve concluded that it was simple exploitation.

And no, I will not post pics or videos of the scene.

I found the following link on alt.fan.heinlein.

You belong in the Cat Who Walks Through Walls. You
are creative and cunning. Your works often
feel empty to you, though others love them.
You suspect that the universe and everyone in
it are just characters in someone else’s story.

Which Heinlein Book Should You Have Been A Character In?

Stephen Dawson has published his 1988 essay on libertarianism in science fiction on his Website.