Top 10 Most Ridiculous Moments in Science Fiction and Fantasy Film in the 90s
Many months ago I posted a list of the top 8 most ridiculous moments in science fiction and fantasy film in the 21st century. It turned out to be the most popular post in the history of this blog, to my surprise, and inspired me to pursue further the plan I had already set up in my mind. What was that plan? To go backwards through time, decade by decade, picking out the most ridiculous moments in science fiction and fantasy film for each of those decades, as far back as I can reasonably go. So, here we are, with another list (slightly larger, of course) set one decade earlier than the last, and likely just as controversial. Note: the fact that two Dennis Hopper’s movies appear on this list is not a coincidence. Here goes (after the fold): 10. The Midichlorians — Star Wars, Episode One: The Phantom Menace If the original movies never existed, I wouldn’t have a problem with Midichlorians. They’re not a terribly stupid concept by themselves, but when your entire fanbase is familiar with the more mystical and magical world you created twenty years before, you can’t really expect them to take a half-assed scientific attempt to explain the Force seriously. The Force is the result of little alien microbes in all living things? Well, fantastic. Sounds like a disease to me, the side effects of which include turning the occasional man or woman into a raging genocidal lunatic. Wonderful. Where’s my shot of antibiotics? 9. Matthew Broderick — Godzilla When I first saw the American reboot of Godzilla, I have to admit that I was quite pleased. You’ve got to give me a break, though; I was 14, naive, and clearly without taste. That said, the one thing that completely destroyed the Godzilla movie wasn’t the story, per se, but the casting, and none more obvious that Broderick. Don’t get me wrong, I love Broderick. He has acting chops outside of the comedy genre, but taking the role of Dr. Tatopoulos was a horrible idea (and the folks that cast him should have known better). He’s not the only problem; the whole film is dragged down by its cast, despite the fact that, visually, the damned thing is gorgeous. And if you don’t believe me, ask yourself this: was Godzilla (1998) supposed to be a serious movie with a handful of cute lines, or a comedic farce meant to toy with a series of Japanese movies that only look funny to us today because they are absolutely ridiculous by modern standards? 8. Why So Serious? — Super Mario Bros. (the Movie) Trying to list all the things that were wrong with this movie would take days, but probably the most important for fans and film people is the tone. The makers of the film took a mostly cute, mostly silly video game and tried to turn it into some sort of bizarre not-quite-futuristic dystopian cheese-fest stocked with a Dennis Hopper playing an evolved dinosaur with a really bizarre hairdo, mindless slightly-alien goons serving a megalomaniacal government, strange cars that run on some sort of alternate power source, rocket boots, bad music, and bad acting. The problem is that fans were left wondering why the film was so dark, particularly since it’s based on a video game that is, by all accounts, practically G-rated by 1950s standards. 7. Vanilla “Go Ninja” Ice — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze Okay, so apparently someone in the early 90s thought it would be a good idea to get Vanilla Ice to write a song for the second TMNT movie. Instead of having the resulting tune play over the end credits, the filmmakers decided to have Ice put on a mock concert, part of which consisted of a mock “improvisation” of “Go Ninja.” You know, because everyone buys a perfectly improvised, perfectly choreographed “live” rendition from the guy whose only major hit contains the lyrics “Cut like a razor blade so fast other DJs say damn / If my rhyme was a drug I’d sell it by the gram.” Right… 6. Alien 3 (the entire movie) — Alien 3 We’ve heard the story before. What started as an attempt to tell a two-parter involving Hicks devolved into a ridiculous festival of deus ex machina in the form of killing off characters to avoid having to actually tell their stories. The worst part of all of this is that, looking back and knowing what could have been, we are left with a film that feels like a less-terrifying remake of the original Alien, without all of the emotional and societal depth, action, and visual effects established with Alien and amplified ten-fold in Aliens. When James Cameron tells you that killing off a whole bunch of important characters at the start of a film is “a slap in the face,” maybe you should listen… (Of course, it gets worse. Since Alien 3 is technically “canon,” its lazy story affected the films that followed it, which were, to say the least, not nearly up to the standard of the first two Alien movies.) 5. Waterworld — Waterworld When I first saw this movie I was naive and enjoyed it. Looking back, I think I might have been on crack, because I now have no idea how it didn’t earn a Razzie for worst picture in 1996. There are too many things wrong with this movie. Costner drinks filtered pee and has gills, the Earth is somehow covered almost entirely with water (never mind that such a thing isn’t technically possible, unless all the landmasses magically sink), a little girl has a map or whatever tattooed to her body, and Dennis Hopper runs an aquatic version of a Mad Max biker gang. It sounds remotely interesting when you put it like that, but then you see the movie and realize that someone was smoking something crazy when they picked the cast… 4. Deep Space Nine (Season One)
The Masterworks Meme: Fantasy
A couple days ago I posted a meme for Masterworks of SFF collection, focused specifically on the science fiction titles published (or re-published, if you will) by Gollanz. In the interest of fairness, I now give you the fantasy version of the meme, courtesy of Spiral Galaxy Reviews. Here are the rules:Bold the titles you’ve read.Italicize the titles you own, but haven’t read. Simple enough, right? Here goes (after the fold): 1 – The Book of the New Sun, Volume 1: Shadow and Claw – Gene Wolfe2 – Time and the Gods – Lord Dunsany3 – The Worm Ouroboros – E.R. Eddison4 – Tales of the Dying Earth – Jack Vance5 – Little, Big – John Crowley6 – The Chronicles of Amber – Roger Zelazny7 – Viriconium – M. John Harrison8 – The Conan Chronicles, Volume 1: The People of the Black Circle – Robert E. Howard9 – The Land of Laughs – Jonathan Carroll10 – The Compleat Enchanter: The Magical Misadventures of Harold Shea – L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt 11 – Lud-in-the-Mist – Hope Mirrlees12 – The Book of the New Sun, Volume 2: Sword and Citadel – Gene Wolfe13 – Fevre Dream – George R. R. Martin14 – Beauty – Sheri S. Tepper15 – The King of Elfland’s Daughter – Lord Dunsany16 – The Conan Chronicles, Volume 2: The Hour of the Dragon – Robert E. Howard17 – Elric – Michael Moorcock18 – The First Book of Lankhmar – Fritz Leiber19 – Riddle-Master – Patricia A. McKillip20 – Time and Again – Jack Finney 21 – Mistress of Mistresses – E.R. Eddison22 – Gloriana or the Unfulfill’d Queen – Michael Moorcock23 – The Well of the Unicorn – Fletcher Pratt24 – The Second Book of Lankhmar – Fritz Leiber25 – Voice of Our Shadow – Jonathan Carroll26 – The Emperor of Dreams – Clark Ashton Smith27 – Lyonesse I: Suldrun’s Garden – Jack Vance28 – Peace – Gene Wolfe29 – The Dragon Waiting – John M. Ford30 – Corum: The Prince in the Scarlet Robe – Michael Moorcock 31 – Black Gods and Scarlet Dreams – C.L. Moore32 – The Broken Sword – Poul Anderson33 – The House on the Borderland and Other Novels – William Hope Hodgson34 – The Drawing of the Dark – Tim Powers35 – Lyonesse II and III: The Green Pearl and Madouc – Jack Vance36 – The History of Runestaff – Michael Moorcock37 – A Voyage to Arcturus – David Lindsay38 – Darker Than You Think – Jack Williamson39 – The Mabinogion – Evangeline Walton40 – Three Hearts & Three Lions – Poul Anderson 41 – Grendel – John Gardner42 – The Iron Dragon’s Daughter – Michael Swanwick43 – WAS – Geoff Ryman44 – Song of Kali – Dan Simmons45 – Replay – Ken Grimwood46 – Sea Kings of Mars and Other Worldly Stories – Leigh Brackett47 – The Anubis Gates – Tim Powers48 – The Forgotten Beasts of Eld – Patricia A. McKillip49 – Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury50 – The Mark of the Beast and Other Fantastical Tales – Rudyard Kipling I’ve read a total of 0 books on the list and own 9. That’s even worse than the science fiction list. Then again, I’m not a fantasy nut. I like fantasy, but I’m more knowledgeable about science fiction’s past than I am with fantasy’s (then again, I know a lot about fantasy’s past, which means I know a crazy amount about science fiction). What about you? How many have you read and how many do you own?
The Masterworks Meme: Science Fiction
Time for another meme! I found this one at The Speculative Scotsman. It contains all the science fiction books from the Gollanz Masterworks of SFF collection. How it works: Bold the stuff you’ve read, italicize the stuff you own, but haven’t read, and leave normal everything else. Feel free to join in! (The Speculative Scotsman notes that “some of the SF Masterworks were released in a line of special hardcovers – denoted by roman numerals – as well as the paperbacks we all own a few of, so there are a few duplicates in the list.” This will account for some repeats on the list.) Here goes: I – Dune – Frank HerbertII – The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le GuinIII – The Man in the High Castle – Philip K. DickIV – The Stars My Destination – Alfred BesterV – A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M. Miller, Jr.VI – Childhood’s End – Arthur C. ClarkeVII – The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. HeinleinVIII – Ringworld – Larry NivenIX – The Forever War – Joe HaldemanX – The Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham 1 – The Forever War – Joe Haldeman2 – I Am Legend – Richard Matheson3 – Cities in Flight – James Blish4 – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick5 – The Stars My Destination – Alfred Bester6 – Babel-17 – Samuel R. Delany7 – Lord of Light – Roger Zelazny8 – The Fifth Head of Cerberus – Gene Wolfe9 – Gateway – Frederik Pohl10 – The Rediscovery of Man – Cordwainer Smith 11 – Last and First Men – Olaf Stapledon12 – Earth Abides – George R. Stewart13 – Martian Time-Slip – Philip K. Dick14 – The Demolished Man – Alfred Bester15 – Stand on Zanzibar – John Brunner16 – The Dispossessed – Ursula K. Le Guin17 – The Drowned World – J. G. Ballard18 – The Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut19 – Emphyrio – Jack Vance20 – A Scanner Darkly – Philip K. Dick 21 – Star Maker – Olaf Stapledon22 – Behold the Man – Michael Moorcock23 – The Book of Skulls – Robert Silverberg24 – The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds – H. G. Wells25 – Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes26 – Ubik – Philip K. Dick27 – Timescape – Gregory Benford28 – More Than Human – Theodore Sturgeon29 – Man Plus – Frederik Pohl30 – A Case of Conscience – James Blish 31 – The Centauri Device – M. John Harrison32 – Dr. Bloodmoney – Philip K. Dick33 – Non-Stop – Brian Aldiss34 – The Fountains of Paradise – Arthur C. Clarke35 – Pavane – Keith Roberts36 – Now Wait for Last Year – Philip K. Dick37 – Nova – Samuel R. Delany38 – The First Men in the Moon – H. G. Wells39 – The City and the Stars – Arthur C. Clarke40 – Blood Music – Greg Bear 41 – Jem – Frederik Pohl42 – Bring the Jubilee – Ward Moore43 – VALIS – Philip K. Dick44 – The Lathe of Heaven – Ursula K. Le Guin45 – The Complete Roderick – John Sladek46 – Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said – Philip K. Dick47 – The Invisible Man – H. G. Wells48 – Grass – Sheri S. Tepper49 – A Fall of Moondust – Arthur C. Clarke50 – Eon – Greg Bear 51 – The Shrinking Man – Richard Matheson52 – The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch – Philip K. Dick53 – The Dancers at the End of Time – Michael Moorcock54 – The Space Merchants – Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth55 – Time Out of Joint – Philip K. Dick56 – Downward to the Earth – Robert Silverberg57 – The Simulacra – Philip K. Dick58 – The Penultimate Truth – Philip K. Dick59 – Dying Inside – Robert Silverberg60 – Ringworld – Larry Niven 61 – The Child Garden – Geoff Ryman62 – Mission of Gravity – Hal Clement63 – A Maze of Death – Philip K. Dick64 – Tau Zero – Poul Anderson65 – Rendezvous with Rama – Arthur C. Clarke66 – Life During Wartime – Lucius Shepard67 – Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang – Kate Wilhelm68 – Roadside Picnic – Arkady and Boris Strugatsky69 – Dark Benediction – Walter M. Miller, Jr.70 – Mockingbird – Walter Tevis 71 – Dune – Frank Herbert72 – The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein73 – The Man in the High Castle – Philip K. Dick74 – Inverted World – Christopher Priest75 – Kurt Vonnegut – Cat’s Cradle76 – H.G. Wells – The Island of Dr. Moreau77 – Arthur C. Clarke – Childhood’s End78 – H.G. Wells – The Time Machine79 – Samuel R. Delany – Dhalgren (July 2010)80 – Brian Aldiss – Helliconia (August 2010) 81 – H.G. Wells – Food of the Gods (Sept. 2010)82 – Jack Finney – The Body Snatchers (Oct. 2010)83 – Joanna Russ – The Female Man (Nov. 2010)84 – M.J. Engh – Arslan (Dec. 2010) So, of the 80+ books above, I have read 9 and own around 40 (minus the repeats). That’s pretty pathetic. I am officially ashamed of myself. The only excuse I have is that I have been predominately focused on contemporary SF literature, and the books above, despite the dates in parenthesis, are mostly older books. I am happy to have read some Philip K. Dick, though. Not a lot of folks can say that! Feel free to steal the meme and do it yourself. Leave a link in the comments!
Meme: Women in Science Fiction
John Ottinger over at Grasping For the Wind posted a meme yesterday based on Sandra McDonald’s periodic table of women in science fiction. Since I’ve recently been talking about women in science fiction with Weirdside on our podcast, I thought it would be fun to do this meme here. I’ll put my stats at the bottom of the list with a brief comment. (One thing to note: I own a lot of books and it’s entirely possible that some of the folks below should be bolded who are not. I can’t remember all of the books I own; there are just too darn many.) The meme: Bold the women by whom you own booksItalicize those by whom you’ve read something of (short stories count)*Star those you don’t recognize Andre NortonC. L. MooreEvangeline Walton*Leigh BrackettJudith Merril*Joanna RussMargaret St. Clair*Katherine MacLean*Carol EmshwillerMarion Zimmer BradleyZenna Henderson*Madeline L’EngleAngela CarterUrsula LeGuinAnne McCaffreyDiana Wynne JonesKit ReedJames Tiptree, Jr.Rachel Pollack*Jane YolenMarta Randall*Eleanor Arnason*Ellen AsherPatricia A. McKillipSuzy McKee Charnas*Lisa TuttleNina Kiriki HoffmanTanith LeePamela Sargent*Jayge Carr*Vonda McIntyreOctavia E. ButlerKate WilhelmChelsea Quinn YarbroSheila Finch*Mary GentleJessica Amanda Salmonson*C. J. CherryhJoan D. VingeTeresa Nielsen HaydenEllen KushnerEllen DatlowNancy KressPat MurphyLisa GoldsteinElizabeth Ann ScarboroughMary Turzillo*Connie WillisBarbara HamblyNancy Holder*Sheri S. TepperMelissa ScottMargaret AtwoodLois McMaster BujoldJeanne CavelosKaren Joy FowlerLeigh KennedyJudith MoffettRebecca Ore*Emma BullPat CadiganKathyrn CramerLaura Mixon*Eileen GunnElizabeth HandKij JohnsonDelia ShermanElizabeth MoonMichaela Roessner*Terri WindlingSharon LeeSherwood SmithKatherine KurtzMargo LanaganLaura ResnickKristine Kathryn RuschSheila WilliamsFarah MendlesohnGwyneth JonesArdath Mayhar*Esther Friesner*Debra Doyle*Nicola GriffithAmy Thomson*Martha Wells*Catherine AsaroKate ElliottKathleen Ann GoonanShawna McCarthyCaitlin KiernanMaureen McHughCheryl MorganNisi ShawlMary Doria RussellKage BakerKelly LinkNancy SpringerJ. K. RowlingNalo HopkinsonEllen KlagesTananarive DueM. Rickert*Theodora GossMary Anne MohanrajS. L. ViehlJo WaltonKristine SmithDeborah Layne*Cherie PriestWen SpencerK. J. BishopCatherynne M. ValenteElizabeth BearEkaterina SediaNaomi NovikMary Robinette KowalAnn VanderMeer The breakdown is like this:–Total authors on the list: 117–Authors I have never heard of: 25 (21.4%)–Authors whose work I own: 49 (41.9%)–Authors whose work I’ve read: 18 (15.4%)–Authors whose work I’ve never read: 99 (84.6%) Alright, so here’s what I think about all of this. 1. While I only own work for 49 of the authors listed above, I also own multiple books by the majority of them. I am well on my way to owning everything Nalo Hopkinson and Kage Baker have ever written, have a dozen Andrew Norton novels, and quite a few from many others on the list. 2. I’m rather shocked that I don’t own work for many of the big name authors on the list. I may have to check my library to make sure I’m not forgetting things. 3. Of the 18 authors whose work I have read, many of them I have read multiple times. I’ve read two Kage Baker novels, at least four Elizabeth Bear ones, two by Jo Walton, and a number of Le Guin and Butler titles. 4. A lot of female authors I have read do not appear on this list, such as: Susan Beth Pfeffer, Jennifer Rahn, Chris Moriarty, Kay Kenyon, and Mary Shelley. 5. I really would like to read more of the authors on this list. This has been an issue for me for two reasons: the first is that I receive very few female authors in either science fiction and fantasy to review; the second is that most of the female authors I have read are either fantasy authors or authors of other genres; and the third is that I don’t have as much time for free reading as I would like, which inevitably means I don’t get to read more diversely. I am hoping to solve the last of these issues, though, and maybe I’ll get the opportunity to read more female authors in the future. We’ll see. Right now, things are looking pretty crowded. 6. After all is said and done, I do think I may have to be a little more proactive in diversifying my reading, not just in terms of gender, but in terms of race as well. I’ve said as much before, but this is making it a little more clear for me. I’ve also said in the past that my non-diverse reading is not at all intentional, nor subconscious, which is perhaps made clear by the fact that many of the women I have read on this list are folks I came to organically, enjoyed, and continue to read. And that’s the end of that. I’m curious how the numbers look for everyone else, though. Let me know in the comments.
Top 8 Most Ridiculous Moments in Science Fiction and Fantasy Film in the 21st Century
Science fiction and fantasy have had a great first decade in the 21st century. Some of the best films and television shows in the history of the genre have appeared during this time, making sure that fans can fondly remember this decade as one of the best. But the 21st century has also brought us some downright awful stuff. From The Matrix Reloaded to the Star Wars prequels, the 21st century is responsible for some of the worst SF/F moments ever. Here are eight of the most ridiculous of those moments (after the fold): 8. Durza’s Gurgling Spell Yell — EragonThink back to when you saw this movie. Remember the scene where Durza (Robert Carlyle) gurgles a long string of ridiculous words? These words: Anori Draumr abr Sundablaka it ator Virliger. Possibly the worst part of that entire movie, and that’s saying a lot, because Eragon is terrible. Carlyle tries so hard to make it work, but you can see that at some point he gave up trying to take the movie seriously and immediately went for camp. 7. In the Name of the King — In the Name of the KingYes, I mean the entire movie. Why? Flying ninja sword lunges. Burt Reynolds as King. Matthew Lillard doing a really horrible British accent. The main character’s name is Farmer, who…farms. Most importantly, however, this film single-handedly destroyed any respect I had for John Rhys Davies and every other serious actor in the cast. I’d love the movie more if the cast were made of pathetic has-beens from the 80s, all desperate to re-ignite their old careers, but In the Name of the King pretty much works in the opposite direction. This movie isn’t even bad to the point of being funny. It’s just bad. Vulcan bad. (I’d love to show you all a video of just how bad this movie is, but unfortunately all I could find were the trailers, which hardly demonstrate how ridiculous In the Name of the King is.) 6. Underground Nude Acid Rave — The Matrix ReloadedI’m not the only one to take issue with this scene from The Matrix Reloaded (I can’t embed the video, unfortunately). That said, I have an entirely different take on why this scene is absolutely absurd. If humanity has been living underground in an attempt to hide from the machines, then wouldn’t it make sense to make as little noise as possible so as not to be found? Why are any of the characters shocked that the machines found out where they live? You’re running around banging huge drums and dancing around in a giant cavern. Sound resonates, and you’d have to assume the machines are smart enough to listen to vibrations in the ground. Maybe there’s a reason why we ended up being enslaved by the machines: we’re stupid as hell. (Note: A number of people have questioned this one, and so I want to answer to it. While this particular scene is explained in the movie as an attempt to show that they’re not afraid, one has to assume that they’ve always had those drums, because they don’t explain where they came from. If you take that assumption to heart, then it’s only logical that they use the drums, otherwise there’s no reason to make them. So, the moment might be explained, but not the apparatus itself.) 5. Hayden Christensen in Any SF/F Production — Star Wars, Jumper, etc.Watch Attack of the Clones again. Now watch Jumper. See the same problems? So do I. Either someone in the editing room phoned it in, or somebody let Christensen have a seizure on camera for kicks. Any time this guy has shown up in an SF/F film, it’s been an acting disaster. The thing is, all of these films have moments where you can see his actual ability shining through, but such moments are quickly glossed over by Haydenseizures. 4. Creepy Romance (and basically everything else in The Attack of the Clones except the end with the lightsabers and Yoda) — Star Wars, Episode Two: The Attack of the ClonesI don’t need to explain. These videos can do that for me. 3. Starbuck is an Angel — Battlestar Galactica (New)I didn’t hate the finale as much as everyone else, but the one thing I didn’t like was the mysterious disappearance of Starbuck. So much of what made Starbuck appealing as a character was lost in that moment. Starbuck is an angel sent to the colonies to destroy most of mankind (edit: not directly, as in the Cylons, but indirectly through the divine necessity of her entire purpose for existing) and then lead them to Earth, where she’ll go “poof” and leave Apollo wondering what the hell happened? The audience saw that and started screaming “wtf.” Too many questions unanswered, and a whole lot of questions reduced to weird religious mumbo jumbo that makes about as much sense as the Midichlorians in Star Wars. Maybe they’ll get it right when they pull out that ridiculous movie reboot of Battlestar Galactica. 2. Future Spock — J. J. Abrams’ Star TrekI don’t even need to say anything. You just need to read this, this, and this. 1. The Name Change (like a sex change, but less acceptable) — SyFyLet’s be frank: SyFy hasn’t exactly been the bastion of science fiction television in the last ten years. They’ve consistently cut the science fiction out of their programming in exchange for crappy reality shows about BS…I mean ghosts, and they’ve produced more crappy TV movies than any other network in existence, without being smart enough to just stick Bruce Campbell in them all to save face. To give you an idea of how the programming has changed, I filched this comparison from Something Awful: SciFi Channel Sunday schedule circa 19989:00 AM – 10:00 AM Dark Shadows – Count Darcy cries about a dead pigeon.10:00 AM – 11:00 AM The Incredible Hulk – Bruce Banner fights a racist sheriff.11:00 AM – NOON Automan –
The Book Habits Meme (Reboot)
Writtenwyrdd originally posted this in October of last year, but I thought I would bring it back with a few additions. If you have a blog, then post your own answers to the following questions and leave a comment with the link! Here goes: Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack:I don’t, actually. I sort of get involved in my reading, so snacking really isn’t an option. What is your favorite drink while reading?Hot chocolate, green tea, or water. But I don’t drink while reading. I stop, get a drink, and then continue reading. I can’t imagine doing both at the same time. That’s the kind of multitasking only crazy people can muster. Imagine that. You’re reading, imagining whatever is going on in your head, reaching out your arm, grabbing a mug, and drinking all at the same time. That’s a lot of stuff going on! Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?I don’t mark in books I am reading for fun. I do for books I am using for graduate school or research. Generally I don’t like marking, but when you have to remember passages and things, marking is inevitable. That said, I own duplicates of books I really love that I have to mark in. I’m doing just that with Tobias S. Buckell’s books, actually. I recently bought all his first edition hardcovers, signed, just so I’d have a set that I could keep in perfect condition. I’m a weirdo. How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?Bookmark. Rarely will I lay the book flat and open. People who dog-ear their books are communists and shouldn’t be allowed to vote. That’s the kind of blasphemous nonsense the Inquisition wouldn’t have put up with, and that might be the only thing I would agree with them on. Fiction, nonfiction, or both?A little of both, actually. Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?I can stop anywhere, but I prefer to stop at the end of a chapter. I hate stopping in the middle of things. At best, I am comfortable with stopping at a break within a chapter, but even that is bothersome. Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?I’ve come close. I’ve slammed books down onto my bed before, but I’ve yet to toss something across the room. To be fair, I don’t own my apartment, so throwing things is a bit dangerous when I don’t want to put holes in my walls. If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?It depends on the word. If it’s really obscure, I’ll look it up. Otherwise, I use what little I know of the English language to figure out what it means on the spot. What are you currently reading?Spellwright by Blake CharltonAngel Dust Apocalypse by Jeremy Robert JohnsonThe Sacred Book of the Werewolf by Victor PelevinServant of a Dark God by John BrownPerdido Street Station by China Mieville What is the last book you bought?I think it was every single book by Tobias S. Buckell (first editions and signed). He had a deal going on at his blog and I partook. Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?I can read more than one. Sometimes I start something, find it a little dull, and move on to something else for a while. Other times I don’t have much of a choice, being a graduate student and all. I’ve had 10+ different books going at once before. Do you have a favorite time/place to read?I prefer to read somewhere not in my house and away from a computer. That’s not an easy thing to do, especially right now with a few of my geckos needing regular care. On top of that, I either need absolute silence or pure noise. Anything between is a no go. Do you prefer series books or stand alones?Stand alones. I like series, but they require you to invest a lot of time into them, and unless a series is really good, I won’t do that. There are few series that I have been obsessed enough with to buy the rest of the books and read them (Harry Potter, Tobias Buckell’s Caribbean SF, and some others). When you find a good series, though, it’s a wonderful experience. Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?Four: Tobias S. Buckell, Karen Miller, Kage Baker, and Susan Beth Pfeffer. I’ve recommend loads of others, but those three have probably seen the most airtime from my lips (or fingers, actually). How do you organize your books?(by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)I organize my books by genre and size. Mass markets are all together, with a section for SF/F, general fiction, and non-fiction. All other sizes are much the same. I separate all my books on writing from the rest, though. It makes it easier to get to them. And now that that is over with, I am going to tag Weirdside and NextRead. Again, if you want to do this on your blog, go for it and come back here to give me the link!