You in the Red Shirt

[spectralbovine]

Tonight, I went to a John Scalzi event at Borderlands! There was John Scalzi, talking about geekdom, reading about aliens, answering endless questions about the Old Man's War movie, answering MY question about balancing humor and heartbreak, being all-around entertaining.

Comments

[sophiap]

I absolutely adore OMW, and you summed up why better thn I ever could. I can't wait to hear what you think of The Ghost Brigades.

[spectralbovine]

OH MY GOD as soon as I found out what they were I was so excited to read the next book. Unfortunately, I am delaying my reading of the other books until I read the Hugo-nominated works, so that goddamn Voter Packet better come out soon!

[megotelek]

I think John Scalzi does a lot of things I like and he does them really well, so clearly I must read all of his books as soon as possible.

Yes, this is the correct conclusion!

[spectralbovine]

Apparently I might like The Android's Dream quite a bit. But I will get to that after I read the other OMW books.

[megotelek]

Ooh, I actually haven't read The Android's Dream yet, I need to get around to that.

[seawench]

Android's Dream is a lot of fun, but I think my favorites so far are Agent to the Stars and The Human Division.

I'm a huge fan of the OMW series, and I listened to Human Division in its serialized form. The thing that really sold it for me is how much of the OMW world(s) you finally get to see. It filled in a bunch of the grey areas in my understanding of that universe. Also, it developed characters you don't see enough in the main series.

Agent to the Stars, well, is just amazing. I don't really want to hint at anything because SPOILERS. It's probably Scalzi's tightest standalone novel and more along the lines of the humor in Redshirts. It's also unique (in the Scalzi oeuvre) in that it takes place on what is basically our Earth.

Fuzzy Nation is also excellent, especially as read by Wil Wheaton. Most of his books are awesome, though. I'm currently reading his instructions on how to write professionally (titled: You're Not Fooling Anyone when You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop).

[homegoddess]

I read Starship Troopers so many years ago I hardly remember it, but I do remember the idea that being in the military gave a person the right to vote. I also found that very interesting. I also remember that I thought the movie was terrible.

[spectralbovine]

I remember liking the movie, and I rewatched it recently and still enjoyed it, definitely more than I enjoyed the book, where nothing happens. It's not great, but it's pretty entertaining.

[ethanvahlere]

I agree with you about the movie, though I had the opposite reaction to the novel; I didn't like it precisely because of its pro-military tone.

[k8cre8]

I briefly met Scalzi at the WorldCon here in Denver, where I was on staff in the Press room for the Hugos, (He was a nominee that year for The Last Colony, and Best Fan writer, which he won) and the con's general writing staff. I am slightly ashamed I've not yet read any of his novels (and no, I didn't vote in the novel category, since I hadn't managed to read all of them.), though I enjoy his blog, and found him to be quite nice. That was the year Blink won for short form dramatic piece, and Moffat sent a lovely video as an acceptance speech, but was not there in person. My first, (and only, so far) attendance of a Hugo awards. It was lovely.

Anyway, cool meeting for you both... :)

[soundingsea]

Ooh, Old Man's War! That's a fantastic universe. You have many good books to enjoy!

[spectralbovine]

I can't wait to go back to that universe!!