The Dalek Invasion of Earth

Once a year, usually during winter break, this movie would be shown on television.  Not being familiar with the earlier Doctor Who’s I did not realise that the actor playing the doctor, Peter Cushing, wasn’t in fact the original doctor.  For some strange reason someone wanted to make two Doctor Who movies based on two story arcs from the television series.  Not that I am complaining… I loved those movies, I actually own them now and look forward to watching them every year or so as a winter treat.

Reading the book, was illuminating, and then watching the original television broadcast, was wonderful.  There was, of course, some slight changes from the movies, which is alright, I like them all on their own merits.  It was a great story no matter how it was told.  The Doctor’s words to Susan at the end of the television show indicate the man he gradually evolved to be in later stories.  There is a fundamental theme about the Doctor which has made him into a folk hero, and that is his curiosity and wonder at new places and new species, which, no matter how strange they looked, he would see them as beautiful.  It was an important lesson to be taught, to young and old people alike, the respect and acceptance of those that are different to you.  The books make this first doctor look so much better than he really is on the television show (a cranky old goat), but he really did shine this time.

Rite of Passage

Yet another of those post-Earth books with a different vision of how we (Earthlings that is…) all manage to survive the apocalypse… except this time there is no Earth (it has been destroyed in an unexplained manner).  Again we have survivors, somewhere in the not too distant future, who have evolved into their own separate cultures, one of the ship people and the other of the Colons (people who made it planet side).  The division is thus, and the protagonist lives on one of these ships, which is a world in an asteroid, a floating, cruising world, that goes between colonised planets, trading knowledge and science for material goods.  It all sounds good, though perhaps a little unfair for those planet side who no longer have the technology of the ships, and we are shown, through Mia (our strong female protagonist), the changing of perceptions, and the evolutionary changes of a people who, despite their advantages in technology, have lost some things  in their place, like art, music and literature.  Rite of Passage was very well written, riveting in fact, and some points were made that I thought were very interesting and applicable today.  Well worthy of it’s Nebula.

Dreamsnake

Not the most alluring title...I have been off fantasy ( I am just so tired of the ginormous line of sequels that follow these days) for a while now favoring science fiction over everything, but this one surprised me.  It's another Nebula winner which is why I cracked it open, and mercifully, I was drawn into the story on the first page.  What seems a very fantasy-ish book is just that but even more.   It is about civilization after a nuclear war.  So we are talking way-way-way-post-apocalyptic fiction, with just a few hints of ancient civilization thrown in to make me curious (I just love when it  can or might be traced back to good old Earth!). 
It had a kind of Planet of the Apes feel to it, you know the one where Charlton Heston discovers what is left over of the human race (not the mute Adam and Eve types), the creepy pale mutants who's heads are so far up their own butts they cant see anything but their own tummies?  Yeah... like that.
It was a good story, a pleasant sidetrack from what I have been reading recently, Vonda really knows how to pack it all in to one engaging and satisfying package.

I Am Legend

I had this interesting conversation with a seventeen year old kid the other day about books and how there are so many movies being made these days from them.  While he thought that it showed a lack of originality in movie makers, I was thinking about how my own standard practices have changed since I was his age.  These days, I don't watch a movie without first finding out if it was first a book.  I prefer to have the proper story first so that my own imagination is engaged without bias, without my characters already chosen for me by a movie director.  Either way though, there is room for disappointment.  I can remember when I first read Twilight, I had the thought several times "Gee, I hope this is in the movie", and ended up being really disappointed (though it was an all-round generally disappointing movie).

I saw the movie, I Am Legend starring Will Smith, first.  I just love Will, and always try to see whatever he has acted in, and this one did not disappoint.  I was devastated.   This movie was awful.  I have seen some terrifying post-apocalytic/apocalyptic/dystopian movies in my day, but this one was the worst.  This movie did an amazing job of showing just how the protagonist felt, the one-man show of Robert Neville (Will Smith), coping with isolation, danger, and grief, it was poignant.  So I was pretty happy to find the book.  But after one chapter I put it down and didn't look at it again for nearly two years.  I was psyched out.  I couldn't face what I knew would be happening next in the story.  It didn't start on a good note, and I knew it would just get worse.  Which was too bad, because when I finally was able to face the story again, it was a powerful experience.  I've already mentioned that the story begins on a bad note, the tension and suspense is thick right at the beginning (and constantly throughout!) and I was constantly worried about the protagonist (which is ridiculous because I know how the story ends).  But it is a worthy read.  When I finshed the story it was an "Oh wow" moment.  I have not yet figured out how to describe the strong emotions I felt at the end.
I am pleased to say that the movie payed suitable homage to the book, which, to me is a very good thing (keeping in mind my huge disappointment with Twilight the movie).

So it's just a standard practice now.  Book first, movie second, because imagination can take me places movies never will.