#old sci-fi

[technicallyclassyperfection]

orbital power plant by alexei leonov & andrei sokolov

[nichknack]

If I see one more person complain about the special effects in Doctor who, particularly the effects in classic who, I will lose my shit

[lsdchannel]

[landofwindandskyscrapers]

7/52 Wasp: A Review

Also: domestic terrorism for fun & profit

Also also: wow, the past really do be like that

So I guess this is starting to become a book review blog now.

Wasp is a very strange, weird book, to the point I didn't like it even though I don't feel it totally wasted my time.

By modern standards.

Because, and this is crucial, it was released in 1957.

I've said before that the past is a foreign country, and this book makes it apparent; to give an example, midway through the book, I realized that there were no female characters.

Or female bit-parts.

Or mention of any gender save from men at all.

And it goes deeper than that; the main character can just walk into a bar and…. magically find a pair of assassins to order around.

The novel starts with the protagonist…almost meekly accepting that he's being drafted in the Earth - Sirian war as a spy and saboteur because he was raised on a Sirian planet.

And there's no exploration of his feelings about, save bits and pieces that are…almost pro-forma?

It honestly feels like a lot of…. narrative technology? Wasn't yet available for book authors.

It’s also jarring how much more violent everything is, in an off handed way. Which makes sense; this is not a book that could have been written post-9/11, what with moral being “domestic terrorism is a fun & wholesome way to achieve your military aims”.

The strangest, yet most interesting parts are in what isn't said, but is taken for granted.

A lot of references are made to the boot camp for spies the protagonist went through - which impressively brings him 85% of the way to James Bond levels of competency - but we're never shown what the book camp was like, if he made any friends there…

In the Jason Bourne books, the source of his abilities* is a gripping mystery.

Here, it's still a gripping mystery, but the novel doesn't care.

I'm trying not to be too harsh on this book - I first got interested in it because it was advertised as a primer on saboteur activities and was bitterly disappointed.**

The alien culture is interesting - the little we see of it - in that it feels distinct. In the “other country over in Europe” kind of way, not “completely alien” kind of way, but still.

(Oh yeah, the aliens are basically human, the book is laughably bad at hiding this).

What I can recommend it for is as a window into the past.

*Side note: spies in fiction are superheroes, fight me irl if you disagree. The feats they perform are things that would take whole teams to accomplish in real life, their gadgets are just disguised tinkertech/supertech…hells, the villains in spy movies and superhero movies can probably waltz from one genre to the next, no adaptation necessary!

**Aside from the gadgets he has, the main character is so effective because….he has a truckload of cash he can bribe people with. I was actually reading this through the lens of the Ukraine war and I concluded it was useless for them.

[snarkleharkle]

I had to sharse this somewhere. My workplace has a lot of weird channels. Among others a channel that plays nothing but episodes of Andromeda.

Anyone remember that show?

[wispedvellichor]

doctor who is so hilarious cuz its like yes we are a sci-fi show exploring dark themes of morality and obsession and the implications of present-day capitalism and yes our lead artists are Spice Girls and Britney Spears hope this helps <3

[esonetwork]

Killers From Space | Episode 357

New Post has been published on http://esonetwork.com/killers-from-space/

Killers From Space | Episode 357

Jim tales a somewhat humorous look at a cult sci-fi from 1954- W. Lee Wilder’s “Killers From Space,” starring Peter Graves, Barbara Bestar, James Seay, Frank Gerstle, Steve Pendleton, John Frederick and Ben Welden. A nuclear physicist (Graves) is abducted by aliens and told of their plan to conquer the Earth … but, no one believes him. Find out more on this episode of MONSTER ATTACK!, The Podcast Dedicated To Old Monster Movies.

[technicallyclassyperfection]

Steinar Lund, Morris Scott Dollens, Ray Feibush, and Robert McCall.

[loumoonz]

Oh they’re such silly goobers with definitely only the bestest of intentions!

[cynicalclassicist]

Ah, the joy of old-timey sci-fi images!

[steampoweredwerehog]

When Gina graduated with accolades and got her dream job, she never knew her assignment would be so…alive.

A bunch of scientists scooped some weird spaghetti out of a dead god and turned it into a computer. Is that good? Hard to say if this is bad or good.

Tethis uses it/its btw

[mattaytchtaylor]

General Store

[the-watcher-in-the-sky]

[tofuingho]

ATSV Hobie is British, so he's probably more of a Whovian than a Trekkie.

We always headcanon Hobie being a nerd and a geek and loving modern nerd stuff like video games and binge watching shows and stuff like that but uhh

Where's the love for RetroGeek!Hobie???

Hobie's from 1978. The Original Star Trek came out '66.

Star Wars: A New Hope came out 77'. Halloween came out 78'. Like!!!!!!!!!

Hobie being a trekkie? Him LOVING Star Wars and sneaking in to see it over and over!!

Hobie loving old slasher horrors, the more fake syrupy blood the better

Him going to arcades and DOMINATING. Going full beast mode on the slick brand spanking new Space Invaders cabinet (released 78')

Isn't that adorable! He ties a string to a quarter with gum so he can get free plays cause he knows the arcade only upped the difficulty anyway

Retro Nerdy 70s Geek!Hobie I love you

[barkzim]

More ‘puters

theyre very pretty