[14:03] Lewis Luminos: finished Perdido Street Station
/ omg what an ending / poor Lin / and poor Yag too :([14:04] Jago Constantine: Yeah ... / Harsh stuff
[14:04] Lewis Luminos: definitely not a happy ending
[14:04] Jago Constantine: He's not a happy ending kind of writer
[14:04] Lewis Luminos: and then I read something esle that wasn;t science fiction at all
[14:04] Lewis Luminos: lol
[14:04] Jago Constantine: GET OUT!
[14:04] Jago Constantine: just kidding
[14:04] Lewis Luminos: lol
[14:05] Jago Constantine: What was it?
[14:05] Lewis Luminos: The Piano
[14:05] Jago Constantine: Was there a movie of that?
[14:05] Lewis Luminos: yes but I've not seen it / I intend to now
[14:05] Jago Constantine: I think I've seen parts of it anyway
[14:05] Lewis Luminos: not my usual sort of book, but I enjoyed it
[14:05] Jago Constantine: or maybe that was a spoof / lol
[14:06] Lewis Luminos is not into chick-flick stuff normally
[14:06] Jago Constantine: ok
[14:06] Jago Constantine: Well, I read Stephen Baxter
's 'Space
'[14:06] Lewis Luminos: was it good?
[14:06] Jago Constantine: It was great
[14:07] Jago Constantine: It's really mindblowing cosmological science fiction
[14:07] Jago Constantine: Begins maybe 20 years in the future and goes for 10,000 years lol
[14:07] Lewis Luminos: wow thats some saga
[14:08] Jago Constantine: Yeah... it's told as vignettes from different points in history / As characters travel through hyperspace (kind of) and skip through time in the outside universe / It's written from an interesting angle about the fermi paradox and why we haven't seen any aliens
[14:09] Lewis Luminos: sounds like an interesting approach / oh? what does it say about that?
[14:10] Jago Constantine: yeah it is, it's the second book in a trilogy but it stands alone / that's kind of a spoiler :P
[14:11] Lewis Luminos: I read a few books in the battletech
/Mechwarrior universe, and there are no aliens there either[14:11] Lewis Luminos: but it doesnt detract from it at all.
[14:12] Jago Constantine: This has aliens, and the question is why did they show up now
[14:12] Lewis Luminos: aah
[14:12] Jago Constantine: just when we emerge into a high tech civilisation / because there should have been some around long before us / Anyway, I'd previously read the third novel in the series, and was disappointed / So I'm glad I read them out of order / lol
[14:13] Lewis Luminos: was that because you read them out of order?
[14:14] Jago Constantine: No, I think I would have been disappointed anyway / The third book had some interesting ideas
[14:14] Lewis Luminos: I try to read them in sequence wherever possible
[14:14] Jago Constantine: me too
[14:14] Lewis Luminos: my library annoys me, sometimes they only have one book out of a trilogy
[14:14] Lewis Luminos: usually not the first
[14:15] Jago Constantine: lol I hate that / And noone will borrow that book unless they read the first / so it's pointless
[14:15] Lewis Luminos: *nods*
[14:15] Jago Constantine: I see the same thing in DVD stores / When I look for anime series
[14:15] Lewis Luminos: yeah
[14:15] Jago Constantine: they sold the first disc and have discs 2-12 on the shelf lo
[14:15] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:16] Lewis Luminos: my daughter collects anime so I'm familiar with that complaint
[14:16] Jago Constantine: Do I want to order it in? No! I want it now or I get something else :P
[14:16] Lewis Luminos: lol
[14:16] Jago Constantine: I just joined netflix or the australian version
[14:16] Lewis Luminos: I never really got into anime much at all
[14:16] Jago Constantine: that's fantastic, the best way to do it
[14:16] Lewis Luminos: I dont have the patience to watch them
[14:17] Jago Constantine: heh they can vary wildly in their quality
[14:17] MT Mimulus: Hi Jago
[14:17] Lewis Luminos: rather read the manga / hi MT
[14:17] Jago Constantine: Hi, rant, hi, MT
[14:17] MT Mimulus: Hello Lewis
[14:17] Lewis Luminos: hi Rant
[14:17] Jago Constantine: Try clicking on the innner edge
[14:17] rant Ugajin: hi
[14:18] Jago Constantine: We're just discussing what we read this week
[14:18] rant Ugajin: sorry to be late
[14:18] Jago Constantine: Lewis finished Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
/ I read Space by Stephen Baxter[14:18] rant Ugajin: i came to listen
[14:19] Jago Constantine: That's cool :) / Did we lose MT?
[14:19] rant Ugajin: she went to eat / do you know Dan Simmons
?[14:19] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:19] Jago Constantine: Yes, the last book I read of his was The Terror
[14:19] Lewis Luminos doesn't
[14:19] Jago Constantine: I loved it
[14:19] rant Ugajin: what is his trilogy called? / based on greek myths
[14:20] Jago Constantine: Hmm not sure about a trilogy ... he wrote four books in the Hyperion Cantos
[14:20] rant Ugajin: those are them
[14:20] Jago Constantine: and I think it was two based on the greek myths
[14:20] Jago Constantine: Ilium
and Olympos
[14:20] rant Ugajin: yes / must read them again
[14:20] Jago Constantine: I loved the first greek one, but the sequel a bit less
[14:20] Lewis Luminos: ohh. I say Olympos this week in the library
[14:20] rant Ugajin: what did you guys read last?
[14:21] Lewis Luminos: *saw
[14:21] rant Ugajin: is that in world?
[14:21] Lewis Luminos: I read Perdido Street Statiion
[14:21] rant Ugajin: have you talked about it Lewis?
[14:21] Jago Constantine: He can recap :)
[14:21] rant Ugajin: please
[14:22] Lewis Luminos: sure, well its a very gritty urban setting / fairly low-tech world, almost steam-punk-ish
[14:22] Jago Constantine: I would call it steampunk
[14:22] Lewis Luminos: with a classic science fiction theme - bug-hunting / in this case literally
[14:22] rant Ugajin: bug hunting?
[14:22] Jago Constantine: like in alien
[14:22] Lewis Luminos: the heroes are after some giant killer moths
[14:23] Jago Constantine: the plot revolves around hunting a monster / or The Thing
[14:23] Lewis Luminos: whilst dodging the militia and the local drug-gangs / *nods* same sort of theme as Alien, / xcept the setting is an urban city, not a spaceship
[14:23] rant Ugajin: i see
[14:24] Lewis Luminos: anyay. I really enjoyed it
[14:24] Jago Constantine: I recommend the sequel too, I liked it more - The Scar
[14:24] Lewis Luminos: yeah I will have to buy that one I think
[14:24] Lewis Luminos: definitely want to read more about the city
[14:24] Jago Constantine: It's set in a city too, but one made of thousands of ships lashed together
[14:25] Lewis Luminos: oh its not New Crozubon then?
[14:25] Jago Constantine: No, though it has characters from there
[14:25] Lewis Luminos: ooh. :)
[14:26] Jago Constantine: So I read Space by Stephen Baxter / it's a cosmological science fiction novel / looks at big questions about the universe
[14:27] rant Ugajin: wha are the big questions?
[14:27] Jago Constantine: the plot stretches over thousands of years as characters travel through hyperspace / The main one is the fermi paradox - where is everyone? / Why haven't we discovered any trace of aliens / They show up in the book, so the question becomes, why now? Why did they appear just when we did
[14:28] rant Ugajin: we are immortals?
[14:28] Jago Constantine: the characters?
[14:28] rant Ugajin: yes the charachters
[14:28] Jago Constantine: they live a long time because of the hyperspace ... they skip through normal time
[14:29] rant Ugajin: but they live and die
[14:29] Jago Constantine: basically they're being transmitted and reassembled at different places / yes
[14:29] Lewis Luminos: interesting philosophical questions there
[14:29] rant Ugajin: haha
[14:29] Lewis Luminos: about self identity
[14:29] rant Ugajin: ??
[14:30] Jago Constantine: Yeah ... there are lots of cool, big scale effects too / like terraforming the moon and so on / alien invasions / So next I'm going to read an old anthology I picked up ... Galactic Dreamers
/ edited by Robert Silverberg.[14:32] rant Ugajin: what is that about Jago?
[14:32] Jago Constantine: Stories by Jack Vance
, James Blish, Brian Aldiss, J G Ballard, Cordwainer Smith[14:32] Jago Constantine: sounds good
[14:32] rant Ugajin: hi boris
[14:32] Jago Constantine: It says it's about / "Visionary" science fiction
[14:33] Lewis Luminos: isn't ALL science fiction "visionary"?
[14:33] rant Ugajin: what does visionary mean in this context?
[14:33] Jago Constantine: yeah, but some more than others
[14:33] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:33] Jago Constantine: wait I'll grab it and check the blurb
[14:33] rant Ugajin: lol
[14:34] rant Ugajin: where's betsy?
[14:34] Jago Constantine: 'for Silverberg ... the best science-fiction stories are visionary and mystical'
[14:34] rant Ugajin: k
[14:34] Lewis Luminos: I would agree with that
[14:34] Jago Constantine: 'offering that transcendental experience that only the best science fiction can provide / I think it's supposed to be mind-expanding :) / I'll let you know how it is next week at the meeting :) / What are you reading next, Lewis?
[14:36] Lewis Luminos: The Speed of Dark
by Elizabeth Moon[14:36] Lewis Luminos: set in the near future
[14:36] Jago Constantine: I've never read any of hers :P
[14:37] Lewis Luminos: about a guy who's a genius mathematician
[14:37] Lewis Luminos: well more than that
[14:37] Lewis Luminos: mind like a computer
[14:37] rant Ugajin: i sec brb
[14:37] Jago Constantine: ok
[14:38] Jago Constantine: heh and what does he do?
[14:38] Lewis Luminos: I'm not sure yet, not started reading it
[14:38] Jago Constantine: heh ok
[14:38] Lewis Luminos: seems to be somewhat cyberpunk-y, based on the blurb
[14:38] Jago Constantine: Ok
[14:39] Lewis Luminos: talks about a Corporation that he works for
[14:39] Jago Constantine: Anything with corporations sounds a little cyberpunk
[14:39] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:39] Lewis Luminos: *nods* part of the definition :-D
[14:40] Jago Constantine: Oh, if I made a group for Science Fiction Saturday, would you be interested?
[14:43] Jago Constantine: You there?
[14:43] Lewis Luminos: sorry yeah
[14:43] Lewis Luminos: and yes definitely
[14:44] Jago Constantine: Cool :)
[14:44] Lewis Luminos: thanks :)
[14:44] Jago Constantine: I was thinking maybe we could have meetings elsewhere sometimes
[14:44] Jago Constantine: Like at Insilico :)
[14:45] Jago Constantine: Of course, I like to get traffic up on my land lol
[14:45] Lewis Luminos: I have a meeting venue available too
[14:45] Jago Constantine: Oh how did your philosophy group go?
[14:45] Lewis Luminos: not started yet
[14:45] Lewis Luminos: First one next weekend
[14:45] Jago Constantine: ah ok
[14:46] Jago Constantine: What's your venue like?
[14:46] Lewis Luminos: its a garden, with seating,
[14:46] Lewis Luminos: dancefloor, in case anyone wants a party
[14:46] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:47] Jago Constantine: Well, I'm kind of talked out :P
[14:48] Jago Constantine: Less people this week lol
[14:48] Jago Constantine: Fewer
[14:48] Lewis Luminos: *nods*
[14:48] Jago Constantine: Got anything else sci fi you want to talk about?
[14:48] Lewis Luminos: these things take time to get into a pattern
[14:48] Jago Constantine: Yeag
[14:48] Jago Constantine: yeah
[14:48] Lewis Luminos: ah MT is back
[14:48] Jago Constantine: Oh I watched a sci fi anime called Gasaraki
, which was pretty dull[14:49] Lewis Luminos: maybe she has a book to talk about
[14:49] Jago Constantine: Hi, MT, are you a sci fi reader?
[14:49] Jago Constantine: rant is afk I think
[14:50] Jago Constantine: anyway I don't recommend Gasaraki unless you're into mecha
[14:50] MT Mimulus: Sorry I had to leave
[14:50] Jago Constantine: No worries :)
[14:50] Jago Constantine: Have you read any science fiction lately, MT?
[14:50] MT Mimulus: I'm reading The Algebraist
right now[14:51] Jago Constantine: Cool, Iain Banks
[14:51] Jago Constantine: I liked that one
[14:51] MT Mimulus: Yes. Its very good - funny
[14:51] Jago Constantine: The aliens are whimsical
[14:51] Jago Constantine: the main aliens
[14:51] Lewis Luminos: hehe
[14:51] Lewis Luminos: sounds fun
[14:52] MT Mimulus: It is. A good read
[14:52] Jago Constantine: they have an economy based on kudos
[14:52] MT Mimulus: Sounds familiar, doesn't it
[14:52] Lewis Luminos: yeah but I can't place where from
[14:52] Lewis Luminos: great idea though
[14:53] Jago Constantine: it's like Cory Doctorow
's book[14:53] Jago Constantine: the magic kingdom one
[14:53] Lewis Luminos: like trading favours
[14:53] Jago Constantine: yeah
[14:53] Jago Constantine: In that people have power based on their reputation
[14:53] Lewis Luminos: *nods*
[14:53] MT Mimulus: But lacking any logic to the system
[14:53] Jago Constantine: hehe
[14:53] Lewis Luminos: ohh I remember where I've come across that idea before
[14:54] MT Mimulus: Whre is that Lewis?
[14:54] Lewis Luminos: Vampire the masquerade
. The RPG[14:54] Jago Constantine: lol really?
[14:54] Lewis Luminos: it all revolves round political intrigue
[14:54] Jago Constantine: how did that work
[14:54] Lewis Luminos: social status
[14:54] Lewis Luminos: depends on who owes you favours
[14:54] Jago Constantine: oh cool
[14:55] Lewis Luminos: the more important the people that owe you, the more important you become
[14:55] Lewis Luminos: thus you rise up the social ladder
[14:55] Lewis Luminos: whilst trying to avoid being staked, of course
[14:56] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:56] MT Mimulus: How often do you hold these discussions, Jago?
[14:57] Jago Constantine: this is the second one
[14:57] Jago Constantine: once a week is the plan
[14:57] MT Mimulus: Is there usually a theme proposed?
[14:57] MT Mimulus: Or I should say, will there be?
[14:57] Jago Constantine: The theme is just sci fi :)
[14:58] Jago Constantine: What we've done is talk about what we each read last, and what we want to read next
[14:58] MT Mimulus: I see
[14:58] Jago Constantine: With some free discussion of course
[14:59] Jago Constantine: I just made a group if you're interested
[14:59] MT Mimulus: Yes
[14:59] Jago Constantine: Although the notices will be in events too
[14:59] MT Mimulus: If I have room
[14:59] Lewis Luminos: and on SL Universe forums :)
[14:59] Jago Constantine: yes, and on SLU
[15:00] Jago Constantine: Thanks for joining :)
[15:00] MT Mimulus: Thanks Jago
[15:00] Jago Constantine: We might have meetings at different locations sometimes
[15:00] Jago Constantine: I was thinking Insilico, the cyberpunk sim
[15:01] MT Mimulus: I haven't been there - should be interesting
[15:01] Jago Constantine: or the museum of robots
[15:01] Lewis Luminos: that would be cool :)
[15:01] MT Mimulus: Yes it would be
[15:01] Jago Constantine: Feel free to post to group chat
[15:01] Lewis Luminos: maybe we should dress the part too
[15:01] Jago Constantine: During the week if you like
[15:01] MT Mimulus: OK
[15:01] Lewis Luminos: ok
[15:02] Jago Constantine: It is a group for discussion after all ;)
[15:02] Jago Constantine: If we meet at an rp place like insilico it would be good to dress the part :)
[15:02] Lewis Luminos: yeah thats what I was thinking
[15:02] Jago Constantine: I will check with the Insilico owner and see if she'd let us meet there
[15:03] MT Mimulus: ok
[15:03] Jago Constantine: they have an out of character bar
[15:03] Jago Constantine: Is rant there, MT? Would he like to join the group?
[15:04] MT Mimulus: I don't think so
[15:04] MT Mimulus: He seems to be away
[15:04] Jago Constantine: Would he be interested in the group?
[15:05] MT Mimulus: I think he is interested in Sci Fi but I don't know about joining a group
[15:05] MT Mimulus: Hello Boris
[15:05] Lewis Luminos: even the dog is trying to wake him up
[15:05] Jago Constantine: heh
[15:05] MT Mimulus: haha
[15:05] Jago Constantine: I just set the group so any of you can invite members
[15:05] Jago Constantine: It's also open enrolment anyway :)
[15:05] MT Mimulus: OK Jago
[15:05] Lewis Luminos: cool, thanks
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