Brent P. Newhall @BrentNewhall@scifi.fyi

...Okay, I guess the #scifibookclub was a bad idea. 😞

Discussing Brian W. Aldiss's "Hothouse" for our May #scifibookclub:

Did you notice any connections between "Hothouse" and other media? Was it (possibly) inspired by something else, and/or did it seem to inspire anything else that you've seen?

Also, I found it weird that at the end, our protagonist decides to *not* go to space and hopefully rebuild humanity, and instead dooms his children to life on a dying and deadly world. I understand his exhaustion, but it seemed a bizarrely depressing conclusion given his zest for life and figuring out ways to survive in the rest of the book.

The child protagonists surprised me; a rare thing. I found it a little harder to get into the book because of that; I didn't want to see more kids die. Also surprised by the death of Poyly out of nowhere.

Very action/adventure structure, with constant crises and very little overarching plot. I expected something more directly thoughtful, but the book rarely engages with the implications of its premise.

It's time to #discuss our #scifibookclub for May, Brian W. Aldiss's "Hothouse"!

First off: What did you notice? What stood out? Was there anything surprising, remarkable, or unusual about the book for you?

(I'll post more questions throughout the week.)

The June book for our #scifibookclub, chosen randomly, is Daniel Keyes's "Flowers for Algernon"! USD $8-$10 on Amazon right now.

Also, we'll start our #scifibookclub discussion of "Hothouse" NEXT WEEK, so you should be nearing the end of the book. How's it going?

OK, as we near the end of reading Brian W. Aldiss's "Hothouse", it's time to pick our next book for our #scifibookclub.

If you have any suggestions, let me know. Must be SF and <= 350 pages. Here's our current list; I'll choose one randomly tomorrow:

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Dawn by Octavia Butler
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Redshirts by John Scalzi
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

Via Winchell Chung (https://plus.google.com/+WinchellChung). #vintage #ad #scifi

1/3 of the way through Aldiss's "Hothouse." It's definitely way more of an action/adventure story than I anticipated. I'm enjoying it more now that I get that!

#scifibookclub reminder! We'll start discussing Brian W. Aldiss's "Hothouse" in about 2 weeks, so you should be into the book now. How's it going so far?

I'm not as far along as I planned to be -- only 14% -- but I plan to devote much of my free time the rest of this week to finishing it.

It's certainly wild and inventive so far. (Avoiding plot spoilers until we reach our discussion period.)

There's this lovely thing #doctorwho occasionally does, and is highlighted in this season (particularly in the most recent episode):

The Doctor makes his companions better people.

He shows them that life is complicated, that many decisions are hard, that the universe doesn't care but it's beautiful and worth it, and most importantly, he teaches them to *pay* *attention*.

Speaking of #doctorwho, a new version of K-9 was just released ahead of an upcoming K-9 movie.

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2017/05/new-k-9-design-revealed.html

This week's #doctorwho episode, Knock Knock, was a lot of fun!

Thankfully, they accelerate the horror storyline -- few interminable scenes of teens exploring a creepy house -- and spend more time on the emotional heart of the episode.

And we get the nosy, snooping Doctor that's so much fun to both watch, and to watch other people react to.

We also get some wonderful character-building interactions between the Doctor and Bill.

I will avoid posting any plot spoilers about the book until our discussion starts in late May.

#scifibookclub Reminder - Have you ordered/received/started your copy of Brian W. Aldiss's "Hothouse" yet? That's our book to read/discuss in May.

I just started it. FYI the first few chapters involve preteen children in mortal danger and a fair amount of setting infodump. Not complaining; just setting expectations. :)

To be clear: I've enjoyed #DoctorWho throughout its run; I love classic Who and new Who. I've liked every single actor's portrayal of the Doctor. I appreciate and love Davies's run and Moffatt's run.

The show's got plenty of ups and downs (heck, inconsistency is a defining feature of the franchise); some things work for me and others don't. But I'm a fan, and I'm thoroughly enjoying this new series.