The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

For the film portion can it be a documentary type of thing or should it be a fictional film?

L, I think science documentaries were okay'ed for that portion of the task, but then you need to read a science fiction novel.

A) If you read a science fiction novel, the film portion is to be PURE science.

example: Read Dune and watched four episodes (about 2 hours worth) of How It's Made on the Discovery Channel.

OR

B) If you read a pure science novel (sans any fiction), the film portion can be science fiction.

example: Read The Fabric of the Cosmos and what David Lynch's Dune.

And so long as the science film portion is nonfiction - television series, movie or even documentary - that is approximately 2 hours (typical movie length) then I heard that's ok.

Ok, thanks

Question: Was there a rule about the length of the film having to be 2 hours? I must have missed that. I found a cool documentary about the Mars rover to go with the space-themed scifi book I'm reading, but I think it's only an hour. :-(

Two hours is definitely okay. If you want to go shorter, I'd ask Cynthia. Or maybe you could watch that cool documentary plus an hour of some other science thing.

Sara ♥ wrote: "Two hours is definitely okay. If you want to go shorter, I'd ask Cynthia. Or maybe you could watch that cool documentary plus an hour of some other science thing."

Yeah, that'll work. Thanks.

Do vampire stories count as science fiction?

Gina wrote: "Do vampire stories count as science fiction?"

Only if they have a scientific basis, such as in I Am Legend or Parasite Positive, rather than a supernatural one like Dracula.

I'm hoping that Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson would work for this challenge? *crosses fingers*

I've already taped 3 eps of Mythbusters (one being their new show of the season that was on tonight) to watch for the other half.

Kari ♪ wrote: "I'm hoping that Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson would work for this challenge? *crosses fingers*

I've already taped 3 eps of Mythbusters (one being the..."

I'm by no means an expert on the Sci-Fi genre, but looking at the Wikipedia entry for this book it seems that this is more of a physchological thriller than sci-fi.

Quoted from Widipedia....
"The work is known for its vivid portrayal of a split personality, split in the sense that within the same person there is both an apparently good and an evil personality each being quite distinct from the other. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next."

The split caused by using experimental drugs. That sounds very sci-fi.

I wouldn't personally classify it as sci-fi (using my bookstore-employee mentality), but I guess I could see how one could argue it. I think Cynthia will have to be The Decider on this one.

Krista wrote: "Kari ♪ wrote: "I'm hoping that Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson would work for this challenge? *crosses fingers*

I've already taped 3 eps of Mythbuste..."

Thanks for the input :)

Actually, I decided to see if the library had Parasite Positive. It didn't, but I thought maybe I'd see if it had any other books by Scott Westerfeld, and came across a series called the Midnighters. The first book is called The Secret Hour. This certainly sounds like something I could enjoy. I really want to get this task done since I've just finished watching 3 hours of Mythbusters tonight *laugh* Would Secret Hour fall under Sci Fi? I know the library shows it as Science Fiction. *looks hopeful*

My local library system classifies it as Science Fiction.

Amazon classifies it as Science Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller.

Wikipedia lists it as a science fiction fantasy novel in the intro but the infobox has it listed as science fiction.

Borders lists it as Science Fiction/ Fantasy/ Horror.

The difficulty here is for many years people lumped fantasy with science fiction. I don't know enough about the novel to count it as Science Fiction.

HOWEVER the Uglies series by Scott Westerfield would be science fiction since the cause of the Pretties is by technological means.

The definition of sci-fi is: Works of fiction that use scientific discoveries or advanced technology — either actual or imaginary — as part of their plot. Jules Verne and H. G. Wells were early writers of science fiction. More recent ones are Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury.

So if you can prove that The Secret Hour involves scientific discoveries (the powers are science based rather than superhero fantasy based) or there's advanced technology...it could be sci-fi.

Sorry I couldn't help beyond that. The description doesn't clue me in completely to find any reason it would be more sci-fi than fantasy.

Tanja wrote: "My local library system classifies it as Science Fiction.

Amazon classifies it as Science Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller.

Wikipedia lists it as a science fiction fantasy novel in the intro but t..."

I'll see what I can find out about The Secret Hour. I'm pretty sure I also saw the Uglies series but didn't know anything about it and just kinda overlooked it. At least now I have something to work with. Thank you for the help! What you said about fantsy vs. sci-fi is what I have had a hard time sometimes distinguishing between the two genres.

**edit** Looks like from what Wiki has (tried not to read too much but skim through the plot summary so as not to ruin things too much) that the kids have powers. I'll check again to see what my library branches have with the Uglies series.

Kari ♪ wrote: "I'm hoping that Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson would work for this challenge? *crosses fingers*"

Jekyll & Hyde--without doubt--is science fiction. It is quintessential science fiction...as is Frankenstein for that matter.

The thing that you have to remember is that these two novels are not contemporary science fiction. For the Victorian time period which these two novels bookend, however, what Stevenson and Shelley were writing was very cutting edge sci-fi.

Sam wrote: "Kari ♪ wrote: "I'm hoping that Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson would work for this challenge? *crosses fingers*"

Jekyll & Hyde--without doubt--is scien..."

Thanks, Sam. That vaguely does come back to me about Victorian era and how these novels were seen during their time. Guess I'll need to see how Cynthia views it for the task. At least I have some backup books. and didn't return Jekyll/Hyde to the library yet.

I've certainly learned a bit more from inquiring on this task.

I am going to read Host by Stephanie Meyer...has anyone watched anything that is related to scientific discovery or related to science. Any recommdations would be great!! Thanks :)