Well, color me stupid! They DO read!

My family and I went to see Harry Potter over the weekend. I should, at this point, give a little family history. My family is new to me. My wife has 3 children by a previous marriage and they came for their summer visit. I am the very proud step-dad of 3 very intelligent, and therefore challenging, children. Ages are 18, 14 and 10.

It turns out that all of them are well read in Harry Potter mythology. The two oldest very graciuosly allowed me to copy their posts from a Harry Potter blog site onto my own site under "Movie Reviews". They both gave very pertinent and intelligent comments and comparisons between the movie and the book on which it was based. I somewhat lamely added my own comments and thanked them.

But, it was absolute music to my ears. Not only had they read Harry Potter, but they knew it so well that they were able to very cogently compare the movie to the pertinent book, and make references to previous movies and books. I am so proud, I could pop. And mine is only pride by marriage. Imagine how their mother must feel!

So take heart America! Out culture isn't crashing down around our ears, We're simply doing what we've always done historically -- we're borrowing it from England! And then, of course, we make it our own.

The Dilemma Of Sharing SF

My step-son just finished reading Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. I bought it for him so that he could read true science fiction and see if he enjoyed it. He'd already read all of the Harry Potter and Lemony Snickett books and he enjoyed those.

My oldest step-daughter just turned 18 and I haven't convinced her to read Ender's Game just yet. She's really, really, really into Harry Potter and is re-reading all of the previous books prior to the last book's release. So maybe later this summer, I'll finally convince her to give it a try. She has tapped my bookshelves for some of my more romatic (sigh) books and has enjoyed that.

So how does one share a love for science fiction? The answer I have discovered is-- you don't. You simply make it available and hope that eventually you find common ground. If you find a way, please let me know.

Ok, I'll Bite...

This has got to be the best advertising campaign since Coca-Cola took "Coke" off the market for "New Coke". Or maybe even since "Paul McCartney is really dead"....

The new film by J.J. Abrams and Co. has a trailer floating around all the major blog sites with absolutely no explanation and only one character (Rob). Its a very convincing trailer with absolutely no explanation of what's going on, what the premise of the film is, or any relevant details at all. Things just start blowing up in New York. And then the trailer ends. There's not even a title for the film or the trailer.

Dang! These people are good at marketing! A viral ad campaign on blog sites! Genius!!!

See the trailer here.

Ramblings on new books, et al.

Well, I have stocked up, once again, on new books (at least to me) and I am reading through them in my usually voracious manner. I am about to finish Matriarch, the latest in Karen Traviss' series. Then I have Lois McMaster Bujold's newest book; Legacy - The Sharing Knife Volume 2, and an oldie from John Brunner; The Crucible of Time.

I just wrote a review for Stranger in a Strange Land, which is one of my favorite books ever. I think I'm pretty much caught up on the site except for this blogging thing. All in all, I should have some time to surf more sites, catch up on what's new in sci-fi and fantasy books, and have a great summer. Here's hoping it works out tha way.