I've got a quite a few rattling around but I'll start with these from my sci-fi bend -

A Wrinkle In Time -

Seems like the natural progession now that Narnia Chronicles & The Hobbit are underway, The LOTR is complete, and The Last Mimzy is coming. One of my favorite stories growing up.

Neuromancer -

Still one of my alltime Gibson favorites although "The Idoru" set comes close to displacing it.

Hyperion -

This one moved the bar for me on malevolent machine intellect.

What are your choices?

"Warday" by Whitley Strieber & Jim Kunetka. A novel set 5 years after WW3, it is done in a quasi-documentary style. New York got it, of course, Washington got turned into glass, as did the missile fields in the Dakotas. The South & California remained pretty much unscathed, except for San Antonio, Texas. The war only lasted about 1/2 an hour, after Washington & Moscow blasted each other it was over. It now seems fairly quaint, as it was written 1983 when the Soviet Union was still very much in business. Due to EMP damage, most of the solid-state electronics were rendered inoperable, most cars didn't work due to electronic ignitions being fried. Another one was "Guns of the South" which was a "What if?" novel, by Harry Turtledove. In it, white supremacists from the future go back in time, & give Gen. Rob't E. Lee & the Army of Northern Virginia AK-47s...The 1st part is pretty much fun, as Bobby Lee & Co. get to soundly thrash the Yankees-Hehehehe-but the 2nd half is kinda preachy about slavery & all that. I'd like to see 'em give Gen Patton about 5 B-52s & 2 or 3 companies' worth of M1A1 Abrams & see how fast he coulda won WW2...

"Warday" by Whitley Strieber & Jim Kunetka. A novel set 5 years after WW3, it is done in a quasi-documentary style. New York got it, of course, Washington got turned into glass, as did the missile fields in the Dakotas. The South & California remained pretty much unscathed, except for San Antonio, Texas. The war only lasted about 1/2 an hour, after Washington & Moscow blasted each other it was over. It now seems fairly quaint, as it was written 1983 when the Soviet Union was still very much in business. Due to EMP damage, most of the solid-state electronics were rendered inoperable, most cars didn't work due to electronic ignitions being fried. Another one was "Guns of the South" which was a "What if?" novel, by Harry Turtledove. In it, white supremacists from the future go back in time, & give Gen. Rob't E. Lee & the Army of Northern Virginia AK-47s...The 1st part is pretty much fun, as Bobby Lee & Co. get to soundly thrash the Yankees-Hehehehe-but the 2nd half is kinda preachy about slavery & all that. I'd like to see 'em give Gen Patton about 5 B-52s & 2 or 3 companies' worth of M1A1 Abrams & see how fast he coulda won WW2...

I was just thinking about "Warday" today as I was reading "The Road". Nuclear hell aftermath. I'd go for "Guns of the South" too. Enjoyable read as Turtledove usually is.

After London, by the Victorian era nature writer Richard Jefferies. It was one of THE first science fiction books...even before some of HG Wells' classics. The story of London (and Great Britain) after some kind of worldwide disaster...natural or manmade. Jefferies also wrote his remarkable mystic autobiography, The Story of My Heart, shortly before his death in the late 1880s.

Like many other now public domain works, it's available here at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13944
The Victorian era writing takes some getting used to, but stick with it.

I'm going to have to check out Jefferiers.

I was thinking HG Wells myself.

Tono Bungay, likely his best novel and not science fiction. It's about the end of Victorian England and the rise of industrialism.

Or as it's sez here

Tono-Bungay (1909) is widely regarded as Wells's finest novel, combining futuristic science fiction and contemporary social satire. In it, George Ponderovo is apprenticed to his Uncle Edward, a dynamic chemist who invents a bogus medicine, Tono-Bungay, and earns a vast fortune. But as he witnesses Edward's spectacular rise, he also contemplates the corrupt English society that allows his uncle to wield so much power. No other writer has the breadth of Wells to encompass both George's personal breakdown and the full panorama of a degenerate imperial society.

http://www.online-literature.com/wellshg/tonobungay/

I read it here first, I now own the book. It inspired Ralph Vaughan Williams "London Symphony".

Again Victorian English is a pill but well worth it.

I'm off to read "After London", I love this era.

After London is REALLY special as a First Edition, and even a late 19th C reprint. There's just something about an old book.

The Pageant of Summer is pretty special too, but not as a movie: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/414

The Story of My Heart is here: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2317

The complete Arkady Renko series from Martin Cruz Smith. Gorky Park was made into a so-so movie, but I bet all of them would be great with some effort.

Always thought that Lovecraft's At The Mountains Of Madness would make a terrific film, in the right hands of course. Last weekend,one of my twins said some decent director (don't remember who, I'm not a follower of cinema at all) has it on his plate as a future project, finally.

Neuromancer -



I swear I had this very thought a few days ago.

Always thought that Lovecraft's At The Mountains Of Madness would make a terrific film, in the right hands of course. Last weekend,one of my twins said some decent director

Not Decent, excellent is more like it. http://www.deltorofilms.com/ProjectPage.php?projectid=9

1000 Destroyed (http://home.earthlink.net/~johnrlove/1000_destroyed/frames.html)

The Life and Times of the 4th Fighter Group.

Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov....

Atlas Shrugged

L. Ron Hubbards' "Mission Earth" dekology.

I think it would make a great 2 or 3 part movie.
Definately, one of my all time favorite stories.
Full of plot twists, action, and political controversy.
Heh.
I've read it twice.....
And i'm working on the third time.
Mostly because I gleen new information from it every time I read it as i get older.

You know.....wisdom, savvy and all. :)

It's a true sci-fi satire..
....and at 1.2 million words, could be edited to any given degree.
Literally.


Regards,
John.

"The Earth Abides"- A plague kills 99.99% of the people on earth. The people and domestic animals have to cope with a new reality.. Great read!

Always thought that Lovecraft's At The Mountains Of Madness would make a terrific film, in the right hands of course. Last weekend,one of my twins said some decent director (don't remember who, I'm not a follower of cinema at all) has it on his plate as a future project, finally.
Del Toro is the best of all possible worlds as a choice for director of this material.But did you see the note about the studio wanting to add a love store,but the director told them to get lost.
Jimmy

Always thought that Lovecraft's At The Mountains Of Madness would make a terrific film, in the right hands of course. Last weekend,one of my twins said some decent director (don't remember who, I'm not a follower of cinema at all) has it on his plate as a future project, finally.

That is a perfect story to put to film or digits. Probably one of the most disturbing & intriguing stories I've read. Did not know it was being made into a movie either. Del Toro is a good choice although Ridley Scott's work certainly comes to mind. When the ancient beings are first described I could not help but think of H.R. Giger & the foreboding tension of Alien.

somebody above mentioned The Road, by C. McCarthy--i think it is already in development. i am a long time Cormac obsessive, and would nominate Blood Meridian as the book i'd most like to see made film. by the right directors of course.

and The Road, FWIW, is probably THE most gripping, wrenching, spooked, agonizing, can't put it down/must put it down, hurry up and get it over with so you can go back to normal life books i have EVER read. when i finished the last sentence, i almost literally threw it down and stared at it for about 5 minutes.

Cryptonomicon -- this, in particular, would translate well onto the big screen, there's some very Indiana Jones type action in there
Snowcrash -- I've already rewritten a scene to translate it to movie

Ringworld--Larry Niven. Who would you cast as Louis Wu?
The Mote in God's Eye--Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Still my favorite re: alien first contact.
City--Clifford D. Simak. Humans are pretty much legends---smart dogs and robots inhabit the Earth.
Rendezvous With Rama--Arthur C. Clarke. Would be spectacular.
The whole dragonrider thing from Anne McCaffrey would be a CGI-fest.

I'd like to see "A Catcher in the Rye" made into a movie, but Salinger has never released the movie rights. And if it WAS made into a movie, would you set it in 1949-50, or 2007 ?

Rendezvous With Rama--Arthur C. Clarke. Would be spectacular.
.

When I read that book the state of the art for special effect's would have never been able to do it. They can now.:D It would be spectacular.

After London is REALLY special as a First Edition, and even a late 19th C reprint. There's just something about an old book.


What always stands out in my mind is that the people are the same as they are today. Society is different, but people remain the same.

I'm an HG Wells fan and I'm always struck by the fact that these storys were often written a century (or more) ago. Replace the telegraph with the internet and it's 2007. The books may be old but the story is still fresh.

Anything by Heinlein.

Stranger in a Strange Land would be incredible. I've always imagined Danny Devito could play an excellent Jubal Harshaw.
Any of the Lazurus Long books, too. They could have a Bond-like mega-series from these!

Goodbye to a River
- John Graves (WWII Marine vet takes a month-long canoe trip with a dachsund)

Grendel
- John Gardner (The Beowulf monster as hero)

Gravity's Rainbow
- Thomas Pynchon (V-2s, and post-war Germany, and some 400 characters)

The Oath
- Frank Peretti (evil and a dragon live in the Cascade Mountains)

Anything by Heinlein.

Stranger in a Strange Land would be incredible.

Hard to believe, or should I say grok, that this one has not been made into a movie.

The Mote in God's Eye--Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Still my favorite re: alien first contact.

I am indeed among friends. I'll reread this one every 5 years or so. (Crazy Eddie is not a former NY hifi merchant.)

Staying in the Niven/Pournelle theme, I'll add Lucifer's Hammer.

Cryptonomicon -- this, in particular, would translate well onto the big screen, there's some very Indiana Jones type action in there
Snowcrash -- I've already rewritten a scene to translate it to movie

Diamond Age too. I was not real enamored with it the first time through but decided to read it again and could not put it down. Amazing how frame of mind affects your inital take.

Speaking of Heinlein-"Door Into Summer"

somebody above mentioned The Road, by C. McCarthy--i think it is already in development. i am a long time Cormac obsessive, and would nominate Blood Meridian as the book i'd most like to see made film. by the right directors of course.

and The Road, FWIW, is probably THE most gripping, wrenching, spooked, agonizing, can't put it down/must put it down, hurry up and get it over with so you can go back to normal life books i have EVER read. when i finished the last sentence, i almost literally threw it down and stared at it for about 5 minutes.

Say no more about it. I am not finished with it yet. I'm at the point where they found the bunker and have real food again.

I've noticed that there are a number of post apocalypse story fans -

Post Apocalyptic Fiction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalyptic_and_post-apocalyptic_fiction)

This is a great resource for books and films. Some of the websites listed catalog foreign works as well.

"The Second Son" by Charles Sailor

Read some of the Amazon.com reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Second-Son-Charles-Sailor/dp/0380455676

My copy, I believe, is the second printing and it says on the back "Soon to be a major motion picture by MGM" or somebody. It never became a motion picture.

Rumor has it, this book was ready to become a movie and the Catholic Church stepped in and payed the author some ungodly (no pun intended) amount of money to not only keep it from becoming a movie, but to take it off the shelves completely!!!

Weird huh....... :scratch2:




Retro

Apocalyptic? Then why not Walker Percy's Love In The Ruins? For that matter, it's hard to believe that NONE of Percy's works have received movie treatment.

Dhalgren ~ Samuel R. Delany. First read that as a teenager and it was probably as mind expanding as psychodelic drugs. I doubt they could do it justice in a film's time limitations, and it'd be even worse if they cut it down for TV.

oh, my goodness, scorpion!! cannot believe you mentioned Dhalgren, the only other book i've ever read that comes close to The Road in recreating a mysterious post apocalypse that is at once utterly surreal and horrifying and totally familiar and believable at the same time. it has always seemed to me that you could go out and mention the book to a thousand people and never come across another sould who's read it. am always kinda stunned when i come across another reader. i think i've met about 3 or 4 people in the 30 years or so since i read it first who have also read it. now another. have you read other Delany stuff? i used to be absolutely crazy about the guy, and read everything i could find, but its been a while now. somewhere around age 30, i lost the sci fi thing.

It's interesting to note the definite lean towards SF in this thread. I have no idea what it means...but it's still interesting.
To toss a couple more in the hopper:
It would take a most talented screenwriter to effectively translate "Stand on Zanzibar" by John Brunner to the screen. Gotta dig that one oout and re-read it for the umpteenth time.
My wife isn't particularly a big SF fan, but one night, she was searching for something to read herself to sleep by. I handed her "The World Inside" by Robert Silverberg. Needless to say, she didn't get a heckuva lot of sleep that night.
The CGI crew would have a field day with "Cities in Flight" by James Blish. The island of Manhattan as an interstellar craft, anyone?
There's a LOT of C.J. Cherryh's work that would look good on the big screen, too.

"Dhalgren" !! I thought I'd made that one up...I read something about that book 25 yrs ago & decided I'd just dreamed it up-NOTHING could be THAT "off-the-wall"...I may have to get that book & try to read it...Sounds like sort of a REAL "Mind-Pheck"...

Ringworld--Larry Niven. Who would you cast as Louis Wu?

I have to second that one. great story ...sometimes hard to follow ...but that could be made up with graffix.

Using a lot of CGI...it could be made into a story much like star wars...but there would have to be more action scenes...and some kind of romance...if not all out... er...stuff!:D :smsex:

As for the roles ...Christopher Ecclelston(sp)..as Louis Wu...some unknown blond as Prill...dont ask me to try to spell her full name ... its six sylibles ...

Some of the best shots and effects would be of the Ringworld itself... Trying to imagine it while reading it 25 years ago left a wild image in my minds eye.. and I would love it on the big screen. Just think ...The Fist Of God...a mountain bigger than the earth itself!...

Have not read Dhalgren yet. I've got it and it taunts me. Maybe on my next long plane ride. I've still got the PB I bought in the late 70's and never cracked.

Stand On Zanzibar, oh man what a book. Brunner was brilliant. SoZ is amazing in how contemporary it is. Check out Total Eclipse by Brunner too. Warning, you may be compelled to slash your wrists.

I've never come across Walker Percy before. After reading some of the reviews I am really surprised. Oh well, another one for the to do list.

Walker Percy was a genius. Period.

Walker Percy was a genius. Period.

Totally concur.

He has to be my favorite modern novelist. I reread his novels about every 10 years.

The Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard K. Morgan seem made for movies. I've read Altered Carbon and Broken Angels.

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester would be a visual feast.

And to see Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness as a movie could spawn plently of nightmares.

If any of Jorge Luis Borges' tales have been made into movies, I have failed to notice, but several have the potential, perhaps as a group of related short reels.

Totally concur.

He has to be my favorite modern novelist. I reread his novels about every 10 years.


Good on you, sir.

Diamond Age too. I was not real enamored with it the first time through but decided to read it again and could not put it down. Amazing how frame of mind affects your inital take.I don't know -- I loved the book, but I think I would be disappointed with any film that was made out of it, I just don't picture it translating to the screen well. Ditto Neuromancer.

And to keep on the Niven/Pournelle theme -- how about my personal favourite, The Legacy of Heorot (w/Steve Barnes)? I love the fact that some of these people used to be the smartest ever, and got stupid as a result of suspended animation. They better not leave it out of the movie. (Or was that Beowulf's Children?)

If you could find a modern day young Harrison Ford type of actor, Mike Resnick's "Widowmaker"-series would make an outstanding future adventure series along the lines of Indiana Jones. Rollicking space opera with gunfights and mystery.

As far as S.R Delany's "Dhalgren" is concerned, I had to read that one twice and still doubt I completely "get it". I'm not sure anyone could without the benefit of some military-grade psycho-enhancing-expanding "help in a pill/caplet form". I've been meaning to read that one again, but still doubt that any justice could be done to it in the span of a single feature-length film.

It's interesting to note the definite lean towards SF in this thread. I have no idea what it means...but it's still interesting.


It means (pick one):

A) We are smart, thoughtful people.

B) We are dreamers of dreams.

C) We are complete sci-fi geeks playing with stories and stereo equipment.

:scratch2:

:D

When I saw this thread title I thought Foundation. But they'd have to do it as well as the Lord of the Rings, or it would stink as bad as "Enemy Mine".

Pete

Pete, I think it's a combination of all three...

I don't know -- I loved the book, but I think I would be disappointed with any film that was made out of it, I just don't picture it translating to the screen well. Ditto Neuromancer.

And to keep on the Niven/Pournelle theme -- how about my personal favourite, The Legacy of Heorot (w/Steve Barnes)? I love the fact that some of these people used to be the smartest ever, and got stupid as a result of suspended animation. They better not leave it out of the movie. (Or was that Beowulf's Children?)

After seeing 300, I believe anything is possible image-wise.

No, it was in Legacy of the Heorot first. I have not read the sequel, Beowulf's Children.

Along those lines, anyone read "The Deathworld Trilogy" by Harry Harrison? Plenty of fun in there for the big screen.

It means (pick one):

A) We are smart, thoughtful people.

B) We are dreamers of dreams.

C) We are complete sci-fi geeks playing with stories and stereo equipment.

:scratch2:

:D

When I saw this thread title I thought Foundation. But they'd have to do it as well as the Lord of the Rings, or it would stink as bad as "Enemy Mine".

Pete

Years back at an ADS Christmas party, quite a few of the engineers, sales people, techs, etc. were putting a few back and the topic of sci-fi came up. As I discovered, we'd all read most of the same stuff and I thought that rather amazing and said as much. One of the sales guys laughed and stated, "How do you think we all got in this business?".

Yup.

After seeing 300, I believe anything is possible image-wise.Oh, I'm sure it could be represented, I'm just not sure I'd like it. For example, without voiceover narrations, how does one get into the thoughts of a character? Similarly, how does one represent abstract concepts, like the main character figuring out something without explicitly stating what it is they've figured out.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6 or pretty much any Clive Cussler book....except its has to be well done...not the crap that has been done in the past...

Oh, I'm sure it could be represented, I'm just not sure I'd like it. For example, without voiceover narrations, how does one get into the thoughts of a character? Similarly, how does one represent abstract concepts, like the main character figuring out something without explicitly stating what it is they've figured out.

voiceover is the clumsiest way in film to reveal a character's thoughts. good writers, directors and actors can convey this through a characters actions depicted in response to other actions. since a screenwriter can't write something the camera cannot see, the art of screenwriting has much to do with showing the invisible through the visible.

i am in the middle of writing my second screenplay. the discipline of 'showing without telling' is an exacting one, but when you get the hang of it, it improves your ability to compose fiction as well, because you have become adept showing what is going on, rather than telling it.

voiceover is the clumsiest way in film to reveal a character's thoughts. good writers, directors and actors can convey this through a characters actions depicted in response to other actions. since a screenwriter can't write something the camera cannot see, the art of screenwriting has much to do with showing the invisible through the visible.First of all, I agree completely.

But...

I was not talking in the general, I was talking about the two specific books that I said that I did not think would make good films.

Don't get me wrong -- I think there are William Gibson stories that would make good movies (Pattern Recognition comes to mind), just not Neuromancer. But then again, I'm not sure I understand the ending to Neuromancer, so that's part of the problem right there.

Another concept that is very difficult to convey in film is cyberspace, especially the non-anthropomorphized versions that we are living with today. IMHO, the film that came closest to representing what was going on in that kind of cyberspace was the climax of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, but even that one took several iterations of viewing to "get" completely. Especially without completely disrupting the pace of that sequence, very "action". I can't imagine Man-Machine Interface being made into a movie -- a good third of it would just be the one character sitting there, with her arm falling off somewhere in the middle.

Anthropomorphic cyberspace is fairly easy, and we've seen it done several times -- my favourite being Avalon. I'd like to see that kind of completely over the top treatment with Snowcrash.

I think there are William Gibson stories that would make good movies (Pattern Recognition comes to mind),

Yes, reliving on the big screen our heroine obsess about rips in her Japan-retro-chic nylon bomber jacket or where she can do her pilates routine in private fills me with desire......

:boring:

Then again, it might make a better movie than a book. Seeing someone like Callista Flockhart in her anorectic phase have a nutty about the Michelin man could be quite amusing to watch.

:D

(I am poking fun you know!)

Then again, it might make a better movie than a book. Seeing someone like Callista Flockhart in her anorectic phase have a nutty about the Michelin man could be quite amusing to watch.

:D

(I am poking fun you know!)Yes! You could have one of those discordant comedic moments in an otherwise serious movie. It would go over terribly with the critics, but the hipsters would love it.

"Callista Flockhart"- That always sounded like the name of some sort of fungus or something equally dreadful..."Myron ! Th' Doc tol' me I have Flockhart ! The Callista strain, too !!" "Oh, Dear God, Sadie ! How are they gonna treat it ? Chemo or amputation? How long-GULP !- do they think you have ?!?"

Soundmotor: Thanks for bringing up "The Deathworld Trilogy"!! Absolutely AWESOME book...fun, fun, fun to read. Now...who to cast as the intrepid Jason dinAlt????

Now...who to cast as the intrepid Jason dinAlt????

Jason dinAlt was an interesting character. A libertine, reasonably smart, & reasonably fit. No huge names came to mind but a few smaller ones did like Paul Walker, Barry Pepper, Michael Biehn, & Tim Roth. They all sort of fit the mental picture I had of dinAlt when I read the book the first time through. As an aside, there are several other books about the Pyrrhans & dinAlt that follow the arc of trilogy. I read that one of them isn't even in English!

"Callista Flockhart"- That always sounded like the name of some sort of fungus or something equally dreadful..."Myron ! Th' Doc tol' me I have Flockhart ! The Callista strain, too !!" "Oh, Dear God, Sadie ! How are they gonna treat it ? Chemo or amputation? How long-GULP !- do they think you have ?!?"

When Ally McBeal was on, I'd endure several of my office mates droning on & on about CF. I could never quite get a handle on the whole deal. I mean she's OK looking and can sometimes be pretty hot. Usually though she just looks startled & underfed.

Exactly. She's cute 'n' all, but a good butter bean fart would knock her down...I just never "got" the attraction of her.

Ally McBeal?? I think she is kinda ugly...there are many actresses that if you saw them walking down the street without the veil of media and fame, we wouldnt give them a second look.

in that list I would include also: Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, whats' her face, the actress from MY Best Friend's Wedding and the Mexican movie with Brad Pitt..., the girl opposite Tom Cruise in Jerry McGuire and in Chicago..,
Penelope Cruz, Jessica Parker something from Sex In..., and many others...

They are good actors, but in looks, just like a million out there..

Renee Zingerdinger ? Yeah, she's sposed to be The Hottest Thing On Wheels-Sorry, Charlie. I loved Queen Latifah in Chicago- And wouldn't she be FABULOUS in the Butterfly McQueen role if they remade "Gone W/the Wind"? Can't you just see her in a doo-rag, throwin' her hands up, screechin' "I don't know nothin' about birthin' no babies..!!" Hehehehehe...Ain't I a Stinkah ?!?

I think the new Harry Potter book should be made into a movie.

I am indeed among friends. I'll reread this one every 5 years or so. (Crazy Eddie is not a former NY hifi merchant.)

Staying in the Niven/Pournelle theme, I'll add Lucifer's Hammer.

Both great books. Lucifers Hammer is my all time favorite end of civilization book.
For all you sci-fi fans try Barbara Hambly out. Some of her books would have made great swords and sorcery movies. I think one of them Dragonslayer actually did get made.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6 or pretty much any Clive Cussler book....except its has to be well done...not the crap that has been done in the past...

I would like to see a well done Cussler movie also, but it probably wouldn't be possible to squeeze in all the historical facts and plot set up that makes his books such an interesting read.

any of the Anita Blake - Vampire books written by Laurell Hamilton.

i think Michelle Rodriquez would be great as Anita Blake.

We have really hit the sci-fi shoulda motherload. I will confess that I like simple stories as much as complex ones especially when it is about the underdog triumphing. Jack Vance barely gets mentioned when sci-fi books come up. Neither does Andre Norton. For the most part they wrote simple stories that I still enjoyed immensely along the way. My favorites from Vance are "Emphyrio" followed by "The Blue World". From Norton, "Sargasso of Space" followed by "Star Guard". Both would lend themselves nicely to movie treatment because there is a reasonably complex plot in all of these with multiple surprises and turnarounds.

Getting more complex and deeper into tech is "Inherit the Stars" by James Hogan. The hook is simple, what happens when you find a spacesuited dead body on the moon that is 50,000 years old? It gets into the origins of man on earth that (IMO) blows away the whole von Daniken, God was an astronaut theme. There are several books in the series but the first one trumps all. I read the book first 25+ years ago and it is filled with imagery not unlike 2001 brought to the screen along with lots of interplay between characters. In many ways, it is very like 2001 but completely unique.

Space War and battle has plenty to choose from

Steakley - "Armor"
Haldeman - "The Forever War"
Saberhagen - anything from the "Bezerker" series, the original Borg except they do not assimilate.

All 3 writers have a good feel for action, the stories do not drag, and the characters seem real. Saberhagen doesn't get as deeply into character development for the humans but sure does for the Bezerkers. An unrelenting machine intelligence that is adaptive, resourceful, and totally committed to the extermination of mankind anywhere it can find them in the galaxy. There are 8-10 books in the Bezerker series.

I saw the earlier mention of "Enemy Mine". I could not agree more as to what total crap that was. I recall when it was out one of the director's most proud accomplishments was that they'd integrated a futuristic container of Pepsi into the "story". With so many good works to choose from, it amazes me what gets picked to be made and who is chosen to do it.

Interesting article on MSN today on why we, sigh, might be barking up the wrong tree:http://movies.msn.com/movies/sci-fi?GT1=7701

Interesting article on MSN today on why we, sigh, might be barking up the wrong tree:http://movies.msn.com/movies/sci-fi?GT1=7701

I believe it reinforces the earlier comment that ultimately it comes down to the vision & skill of the director to correctly bring the any book to screen. It also seems to be saying between the lines that too few actually get science fiction for it to be portrayed correctly & therefore needs to be modified for general public consumption.

Being a retired Smoke Jumper,I always thought Norman Mcleans-
"YOUNG MEN & FIRE" would make a good film (man gulch fire tradgedy)
Bob redford did a good job with Mcleans "A river runs through it"
wish he'd take a poke at this one.
Another book I feel would make a good flick is Edward Abbeys"THE MONKEY WRENCH GANG"
Mark!

any of the Anita Blake - Vampire books written by Laurell Hamilton.Correction -- any of the early ones -- the later ones would basically be rated X.

Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Mostly just to see who would play the part of Ignatious Reilly
If you know this book you know what I mean

I would have liked to have seen Gates of Fire made into a movie before 300 ever was...

I don't know, they already made a lot of my favorite books into movies :D I thought the adaptation of Black Hawk Down was stunning.

Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Mostly just to see who would play the part of Ignatious Reilly
If you know this book you know what I mean

They had Will Ferrell all signed up & ready to go.

Thank God the project collapsed.

The King of Paradise gas is not Will Ferrell.

Chris Rock however could play Jones in his sleep.

You are right on...I love Farrel but no can do for Ignatious..Maybe he could pull it off but I don't know if justice would be served.
I didn't know COD was in consideration for the big screen. I would love to see what Hollywood would come up with..

You are right with Rock-Never thought of that.
I'd go see that in a heart beat.

Correction -- any of the early ones -- the later ones would basically be rated X.

What's your point:D

Cripes, now I'm reading "Also Sprach Zarathurstra", no, I'm sorry, no movie there....ever....

Now, if you'll excuse me I'm off to gain control of the masses by evoking their herd instinct. bhahahahahaha!!!!

I didn't know COD was in consideration for the big screen.

The only one casted that made even remote sense was Olympia Dukakis which I'd guess was ITR's mom -

CoD Collapses (http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/050517j.php)

Can't picture Drew Barrymore as Myrna Minkoff. Janeane Garofalo perhaps, but not Barrymore. Last time I checked Mos Def had not been cast. Maybe he could pull off Jones, maybe.

I'd rather see this unmade than screwed up but after "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" debacle I don't have high hopes that it will be left alone.