Slashdot Asks: What Are Some Sci-Fi Books, Movies, and TV Shows You're Looking Forward To?

Even as Hollywood studios report fewer footfalls in theaters, the last few years have arguably been impressive if you're a sci-fi admirer. Last year, we finally got to watch the Blade Runner 2049, and the The Last Jedi and Logan also found plenty of backers. In 2016, Arrival was a home run for many. Star Trek: Discovery, and Stranger Things TV shows continue to receive positive feedback from critics, and the The X-Files is also quickly winning its loyal fans back.

"Artemis" by Andy Weir and "New York 2140" by Kim Stanley have found their ways among best selling books. "Borne" by Jeff VanderMeer, and "Walkaway" by BoingBoing's Cory Doctorow have also been widely loved by the readers.

On that note, what are some movies, TV shows, and books on sci-fi that you are waiting to explore in the next two to three years?

Comments

The OA

[mknewman]

I was very pleased with season 1. It's on Netflix. Season 2 is in work. I also am looking forward to Altered Carbon.

Re:The OA

[ivan935]

Couldn't agree more. It started out promisingly enough, but as it progressed, it turned into ever more annoying drivel.

Any that aren't about 'social justice'.

[Anonymous Coward]

All I'm awaiting is a new sci-fi movie that isn't about 'social justice' or otherwise forcing leftist ideologies on the audience.

Re: Any that aren't about 'social justice'.

[Anonymous Coward]

'Social justice' is an amplification of the bigotry of the past. The leftists pushing 'social justice' are the ones who are fixated on classifying people into extremely fine-grained groupings based on physical traits or other attributes. They have even managed to take it to a level never seen in the past, continually introducing new ways of dividing people into smaller and smaller groups. The people who are supposedly decrying things like racism, sexism, prejudice, and intolerance often end up being the ones who engage in such behaviors the most egregiously.

Re: Any that aren't about 'social justice'.

[lgw]

'Social justice' is an amplification of the bigotry of the past. The leftists pushing 'social justice' are the ones who are fixated on classifying people into extremely fine-grained groupings based on physical traits or other attributes. They have even managed to take it to a level never seen in the past, continually introducing new ways of dividing people into smaller and smaller groups. The people who are supposedly decrying things like racism, sexism, prejudice, and intolerance often end up being the ones who engage in such behaviors the most egregiously.

STTOS and STTNG were great at showing us a different path. A way of living where, simply, no one cared about race - at least among Earthlings. People were judged on the content of their character, not the color of their skin. To me, that's part of the appeal of good SF - it presents a world where we're just beyond that shit, and have different problems.

Contrast that with STD. The only way STD could be redeemed as Star Trek is if it were revealed the show was set in the mirror universe (at which point it would become the coolest "twist" ever).

In general I've just about had it with "Dark Version of Thing from your Childhood". Let's have something inspiring - what SF used to be!

Re: Any that aren't about 'social justice'.

[lgw]

Oh, troll elsewhere.

Sure, SF is often used for social commentary, because you can get away with stuff you can't point out directly. But that only works when it's not the norm. The Golden Age of SF was much more about proposing all sorts of ways man might live in the future, including many that were the author's idea of utopia, but the point was people were happy in the setting, outside of whatever the drama of the book was. Heinlein was rare in showing how silly some of these ideas were when taken to the extreme, but even then his books were never about how miserable everyone was.

Re: Any that aren't about 'social justice'.

[ThanatosMinor]

'Social justice' is an amplification of the bigotry of the past. The leftists pushing 'social justice' are the ones who are fixated on classifying people into extremely fine-grained groupings based on physical traits or other attributes. They have even managed to take it to a level never seen in the past, continually introducing new ways of dividing people into smaller and smaller groups.

By "dividing people into...groups" do you mean "describing different groups?" Talking about different demographics and how policies might affect them differently isn't dividing them, it's simply recognizing them. Society has always been comprised of different groups of people, some large and some small. Have you ever talked about your family vs someone else's family or families in general? You're "dividing people into groups." Almost everyone I've ever talked to who rails against this kind of practice is also likely to blame talking about racism for racism ("there wasn't all this racism before Obama"), but what that argument ignores is that society has already done these divisions and is already treating people differently based on their physical traits or other attributes. What you have issue with isn't the division, but merely talking about it. You want to ignore society's unfair treatment of some groups because they're not your groups. That's your prerogative but don't pretend you're the victim of leftist propaganda when all you have to do is not watch or read those stories and you still get to not care.

"Social justice" and activists looking at how certain populations are underserved and/or underrepresented is how we got the 19th Amendment. It's why Jim Crow laws aren't legal anymore. And in the future it'll be why nobody raises a fuss when a trans woman uses the women's bathroom (if separate bathrooms even still exist). Discrimination in sci-fi is generally not treated as a good thing, but there's an entire subgenre of dystopian sci-fi you can read to get your fix of the powerful stepping on everyone else. But I should warn you that even in most of those books your side loses.

The people who are supposedly decrying things like racism, sexism, prejudice, and intolerance often end up being the ones who engage in such behaviors the most egregiously.

Citation needed

Re: Any that aren't about 'social justice'.

[lgw]

Also, not everything with which you disagree is "trolling".

True, but everything PopeRatzo posts is trolling.

The novels were most certainly not about how "everyone was happy".

Nor is that what I said. These novels were mostly "here's the neat future society, then this thing happend, but the hero saved the world" or "things were rough, but then these things happened, and then people were happy in this neat society". Not all, of course, ad Dick stories were mostly "WTF did I just read", but most.

Re: Any that aren't about 'social justice'.

[Hognoxious]

Marry Shelly wrong that novel in 1818

Two wrongs don't make a right, but apparently one makes a write.

Re: Any that aren't about 'social justice'.

[lgw]

Oh, which one of his stories was about diving people into groups according to identity politics, then having those factions kill each other until tens of millions are dead? I don't remember any Post-Modernist stories, but then I've only read about half his stuff.

Cloverfield 3

[Anonymous Coward]

The currently untitled Cloverfield III, only for its ARG (which is starting to pick up now)...

Black Panther

[WillAffleckUW]

Especially the spin off where they fight with giant mech robots in space

Re:Black Panther

[Jason Levine]

But a guy flying in a one man armored suit, a man frozen for 60 or so years in a chunk of ice (with no physical problems), a Norse god with a magic hammer, a kid who can cling to walls, and a thief who can shrink down and talk with ants are all totally realistic, right?

Wishlist

[Anonymous Coward]

I want more people to make movies like Interstellar. Interstellar wasn't perfect, but it was visually appealing and much of the Science they show was accurate. I would love to see more people explore this territory.

Re:Wishlist

[PhantomHarlock]

Interstellar had a groundbreaking soundtrack (from none other than Hans Zimmer, which is shocking) and some well thought out, beautiful visual effects.

However, I found the story incredibly nihilistic, depressing and pointless. I'm all for media that is interesting and thoughtful, but I prefer to see or read media where humans aren't universally the bad guys. It's amazing to see the difference in attitude in films over the last 30 - 40 years. We've gone from a 'can do' to 'we're doomed' outlook and it weighs heavily in popular culture. That very attitude can be a self fulfilling prophecy.

Re:Wishlist

[lgw]

Interstellar was ... not good IMO. Sure, the visual were nice, but that ending? Blarg. Make a SF show, or make a fantasy show where love literally conquers all, but don't mix them.

Re:Wishlist

[serviscope_minor]

I want more people to make movies like Interstellar. Interstellar wasn't perfect, but it was visually appealing and much of the Science they show was accurate. I would love to see more people explore this territory.

No fuck no nope nope NOPE NOPE.

The whole thing was full of stupid.

1. Monoculture is destroying crops. PLANT MORE MONOCULTURE
2. Why do you care if a planet has hydrocarbon fuel if there's no oxygen in the atmosphere
3. Anne Hathaway does nothing but scream and endanger the mission
4. Love transcends the fifth dimension wooooooooooooo
5. WTF solving theoretical physics problems doesn't let you do magic
6. Murph! Murph! Murph! oh yeah and my son (but fuck him) MURPH!!!!!

And so on.

It looked cool though.

Re:Wishlist

[jebrick]

I would like to see what Amazon does with SnowCrash. Right now I am looking forward to Altered Carbon.

The Expanse

[Berkyjay]

It's both a great TV show and a great novel series that is on the same level as A Song of Ice and Fire IMO.

Re:The Expanse

[Moridineas]

Came here to say just that!

I started with the TV show--very good.

I'm now reading the books. I'm currently on book #5, and each book I'm finding myself a bit less interested, but still good enough to keep going.

Re:The Expanse

[Berkyjay]

I'm on #4 so far and I'm still enraptured with the series. I keep hoping that the show makes it this far into the novels.

Re:The Expanse

[JaredOfEuropa]

Agreed, awesome book series and very well adapted for TV. And I was pleasantly surprised by new arrival The Orville: not great but good, and fun to watch. Movie-wise it's been a run of disappointing big releases. Didn't care for the Last Jedi (though I did like Rogue One), Blade Runner 2049 was a suckfest, Logan was meh, the Arrival was decent but nothing special.

Re:The Expanse

[Moridineas]

I definitely hope that as well!

My complaint was mostly about #3--I feel that religious characters in s.f. works frequently come across as, well, just kind of weird, and I wasn't a fan of one of the main characters. I do like that each book kind of has a rotating cast!

Also, I totally cannot imagine Chrisjen as anybody EXCEPT the actress who plays her on tv now. Casting for the TV show has been superb. (Particularly love the OPA leader on Ceres and Chrisjen, Holden is good, Amos is good, Alex is GREAT, Miller is great, etc.) The only one I'm not super wild about is Naomi.

Artemis

[PhantomHarlock]

I didn't think Artemis very good. It was a poor man's "Moon is a Harsh Mistress" with a lot of situations that stretched improbability in human interaction to the limit. Not as good as The Martian by a long shot.

A more recent series that I did enjoy greatly is the Torchship books by Karl Ghallager. If he writes anything new I'll be first in line.

Battlestar Galactica, because . . . .

[Joey Vegetables]

Everything has happened before, and everything will happen again.

The Falcon Heavy lunch

[wolfheart111]

Next week. With all thats going on in science and tech nowadays, fake scifi just isnt the same anymore.

The Orville, Ready Player One

[bjdevil66]

With all the interesting sci-fi out there, I'm mostly looking forward to more of The Orville. After a really lame trailer and the first couple of episodes being kind of forgettable, it improved quickly - and by the end was actually thought-provoking at times.

And of course, Ready Player One. I hope Spielberg's adaption doesn't change too much from the book (mild spoiler alert: the method of earning the copper key looks like it has changed some, per the trailer, and I hope the Rush references get left in at least partially), but it looks really promising. And casting the bad guy from Rogue One as the CEO of IOI was a great choice, IMO. Like Alan Rickman before him, that guy seems like he was born to play aristocratic, evil antagonists.

Re:The Orville, Ready Player One

[bjdevil66]

Good points about Braga, Seth being a fan, etc. It definitely feels like Trek sans teleporters and with different races.

What sets The Orville apart, IMO, is that it keeps the upbeat arc of classic Trek (vs. the gritty, negative, "real" sci-fi view of the future) AND it has imperfect characters flawed in ways that we can relate to today. That makes them more interesting and fun to watch.

We all probably know the guy from the elevator with the music playlist idea, the officer that hates clowns (especially vampire clowns), the couple that fights over one of them not spending quality time at home, the busy professional with spoiled ass children that won't put down their "phone", religious fanatics that you can empathize with but still question their sanity, wealthy snobs that look down on military service with disdain, etc.

I mean, who cares if an orc gets "blooded", or a klingon regains his honor? I do care if there are vampire clowns out there, however. Damn...

King Kong vs Godzilla

[mccalli]

Yeah - so sue me. Pointless popcorn entertainment a go-go.

Besides which, almost any film can be improved by simply adding "vs Godzilla" to the end of it.

• Bladerunner vs Godzilla
• The Last Jedi vs Godzilla
• Solo vs Godzilla
• Obi-Wan: A Godzilla Story
• Artemis vs Godzilla
• The Cursed Child vs Godzilla
• Fantastic Beasts vs Godzilla
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. vs Godzilla
• A Series of Unfortunate Events vs Godzilla
• Godzilla vs Godzilla

etc., etc., etc...

Re:King Kong vs Godzilla

[XXongo]

Besides which, almost any film can be improved by simply adding "vs Godzilla" to the end of it.

• Bladerunner vs Godzilla
• The Last Jedi vs Godzilla
• Solo vs Godzilla
• Obi-Wan: A Godzilla Story
• Artemis vs Godzilla
• The Cursed Child vs Godzilla
• Fantastic Beasts vs Godzilla
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. vs Godzilla
• A Series of Unfortunate Events vs Godzilla
• Godzilla vs Godzilla

etc., etc., etc...

You know, most of these I'd pay the price of a movie ticket to see!

and "African Queen versus Godzilla" I might even see twice, just for the look on Katherine Hepburn's face.

Re:King Kong vs Godzilla

[omfglearntoplay]

The 2014 American movie I think you mean? I enjoyed the monster parts for sure. Have you see Shin Godzilla (2016 Japanese release) yet? Pretty interesting, and fans must see!

Snow Crash...

[RyanFenton]

If you haven't read it - it has some of the greatest 'moments of awesome' of any book, combined with an overarchning plot that is a hilarious take on cyberpunk (halfway mocking, halfway loving). Think the Tick, for cyberpunk, with a less purely absurd basis.

The main character is named 'Hiro Protagonist", basically one of the guys who invented the 'metaverse' virtual reality simulation of the story, who carries around katanas IRL, and delivers pizzas for the mob. Oh, and the entire world is owned by corporate nation-states, also in a clever half-parody of cyberpunk stories.

As a bonus, it illustrates how bonkers crazy early religion is in one of its sub-plots, though that may get skipped in the series, understandably. The author kind of has a thing for illustrating the crazier side of indoctrination in the middle of otherwise crazy good stories - see the Diamond Age for a sequel of most of these aspects.

But anyway - it's a superb storyline - it'll be really interesting to see how they adapt it.

Ryan Fenton

Altered Carbon

[Cajun Hell]

Altered Carbon is the obvious one, simply because it's so imminent (thus should be on everyone's radar right about now). It's been a while but I remember the book as "cool."

The Ringworld!

[Astrogoth13]

I can not wait! Snowcrash is a close second but still second. All Ringworld swag will be MINE! Posters, figures, soundtracks, pet Kzin. Mine!

Ready Player One

[BenFenner]

The book Ready Player One is more of an MMORPG fantasy than proper Sci-Fi but I enjoyed it quite a bit. I've waiting for the movie to come out. If you've ever been sucked into an MMORPG like I have (Diablo 1, then Ultima Online, then EverQuest) then you'll likely enjoy the book. I'm hoping the movie will live up to the book. Lately Hollywood has been mostly good at bringing books to the screen (Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, etc.).

Re:Ready Player One

[jlv]

I'm really worried about the Ready Player One movie. WTF are the race cars all those IOI employees are getting into?

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

[sycodon]

That would make a great movie.

Action, AI, explosions, politics. The only thing missing is sex and I bet they can write that in.

Re:The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

[sh00z]

That would make a great movie.

Action, AI, explosions, politics. The only thing missing is sex and I bet they can write that in.

And an opportunity to feature a differently-abled star. I am sick up to my ears with CGI "prosthetics."

Re:The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

[jlv]

The funny thing was that as I read Artemis, all I kept thinking was what an awesome movie The Moon is a Harsh Mistress would make.

Re:The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

[Quirkz]

I'd recently read John Steakley's "Armor," and had not yet read "Starship Troopers" so when I saw the previews, I thought it was going to be for Armor. Admittedly, Steakley wrote Armor specifically as an action-oriented take on Heinlein's premise, so there is a connection. I'd still like to see them do Armor - it'd make a fine movie.

The next season of Black Mirror

[OzPeter]

I just binge watched the latest one and I want moar

More Vinge, please?

[jeffb (2.718)]

He certainly doesn't crank things out quickly, but most of it is eminently worth waiting for. His last novel was a bit of a misfire, but he's talked about a couple of other things in the queue from the Zones of Thought universe, and I'd love to see something entirely new from him as well.

Re:Look at British, Canadian Sci-Fi...

[WillAffleckUW]

Humans is quite good. It's on one of the other "channels" here, I think

The Collapsing Empire

[Chillintau]

TV rights to The Collapsing Emprie have been purchased and the sequel is due to be released in October.

The Expanse S3

[DarthVain]

Can't believe no one has mentioned this one yet. It's the science fiction show I'm most looking forward to. It's probably one of the shows I'm most looking forward to period. Unfortunately they are playing a bit sketchy as to the release date in that it is listed as "2018"...

Doctor Who

[cybersquid]

A new Doctor. 'nuff said.

To Say Nothing of the Dog, Passage, Pern

[Michael Woodhams]

My favourite book of all time: To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis, a Victorian time travel mystery and farce. I think it would work well as an anime, with Ned's internal imaginings being played out by chibi characters, and shojo sparkles when people have time-lag (which, among other things, makes people overly sentimental.)

My second favourite by Willis is Passage, which would be good as a TV series/mini-series. Our heroine is researching induced near-death experiences. (Being near death is not required.)

Although I'm not nearly as enthusiastic about it as I was as a teenager, Anne MacCaffery's Pern series has all the requirements of a high profile big budget pay TV SF/fantasy megaseries. In particular, lots of dragons. There is some flexibility on how much sex and violence is in there, down to kid-friendly at the low end, although they wouldn't stretch to GoT levels at the high end.