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bloodyrosemccoySister's got me watchin' new-style Battlestar Galactica. And call me nuts, while I am finally enjoying the HELL out of military science fiction books in the form of the Honor Harrington series,* I have to admit in this series I'm way more curious about just what kind of culture builds up in the civilian fleet.
I mean, they hint at it, but not nearly as much as I'd like. C'mon--you have just under 50,000 people who escaped the end of the world with only what they had on them at the time. There might be Exciting War Shit going down in the military, but that's a hell of a lot of civilians sitting around twiddling their thumbs. Grief at the end of the world can only get you so far--after a while, you'd get bored. I want to know what people are doing. Are there clubs? A lively trade in books? Did the lucky people with things like art supplies or blank books** suddenly find themselves rich, or maybe besieged by desperately bored people? Do people have portable DVD players or iPods or such--and if so, do they start charging for viewing movies? Or for turns on a portable game system? And what do they charge with? They make a few references to rearranging the economy, but I want to see that in action.
And I want to see how they stay alive and supplied. They also make some references to that, and it drives the plot of a few episodes--"We need more beryllium spheres, so we have to stay in scary territory!"--but how do they keep the organic stuff going? Hydroponics? Is there a way to make more important commodities?
And do the different ships get tribal? Does one ship have a different culture from another? And--and--DANGIT, these are interesting things! I want to know more! Military science fiction is all well and good, but give me Anthropological Science Fiction any day.
... I'll be right back. I suddenly seem to have some ideas ...
*Which I have been trying to read for YEARS, but The Liberry has the whole series except for the first two. Finally had to buy the damn thing.
**My sister and I are totally convinced there is a paper mill somewhere aboard the Galactica.
I mean, they hint at it, but not nearly as much as I'd like. C'mon--you have just under 50,000 people who escaped the end of the world with only what they had on them at the time. There might be Exciting War Shit going down in the military, but that's a hell of a lot of civilians sitting around twiddling their thumbs. Grief at the end of the world can only get you so far--after a while, you'd get bored. I want to know what people are doing. Are there clubs? A lively trade in books? Did the lucky people with things like art supplies or blank books** suddenly find themselves rich, or maybe besieged by desperately bored people? Do people have portable DVD players or iPods or such--and if so, do they start charging for viewing movies? Or for turns on a portable game system? And what do they charge with? They make a few references to rearranging the economy, but I want to see that in action.
And I want to see how they stay alive and supplied. They also make some references to that, and it drives the plot of a few episodes--"We need more beryllium spheres, so we have to stay in scary territory!"--but how do they keep the organic stuff going? Hydroponics? Is there a way to make more important commodities?
And do the different ships get tribal? Does one ship have a different culture from another? And--and--DANGIT, these are interesting things! I want to know more! Military science fiction is all well and good, but give me Anthropological Science Fiction any day.
... I'll be right back. I suddenly seem to have some ideas ...
*Which I have been trying to read for YEARS, but The Liberry has the whole series except for the first two. Finally had to buy the damn thing.
**My sister and I are totally convinced there is a paper mill somewhere aboard the Galactica.
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no subject
Date: 2012-09-03 07:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-03 11:47 am (UTC)I totally heard that in Sigourney Weaver's voice. "Computer, is there a beryllium sphere on board?" Ah Galaxy Quest...
Completely agreed. I actually lost interest in BG because all the military stuff bored me and none of the characters were interesting enough to make me keep watching.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-04 12:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-04 12:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-04 07:40 am (UTC)But on the positive side, YES IDEAS. There are a ton of awesome ideas there, and the whole setting for a really awesome book or series. It reminds me the way my brain sort of exploded with ideas when I saw Zoe from Firefly's ID card in the movie, and it said her "place of birth" was "Vesselside." She was born in space, on a ship. And probably in that 'verse there are people who are born and die in space without ever stepping foot on a planet or colony, etc. and what sort of a strange life that must be, and the culture around it, and how it must've been if one of them ever did go to a planet and... you know how the ideas start pouring in.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-05 12:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-05 03:36 pm (UTC)