Posted by Sari
Category 16, SF comic: Christin & Mézières: Valerian, Tuhannen planeetan valtakunta (L'Empire des mille planetes)
Besson's Valerian film is apparently loosely based on this particular Valerian and Laureline adventure, though I failed to find anything more than really vague similarities. I have never read any Valerian comics, and I saw the film first so this was an interesting reading experience. The movie was a disjointed but intereresting-looking SF-adventure, the bande dessinée was... okay, I guess?
The thing is that it was really good example why I and comics have a troubled relationship. Take the beginning of the BD: on first page there are four(?) panels with text on the left side and one picture on the right. I read all the text and forgot to look at pictures. I just don't do well with visual media.
I do have to say the film got Valerian totally wrong.
Category 39, SF book that uses mythologies: Ian Watson: Converts
Ian Watson, the extremely chatty and fun British ex-pat living in Spain was GoH at this years Swecon and thus landed on my reading-list again. I am picking his Converts for this category, because I thougt it would be interesting to have a science fiction novel in this category instead of fantasy about Kirshna and Arjuna or what not.
In converts humans discover a serum that can make them superhuman, give them whatever they secretly most desire: the millionaire sponsor of the research turns into Ariel, a small flying sprite, while one of the people changes into a tree. Fundamentalists find this an abomination and the experiment turns into a debate and a battle between them and the changed. (Which makes for a nice word play in the title of the book)
The idea of transformations comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses, and the changed are like a new bunch of greek gods among humans, so that is my mythology connection. A bit thin, I admit, but there you go. It is an interesting,cerebral and not very happy novel, where the characters are a bit flat but ideas are good. Defenitely worth reading.
Nordqvist Kenia
Kenia as a bagged black tea from - as the name suggests Kenya. It seems at the moment to be available only in Nordqvist's assortments. It is black tea in a teabag. Beats Lipton, but is nothing to write home about.
Comments