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Galactic Center Series
The Galactic Center Saga is a series of books by author Gregory Benford detailing a galactic war between mechanical and biological life. * ''In the Ocean of Night'' (1977) — 1977 Nebula Award nominee, 1978 Locus Award nominee * ''Across the Sea of Suns'' (1984) * '' Great Sky River'' (1987) — 1988 Nebula Nominee * ''Tides of Light'' (1989) — 1990 Locus Award nominee * ''Furious Gulf'' (1994) * ''Sailing Bright Eternity'' (1996) * "A Hunger for the Infinite" a novella published in the anthology Far Horizons Reception Paul Witcover in ''Sci Fi Weekly'' wrote that the series is "one of the most ambitious and enthralling sagas in all of science fiction: The epic tale of a star-spanning civilization of intelligent machines methodically working to exterminate a species of pestiferous vermin that calls itself humanity." Adaptation In 2001, film director Jan De Bont announced that a television series based on the six-book saga was "in the works" at Viacom Productions Viacom Product ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregory Benford
Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941) is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is professor emeritus at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is a contributing editor of ''Reason'' magazine.Who's Getting Your Vote? '''' Benford wrote the science fiction novels, beginning with '''' (1977). [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
In The Ocean Of Night
''In the Ocean of Night'' is a 1977 in literature, 1977 fix-up hard science fiction novel by American writer Gregory Benford. It is the first novel in his Galactic Center Saga. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Nebula Award for Best Novel, Best Novel in 1977, and for the Locus Award the following year. ''In the Ocean of Night'' was first published as a series of Novella, novellas and novelettes from 1973 to 1977. Plot summary In 1999 (2019 in the second edition), Nigel Walmsley, a British scientist and astronaut for NASA, is sent to attach a thermonuclear bomb to a comet named 1566 Icarus, Icarus which is on a direct collision course for India. Icarus turns out to be large, solid, and made of a nickel-iron composite. Nigel is instructed to plant the weapon and leave so it can be detonated. He persuades Mission Control to let him put it in a large fissure he discovered, so it would be even more effective. In the fissure, Nigel discovers strips of metal worked in obvious ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. They were first given in 1966 at a ceremony created for the awards, and are given in four categories for different lengths of literary works. A fifth category for film and television episode scripts was given 1974–78 and 2000–09, and a sixth category for game writing was begun in 2018. In 2019 SFWA announced that two awards that were previously run under the same rules but not considered Nebula awards—the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction and the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation—were to be considered official Nebula awards. The rules governing the Nebula Awards have changed several times during the awards' history, most recently in 2010. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Locus Award
The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the plaques awarded to the winners, publishers of winning works are honored with certificates, which is unique in the field. Originally a poll of ''Locus'' subscribers only, voting is now open to anyone, but the votes of subscribers count twice as much as the votes of non-subscribers. The award was inaugurated in 1971, and was originally intended to provide suggestions and recommendations for the Hugo Awards. They have come to be considered a prestigious prize in science fiction, fantasy and horror literature. ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' regards the Locus Awards as sharing the reputation of the Hugo and Nebula Awards. Gardner Dozois holds the record for the most wins (43), while Neil Gaiman has won the most awards for works of fic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Across The Sea Of Suns
''Across the Sea of Suns'' is a 1984 hard science fiction novel by American writer Gregory Benford. It is the second novel in his Galactic Center Saga, and continues to follow the scientist Nigel Walmsley, who encountered an extraterrestrial machine in the previous book, ''In the Ocean of Night'', aboard an expeditionary spacecraft, searching for life. Eventually Nigel discovers evidence of the major conflict in the galaxy. Plot summary In 2021, radio astronomy on the Moon reveals the presence of life by a nearby red dwarf, on a tide-locked planet.The star is apparently Lalande 21185, also known as BD +36 2147. Warner 2004 mass-market paperback ed., p. 15. To investigate, Earth's governments convert a space colony into ''Lancer'', a Bussard ramjet-powered interstellar ship based on the design of a crashed alien ship discovered in the Mare Marginis. In 2061, the ''Lancer'' arrives and discovers a primitive race of nomads, broadcasting using organs adapted to emit a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Sky River (novel)
''Great Sky River'' is a 1987 novel written by author Gregory Benford as a part of his Galactic Center Saga series of books. Synopsis After the events of ''Across the Sea of Suns'' (1984), small groups of humans have settled on other star system A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction. A large group of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a '' star cluster'' or '' galaxy'', although, broadly speak ...s. However, there is a constant threat from the Mechs, a civilization of machines left over from other civilizations and evolved to see all biological civilization as unstable and dangerous. ''Great Sky River'' tells the story of the Bishop family, who fight for their very existence on the planet Snowglade, which has been taken over by the Mechs. The Bishops are one of a number of families on Snowglade, all named for chess pieces. These "families" are more like clans or tribes. All use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Far Horizons
''Far Horizons: All New Tales from the Greatest Worlds of Science Fiction'' is an anthology of original science fiction stories edited by Robert Silverberg, first published in hardcover by Avon Eos in May 1999, with a book club edition following from Avon and the Science Fiction Book Club in July of the same year. Paperback and trade paperback editions were issued by Eos/HarperCollins in May 2000 and December 2005, respectively, and an ebook edition by HarperCollins e-books in March 2009. The first British edition was issued in hardcover and trade paperback by Orbit/Little Brown in June 1999, with a paperback edition following from Orbit in July 2000. The book has also been translated into Spanish. Summary The anthology contains eleven short works by various science fiction authors, including one by the editor himself, together with an introduction explaining the project by the editor and an introduction and occasionally an afterword to each story by its author. Each story was ori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Film Director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design and all the creative aspects of filmmaking. The film director gives direction to the cast and crew and creates an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized or noticed. Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions and stay within the budget. There are many pathways to becoming a film director. Some film directors started as screenwriters, cinematographers, producers, film editors or actors. Other film directors have attended a film school. Directors use different approaches. Some outline a general plotline and let the actors improvise dialogue, while others control every aspect and demand that the actors and crew follow instructions precisely. Some directors also write thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jan De Bont
Jan de Bont (; born 22 October 1943) is a Dutch cinematographer, director and film producer. He is best known for directing the films ''Speed'' (1994) and ''Twister'' (1996). As a director of photography, de Bont also worked on numerous blockbusters and genre films, including ''Cujo'', '' Flesh and Blood'', ''Die Hard'', ''The Hunt for Red October'', and ''Basic Instinct''. Early life and career De Bont was born to a Catholic family in Eindhoven, Netherlands, one of 17 children. His earliest works were made while studying at the Amsterdam Film Academy with Dutch avant-garde director Adriaan Ditvoorst. He first became known in the Netherlands as the cinematographer for the infamous 1971 film ''Blue Movie'', followed by the 1973 film ''Turkish Delight'' (1973), directed by Paul Verhoeven, starring Rutger Hauer and Monique van de Ven. Since the early 1980s, he has worked frequently in Hollywood, often collaborating with directors including Verhoeven and John McTiernan. While serv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viacom Productions
Viacom Productions (formerly Viacom Enterprises) was a television production company, production arm of Paramount Global Distribution Group#Paramount International, Viacom International. The division was active from 1974 until 2004, when the company was folded into Paramount Television, Paramount Network Television 10 years following Viacom's acquisition of Paramount Pictures, and led Perry Simon to move itself to Paramount for a production deal. History Viacom Enterprises was formed in 1971 as the successor of the pre-1968 CBS Films, later reincorporated as CBS Enterprises, Inc. in 1968. In 1973, it was spun-off because it was against the FCC regulations for a television network to distribute its programs under its own name. Subsequently, Viacom formed "Viacom Productions" to produce first-run television series airing on the major television networks. The first primetime television show to be produced by Viacom Productions for the ABC network was ''The MacKenzies of Paradise C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', the poem is divided into 24 books. It follows the Greek hero cult, Greek hero Odysseus, king of Homer's Ithaca, Ithaca, and his journey home after the Trojan War. After the war, which lasted ten years, his journey lasted for ten additional years, during which time he encountered many perils and all his crew mates were killed. In his absence, Odysseus was assumed dead, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus had to contend with a Suitors of Penelope, group of unruly suitors who were competing for Penelope's hand in marriage. The ''Odyssey'' was originally composed in Homeric Greek in around the 8th or 7th century BCE and, by the mid-6th century BCE, had become part of the Greek literary canon. In Classic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
