Comments on THE GALAXY EXPRESS: Of Robots, Androids, and Cyborgs...

Great list, Heather! I've been away from this ...

2009-08-27T17:25:42.669-04:00

Great list, Heather! I've been away from this blog for too long and see a list of posts I want to explore. I loved the hero in Games of Command. It's awesome how many ways romance and sci-fi can be put together to come up with all sorts of fascinating scenarios.

Not sci fi, but techno worthy nonetheless) Mima...

2009-08-27T11:43:30.648-04:00
Not sci fi, but techno worthy nonetheless) Mima also features some cybernetic organisms in "FUTURE FOUND" at Samhain. Awesome job there.

Oh, that reminds me, Mandy Roth has a couple of books @ Samhain, too, featuring cyborgs/cybernetics that I really liked. Performance Criteria and Magnetic Attraction. The descriptions are a little misleading because the series is called the "Droid Wars" but they're really cyborgs, humans implanted with cybernetics for greater strength and mental abilities. Definitely not hard sci-fi but enjoyable romances on the hot side.

Great discussion & great points, Jess, about C...

2009-08-27T08:18:01.213-04:00
Great discussion & great points, Jess, about Cyborgs having some of their humanity stripped as well.

My favorite robot movie is Iron Giant. I adore that movie!

Oh, "Games Of Command" was such an AWESO...

2009-08-26T20:37:16.776-04:00
Oh, "Games Of Command" was such an AWESOME book. I really like the genetically enhanced human idea (Christine Feehan's Ghostwalkers. Not sci fi, but techno worthy nonetheless) Mima also features some cybernetic organisms in "FUTURE FOUND" at Samhain. Awesome job there.

Transformers! They're robots...but in disguise...

2009-08-26T18:42:07.547-04:00
Transformers! They're robots...but in disguise!

Oh, but thanks for the suggestion, Katherine.

2009-08-26T14:46:00.156-04:00
Oh, but thanks for the suggestion, Katherine.

Yeah, I found tinyurl after I remember the name. F...

2009-08-26T14:40:54.902-04:00
Yeah, I found tinyurl after I remember the name. Finally. Had to get the brain working again on the right track. ;) Now to figure out how to apply it. Onward and upward. :D

I know the feeling about Robocop and boys. Or Batman and boys. Or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and boys. Or, let me see, what else is there? Oh, lordy, the list is rather endless, isn't it? ;p As you can see my son went through quite a lot of them, including Godzilla. So, he's an equal opportunity fantasy player. :D

Oddly enough the daughter has always pretty stuck with animals. Or maybe that's not so odd.

Bev, Try http://tinyurl.com/ I'd forgotten a...

2009-08-26T12:57:39.323-04:00
Bev,

Try http://tinyurl.com/

I'd forgotten about Robocop. Probably on purpose. It was a pretty good movie, but my twin sons watched it when they were about 8 or 9, and we couldn't live with them for the next two weeks. They almost destroyed our house reenacting the scenes. *sigh* Boys.

Oooo, what a way to get back online after a week i...

2009-08-26T11:49:00.773-04:00
Oooo, what a way to get back online after a week in computer hell. :D Great post, Heather. Now I have to figure out how to tell Maili about it.

Oh, and who could forget Robocop? You know, I rewatched that movie just the other day and was amazed at how well it holds up as just a doggone good story. B-movie level mostly but still good.

Anyone know how to add one of the short links apps to the Twitter home page? I thought it was already there but I just tried to do a tweet and couldn't because I the link was too long. Oye. For that matter where are those sites that shorten links? I'm working mostly from scratch here, people, on a strange computer. :(

I've got a character coming up in book two who...

2009-08-26T09:13:47.290-04:00
I've got a character coming up in book two who I'm not sure if I'd classify as a cyborg or not. Yes, he's mostly human, but he's got an arm, leg, and eye that are mechanical.

These parts for him function as enhanced prosthetics, and he never "died" or in any way was ever stripped of his humanity.

I mean, is Luke Skywalker a cyborg? He's got a mech hand.

Is Darth Vader? Half his body is a machine. I think he's closer to counting.

For me, a cyborg has to have some element of having their humanity stripped when they became part machine. That's why the borg was so scary. The first thing that happened was assimilation, where your humanity was stripped when they got you. The symbolic purpose of the cyborg has always been showing how man has become more machine-like to the point they lose humanity. Which is why the cyborg who is redeemed and reconnected with humanity is such an enduring character. Think of Seven of Nine, Darth Vader to some sense, or the hero in Games of Command.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Maxen yet. I don't intend to use him as a symbol of the evils of technology overtaking our humanity. I'm interested in that, just not with him. I'm interested in him as an amputee trying to deal with his life post a terrible injury, and exploring how far prosthetic technology might go. Does he feel whole? Does he feel healed? Etc.

Good post, Heather. And I'll get in a plug for...

2009-08-25T23:26:24.273-04:00
Good post, Heather. And I'll get in a plug for my favorite android, the Terminator.

Hasta la vista, baby

Kathy

R2D2 & C-3PO (STAR WARS)—robots True, even tho...

2009-08-25T22:37:27.259-04:00
R2D2 & C-3PO (STAR WARS)—robots
True, even though they're called Droids (R). :) I think Lucas just wanted to see if anyone was paying attention. *g*

In MIRRORED HEAVENS, a couple of the MCs are "Mechs," agents who wear high tech armored suits that allow them superhuman capabilities like direct supercomputer access, flying and invisibility. Sort of a quasi-cyborg. Or cyborg on demand?

Have you seen some of the videos on the robotics now being developed? Four legged "critters" who can walk over debris fields and balance when kicked. Very eerie to watch because they move like they're alive.

Here's one:
Boston Dynamics Big Dog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww

I do love cyborgs in sci-fi. There's a whole s...

2009-08-25T22:32:08.485-04:00
I do love cyborgs in sci-fi. There's a whole set of emotional complications and concerns to tie cyborgs up with. Not to mention the practical concerns of how to kill someone who is biomechanically enhanced in one way or another.