i know i promised, but dude--orson scott card, so it's really about books.

Orson Scott Card reviews Serenity. And calls it the best science fiction movie ever. From one of the most prolific science fiction authors today. He makes Whedon into a more accessible Kaufman.

Being an avid science fiction reader from way far back when I first started to read (after the Bible--I went to a Christian pre-school--the first book I remember reading involved a little boy and his friend, a brontosaurus, and their adventures with masking tape...), Card has always been one of those names that I knew was famous. I never got around to reading any of his stuff until high school, and even then, he wasn't one of those authors who I had to read every single one of his books. He writes science fiction with depth. Not the random 'humorous science fiction' of Adams or Pratchett, and not really meant for light reading. The reaction I had to Serenity? Probably pretty close to how I'd feel at the end of one of his books.

When I read for fun, I try to stay away from stuff that reminds me of my classes, so I've probably only read two of his books that I remember. He has some of his favorite authors listed on his website, and their influence is felt. The problem is, from what I remember, his work reminds me a little too much of school reading. As an English major, I did a lot of school reading, so when I end up, say, buying a book written in the style of Jane Austen while I'm taking a class on Austen, I tend to not want to read the book until I'm well away from the subject. Otherwise, I don't enjoy the book as much (which happens a lot because I tend to take classes on works that I would want to read, which is why my light reading ends up being Discworld novels, which are only related to 'classic' literature in that they are either parodies or reference them briefly, which I can deal with and feel smart at the same time because I get them :P).

All this to say that now that I don't have any more school reading to do for a while, maybe it's time to go back to Card. The funny science fiction is getting boring. It's pretty much the same stuff over and over, and I'll still finish reading the Discworld series eventually, but they're actually much better in audiobook form (and with an Audible subscription, only a few dollars more than the paperbacks, and cheaper than the hardcovers. It does help if you've got some idea of where the plot is going, though, because they can get pretty convoluted towards the end.). So maybe Card's books can be the bridge between academic reading and light reading.

See, this post wasn't really about Serenity :P (By the way, the site where I heard about this review, Websnark.com, uses it as a means of talking about Full House of all things, and not Serenity or 'Uncle Orson' at all.)