3 favourite works of science fiction from the Let's Make a Sci-Fi podcast hosts
Let's Make a Sci-Fi launches on Tues. March 1st
In the new CBC Podcast series Let's Make a Sci-Fi, science fiction fan Ryan Beil enlists two of his comedy buddies, Maddy Kelly and Mark Chavez, to write the next great sci-fi pilot.
But the brave trio are not alone. They seek help from people like The Office and Star Trek: Discovery actor Rainn Wilson, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson and District 9 director Neill Blomkamp.
Let's Make a Sci-Fi is an eight-episode series that launches on Tues. March 1st. You can find it on CBC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.
To celebrate the show's takeoff, the three hosts share some of their favourite science fiction books of all time.
Dune by Frank Herbert
Ryan Beil: "It isn't very often that I get asked to recommend a book to a large audience, let alone a science fiction book. Seeing as how I may never get this opportunity again, I feel I have no choice but to recommend Frank Herbert's space epic, Dune. It's been my favourite sci-fi flavour since I first struggled through it as a teenager. And one of the few books I have reread a few times, always finding something new.
"The universe Frank Herbert sets the story within feels so fully realized, so dense and complex, equal parts terrifying and intriguing…it's pure joy to explore. It's certainly not for everyone, but if you are the type of person who enjoys reading a novel that comes with maps and a detailed glossary of terms, you should give Dune a try. I also heartily endorse the oft-panned film version by David Lynch."
Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin
Maddy Kelly: "My pick is Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin. Little Eyes interweaves stories from all over the world about a new mysterious technological invention that makes humanity feel more connected and more lonely than ever (I wonder what that was inspired by). It's a great sci-fi premise with tons of original observations about modern life and humanity at large.
"I think Little Eyes is a terrific example of an author taking a premise and writing about it to such a level of completion that it feels like that they left no stone unturned. That's something I thought about a lot when we were writing our sci-fi show, and it's really hard to do in an artful way! I also liked that the book takes place all over the world, so there are characters named Grigor and Enzo. I wish all books had character names like Grigor and Enzo."
Robocop by Ed Naha
Mark Chavez: "While a great many great screenplays are adapted from novels with great success, for example, The Great Gatsby, so too does the reverse occur: novels written that are based on films. Some such adaptations are done by the screenwriter themselves. In the case of Robocop, and most other novelizations, the author is a hired gun who has been given the screenplay as source material long before the film's premiere, with the goal of releasing the book alongside the movie to capitalize, and be a part of, the marketing machine, sometimes going so far as to hide under a pen name so as not to confuse or scare their regular fan base while they slum it.
"However, instead of churning out a bland, derivative 200 pages that might simply be a transcription of a film he hasn't seen, author Ed Naha expands the world and characters of Robocop to great effect: colouring scenes we recognize from the film and creating new ones, filling them to the Robo-top and taking us in new and interesting directions with hereto unknown backstory, all the while punching up dialogue — even going so far as to make our titular character more humorous and human than his film counterpart. It's a welcome and surprising triumph of a novel that's sure to help you 'stay out of trouble' this spring. That's a quote from Robocop."
