September 2012 Media Thread

RobertLumley

This is the monthly thread for posting media of various types that you've found that you enjoy. I find that exposure to LW ideas makes me less likely to enjoy some entertainment media that is otherwise quite popular, and finding media recommended by LWers is a good way to mitigate this. Post what you're reading, listening to, watching, and your opinion of it. Post recommendations to blogs. Post whatever media you feel like discussing! To see previous recommendations, check out the older threads.

Rules:

Please avoid downvoting recommendations just because you don't personally like the recommended material; remember that liking is a two-place word. If you can point out a specific flaw in a person's recommendation, consider posting a comment to that effect.
If you want to post something that (you know) has been recommended before, but have another recommendation to add, please link to the original, so that the reader has both recommendations.
Please use the comment trees for genres. There is a meta thread for comments about future threads.
If you have a thread to add, such as a video game thread or an Anime thread, please post it to the Other Media thread for now, and add a poll to the Meta thread asking if it should be a thread every month.

Rules:

Please avoid downvoting recommendations just because you don't personally like the recommended material; remember that liking is a two-place word. If you can point out a specific flaw in a person's recommendation, consider posting a comment to that effect.
If you want to post something that (you know) has been recommended before, but have another recommendation to add, please link to the original, so that the reader has both recommendations.
Please use the comment trees for genres. There is a meta thread for comments about future threads.
If you have a thread to add, such as a video game thread or an Anime thread, please post it to the Other Media thread for now, and add a poll to the Meta thread asking if it should be a thread every month.

Vilcabamba, by Harry Turtledove, link goes to the free to read short story. Similar scenario to The War of the Worlds, excluding the deus ex machina ending.

If you want something more sophisticated on the subject, try William Tenn's "The Liberation of Earth".

0MixedNuts14y

Review: Ugh, heaps of exposition in a vague point of view ladled at the beginning and throughout. This is far below Turtledove's usual style. It's also pretty heavy-handed. (Why do two characters stop pondering a diplomacy problem to say "My, the main themes of this story are colonization and doomed resistance!"?) Stories of occupation, colonization, and life after defeat are always interesting and we need more of those. This story shows cultural assimilation really well. (The star above the left shoulder!) On the one hand, I really like that the empire plot is done with aliens, who usually prefer mass murder to conquest. On the other hand, I can't see what this adds; the Krolps are just humans in funny suits. Possibly it's to make invasion of the US plausible. Anyway, there's nothing wrong with soft SF. The end keeps within the theme, but I find it unsatisfying, as if he tried to write a tragedy arc in a style that calls for suspense or something along those lines. Overall, nice plot, not too well handled.