CURRENT SERIES

Here are my favorite companions in preference order from the current television series:

1. Donna Noble
2. Rose Tyler – During the first season with Christopher Eccleston. She was mostly forgettable with Tennant, with the exception of “Doomsday”.
3. Amy Pond
4. Wilfred Mott (Donna’s granddad)
5. Lady Christina de Souza (from the “Planet of the Dead” special) – Admittedly she didn’t travel in the TARDIS, but she was super-cool and would have been a fantastic ongoing companion. I’m glad she got the flying bus.
6. Captain Jack Harkness
7. Rory Williams
8. Martha Jones – She had amazing promise in her first episode, but it never played out.
9. Mickey Smith
10. River Song – Counting her as a companion is questionable.  I really don’t care for this actress, so liking the character is difficult.

CLASSIC SERIES

Here are my top ten favorite companions from the classic series. There are nearly 30 classic series companions to choose from.  One character that would probably have been my top choice, but never actually traveled with the Doctor was Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.  He was absolutely brilliant, but was never really a companion.

1. Sarah Jane Smith (3rd and 4th Doctor)
2. Ace (7th Doctor)
3. Jamie McCrimmon (2nd Doctor)
4. Romana II (4th Doctor)
5. Zoe Heriot (2nd Doctor)
6. K-9 (4th Doctor)
7. Harry Sullivan (4th Doctor)
8. Ian Chesterton (1st Doctor)
9. Jo Grant (3rd Doctor)
10. Tegan Jovanka (4th and 5th Doctor) – very annoying character, but I liked her anyway.

EXPANDED UNIVERSE

I’m probably one of the few people to care about this category. There have been around 80 companions in the various expanded universe stories (i.e. Big Finish audios and books; Doctor Who Magazine comic strip; original novels by Virgin, BBC, and Telos; other comic strips over the years, and more).  Here are two links to lists of expanded universe companions for reference:

• Wikipedia list of companions in Doctor Who spin-offs, including some biographical info.
• Wikipedia list of companions in Doctor Who spin-offs, less biographies and more of a list layout.

Here are my top ten favorite expanded universe companions:

1. Professor Bernice Summerfield (Virgin novels, DWM comic strips, her own novels and audios from Big Finish – 7th Doctor) – possibly the most fleshed out companion of all time.  She started off as a companion to the 7th Doctor, but ended up with her own line of books and audio dramas.
2. Charlotte “Charley” Pollard (Big Finish Audio – 8th Doctor & 6th Doctor)
3. Fitz Kreiner (BBC 8th Doctor novels)
4. Dr. Evelyn Smythe (Big Finish Audio – 6th Doctor)
5. Anji Kapoor (BBC 8th Doctor novels)
6. Erimem (Big Finish Audio – 5th Doctor)
7. Thomas Hector “Hex” Schofield (Big Finish Audio – 7th Doctor)
8. Lucie Miller (Big Finish Audio – 8th Doctor)
9. Samantha Jones (BBC 8th Doctor novels)
10. Izzy Sinclair (Doctor Who Magazine comic strip – 8th Doctor)

Honorable Mention: Wolsey the cat (Virgin novels – 7th Doctor)

Great topic! I really enjoyed the exercise of compiling these lists.  Who are your favorite Doctor Who companions?  Post your thoughts over on THE UNIQUE GEEK or comment here!  Let us know!

To give you an idea of how well McDevitt’s sci-fi is received, here are a couple excerpts from reviews:

The logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. – quote from Stephen King

McDevitt is now being compared, quite legitimately, to Arthur C. Clarke, and not only because he has a similar kind of grand vision of the human future among the stars. He also has characters with amiable, or not-so-amiable, quirks, who in the middle of deciphering the secrets of lost races take time to worry about where to get a good meal in the next town.

Jack McDevitt won the Philip K. Dick Award for his first novel, The Hercules Text, and the first UPC prize for his novella, “Ships in the Night.” He has been nominated for the Nebula and Hugo for his novella, “Time Travelers Never Die”, The Engines of God was an Arthur C. Clarke Award finalist and his novel, Ancient Shores, was a Nebula finalist in 1998.

Good, mature science fiction.

So what’s a Fandex you ask?  A Fandex is actually called “Fandex Family Field Guide”. It is an approximately 10″ long stack of full-color, heavy stock, double-sided, die-cut cards.  They resemble bookmarks to some extent. This stack of cards is fastened together with a plastic bolt which serves as a pivot point.  This allows the cards to be fanned out so you can see the pictures at the top of each card and pick the one you would like to look at.  The top of each Fandex card has a large picture of the featured subject, and the card is cut around that particular shape. The cards state interesting information on each subject on both sides of the card.  Typically Fandex focuses on historical or factual subject matter (like famous painters or North American birds).  This particular one focuses on the heroes and villains of DC Comics.

Below is a shot of the Fandex spread out. Click to enlarge.

This field guide starts off with a pleasant introduction from Dan DiDio, Co-Publisher of DC Comics.  From there it jumps into the meat of the Fandex.  While the guide only contains 75 different entries, they’ve managed to squeeze in many more characters than that.  They accomplished this by listing teams and by combining heroic legacies onto a single card. For example, the Robin card covers the five different people to carry the mantle of Robin – Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne.

I really like the way they chose to order the characters.  Rather than the usual A-Z, they clumped together characters by which “family” they belong to.  The first batch of characters are all Batman-related (Batman, Batwoman, Scarecrow, Harley Quinn, etc), the second batch are all Superman-related (Superman, Lois Lane, Brainiac, General Zod, etc), and the third batch are all Wonder Woman-related (Wonder Woman, Hippolyta, Cheetah, Ares, etc).  Just those three “families” compose the first half of the Fandex.  The second half starts out with many of the remaining JLA members and their related characters, such as Aquaman and Black Manta.  Then they delve into the Fourth World, the JSA, the Marvel Family, the Legion of Super-heroes, the Teen Titans, some random characters, and ending with the Monitors.  All-in-all a very impressive roster of characters covered.  If you have a hard time finding your favorite character, there is an index in the back to help.

All the artwork is pre-existing from various comics, but they did an excellent job selecting some of the best – Gary Frank’s Superman, Brian Bolland’s Joker, Terry Dodson’s Wonder Woman, Art Adams’ Gorilla Grodd, George Perez’s Teen Titans, Tom Mandrake’s Martian Manhunter, Ethan Van Sciver’s Flash, Kevin Maguire’s Metal Men, and so on.  The content was meticulously researched by Randall Lotowycz.  I feel he did as good a job as the much-beloved Who’s Who series from the 1980s.  The information appears to be current through the conclusion of Final Crisis.  For example, Firestorm’s card doesn’t make any mention of the events that took place during Blackest Night.  … That’s right, Firestorm has his own entry!

Here is the promotional copy from the publisher:

Celebrate 75 years of DC Comics with an obsessive Fandex Deluxe: a supersized deck of 75 iconic heroes and villains whose power over the popular imagination has never been stronger (think The Dark Knight, last summer’s $1 billion blockbuster).

The gang’s all here: Batman, Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Green Lantern, Captain Marvel, Justice League of America, the Flash. So are their nemeses—the Joker, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, Lex Luthor, Cheetah, Brainiac, Poison Ivy, Deathstroke. Meticulously researched, with layers of information covering origins, biography, back-stories, affiliations, motivations, weaknesses, and fascinating trivia, the deck adds up to an insider’s history of the DC Universe. And what better way to present it than in the format with super powers—Fandex and its die-cut cards perfectly capture the characters in one dynamic pose after another, with the art taken straight from the pages of the original comics.

From the essential—learn about the Crisis on Infinite Earths—to the improbable—discover how Lex Luthor became President of the United States—to the offbeat—did you know that Clark Kent and Lois Lane lived in a building owned by Wayne (i.e., Batman) Enterprises: it’s a handheld feast for newcomers and passionate comics fans alike.

I highly recommend this product to anyone that’s ever taken an interest in DC Comics, Who’s Who, the DC Comics Encyclopedia, or any of DK’s Ultimate Guide books. This Fandex retails for $12.95 and is available online through many sources. My thanks to Workman Publishing for sending me a copy to review.

Like many readers of the novels, my favorite Expanded Universe (EU) characters are: Mara Jade Skywalker, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and Corran Horn.  While reading the Legacy of the Force novels, I’ve really started to like Jaina Solo and Ben Skywalker.  Both characters were great in these novels and they proved themselves worthy of their parent’s legacy.  My favorite Star Wars writers are Michael Stackpole and Timothy Zahn.  They were the pioneers of the EU and helped forge the New Republic, a fascinating era for our heroes continued adventures.  I had the chance to meet both authors at Dragon*Con a few years ago.  What super cool guys!

You’ll notice there are very few prequel era novels above.  That time period just doesn’t hold much interest for me. However, I’m considering trying the Republic Commando novels based upon a review I heard on the Two True Freaks Monthly Monday Star Wars podcasts.  They did a good job explained why the Order 66 novel was a solid and and compelling read.  Might be worth checking out.

Here is a complete list of the books in the photo above:

• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace by Terry Brooks
• Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn
• The Approaching Storm by Alan Dean Foster
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones by R.A. Salvatore
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover
• Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno
• The Han Solo Trilogy – Rebel Dawn by A.C. Crispin
• The Adventures of Lando Calrissian by L. Neil Smith – Combines: The Mindharp of Sharu, the Flamewind of Oseon, and The Starcave of ThonBoka
• The Force Unleashed by Sean Williams
• Han Solo and the Lost Legacy by Brian Daley
• Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire by William C. Dietz
• Tales From the Mos Eisley Cantina edited by Kevin J. Anderson
• Star Wars Trilogy – A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi
• Allegiance by Timothy Zahn
• Splinter of the Mind’s Eye by Alan Dean Foster
• Tales of the Bounty Hunters edited by Kevin J. Anderson
• Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry
• Return of the Jedi Marvel Illustrated Book
• Tales From Jabba’s Palace edited by Kevin J. Anderson
• The Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyers
• Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor by Matthew Stover
• X-wing: Rogue Squadron by Michael Stackpole
• X-wing: Wedge’s Gamble by Michael Stackpole
• X-wing: The Krytos Trap by Michael Stackpole
• X-wing: The Bacta War by Michael Stackpole
• X-wing: Wraith Squadron by Aaron Allston
• X-wing: Iron Fist by Aaron Allston
• X-wing: Solo Command by Aaron Allston
• Tatooine Ghost by Troy Denning
• Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn
• Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn
• The Last Command by Timothy Zahn
• X-wing: Isard’s Revenge by Michael Stackpole
• Tales From the Empire edited by Peter Schweighofer
• Tales From the New Republic edited by Peter Schweighofer and Craig Carey
• Jedi Academy Trilogy: Dark Apprentice by Kevin J. Anderson
• I, Jedi by Michael Stackpole
• X-wing: Starfighters of Adumar by Aaron Allston
• Planet of Twilight by Barbara Hambly
• The Black Fleet Crisis: Shield of Lies by Michael P. Kube-McDowell
• The Black Fleet Crisis: Tyrant’s Test by Michael P. Kube-McDowell
• The New Rebellion by Kristine Rusch
• The Corellian Trilogy by Roger MacBride Allen – Combines: Ambush at Corellia, Assault at Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint
• The Hand of Thrawn Duology: Specter of the Past by Timothy Zahn
• The Hand of Thrawn Duology: Vision of the Future by Timothy Zahn
• Survivor’s Quest by Timothy Zahn
• The New Jedi Order – Vector Prime by R.A. Salvatore
• The New Jedi Order – Dark Tide I: Onslaught by Michael Stackpole
• The New Jedi Order – Dark Tide II: Ruin by Michael Stackpole
• The New Jedi Order – Agents of Chaos by James Luceno – Combines: Hero’s Trial and Jedi Eclipse
• Legacy Of The Force – Betrayal by Aaron Allston
• Legacy Of The Force – Bloodlines by Karen Traviss
• Legacy Of The Force – Tempest by Troy Denning
• Legacy Of The Force – Exile by Aaron Allston
• Legacy Of The Force – Sacrifice by Karen Traviss
• Legacy Of The Force – Inferno by Troy Denning
• Legacy Of The Force – Fury by Aaron Allston
• Legacy Of The Force – Revelation by Karen Traviss
• Legacy Of The Force – Invincible by Troy Denning
• Fate of the Jedi – Outcast by Aaron Allston
• Fate of the Jedi – Omen by Christie Golden
• Fate of the Jedi – Abyss by Troy Denning
• Fate of the Jedi – Backlash by Aaron Allston

Check back here tomorrow for more of my Star Wars Resume.

With all this Star Wars in my brain, I thought I’d do a week of posts displaying some of my Star Wars collection – we’ll call it my Star Wars Resume.  This past weekend I went up in the attic and dug out my vintage Star Wars action figures.  Growing up I had every Star Wars action figure released through The Empire Strikes Back.  I picked up quite a few of the Return of the Jedi figures, but that was about the time I started losing interest in the toys.   In the late 1990s I started buying some of the newer Star Wars figures.  Primarily I focused on figures that didn’t have a corresponding toy in the original Kenner line (like Biggs and the Sandtrooper).  I’ve got about 50 of those figures, but I’m not going to display them here since they’re fairly recent by comparison.  My step-son also has about 50 of the Star Wars Galactic Heroes figures which are lots of fun and super cute. For the photo below I was too lazy to match each and every gun with the appropriate figure (though I can probably still do it from memory), so the weapons are all in one big pile.  Click the image to enlarge.

If memory serves, the really jaundiced Stormtrooper was the victim of a sandbox Sarlacc pit.

Below you’ll find my remaining vehicles and playsets.  I used to have the Creature Cantina Action Playset, but I must have pitched it at some point.  Interestingly, the base from the Land of the Jawas Action Playset below was reused two more times by Kenner.  They used the same mold with white plastic to create the Hoth Ice Planet Adventure Set and the Rebel Command Center Adventure Set.  The coolest of my remaining vehicles and playsets has to be the Death Star Space Station.  It was friggin’ huge and provided hours of entertainment and adventures.  I’m pretty impressed with myself for not losing the tiny pieces all these years (i.e. the swinging rope). Click the image to enlarge.

If you are a fan of the vintage Star Wars figures, then I highly recommend Star Wars: The Action Figure Archive.  This book was produced in 1999 and covers every Star Wars action figure, vehicle, and playset produced from 1977 – 1997.  It’s very informative and has over 2,000 gorgeous pictures.  It’s not in print anymore, but you should be able to pick up a copy used.  Definitely worth your effort.

For my Star Wars Resume this week I’ll also cover my novels, comics, and RPGs.  Below are some things I don’t have time to feature this week, but have contributed to my Star Wars fandom over the years.  This certainly isn’t a complete list, but it includes some items that come to mind immediately.

Video

• Four different copies of the first three films – Original video release, 1995 video release, 2004 DVD Special Edition release, and the 2006 DVD Special Edition release that contained the original theatrical versions.
• DVDs of Episodes 1 through 3
• Clone Wars movie and animated series
• Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) – so painful to watch nowadays, even for a geek like me.
• The Ewok Adventure (1984) & Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985) TV movies
  
• Droids cartoon & Ewoks cartoon
• Various behind-the-scenes videos

Audio

• Original Motion Picture Soundtracks for each of the six films
• Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire soundtrack
• Cocktails in the Cantina
• Original Radio Dramas for Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi
• Numerous books on tape – primarily the New Jedi Order novels

Games

• Escape from the Death Star board game (1977)
• Star Wars arcade game (1983)
• Return of the Jedi arcade game (1984)
• X-Wing video game (1993)
• Tie Fighter video game (1994)
• Dark Forces video game (1995)
• Rebel Assault II video game (1995)
• Star Wars Collectible Card Game (1995)
• Monopoly: Star Wars board game (1996)
• Monopoly: Star Wars video game (1997)
• Star Wars Galactic Battle Strategy board game (1997)
• Rebellion video game (1998)
• Trivial Pursuit: Star Wars Classic Trilogy board game (1998)
• Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast video game (2002)
• Battlefront video game (2004)
• Trivial Pursuit DVD: Star Wars Saga Edition board game (2005)
• Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy video game (2006)

Reference books

• Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The New Essential Guide to Characters
• The Essential Guide to Droids
• The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels
• The Essential Chronology
• The Empire Strikes Back Sketchbook
• The Action Figure Archive

Other things that come to mind are: tons of trading cards, Happy Meal-style toys, posters, mousepads, kid’s books, drinking glasses & dinnerware, and so on.  I’m sure I’m forgetting about a zillion things.  While my house isn’t covered in Star Wars paraphenalia, there certainly is a bunch of it lying around.  Check back here the rest of this week for my continuing Star Wars Resume.

And yes, those are my original 1977 Star Wars bed sheets in the background!  My step-son sleeps on them nowadays.  Makes me proud.

It may be difficult to tell, but the hanging net above actually swings across the page as you open the book.  Very cool!  I love how the book refers to the second Death Star throughout as “Death Star 2″.  Makes me want to say, “Death Star 2: Electric Boogaloo” in honor of Chocotaco.

The pop-up engineering above is pretty neat.  As you open the page, the logs come up and then settle near the AT-ST’s feet.  Very nice way to capture the spirit of the film.

When I read the page above, I can’t help thinking, “Hey Chewie… it’s okay to love the Ewoks, just don’t love the Ewoks.” … or …”Theirs was a forbidden love.”

Cute book, but if you’re like me you can’t help wondering, “Was it better than the TV movies The Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor?”  And if you’re like me… then I feel pity for you that a question like that actually crossed your mind.

Here is a shot of the pattern on my 1977 Star Wars bed sheets.  In college, my roommate and I used these sheets to cover our ugly couch.  I tried that with my wife, but it didn’t work out so well.  She made me go and buy a new couch instead.

The upcoming release of the Apple iPad on April 3 has generated a lot of debate amongst geeks and non-geeks.  I’ve found myself in conversations with both groups recently where the same questions have come up.  “Who is the target market?”  “Why would I want one?”  “Why is it such a big deal?”  Well, I’ll attempt to explain how I think the iPad is going to affect our lives and why you’re going to want one (or a similar product).

Where our world is heading

Whether we like it or not, our world is going digital.  Many of us old fogies are sticking our heads in the sand and clinging desperately to our paper and discs.  Meanwhile, the rest of the world is starting to go paperless and digital.  It’s a reality and it’s already happening.  If you work in an office setting, how many times have you heard someone talk about “going paperless?”  If not, then just think about the last time you visited the doctor.  More than likely, the doctor didn’t reference a paper chart, he used a computer.  Magazine and newspaper sales are at an all-time low because people are getting their information digitally nowadays.  Compact Disc sales are way down thanks to the popularity of MP3 players and digital download.  Video rental shops all over the country are closing down as digital and on-demand services (like Netflix) grow in popularity.  Digital book readers (like the Kindle) were the hottest-selling Christmas gift last year.  While us old fogies have a hard time imagining a paperless world, the next generation has no problem imagining it at all.  They’re anxious for it.

With all this varied digital media (books, photographs, music, TV shows, movies, maps, newspapers, and more), people are going to be looking for a convenient all-in-one player they can take on-the-go.  Sure there are laptops and Smart Phones that can accomplish all of this already.  However, when it comes to visual media (i.e. movies, pictures, books, web surfing) many people aren’t happy viewing them on the Smart Phone miniature screens (all of which are 3.7 inches or smaller).  Many laptops also have small screens.  For example, the netbook I’m typing on right now has a 9 inch screen, but if you measure just the height it’s only 4.5 inches tall.  That makes it somewhat challenging to comfortably read a document that is vertically-orientated.  Additionally, many people aren’t willing to carry their laptop around everywhere because it’s often bulky and time-consuming (i.e. you gotta boot up the machine, navigate with a touchpad or mouse, wait for programs to open, etc.).  People don’t carry laptops around just in case they want to show off pictures of their kids.

So the solution sounds like an easy-to-use, all-in-one device with a reasonably-sized screen to handle all your multimedia.  Hmmm…

So what does the iPad do?

According to Apple, the iPad is the best way to experience the web, e-mail, photos, and video.  Standard applications will let you surf the web, check your e-mail (including an expansive onscreen keyboard), manage and view your photos, watch videos in high-resolution, use it as a MP3 player, read digital books, use Google Maps, take notes, manage your calendar and contacts, play games, and purchase up to 150,000 other applications.

The size is 9.5 inches by 7.5 inches, a thickness of 0.5 inches, and a weight of about 1.5 pounds.  The viewable screen is 9.7 inches (diagonal), it’s touch screen operated, and screen orientation rotates depending upon how you are holding it.  The battery life is up to 10 hours.  It’s sort of like a giant iTouch (essentially an iPhone without the telephone part).  Click here to read all the features of the iPad on the Apple website.

Check out the 30 second commercial below to see some of the capabilities.

Wow.  I’m not a Mac guy, but I gotta say that’s a sexy looking machine!

The iPad isn’t the only option out there

It’s important to point out that the iPad isn’t the only product like this coming out in the near future.  In fact, some estimate there will be as many as 50 iPad-like devices making their way to market this year.

There is no good term yet to generically describe all the devices similar to the iPad.  Do we call them Pads, Tablets, or something else?  Going forward, I’m going to refer to these devices generically as “PADDs”.  For the Trekkers reading, you’ll recognize that as the term for the Star Trek datapads.  They were ahead of their time, dude.  I think Apple owes Roddenberry’s estate some money for the idea.

Another reason I’m going to use the term PADD going forward is so that I stop sounding like an iPad commercial.  Geez.

Why will the PADD format be successful?

I believe the PADD’s success will be based around: (1) the portability, (2) the viewable area and rotating orientation, and (3) the touch interface.

Above I established why people will be looking for an easy-to-use, all-in-one device with a reasonably-sized screen to handle all their multimedia.  The PADD format fits that need perfectly.  The viewable area and rotating orientation will be a huge driver of sales.  As we continue to go more and more paperless, people are going to need something to read their digital documents on.  People don’t want to read on tiny little screens.  We’re creatures of habit.  We’re used to reading books, magazines, and letters. PADD screens are somewhere between the size of a paperback and a hardback book.  That’s a decent size that’s comfortable to read.

Personally I don’t think the PADD will impact the MP3 market.  Even though the iPad will play music, I think the even-more-portable MP3 players will survive just fine.  Taking a PADD jogging so you can listen to music just doesn’t make sense given its size.  I think the PADD will establish it’s niche in visual-based media (i.e. books, photographs, TV shows, movies, maps, newspapers, etc), with music as an added bonus.

Adoption

The iPad is going to sell very well initially.  Hundreds of thousands have already been pre-ordered.  It’s quite possible that Apple will sell more iPads in the first three months than it sold original iPhones in the same period.  Just like the iPhone did well in the war of the Smart Phones, it’s likely the iPad will do well in the war of the PADDs.  It’s possible a competing PADD will eventually outsell the iPad (especially with some of the reported iPad issues already, such as Flash), but it’s impossible to tell right now.

The current price of the iPad for the lowest-tier version is $499; the most expensive version is $829.  Those are some scary prices, but they won’t stay that high.  The iPhone started at $599, but you can get one today for $99.  It’s just a matter of time until the price of the iPad drops to a more reasonable level.

Some people argue that the PADD format won’t do well in the long run based upon the history of Tablet PC sales.  Tablet PCs have been around for a long time, but they never really took off.  The iPad is more user-friendly than a Tablet PC and Apple has the marketing to make the iPad desirable to potential buyers.  The success of the iPad will open the door to allow competing PADDs to be successful as well.

I’ve heard lots of people argue, “Why would someone buy an iPad when a laptop does more and is about the same price?”  The fact is that most people want their devices simple.  Look at the success of the Netbook.  It’s a laptop, but with some reduced capability.  Sales show that people don’t mind buying a device with less capability if it does everything they want it to do.  The PADD isn’t intended to replace your personal computer.  It’s intended to be your all-in-one multimedia device.  While the PADD will eventually have many standard computer applications (like word processing and spreadsheets), I think most people will still use it primarily for multimedia and web surfing.  It will do everything people want it to do, so they’ll will be willing to pay for it.

Will the iPad change the world?

Yes and no.  Reading digital documents will eventually become the norm.  It’s not going to happen overnight, but it’s going to happen sooner or later.  It seems likely that the PADD format will help the digital revolution happen faster.  The iPad may not be the most successful PADD in the long run, but it’s going to kick off the PADD popularity.

Paper won’t go away completely.  Printed books will become more of a luxury, as opposed to the primary way to read.  I do expect that the continued move to paperless, combined with the success of the PADD format, will be the final coffin nail for the newspaper and magazine industries.  They may find someway to survive, but I seriously doubt they’ll exist as they do today.

Just to get a bit more geek, this is going to change the comic book industry forever.  Seriously.  Regular printed comic books will be a thing of the past.  You’ll still find kids comics and trade paperbacks, but the slew of monthly titles from Marvel and DC will be available digitally rather than in print.

It’ll be a while before the PADD format becomes commonplace.  They’ll need to work out all the bugs and drop the price to a more reasonable amount.  It’ll take time, but it will happen.

Will the iPad change the way I eat breakfast?  No, but it’ll change how I read while I eat breakfast.

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My thanks to THE UNIQUE GEEK listserv for all the fantastic debate about the iPad and PADD format.

This novel makes a great jumping on point in the adventures of the superhero team called the Sentinels. In the first chapter, the team is decimated by a murderous robot called the Vanguard. The rest of the novel features the rebuilding of the team either through rescue or the addition of new members. The story concludes with a huge confrontation against Vanguard. This is an ideal scenario for someone new to the series like me. By tearing apart the team, it provided an opportunity to learn about each hero individually and to be on the ground floor for the new characters.  The Sentinels team features several of the typical superhero archetypes (i.e. super-strong flying man, displaced god, armored avenger, etc.), with some characters having direct analogs amongst Plexico’s favorite team, Marvel Comic’s Avengers. In fact, the title character Shiva has many characteristics in common with the mighty Thor.  While some characters may be representative of established heroes, they are not mere carbon copies.  These characters have original back stories and interesting personalities.

I was shocked that once I started the book I couldn’t put it down.  As I mentioned, I’m not typically a fan of superhero prose, but Plexico has somehow managed to capture the essence of comic book adventures using only words on a page.  While the story is evocative of the superheroic Bronze Age of comics, it lacks the corniness that sometimes accompanied those tales of yore.  You’ll find the spirit of Stan Lee’s characters and Roy Thomas’ plots living-and-breathing in Van Allen Plexico’s writing.

The novel represents the first chapter of “The Rivals” trilogy and features a great cliffhanger.  If you love old school Avengers tales, especially ones dealing with cosmic forces, then this book is for you.  Sentinels: The Shiva Advent was published by White Rocket Books in 2009 and is available by clicking here.

I just finished listening to an excellent Doctor Who audio book entitled, The Forever Trap.  I’m typically more of a full-cast audio drama fan, but this particular audio book really impressed me.  The story was written by Dan Abnett (yes, that Dan Abnett of Marvel Comics Nova, Annihilation, War of Kings, etc), read by Catherine Tate (Donna Noble on Doctor Who), and features the Tenth Doctor and Donna.  This two-disc story was released in the same format as the other BBC Books Tenth Doctor Adventures audio book adaptations, but this one was released exclusively to audio.  It is the second of its kind, preceded by Pest Control and followed by The Nemonite Invasion.

I’ve listened to Pest Control, which was read by David Tennant, but it failed to impress me.  Even with David Tennant reading the story, it still didn’t feel like proper Doctor Who.  Needless to say, after that I didn’t have high hopes for The Forever Trap.  As I had expected, I was disappointed within the first few minutes of The Forever Trap.  Right out of the gate, Catherine Tate provides an unbelievable voice for the role of a holographic salesman.  I was so turned off by that voice, I gave up listening for a while.  A few days later, I started the audio book again.  Wow!  Sure, that salesman voice isn’t great, but the rest of the audio book was fantastic!  I could visualize the Doctor perfectly thanks to an excellent script by Dan Abnett, and Catherine Tate totally nailing David Tennant’s speech patterns.  Did I already say “Wow”?  Well, I gotta say it again.  WOW!  This is proper Doctor Who.  Abnett clearly gets the Doctor and Donna both.  Also, his talent for writing good science fiction really shines through.  Kudos to Catherine Tate for doing such an outstanding job!  She effortlessly switches between the abrasive Donna, the energetic Doctor, and a wide array of other characters.  I didn’t realize what an amazing range she has.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audio book, more so than most other Doctor Who audio books.  Apparently The Nemonite Invasion is also read by Catherine Tate, so now I’m gonna have to track that one down too!

]]> http://onceuponageek.com/2009/12/22/doctor-who-audio-book-recommendation/feed/ 1 http://onceuponageek.com/2009/11/13/the-accidental-time-machine-by-joe-haldeman/ http://onceuponageek.com/2009/11/13/the-accidental-time-machine-by-joe-haldeman/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:00:33 +0000 Shag http://onceuponageek.com/?p=2288 I recently picked up a very good book called The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman.  In five days I’ve read 240 pages, and I’m about 15 pages from finishing the book.  While I love reading, I’m rarely able to fly through a book this quickly unless I’m on vacation (which I’m not).  It’s a testament to how good it is.  Here is the description from the publisher:

“Grad- school dropout Matt Fuller is toiling as a lowly research assistant at MIT when he inadvertently creates a time machine. With a dead-end job and a girlfriend who left him for another man, Matt has nothing to lose in taking a time-machine trip himself—or so he thinks.”

Maybe I’m the last person on Earth to discover Joe Haldeman, but I’m impressed.  He’s imaginative, creates interesting characters and settings, and his prose feels comfortable making for a swift read.  There is a quote from Stephen King that helped convince me to pick up the book: “If there were a Fort Knox for the science fiction writers who really matter, we’d have to lock Joe Haldeman up there.”

I heard about the book through the Science Fiction Book Club.  On a whim, I decided to give it a try.  I’m glad a I did.  It’s an original take on time travel, with some very creative extrapolations of the future.  I will definitely be reading further Joe Haldeman books.

If you’re a time travel nut like me, it’s definitely worth checking out!