Monday, February 11, 2013

Ten science fiction novels that will never be movies

Charlie Jane Anders, editor at io9, named ten science fiction novels that will definitely never be movies.

One entry on the list:
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy

Another classic from the 1970s, that still holds a lot of power today. Piercy's novel is challenging for a few reasons, including the somewhat confusing method of time travel - a woman who's receiving electric shock therapy in a mental institution travels forward in time, apparently mentally. There's also the fact that she seems to alternate between two different futures, one utopian (in a very 1970s way) and the other dystopian. People who read this novel looking for a straightforward plot are probably going to be somewhat confounded, although its notions of dispossessed people visualizing a better future remain compelling. Even if a film of Edge of Time were considered commercial - which is rather a big "if" - it's almost impossible to imagine translating the "mental time travel" concept and dueling timelines into a form that moviegoers could make sense out of. Maybe after the utopian commune future arrives, we'll create the perfect holographic recreation of this book.
Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue