Week Links: Ender, Star Trek, Troopers, Thor

Okay, I was day late with this week's collection of links, hopefully it won't happen again. However, it's been an exciting week, especially if you're into probably unsubstantiated Star Trek rumors. Also random remakes, and problems for the God of Thunder. Meanwhile, I'm reading Micro, Michael Crichton's final work completed by Richard Preston. So far, it seems like a classic return to Crichton's great works.

Flashback: Jurassic Park

I'm going to start a series of posts looking at my favorite stories of all time. I going to talk about how these influenced me and what I think where some of the significant themes and features that made them work. Mostly, this will be movies and books. I'm starting with one that's both a book and film. The Michael Crichton (RIP) novel and Steven Spielberg film: Jurassic Park.

I generally list Jurassic Park first among the major influences of my life, and put it at or near the top of lists of favorite books and movies. My dad read me a parentally-edited version of the book when I was three or four, and my parents took me to the movie when it was released in '93. I don't remember it specifically, but Dad's version of the story has me standing on my seat saying, "This wasn't how it was in the book." Apparently I haven't changed much.

Now it's entirely possible that the Jurassic Park's significance for me comes from permanently burning it into my physique by seeing the movie and reading the book more times than I can count and has nothing to do with any qualities of the original work. It's possible, but I don't seem to be only person who appreciates it.