The Science of Avatar by Stephen Baxter
 

Dowantdowantdowant... :D :D :D

Amazon UK
Amazon US

Who else is getting this? :)

I definitely have to get this. :D

What exactly is it?


The description is not too descriptive...

Niiiiice!!!!

It looks great :). But I would like to know more details first, what chapters will be there etc.

So what is it?

Stephen Baxter is a good sci-fi author who seems to know what he's talking about -- this might be worth investigating.

From the description:
Hmm... :D

Stephen Baxter is possibly one of the most realistic scifi authors around, he has a real science background. He also writes epic books. What tbw said really :)

It does look interesting, do want :)

Also, here's the link to buy it from Amazon's us site

link

now thats better! Im in :D

*clicks order*

Yup Im getting this!! :D

I've been wondering about the science behind the movie myself and am especially interested in the plants. I wonder if there's going to be an in depth book about the botany of Pandora...like the book that was mentioned. Now that would be cool!
This is a good one to add to the library of Avatar books. Which... I don't have yet.

gaaaah now I wish I had money more than ever right now! I'll probable miss the re-release and now this books! =[ It sucks not being able to find a job XD

So is it a novel?


A reference guide?


I dun get it!

As much as I don't really care for Stephen Baxter (on the edge of disliking him, but not quite), this looks like quite the read. :)

...Although, I don't see how this'd be much different from the Survival Guide... ? Is any of his examination based on what Cameron actually wrote, or just lots of speculation? If it's firmly grounded in what Cameron intended, and has more information than the survival guide (particularly on the Eywa concept), then I'm absolutely buying this.

But as of now, on both descriptions for each edition (U.K. and U.S.) it doesn't give us much information on what this really is, other than Baxter's "examination of Avatar", for which the description is quite vague, and (to me) sounded like a bunch of hypothetical assumptions that have nothing to do with Cameron's vision.

Thinking out loud.

Anything to learn about Pandora, something new related to Avatar... yes please! I would love to hear a review first before purchase (im a bit broke at the moment from buying that music making equipment in the first place :P )

well, i dont know about this one.... i am not a man of science so i dont know ....

That's exactly what I think what the book will entail. It may also give more info about Pandora, as in it's seasons, weather systems, how unobtanium even got on Pandora. Also I want to know more about the evolutionary trees of the Na'vi and animals on Pandora, like why the Na'vi are hairless (mostly) and why all land creatures have 6 legs. Stuff like that. :)

The last 2 are relatively simple, it's just the way things went evolutionarily... the same was as blue skin, or bioluminescence for every plant and animal.

But I'm just wondering whether it's actually based on what Cameron wrote, or just a whole lot of assumptions, conjecture, and unfounded theory just from viewing the film and reading the survival guide.

I'm a huge fan of Stephen Baxter (although I can see why others might not be). There's no way I'm not buying this book. When people say he's the heir to Arthur C Clarke, they're not joking.

As for why he's writing it- one of the themes you can find in Baxter's books (particularly the near future hard sf ones like Titan) is a sense of despair that younger generations seem to be becoming progressively less interested in exploration and the great frontier.

If he manages to engage and excite even a fraction of the millions of young people out there who enjoyed Avatar with the idea of humanity having a future beyond earth, a future that they can build, it can only be a good thing.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly has Stephen Baxter done/wrote to make some people here dislike him? Just wondering. :)

I don't dislike him... I just don't care for his work. I'm sort of on the fence about him. For me it's really just the worldviews he holds...

...and partially because I really don't like how he wrote "The Time Ships", where (IMO) he kind of defeated the purpose of what Wells meant for "The Time Machine", since it's supposed to be a sequel, like what happened after he left again. It's very well-written, and has some intriguing concepts, but I felt like he seriously took away from the mysterious nature of Wells's novel by adding so much more technical information, and tried to redeem some of the traveler's losses that were so apparently grounded in the first that it seemed pointless to bring them up again, like saving Weena, or some of the moments that were strikingly similar to "Back to the Future".

I can see where a lot of the ideas came from for the writing the remake of "The Time Machine" film for 2002, though.

I think his stuff can be a bit too downbeat for some people. Characters die unmourned, humanity fails, the universe winds down.

Do we know when its coming out?

It's realistic. I like it. Titan is one of my favourite books...

I'd recommend his short story 'In the MSOB' from the 'Traces' collection. Sort of a precursor to a similar scene in Titan.

Publication date listed as September 2012 on Amazon.

... what? The Survival Guide came out within a week of the movie's release. I wonder what's going to take this one so long.

Perhaps he's going to do more than just "examine" the film. Perhaps he'll consult Cameron directly...?

That's a hope... I'm interested in what it will contain though as most of the science is already quite well-defined. I hope it will have something for people who already have a good understanding of biology and physics as opposed to just being an explanation fo what there already is, although Stephen Baxter is such an excellent writer, and with the real world knowledge to back it up too - his scifi is some of the hardest (meaning most accurate to known understanding) around - that I doubt he will disappoint :)

I agree. I'll buy it if it falls in the mid-range of technical knowledge. I don't want the book to assume the reader knows nothing about physics and such, but I don't need a highly technical manual with no explanations.

Maybe some equations and diagrams with references and explanations of how things work?

I'd like a highly technical one :) , although I'd be happy if it fell into the mid range too, as you mentioned - I guess it will because that makes it accessible to the most people.

Here is a review of the book

The Science Of Avatar REVIEW | SFX - page 0


http://media.sfx.co.uk/files/2012/04...Avatar_305.jpg

I've actually seen some reviews that say it isn't that good, but I'm highly doubtful of those. I know some would dismiss such a book just because of its connection to Avatar, anyway :facepalm:

Of course, hipsters are everywhere -.-

I'll probably do some reading of it this weekend.

Just ordered it so I'll see how it is when it gets here next week. -

I got a copy of this book and is willing to give my view of the book.

For those who are getting this book for getting an expansion of the Avatar universe, be disappointed. Beside a few tiny tit bits the book concentrated on the real world science behind the film.

Don't get me wrong, however the book is still an interesting read with some good analysis of the Avatar universe by area. But it is a non-fiction book and so is more about technolgy and science rather than an a description of the universe.

I kinda agree with this. I got the book and started reading but it's not really pulling me in. I haven't read much of it cuz the lure is just not there. I wanna hear more about Pandora and it's universe but not getting much from this book. I will keep reading though.