Sorry to be so vague; The book I'm trying to find was from the POV of a female cargo pilot transporting some sort of technology that is banned from humans by the other races of which one race are fish (aquatic at least) that floated around in balls full of water. She has a semi AI (I think) computer in her spaceship. There was a scene where she had to activate an alien spacesuit technology that was black and spread over her body like liquid. I think it was published around 2006. Answer This is Stealing Light by Gary Gibson, first published 2007. The liquid suit: Convinced the life support was about to collapse, she activated her filmsuit. It spilled out of her skin from dozens of artificial pores, a flood of black ink that cocooned and protected her inside her own liquid spacesuit, growing transparent over her eyes so as to display the darkened space around her in infrared. The fish race is known as the Shoal, and they are the only ones to have faster-than-light technology. Dako...

There is an odd mix of technology in the Gotham pilot, so I was wondering what time period the series is set in. Answer Gotham showrunner Bruno Heller explained this to Entertainment Weekly some time ago: Gotham is not set in any particular time period: Okay, this has been out there a bit, but Heller had a nice quote elaborating on the show’s timeless quality: “It’s a mash-up, to use the modern phrase,” he said. “If today Batman exists, then this world is the past. But it’s everybody’s past, an 18-year-old’s past and a 54-year-old’s past. So in your memory, the past is all mashed up together. So in this Gotham, it’s a kind of timeless world. It’s yesterday, it’s today, and it’s tomorrow all at the same time, because that’s the world that dreams live in.”

In The Fellowship of the Ring , when the party was at the gates of Moria, Gandalf tries to open the doors by speaking bespoke paswords. The password is actually "Mellon " but he tries various other phrases first. What was the first password he tried? It's possible that this is only in the movie version, as it's been quite a while since i read the book. Answer According to the Fellowship of the Ring script at Council of Elrond , in the film Gandalf first tries: Annon Edhellen, edro hi ammen! (Gate of the Elves, open now for me!) Then: Fennas Nogothrim, lasto beth lammen. (Doorway of the Dwarf-folk, listen to the word of my tongue.) Followed by: Ando Eldarinwa…a lasta quettanya, Fenda Casarinwa… (Gate of Elves…listen to my word, Threshold of Dwarves…) In the book, Gandalf first tries: Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen! Fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen! Later attempts: Many times he repeated these words in different order, or varied them. Then he tried other spells, one...

So in the first 5 or 6 books, it was very clear that the wand chooses the wizard and the power/level of the spells the wizard produces is based on the knowledge and skill of the wizard. This is referenced by people constantly being telling Harry that he wasn't skilled enough to perform certain spells, or Bellatrix telling Harry that he needed to mean the Cruciatus curse for it to be effective. However, in the 7th book, this entire idea is changed to the wand being the thing that's powerful and regardless of the wizard's/witch's skill or knowledge, he/she could still perform a very advanced spell if it's something the wand could handle. Goyle accidentally creating a fire serpent is something that instantly comes to mind from the movies(I don't remember if that happened in the book). So, my question is, what actually holds the power, the wizard/witch, or the wand? Answer There is a quote written by J.K Rowling, and it states, “Wands are only as powerful as the w...

The exterior appearance of Hogwarts castle has a unique and easily recognisable look. This article is about the incredible detailed model of the castel, that has been used for every film in the series. While most of it stays the same over the series, there are changes between the movies. Most obvious are the changes between the second and the third movie (a bell tower, a bridge, and more is added). These changes can (maybe) be rationalised by the explanation that in the first parts no scene is taking place near the areas added in later parts. Is it theoretically possible, that Hogwarts Castle never changed it's exterior appearance during the movie series? I'm not asking about behind the scenes material, as I'm sure they have made changes there. I'm wondering about the audiences point of view. Example: Throughout the series we see Hogwarts from a lot of different angles. Let's say in part 4 a new tower appears. The absence of this tower in older movies can be explai...

If Jon Snow indeed was the son of Lyanna and Rhaegar, how did he burn his arm in book one when he tried to save the Lord Commander Mormont from the wight? If he was part fire, how could he have singed himself?

It was in my language arts text book. As far as I can recall, it was about a family that was new to town. The protagonist befriends a little boy in the family but the boy can never come out when it rains. It is later revealed that the entire family is made of sugar (or maybe it was salt...some kind of dissolvable, powdery substance familiar to grade-schoolers). The illustration in the edition of the book I read was an Alex Katz painting of a woman wearing a headscarf and holding an umbrella. Maybe someone else has read the same book?