Atlas Shrugged

I just got home from a long train trip.  I was thinking during part of the ride on the express rail service about Atlas Shrugged, especially thinking about it from the perspective of science fiction.  When I got home, I searched and found this article on the same topic.  It's a pretty good read, so I thought it worth linking here.

I like the comments there about Rand's own views on sci-fi, and the idea of considering her masterpiece as a work within the genre.  Fun stuff.


 Subscribe in a reader

Testament of Andros

I am haunted.

I read James Blish's short cycle The Testament of Andros yesterday, and I can think of nothing else.   The way the cycle spirals around and around the three characters, the world's end, the sun.... it seems to be spiraling around and around in my brain in just the same way.

It's been some time since I last read anything by Blish, but as soon as I read this, I downloaded several more stories for my Kindle.  And I am planning on reading more of his longer works when I get back to Singapore, since they are on my shelf there.  I had almost forgotten just how good a writer he is.

If you've not read Testament of Andros, it is well worth picking up. It can be read in a very brief time, but will linger in the mind long after the reading, swirling round and round in an eery sort of way.  Just like the story itself does in the telling.  It makes for a wonderful reading effect, and reading after effect.





 Subscribe in a reader

Iron Man 2 in China

I haven't gotten to see the film yet, but found this post interesting...

Censorship of Iron Man 2 in China

 Subscribe in a reader

The Attack of the Two-Headed Poetry Monster

I recently finished reading Attack of the Two-Headed Poetry Monster. It's a pretty funny collection, with lots of spoofs, warped humor, and all the things that can make reading poetry fun.

It's the first collaboration between Mark McLaughlin and Michael McCarty I've read, but I really enjoyed it, and would happily delve into anything else they put together.



 Subscribe in a reader

Fun Viewing

It was fun yesterday, on the second day of the new year, to see the 1984 film 2010 showing on TV. I enjoyed watching it again, just like I did 26 years ago. (Wait... 26 years??? Ouch!)




And right after watching 2010, the 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey was aired. It's been some time since I last saw that old classic as well, and so I really enjoyed catching up with both films yesterday.



The old movies are obviously a little dated when you look at some of the technologies pictured in them, but it doesn't matter much. They are still good movies. The ideas in the series, both about space exploration and the interaction between humans and the technology they create, are really fun to consider. The Bowman-HAL connection is a little creepy still — in fact, it might be even more so today, when such things seem to really capture the imagination of serious women and men of science.


I'm glad both films were shown — especially together — and getting to see them right in the middle of the era they depicted and predicted. It's interesting to think about the different directions our technology and space exploration has taken us since the making of the movies (and the writing of the books on which they are based), and also the ways in which the stories still hold certain ideas that are, even today, worth exploring further.


I read 3001 several months ago, and also read a book entitled Flesh and Machines, which makes mention of HAL and his (its?) interaction with humanity. Seeing these films again after having recently enjoyed both of those books was extra fun. I'm glad I caught them on TV and got to experience them all over again.






 Subscribe in a reader

Avatar

I saw Avatar last night, and really enjoyed it. It might be the best new film I saw this year.

The technologies of the future presented in the film were lots of fun. I liked the ideas explored, and loved the new world created on Pandora. The use of all the old tropes was good, especially mixed in with the idea of a true global network. That concept reminded me of a lot of sci-fi books I've read (including Asimov's later installments to the Foundation series), but the whole biological explanation of it was very nicely done in the film. I liked how it was presented on the screen too, with the various creatures able to connect (literally) to the world around them in a special way.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and might even see it one more time while it is still on the big screen. Fun stuff!


 Subscribe in a reader

Time Travel: The Most Ridiculous Theory In Science

I came across an interesting hub at HubPages the other day, Jon E. Royeca's Time Travel: The Most Ridiculous Theory In Science. In it, Royeca outlines the main ideas proposed by those who say that time travel is bound to happen sooner or later, and tells why he is sure that this is just not possible.

A fun read for anyone interested in science fiction, so I thought I'd put a link up here.

2012

I just got back from watching 2012. It isn't the greatest movie I've ever seen — not even the best end-of-the-world story — but it was still pretty fun. Woody Harrelson was a riot, and, well, I always like John Cusack.

There were several touching moments in the movie, and a few spots that would make you think. I liked the weaving in of the Noah story, and how that old tale came back to life. There were a lot of completely unbelievable plot devices, but hey... it was still a fun night at the movies.

Overall, I would say the film doesn't offer a lot of depth, but it is entertaining. And the special effects are pretty cool too.


 Subscribe in a reader

Book Review Website Aimed at Christian Ficiton

I have started to build a new website with Christian fiction book reviews. The site has reviews of all sorts of titles, whether they be books marketed specifically as Christian fiction, or books that seem like things Christian readers might be interested in. I want to eventually have all kinds of books, old or new, and really aim to feature a breadth of titles, authors, and genres.

I am listing titles by author, title, and genre. I hope over time to feature a lot more science fiction and fantasy that is geared to the Christian market. I'll be posting reviews of my own, but I also hope to get some new reviewers to send thoughts over. I don't mind what your own beliefs are, and would actually like thoughts coming from all different perspectives. But the site is aimed at Christian readers, and reviews should be geared to that market.

At any rate, do feel free to send any reviews my way that you'd like to see posted at the site.

 Subscribe in a reader

Reliving it all again

I've recently sat down to watch all of the 6 Star Wars episodes again. I have to admit that this is, no matter how you look at it, a really amazing series. Sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking that my love for it is all about the sentimental attachment of someone who grew up on the series. I am wrong to think like that. My evaluation that it is a great series is because... it is really a great series.

Lucas is an amazing artist, with an incredible vision. I love how he views his world, how he put it together, unfolding it in the perfect sequence. He was so wise, not only in the construction of the films, but in the release of them in Episodes 4, 5, 6, only to be followed by 1, 2, 3 two decades later. What genius! He won over a whole new generation because of his patience.

I'm glad to have taken the time to watch the series again. I'm wrapping up a couple of essays on Star Wars, and hope that they will be accepted for publication eventually. But the emotional enjoyment I get from these films just has to overflow after having relived them over the past 10 days or so.

 Subscribe in a reader

Science Fiction World

I am continuing in my read of Science Fiction World, the Chinese language science fiction magazine. So far, I am really enjoying the stories there. I am very pleased to find that I am able to follow the language. It is written in a way that is engaging enough that, even when I struggle a little, I don't switch off.

I've asked a friend to pick up the January issue for me, so that I will have it when I get back to Shanghai. I'll look forward to continuing to be a reader of this magazine.


 Subscribe in a reader

Update on Chinese Science Fiction

I've been working on that collection of 2002's Best Science Fiction (China) for a while now, but have been a bit slow about the reading (busy days of late!). I finished one rather long story by He Xi (何夕) called 《六道众生》. It was not a bad read, even though it took me a while to get into it (my problem, not the story's). I found the reading to be doable for me, something I was rather proud of, from a language-learning perspective. It wasn't exactly easy (thus the slow reading), but manageable.

The story is something I little different than what I would actually class as science fiction. To me, it seems to fit more into the category of speculative fiction (the broader genre that definitely encompasses this piece), and I might just label it fantasy. Not a lot of real science in it, actually. But still, it is the type of literature I am wanting to read more of in Chinese, and I am glad to have gotten started with this story.

Right now I am working on another called 《午后》by Yang Ping (杨平). I'll have more to say on it when I finish.



 Subscribe in a reader

This should be interesting...

My Chinese teacher yesterday loaned me 3 sci-fi books, all in Chinese. I've never read Chinese sci-fi before, and have only seen one or two Chinese movies in the genre. It should be quite interesting to see how it goes... and of course it will take me forever to finish the books. One is a translation of English sci-fi writers (I'm leaving it 'til last, for obvious reasons). The other two are by Chinese writers.


I'm beginning with a 2002 anthology of the year's best science fiction stories in Chinese. Should be fun! I'll update how I'm progressing with the book in a few days.


 Subscribe in a reader

reviews and poetry

After my most recent post about a review I wrote for Sloth Jockey, I realized that some of my other pieces there, both reviews and poetry, might be of interest to fans of speculative fiction. I'll be submitting there more over time, so that list should grow, and you can keep up with it at my author page, if you are interested.

 Subscribe in a reader

Rossum's Universal Robots

R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) was written in 1921 — way ahead of its time. It is set in a factory where robots are produced. The main tension in the drama comes from the question of the possibility of evolution in the robots — can they develop a soul? Do they deserve the same treatment as humans? What will happen to humans when robots evolve?

All good questions. And amazing that they were being explored in a 1921 Czech play. Interestingly, the word "robot" comes to us via this play. It is from the Czech, meaning "slave." That is a good indicator of the position that the makers of the robots originally intended they occupy. Their role has always been defined by their name.

They play does not only explore technology. Like any good science fiction work, the question of technology is foregrounded, but it is also the site in which other issues central to society's development are explored. In this case, we see questions of the role of the media raised, along with the ethics of the work force. It is a very funny piece, not just for its questions about robots, but because of how it examines our treatment of one another.

Any real fan of science fiction should take the time to read R. U. R.. Like almost any play, it can be read in one sitting. It is a good read. And even if reading plays is not normally your thing, this one is worth it just because of its place in the history of the development of an idea. It is very nicely done.


 Subscribe in a reader

Babylon AD

I saw Babylon AD over the weekend. It was nothing fantastic, though I did like Michelle Yeoh (as always).

My friend who saw the movie with me said it gave her a headache. Lots of action, loud action, and the shooting style was rather odd, with cuts from one bit of violence to the next that were not at all smooth nor easy to follow. It certainly gives the film that edginess that it seemed to aim for, but it was mostly that which gave my friend a headache.

Who should see the film? Someone looking for lots of action.

Who shouldn't see the film? Anyone who is looking for a well-developed plot, rich characters, the complexity of the best science fiction films, or a very coherent set of ideas to set you thinking. The film has none of those things.

But there is lots of action.

 Subscribe in a reader

Wall•E

Wall•E just started at cinemas in Singapore this past weekend, but it has been driving me crazy all summer long. My nephews and godchildren saw a commercial for it early in the summer, and for three months now have been saying "Waaaaall•E" in that irritating robotic voice. I am hoping that our viewing of it over the weekend might have satisfied their hunger for the show, and I might stop hearing that. But I have a feeling that is just wishful thinking.

Wall•E actually turned out to be a better movie than I was expecting. I liked the limited dialogue, and how most of the movie is understood via a medium other than language. There is something very appealing about that, something that reaches a part of the mind other than that with which I mostly function throughout the day. (I can't help it, I am a very language-oriented person.)

Paralleling that appeal to a sub-linguistic part of the brain is the emphasis on human contact in its most basic forms. Well, perhaps "human" is not quite the right word, considering that Wall•E is not exactly human. Let's call it, then, contact between like-minded beings. That is the central point of the movie, facing competition for our attention only from the green theme. The repetition of the image of interlocking hands drives the point home: like-minded beings need each other. The juxtaposition of two robots who learn to love each other with humans who isolate themselves in a digital world is a very obvious way of making this point, but the cuteness of the robots covers a multitude of overtness.

Wall•E does a nice job of exploring some of science fiction's biggest concerns (the colonization of space, the future of the human race if we continue on the path we are walking, environmental issues, where androids and cyborgs might fit into the picture of our future, etc.). The limited use of dialogue is a good way of exploring these issues at a very basic level. Whatever faults I might find with the film, I do like its attempt to approach complex questions in this way.



 Subscribe in a reader

Where Do You Go for Good Science Fiction and Speculative Poetry?

Where do you usually go when you are on the hunt for a new work of science fiction or speculative poetry? For me, I like to shop at the Genre Mall online. They have a very wide selection of fiction, poetry, and magazines to choose from. I've bought a fair number of titles from the Genre Mall, and have never failed to be impressed with the work. A large number of small publishing houses choose to distribute their work from the Genre Mall, so it houses a very nice selection of work that may not be available elsewhere. And, when you buy there, you are supporting the real grassroots movement of the genre.

I've also come across a very interesting site recently called Anthology Builder. I like how you can tailor make and anthology there, and have it put together in a way to suit your own needs and desires. I've already written a more extensive explanation about it at my main blog, so if you have some short stories you'd like to put up for sale, or if you are looking for good stories to read, you might pop in over there to have a look at how it works.



 Subscribe in a reader

Carl Sagan's Contact

I just finished reading Carl Sagan's Contact. I had seen the movie long ago, and forgotten much of the story. I found the ideas to be quite engaging, but thought the writing not very good. I know, it is probably not smart to say that about such a famous book, but seriously... Sagan's ideas are what sells, not his prose.

I liked the interweaving in the text of ideas about science and theology. Indeed, at one point one character says that all science is necessarily engaged with theology. I am not sure that I can entirely agree with this statement, but I can see how it would seem to be the case from the perspective of a person whose life is dedicated to science.

I loved most the plausibility of the scientific developments. Even though the conclusions that followed it (basically, a vision of world cooperation leading to a hope for a utopian type of world peace) were a little far-fetched for me, I still found the science of it all very engaging. And that's not entirely surprising — Sagan was a better scientist than sociologist, I guess. But, in all fairness, the book doesn't exactly promise the achievement of world peace, and in the end it does a nice job of exploring the various oppositions that would arise to such a vision. What I found a little too idealistic was the notion that the Machine would get built at all. That level of cooperation, despite the tense political setting of the novel, is just a bit much to swallow.

But all in all, it is a good read, and worth getting into the ideas presented.



 Subscribe in a reader

Boundaries Between Reality and Fiction

My nephew and I have been engaged in long discussions lately about the boundaries between reality and fiction.
This video clip seems appropriate, at the moment.




 Subscribe in a reader