Tuesday, November 28, 2023

A Pale Light in the Black

 

A Pale Light in the Black is, unfortunately, not science fiction. It's not even a space opera. It's a sports novel in space.

For the past year, their close loss in the annual Boarding Games has haunted Interceptor Team: Zuma’s Ghost. With this year’s competition looming, they’re looking forward to some payback—until an unexpected personnel change leaves them reeling.

 And Someone is targeting members of Zuma’s Ghost, a mysterious opponent willing to kill to safeguard a secret that could shake society to its core . . . a secret that could lead to their deaths and kill thousands more unless Max and her new team stop them. Rescue those in danger, find the bad guys, win the Games. It’s all in a day’s work at the NeoG.

Based on the description, I expected a story balanced  between preparing for the big competition and uncovering the secret conflict, but that wasn't the case. While there were bits of an investigation scattered throughout the book, at least 80% of the story focused on competition and the celebrity it brought the characters. Maybe 10% of the story was about the characters' family issues and mere 10% about investigating the mystery eventually revealed threat  

I've never liked sports and don't enjoy reading about sports celebrities. So I ended up skimming through the last third of the book.

When the final conflict came, it was a bit of a let down. The villain was too easily caught. There was never any real tension or question about who would prevail.

So, only read this book if you're a sports fan.


Tuesday, July 25, 2023

New episodes of Futurama start today

 


This caught me by surprise, but Hulu released a new episode of Futurama today (7/24/2023). 

Futurama was an innovative satirical cartoon that originally aired on Fox from 1999 - 2003. There were also a few movies after the original series was cancelled.

The cartoon is known and loved for it's hilarious send ups of common sci fi tropes as well as its satirical portrayal of politics and mass media.

Depending on which web site you look at, the new episodes may be identified as season 8 or season 11. I think this is due to confusion over whether the movies count as seasons. 

Regardless, I'm looking forward to the new episodes.

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Fantastic Voyage


 Fantastic Voyage by Issac Asimov

Four men and one woman reduced to a microscopic fraction of their original size, boarding a miniaturized atomic sub and being injected into a dying man's carotid artery. Passing through the heart, entering the inner ear where even the slightest sound would destroy them, battling relentlessly into the cranium.

Their objective . . . to reach a blood clot and destroy it with the piercing rays of a laser.


Isaac Asimov wrote the novel based on Harry Kliener's screen play. Rumor has it, that when Asimov saw the original screen play, he remarked that it was full of plot holes and scientific inaccuracies, and insisted on correcting them for the novel. 

Unfortunately, he failed to correct the basic structural and character development flaws. So instead of a 'fantastic voyage', we have a seriously flawed novel. 

The first chapter is literally four "As you know, Bob" conversations about the importance of an off-page character. The Turkey City Lexicon lists an "As you know, Bob" as when two characters tell each other what they already know to bring the reader up to speed. It's a common sci fi trope among beginners. Editors hate it, and this book exemplifies one of the reasons for that hatred. 

By having his characters discuss an off-page character, the author is telling the reader that the characters he's introducing us to on the page aren't that important. So the reader is wondering" if these characters aren't that important, why is the writer wasting my time introducing me to them? Let's get to the real story".

Granted this book was written in 1966, is based on a movie, and opening scenes like this were very common in films of the time. But I still expected better writing from a Grand Master of Science Fiction. 

A second major flaw is the dialog. Most of the dialog consists of one character telling another what they should be thinking. Often with hyperbolic emotional exaggeration that might have worked on the screen, but on the page, makes the characters look like caricatures.

It's was difficult to get into the story, and I was so disgusted with the dialog, I quit reading half way through. Can't recommend this book, not even for historical value.



Tuesday, May 30, 2023

The Glass Teat

I'd heard about Harlan Ellison's The Glass Teat for years, but couldn't find a copy until recently. I'd heard it was an insightful commentary on the deleterious effects television had on the human mind and American culture. Nope, it's not. It's a collection of short vitriolic rants about the lack of realism in a  TV shows and a few other things Ellison didn't like.

According to the book's intro, these rants were originally a weekly newspaper column, reproduced here the order they were written. So there's no real structure, nothing to tie them together.  And since I've never seen most of the shows he mentions, it's impossible to determine how accurate his opinions are. 

The out-of-date references and the vitriolic rhetoric make this book a waste of time for most audiences. The only readers I'd recommend this book for is those specifically studying the counter culture of the 1960s and 70s.

Sunday, May 14, 2023

School Spirits

Okay, enough with the negative reviews. Time to talk about something really, really good: School Spirits.

Streaming from Paramount+, School Spirits is a supernatural crime drama staring Peyton List and Christian Flores. 

Peyton List plays Maddie Nears, a teenager who has just died and whose spirit is now stuck at school. But she has no memory of how she died or where her body is.  The show follows Maddie's ghost and her living friends as they try to solve the mystery of what happened.

Each episode the kids investigate a different potential suspect. First Maddie's boyfriend, then her teacher, then.... (hey too many spoilers). Each episode ends with the kids discovering a clue that clears one suspect and casts suspicion on a new one. Keeping my interest right up to unexpected twist at the end of the first season. (and no, I'm not going to tell you what was finally revealed.)

Along the way we meet many of the other ghosts who've died at this school over the past 60 years, all of whom are trapped there, with no way out. Maddie forms personal connections with four of these other ghosts, and these friendships provide some deep and beautiful character moments.

In spite of the fact that I usually hate high school dramas, School Spirits proved to be one of the best shows of 2023, thanks in no small part to Peyton List's superb performance. But I'm giving this show high marks all around: Excellent writing, directing and acting from everyone involved in the show. I'm looking forward to season 2.