The Neuro Chronicles

Over a month into the new year and I’m already behind on my reading list. For this post, I read Neuromancer by William Gibson and The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. Let’s get to it.

I grappled with Neuromancer for the first two weeks of January. It wasn’t a bad book — far from it. It was just unlike anything I had read so far. Cyberpunk is a genre that appealed to me, but I had no experience with it outside of The Matrix trilogy. I chose Neuromancer as the best jumping-on point.

The book tells the story of Case, a talented computer hacker who was burned by his previous employer. Being burned meant that he was poisoned and he was unable to jack his mind directly into the global computer network. He loses himself in the real world until he’s approached by a shadowy figure with promises of a cure. All he has to do in exchange is pull off one of the most complicated heists in history.

The book is dense and doesn’t hold the reader’s hand. There were plenty of moments where I had to go back and reread passages multiple times before I could figure out what was going on. I was frustrated while I was reading it, but I couldn’t stop. There was something so fascinating about this world GIbson created. Case wasn’t a very interesting character, but the world around him was. Street Samurai and mad A.I.s abound and there is a real mystery about who the characters are and who is pulling the strings.

The best part of the book is that it sets a dark and gritty tone immediately and expands on it throughout the novel. The book feels raw. It transported me to crowded streets and coffin hotels and managed to make me feel a little claustrophobic. The world is pressing down on our main character and that weight is expressed through the scenery and clever word choice. It was a book unlike anything I had read since I started this journey through science fiction and I think it was a good way to reset my mind about what scifi can do.

 

The Martian Chronicles is a series of vignettes that tell a semi-cohesive story about the human exploration and colonization of Mars. I didn’t know that when I picked up the book, but it’s a format that I enjoy quite a bit.

The first few stories were incredible. Bradbury incorporates smart humor and satire so effortlessly into his writing. I found myself grinning more than once at some of the absurdity. My favorite story features Captain Jonathan Williams and his three-man crew as they travel around Mars looking for someone to congratulate them on completing the journey through space. It features some of the best moments that the book has to offer.

Unfortunately, as the book went on I thought that the stories lost some of their luster. They weren’t bad, but the bar was set so high by the first few stories. The first stories set a more lighthearted tone and the stories in the latter half of the book shifted to a more somber mood. It’s a tonal shift that makes sense in the context of the overarching story, but for me personally it felt like a bit of a letdown. Bradbury loses something in the tonal shift and though the stories are well written, they didn’t stick with me the way the first few did.

Anyway, if you want to talk about Gibson or tell me why I’m wrong about The Martian Chronicles, feel free to message me or tweet me @left4turtle.

Dragon Runner

I’ve been woefully behind in my science fiction journey. Most of my writing time has been dedicated to writing reviews for blackshipbooks.com. I’d love if you checked them out. I did make a little progress and there are a couple of things I’d like to talk about. So let’s get started with Dragonquest, the follow-up to Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight. I adored Dragonflight, but Dragonquest has really solidified my Pern-fan status.

 

The story opens seven years after the closing of Dragonflight. The falling Threads from the Red Star are still a threat, but the bigger threat is an unwillingness to adapt to new circumstances. The story is focused more of F’Lar’s brother F’Nor and his brown dragon Canth. I was a little disappointed at first to move away from F’Lar and Lessa, but F’Nor is a great character in his own right. He falls in love with Brekke, a Weyrwoman to the south, and is willing to destroy centuries of customs to be with her. Their journey of love and loss is captivating and a highlight of the book.

Again, the story has a lot to offer for fans of fantasy and science fiction alike. The book is more cohesive than Dragonflight and the writing has improved. Having previously established the universe, McCaffrey’s beginning chapters aren’t weighed down by exposition. This is an important improvement over the first entry in the series. The story does slow down a little too much from time to time, but overall it’s a great story with solid writing. Plus there are telepathic dragons that fight what is essentially an invading extraterrestrial force. What more could you ask for?

 

I don’t want to spend too much time discussing it, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed the new Maze Runner movie. To be fair, I haven’t read the book and had pretty low expectations going in, but I admired the structure of the movie. Being thrust into the middle of the situation with no explanation works well in books, but sometimes that doesn’t translate well to film. Thankfully it works here. While there were a few moments a little too reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Divergent, overall it’s a solid film. I was especially thankful that there wasn’t any forced romance in the story. It’s focused on the action and the discovery of the world and this is the strength of the film.

 

 

Comics fans, there are some really amazing new science fiction books on the market, especially from Image Comics. Copperhead is a space western that reminds me a lot of Firefly. There’s not much higher praise that I can give it. Jay Faerber and Scott Godlewski have a really great book and I can’t wait to see where it goes. Roche Limit by Michael Moreci and Vic Malhotra, two rising stars, is a slick book about a planet full of criminals owned by an eccentric, billionaire visionary. It’s incredibly well-written and the art is beautiful. These are two books you should not miss.

 

Anyway, if you want to talk about the Masterharper of Pern CD or talk about how Image Comics is absolutely killing it these days, feel free to message me or tweet me @left4turtle.

Altered Flight: The Saga Continues

This week’s post was a little delayed because I wanted to finish Dragonflight before posting. So let’s start there.

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey is an interesting mix of fantasy and science fiction. It’s marketed as fantasy for obvious reasons. The story follows various dragonriders as they try to bring their weyr back to the prestige dragonriders once held. They’ve fallen on hard times as their usefulness is questioned in Pern. The usefulness of the dragonriders is where the book introduces the science fiction aspects. Pern has been invaded for centuries by something known as Threads. These Threads are an invasion force from a red star that orbits close to Pern that destroy organic matter. It’s up to F’Lar and the new Weyrwoman Lessa to find a way to stop the newest invasion when the weyrs have all but faded into memory.

This book really has a lot to love regardless of if you’re a fan of fantasy, sci-fi, or both. Time travel, dragons, inter-dimensional teleportation, dragons, and a desperate battle to save humanity involving dragons. The beginning can be a little overwhelming as you are thrust into a world without knowing all of the rules, but this is soon rectified. The characters are learning new rules along with the reader and overall this works really well. It provides readers the thrill of discovery without ever feeling like you’re missing something important.

Overall the book is really good. It’s a little short, but this is because it was originally published as separate novellas and put together into a cohesive novel. My only other complaint is that some of the characters read a little flat. Each seems to have one or two characteristics that define all of their actions. Lessa is snappy and overconfident. F’Lar is wise but prone to angry outbursts. There are some moments where these veils fall and we see real characters underneath, but they weren’t quite often enough for me. Still, I really enjoyed the book and will happily be reading the next book in the series.

I also finished up Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan. An amalgam of science fiction and hardboiled, the story follows Takeshi Kovacs as he is paid to investigate an apparent suicide. In the world of Altered Carbon, human personalities have been digitized and are able to be downloaded into new bodies. Death has effectively been erased (unless you’re Catholic) and all punishment is now time served in a digital stack.

 

Takeshi is an ex UN Envoy and has been trained in wearing different bodies, called sleeves, to infiltrate, investigate, and cause general havoc to UN enemies. He is shot in the beginning of the book and wakes up on Earth in a police officer’s body. A rich man has apparently killed himself, but when he is revived he doesn’t believe he would kill himself. After all, what is the point when he can just be redownloaded from remote storage? The book follows the investigation through some really interesting plot twists and provides a satisfying mystery for the reader.

Altered Carbon takes the two genres and smashes them together more than effectively. I think fans of either genre will enjoy the story told here. If you’re not interested in reading some rather explicit sex scenes, you might want to pass on this one, but otherwise have at it.

Finally, I read the third volume of Saga by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples. What can I say about this series that hasn’t already been said? I keep waiting for the team to slip, to somehow lose this incredible steam they’ve got going. Even to produce a book that falters for just a few pages. I’m very happily surprised that with every issue they somehow get better. Y: The Last Man is one of my favorite series of all time, but Saga might be the pinnacle of what BKV can create. I haven’t read any of the books Fiona Staples has worked on besides Saga, but her work is beautiful and I would happily consume all I can find.

The bottom line is, if you’re not reading Saga please pick up the first volume. Give it a glance in the store, read a few pages, see if you’re into it. That’s all it will take to get its hooks in you.
Anyway, that’s my week in science fiction. If you want to talk about the dragonriders of Pern, hardboiled being the name of a genre, or just fawn over Fiona Staples art, feel free to message me or tweet me @left4turtle.

Guardians of the Lazarus

Guardians of the Galaxy is an amazing movie. I know I’m not telling you anything new here, but I just want to get this fact out of the way. Marvel has outdone themselves this time. Aside from The Avengers, which was just an incredible feat aside from the content, Guardians of the Galaxy is my favorite Marvel movie. When I walked out of the theater I told my girlfriend that this movie was a 10/10 perfect me-movie. Here are a few non-spoilery reasons why.

 

The casting here is spot-on. There’s no other way to describe it. Chris Pratt as Star-Lord works almost too well. He’s brought to the screen the most likeable rogue since Han Solo himself. He’s funny and he’s clever, but his backstory is heartfelt and his tragic past echoes through his performance. His interactions with Zoe Saldana’s Gamora are flirtatious at times, but they never cross into a forced romance. In fact, all of the character interactions here are a joy to watch.

Marvel may have set the stage for Rocket to steal the show, but it’s Groot that dominates the screen. It only takes him three words to become a star.

The story is mostly what you’d expect. Each of these miscreants overcome checkered pasts to save the universe from the big bad. It’s a tried and true formula, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done well. Guardians of the Galaxy does it well. The character’s are given depth through key backstory moments that don’t feel forced at all. The bad guy feels appropriately powered to warrant the creation of such an unexpected team. The story is nicely contained, while still working to expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans of the comics will love this movie. New readers will love this movie. Fans of science fiction will love this movie. This is the movie of the summer, plain and simple.

 

A side note: I was seated next to a kid who was probably eight years old. Through the entire film, he was oohing and ahhing, cheering for Star-Lord and his band of scoundrels. Every cool moment made him laugh with joy.  He gave the film a standing ovation. I hope this movie was for him what Star Wars was for me. This movie is the perfect gateway into the world of science fiction.

I also had the chance to read the first volume of Greg Rucka and Michael Lark’s Lazarus. This consists of the first four issues of the series and a special prologue for the trade. Focused more on introducing the world and characters, the first volume was a little bit underwhelming from a story perspective. However, it does set up the second volume quite nicely.

Lazarus is the story of a dystopian future where the world is separated into territories controlled by the richest families. They don’t care for most of the people in their lands, treating them as serfs or sheep more than anything. They are obsessed with gaining and protecting their own power. The main character here is Forever Carlyle, the Lazarus for the Carlyle family. A Lazarus is basically an augmented soldier who protects the family from rival families. The story hints at her past, but that will be explored in later volumes. For now, suffice to say she is a badass soldier who is completely loyal to the head of the Carlyle family and nobody else.

Despite the lack of a bigger story, the world that’s been created is sufficiently intriguing to keep readers going on to the second volume. The creators have given readers a promise of things to come, and those things have the potential for incredible storytelling.
Anyway, if you want to share your Guardians experience with me or tell me your opinions on Lazarus, feel free to message me or tweet me @left4turtle

Un Lun Dun: The New Order

Un Lun Dun by China Miéville is one of the most creative books I’ve read. There are moments in the book that are so genius it almost feels painful. The author wields his creativity like a weapon with the intention of destroying conventions and expectations. And it works.

Describing the storyline of Un Lun Dun is bound to give some of the creative twists away.  There will be no major spoilers here, but there are some minor ones. So with that being said, if you want a completely unsullied experience get out now. Skip down to the picture of the Wolfenstein cover.

Still here? Well then let me tell you my favorite thing about the book. The chosen one fails in the first fourth of the book and is no longer the main character. I loved that more than any other part of this book. Instead her best friend, barely mentioned in the prophecies, becomes the hero of the story. It was such a refreshing experience. Rather than follow the prophecy, Deeba follows the parts she deems important. She cuts out the middlemen and heads straight for the final dungeon. It’s just so brilliant. Any reader can empathize with her tale. We’ve all had moments where our friends were chosen for something and we were overlooked. We’ve all wanted to prove that we could be the hero of the story, regardless of our delegated roles. It’s a book intended for young adult readers, but the themes are applicable to us all.

The world that the author creates is remarkable. Un Lun Dun (Unlondon) is a world full of things that shouldn’t make any sense. From carnivorous giraffes to flocks of unbrellas, the book is enthusiastically creative. It’s a joy to learn about Unlondon and what makes it unique from London. I don’t want to give too much more away, but the wordplay in the book elicited a few shocked grins. If you like joy, creativity, or wonder, you’d do well to pick up this book. If you have any young readers in your family, ask them to give this a shot. It’s well worth it.

I also completed Wolfenstein: The New Order this week. This is a first-person shooter developed by Machine Games and published by Bethesda. I’m not going to critique the gameplay here, but I wanted to mention this game because it has a surprisingly great scifi story. Wolfenstein follows William “B.J.” Blazkowicz through an alternate history where the nazis won World War II.

The story opens with B.J. attacking the compound of Nazi General Wilhelm “Deathshead” Strasse with a group of special forces soldiers. The attack is a glorious failure and results in a head injury for our hero. When he awakens fourteen years later, the Nazi’s have taken over the world and the moon. They come to the hospital where he has been in a vegetative state and attack those who cared for him over the years. He awakens and murders everyone and goes off to join the resistance.

The game then follows a series of missions where we build up the resistance forces and try to shift the balance of world power. There is a surprisingly genuine love story that blossoms between B.J. and his caretaker from the hospital Anya. The writing is crisp, and the backstory materials hidden throughout the world are actually worth reading. By the end of the game, Machine Games has crafted one of the single best stories in games this year. And that ending credits song may have jerked a few tears.
Anyway, if you want to tell me Un Lun Dun would be a great vacation spot or that you think I’m wrong about Wolfenstein, feel free to send me a message or tweet me @left4turtle.

I Love Saga (Lucy not so much)

This week I had the pleasure of reading the second volume of Saga, the epic science fiction and fantasy mashup by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples. There’s not much to say about this series that hasn’t already been said a hundred times. The writing is sharp, the art is beautiful, and the story simultaneously tugs at your heart strings and repulses you. The series has won plenty of well-deserved awards and is arguably the best comic series in recent memory. Buy into the hype, this book will change your life.

I don’t want to give too much away, but the story is about two soldiers in opposing armies that fall in love and have a child. Now both sides of the war are desperate to capture them and destroy their child. With the galaxy against them and the deadliest hunters pursuing them, the three live on the run and forge alliances with unlikely allies. As vague as that may be, I wouldn’t want to give a single thing away from this book. It’s a genuine delight to learn about the world as you read, and each issue hits harder than the last. If you’re not reading Saga, you should do yourself the favor of picking up the first volume.

And now on the other end of the spectrum, we have the new Luc Besson film Lucy. Lucy is the story of a woman who, through a new designer drug, is given access to her full mental capacities and develops superhuman abilities. The more of her brain she unlocks, the more powerful and inhuman she becomes. It’s not a new plot, but it’s one that still had potential to be interesting. Unfortunately, Lucy did not deliver on that potential.

From the very beginning, the storytelling in Lucy struck me as odd. The beginning shows Lucy, delivering a package to a mysterious man for a different, shady man. She doesn’t want to be there, but she doesn’t have a choice. Then, spliced in the middle of the scene and ruining any sort of organic tension that could have been built by Scarlett Johansson’s acting abilities, there are scenes from a nature documentary. The director beats you over the head with his metaphor of Lucy being a gazelle and these men being cheetahs on the hunt. It’s as bad as it sounds.

From there the storytelling can best be described as erratic. Lucy ends up immediately seeking revenge with her new found powers, but then stops short of killing the main antagonist. Why? I’m not entirely sure, but the only reason that comes to mind is to give Lucy a foe to face down through the rest of the movie. Then she’s contacting a scientist to study her. Then she calls a Parisian police captain to coordinate a multinational drug bust with seven hours’ notice. Then she’s fighting people again. Then she’s kissing the Parisian police captain. It jumps around through tenuously connected events and shoehorns a weird romantic subtext into the film that just doesn’t belong. The only things that flow properly in the film are the action scenes.

The movie did have some cool action sequences, but that’s about all it has going for it.  Scarlett Johansson is a talented actress, but her talents are wasted here. Lucy transforms from the scared gazelle to an emotionless machine and remains that way for the rest of the movie. There’s no life in any of her delivery. I understand that she was emotionless because she had progressed beyond trivial emotions, but there has to be somebody to empathize with in your movie. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t provide even the shadow of a relatable character.   I’d recommend passing on this one.

So anyway, if you want to heap praise on Saga or tell me why Lucy was a great movie, feel free to message me or tweet me @left4turte.

Orphan Troopers

This week I finished Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. While I appreciate the book for what it is and how it has influenced the genre throughout the years, I found that the book still suffered from many of the problems I had with Stranger in a Strange Land.

While I don’t feel like this book was as preachy as Stranger, it still suffered from Heinlein’s habit of stopping the action and explaining his various viewpoints. Heinlein uses the recurring character Lieutenant Colonel Jean V. Dubois as his vehicle for explaining his viewpoints. Because Dubois is a retired officer working as a teacher, Heinlein is able to lecture to the reader through the varying class discussions. The problem is this gets more tedious as the book goes on. It may not have been as often as in Stranger, but the content of this book is generally fast paced military science fiction and thus the multi-page sermons are even more jarring. It doesn’t benefit the story and actually removes readers from the plot.

The ideas are expressed poorly, but that doesn’t make them uninteresting. Heinlein makes his case throughout the story for a limited democracy, a society that will only give you the opportunity to vote if you prove that you have a sense of moral responsibility by putting the group over the individual. You prove that through two years of service in the Terran Military. It’s an interesting idea that would probably never work in reality, but it’s fascinating nonetheless. The book also criticizes the political structure of the time as being rather quixotic. People of the “failed civilizations” would vote for anything that would benefit them, without enduring any of the consequences.  Heinlein goes so far as to criticize the Declaration of Independence, stating that the pursuit of happiness is our only right and that life and liberty must be fought for.

Starship Troopers is an interesting book that suffers not from its’ ideas but from its’ presentation. Heinlein wants to make his ideas as clear as possible so that no reader doubts where he stands. The problem is reading an essay within fiction is not the ideal reading experience.  Still, as it is a short read, I recommend it to fans of science fiction who want to read the story that lead to the popularization of military sci-fi and created many more of the universal conventions of the genre. In fact, though I didn’t realize it at the time, my novel The Amalgam would never have been possible without Heinlein. His ideas have so thoroughly permeated the genre that I was influenced without ever knowing the source.

I also finished the second season of Orphan Black and the last two episodes of the season really brought me back. After an all-around great first season, the second season sort of stalled in the beginning. The story was growing more convoluted and erratic, jumping from character to character before giving us a chance to learn too much. There were some cool scenes in the first few episodes, but they were marred by the story’s multi-branching path and overall inconsistent presentation. After stumbling through the first few episodes, the show finds its’ stride once more and returns to the fantastic science fiction story we saw in the first season. By the end you’ll have more questions than answers, but you’ll still come away satisfied at the close of the season.

Helena has easily become one of the most interesting characters in the show. While Sarah Manning is still the central character, this season she took more of a back seat and allowed the rest of the characters to grow. I really enjoyed seeing Cosima and her personality continuing to shine even through her battle with a terminal illness. Alison even began to grow on me as she battled addiction, guilt, and the lies that her marriage was built on. Tatiana Maslany’s skills as an actress cannot be overstated. She’s brilliant and perfectly embodies so many individual and unique characters. Plus there’s a clone dance party and what could be better than that?

As a whole, it’s more of what made the first season so interesting. Taken in parts, the season starts off rather poorly but has redeemed itself by the end. I’d say if you really liked the first season try and make it through the rough patches of the beginning. If you weren’t already invested I’d recommend passing on this one.

So that was my week in science fiction. If you want to tell me why a limited democracy is a great idea or gush over Helena and/or Tatiana Maslany, feel free to message me or tweet me @left4turtle.

The Follow Up: A Snowpiercer for Caesar

This weekend was a slow weekend in terms of reading, but I did see two of the big science fiction movies of the summer: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Snowpiercer.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the reboot of the classic franchise. Now, I haven’t seen any of the original movies. The only experience I had with the series prior to Rise was Tim Burton’s less than stellar attempt to reboot the franchise. Rise was a good movie. Dawn is a better movie.

Dawn takes place ten years after the conclusion of Rise, where we find ninety percent of humanity has been decimated by the Simian Flu. Caesar has become the leader of the evolved Apes and has brought them ten years of peace and prosperity. The apes have almost allowed themselves to believe humanity is gone when who should show up but a gun-toting, ape-hating human and his group of well-meaning friends. Needless to say the initial encounter isn’t nice for either side.

The first half of the movie is brilliant. I don’t really have a single complaint. The world is built, the rules of new societies are defined, and the tension grows more palpable by the minute. The buildup is perhaps the best feature of the new movie. Naturally we empathize with the humans at first. But as the movie goes on, there are groups of apes that we can identify with perhaps better than any of the human characters. Caesar just wants to bring peace to his family. Koba, Caesar’s war chief and friend, hates humans for all of the testing they did on him and his kin. He still bears the scars of his torture and his mistrust of the humans grows as the movie progresses. And who can blame him? Humans did some pretty terrible things. So naturally there is a growing tension between Caesars side and Koba’s growing ranks of supporters that peaks in one of the film’s best moments.

If the first half is brilliant, the second half is a little underwhelming. It plays out kind of how you’d expect. I don’t want to spoil anything here, but this criticism is in no way saying the film is bad. It’s still quite good. I just would have liked something a little more unexpected. That being said the very end of the film is powerful and very nicely sets up the next in the series. Also, Andy Serkis did incredible work as always.

Snowpiercer finally came to a theater in my town and I jumped at the chance to see it. Having recently read the graphic novel (and discussing it here), I was itching to see if the film was as good as the internet said. And it was.

Snowpiercer borrows the world from the graphic novel, but it tells its’ own unique story. The snowpiercer is a train that houses the last surviving remnants of humanity. A supposed cure to global warming took a bad turn and froze the world. The only place humanity can survive is on a  train that is perpetually circling the globe. The class system is present and the tension between the classes is even higher than in the book. This leads to open rebellion led by Curtis(Chris Evans) to take control of the front of the train.

Evans is a little stiff in the beginning of the movie, but once the action starts rolling he loosens up and really takes control of the role. The film is a great example of action with a purpose. This movie isn’t a mindless action movie. This film uses the action to tell a story of desperation that is mirrored in the brutality of the fight scenes. One of my favorite scenes in the movie pits the low class armed with makeshift clubs against an army of upper class soldiers wielding axes and spears. It’s gruesome, but during this scene we get some of the best character development for Curtis and his comrades.

This movie is smart, action-packed, emotional and just a joy to watch. The ending slows down just a touch too much, but it doesn’t detract from the movie. It may seem like I’m overselling it, but I genuinely think this is one of the best science fiction movies in recent memory. It’s a breath of fresh air in the post-apocalyptic genre and a much needed one at that.

The thing at the end with the polar bear was my one complaint with the movie. I understand that it represents a sustainable ecosystem, but I don’t think it really jives with the established universe. Also, I would be a fool not to mention another favorite of mine also directed by Bong Joon-Ho: The Host. A fantastic monster movie that I recommend to anyone who enjoys monsters or movies.

So anyway, that’s been my science fiction for the weekend. If you want to tell me that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was the Empire Strikes Back of ape movies, or if you want to gush with me about Snowpiercer, feel free to message me or tweet me @left4turtle.

 

A Snowpiercer for Leibowitz

I’ve been chipping away at A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. for almost a month now, taking it a chapter at a time. While I admit I didn’t have much time for reading during that month, the book didn’t make the read any easier on me.

The book is divided into three sections and takes place after a nuclear war decimates almost all life on Earth. The first section takes place as civilization is beginning to take shape again. It follows a member of the Blessed Order of Leibowitz, and order dedicated to protecting the texts of the old world from the survivors of the nuclear fallout. These survivors want to destroy all the texts because they blame education for the destruction of the world. The new member of the order discovers relics left over from the fall of man in the desert. These artifacts help canonize Leibowitz as a saint in the Catholic Church.

The second section details the return of an educated time, with philosophers finally trying to replicate the technology of the old world. Here we’re given a glimpse of the dark future of humanity as nation’s are banding together to take over neighboring lands. However, it is still portrayed as a time of enlightenment. Finally, the third part of the book details the fall of man through yet another nuclear apocalypse. The cyclical nature of humanity is examined and Miller poses the inevitability of humanity destroying itself again and again.

The message is dark and intriguing. Though the book was written over half a century ago, the message is perhaps even more relevant today. The book is also told from the viewpoint of the Catholic Church. While I’m not Catholic, I could still appreciate the story and the importance of the Catholic Church in shaping both Miller’s dystopian future and our own world.

The biggest issue I have with the book is the first section. It’s just not on par with the second and third sections. I had to force myself to get through a single chapter of the first section. It was meandering slowly toward a conclusion that, while shocking, could have been reached in half the time. If most of the first section of the book was omitted, I would have enjoyed the book much more. As it stands, I can’t call a book great if the first 150 pages aren’t great. While the rest of the book is enjoyable and even makes up for some of beginning’s flaws, I wouldn’t recommend putting this one at the top of your reading list.

I also had the opportunity to read through Snowpiercer: The Escape, the graphic novel that has recently been adapted into a new film starring Chris Evans. In the dystopian future of Snowpiercer, the surviving bits of humanity have been forced to live out their lives in a perpetually moving train called Snowpiercer. The train is 1,001 cars long and increases in luxury from the tail to the front cars. The story follows somebody from the tail who has managed to make it into third class. He’s immediately arrested and ordered to be brought before the President at the front of the train.

The story here is minimal, but what Jacques Lob does in terms of world building is pretty incredible. In a short time we’re introduced to the end of humanity, a believable class struggle, and a corrupt government all on a train to nowhere. Originally written in French, there are one or two moments where the translation doesn’t quite fit, but overall it’s a great read. The characters in the book are not likeable. At all. But I think that was the intention. There is no hero. There are only survivors and those who have made it onto the train aren’t the type to engage in heroics. Even the well-intentioned resistance group show their true motivations when their lives are on the line. I highly recommend you check this one out.

After reading the book I was really excited to see the movie. Unfortunately, due to a limited release, the movie isn’t coming to any theaters in a fifty mile radius. I guess I’ll have to check it out on VOD.

So anyways, that’s where I’m at now. Next up is Starship Troopers. If you want to tell me how brilliant A Canticle for Leibowitz really was or high five over Snowpiercer, feel free to message me or tweet me @left4turtle.

The Godzilla Strain

This week I had the great pleasure of reading The Andromeda Strain for the first time. It also happened to be the first Michael Crichton I’ve read. I had no idea what I was in for.

The Andromeda Strain is the fictional tale of a team of scientists investigating an extremely dangerous extraterrestrial microorganism that can kill most humans within minutes. The reason I mention that this is a fictional story is that there was a moment when I was reading this that I believed this may have actually happened. The story was written so realistically that I had to put down the book at three in the morning and search the internet to assure myself this was fiction. If that isn’t the mark of great fiction I’m not sure what is. Crichton drew me into this world immediately and held me there until the lines of reality and fiction blurred.

The premise of the book is simple. What if our decontamination of space vehicles isn’t thorough enough? What would happen if alien bacteria found its way back to Earth? Humanity hasn’t evolved to cope with these bacteria, nor has the bacteria evolved with the safety of a human host in mind. Crichton suggests that this new organism would be enough to wipe out life on Earth. The Andromeda Strain, the code name for the new organism, immediately causes coagulation of the infected person’s blood. Within a minute you are no longer able to breathe as the blood in your lungs become solid. The book follows Dr. Stone and his team of three scientists as they search for anyway to stop the strain.

The book is gripping and will keep your attention through the ending. Unfortunately, the ending doesn’t exactly pay off. The book abruptly changes tones and the ending feels a little forced. This may detract from the whole work for some, but the journey to that ending was incredible. I’d recommend this book to anyone, especially if you have any interest in the fields of biology. This book was written when Crichton was a medical student at Harvard and he backs up a lot of the book with research.
Aside from The Andromeda Strain, I watched the new Godzilla movie this weekend. I’ve loved Godzilla since I was three years old and my dinosaur obsession evolved into kaiju obsession. I used to fast forward my dad’s old VHS tapes of Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla and Godzilla vs King Ghidorah to the final fight scenes and cheer on Godzilla. So I had really high expectations for this movie. I’m glad to say it surpassed (almost) all of them.

This movie tries to do something that some previous Godzilla movies have failed to do. It aims to develop an interesting human story to supplement the monster fights. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the basic story follows Lieutenant Ford and his efforts to get home to his family in San Francisco. Along the way he discovers that his mother was killed by a MUTO, a Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism, joins a group of explosives specialists on their trek to deliver a nuclear bomb SF, and eventually joins a team trying to disarm said bomb. For the most part, the story works. The film was lucky to have Bryan Cranston and I was happily surprised by Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s performance.

My biggest gripe with the movie is that the human story goes on for too long. I appreciate what they were trying to do and I liked it for the most part, but I was there to see Godzilla. I would have loved to see more of Godzilla fighting the MUTOs. Every scene that Godzilla was in was my favorite scene. When he wasn’t on screen I was just waiting for him to come back. His new roar is spectacular, especially in IMAX. While the design is much bulkier than I’m used to, it works in this universe. My Godzilla obsession has been rekindled and I’m hungry for the new merchandise.

Before seeing the movie, I read the prequel comic Godzilla: Awakening. This book gives some supplemental information, but for the most part it’s unnecessary. The movie explains everything you need to know. It tries to describe forty years of history in eighty pages, so naturally everything feels rushed. The cover is beautiful, but that alone can’t justify the twenty dollar price point. Unless you’re a huge Godzilla fan or collector, I would recommend saving that money and using it to upgrade your movie tickets to IMAX. You’ll be glad you did.

Anyway, if you want to talk about how awesome Godzilla is (or the Mothra easter egg) or make fun of me for believing The Andromeda Strain was a true story, feel free to message me or tweet me @left4turtle.