Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
I've recently come across a couple of writing podcasts that are worth checking out for any aspiring sci-fi or fantasy authors. The first is On Writing With Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson is a bestselling epic fantasy author with a number of major series under his belt, not the least of which was completing Robert Jordan's Wheel … Continue reading Sci-fi and fantasy writing podcasts and advice worth checking out
Last week I watched Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. I've mentioned before that I'm a long term fan of the Planet of the Apes franchise. The reboot film series and its updated imagining of the overall premise have revived the franchise in an impressive manner. The new movies in many ways are very … Continue reading Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and other TV notes
Adrian Tchaikovsky's Service Model is a fresh take on what can go wrong in a world of robots and AI. Charles is a robot valet. He works in a manor performing personal services for his human master, checking his travel arrangements, laying out his clothes, shaving him, serving meals, etc. However, it appears to have … Continue reading Service Model
The new Doctor Who season is starting off with maximum silliness, and an emphasis on fantasy over science fiction. One nice benefit of Doctor Who moving to Disney+ (at least in the US) and being available for streaming first, even in the UK, is that the episodes now drop for me on Friday evenings, a … Continue reading Doctor Who, science fiction and fantasy
Fallout, like many recent TV shows, demonstrates the old rule, of video game adaptations always being awful, is obsolete. At first Fallout seems similar to a lot of other post-apocalyptic shows. There's been a nuclear war and the world is a wasteland. Life on the surface is a brutal battle for survival, even two hundred … Continue reading Fallout
Last week, when writing the TV notes post, which included remarks about the Foundation TV show, I opened the first Foundation book to check on something. I found myself falling into the story and kept on reading. I finished the third book in the trilogy yesterday. (The books are short by contemporary standards and Asimov's … Continue reading The original Foundation trilogy
SelfAwarePatterns 