Be fearful. Since I don’t play the usual lottery, the only kind I could win is the kind that they use to draft people for fighting alien invaders.
PROMPT: Lottery
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Tag Archives: Science Fiction
BOOK: “The Future of Humanity” by Michio Kaku
The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality and Our Destiny Beyond Earth by Michio KakuMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Author Booksite
As the title suggests, this is one of the books for which theoretical physicist Michio Kaku dons his futurist cap to speculate about what is to come. Other of his books that might be included in this “series” are: Visions, Physics of the Future, The Future of the Mind, and Physics of the Impossible. This particular book focuses on how humanity will spread beyond the planet (and, perhaps, beyond the universe) to survive the (probably distant, but – also – inevitable) threats to the species. While there are other topics discussed, such as the search for immortality and transhumanism, those topics are often framed as necessities of interstellar expansion.
As one would expect of a physicist, the book is highly focused on the physics of the subject. There is little discussion of the psychological difficulties, nor of biological issues such as the fact that humanity is not so lone wolf as we think, and taking off to other planets and living in space without the Earthly life we are interdependent on would involve challenges we have difficult fathoming. All of the challenges that are usually treated with handwaves in science fiction are also handwaved off here.
The book is fun and interesting reading. It’s probably more insightful of science fiction than of our future, but that doesn’t make it less compelling. The seven years since this book was published have seen a lot of change, and there may be a book on this subject that has more of a finger on the pulse, but I still enjoyed reading it. [The downside of writing about the future, even with a focus on the distant future, is that one risks becoming obsolete rather quickly.]
If you’re interested in how humanity might survive into the future, I’d recommend this book. If you enjoy popular science and / or science fiction, you’ll probably find it intriguing.
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PROMPT: Movies
No particular order: Kung Fu Hustle, Caddyshack, Matrix, Inception, John Wick 4, Airplane, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Blazing Saddles, Hero, and Drunken Master II.
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BOOK REVIEW: “New Story of the Stone” by Jianren Wu [Trans. by Liz Evans Weber]
New Story of the Stone: An Early Chinese Science Fiction Novel by Jianren WuMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – Columbia University Press
This book is presented as a sequel to the Chinese literary classic (alternatively) known as Dream of the Red Chamber or Story of the Stone. The central character is a scholarly traveler by the name of Baoyu. The first part of the book is set in China around the time of the Boxer Rebellion, an event that features in the story. Throughout this portion, the book reads like historical fiction. However, Baoyu’s travels eventually bring him to a hidden realm, a technologically advanced utopia within China. It is here where Baoyu’s adventures get fantastical and otherworldly, and the book ventures into the domain of Science Fiction.
The setting of the book reminds me a little of Marvel’s Wakanda from Black Panther. Perhaps both instances of worldbuilding were motivated by the humiliated colonists’ fantasy of being more advanced than those who pull the strings for once, or of showing their (respective) lands to be places of “crouching tigers and hidden dragons” (i.e. where great talents exist but remain unseen.) (Note: While China wasn’t on-the-whole colonized by a Western country, its interaction with England and other Western nations left it forced to accept terms unfavorable and undesirable to China (not to mention the outright colonized enclaves such as Hong Kong and Macau.) While the publisher has emphasized the science fiction aspect of this work, it is an anticolonial work through and through. The book can come across as xenophobic and nationalistic in places, but this only reminds the reader of how such positions might be arrived at under the boot of foreign influence.
The book is readable though philosophical and is well worth reading for those interested in developing a deeper insight into Chinese perspectives.
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BOOKS: “Attack on Titan, Vol. 1” by Hajime Isayama
Attack on Titan, Vol. 1 by Hajime IsayamaMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – Kodansha
A bit like Starship Troopers in that it features a group of youths drawn into military service to defend humanity from an existential threat, this series revolves around humanity besieged by giants. This introductory volume opens many questions that it leaves to be answered, such as: what are the Titans? Where do they come from? Can humanity survive them?
What this opening volume does a good job of is building a cast of characters one can connect with, as well as showing how humanity has been losing ground to its mammoth enemies. The reader enters this conflict in the middle, humanity living in walled cities that periodically come under attack, and that not only sets a tone but builds engagement with the story.
I found this volume intriguing and would highly recommend it for comic book readers. Note: the book is formatted in manga style and thus reads backwards from the perspective of an English language book reader.
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BOOKS: “Sweet Tooth, Vol. 5: Unnatural Habitats” by Jeff Lemire
Sweet Tooth, Vol. 5: Unnatural Habitats by Jeff LemireMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site
This volume carries out two story arcs. The first is a self-contained flashback that offers the reader new insight into the central strangeness of this series (i.e. a plague on humanity and the development of various human-animal hybrids.) The second is the conclusion of the Volume 4 storyline in which Gus, Jepperd, and their human and hybrid traveling companions find an apparent safe haven that splits the group between those who wish to stay and those who want to continue on their original path to Alaska.
Both arcs are visceral and engaging. This is a very satisfying volume. It’s a pity that publishers are so constrained by page count because Volumes 4 and 5 combined together would be a phenomenal book (whereas Vol. 4 – as it stands – is kind of a lackluster read.) Anyone whose been to a movie in India and is familiar with the random intermission placed right in the middle of the runtime (regardless of what is going on in the story at the time) can grasp what I’m saying. It’s a little mean to break the momentum of a good story in progress. However, this volume offers all the satisfaction of resolution and conclusion — while leaving open clear routes for advancing the story overall.
I’d highly recommend this volume and that one read it closely back-to-back with Volume 4.
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BOOKS: “Sweet Tooth, Vol. 4: Endangered Species” by Jeff Lemire
Sweet Tooth, Vol. 4: Endangered Species by Jeff LemireMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher Site: DC Vertigo
Heading north to solve the mystery of Gus (the titular deer-boy “hybrid” that some call Sweet Tooth, the first-known hybrid child and one who Dr. Singh believes may be integral to understanding the disease that swept through humanity at the same time hybrids started being born,) the ragtag group of hybrid kids and human chaperones runs into its first snag. The group stumbles upon a place that may offer the security and resources needed to live comfortably (i.e. for a post mega-pandemic wasteland.) This threatens to split up the group, most of which longs for the safety and sustainability that this place appears to provide. But the reader is presented crumbs of unease about this place. It feels like this sanctuary might harbor a dirty secret.
I continue to enjoy this series. I didn’t find the arc as satisfying as some of the volumes. It is a thriller, and we are given crucial new information by the book’s end, but the central question of the story arc remains unanswered. That said, the story does a fantastic job of building up internal tension as well as creating unease in the reader. If you’ve enjoyed the story so far, you will want to continue onward.
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BOOKS: “Sweet Tooth, Vol. 3: Animal Armies” by Jeff Lemire
Sweet Tooth, Vol. 3: Animal Armies by Jeff LemireMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – DC Comics
This is an action-packed entry in Sweet Tooth saga. It’s also a very satisfying story arc for a serialized comic book such as this. We see important events in the character development of Jepperd as well as a secondary character, Johnny (brother to Abbot — the lead antagonist.) Dr. Singh gains some important information as well, though that largely serves to advance the story and extend the mystery, rather than to conclude this segment of the story. That said, this episode is brought to a solid conclusion while leaving one waiting to see what happens next.
I’d highly recommend this series for comic book readers.
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BOOKS: “Sweet Tooth, Vol. 2: In Captivity” by Jeff Lemire
Sweet Tooth, Vol. 2: In Captivity by Jeff LemireMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Site
This volume interweaves the continuing stories of Gus and Jepperd, separated at the end of the debut volume. As outlandish as this story might seem, human-animal hybrid babies and all, the basic forces that drive the story are straightforward and relatable. Jepperd’s is essentially a love story as he attempts to do right by his wife in a post-pandemic dystopian world. Gus, having been motivated by a desire for new adventure in the first volume, just wants to get home now that he has confronted the fundamental crumminess of the human world.
While this volume is largely filling in the backstories of the two main characters, it does so skillfully through a mix of flashback and current timeline events that advance the story. It certainly has me hooked to learn more about these characters.
I found this story to be emotionally moving and compelling and would highly recommend it for comic book readers.
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“X-Men: Phoenix in Darkness” by Grant Morrison
X-Men: Phoenix in Darkness by Grant Morrison by Grant MorrisonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Amazon.in Page
This volume consists of two different story arcs that are thinly tethered by the character of Jean Grey / Phoenix. The first arc features an elaborate plot by Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto to clear the playing field of major opposition so that he can carry out his plans for world domination / the end of homo sapiens. The second arc is set in a futuristic dystopia and its villain is a dark and twisted variant of Hank McCoy / Beast who sets himself up to control the power of the gene. Interestingly, while Jean Grey / Phoenix plays important roles in both arcs, the stories are by no means centered on her. This keeps the stories from just playing out the will of a ridiculously overpowered character, and instead uses the fact that Phoenix is a threat everlasting, one that can never be allowed to get out of one’s sight.
The volume can be a bit chaotic, with the various time jumps and rather large cast of characters, but I felt it wasn’t too hard to follow the story — even given a bit of Grant Morrison trippiness.
If you’re interested in the X-men, this volume is worth looking into.
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Tiger Riding for Beginners 