Persepolis Rising: Seventh Novel in the Series and it's Dynamite

Book Review: Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey
Version: Library eBook borrow

I cannot express adequately enough how much I am enjoying the James S.A. Corey series on which the sci-fi TV series The Expanse is based. I've just finished reading Persepolis Rising, the seventh full-length novel so far, and it's dynamite!

Persepolis Rising takes place thirty years after the ending of Babylon's Ashes ends, in which a charismatic leader of an insurgent revolutionary force trying to wrest control from the inner planets of our solar system fail in their conquest and high tail an escape through the protomolocule-related ring gate and are not heard from again. In this novel, they reappear with new technology ready to once again challenge Earth, Mars, and the outer worlds for power and domination of human space. At the center of the story line are the crew of the spaceship Rocinate: Holden, Naomi, Bobbie, Amos, Alex, and a host of others that we've grown to know and love from the last six novels. All key to understanding this future universe.

The invaders bring superior ancient technology from the creators of the protomolocules and a misplaced assurance and arrogance of rule. The Rocinate crew find themselves in league with the old Belters who refuse to be conquered fighting off the new "Laconians", bombing facilities and facing off greater forces in an effort to escape and fight for freedom another day.

By way of background, The Expanse is about human habitation of the solar system in the future, escaping the bounds of Earth to live on the Moon and Mars and mining the outer bodies, including the asteroid belt and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn and La Grange points. Earth and Mars are in competition for control of the solar system and supplying the Belters, often at war with one another. It's a fantastic but realistic visioning of our human future.

As with the past novels, Persepolis Rising is well written, well plotted, and fantastically imagined. The characters are the most amazing, each one written to incredible detail with consistent unique detail, which isn't always the case in lesser-written literature. This has always been so in this series of books and one of the things that makes me so admire the writers (James S.A. Corey is a pseudonym for two authors). Now, I don't think Persepolis Rising is the nadir of the series (I think that was Nemesis Games), but it is a great novel with a good story line and like the others well created -- a great read!

Ready Player One: Something Spectacular You Need to See on a Big Screen

Movie Review: Ready Player One (2018)
Version: Theater ticket purchase

Being retired and thrifty, we rarely go to the theater to see a movie. When we go to the theater, it is to purposely see a film that is best seen on the big screen. Something larger than life, something spectacular, or something that can envelope you in its world by filling your vision with the screen. Such a film is Ready Player One.

Now, our daughter is really into video games and my wife and I are really into the sci-fi and fantasy genres, so this was all an added motivation to see this film. We were all well rewarded by the experience.

Ready Player One is the story about teen Wade Watts living in the harsh environs of the year 2045, when just about everyone escapes their ugly reality by playing video games using VR (virtual reality) technology. They become immersed in the gaming environment. You can be anyone going anywhere, playing any game. Watts chooses to escape in OASIS, described in IMDB as "created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday, who left his immense fortune and total control of the Oasis to the winner of a three-part contest he designed to find a worthy heir." The inventor has buried an "easter egg" in the game, and capturing it is goal of the game, giving the winner access to Halliday's fortune and control of the game. To capture the easter egg, one must first find a series of keys, which unlock a variety of abilities. The problem is, everyone in the world is after this easter egg, including a multi-national billion-dollar corporation that has turned its considerable resources -- money and intellectual talent -- to researching and figuring out the mysteries of the game. Along Watt's journey to unlocking the mysteries himself, he meets competitive gaming friends, all disguised as characters that hide their real identities, to help him as they learn to team up to win this game together.

There are portions of the game where you meet the live analogs to the gaming characters, and none of them are what you expect. One of Watt's most bad-ass competitor friends turns out to be an 11 year old boy, who is tired of being dismissed for his young age but is a fearless ninja warrior in the game. Another is a teen girl who is unconfident in her person because of a facial blemish but who is fearsome in competition. Still another is a rad Black woman who poses as a bulky muscular Black dude. The fourth is a skinny Asian nerd whose avatar is a skilled warrior. Watts himself is an orphaned teen who lives in a junkyard community with his aunt and her abusive boyfriend, but his avatar is an awesome smooth talking, easily mobile dude who cannot fail. All are metaphors for kids with self doubts in the real world but find strength and courage and abilities in this amazing world of make believe, and together they are like superheroes whom the world learns to cheer on as they battle the evil corporate empire to win the game.

I'm not listing the actors in this film because they are secondary to the characters. Sure, the actors make the characters, but even more so does the animation. And besides the exceptional scripting that makes for excellent storytelling, here the storytelling really is brought to life by the amazing animation. You are transported to a fantastic universe of the imagination (and here I use the word "fantastic" in its literal meaning) through the animation. Speaking of "easter eggs", this film is full of them. There are tons of visual references to game and animated movie characters and worlds all over the place. The movie makers must have kept the intellectual property lawyers busy big time keeping track of all the references, some pointed and some merely in the background visuals. You may have to see this film a couple of times just to spot them all. Others are intentional, such as the use of the Iron Giant as a prop during the competition. But the sheer imagination used to create and maintain the narrative arc of this film is astounding.

There are also subtle backstory references in this film that fans of this genre of story may appreciate. Jack Rylance, who plays Halliday, has been in another film to which this part may be a vague homage. I won't tell you what it is -- see if you can figure out what it is. I didn't catch it, my wife did. It's another kind of easter egg, if you will. Aren't these the kinds of things, the little bits of extra meanings great film makers put into films that mean something to lovers of film, which tell you as a viewer or audience that they care deeply about what they are doing; as a story teller that you are in this together in revealing the truths told in the film?

To try to sum up how the three of us felt about this film, let me say it was a total hit. The story line, the setting, the characters, the universe in which it occurs, and the full embodiment in which you are wrapped in which to experience it were one wonderful experience in cinema. To me, you really need to see it on the big screen. Save that, see it on as large a screen as you can if you see in when it comes out on DVD -- get the BlueRay version. Immerse yourself in and become part of that universe. You will be glad you did. Oh, and keep your eye open for all the easter eggs.

Ready Player One is a fun romp, a joyous visual journey, and a meaningful trek into a greater truth. See it!

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets: A Wild Ride Appropriate for Most Ages

Movie Review: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
Version: Library borrow

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a wild ride. The vast number of alien species represented in this amazing science fiction film is just ... wow! I doubt film makers reach a thousand, but the creativity in this film just boggles the imagination, so you quickly lose count.

The story line takes place in the 28th century and involves humanity's outreach to the abundance of alien species at our doorstep, welcoming them to space station Alpha as it makes its way outward from the Solar System. But everything isn't peace and happiness, as interaction between humans and aliens sometimes involves conflict. And in one instance, an innocent race of peaceful aliens is sacrificed to save the human mission.

Major Valerian (played by Dane DeHaan) and his partner Sergeant Laureline (played by Cara Delevingne) are sent on a dangerous mission to retrieve the last member of a species of gem converters from a devastated planet. When they return successfully, they must save their commander (played by Clive Owen), who has been abducted on Alpha in a suspiciously infected area. What they discover hiding in the infected area changes everyone's understanding of one of Alpha's past missions and its future relations with the thousands of species it has encountered to date. Getting from beginning to end of this tale is an incredible journey!

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a majestic panoramic view of humankind's future in space while making a metaphoric statement about advanced civilizations' cruel treatment of those who are far less advanced. It uses sweeping vistas, imposing set designs, and daunting visual effects to take viewers on a fantastic trip through time and space, introducing us to amazing species and colorful (literal and figurative) characters. You won't leave watching this film unimpressed.

This film also doesn't take itself especially serious. There is plenty of humor in the story to lighten the atmosphere.

As a fan of science fiction and fantasy, I highly recommend Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets for teens and older audiences. Younger audiences may also appreciate it with adult supervision.

Saturn Run: Sound Science and Sound Writing

Book Review: Saturn Run by John Sanford and Ctein
Version: Hard cover library borrow

Interestingly, the first time I tried to read Saturn Run, I thought the first few pages were hog wash and I returned the book to the library. Low and behold, a few months later I looked for something interesting to read and didn't recognize the title and borrowed the book again. This time, I fell in love with the book. What's a reader to say?

What would you do if the president of the United States asked you to join a crew headed to a distant planet in our solar system to beat the rest of the world to tap into a suspected alien base? And what would you think if one of the other major powers jumped into the race to beat you there, and their crew was most likely filled with military personnel, while yours was filled with scientists, engineers, and just a few security personnel? And what if on the way your head of security had a good-odds suspicion that there was a spy on board your ship sabotaging your engines? That's part of the story line behind Saturn Run, about a U.S. rocket headed to Saturn attempting to beat the Chinese there to secure alien technological secrets before anyone else. The crew is made up of engineers, scientists, an anthropologist, a video photographer, a news reporter, a national security operative, and a handful of assorted others. On the China ship is a military crew hellbent on beating the Americans there. Along the way, the U.S. ship loses an engine and a chief engineer, slowing its progress, but not enough for the Chinese to beat them. But when the China ship arrives, it's apparent their ship is disabled and the U.S. ship must decide whether to give them aid. Along with the hard science in this space adventure, then, is also political intrigue. And who in the end wins the alien technology. And what about the aliens at the base?

Saturn Run is well thought out and plotted, and the authors put a lot of effort into making the engineering as accurate as possible so the space ships could reach Saturn in months instead of years. The characters are realistic, although I kept wondering, would the United States really send amateur space travelers or would it send seasoned astronauts who also trained in the other disciplines? The U.S. ship is a reworked International Space Station, and I have some doubts about the feasibility of that as well. Still, it doesn't get in the way of a good story. It includes a great surprise at the end, making the long slog through 486 pages worth the read.

Ever have one of those books it takes more than once to become vested in? That's the way it was for me with Saturn Run. I think you should give it a try. It's a great story and worth a read.

The Space Between Us: A Romance? Science Fiction? A Love Story? A Tech Story? It's All Four!

Movie Review: The Space Between Us (2017)
Version: Library borrow

The Space Between Us is a romance wrapped in science fiction. A love story wrapped in tech story. But not just any romance or love story nor just any science fiction or tech story. It is multi-dimensional in every aspect.

Gardner Elliot (played by Asa Butterfield) is inadvertently born on Mars on the first Mars colony. His mother dies giving birth to him and the private company running the colony and NASA keep his birth and life a secret, to protect the project. He is raised and educated by the crew, and like them, he is limited in his exposure to the world. But unlike them, he has never seen Earth -- the blue sky, the rivers, lakes, or oceans, the greenery of plant life, the cities or its overwhelming population, and never felt rain nor smelled flowers. And, of course, he's never had contact with his peers -- except one young lady in Colorado, with whom he has secretly been chatting with online: Tulsa (played by Britt Robertson). The decision is made to bring Gardner to Earth to see if he can physically withstand Earth's gravity and ecosystem so that he can live there and have more contact with others. When he arrives, he makes up his mind to find Tulsa and begins the adventure of a lifetime to seek out his father, whom he has never met. Only, Garner has a health problem. And his survival becomes a race against time.

Gary Oldman plays Natheniel Shepherd, the industrialist who has spearheaded the project and made the decision to keep Gardner's life a secret. He takes a particular interest in Gardner's life on Mars and his survival on Earth. When Gardner runs off, he is particularly vexed.

Asa Butterfield is particularly good as Gardner. He is tall and gawky as you might expect some who is born and raised on less massive Mars to be. He plays Gardner as awkward and naive as you would expect the character to be around an unfamiliar Earth. And he shows the raw wonder and emotion at the beauty of a colorful, sense-filled world the Earth is compared to the monochromatic, dry place that Mars is. In a sense, Gardner feels a romance for this amazing place called Earth, as he continually asks people he runs into, "What is your favorite thing about Earth?" He so wants to stay on Earth, and so, in a sense, there is a love story there, too.

Butterfield essentially plays opposite Britt Robertson, who becomes his human love interest. There was a space between them, literally, when he lived on Mars. They unite on Earth as she helps him run away, but his inexperience and his health problem create a new space between them. Still they have this bond that endures and this is the human romance/love story within The Space Between Us.

This film isn't so much about location. It isn't about cinematography. It isn't even about set design or costume design. What makes this film is character development and theme. The writing is great, although there are occasional awkwardnesses in how it is carried out. But if anything, The Space Between Us points out how beautiful our world is and the essential relationships between us.

There's a big red herring in the plot that carries out till the very end. But it's worth enduring for the surprise ending.

The Space Between Us would never be a blockbuster movie. But it would be a good family movie for a variety of tastes. It's worth a feel-good weekend gathering around the TV or a weekday evening.

Arrival: Good Science, Well Developed Theme, Top Notch Science Fiction

Movie Review: Arrival (2016)
Version: Library Borrow

Back in November 2016 I wrote a review of the short story on which the movie Arrival was based. I was disappointed in it. The film version is far better.

Amy Adams plays Louise Banks, a linguist who is recruited by the United States government to break the language code of the aliens who arrive on Earth and park their oblong ship above a seemingly random open field out West. Jeremy Renner plays Ian Donnelly, a physicist who is also recruited, his job to figure out the science behind the alien ship. Together, they are supposed to find out why the aliens are here -- what is their purpose? They have counterparts all over the world working to decipher the intentions of similar alien craft parked over similarly random parts of the globe. Everything is fine as the team works to communicate with the aliens, until the Russians and the Chinese think they've discovered something sinister in the aliens' intentions.

Global colleagues who have been collaborating suddenly break off communications. Anti-alien activists plant a device on the alien ship hovering over the U.S. Every advance that Banks and Donnelly have made suddenly begin to unravel just as they think they're making breakthroughs. The alien ships lift away. And our heroes - and we - are left hanging, wondering what do the aliens want and will this lead to war or to losing any chance at communication?

Arrival is top notch science fiction. It doesn't rely so much on special effects as good science and well developed theme. The acting is great and the plot line is solid. You move quickly through the hour and 56 minutes without feeling lost. And just when you feel all is crumbling around you, hope is revived.

Now, it doesn't seem perfect at first, the story line seeming to move around between time and space, which can be disorienting. But you find out later why the writers and director did this thematically. It's genius, actually. I won't spoil the film for you explaining it here, but suffice it to say, I loved how it dovetails with the big reveal toward the end.

I had been waiting to see this film from the first time I saw a movie trailer on TV. I wasn't disappointed. I don't think you will be disappointed watching it, either. Sorry, Ted Chiang (author), but I loved the movie much more than the short story on which it was based.

Passengers: If You Want a Good Time

Movie Review: Passengers (2016)
Version: Library Borrow

I couldn't tell from the preview trailers what this movie was really about, and to be honest, the trailers didn't do the film justice. I'm glad that I ignored them because Passengers is a terrific film.

Jim Preston and Aurora Lane have booked a spaceflight to a world 120 years into their future, their flight time slowed through cryogenics. But there's a malfunction on this dreamy spaceship awakens them much too early, and they must try to fix the problem or learn how to deal with arriving at their destination dead of old age. Many cataclysms await them in the attempt, of course.

Chris Pratt is the irrepressible Jim Preston, a lowly mechanic booked on the cheap ticket. Jennifer Lawrence is the smart, indomitable writer booked on first class. Together, they navigate the uncertain future. But there's a secret held between them that threatens their collaboration and its efficacy is upheld only at the discretion of the seemingly trustworthy robotic waiter Arthur, played brilliantly by Michael Sheen. Just when all hell is breaking loose, another soul is awakened early, Gus Mancuso, a member of the crew, played deftly by Laurence Fishburne. Not everyone's future is bright and rosey, as you might surmise.

As a science fiction flick, Passengers is well done stylistically, with excellent special effects, and thematically, with a great story line. Even the science seems pretty well intact. As a drama, the film is full of plot twists and complex conflicts that keep you engaged in the one hour 56 minute run. As a romance story, it has it's great moments as well, as Preston and Lane fall in love over their roles as the sole couple run wild in this enormous ship hurtling through the glorious vastness of space with only themselves (and, well, mechanical Arthur) to answer to. But then, there's that secret between them.

In the end, the questions are, will they find a way to go back to sleep to survive the trip to their new world, or will they find a way to live their romance out together, or will some other calamity swallow their ship and their lives much too early? And then there's that damned secret.

From the movie trailers, I was prepared to not particularly like this film. But this is why I rarely give much credence to movie trailers. This is a great film. Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence are always fun to watch. Michael Sheen shines in his role, and Laurence Fishburne is elegant in his portrayal. And just when you think you know where the story is headed, up pops surprise after surprise, right up to the end.

If you want a good time, watch Passengers.

Arrival: Mostly Disappointing

Book Review: Arrival by Ted Chiang
Version: Library Paperback

I wasn't able to get to the theater to see the movie, Arrival, so when I saw that our local library had on order a new copy of the book on which the movie was based, I immediately requested it. Boy, was I surprised.

First of all, there were only two requests for the book, so I got it as soon as it arrived. I even got to safely stretch the binding for reading, to give longevity to the book.

Second, only a small sliver of the book is what the movie is about. The book was originally published as Stories of Your Life and Others, a compilation of short stories previously published by author Ted Chiang. The story on which the movie is based is "Story of Your Life." It's buried between the many others. The book was re-titled and relaunched for the launch of the movie, Arrival.

Chiang is supposed to be this imaginative science fiction author. He is imaginative. But much of his writing reminds me of the material from the 1950's. Mostly because of the language. Robots he calls automatons, for instance.

Other parts of his writing are quite interesting. He has a computer science degree and is a technical writer, and a couple of his stories reflect his breadth of knowledge and vision in technology. None more than in "Story of Your Life," where he details humans trying to interact with aliens and learn their very complex language. It was an interesting tale, although it ends abruptly when the aliens up and leave and the author does the same with the story. Very disappointing. I haven't seen the movie yet and I hope the movie has a more satisfying ending.

Others of his short stories have similar endings. The first story involves the Tower of Babel and the Babylonians hiring miners from other nations to climb their tower and break through the vault of heaven. It has a very dissatisfying ending, which extends from a very non-scientific view of the world. I might rather call it fantasy or mythology fiction rather than science fiction.

Part of my problem with this book is that I didn't understand that it was an unconnected collection of short stories. Titled Arrival, I thought it was a novel. As I read what I thought were chapters to a single story, I became confused when the stories didn't connect. I looked again at the book cover - at the back - and then realized it was an anthology.

What I found once I had read "Story of Your Life" was that Chiang isn't really my kind of science fiction writer. Perhaps you will like his stories and find him perfectly wonderful as a writer. I'll leave that up to you. All I can say is, I was disappointed in the way the book was marketed on the cover and in the works between the covers. It's his only work that I've read.

It is worth noting that Chiang has won multiple prestigious speculative fiction awards. Considering the limited number of works he has published (15 short stories, novelettes, and novellas as of 2015, according to his Wikipedia page), it may be worth delving into more of his works before making a final judgment. Let me know if you have had a different experience reading Chiang.

Ex Machina: Intelligent AI Movie with a Potent Surprise at the End

Movie Review: Ex Machina (2015)

Ex Machina isn't so much a robot movie as it is a movie about artificial intelligence (AI). It just so happens that this AI has a body and so takes the form of a robot. And so the whole plot for this movie revolves around AI consciousness issues. And it explores those issues intelligently and with a potent surprise at the end.

As the story begins, the main character, Caleb, wins a company competition to spend a week with his reclusive boss, Nathan, on a top secret project. To what purpose? As the smartest, most adept company programmer, it's his job to determine if Nathan's latest AI model, Ava, can pass the Turing Test and appear totally consciously aware.

The setting is a secure remote location that is so removed from civilization, access requires arrival by helicopter and a walk along and across a river. Nathan immediately sets boundaries, like providing access to only certain rooms of the underground bunker by swipe card. And Caleb interviews Ava behind a reinforced-glass barrier. Throughout the interview process, Nathan watches by video - in fact, there are times Nathan watches Caleb by video when Caleb isn't at all aware of the surveillance.

As Caleb interviews Ava, he asks a series of questions to determine if Ava is actually thinking on her own or she is merely acting on an algorithm that mimics individual thought. Pretty soon the question isn't just whether Ava can think on her own, but whether Ava "likes" Caleb. And the questions continue to morph as the interviews progress.

Ava has control over the bunker power and turns it off occasionally, using the short power outages to say things to Caleb while the sound is cut to Nathan. She creates doubt in Caleb's mind whether Nathan is telling Caleb the truth. When Caleb has finally had enough, he creates a plan to escape with Ava.

But then we discover that as much as we think we know what's going on, we find new twists to the plot, twists the lead to a real surprise.

I have to say, this is one of the creepiest AI movies I have seen. I'm not all comfortable with the idea of developing AI to its fullest extent as it is, and Ex Machina does nothing make me any more comfortable with the idea. As a story, it's a brilliantly executed bait-and-switch, not that you aren't expecting twists and turns, but more that you aren't expecting what you finally get.

This movie obviously isn't for kids. Teens will probably lap it up. Techies and geeks will likely love it. If you like science fiction/mystery and technology and are interested in the idea of artificial intelligence, likely you will like Ex Machina, too. But I'm betting you won't see the end coming and it's really worth seeing the movie just for that surprise.

Washington Post Best Books Lists

Looking for a good read or two to get you through the doldrums of the coming winter? Here are the lists of 10-best books from The Washington Post. Some great sounding titles.

• The 10 best books of 2015
• Notable fiction books of 2015
• Notable nonfiction books of 2015
• Best mystery and thriller books of 2015
• Best science fiction and fantasy books of 2015
• Best romance novels of 2015
• Best audiobooks of 2015

If you can't find something entertaining to read here...

Enjoy!

Red Shirts: Light-Hearted Poke at Sci-Fi and a Fun Read

Book Review: Red Shirts by John Scalzi

Imagine, if you will, a universe in which fictional characters brought to life on the television screen live real lives some time in the future, and their real lives are affected by the plot lines of the fiction written in the television series. That's a rough paraphrase of the theme behind Red Shirts (2012), a science fiction novel posited by screen writer John Scalzi, based on the Star Trek universe.

In the Star Trek universe, characters who wear red shirts (uniforms) are usually the expendable characters, usually are the first ones to be seriously injured or killed. And so it is in this story. In fact, this is element is key to the story.

Only, the main characters in this story don't inhabit the Star Trek universe per se, they inhabit a ripoff universe of Star Trek that was never as well developed nor as well written as Star Trek, just adopted liberally from its basic premise.

In their real life universe, the main characters serve aboard Intrepid, the flag ship of their version of the Federation (not called the Federation, of course), and Intrepid has an unusually high incidence of deaths. Furthermore, the deaths occur not among all levels of service but of the lowest ranking service members - the red shirts. The mid-level service members get injured a lot but survive, often treated by miracle cures and are ready to serve in the next away mission in amazingly short times. And this comes to the attention of new red shirts who arrive to replace the dead crew members.

I won't get into all the details because that would involve spoilers. But the new red shirts do their due diligence and do their best to solve this great mystery. And John Scalzi explores both the concept and its solution in  brilliant and amusing ways.

Part of the fun of reading Red Shirts is being in on the inside joke of the demise of red shirts as a long time fan of Star Trek. That has always been a curious tick of the show, the tendency of those wearing a red shirt to not survive the episode. So reading the story is like playing out the fantasy of taking this idea to its fullest extent.

Scalzi is a great and imaginative writer. His characters have fulsome dimensions and the dialogue is real and sensible. His narrative and pacing is impeccable. That all comes from his experience as a screenwriter for Stargate: Universe.

As much as I enjoyed the whole read, my favorite bit comes at the very end of the story (before what amounts to the epilogue), the end of Chapter 23 and the entirety of Chapter 24 (before Coda I, Coda II, and Coda III). It's a fun tongue-in-cheek, pulling-your-leg wink after a long, fun read:

And that's just what he did, until the day six months later when a system failure caused the Intrepid to plow into a small asteroid, vaporizing the ship and killing everyone on board instantly. 

No, no, I'm just fucking with you. They all lived happily ever after. Seriously.

Seriously, if you're into science fiction and Star Trek, give this book a read. It's an entertaining, light-hearted take on the genre and an fascinating exploration of the idea of red shirts and their role in the series.

(By the way, I don't consider the quoted material a spoiler, because it doesn't spoil the ending of the story or its outcome in any way. It's just a great example of Scalzi's writing style and the fun of the book.)

The Martian (Movie): Great Sci-Fi Consumed in the Right Order

Movie Review: The Martian directed by Ridley Scott

The reason I loved the book The Martian was because it was great science fiction.

There are, of course, different kinds of science fiction. There's fantasy (e.g., Lord of the Rings), and there's what I call monster fiction (e.g., Alien), there's speculative fiction (e.g., 2012), and then there's hard core science fiction, where actual science forms the core of the plot. The Martian is a perfect example of the latter.

The book carried it off with perfection, but the movie had a difficult time carrying it off and fitting everything within almost two and a half hours of cinema. Perhaps that was its greatest weakness, trying to do so much with what amounts to so little time.

No mistake, there is science in the film. But some of it gets lost, like the radiation core that is key to warming the rover and saving energy as Watney drives it the thousands of kilometers to Schiaparelli Crater in the hope of being rescued. Watney digs it up and then you see it sitting in the rover, and at one point Watney alludes to how cold the rover is when he's saving energy, but the film never connects the dots to presence of the core.

Through the two and a half hours of the movie, while the time seemed to zoom by, the plot seemed to plod along. I think the problem is that I read the book first.

Because the book covers so many disasters and Watney's science-based fixes, and writer Andy Weir does it with such efficiency, the pace of the story breezes along. The story is suspenseful and fascinating. There is more of Watney's humor present in the book, as well. But the movie spends more time alternating between Watney's time on Mars, NASA's deliberations and preparations on Earth, and the Hermes crew time. All that slows the pace of the story in the film.

If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend you wait to read the book until after you have seen the film.

Thinking about The Martian as a movie, it is highly entertaining. The story holds up and you are treated to some science as aspects of the story line. If you haven't already read the book, you won't know what you're missing and you can enjoy the movie much better. The cast is wonderful and Matt Damon is perfect as Watney - when I found out some time into reading the book that Damon was being cast as Watney, it was apparent from reading Watney's lines that Damon.s sense of humor fits the character.

If you haven't seen The Martian in theaters yet, go see it. Then read the book. They're great science fiction best consumed in that order.

Lucy: A Series of Pastiche Pieces and More

Film Review: Lucy (science fiction, 2014)

I'm in between reading two books so I thought that today I would review a film: Lucy, described in Wikipedia as an "English-language French science fiction film." My wife loved it and insisted that I watch it, because I love a good science fiction film. While there were parts that were interesting, in whole I would say - meh!

Also according to the Wikipedia article, writer and director Luc Besson "stated that he intended for the first part of Lucy to be like Léon: The Professional (which he also wrote and directed), the second part to be like Inception and the third part to be like 2001: A Space Odyssey." Therein lies part of the problem.

A film needs to be presented as a whole, not a series of pastiche pieces. And it needs to be its own whole, not an apparent homage to another - or a series of other - films.

Furthermore, the film was shot in Taipei, Paris, and New York City, but often it was hard to tell where you were. And the breadth of locations were important to the story line.

What the film did well was set you up for the supposed science behind the plot.

Morgan Freedman plays the world's foremost expert on the human mind who explains the capacity of the brain and how little of most humans use. That sets the audience up for the experiences the protagonist Lucy, played by Scarlett Johansson, is about to go through when, as an innocent forced to act as a drug mule, she is accidentally exposed to an overdose of an experimental mind altering drug.

Parts of the film are cinematically stunning. Some of the imaging is imaginative. Some of the plot is interesting. But the farther you go into to film, the less science-based the conjecture becomes and the more far-fetched and plodding the plot becomes.

The "science" suggested is that the average human uses only 10 percent of his or her brain. The idea pursued is that Lucy's brain is building on itself and as it does so, she is able to use a larger and larger percentage of itself. But as the process goes on she needs more and more of the drug to keep the process going. As she uses more of her brain, her powers become greater so that she can manipulate her environment. For example, the drug lords who forced her into becoming a mule are after her to get the extra supplies of the drug, and she uses her mind to physically restrain them. She moves traffic, shifts through locations around the world, even time travels backward to meet the original primate Lucy. And all of that I had a hard time believing.

By the way, the idea that humans use only 10 percent of their brains is a myth. Here's a good article on the science behind Lucy.

In addition, in a couple of places the film showed Lucy zipping through computer screens. It doesn't matter how fast your mind works, computers and the Internet with today's connections only work so fast. That was totally unbelievable.

The other hard part for me is the selection of Amr Waked as Pierre Del Rio, the Parisian police officer who she commandeers to help her but whose help she ultimately doesn't need. He also becomes a love interest for her, although through her drug-altered experiences she first seems to have heightened emotions and then seems to lose all emotional connection. Not only does his character seem unnecessary to the plot, but as an actor his physical appearance is more like a gangster than a hero. That's more a casting call I suppose.

I don't like to write a review that is entirely negative, and there were things that I liked about the film.

For instance, Scarlett Johansson was exceptional as Lucy and Morgan Freeman was brilliant as Professor Samuel Norman. The exposition on brain science and brain capacity were well handled. And the scene where Lucy was about to be captured by the Taiwanese mobsters interspersed with scenes of African lions converging on an antelope for the kill were interesting (although not a convention carried out through the film, so they stood out as odd in the character of the film).

Besson does carry out the imagination of Inception and the broad speculation of 2001: A Space Odyssey as he supposes how the mind can force its will on world and how the advancement in human ability can achieve greater aims. He also twists the world visually and even manages to invert 2001's visual primate interplay by having the modern-day Lucy physically meet and touch fingertips with humanity's mother Lucy. Those were both interesting and appealing.

However, I can't say that they overcome the other shortfalls of the film for me.

We caught the film on one of the cable on-demand channels. So we didn't waste a lot of money at the theater or on a night out. But still, it was an evening of television wasted for me.

My wife liked it. Perhaps you will like, too.

BiAlien: You Need to Look at this New Book

Book Preview for
BiAlien by Vlane Carter

There’s a new book I think you should take a look at: BiAlien. Admittedly, I’ve only read the first chapter myself, for lack of adequate time with my other writing and editing duties. But if you’re interested in science fiction and like science fiction art, or if you have been thinking of exploring science fiction or science fiction art, this is a book you should see. You can do so easily through the author’s very imaginative website and Facebook page. 

The author, Vlane Carter, has tried very hard to make it a space adventure readable for every kind of audience.  Says Carter, “My novel was written for the non-science fiction, fiction and sci-fi book readers. My facebook friends who don't read sci-fi, the novel is well explained and even has a glossory of definitions at the back of it.” He also isn’t shy about trying new techniques to engage the reader, such as using the present tense rather than the typical past tense to give you a sense of watching the action in-the-now, like watching a movie. The artwork, which Carter personally art directed, is very creative and lends to the unique flavor of the storyline.  See samples on the BiAlien website, including a link to chapter 1. 

In addition to the book website, Carter is very active on his Facebook page. There he frequently interacts with readers discussing the book. This is a great attribute for an author. Every author ought to be accessible to his or her readers. I know that’s sometimes difficult, especially when an author’s fandom reaches into the hundreds of thousands, but Carter, from New York State, currently has just over 160 members and manages the exchanges well. He’s erstwhile about his creation, and readers can catch – and enjoy – his enthusiasm there.

Take a few minutes and browse the site and the Facebook page, and give the book a look. Let me know what you think.


Update: The author, Vlane Carter, put together a superb video showing some of the incredibly imaginative artwork from the book. Have a look.

(Not a paid or compensated endorsement.)

written by

Alan Eggleston

writer and editor, business books and leisure books

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