After reading your post, I realized why I'm not a big fan of science fiction. I'm a definite BL person. After that, I checked out. The best SF program of 2024 is the election. I prefer to get my bizarre viewing entertainment in real time.
Well thank you! There is, of course, near-future science fiction very much along the lines of what's playing out politically today. Octavia Butler wrote a pair of stories, "Parable of the Sower" (1993) and "Parable of the Talents" (1998) that are jaw-droppingly prescient about the current Republican nominee and his party. It's impossible not to see our Mango Mussolini in these books written 30 years ago.
But I know you're not much for fiction in general, except, IIRC, historical fiction. There is an entire genre of SF called alternate history and some fictionalized history stories. Recently read a thick trilogy in which Newton and other of his contemporaries are main characters. Also read a fictionalized account of Robert Oppenheimer's life and work (not connected with the movie but written by Robert J. Sawyer, who's here on Substack).
As a life-long SF reader, I know there's SF for everyone! 😁
Very well written, and I agree, except for The Mandalorian, though I do have a particular bias for its creator.
If you ever have the time, I'd love to hear your thoughts on my story, Cloak & Laser. It's a scifi/fantasy mesh, but to hear your thoughts as per the perspective of this thesis would be amazing. It's a free read, and you can just read the first three episodes to get a gist of it, which are conveniently all in one post.
It's no biggie if you can't. I'm sure someone like you has a long reading to do list.
"Never give up. Never surrender." —Commander Peter Quincy Taggart
Thank you. I know many liked The Mandalorian. I've heard good things about Andor, as well. From what I've heard, it sounds as if those were more adult. As mentioned in the post, I was never that into Star Wars, at least not after the first three movies (Episodes IV, V, and VI, since "first SW trilogy" can be confusing). Episodes I, II, and III were... disappointing in the extreme. As comedian Brian Posehn put it back then, those episodes were like waking up in the middle of night to discover your favorite uncle had put his penis on your face. Those movies felt like that much of a violation after the "first" three.
And then Episodes VII, VIII, and IX weren't any better, so I pretty much just checked out. I don't have Disney+ (and don't want it), so all the SW and Marvel TV shows have passed me by. I generally prefer the smaller "truer" SF. There are some outstanding but not well-known SF gems. (Tom Cruise in Oblivion, for instance.)
Heh, not just a long reading list, but multiple long reading lists. And queues for shows and movies I want to check out. And tons of project work. In fact, I joined Substack just this spring, and it's more active than WordPress is these days. My participation here has gotten me far behind my work, and I've been struggling for better time management. I really need to learn to stay off Notes. So addictive!
lol, that uncle bit. So true. I watched SW VII and VIII, and although I like what they did with Luke, the story felt rehashed somehow, and I have yet to watch IX as a result.
What I like about Mando, is that I think that Jon Favreau has similar thoughts about SW and your thesis. There’s a lot of nostalgia from the ‘first’ three….[[|:-)
After reading your post, I realized why I'm not a big fan of science fiction. I'm a definite BL person. After that, I checked out. The best SF program of 2024 is the election. I prefer to get my bizarre viewing entertainment in real time.
Another excellent article, Wyrd.
Well thank you! There is, of course, near-future science fiction very much along the lines of what's playing out politically today. Octavia Butler wrote a pair of stories, "Parable of the Sower" (1993) and "Parable of the Talents" (1998) that are jaw-droppingly prescient about the current Republican nominee and his party. It's impossible not to see our Mango Mussolini in these books written 30 years ago.
But I know you're not much for fiction in general, except, IIRC, historical fiction. There is an entire genre of SF called alternate history and some fictionalized history stories. Recently read a thick trilogy in which Newton and other of his contemporaries are main characters. Also read a fictionalized account of Robert Oppenheimer's life and work (not connected with the movie but written by Robert J. Sawyer, who's here on Substack).
As a life-long SF reader, I know there's SF for everyone! 😁
Very well written, and I agree, except for The Mandalorian, though I do have a particular bias for its creator.
If you ever have the time, I'd love to hear your thoughts on my story, Cloak & Laser. It's a scifi/fantasy mesh, but to hear your thoughts as per the perspective of this thesis would be amazing. It's a free read, and you can just read the first three episodes to get a gist of it, which are conveniently all in one post.
It's no biggie if you can't. I'm sure someone like you has a long reading to do list.
"Never give up. Never surrender." —Commander Peter Quincy Taggart
Thank you. I know many liked The Mandalorian. I've heard good things about Andor, as well. From what I've heard, it sounds as if those were more adult. As mentioned in the post, I was never that into Star Wars, at least not after the first three movies (Episodes IV, V, and VI, since "first SW trilogy" can be confusing). Episodes I, II, and III were... disappointing in the extreme. As comedian Brian Posehn put it back then, those episodes were like waking up in the middle of night to discover your favorite uncle had put his penis on your face. Those movies felt like that much of a violation after the "first" three.
And then Episodes VII, VIII, and IX weren't any better, so I pretty much just checked out. I don't have Disney+ (and don't want it), so all the SW and Marvel TV shows have passed me by. I generally prefer the smaller "truer" SF. There are some outstanding but not well-known SF gems. (Tom Cruise in Oblivion, for instance.)
Heh, not just a long reading list, but multiple long reading lists. And queues for shows and movies I want to check out. And tons of project work. In fact, I joined Substack just this spring, and it's more active than WordPress is these days. My participation here has gotten me far behind my work, and I've been struggling for better time management. I really need to learn to stay off Notes. So addictive!
lol, that uncle bit. So true. I watched SW VII and VIII, and although I like what they did with Luke, the story felt rehashed somehow, and I have yet to watch IX as a result.
What I like about Mando, is that I think that Jon Favreau has similar thoughts about SW and your thesis. There’s a lot of nostalgia from the ‘first’ three….[[|:-)