Torn Branches: A Science Fiction Review

You have probably guessed already that I am a bit of fan of sci fi poetry. The name of my blog, Torn Branches, is an obscure tribute to Hugh Mearn's Antigonish . So finding a sci fi poet who is both extremely talented and a Kiwi has got me a bit excited. Tim Jones is a New Zealand author and an amazing poet. His work spans genres but is mostly focused on sci fi themes. His poem ‘ Kraken ’ is an excellent example of the genre that he has shared on his own website. I'll be heading into the city on the weekend and will be sure to pick up a copy of the  Rhysling Anthology 2016 and his novella Landfall . I'll be sure to let you know what I think of both later in the coming weeks. I will post a short excerpt to ‘ Kraken ’ below, but really suggest you follow this link to read it in full on Tim's own website as it is most certainly worth your time. Kraken: by Tim Jones Millennia of sunlight passed the Kraken by. He slept where he had fallen, each molec...

"I don't like Monday's" quipped Brenda Spencer after committing mass murder. Well nobody does really?  But if you want to ease the pain in a less pyschopathic way, then can I suggest you read this collection of 8 sci fi stories by the New Yorker? It will only cost you a few minutes of your time and in return you get to imagine the USA President utter the words "flying penis from Venus". And if that doesn't work to put a smile on your dial then maybe you should change your name to Bob Geldoff. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/14/eight-short-science-fiction-stories

I'm not sure of the veracity but the huff post has an interesting interview with Small Beers Press owner Gavin J. Grant about the first sci fi book written. Link here . Frankenstein is probably the oldest sci fi book I have read, and it took a couple of goes before I actually understood the themes.

A bit dated now but I had forgotton to post at the time.

We all have our favourites. Something that we hold close to our hearts and cherish. When it comes to sci fi characters, it will come as no surprise to those who know me that my all-time favourite is Duncan Idaho, from the Dune series. Duncan Idaho started off as a minor player in the first instalment of Dune, as the security and weapons advisor to House Atreides. In Dune, he sacrificed himself by launching a full attack on the Emperors elite Sardauker Troops, to give Paul and Lady Jessica the time required to escape to the desert. We learn in later novels that he managed to best 19 of them before finally falling due to ‘massive head trauma’. Being an instant fan favourite, he was wisely revived, as a Ghola, and is now the only character to be present in every Dune novel written. So what is it that made Duncan so popular? I read the first Dune novel in my early teens, what made him such an attractive character was his loyalty to House Atreides, and his awesome combat skills. Simple stuf...

Ray Bradbury wrote this poem in celebration of the Apollo moon landing in 1969. The fence we walked between the years Did balance us serene It was a place half in the sky where In the green of leaf and promising of peach We'd reach our hands to touch and almost touch the sky If we could reach and touch, we said, 'Twould teach us, not to, never to, be dead We ached and almost touched that stuff; Our reach was never quite enough. If only we had taller been And touched God's cuff, His hem, We would not have to go with them Who've gone before, Who, short as us, stood as they could stand And hoped by stretching tall that they might keep their land Their home, their hearth, their flesh and soul. But they, like us, were standing in a hole O, Thomas, will a Race one day stand really tall Across the Void, across the Universe and all? And, measured out with rocket fire, At last put Adam's finger forth, As on the Cistine chapel And ...

I finally got around to watching Civil War last night and both myself and Ms Torn Branches loved it. One of the major flaws of the Avenger series (barring the first one) was the lack of attention given to the super villains. Apart from Loki, the super villains all suffer the fate of one shot movie evil-doers - the are beaten by the good guys never to be heard from again. We never get much in the way of character development or grow with the villains like we can with the 'good guys' for example Iron Man. This is where Civil War shines. We know and love both Captain America and Iron Man, and we understand where they are coming from when they make the decisions they do. Putting the conflict into D&D terms, the main plot revolves around Iron Man (Lawful Good) vs Captain America (Chaotic Good). So does this mean that Civil War lacked a decent villain? Absolutely not. Helmut Zemo's villainy is both intelligent and understandable. Helmut is essentially just an o...

So I'm a bit late to the party, but the Nebula award winners have been announced by the SFWA. Link here . Looks like a sweep for female sci fi writers. Its nice to see an award system working without all the politics and machinations that have beleaguered the Hugos. I would have picked Ex Machina over Mad Max personally. But I suspect my dislike of Mad Max is partially due to living in Australia at the time and hearing nothing but endless conformist praise in the media for months on end.

I can see this poem influencing a fantasy or sci fi scene. Reply to a Friend's Advice Leaving the Audience by the quiet corridors, Stately and beautiful, we pass through the Palace gates, Turning in different directions: you go to the West With the Ministers of State. I, otherwise. On my side, the willow-twigs are fragile, greening. You are struck by scarlet flowers over there. Our separate ways! You write so well, so kindly, To caution, in vain, a garrulous old man.

I’ve previously written about the pen and paper RPG Eclipse Phase. If the game is unfamiliar to you, here is my short overview in a previous blog post . As I mentioned in that post, my character’s name is Duncan (named after the perpetually reincarnated weapons master and later Mentat from the Dune series). Duncan is an extropian smuggler sleeved in a Slitheriod morph. Essentially he is robotic worm who loves personal freedom, hates Jovians, and uses deception and persuasion to ply his trade in black market goods. Still with me? Okay good. Being somewhat on the fringes of society Duncan has always carried a bit of a chip on his shoulder, but a recent experience might have driven him over the edge and made him reconsider his motivations somewhat. [spoilers below] In a recent mission, Duncan and his compatriots were required to carry out a clandestine revenge mission for an underworld figure. The mission required deceiving our way into a young socialite's coming of age pa...

Here is an extract from book 1 of John Keats abandoned poem Hyperion. The poem would go on to provide the inspiration for the sci fi novel of the same name, in which John Keats is a character. Saturn is fallen, am I too to fall? Am I to leave this haven of my rest,b This cradle of my glory, this soft clime, This calm luxuriance of blissful light, These crystalline pavilions, and pure fanes, Of all my lucent empire? It is left Deserted, void, nor any haunt of mine. The blaze, the splendor, and the symmetry, I cannot see – but darkness, death and darkness. Even here, into my centre of repose, The shady visions come to domineer, Insult, and blind, and stifle up my pomp. – Fall! – No, by Tellus and her briny robes! Over the fiery frontier of my realms I will advance a terrible right arm Shall scare that infant thunderer, rebel Jove, And bid old Saturn take his throne again

So there has been a fair amount of announcements this week. Some intriguing, others a bit weird. Firstly, the  Locus finalists have been announced : A fairly solid line up of authors in the novel category: The Water Knife, Paolo Bacigalupi  Ancillary Mercy, Ann Leckie  Aurora, Kim Stanley Robinson  Seveneves, Neal Stephenson A Borrowed Man, Gene Wolfe  I haven't read any of these novels, so I'll withhold my judgement, but reviews for these books have been all been great. In other news  SF Signal shuts down  for good. SF Signal is a Hugo award winning blog and one of my weekly 'go-to' reads. The owner/editors of the blog announced they are shutting down the site on Thursday for family reasons. This week I also got to learn the name Chuck Tingle when the  Sad/Rabid Puppies Hugo award slate back-fire d with hilarious results,  - If you haven't heard about the sad/rabid puppies then good for you. For the rest of us bys...

I've been tasked with cleaning out my in-law's bookshelf. A task which I'm apparently wholly unsuitable for given the large pile of books in the 'save' pile. One of the gems I came across was a very old (but undated) essay on the works of T.S Eliot. You can read the full version here . I had read this poem in high school, and then as now it is part IV that grabs my attention.  I'm not the only one. Iain M Banks based his protagonist in his first sci fi novel on Phlebas.  Consider Phlebas follows the story of Horza, a mercenary who fights for the ultra religious Idirans in their war against the Culture - a democratic liberal multi-culture.  Horza's problem with the Culture are essentially aesthetic - while he seems to wholeheartedly  agree with them in principal - he finds them haughty and hypocritical. He would rather rebel, than bend. Banks also wrote a sort-of sequel to to Consider Phlebas, in Look to Windw...