I spend a good amount of my time writing, and what I enjoy writing most is science fiction and fantasy and there are hundreds of articles and books on how to write it effectively, but this is one of the better ones so if you want to learn to write science fiction go here.
I don't know if the title of this VisionTV series is a play on the Asimov title I, Robot or not, but I like to think it is. This documentary premiers on the 27th of January on VisionTV and promises to show visions of our possible future.
Telling us not only how our futures might look, but the pitfalls of those futures is one of the great things about Science Fiction, and if this show can really delve into the possibilities it should be a fun show.
The link to the show's website is here.
I have a friend who argue that Slaughterhouse-5 is not science fiction, and according to him Kurt Vonnegut felt the same way. I think he was wrong. The story is about someone who got unstuck in time, that is either science fiction or fantasy take your pick, but the line isn't always so clear.
Is a detective show which uses technology that doesn't actually exist to show how they solve a crime in a easier way science fiction? Probably not, the technology doesn't effect the plot it just makes things easier. What about A show like Life on Mars, which, from the previews, appears to be a 70 cop drama except that a modern day investigator is stuck in that time. Again, I haven't watched it, but I get the impressio
n that while he uses modern technology to solve crimes the time aspect of it is not all that important.
Does something rise about fantasy or science fiction when it starts to be about characters? I don't think so, i think that the best science fiction is about characters we care about. It is science fiction because there is a basic scientific idea at the center, which doesn't exist and couldn't be removed from the story without changing it completely. From this idea, Slaughterhouse-5 is science fiction, and CSI is not. Which is good for me, i get to claim the masterpiece and allow the franchise to remain safely in the hands of the mainstream.
Battlestar Galactica is never easy. This week was certainly no exception. The problem is that I don't know who I should be pulling for. Clearly the president has flipped out a little and Adama is certainly pushing the limits of his authority at least it part because of how much he cares for her while Gaida and the vice president have real points.
How can they trust the Cylons after they killed millions in a nuclear attack? It is easiest to side with the people you know the best, but that doesn't mean they are right. Will Cylon technologies on their ships really be better, or will it just give the Cylons a stronger hold over them? Should people have the right to refuse to give the military access to their homes?
I am loving having Galactica back but I don't know what to think about this episode not because it wasn't great but because it wasn't as black and white as most television.
