Mythic Quest is an offbeat office comedy set at a video game development company. The characters are maximum diversity, with old and young, White, Black and Asian, gay and straight. It works because all of the characters have strengths and weaknesses. The show doesn’t avoid diversity topics, but when they come up, both sides are represented, but it all seems a bit silly.
We Are Legion [We Are Bob] is the first book in a five book series known as the “Bobiverse” by Dennis E. Taylor that came out in 2016. It’s funny, creative and thought-provoking, without any heavy-handed messaging for modern audiences. It’s an entertaining and engaging series, and one of the few that I ever revisit.
Youtube: Humanoid robots belong in the trash
I didn’t think there would be any reason for a second post about Youtube physicist, Angela Collier, but the universe is insisting upon it. Since I watched several of her videos yesterday, the algorithm suggested another one today.
This video is different because it’s more of a pop culture physics rant, then a physics video. Angela mentions that’s it’s not a typical video, but she wanted to get her thoughts out about the impracticality of humanoid robots in movies and TV shows. I’ve thought the same thing, so watched it and found it more engaging.
That isn’t why the universe is encouraging me to post.
Terry Bison’s short story, They’re Made Out of Meat, is so bizarre, it’s not surprising that many people have made videos of the story. This one is my favorite.
Trigger warnings are bullshit like all the other snowflake crap they foist on us. Trigger warnings could be good, but acceptable trigger warnings are about content that mentions guns, racism, homophobia or transphobia. Calling it a trigger warning implies that a person with PTSD could suffer deep anguish and mental suffering.
In reality, a trigger warning indicates topics that Progressive crybullies wish didn’t exist.
I’m listening to The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathon Haidt. He is a social psychologist and what I’d call a public intellectual. His books are for a general audience and address the research relating to culture, moral and philosophy. I’m enjoying the book so far, and wanted to post some interesting ideas he presents.
WSJ: Former Navy SEAL Who Keeps Churning Out Hit Books
WSJ: Former Navy SEAL Who Keeps Churning Out Hit Books
Some writers sell fantasy, romance or mystery. Former Navy SEAL Jack Carr trades in his precise knowledge of guns and battlefield tactics.
I have listened to the first three of Carr’s books: The Terminal List, True Believer and Savage Son. Along with a knowledge of guns and tactics, he understands people and writes plausible scenarios. I am a big fan of his books.
Jack Carr stacks up well with similar writers. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan books are more political action thrillers. Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books are more crime action thrillers. Mark Greaney wrote a few Jack Ryan books, but has his own Gray Man books which tend to be hyper-violent. There are also authors like Michael Connelly who wrote the Harry Bosch series of detective action thrillers. Those are more tracking clues, and less violence.
Jack Carr writes about former special forces personnel who aren’t looking for trouble, but it finds them. The books tend toward figuring out who needs violence, making a plan, then executing complex tactics to bring the bad guys down with as much firepower as is necessary.
That ultrarealistic detail is Carr’s signature. It’s part of the formula propelling him to success in a competitive genre, military and political thrillers, where few newcomers break out. Drawing on his experience, Carr spins tales about a SEAL who begins on a mission to avenge the deaths of his family and winds up unraveling terrorist plots and global conspiracies.
If you are interested in the genre, Jack Carr is worth reading.
J.S. Morin’s Galaxy Outlaws is usually recommended as a book series similar to the Firefly TV show. That is just wrong. If you like Science Fiction, you must watch Firefly. It’s described as a Western in space. That doesn’t do the TV show justice and is part of why Firefly didn’t catch on when it originally aired, and only lasted one season. The characters in Firefly make it a perfect TV show. 10/10. There isn’t a thing that can be changed to improve it. If you don’t like Firefly, then you don’t like that genre.
I just finished the Robot Geneticists series by J. S. Morin. It is also known as the Project Transhuman.
Good science fiction has a clear premise and sticks with it. The premise for Robot Geneticists is clear and simple. In the not too distant future, human brains can be saved in digital format and aliens killed all life on Earth.
There are two twists that make it unusual. It’s a post-apocalyptic world, but the story starts a thousand years after the alien attack, so it’s nearly a post-scarcity world. The other twist is that robots don’t hate humans.
I just finished the Trade Pacts science fiction series by Julie Czerneda. The premise is that there is an adjacent reality called the mirror. It’s kind of like subspace or hyperspace in that it can be used, nobody lives there and it has it’s own physical laws. Beings that can access the mirror have abilities that we’d think of as paranormal. The universe has humans, a small number of humans with the ability to access the mirror and various alien species which may or may not use the mirror. The books focus on the Clan, a human-looking species with access to the mirror.
One weak point is that members of the Clan can have different abilities. Most can read thoughts, while some can damage minds, others can heal minds, some can teleport and others have the ability to mentally move real-world objects. That makes it more like super-powers or fantasy magic. It would be more plausible if Clan members had the same abilities, but on a different scale. That makes the books seem more like fantasy than science fiction.
The first book is centered on the heroine from the Clan choosing a human with telepathic abilities for a mate. The second book is centered on the Clan girl challenging the Clan establishment while the Human man going to ground to not be killed by the Clan and meeting a bunch of really strange aliens. The third book involves a rogue human who is kidnapping Clan members for nefarious purposes.
Overall, I liked, but didn’t love the books. The alien species are fleshed out well, with distinct individuals. Each alien species has a unique culture, attributes and abilities. The characters are plausible, with their own backstories and personalities. There are a lot of characters to track, but not too many to handle.
This action takes place on a variety of planets and there are space ships, but it felt more like a fantasy series with humans, gifted humans, wizards and a bunch of mythical creatures. Like many women who write science fiction or fantasy, Julie Czerneda has the heroine spending time longing for her mate, brooding about family members and doubting herself. It isn’t at The Hunger Games level, but the story does drag in spots. There is no women power, or Woke messaging.
I’d give it a 6/10. That is high enough to try another Czerneda series, but not high enough to be eager about it.
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