Gods of Egypt is here! And Gods of Egypt is terrible. But not every Egypt-centric adventure is as horrifyingly head-scratching as Gerard Butler’s latest career move. One of my all-time favorite books as a kid was The Egypt Game, which is wonderfully written and makes ancient history exciting in a unique way.
Author Zilpha Keatley Snyder had a literary career that spanned nearly five decades. When she died in 2014 at age 87, she’d written 43 books, mostly for children and young adults, mostly with adventure themes, and many with fantasy and supernatural elements.
The Egypt Game was her fourth book, released in 1964. It’s an adventure with fantasy elements—but not in the traditional sense of fantasy. Its magic comes straight from the imaginations of its main characters, sixth graders April and Melanie, who become fast friends when April moves into Melanie’s apartment building. Snyder modeled her young, multi-ethnic characters and the story’s setting on her experiences living and teaching elementary school in Berkeley, California, but the girls’ obsession with ancient Egypt was something she herself had gone through as a child, as she writes in her autobiography:
A fifth grade project on ancient Egypt started me on my “Egyptian period,” a school year in which I read, dreamed and played Egyptian. But my dream of Egypt was private and it was my daughter, many years later, who actually played a game very like the one in the story, after I had turned her on to the fascinating game possibilities of a culture that includes pyramids, mummies, hieroglyphic writing and an intriguing array of gods and goddesses.
In the book, April and Melanie (along with Melanie’s four-year-old brother, another neighborhood girl, and two somewhat reluctantly accepted male classmates) construct their version of ancient Egypt in an abandoned storage yard.
First, they read every book they can get their hands on about Egyptian gods, mythology, customs, and ancient life. Then, they painstakingly craft altars and costumes while dreaming up rituals and ceremonies—like when a pet parakeet dies, necessitating elaborate funeral rites. They spend every day after school until dinnertime creating in their self-made Egyptian playground.
And a big part of the fun is the fact that “Egypt” is a secret just among the kids; nobody’s parents (who are all loving and attentive, but also have jobs—most of which revolve around the nearby UC Berkeley-esque college—that keep them busy) know anything about it. The cloak-and-dagger stuff gets spooky when a local child is murdered, and the kids have to put Egypt on hiatus for safety reasons. This is a dark plot twist—again, something inspired by an incident that occurred during Snyder’s time in Berkeley—but it fits into the narrative surprisingly well, given that many of the previous pages are given over to the girls’ excited explorations of Egypt’s more sinister myths. Set, the god of chaos and war, has his own altar decorated with bones and other eerie elements, and is a key villain in the various scenarios the kids play through in their roles as queens and priestesses.
Cluelessly appropriating Egyptian culture is gross when a big movie like Gods of Egypt does it. (Appropriating any culture is gross, to be honest ... and yet, white people still love wearing “Native” headdresses to music festivals.) But The Egypt Game never crosses that line. April and Melanie are just 11 years old. They haven’t spent any time learning about contemporary Egypt, nor about its history since the era of pyramids and hieroglyphics. They’re fascinated by the romance and mystery of what they’ve read in their books, and their thrill is infectious—which is how they draw in customers as tough as the coolest boys in the sixth grade.
The Egypt Game isn’t really about Egypt; it’s about creativity, imagination, how reading is awesome, and the importance of friendship. You won’t learn much of anything about ancient Egypt by reading it. But it surely nudged more than one young reader (besides me) to the library shelves, newly ignited with the desire to learn more about Set, Nefertiti, and Bastet—the goddess of cats, who also wore really great earrings.
The original Pokémon games are out on the 3DS eShop tonight for $9.99, and while they largely offer the same experience, there are some differences between them, too.
Each version has exclusive Pokémon which you can only capture within that game. The whole idea is to get players trading monsters with each other, which should be easier this time around, given that you can use wifi to connect with other people. Bye, cable links!
Here’s a breakdown of what critters you can find in each version.
Pictured above for Pokémon Red: Ekans, Arbok, Oddish, Gloom, Vileplume, Mankey, Primeape, Growlithe, Arcanine, Scyther, Electabuzz.
Pokémon Yellow is a bit different. Instead of choosing an initial starter, you get Pikachu to join you on your adventure, just like in the anime show. Pikachu can follow you around, and it’s real cute:
Actually, you can check in with Pikachu every once in a while, to see how it’s feeling. This is a special little quirk you can’t experience in Red or Blue:
Over the course of the game, you can however obtain all three original starters in Yellow, Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur. Additionally, In Yellow, your rival will also train an Eeevee into either a Jolteon, Flareon, or Vaporeon, depending on how well you do in-game. Also, Yellow’s sprite set is slightly better than those in Red and Blue. Finally, Pokémon Yellow does have a slighty different roster of Pokémon you can encounter. According to Serebii, Pokémon Yellow does not have Weedle, Kakuna, Beedrill, Ekans, Arbok, Raichu, Meowth, Persian, Koffing, Weezing, Jynx, Electabuzz, or Magmar. Naturally, you can still trade and get these Pokémon via other people.
Also worth noting that some of you may not have to choose between versions at all. There is after all a special edition 3DS which comes packaged with both Red and Blue, if that’s more your bag.
Personally, I think Pokémon Red has the better selection of version-exclusive Pokémon, but I also recognize that neither Red or Blue feels quite as special as PokémonYellow. If you’re looking for a closer connection with Pikachu specifically, or if you can’t decide between the three starters, Yellow might be the way to go. Anecdotally, I’ve found Red to be more popular than either of the other versions, so if you want to be a contrarian, Blue is a good pick.
And there you have it! Which game(s) will you be picking up, any why?
It’s already hammock season in some parts of the country, and the rest of you will get there soon enough. This Fox Outfitters double camping hammock comes with everything you need to relax in your yard, at the park, or on a camping trip, and Amazon’s marked it down to $48 as part of a Gold Box deal today.
This model normally sells for $60, and has a stellar 4.8 star rating on over 400 reviews. So lock in your order before they sell out, then sit back, relax, and await delivery. [Fox Outfitters Double Camping Hammock, $48]
Update: These colors are actually marked down to $40.
Khaki/Khaki
Sky Blue/Khaki
Blue/Yellow
Our readers have bought tens of thousands of Philips Wake-Up Lights, and for good reason! One model that’s flown under the radar though has been the HF3505, which is most similar to the $70 entry level model, but with the option to wake up to natural bird chirping sounds, or even the FM radio station of your choice.
While they might not conform to the classic look of our favorite chef’s knives, this Cuisinart Advantage knife set is anything but dull (get it?). You can own the whole collection today for just $15, an all-time low price
ExOfficio’s Give-N-Go boxer briefs were a finalist in our recent best men’s underwear Co-Op, and $15 is one of the lowest prices we’ve seen on them. That’s still pricey for a single pair of underwear, but reviewers say it’s worth it. Note: I’m seeing the price on black, charcoal, white, and tango (red) colors, so if you don’t see your size in stock, keep clicking around. [ExOfficio Men’s Give-N-Go Boxer Brief, $15]
Unless you’re a professional chef, whenever it comes time to prod your meat with a thermometer to check its doneness, you probably have to pull out your phone and Google the proper temperature. This $7 thermometer though cuts out the middle man, and programs in rare, medium rare, medium, and well done temperatures for five different types of meat. That would be a great price for a thermometer without any added features, so there’s no downside here. [Tribesigns WDJ7009 Smart Digital Meat Thermometer, $7 with code OT6WGNN9]
On paper, this actually supports nearly double the maximum download speed of the ultra-popular SB6141: 680mbps vs. 343. Odds are, your cable internet isn’t that fast right now, but you’re buying this to save money in the long run, so you want it to be as futureproof as possible. Just check with your ISP to make sure it’s compatible before you purchase; most maintain lists on their websites. [NETGEAR DOCSIS 3.0 High Speed Cable Modem, $80]
TriggerPoint’s “GRID” is one of the most popular foam rollers on the market, and Amazon’s offering the black 13" model for $30 today. You’ll even get some instructional videos to help you get started. [TriggerPoint GRID Foam Roller With Instructional Videos, $30]
Before you head out on your next outdoor adventure, you might want to pick up some of this sub-$20 survival gear. I’m especially interested in the Gonex paracord grenade, which includes an eye knife, cotton tinder, flint, fishing tools, and more.
Unlike those disposable chemical hand warmers, this Zippo lasts for up to 6 hours at a time, and can be reused by filling it with a splash of lighter fluid. Plus, it just looks really cool hot. [Zippo 6-Hour Chrome Hand Warmer, $10]
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Send deal submissions to Deals@Gawker and all other inquiries to Shane@Gawker
Marvel likes to say it’s been around since 1939, but the truth is the company was known as Timely Comics back then (and Atlas Comics before the change to Marvel in 1961). This year, Timely Comics will return—as an imprint that sells the first three issues of a series in one collection for a mere $3.
Yes, Timely is basically turning into a budget-priced line of decently-sized samples of Marvel’s “all new, all different” comics, beginning in June. This is a great idea. Single issues are so short that it’s impossible to get a sense of an overarching story. Three issues is actually a decent amount of material, enough for a reader to make an informed judgment of whether they actually like the comic or not.
And for $3? That’s a great price that should inspire a lot of people to check out a series they wouldn’t have otherwise. For a single example, I’m very interested in the new Vision series (I’m told it’s quite good) but I would never spend $12—$4 each for the first three issues—on a comic I’m not totally sure I’ll like.
But would I spend $3 to find out? Absolutely. In fact, I think I’ll check out the new Avengers, Ultimates, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur,and some other comics too, because this is a reasonable price to take a chance on a new series. And even if I only like one of five, that’s going to be at least one new set of trades Marvel wouldn’t have sold otherwise. (To say nothing of the money I spent on the Timely comics.)
Granted, it’s weird that Marvel would resurrect a name for the line that means absolutely nothing except to the hardcore comics fans who are likely buying all the individual issues anyways, but whatever. This is still a fantastic idea.
Friends, Romans, comic book movie fans: we have been betrayed. In a desperate quest for knowledge to learn everything about Batman v Superman before it releases, we turned to the saccharine liquids of Dr. Pepper, believing it to be the true font of knowledge. But we were deceived! For now it is Doritos that hold the answer!
Yes, just as you were done guzzling down as many Batman v Superman branded Dr. Pepper cans to get prequel comics filling in the state of the movie’s world and characters, Doritos drops the bombshell that it, too, has its own treasure trove of BvS prequel comics.
Revealed by Yahoo today, “Upstairs/Downstairs” by Christos Gage, Joe Bennett, Sean Parsons, and Hi-Fi, will be available to fans who buy Doritos family mix multipacks at Walmart. The comic, which you can see some of below, focuses on Bruce Wayne being a grumpy whiner over that slacker Superman getting a big statue of himself in Metropolis.
There’s something slightly hilarious and joyful in seeing Bruce be such a childish curmudgeon over a statue, but Yahoo’s story does feature one interesting tidbit in how it describes the comic:
Upstairs/Downstairs examines what it means to be a superhero — whether it, as Bruce Wayne believes, requires being human, fallible, and empathetic, or whether it only requires having virtually unchecked god-like gifts.
So, in Batman v Superman, Batman dislikes Superman’s heroism... because he’s an alien? Is Bruce Wayne kinda space racist? Doritos comic, you reveal some strange things to us. Also, I love that Bruce believes his heroism is all about being a normal guy, someone fallible and empathetic... he also just forgets to mention that he’s a “normal guy” with billions of dollars to fund himself with.
Yeah, real “man of the people,” Bats.
Codes for “Upstairs/Downstairs” will be available beginning Monday, February 29th.
We’re just one month away from seeing Batman v. Superman, the long-awaited smackdown between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel. But if things had turned out differently, we could have seen Batman fight Superman back in 2004. Here’s everything we know about Batman vs. Superman: Asylum, and how it would have been different than Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Minor spoilers and speculation for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ahead...
What was Batman vs. Superman about?
Batman vs Superman was pitched by Andrew Kevin Walker, the writer of Se7en, who wrote an ultra-dark screenplay about the two heroes clashing. According to the book Superman vs. Hollywood by Jake Rossen, the studio apparently thought this version was too dark, so they hired Akiva Goldsman (the writer of A Beautiful Mind who also wrote Batman Forever and Batman and Robin) to do a rewrite. Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, The Perfect Storm) was all set to direct.
A draft of Batman vs. Superman, as rewritten by Goldsman, has been floating around the internet for years, and is easy enough to find. Plus a few dozen books have included detailed summaries of the plot at this point. And there are some pretty severe problems with the storyline.
In Batman vs. Superman: Asylum, Batman and Superman are best friends, but they’re both having a bit of a midlife crisis. Batman has been retired for five years, after the deaths of Dick Grayson, Jim Gordon and Alfred Pennyworth. (Batman has programmed a holographic Alfred, who acts almost like the real butler.) The Joker is also presumed dead, after he fell to his death at the end of Tim Burton’s Batman. We learn early on that Bruce quit being Batman because he feared that he would start killing his enemies and going after revenge instead of justice.
Meanwhile, Lois Lane is divorcing Clark Kent (because “Truth, Justice and the American Way” don’t leave much time for relationships.) Clark spends lots of time moping around Smallville and rekindling his high school romance with Lana Lang, who’s a doctor now. Clark talks a fair bit about how he’s an alien and he’s wasted his time on this small planet full of petty humans, which seems kind of out of character.
The action starts when Bruce Wayne marries a beautiful, brilliant woman, Elizabeth Miller (with Clark as Bruce’s best man). And then she’s murdered on their honeymoon by the Joker (who’s been brought back to life by Lex Luthor, using DNA and stuff.) To make matters worse, it turns out that a terrorist that Superman stopped an angry mob from murdering was actually the Joker, so it’s Superman’s fault for saving the Joker’s life. Batman wants to kill the Joker once and for all, but Superman won’t let Batman become a murderer.
So the two heroes fight, even though they both kind of know that they’ve been manipulated into fighting by Lex Luthor. That’s the weirdest thing about the confrontation between Batman and Superman in Batman vs. Superman: Asylum: They both know that their fight is pointless, and they even say so before they start fighting. But Batman still tries to murder Superman with kryptonite, and comes incredibly close to succeeding.
In the end, Batman confronts the Joker—who reveals that Batman’s wife was actually the Joker’s creation, all along. Once Lex Luthor had told the resurrected Joker that Bruce Wayne was Batman, the Joker knew how to create the perfect woman for Bruce to fall in love with. The proof? The ring she gave Bruce has the Joker’s face engraved all over the inside of the band. Batman’s supposed to be the great detective, the Joker gloats—but he totally missed this obvious thing.
And then Superman miraculously survives Batman’s murder attempt, and helps Batman take down the Joker and Luthor.
The best bit is when Luthor escapes from prison by murdering his lawyer. And then he uses his fingernails—his fingernails!—to perform impromptu brain surgery on two prison guards at once, removing their free will and turning them into his zombie slaves. Let me just repeat that: Lex Luthor uses his fingernails to do brain surgery on two people simultaneously.
Of course, the script that’s floating around on the internet may be fake, and all the plot summaries and details in various books may be inaccurate. Plus the script was probably still being reworked when the film was shelved, and it’s never fair to judge a film from a script draft, because it’s just a work in progress. We can’t know how this film would actually have turned out, full stop.
But the notion that Batman and Superman are manipulated into fighting because Batman wants to kill the Joker and Superman won’t let him feels a bit cheap. And the fact that both heroes admit that they’re being manipulated into fighting, but they do it anyway, is kind of bonkers.
What went wrong?
The best account of the rise and fall of Batman vs. Superman: Asylum comes from David Hughes’ indispensible book Tales From Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made. And luckily, Hughes’ chapter on this film (along with Darren Aronofsky’s Batman: Year One and J.J. Abrams’ Superman: Flyby script) is actually online, as an excerpt at Movieline.
So Petersen was all set to film Batman vs. Superman in 2003, for a 2004 release. There was already tons of casting speculation flying around, with Christian Bale being rumored for Batman and Jude Law for Superman. (Matt Damon was also in the running for either role.) Petersen gave various interviews, where he talked about how the clash between Batman and Superman was perfect for the post-September 11 world: “Superman represents sort of everything clear and bright and noble. He represents our hopes and ideals. Batman, on the other hand, represents the dark and obsessive and vengeful side.”
And then, all of a sudden, Warner Bros. seemed to change its mind about Batman vs. Superman. Studio President Alan Horn was apparently convinced it was better to relaunch both heroes separately, with J.J. Abrams’ Superman script and some version of Aronofsky’s Batman origin story. Horn distributed copies of the Batman vs. Superman script and Abrams’ Superman: Flyby script to 10 Warner Bros. execs, and they all preferred the Superman script.
Warner Bros. VP Lorenzo di Bonaventura was still a staunch supporter of Batman vs. Superman, and argued that they could do the team-up movie first and then release Superman: Flyby. But J.J. Abrams, in one meeting, reportedly told di Bonaventura that “You can’t do that,” because it would be akin to releasing When Harry Divorced Sally followed by When Harry Met Sally.
In the end, according to Hughes’ book, the fate of Batman vs. Superman apparently came down to Alan Horn versus Lorenzo di Bonaventura—and after BvS was killed, di Bonaventura left the studio a few days later.
There was a general sense that Warner Bros. could make more money (on toys, sequels, etc.) by launching two separate Batman and Superman franchises. But also that the Batman vs. Superman concept was flawed. As David S. Goyer, co-writer of Batman Begins, told the L.A. Times in 2005:
“Batman vs. Superman is where you go when you admit to yourself that you’ve exhausted all possibilities... It’s like Frankenstein Meets Wolfman, or Freddy vs. Jason. It’s somewhat of an admission that the franchise is on its last gasp.”
Goyer, of course, went on to be one of the writers of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Batman vs. Superman vs. Batman v. Superman
So based on what we know about Batman v. Superman, how does it approach the clash between the two heroes differently than the 2004 film would have?
There are a ton of major differences, starting with the fact that Batman and Superman aren’t old friends at the start of Batman v. Superman—in fact, they’ve apparently never met, and know nothing about each other. (We see Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent meeting for the first time, in the trailers.)
And their reason for fighting is totally different, too. In Batman vs. Superman, they’re only fighting because Superman gets in the way of Batman’s bloody vengeance against the Joker. But in Batman v. Superman, Batman actually has it in for Superman directly because he believes Superman is too powerful, and too alien, to be trusted. And Batman’s distrust of Superman has a concrete motivation: the wholesale destruction in Metropolis at the end of Man of Steel, which apparently claimed someone Bruce cares about. Of course, in both movies, Lex Luthor is behind the whole thing.
Another major difference is the fact that Batman v. Superman sticks to one major villain—Luthor—with Doomsday looking like an additional, stakes-raising baddie. The Batman vs. Superman storyline relies on both the Joker and Lex Luthor, with both arch-villains needing to get major screen time.
And the other huge difference is that Batman v. Superman is clearly aimed at jumpstarting a whole DC Comics movie universe, with lots of potential to follow Ben Affleck’s Batman and his supporting cast alongside Wonder Woman and the rest of the Justice League. By contrast, it’s hard to imagine just how Batman vs. Superman, back in 2004, could have led to much of anything, since it features a washed-up Batman, and a somewhat burned-out Superman as well.
So the idea of Batman going up against Superman, on the big screen, has been around for nearly 15 years. But the biggest challenge in this concept has always been finding a reason for Batman and Superman to fight that actually makes some sense. How you answer that question depends on how you see both of those heroes: The 2004 movie answers it by turning Batman into a vengeful killer, who can only keep from murdering people by hanging up his cowl, and Superman into Batman’s conscience. By contrast, the new film plays on the fact that Superman actually did murder General Zod, and he inadvertently trashed a huge chunk of his own city.
Neither of these reasons for their clash seems quite as compelling, on the face of it, as the setup in The Dark Knight Returns, where Superman is kind of a government stooge and Batman is kind of off the rails. (That way, both of these men are a little compromised.) But then, part of the problem is that a movie can’t automatically draw on the long history these characters have in the comics—any movie that pits Batman against Superman has to start fresh, introducing both heroes and then putting them in the ring.
But the bottom line is, you were probably never going to get a Batman/Superman grudge match on the big screen, without one or the other of those heroes being slightly tarnished in the process first.
All images are from Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
This $34 kit only comes with the computer and a basic case—no extras—so look in the “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” section on the Amazon page to find out what else you need to get up and running. [Raspberry Pi 2 Model B (1GB) With Case, $34]
It’s easy enough to set your luggage on a bathroom scale before you leave for a trip, but what about for your return journey? This tiny hanging luggage scale is small enough to take with you, so you can be sure that your souvenirs and shopping bags won’t cost you a fortune in overweight bag fees. [Multifunction Electronic Luggage Postal Scale, $6 with code 7YE47XYL]
Need some new fitness gear? Nike’s taking an extra 20% off everything in their clearance section, for a limited time. Just sure to use the sidebar tools to narrow down your options; there are over 4,000 items available as of now. [Extra 20% off Nike Clearance with code BETTERFORIT]
While they might not conform to the classic look of our favorite chef’s knives, this Cuisinart Advantage knife set is anything but dull (get it?). You can own the whole collection today for just $15, an all-time low price
ExOfficio’s Give-N-Go boxer briefs were a finalist in our recent best men’s underwear Co-Op, and $15 is one of the lowest prices we’ve seen on them. That’s still pricey for a single pair of underwear, but reviewers say it’s worth it. Note: I’m currently seeing $15-$16 prices on white and black, but click around as prices and availability change frequently. [ExOfficio Men’s Give-N-Go Boxer Brief, $15-$16]
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Star Wars will be an inclusive franchise and its future will include gay characters, according to J.J. Abrams, speaking earlier this week at the Oscar Wilde awards at Bad Robot Productions.
The Daily Beast noted that as The Force Awakens has been the first film in the franchise to utilize black and female leads, Abrams’ plans for inclusivity also extend to homosexual characters as well. “When I talk about inclusivity it’s not excluding gay characters. It’s about inclusivity. So of course.”
This is a big step for the franchise, and it’s something that’s long overdue for the franchise. The inclusion of gay characters is an addition to the worldview that simply recognizes how a part of the world identifies itself. It’s a recognition that will no doubt be the start of a micro-Twitter-tempest with the charge that Star Wars has given in to politically correct culture, while missing the point that despite the millions of alien species, worlds and languages, additional sexual orientations might exist in a Galaxy Far Far Away somewhere.
Homosexual characters have already been featured in the Star Wars universe; through Paul Kemp’s novel Lords of the Sith in the form of Moff Delian Mors, and in Chuck Wendig’s novel Aftermath throughSinjir Rath Velus and Esmelle Wexley. Wendig noted that it’s a growing trend in science fiction and comics:
You’re starting to see it more, obviously, in the larger narrative properties. Comics are just starting to figure out that that [LGBT men and women] exist in the world, and you can include and incorporate them in stories and speak to those people, and speak to audiences who may not have been spoken to before.
Indeed, you can draw earlier parallels from Star Wars’s Expanded Universe, where authors described plenty of human and alien couples, without comment.
How these couples and relationships will be portrayed in upcoming films remains to be seen, but while we don’t think that Finn and Poe will be a couple, hopefully we’ll be surprised.
Robert Kirkman – Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (Image Comics)
Scott Snyder – Wytches, Vol. 1 (Image Comics)
Sam Weller, Mort Castle, Chris Ryall, & Carlos Guzman (editors) – Shadow Show: Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury (IDW Publishing)
Superior Achievement in Long Fiction
Gary A. Braunbeck – Paper Cuts (Seize the Night) (Gallery Books)
Lisa Mannetti – The Box Jumper (Smart Rhino Publications)
Norman Partridge – Special Collections (The Library of the Dead) (Written Backwards)
Mercedes M. Yardley – Little Dead Red (Grimm Mistresses) (Ragnarok Publications)
Scott Edelman – Becoming Invisible, Becoming Seen (Dark Discoveries #30)
Superior Achievement in Short Fiction
Kate Jonez – All the Day You’ll Have Good Luck (Black Static #47)
Gene O’Neill – The Algernon Effect (White Noise Press)
John Palisano – Happy Joe’s Rest Stop (18 Wheels of Horror) (Big Time Books)
Damien Angelica Walters – Sing Me Your Scars (Sing Me Your Scars) (Apex Publications)
Alyssa Wong – Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers (Nightmare Magazine #37)
Superior Achievement in a Screenplay
Guillermo del Toro & Matthew Robbins – Crimson Peak (Legendary Pictures)
John Logan – Penny Dreadful: And Hell Itself My Only Foe (Showtime)
John Logan – Penny Dreadful: Nightcomers (Showtime)
David Robert Mitchell – It Follows (Northern Lights Films)
Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement – What We Do in the Shadows (Unison Films)
Superior Achievement in an Anthology
Michael Bailey – The Library of the Dead (Written Backwards)
Ellen Datlow – The Doll Collection: Seventeen Brand-New Tales of Dolls (Tor Books)
Christopher Golden – Seize the Night (Gallery Books)
Nancy Kilpatrick and Caro Soles – nEvermore! (Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing)
Jonathan Maberry – The X-Files: Trust No One (IDW Publishing)
Joseph Nassise and Del Howison – Midian Unmade (Tor Books)
Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection
Gary A. Braunbeck – Halfway Down the Stairs (JournalStone Publishing)
Nicole Cushing – The Mirrors (Cycatrix Press)
Taylor Grant – The Dark at the End of the Tunnel (Cemetery Dance Publications)
Gene O’Neill – The Hitchhiking Effect (Dark Renaissance Books)
Lucy A. Snyder – While the Black Stars Burn (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction
Justin Everett and Jeffrey H. Shanks (ed.) – The Unique Legacy of Weird Tales: The Evolution of Modern Fantasy and Horror (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers)
Stephen Jones – The Art of Horror (Applause Theatre & Cinema Books)
Michael Knost – Author’s Guide to Marketing with Teeth (Seventh Star Press)
Joe Mynhardt & Emma Audsley (editors) – Horror 201: The Silver Scream (Crystal Lake Publishing)
Danel Olson – Studies in the Horror Film: Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (Centipede Press)
Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection
Bruce Boston – Resonance Dark and Light (Eldritch Press)
Alessandro Manzetti – Eden Underground (Crystal Lake Publishing)
Ann Schwader – Dark Energies (P’rea Press)
Marge Simon – Naughty Ladies (Eldritch Press)
Stephanie M. Wytovich – An Exorcism of Angels (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
The awards will be handed out during the inaugural StokerCon in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 14, 2016.
When we assembled our list of books that we were pumped about coming out in 2016, one particularly stands out: United States of Japan, billed as a ‘spiritual successor of The Man in the High Castle’. It’s got giant mechs, alternate history, and did I mention giant mechs?
United States of Japan arrives in bookstores this coming week, and takes place in an alternate history where the United States loses World War II. Fast forward to the 1980s, where a subversive video game is taking hold, and one soldier, Captain Beniko Ishimura, is tasked with tracking down the makers, only to discover that there’s more to the story.
Peter Tieryas previously wrote Watering Heaven and Bald New World, and has worked in the film industry as a VFX artist (with films like Men in Black 3, Guardians of the Galaxy, Alice in Wonderland, and Hotel Transylvania on his resume) and has worked as a technical writer for LucasArts.
Art credit: John Liberto
Your novel, United States of Japan is billed as a ‘spiritual sequel’ to Philip K. Dick’s Man in the High Castle: what prompted you to write your book, and how did you steer clear of simply copying PKD’s book?
I’ve always been a fan of Philip K. Dick, but it was during my time going to school at Berkeley that my interest in him really grew. He was describing places I was familiar with, ideas that I could relate to as I spent those early years debating with professors about metaphysics and existence. The Man in the High Castle stood out for me because it focused so much on the humanity of the people through extremely difficult times. Obviously, I didn’t live in an authoritarian system, but I was struggling just to get by because of some big financial difficulties. As one of the characters, Mr. Tagomi, puts it: “We are all insects. Groping towards something terrible or divine.”
More than a decade later, I revisited all of PKD’s books including High Castle. I was surprised to find out he wanted to write a sequel. Unfortunately, writing the sequel took a mental toll as he had to dive back into the psychology of Nazis which is why, he explained, “I’ve never written a sequel to it: it’s too horrible, too awful.”
I understood his feeling all too well. I’d wanted to write a story revolving around the tragic events on the Asian side of WWII and had been researching the material for several years. This was because I heard so many stories about the Japanese occupation of Asia growing up, like how women in the Qingdao area covered their faces with mud so they couldn’t get kidnapped by Japanese soldiers. I spent two years in Korea as a kid, and some of the elders I met could speak fluent Japanese and even had Japanese names which they were given as children. They really didn’t like the fact that I loved playing my Nintendo, only because it was from a Japanese company. I didn’t know why back then, but I was shocked when I later learned that 17-22 million civilians were killed in the Pacific War and many others were imprisoned, tortured, and enslaved. The more I delved into the research, the more I read about suffering on all sides. I was haunted by the stories of survivors, thinking about how much they’d endured. Then I wondered why so few here in the States knew about that past.
When I heard PKD wanted to do a sequel, the idea of attempting a spiritual sequel took root. I wanted to make sure in some form, those Asian stories from WWII were told here in the west. But in USJ, I’m not trying to redress the past because it’s about more than the Imperial Japanese Army, which is very different from current Japan. It’s a look at authoritarianism and the way a military state affects its people across different nations.
Japanese culture has had a huge influence for me growing up. There’s so many films, books, and games I love that have heavily influenced me. At the same time, I wanted to use historical facts as a launching point for any speculative elements in the writing, including the way the IJA carried out warfare in all its bloody brutality. War is ugly and there’s no glossing over that.
I also wanted to address simple cultural facts that I thought would make the book more authentic. Take the I Ching which is a crucial part of the book. When PKD actually asked the Japanese translator what he thought about High Castle, the response was a blunt: “You’ve also confused Chinese culture and Japanese culture… The I Ching’s Chinese and not Japanese. No Japanese would ever use some Confucian classic. Only foreigners use those.” Even when I spent a few years in China, I never saw anyone use the I Ching the way they did in High Castle.
USJ was also about trying to answer many of the questions I had after first reading The Man in the High Castle. How different would gaming, the internet, and social customs be following a fusion of two very different cultures after fifty years of Japanese imperial rule? Would they have their own version of a Vietnam War, a battle quagmire that resulted in stalemate and a soul searching identity crisis? Would they wonder about the moral ramifications of having used an atomic weapon on America, the same way Americans have wondered about Hiroshima and Nagasaki? What would the religious face of the surviving Americans be like, forced to acknowledge the Emperor as a living god? Having the story take place in the late 1980s would also mean most of the people who lived through the war were dead. To this new generation, imperial rule was a fact of life, giving it a completely different feel as well.
Finally, speculating on the alternate world technology was part of the challenge and joy of writing USJ.
That includes biochemical advances made possible by human experimentation, an elaborate system of regulating people based on gaming habits, and gigantic mechas, a result of one of my childhood passions- gigantic robots.
What about Man in the High Castle appealed to you when you first read it? What’s stuck with you out of the book?
When I first picked up High Castle, I was expecting something like Wolfenstein. Lots of Nazis fighting Americans and wild science fiction twists and turns in PKD fashion. Instead, I got something that was almost akin to a spiritual journey revolving around the internal struggles of an imperfect cast of characters. I admit, the first time I read it, I liked it, but didn’t fully grasp what PKD was going for. I later realized his message resonated at a deeper level. Surrounded by all these evils, how do people survive and preserve their humanity when society is so inhumane? Everyone handles it in different ways, and it was this struggle that appealed to me the most. Even though PKD and I are different writers, I really tried to capture that spirit in USJ. I also thought the ending had an ambiguity that was unexpected and haunting. It left me wanting to know more about the universe and what happened a few decades later.
Rather than a novel, your characters work with subversive video games: what games in particular inspired you here? How did your background in the film and gaming world help you here?
One of the biggest personal experiences that influenced USJ was my time working at EA in Los Angeles. They were most well known for their Medal of Honor games and were just branching out into other franchises. I was hired to work on Goldeneye, but many of my friends were working on Medal of Honor:Pacific Assault. I was so amazed by the level of talent and their dedication to getting all the facts about the war right. The iterative process was mind-numbing as they sought feedback from so many different sources. This was also when the LA studio was beginning to expand and it felt like such a vibrant and amazing place. It wasn’t all great, and I can’t attest to the quality of the games, but the artists and engineers were mostly top-notch. It was a really amazing time behind the scenes and I formed many close friendships then. I also got to hear lots of stories about game development in Japan and stories about famous developers, many of which were illuminating.
One of the moments that still strikes me was the first time I was playing around in the game engine. It was much more clunky then, not like now where Unreal, GameMaker, and Unity are very intuitive to pick up and use. I did some basic AI pathing, placing units and what-not. I was surprised that the rudimentary logic which seemed simple when I designed it was breaking so easily. Even getting a unit to traverse from point A to B to C using flags would get disrupted by terrain or enemies. The AI had a life of its own, interpreting my commands in ways I hadn’t expected. It was like I got a glimpse of the universe and how complex all its rules were in interaction.
A lot of these thoughts were on my mind as I wrote about the simulation in the game that the Empire uses to plan their various battle tactics. Gaming is no longer a civilian effort, but a military one, falling under the department of propaganda. One of the two main characters, Ben Ishimura, has the role of being a game censor. So I definitely drew on my background in gaming to capture the details of the company and the way the engine works.
As for which games inspired me, Civilization was a big one (interestingly enough, Civilization also inspired Iain M. Banks’s Excession). Also, an older Sega Genesis game called Herzog Zwei, Shining Force, Metal Gear Solid, Katamari Damacy, multiple first person-shooters, MMOs, and so many more.
About a year or so ago, we got to check out a test kit of the Oculus Rift. When I put it on, I felt like I was in a futuristic hangar bay and tried to move forward, only to crash into a cubicle. I was amazed by the technology and wondered, what if this was available to people twenty years ago? Since gaming has almost unlimited funds from the Empire in USJ, there would be a lot more resources allocated to it as well. I had a lot of fun writing and speculating on those sequences, and frequently had to pull myself back from going too wild with the ideas because I was enjoying them so much.
What appealed to you the most in writing an alternate history of the United States losing the Second World War?
Image credit: Peter Tieryas
Getting to play Legos with history. I assembled, broke up, reassembled, and conjured up a whole new timeline. Some elements are sinister and others take on completely different connotations that shed light on contemporary events. I’ve mentioned video games and entertainment. I wanted to venture into some of the more complicated historical issues like the internment of Japanese-Americans, the Cold War, and alternate versions of political battles. Even if the nations and players are different, are people still the same? Do historical patterns change that dramatically, or are they the evolution of geopolitical shifts that would have inevitably happened? One instance is where proxy wars happen between the Nazis and the Empire, both afraid that capitulating in a smaller country would lead to a domino effect, the same way America fought with the Soviet Union.
There are three major forces in play in the book; the USJ, Nazis, and Americans rebelling as the George Washington group. Each have their own version of history that strays from facts to serve their own purposes. Finding out who’s speaking the truth is part of the jigsaw the characters (and readers) are trying to uncover.
Akiko Tsukino and Beniko Ishimura are our eyes and ears in this world, but they also represent different modes of excavation for the alternate history. Akiko is a member of the secret police who strongly believes in the Emperor and enforces his decrees religiously. Her fervor represents those who follow blindly, convinced the Emperor is divine. Ben is a veteran who takes comfort in the vices the Empire offers, wanting to lose himself in pleasures rather than deal with the gritty reality. Having lived through one of the worst civil revolts in the USJ’s history, he is torn by guilt from his past actions. The two form an alliance but are constantly at odds with each other. Their philosophical divide is the dialogue that informs the story, driving it forward.
You place an interesting focus on the racial tensions between the Japanese and Americans, and you speak quite a bit to cultural identity. What did you draw on for this?
High Castle was the first source. PKD touches upon how the Japanese have become the predominant race and one of the characters, Robert Childan, really wants to fit in with a Japanese couple. Being Asian actually meant you were in a position of privilege. That was a really interesting theme I wanted to expand upon and explore. The two main characters, like many throughout the USJ, are of mixed ethnicity; Agent Akiko is half-French, half-Korean, and Captain Ishimura is part-Japanese, part-Chinese. When the non-Japanese Americans demand more rights, their protests are violently crushed. Segregation exists where Japanese have their own bathrooms and seats on subways, and everyone else has to make way for them (unless you’re military). Even the fact that Ben is half Japanese means he gets privileges others don’t.
Everyone else is dismissed or viewed as a threat.
I hoped by portraying this contrast, readers could view the current racial dynamic in a different light. In discussing most elements of racism in the past, it’s usually from an anglo-centric view. How would those issues be viewed if told from a non-anglo perspective with non-POCs being subjected to racial discrimination? Would the discussion have more immediacy? Or would it come across as offensive? If offensive, why is it not offensive when talking about POCs in the same light?
At the same time, it’s important that my role focus on telling the story and letting the reader make their own conclusions. In USJ, I’m not trying to persuade readers one way or another. Rather, to posit questions and, hopefully, make them wonder.
Art credit: John Liberto
What did you think of the Amazon.com series for Man in the High Castle?
There were two reasons I nearly gave up writing United States of Japan. The first was because I was afraid of the controversy it would engender tackling what is a really sensitive time of history among Asians (even now, it’s an interesting divide among readers familiar with the history of WWII and those not, the latter commenting on the violence in the book, while the former mentioning how empathetic and fair it is). I knew I wanted to be respectful in drawing on that history and spent a lot of time editing it to make sure we maintained that.
The second was when I heard they were making a television show based on the book. When I first began writing USJ a few years ago, there wasn’t a show yet. But then I heard the show was getting made and I asked myself, should I stop? Then I heard Syfy decided not to go forward with it and so I plunged into USJ which was around 2013. I was halfway through when I heard that Amazon had greenlit a pilot for the show. Again, I wondered, should I quit? Would people accuse me of just being derivative? But I knew the ideas I had were different enough where they could stand alone and as it was just a pilot, there was no guarantee a full season would get made. By the time I finished in late 2014, I knew they were going to make a season out of the book. I wasn’t sure if this would hurt my chances so I sent it to Angry Robot who, fortunately, accepted it. I felt I wanted to acknowledge the obvious inspiration source, kind of like how Brazil gives nods to 1984, L.A. Confidential gives nods to Chinatown, and even Soldier places itself next to Blade Runner (sorry about the last example!). But my sensitivity to the High Castle has precluded me from watching the series up until now, especially because I don’t want to be influenced by the show, even on a subconscious level. Having said that, I really want to see it and come USJ’s release in a few days, one of my very first rewards is to watch the show in its entirety.
What do you have coming up next?
For my next book, I’m doing something a little more light-hearted and humorous. I’m hoping it’s a fresh take on the detective story, only injected with science fiction elements and mysteries revolving around temporal anomalies. It’s something I’ve been working on for over a decade and hearkens back to some of the very first science fiction stories I fell in love with which were by Cordwainer Smith. It was because he spent so much time in Asia and integrated many of the Asian myths/stories I grew up with into his work that I enjoyed them so much. His wild tales about the Instrumentality and telepathic cat pin-lighting pilots and sense-destroying scanners have always stuck with me. I mention this also to point out how the genre has evolved and I’m so excited to see the way writers are pushing the boundaries of narrative. Ken Liu’s The Dandelion Dynasty, Wes Chu’s Tao series, Aliette de Bodard’s House of Shattered Wings, are a few examples of absolute brilliance, and there’s so many others.
I would also love the opportunity to jump back into the world of United States of Japan. This time though, I want to tell a wholly original story without being bound/restricted in an attempt to pay tribute to High Castle nor the Asian tale I’d initially wanted to tell (which I did in USJ). The sandbox is in place.
IF Magazine was a monthly science fiction magazine that was first published in 1952, and ran through 1974, before it was merged into its sister publication, Galaxy Science Fiction. Now, you can read the entire run online over on Internet Archive.
IF never quite reached the same pinnacle as that of other magazines such as Astounding Science Fiction, the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction or Galaxy Science Fiction, but it published a number of excellent stories and serializations, such as James Blish’s classic story ‘A Case of Conscience’, and Harlan Ellison’s ‘I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream’, and works from authors such as John Brunner, E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith, Joe Haldeman, Poul Anderson, James Blish, Frederik Pohl (who also edited the magazine), James E. Gunn, and many, many others.
Initially, IF sold poorly, but eventually made its way to Digest Publications and under the control of Frederik Pohl. While it initially didn’t sell as well as its sister publication, Galaxy Science Fiction, Pohl used the magazine to publish entertaining stories, as well as serializations:
“Under Pohl If took on its own identity. Initially it had played second fiddle to Galaxy, but whereas Pohl kept the more select sf for that magazine, he turned If into a magazine for more adventurous and exciting sf: before long it was If that proved the more popular.”
Pohl also used the magazine as a testing bed for newcomers, publishing numerous first sales from authors such as Larry Niven and Bruce McAllister.
Firewatchis a very lonely video game, but that doesn’t mean you have to play it alone. Developer Camp Santo has released printable versions of the game’s Two Forks Region Overview map so you can bring a navigator along for the ride.
The two maps, one textured and one plain, were posted in response to player requests for a real-world navigation aid to use while playing the game. Rather than bringing up the in-game map to determine your position in the twisting canyons, caves and forests of Two Forks, turn off the ‘You Are Here’ dot in options and hand off map reading and marking duties to a friend.
Worried that having someone in the same room with you might break the solitary atmosphere of the game’s journey? Pick up some cheap walkie-talkies and place your friend in another room, or stream the game and have your partner guide you via Twitch chat or Skype.
The latest episode of Every Frame A Painting has dropped, and Tony Zhu has taken a deep dive into Joel and Ethan Coen’s work on shots and reverse shots, and how it’s used to convey the film’s story.
He describes this as some of cinemas’s most basic grammar, and it’s interesting to see how he’s pulled out how the Coens use the technique to convey not only dialogue, but some of the subtler elements of the story as well.
This is kind of insane. The Originals went and did something that changes all the rules for vampires everywhere. And there are hints as to just how much this is going to mean for the show going forward.
Spoilers ahead...
Yep, Davina actually succeeded in unlinking Klaus from all the vampires he’s sired (or the vampires they sired, and so on.) That’s kind of a huge change—it means that if you can manage to kill Klaus, this will have zero consequences for Damon, Stefan, Josh, Marcel and the tons of other vamps who are descended from Klaus. And meanwhile, at the start of last night’s two-hour Vampire Diaries/Originals crossover, we see one of the show’s flash-forwards to three years from now: Caroline visits the mystical bar where Klaus hangs out in New Orleans, only to be told that Klaus hasn’t been seen for three years. Duh duh DUH.
So the implication, I guess, is that something that happens in the near future causes Klaus to go way way off the radar (or leave town) for as long as The Originals is likely to be on the air. The Vampire Diaries is probably in its last season, so it makes sense for TVD to do flash-forwards that show what the characters are up to in a few years. But it’s a gutsy move to box in Klaus for the next few years, unless The Originals is planning on having a big time-jump.
Oh, and Bonnie finally got to be badass, with some hand-severing action. Go Bonnie!
Darth Vader’s Imperial March is - apart from the Main Theme - the most iconic part of the music of Star Wars. It’s big, bombastic and menacing. So, what happens when you change the key that piece is in?
Musician Ian Gordon went and took The Imperial March and recomposed it into a Major key, and it dramatically changes the tone of the piece. Rather than the theme of the film’s signature villain, we’re left with what could very well be a theme for one of its heroes.
Give it a listen:
Lord also took the franchise’s Main Theme and recomposed it from a Major key and into a Minor key:
His Soundcloud feed has a bunch of other arrangements that show off just how easily a theme song can be changed.
The Heritage Flight Museum will be hosting an extraordinary fundraiser: An Evening With Apollo 8, which will host the entire crew from the mission: Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders.
The event will take place at the Heritage Flight Museum in Burlington, Washington on May 14th, 2016. It won’t be a cheap night out: tickets run from $1000 to $10,000 (The top tier tickets that include dinner with one of the three astronauts are already sold out), but the proceeds will benefit the museum.
There’s a new issue of The Dark Knight III out today, extending the three-decade lifespan of Frank Miller’s dystopian re-imagining of Batman. But, as the series goes on, it’s becoming more clear that Bruce Wayne isn’t really a central figure.
Originally posted 2/24/16
Spoilers follow.
When The Dark Knight III: The Master Race began late last year, it showed readers a Batman who was beating up cops instead of criminals. The first two issues treated the identity of this new Caped Crusader and the absence of Bruce Wayne as mysteries. That was a big deal, because the original Dark Knight Returns series written by Frank Miller was all about how a crankily aged Batman had to suit up to save the day in much more grim fashion than he had before.
Things started to change in that series’ sequel. The Dark Knight Strikes Again revolved around Bruce Wayne’s secret army breaking out his imprisoned Justice League comrades to free the world from the tyrannical grip of Lex Luthor and Brainiac. Miller gave each Leaguer special spotlight moments meant to distill the inherent appeal of each character, a mix of Silver Age nostalgia inflected with acidic snark.
But, at the end of the day, DK2 was still a Batman story, climaxing with Bruce Wayne defeating a demented Dick Grayson and retiring to a life with Carrie Kelly by his side. Carrie was first introduced as a new Robin in 1986’s Dark Knight series, and she later changed into Catgirl in The Dark Knight Strikes Again. This time, Carrie’s superhero evolution funnels her into the Batsuit of the man who was her mentor as she faces up against Gotham’s corrupt cops.
DKIII’s main story is credited to Miller and Brian Azzarrello but reads much more like the latter man’s work. Miller’s main output appears to be in the series’ back-up stories, which focus on the disparate lives of various Justice Leaguers. Overall, the creative team seems more fascinated with the series’ other characters than with Batman himself. In fact, Bruce Wayne is on the literal and figurative sidelines after finally admitting that his body is too brittle to bound across rooftops.
DKIIl’s main threat is a crop of Kryptonian religious zealots freed from the shrunken city of Kandor, and the pivotal sequence in this week’s DKIII #3 has the Dark Knight Universe’s Batman uncharacteristically admitting he needs Superman’s help. It’s a weird beat, given how Batman spent so much time in DKR and DKSA humiliating the Man of Steel.
Perhaps because of all that’s happened—and other setbacks alluded to by his daughter Lara—Superman’s let himself freeze into a silent statue in the Fortress of Solitude. Bruce and Carrie’s appeal rouses him from his slumber, setting the stage for Superman’s confrontation with not only the death-obsessed Kryptonians but also with the child he created with Wonder Woman. The battle to come will seemingly happen on a wider scale than any before in the Dark Knight Universe. It’s already proven too big for Batman to handle without Superman, a pair of characters that Frank Miller presented as diametrically opposed to each other. This newest turnabout makes DKIII an even more bizarre piece of Frank Miller’s legacy.
Allen M. Steele has been known for his hard science fiction novels: Coyote, Orbital Decay, and others. In his latest, Arkwright, he’s assembled an epic generational novel that meditates on the value of science fiction, and where it can lead us in the universe.
Steele opens his novel with a dying science fiction author. Nathan Arkwright was one of the ‘big four’ science fiction authors, up there alongside Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov. His Galactic Patrol stories featuring Hak Tallus landed him on bestseller lists, and upon his passing, it’s front page news. However, Arkwright isn’t content to just die: he wants to use his stories, wealth and legacy to change the world, and sets up a project that will change humanity.
Originally published in Asimov’s Science Fiction as a series of novelettes and novellas (The Legions of Tomorrow, The Prodigal Son, The Long Wait and The Children of Gal), Steele has assembled a book much in the form of the tradition he emulates. Collectively, they tell an epic family story that spans generations, from the early 1930s to the far future. Along the way, he shows us that science fiction can be the seed of something much greater.
Arkwright, moved by the launch of Apollo 17 and his own mortality, devises a plan to use his considerable assets to create the Arkwright Foundation, an organization dedicated to bringing humanity far out into the universe, must like his science fictional heroes have done. It’s at points cynical: NASA has been relegated to offices in Washington DC, a shadow of the agency it once was, while climate change has changed the face of the plant.
Image credit: Tor Books.
At the same time, it’s deeply optimistic, and wonderfully meta. The first part, The Legions of Tomorrow, is a brilliant waltz through science fiction’s history, beginning with the first World Science Fiction convention in July 1939. Familiar faces show up: Ray Bradbury, Sam Moskowitz, Frederik Pohl, David Kyle, Isaac Asimov and others, and we follow Arkwright’s career and family difficulties over the coming decades. The part is worth the price of admission alone, and while it sticks closely to the traditional view of science fiction history, Steele has done an artful job at inserting a fictional author into the mix.
The next section, The Prodigal Son, starts to get into the big ideas. The Arkwright Foundation uses the resources at its disposal to fund research for a big project: a ship that will traverse outer space to a star, where it’ll seed a new instance of humanity. Arkwright’s descendants have taken up his vision, assembling and launching the project, a beam-powered interstellar starship bound for Gliese 667C-e.
They navigate practical and personal issues as they mission unfolds, and as the book continues, the mission becomes a distant memory, but a force that drives the family, for better or worse.
Steele has played with these sorts of grand stories before: his novel Coyote plays with some very similar ideas, but in a more realistic and nuanced fashion: it’s not until the end that we see the end result of Arkwright’s plans. In many ways, I was reminded of one of my favorite novels, Isaac Asimov’s Bicentennial Man.
The book isn’t perfect: because of the nature of its serialized nature, it lives and dies on the merits of the individual sections, but for the most part, it comes through well. Steele never takes his eyes off the big picture, and as a result, we never quite get enough time with the characters: we see multiple generations of the Arkwrights as they grow old and die. This might be by design: we are, after all, a blip in the cosmos, but with a bit more work on the characters, this would have been a much stronger novel.
What impressed me the most here, however, is the reminder of the unique position that science fiction occupies in the arts world. It’s a unique genre in that it is constantly imagining and reimagining what the future might hold. It’s a topic that’s frequently debated at conventions and in essays, but I think that Steele has made an interesting point here: science fiction can’t really predict the future, but it can position itself to preempt it: it can inspire a direction that we can take. Steele’s Nathan Arkwright does exactly that: he spends his career imagining vast galactic adventures, and by the end, that’s exactly the result: a vast galactic adventure on a distant world.
Arkwright is a great read, and one that wears its love for genre fiction proudly. Steele has taken the brightest and most recognizable parts of science fiction - that sense of wonder, the ability to tell grand stories on cosmic levels, and sense of can-do exploration - and woven it into a novel that’s profoundly aware of where it comes from. It’s certainly a science fiction novel that follows in the path of authors like Heinlein and Clarke, and recent books such as Aurora and Seveneves. At the end of the day, this is a book that really celebrates genre fiction and the possibilities that puts forth for our own future.
John Carpenter has films that are considered classics: Halloween, The Thing, They Live, Big Trouble in Little China. But the films he made after his heyday don’t get nearly enough love. One big example: Ghosts of Mars, which takes The Thing and mushes it into Assault on Precinct 13, except with way more graphic mutilations.
And those aren’t the only Carpenter films that the director self-references, though they are the most obvious (there’s even a line that echoes the novella that inspired The Thing). Ghosts of Mars begins with some Escape from New York-style exposition, letting us know that it’s the year 2176, and Mars—which is just a decade away from being terraformed into having Earth-like atmosphere—is home to over a half-million souls, many of whom work at rough-and-tumble mining camps spread out around the planet that are connected by a high-speed train.
But there’s been some serious trouble on the Red Planet—with just one survivor, Mars police officer Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge, giving off Charlize Theron ice-queen/action-hero vibes), still around to tell the tale.
The script specifically points out that Mars is a matriarchal society, and though there’s still plenty of machismo at play—Jason Statham (just a year after his breakout in Snatch plays a fellow officer with designs on Melanie; Ice Cube camps it up as a Mars prison escapee named “Desolation Williams”)—Melanie is very much in charge, especially after the cop commander played by Pam Grier loses her head in act one.
But amid all the weird science that supposes Mars is populated by ancient, vengeful, territorial Thing-style organisms that can travel from host to host; the post-apocalyptic costumes of the afflicted (imagine if the Escape from New York gangs were into masks made of human skin); and the Melanie-and-Desolation Wild West/buddy comedy/spatter-movie hijinks—the most bizarre thing about Ghosts of Mars is its structure.
The entire movie—which is full of dissolves rather than regular edits—takes place in flashback. Then, there are flashbacks within the main flashback, as when a scientist the cops encounter along the way tells how she saw the Mars parasite take over an entire mining town. Then, there are flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks, as when Statham’s character explains how he came across Desolation’s buddies, and in that flashback they tell him how they escaped from a group of drooling maniacs fond of putting heads on spikes.
It’s exhausting, and the viewer would be forgiven for feeling a bit like Melanie, whose pill-popping habit is what ends up saving her in the end. Is that the best part of Ghosts of Mars? Not even. The very, very best part is that the main Mars villain, who Melanie glimpses in his true form while suffering a drugs vs. Mars organism battle within her brain, is named Big Daddy Mars. He looks like what would happen if Pazuzu went to Burning Man and bought into the culture for a minute before eating everyone:
Big. Daddy. Mars. If that isn’t a perfect B-movie monster, just by virture of being perfectly nutballs, I don’t know what is.
