showintale's blog

Cyborg Chimera

2009-10-30T04:55:00.000-07:00

Cyborg Chimera, my first poetry collection, is out now. I've written a little HubPage on it, for those who are interested. It is a work of speculative poetry.

If you'd like to order a copy, you can find it at The Genre Mall.

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Book Review Website Aimed at Christian Ficiton

2009-10-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

I have started to build a new website with Christian fiction book reviews. The site has reviews of all sorts of titles, whether they be books marketed specifically as Christian fiction, or books that seem like things Christian readers might be interested in. I want to eventually have all kinds of books, old or new, and really aim to feature a breadth of titles, authors, and genres.

I am listing titles by author, title, and genre. I hope over time to feature a lot more science fiction and fantasy that is geared to the Christian market. I'll be posting reviews of my own, but I also hope to get some new reviewers to send thoughts over. I don't mind what your own beliefs are, and would actually like thoughts coming from all different perspectives. But the site is aimed at Christian readers, and reviews should be geared to that market.

At any rate, do feel free to send any reviews my way that you'd like to see posted at the site.

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The Story of Light

2009-03-22T21:09:00.001-07:00

I've recently been reading Ben Bova's The Story of Light. It is not science fiction, but more of an ambling through science history, discussing the development of humans' interaction with light. It is a very interesting read, including a lot of science and research history, and also the importance of light in humankind's mythology, including the various mythologies of science fiction.

It's a good read, even though it has taken me some time to get through it due to a recent busy schedule. It is about 400 pages, and while some of it is concerned with technical things, it is not an overly technical read.

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Uh-oh....

2009-03-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

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a promising start

2009-03-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

I just visited a new blog and saw this post.

Oh..... this is going to be FUN!!! I thought it looked like the sort of thing that needed a plug here.

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Reliving it all again

2009-03-10T11:44:00.000-07:00

I've recently sat down to watch all of the 6 Star Wars episodes again. I have to admit that this is, no matter how you look at it, a really amazing series. Sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking that my love for it is all about the sentimental attachment of someone who grew up on the series. I am wrong to think like that. My evaluation that it is a great series is because... it is really a great series.

Lucas is an amazing artist, with an incredible vision. I love how he views his world, how he put it together, unfolding it in the perfect sequence. He was so wise, not only in the construction of the films, but in the release of them in Episodes 4, 5, 6, only to be followed by 1, 2, 3 two decades later. What genius! He won over a whole new generation because of his patience.

I'm glad to have taken the time to watch the series again. I'm wrapping up a couple of essays on Star Wars, and hope that they will be accepted for publication eventually. But the emotional enjoyment I get from these films just has to overflow after having relived them over the past 10 days or so.

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Mary Reilly

2009-02-28T21:36:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I popped the DVD of Mary Reilly in, on a friend's recommendation. I am not easily spooked, but I picked a bad night to start the movie — a cold, rainy night... and late.

I turned it off after about a half hour.

It isn't so much that the film is exactly scary. It is more... disturbing, rather than scary.

I finished watching the next morning, and really enjoyed the film. I've passed it on to another friend, and don't know if she got spooked out by it or not.

I thought John Malkovich was brilliant in the movie, in his roles as both Jekyll and Hyde. Julia Roberts got a lot of criticism about her accent, but I found it to be a minor distraction over all. She acts her part well, and I thought the film well executed.

It is worth picking up the DVD, if you haven't seen it.
....But don't watch it on a dark and stormy night.

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Unintended Break

2009-02-13T00:58:00.000-08:00

I did not mean to take such a long break from reading the Chinese magazine, Science Fiction World, but it has just sort of worked out that way. I intend to get back at it over the next few days, though, and will have more updates then.

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Bill and Ted

2009-01-30T20:15:00.000-08:00

I recently caught a showing of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey on cable. This movie isn't nearly as good as the first Bill & Ted installment, but it was a lot of fun watching it again and laughing at the old, lame jokes. They are lame as ever, and still crack me up. (Does that make my sense of humor lame?)

One of the things I like about these movies is how they explore a very silly sort of sci-fi film. In the Bill & Ted movies, there is an appreciation of the genre that underlies the silliness, I think. It seems to me that someone who doesn't understand how sci-fi films work probably couldn't make or appreciate the humor of Bill & Ted, even for as much as sci-fi comes in for a bit of mockery in the movies.

One aspect that is easily missed in the films is how well-rounded their targets for mockery are. While there seems to be a base in rock music and pop culture, the films also take us back to important historical figures (or in the case of the second, mythological figures), and expect the audience to know something about each of them. Without a well-rounded knowledge, the films aren't funny, really.

It's funny, when I look back, how even these sorts of cheesy, pseudo-sci-fi movies can capture so much. It reminds me why I like the genre so much.

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Science Fiction World

2009-01-20T17:09:00.001-08:00

I am continuing in my read of Science Fiction World, the Chinese language science fiction magazine. So far, I am really enjoying the stories there. I am very pleased to find that I am able to follow the language. It is written in a way that is engaging enough that, even when I struggle a little, I don't switch off.

I've asked a friend to pick up the January issue for me, so that I will have it when I get back to Shanghai. I'll look forward to continuing to be a reader of this magazine.

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More on Chinese Science Fiction

2009-01-15T22:46:00.000-08:00

I'm getting a little more settled into the routines of life again, and that means I'll be on a more regular reading schedule than I have been for the past 6 weeks or so.

I've been wrapping up some things that needed attention, and now am going to get onto something that has been sitting on my shelf for a few weeks — the Chinese magazine Science Fiction World. I am really excited about it, as I think it will be the best way for me to get a better view of science fiction in China.

I plan to start on the magazine tonight or tomorrow. Watch here for an update on how it goes as I progress.

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This is the Kind of Thing You've Just Got to Love About Science

2009-01-10T03:43:00.000-08:00

The new finding of really loud radio signals is an exciting discovery for NASA. No one knows yet what is causing the radio signals, what they mean or where they come from. But there they are, waiting to be understood, once we've investigated further.

The signals weren't something we were looking for — we didn't even know to look for them, in fact. What the whole experiment was about, the one that eventually discovered these radio signals, was actually measuring radio waves from really old stars. And how convenient... we found something instead that might lead us to some really interesting knowledge about the universe out there. (Of course, it is also somewhat inconvenient, in that we won't get what we were after in the first place, will we?)

This is what is so fun about science — when you approach your task doing the best you know how, you might stumble upon something unexpected, showing you that all your know-how doesn't really amount to much after all. And that is just so cool.

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New Blog Just for Prayers

2009-01-08T16:58:00.000-08:00

My blogging friend has started a new blog called Prayer Corner. You can go there and request prayers, "no strings attached."

Stop in if you are needed a prayer offered on your behalf.

Also... watch this spot, as I plan to begin posting more regularly soon! (Sorry for the long break!)

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The Day the Earth Stood Still

2008-12-25T19:47:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy month of travel for me (again), but I did manage to squeeze in seeing The Day the Earth Stood Still (and so did my sister and her family). I enjoyed the show, even if it isn't exactly like the book or the older movie.

Keanu Reeves is often accused of being wooden (understandably), but wooden is just right for this role. I thought he did a good job, and the movie all round was a lot of fun.

My niece worried that the movie was about to get scary, but it turned out to not bother her as much as she thought it might. It isn't a scary movie, nor really disturbing in any way. My sister's family all enjoyed it, even though my niece is often a little sensitive. I was glad to hear that they liked the movie as much as I did.

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Tai Shan

2008-12-08T07:43:00.001-08:00

I've been invited by Sloth Jockey to begin a new blog there. I am excited about this, and have agreed to set up a new blog called Tai Shan.

At this new blog, I'll be writing about my experience in and with China, and about all things Chinese. I think it should be lots of fun, and I hope you will come along and enjoy the experience with me!

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Update on Chinese Science Fiction

2008-11-27T17:25:00.000-08:00

I've been working on that collection of 2002's Best Science Fiction (China) for a while now, but have been a bit slow about the reading (busy days of late!). I finished one rather long story by He Xi (何夕) called 《六道众生》. It was not a bad read, even though it took me a while to get into it (my problem, not the story's). I found the reading to be doable for me, something I was rather proud of, from a language-learning perspective. It wasn't exactly easy (thus the slow reading), but manageable.

The story is something I little different than what I would actually class as science fiction. To me, it seems to fit more into the category of speculative fiction (the broader genre that definitely encompasses this piece), and I might just label it fantasy. Not a lot of real science in it, actually. But still, it is the type of literature I am wanting to read more of in Chinese, and I am glad to have gotten started with this story.

Right now I am working on another called 《午后》by Yang Ping (杨平). I'll have more to say on it when I finish.

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Waterhorse

2008-11-10T02:12:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to watching the movie Waterhorse on DVD this past weekend. It was a fun movie, one that made me smile several times. I picked that one to watch because I didn't feel l like anything heavy, just wanting something nice and relaxing... and even cute, Waterhorse was a perfect fit.

The Scottish landscapes in the film are quite beautiful, and the little Loch Ness Monster is quite cute. The boy who acts in the film does a nice job, and it all comes together well enough.

If you are looking for a DVD to enjoy on a quiet night at home — one of those that is just nice for "switching off" — pick up Waterhorse. It's just perfect for that kind of viewing.

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This should be interesting...

2008-11-06T19:19:00.000-08:00

My Chinese teacher yesterday loaned me 3 sci-fi books, all in Chinese. I've never read Chinese sci-fi before, and have only seen one or two Chinese movies in the genre. It should be quite interesting to see how it goes... and of course it will take me forever to finish the books. One is a translation of English sci-fi writers (I'm leaving it 'til last, for obvious reasons). The other two are by Chinese writers.

I'm beginning with a 2002 anthology of the year's best science fiction stories in Chinese. Should be fun! I'll update how I'm progressing with the book in a few days.

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Scifaikuest

2008-11-02T22:40:00.000-08:00

Good news — I am the featured poet for this issue (Nov 2008) of Scifaikuest! I am very pleased about this, as Scifaikuest is one of the best poetry magazines around.

If you'd like to have a look, you can visit the Scifaikuest website. You'll find a link there to order the print magazine, which is where you will find 15 of my poems in the Nov 2008 issue.

Also, if you'd like more updates about what is going on in the world of speculative poetry, you can see my regular update on my main blog.

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City of Embers

2008-10-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

I have not seen City of Embers yet, and am not even sure I have the name exactly right. I just heard about it from my 8-year-old nephew, and he was very excited about the show after having seen it over the weekend.

It sounds to me like a good survival story, with society surviving (though perhaps in a sort of dystopian form) after some catastrophe or another (stated with true 8-year-old vagueness, I hope). It sounded like a film that should be similar to The Postman with flavors of WALL•E, or something along those lines.

I'm not sure when it will finally come my way, but based on my nephew's review, I'll try to catch it when it does.

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Richard Kearney's Strangers, Gods, and Monsters

2008-10-19T17:05:00.000-07:00

Richard Kearney's Strangers, Gods, and Monsters is a very well-written work of literary and cultural criticism. I finished the book about a month ago (after taking a month or two to read it), and am still enjoying mulling over the ideas he presented. I loved how he used contemporary fascination with figures of science fiction and fantasy to explore the role of the Other in our lives. He notes that we have traditionally tended to break our understanding of others down into two distinct groups, those who are shunned (scapegoats and monsters) and those who are exalted (gods). He then moves on to the call of many postmodern thinkers that we have heard for many years now — that we cease to impose our judgments on strangers and take the sting out of Otherness. I liked the move that Kearney suggests that we make, though. He points out that tolerance actually requires a more not less judicial approach to the Other. While it is true that we don't want to force a single culture's standards on everyone, Kearney recognizes that we need to be able to judge when we meet Others which ones are friends, and which seek to harm us. Very intelligent and very convincing, this book is one that I think is worth taking a good long time to read and ponder.

Included in the discussion are many science fiction and fantasy texts (the Alien movies gets a whole chapter, and is quite central to the first half of the discussion). While this is not the type of speculative fiction book I normally discuss at this blog, it is one that should be of interest to fans of the genre.

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Tamburlaine Must Die

2008-10-16T01:48:00.000-07:00

Louise Welsh's Tamburlaine Must Die is the kind of book I normally expect to love. It has Christopher Marlowe chasing about a live version of his character, who is threatening to murder him.

But the story really missed the mark for me. It isn't that the writing is necessarily bad (in some places it is quite nice), but just that the story doesn't quite work out nicely, to me. Perhaps it feels a bit rushed at the end. There is not really a sufficient feeling of mystery, and the plot turns out to be very different from a confrontation between author and character, like I was led to expect from the blurb on the book. (If you're expecting that too, don't read Tamburlaine Must Die... unless you don't mind something very different than you expect, of course.)

I think it could have been very interesting to watch a story unfold around a confrontation between Marlowe and Tamburlaine. And I definitely think that would have worked a bit better than what does happen on the pages here. I think the book is basically for people like me... those who would read any story that tries to do something with Marlowe's life, just to see how it turns out. Since this one is short and an easy read, it doesn't disappoint me that I did read it... just that it didn't do something a little more interesting.

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Paperback Writer

2008-10-13T01:54:00.000-07:00

Stephen Bly's Paperback Writer is a book that, I think, tries to do something interesting. It seems to me to be a novel that generates a sort of dialogue between a postmodern approach to literature and Christian thought. I am not sure whether that is exactly Bly's intent, but I am not one to think authorial intent matters all that much. Instead, it seems to me, in reading the book, that this is what is happening. And it doesn't happen in a way that is all heady and intellectual. It is done pretty casually, with a discussion taking place between an author and his character about the boundaries between reality and fiction, text and outside-the-text (if there even is such a thing).

I wasn't completely crazy about the book while reading it. There was not much happening in some parts, then what did happen often seemed overblown. (And I think that was partly intentional, as if to give us the idea of an overwrought mind through which we are viewing the events.) I still wouldn't go so far as to say that this is a great book, or even an especially good one, though I think I can go so far to say that it is not bad, and that it seeks to do some interesting things. It won't ever break into my top 100 books list, but it did give me enough to think about for a while after having read it. To me, there's definitely something to be said for that.

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The Historian

2008-10-11T01:42:00.000-07:00

I'm always a sucker for a good vampire story. (Sorry, couldn't help it.) Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian is certainly one worth reading. It is spooky, and really steeped in vampire lore. I also love how it ties the whole story in with Vlad the Impaler. The way the fantasy and history weave together really makes the story fun.

Also enjoyable is the novel's globetrotting tendency. You get to travel with the characters all over the world, and the movement from location to location makes the read that much more fun.

All in all, The Historian is a book I don't mind recommending. We've passed it around my group of friends, and almost all of us enjoyed it.

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The Book Thief

2008-10-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

The Book Thief is a very moving book. It is the story of Liesel, the Word Shaker, a girl who lived through Nazi Germany. I know, I know, there are lots of stories about that time and place out there. But what makes Liesel's story (most) special is that it is told by Death. As he goes about his work (and that was a very busy time for him), he meets Liesel several times. He was very impressed with what he saw in her, and so tells her story.

And her story is one that is worthy of being told by Death.

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