“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”

— Philip K. Dick, I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon

“I believe cats to be spirits come to earth. A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through.”

— Jules Verne

“One of the advantages of being a captain, Doctor, is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it.”

— James T. Kirk in ‘Dagger of the Mind’ from Star Trek (1966)

“If it is stupid but it works, it isn’t stupid. (a Shin’a’in saying)”

— Owlknight, Mercedes Lackey

“It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn.”

— Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

“It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.”

— Ursula K. Le Guin

“Brave” (2012) Starring Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly and Emma Thompson Directed by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, and Steve Purcell (Buy soundtrack) Brave is going to have a special place in my heart because it’s the first feature film my son watched all the way through in the theater. (I don’t count Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull because he was only a few months old at the time, and slept through the whole movie.) He and his father went to see Cars 2 last summer, but only made it through about 30 minutes before they had to leave. So, in order to be sure that we got to see the whole movie, we resorted to bribery (if he sat through the whole movie he got to go to Barnes and Noble afterwards) and chocolate raisins. And that worked. I’m not sure how much he really got out of the movie, but he did sit and watch the whole thing, only asking interminably if it was over yet during the credits. And I think he even liked it. Brave is a fairy tale, but not an insipid or sexist one. It is the story of a young girl trying to find her place in the world, which was not the same place her mother wanted her to enter. This is a common theme for both girls and boys — their choices might not be the same as their parents’ and they have to figure out a way to reconcile it. I particularly liked that this was a story about a girl. Pixar has been fairly boy-focused up until now, and I admit I wasn’t confident that they would be able to pull off a female main character, without going the Disney route of “reading” to prove she’s smart (Beauty and the Beast), annoyingly jealous and bitchy to prove she’s tough (Tinkerbell), or dependent on a big strong man (Snow White, Cinderella, Jasmine, etc.). So I went in expecting a standard girl-wants-to-be-boy type plot. But I was pleasantly surprised. For one thing, Merida doesn’t necessarily want to be a boy, she just wants more choices then her role as princess of the realm afford her. As the first born, her father dotes on her, and teaches her archery and how to ride and she uses this to her advantage when the other clans come trying to win her hand in marriage. If you are familiar with the record Free to Be You & Me you might remember the story of Atalanta. In it, Atalanta, the daughter of the king, is to be married off to the man who wins a footrace. She trains for the race as well, and on the day, is able to beat all but one of the contenders — coming in first place tied with Young John. She asks to be given the chance to choose her own fate and Young John asks to be given the chance to get to know her and become her friend, possibly winning her hand in marriage, or possibly not. The plot to Brave is similar to that of Atalanta, and Merida would like to change her fate the way that Atalanta changed hers. But in order to change her fate, Merida must come to grips with her relationship with her mother. She hopes that if she can change her mother, that will change her fate. But changing her mom into a bear is not exactly what she had in mind, especially as her father is the “bear king” who kills every bear he finds. I enjoyed the scenes of her mother trying to act like a proper woman while a bear. The flouncing walk and attempts to use silverware made from tree branches are particularly funny. But there are other humorous touches. The triplets are hilarious whether they are three ginger boys making trouble or as three bear cubs, as is Billy Connolly playing her father. There are some scary scenes in Brave. Mor’do, the evil bear, was scary, but Merida and then her mother are both willing to stand up to him, and it’s not surprising that a bear would attack. But overall, it’s not any scarier than the other Pixar films and in many ways is less scary than Charles Muntz (“Up”) and much less disturbing than Lotso (“Toy Story 3”). If you’ve read any other reviews, you know how beautiful this movie is. There are scenes that look almost photo realistic. Merida’s hair is wiry and wild and amazing on screen. And even her riding looks realistic (although I don’t know anyone who could stay on his back through some of the jumps he does). Scotland got some great PR in this movie. I loved Brave, and I look forward to when it comes out on BluRay, so that I can watch it with my son over and over again. It was a fun story and a great message about choosing your own fate, not blindly going along with what other people want for you. And this message is true for girls and boys.

Sleepers by Megg Jensen One of the things I like best about my iPad is reading books on it. And with the proliferation of ebooks there are so many more available to read. I check a lot of books out of the library using Overdrive, but I also like to check out authors I’m not familiar with, especially if they offer inexpensive or free copies of their books. Sleepers was on my list of recommendations from Amazon, and it has the wonderful price of free — hard to beat that. So, I downloaded it, and read it. And honestly, I wish I could get that time back. I realized when I was around 81% through the book that the only reason I was continuing to read it was because I was so close to the end, I wanted to get it finished. Ironically, at that point I decided to go to Amazon.com and write a review of it there. I figured, with only 19-20% of the book left, how much could I be missing? Famous last words. When I wrote the review on Amazon, I disliked it because it was clichéd, boring, the world is fairly undeveloped, and things happen unbelievably quickly (e.g. the main character is in love with one person one day and someone completely different the next). In my Amazon review, I wrote “All I really know is that two countries warred, her country lost, and she was made hostage to the winning country with two child compatriots.” After that review went live, I finished reading the entire book, and realized that that statement is wrong! Oh, it’s correct for the first 80-85% of the book, but at the end the author pops some surprises, and one of the major ones in this story [spoiler alert] is that the “losing” side of the battle was really the winning side. They had used their magic to basically enslave the entire country to prepare it for their invasion. And one of the bits of that magic was to have them all believe that they were the winners in a war. If you are asking yourself, “why would they do that?” Believe me, you’re not alone. This twist seemed somewhat pointless. But there are many other twists that come along in the last 20% of the book, including:

“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.”

— Ray Bradbury

I have fallen in love with my iPad primarily because of the Kindle and iBook apps. I love that I can keep dozens (if not hundreds) of books available for me to read whenever the mood strikes me. I love that I can make comments and notes right inside the book, and not ruin the book itself. I love that I can download samples to see if I really would want to purchase the book. And I love that when a new book comes out that I’ve pre-ordered, it shows up on my desktop right away — no trip to the store required. Because of this, I always have a bunch of books available to read on my iPad. Here are the SciFi and Fantasy books I am currently or soon going to read:

“Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

Sometimes it can be difficult to decide what to read, so here I’m posting a list of the NPR Science Fiction and Fantasy Vote for 2011. Which of these books have you read? 1632, by Eric Flint 1984, by George Orwell 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne The Acts Of Caine Series, by Matthew Woodring Stover The Algebraist, by Iain M. Banks Altered Carbon, by Richard K. Morgan American Gods, by Neil Gaiman Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman Anathem, by Neal Stephenson Animal Farm, by George Orwell The Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers Armor, by John Steakley The Baroque Cycle, by Neal Stephenson Battlefield Earth, by L. Ron Hubbard Beggars In Spain, by Nancy Kress The Belgariad, by David Eddings The Black Company Series, by Glen Cook The Black Jewels Series, by Anne Bishop The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley Bridge Of Birds, by Barry Hughart The Callahan’s Series, by Spider Robinson A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller The Cat Who Walked Through Walls, by Robert Heinlein Cat’s Cradle , by Kurt Vonnegut The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov The Change Series, by S.M. Stirling Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke Children Of God, by Mary Doria Russell The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson The City And The City, by China Mieville City And The Stars, by Arthur C. Clarke A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher The Coldfire Trilogy, by C.S. Friedman The Commonwealth Saga, by Peter F. Hamilton The Company Wars, by C.J. Cherryh The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard Contact, by Carl Sagan Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King The Day of Triffids, by John Wyndham Deathbird Stories, by Harlan Ellison The Deed of Paksennarion Trilogy, by Elizabeth Moon The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester The Deverry Cycle, by Katharine Kerr Dhalgren, by Samuel R. Delany The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson The Difference Engine, by William Gibson & Bruce Sterling The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick Don’t Bite The Sun, by Tanith Lee Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey Dreamsnake, by Vonda McIntyre The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert Earth, by David Brin Earth Abides, by George R. Stewart The Eisenhorn Omnibus, by Dan Abnett The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card Eon, by Greg Bear The Eyes Of The Dragon, by Stephen King The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde The Faded Sun Trilogy, by C.J. Cherryh Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser Series, by Fritz Leiber Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb The Female Man, by Joanna Russ The Fionavar Tapestry Trilogy, by Guy Gavriel Kay A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge The First Law Trilogy, by Joe Abercrombie Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys The Foreigner Series, by C.J. Cherryh The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley The Gaea Trilogy, by John Varley The Gap Series, by Stephen R. Donaldson The Gate To Women’s Country, by Sheri S. Tepper Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett The Gone-Away World, by Nick Harkaway The Gormenghast Triology, by Mervyn Peake Grass, by Sheri S. Tepper Gravity’s Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End of The World, by Haruki Murakami The Heechee Saga, by Frederik Pohl The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams The Hollows Series, by Kim Harrison House Of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov The Illuminatus! Trilogy, by Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury The Incarnations Of Immortality Series, by Piers Anthony The Inheritance Trilogy, by N.K. Jemisin Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne Kindred, by Octavia Butler The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss Kraken, by China Mieville The Kushiel’s Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey Last Call, by Tim Powers The Last Coin, by James P. Blaylock The Last Herald Mage Trilogy, by Mercedes Lackey The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle The Lathe Of Heaven, by Ursula K. LeGuin The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore The Lensman Series, by E.E. Smith The Liaden Universe Series, by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller The Lies Of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch Lilith’s Brood, by Octavia Butler Little, Big, by John Crowley The Liveship Traders Trilogy, by Robin Hobb Lord Of Light, by Roger Zelazny The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien Lord Valentine’s Castle, by Robert Silverberg Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle Lud-in-the-Mist, by Hope Mirrlees The Magicians, by Lev Grossman The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson The Man In The High Castle, by Philip K. Dick The Manifold Trilogy, by Stephen Baxter The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury Memory And Dream, by Charles de Lint Memory, Sorrow, And Thorn Trilogy, by Tad Williams Mindkiller, by Spider Robinson The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein Mordant’s Need, by Stephen Donaldson More Than Human, by Theodore Sturgeon The Mote In God’s Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle The Naked Sun, by Isaac Asimov The Neanderthal Parallax Trilogy, by Robert J. Sawyer Neuromancer, by William Gibson Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman The Newsflesh Triology, by Mira Grant The Night’s Dawn Trilogy, by Peter F. Hamilton Norstrilia, by Cordwainer Smith Novels Of The Company, by Kage Baker The Number Of The Beast, by Robert Heinlein Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi On Basilisk Station, by David Weber The Once And Future King, by T.H. White Oryx And Crake, by Margaret Atwood The Otherland Tetralogy, by Tad Williams The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan Parable Of The Sower, by Octavia Butler The Passage, by Justin Cronin Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville The Prestige, by Christopher Priest The Pride Of Chanur, by C.J. Cherryh The Prince Of Nothing Trilogy, by R. Scott Bakker The Princess Bride, by William Goldman Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke Replay, by Ken Grimwood Revelation Space, by Alistair Reynolds Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist Ringworld, by Larry Niven The Riverworld Series, by Philip Jose Farmer The Road, by Cormac McCarthy The Saga Of Pliocene Exile, by Julian May The Saga Of Recluce, by L.E. Modesitt Jr. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman The Sarantine Mosaic Series, by Guy Gavriel Kay A Scanner Darkly, by Philip K. Dick The Scar, by China Mieville The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks The Shattered Chain Trilogy, by Marion Zimmer Bradley The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien The Sirens Of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson The Snow Queen, by Joan D. Vinge Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury Song for the Basilisk, by Patricia McKillip A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell The Stainless Steel Rat Books, by Harry Harrison Stand On Zanzibar, by John Brunner The Stand, by Stephen King Stardust, by Neil Gaiman The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein Stations Of The Tide, by Michael Swanwick Steel Beach, by John Varley Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein Sunshine, by Robin McKinley The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind The Swordspoint Trilogy, by Ellen Kushner The Tales of Alvin Maker, by Orson Scott Card The Temeraire Series, by Naomi Novik The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn Tigana , by Guy Gavriel Kay Time Enough For Love, by Robert Heinlein The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger To Say Nothing Of The Dog, by Connie Willis The Troy Trilogy, by David Gemmell Ubik, by Philip K. Dick The Uplift Saga, by David Brin The Valdemar Series, by Mercedes Lackey VALIS, by Philip K. Dick Venus On The Half-Shell, by Kilgore Trout/Philip Jose Farmer The Vlad Taltos Series, by Steven Brust The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold The Vurt Trilogy, by Jeff Noon The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells The Watchmen, by Alan Moore Watership Down, by Richard Adams The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson Way Station, by Clifford D. Simak We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan When Gravity Fails, by George Alec Effinger Wicked, by Gregory Maguire Wild Seed, by Octavia Butler The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi World War Z, by Max Brooks The Worm Ouroboros, by E.R. Edison The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, by Michael Chabon

“Children of Men” (2006) Starring: Julianne Moore, Clive Owen and Chiwetel Ejiofor Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón This movie came out a while ago, but I was lucky enough to see it in the theatre, even though my local theatres don’t usually play art films or nearly any film that isn’t first run. I don’t like to have to drive to Seattle just to see a film, so it’s nice when the local theatres get something new. I learned of “Children of Men” from a friend who isn’t a fan of Science Fiction. She had seen it and told me I had to see it, no matter what. And she was right. As I said to her “this is why I read and watch Science Fiction.” The best Science Fiction is fiction that makes you think and this movie does exactly that. This is a movie about a near future where the human race has stopped having children. This has caused panic and insanity and a lot of terrorism. On the surface, this movie is a classic of scifi — a post-holocaust society. Only the holocaust is more subtle than a nuclear war or asteroid destroying the world. But what I like best about this movie is the twist. It’s not just a post-holocaust, you see, the human race has stopped having children. But one girl is pregnant. There is a scene where a huge fire fight has occurred in the refugee ghetto when the baby is born in the middle of it. Baby and mother come down the stairs and as the soldiers see her, they put their guns down and stare in awe. They, just like the mother, have never seen a baby human before. Some drop to their knees, others cross themselves, and all fighting stops. It was a hugely moving scene. Even if you don’t normally like Science Fiction, you’ll like this movie. That same friend I mentioned at the beginning of this article responded to my comment “but this isn’t really Science Fiction, is it?” Yes, I believe it is, but beyond that it’s just good fiction.

Gridlinked by Neal Asher This book took me a few more pages than normal to get into. There are a lot of concepts in the book that are left up to the imagination of the reader. This includes things like the reason the main character is “Gridlinked” and who he is and what type of military he is. I felt like I’d missed the first book in the series. But because this is Asher’s first book, I’m not sure how that is. But I didn’t give up on the book, and eventually I got into it. Once I stopped worrying about the aspects of the story that I didn’t understand, it was a lot more fun. The main character, Ian Cormac, is a tough character - a lot like James Bond. Humans have given over most government to AIs and the AIs take better care of the universe than humans ever did. They control a network of “runcibles” that allow for instantaneous transport across the universe. When one of the runcibles explodes, taking out an entire planet, it appears to be sabotage and Ian Cormac is sent in to solve the problem and figure out who caused it. But he’s being chased by a wealthy psychopath who will do anything and kill anyone to get to Cormac. I wish this story were more like cyberpunk - but the main character has been linked for too long, so at the very beginning of the story he is removed from the network. So much for the title…. And the “Dragon” is a bit strange. I’m looking forward to more books by Asher. There are so few books of hard science fiction, and this one, while flawed, was good.

Below is a Science Fiction Book Club list of the most significant SF novels between 1953–2006. The meme part of this works like so: Bold the ones you have read, strike through the ones you read and hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put a star next to the ones you love.

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien *
2. Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov *
3. Dune, Frank Herbert *
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein *
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson *
7. Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene WolfeShadow & Claw and Sword & Citadel
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card *
23. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams *
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse 5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson *
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

Firefly: The Complete Series Firefly was an amazing television show. It was created and developed by Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The premise of the show is that mankind has spread out across the universe and this has resulted in anarchistic regions almost like the old-West. There was a big war that the Federation won, and the heros of this show were on the losing side. Now they live on the fringes of society, spending most of their time running from authorities, getting into and out of trouble, and having adventures. The great thing about this show is that it’s so diverse. Yes, it’s Science Fiction, but it’s also a Western. Plus it’s got drama and humor and a wonderful ensemble cast. In fact, it’s the cast that really brings this show home. There are a lot of people who travel on Serenity, from Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), the discontented captain to Innara (Morena Baccarin) the prostitute who uses one of Firefly’s attached shuttles, to Simon (Sean Maher) and River Tam (Summer Glau) two fugitives from strange blue-handed, creepy “men-in-black”. Fox, in its infinite wisdom, cancelled this show after only a few episodes. This was a huge blow to television SciFi, especially as Farscape was also cancelled. Since it was cancelled so quickly, it’s a very good chance you didn’t see this show, but if you can buy the DVD you won’t be disappointed. There are so many open ends waiting to be filled in, it could go in many many directions, which makes it very exciting. Plus, Joss Whedon is releasing Serenity in the summer of 2005. This is very exciting!

Tru Calling: Season 1 Tru Calling is an interesting show about Tru Davies (Eliza Dushku), a woman who can relive days in order to save the lives of people who die before their time. She discovers this talent when she applies for a job at the morgue and the body of a young woman rolls over and whispers “Help me”. She is then plunged back in time to the morning of the same day which she relives and decides to save the life of the woman who asked for her help. This series was, in some ways, doomed to be canceled, first because it aired on Fox (land of the “reality” shows), and second because of the premise. Don’t get me wrong, the premise is really interesting. But how many times can you show a woman running through her days twice? There are only so many ways this premise can be used. And this first season pretty well ran through them all. About half-way through the first season, it appears that the writers realized that they were boxed into a very rigid corner, so they added a bad-guy, in the form of Jack (Jason Priestley). Unfortunately, this appeared to be more of a “get a well-known star onto the set to save the show” than any effort to work with the premise in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, the character of Jack was very flat and uninspiring. Priestley did an admirable job making the character interesting in a creepy way, but ultimately his character was just annoying. If you’re interested in Science Fiction television shows, there isn’t a lot out there for you to watch. And it looks like Tru Calling was cancelled by the Fox network before it could air it’s second season. The DVD of the first season is available with some interesting extras, such as commentary and three shorts discussing the show. I enjoyed Tru Calling, and the DVDs were fun to watch again. It’s too bad it was cancelled, but not as big as loss as Firefly.

The Tombs of Atuan After reading A Wizard of Earthsea I, of course, picked up The Tombs of Atuan, the second book in the series. Just like the first book, this book did not disappoint me. It has all of the excellent writing and storytelling that I expect of Ursula K. Le Guin. One of the best aspects of this book is the point-of-view. It’s not told from Ged’s viewpoint. In fact, he doesn’t show up in the book until the middle. It’s the point-of-view of Tenar or Arha (The Eaten One) and her job as the Priestess for the Nameless Ones. As the reader, we’ve already been given hints that Ged is going to show up in the Tombs at some point because he is destined to do something with the Ring of Erreth-Akbe, at least we’re told that in A Wizard of Earthsea, but he’s not the focal point. What makes this especially intriguing for me is that in typical fantasy, his would be the obvious focal point. After all, he’s the hero, he’s the one who saves the world, he’s the person with the super powers, and, worst of all, he’s the man. Instead, Le Guin takes us into the mind of Tenar who is, in some senses on the side of the enemy. She’s been raised from age 5 to be the Priestess of the Nameless Ones, the ones who are holding half of the ring. And yet we care about her. In fact, it wasn’t all that clear to me that the Nameless Ones were as horrible as Ged portrays them to her. That is the weakness of the story. The dreaded evil Nameless Ones aren’t really as evil as the other priestesses that Tenar lives with. They were creepy and scary in a way that the lightless tunnels and the labyrinth were not. In fact, one of Tenar’s friends wants to run away from those priestesses. So when Ged shows up and talks her into foresaking her gods and leaving with him, I don’t completely buy it. But it’s okay. The book is very interesting and fun and a new take on the Ged Sparrowhawk character after he’s found his adulthood but before he’s come into all of his powers. If you read A Wizard of Earthsea you should read The Tombs of Atuan and The Farthest Shore just for completeness sake. And again, you won’t be disappointed. I liked Tombs, I just wish that the character rationalizations were a bit stronger.

A Wizard of Earthsea I last read this book when I was around 10 years old, and I know I enjoyed it then. But when A Legend of Earthsea came out on the SciFi Channel, I decided I needed to read it again. I wasn’t disappointed.

Ursula K. LeGuin is not a member of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame because she writes bad books, and A Wizard of Earthsea is just what you would expect from a Hall-of-Famer. In fact, I would say that anyone who wants to know the Fantasy genre should read this entire series, but especially A Wizard of Earthsea. Some things you should note: