Get me outta here!

I sometimes wonder whether dreams are only dreams. Yes, okay, this is going to be one of those surreal kind of blogs that sit on the very edge of sci-fi...sorry about that...

Last night I had a dream that I was on a planet far, far away (that sounds familiar!), and I was really happy. The planet wasn't necessarily beautiful - in fact it was pretty much rocky with a few oasis type places where the few people on the planet lived. There were no real buildings, no technology (don't scream...life CAN be worth living without computers...), and people only did what they needed to do to survive. It was some kind of utopian society, without the bullshit of everyone seeming to have something up their individual bottoms.

In the dream I knew about Earth, but I didn't want to go back. And, damn this dream seemed real. I've often wondered if there is something more to dreams - is it possible that they are not always just dreams, but may be something more? Perhaps even a way to see alternatives to what we have here?

I'd like to think so.

It's not that this planet is so awful, but sometimes I like to think there is more than this. Maybe it's even possible to enter a 'dream' and stay there.

There seem to be lights outside my house...hmmm...what do those men in white coats want?

Jane Eyre in Space

I've just finished reading the most interesting novel. It's by Sharon Shinn and basically she has taken the story of Jane Eyre and set it in space. In case you aren't familiar with the story of Jane Eyre - set in basically an orphan girl is placed with her aunt who doesn't really like her, she ends up going to a boarding school, and from there goes to Thornfield Hall. And, that's all I'm going to tell you...so there!

Jane Eyre was set in the early 19th century, but Jenna Starborn (the alternate Jane) is set in an unidentified time in space.

I was initially sceptical about the book - but was pleasantly surprised. It was somewhat predicatable of course, given I know the story of Jane Eyre, but I did find myself intrigued as to how Sharon Shinn would incorporate aspects of the orginal story into her novel. It was an easy read and I enjoyed it. For a nice interlude between heavy sci-fi, Jenna Starborn is like a holiday on the coast doing nothing.

The one thing that has really been interesting is - my Mum! She's not really been into science fiction, but I convinced her to give Jenna Starborn a go. She read it in a couple of days and followed up with asking me 'is this science fiction? Is there any more like this?'. So, hey, if her books can get my Mum reading science fiction - I am all for Sharon Shinn's work!

Cloverfield

Okay, I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight. I just watched Cloverfield for the second time...

It is one scary piece of cinema! I think what makes it so scary is that it's not really clear at the beginning what's happening or what the 'thing' actually is. It's also the normality of it - say what? Normality? Creatures attacking New York? Have I lost my mind??

Let me explain - the movie starts with an everyday party with characters that could be friends of mine or yours. They are not typical 'movie' characters. I can imagine being at a party like that with people like that. If the lights suddenly went out and there was a loud bang - I could imagine my friends and I watching the news to try and find out what was happening. Nobody knows what's going on and everyone is starting to shit themselves. There's a bit of excitement and strange smiles as we get more and more nervous. Nobody knows what to do next.

If you have given Cloverfield a miss because you think it will be too much like 'Blair Witch' then put those sinful thoughts aside! Cloverfield is brilliantly done...and scary (have I mentioned that before?). About the only thing I found a bit odd was when they take off in the chopper - why the hell didn't the pilot fly away from where the creature was? It wasn't exactly small, so it was pretty easy to spot!

Aside from that though, Cloverfield is officially on my favourites list.

And, to finish off, here's a tip for you if you don't already know about it - keep your eye on the upper right side of the screen in the last scene on the ferris wheel...that's all I'm going to say...

Understanding Ursula

One of my favourite science fiction writers is Ursula Le Guin. Her first book 'The Left Hand of Darkness' was my introduction to the amazing worlds she creates - she goes so far as to map them out. But, I have to admit, I struggled at first to comprehend her stories - well, no, not her stories, but HOW she tells them.

On her website (well worth a visit http://www.ursulakleguin.com/) Le Guin describes three types of stories - those that walk and let us see every detail (what a nice field of blue flowers!), those that run and get us caught up in the action (what flowers? I'm running for my life here!), and those that dance and move us through detail and action and from that event to this event and into the past and into the future (I saw those flowers next year, but now I'm running past them...there's an alien on my tail!). Le Guin's stories dance - they spin the reader around the floor rather than taking them from the front door to the back door in a straight line.

This challenges the notion that all stories must be told starting at the beginning, moving through the middle, and finishing at the end. I like it!

'The Dispossessed' by Le Guin was very, very challenging and really showed me that stories do not have to be linear. I felt like a bit of an ignoramous (I love that word!) when I had 'huh?' moment after 'huh?' moment. Okay, this was mostly because I read this novel sporadically over a few months - don't do that if you are going to read it...you'll lose the plot (so to speak).

Now that I understand how stories can dance, I'm looking forward to getting down and boogying with 'The Dispossessed' again in a few months time. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sci-Fi Camping

I've been thinking about the camps people inhabit in regards to science fiction. At first I thought there were only two camps.

There's the 'I love Sci-Fi' camp - the one I and, as you are reading this blog, you belong to. We know why we're here - we're cool on a galactic scale.

There's the 'I hate Sci-Fi' camp - I'm afraid there's very little hope for these people - best put up a large fence and pretend they live in another dimension.

There is, I believe, a third camp - the 'Sci-Fi 'huh?'' camp. These are the poor souls who just don't get sci-fi. They can't hate it or like it, because they just don't really understand it.

How do I know about this third camp? I used to live there (picture me hanging my head in shame...). I thought Star Wars was fun and Star Trek vaguely interesting...but that was about it. I didn't know anything else about sci-fi and wasn't really prone to finding out more.

Then Stargate SG-1 came into my world. I got it. Why? Because I could relate to the characters - O'Neill had a dry sense of humour and wit and wasn't some stiff and boring leader, Daniel Jackson was somewhat nerdy, and Samantha Carter was a woman who was smart, attractive and gave as good as she got. These weren't perfect people, but they could kick alien ass when they needed to.

Can you believe it's 16 years since Stargate the movie was released? 16 years of a love that will last me a life time...sigh...true love!

I've expanded from Stargate into other realms - and that's what this blog will be about.

Hope you'll stick around.