The usual suspects on social media are upset by a female actor being cast as a lead in the next Star Wars movie. I’ve never been a big Star Wars fan, myself. I much prefer Star Trek, especially Voyager. In fact, I find the franchise extremely boring. Star Wars – The Force Awakens was actually the first SW I have watched, which I found somewhat entertaining. I credit this to the casting of John Boyega, whom I knew from Attack…
I often ponder the differences between various groups of readers in this world, when it comes to speculative fiction. What is speculative fiction? Wikipedia defines speculative fiction as “a broad umbrella category of narrative fiction referring to any fiction story that includes elements, settings and characters whose features are created out of human imagination and speculation rather than based on attested reality and everyday life”. The emphasis in that quote is mine, and it frames the crux of my wondering…
The cortical implant in my head was disconnected from all networks and my Heads-Up Display was offline. There were three Cleopatras on our flight and the Crew Chief’s Operations Protocol demanded a total communications blackout. The dim red LED strips cast a gloomy aura around the Irish priest who sat across the aisle from me. Maybe the guy really was gloomy. The only other passengers were the heavily armed Ukrainian Bravo Team and their guest, a limp bundle of broken…
I’m old enough (37) to have known what it was like to use snail mail (handwritten pages, envelopes and stamps) as the default mode of personal long-distance communication. It seems archaic now, but I used to love writing/reading sending/receiving letters. There was joy in it for me, to get sheets of paper, find a pen, sit down and start writing a letter. Writing a six-page letter (A4 paper), front and back, was my usual “Hey, just wanted to say hi”…