Tag: Science Fiction

Fiction – New One-shot Premises!

Hi everybody. I mentioned a short while ago that I would come back to you with new premises and updates on the current stories.

Let’s get the updates out of the way. The stories I’ve already written are still with my proofreader, whom I’ll stick with a cattle prod this weekend to get him reading and giving me the feedback I so desperately need, so I can start working on second drafts and possibly posting the stories (sadly, don’t have many proofreaders or beta readers at the moment, though I’m in the process of roping a few more people in). I’m also thinking of getting some custom artwork made for them, to enhance the stories with a couple of visuals–well, that and the fact that I need very few excuses to commission more stuff from my go-to artist, Biddoodles. It might cost me money, but the quality is phenomenal and I just dig her style. Continue reading Fiction – New One-shot Premises!

Fiction Update – New Premises Incoming!

It’s been a few months since I set up the page for people to vote on the short stories they wanted me to write. I have already written two, the first ones people voted for, Fringes and Lion’s Claw.

I sent them to one of my proofreader, my brother in law, but haven’t heard back from him yet. Then again, my sister had a little baby girl last month so they’re a bit busy. I’m going to try to find another proofreader/beta reader for the stories next week to hopefully get these new stories up and running here. Continue reading Fiction Update – New Premises Incoming!

Worth Watching – To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

In the past I’ve mentioned the To Aru Majutsu no Index—A Certain Magical Index in English—and how much I love the world it takes place in, how it combines the idea of scientific research and Espers with magical theories and sorcery, as part of the holy grail of genres, Science-Fantasy. But there is another series I love in that universe, the spinoff, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun—A Certain Scientific Railgun.

The ‘Railgun’ in its name refers to the spinoff’s main character and one of the secondary ones in the main Index storylines, Misaka Mikoto, one of the seven Level 5 Espers, the most powerful super-powered students in Academy City. Misaka is what they call, in the series, an Electromaster, someone who can generate and absorb electricity and use it in a myriad of ways, from throwing out Sith Lightning to generating magnetic fields. But it’s Misaka’s ability to fire a coin from her hand as a highly destructive railgun that earned her the name. Continue reading Worth Watching – To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

Oldies but Goodies: Farscape

It’s amazing how when you think of a good series, one you enjoyed from start to finish and watched every episode of, you also remember the good times you spent with the people you love, the tiny details of things said, seen and done while you were watching the episodes.

That’s what it’s like for me when I remember Farscape. I remember roping my dad into watching an episode. His interest waned while I stayed glued to the seat, my geeky mind in awe of what I was seeing. I remember fighting with him and the rest of the family over the remote to watch the show. We only had one TV hooked to the cable at the time, so Farscape-time was my time and I wasn’t going to let any of them take it from me. Continue reading Oldies but Goodies: Farscape

Genres of Fantasy – Science-Fantasy

Last time I spoke of the Fantasy genre I went on about the Trapped in a Game genre. It was on my mind as I watched the very good Overlord anime, about a player staying on the last day of his MMO’s lifespan, spending the time with the NPCs of his Guild House, then as the servers shut down, he finds himself inhabiting his character.

The series does many interesting things with the genre, particularly with having a nice guy main character that is evil at the same time. Well, not entirely evil but as his character is a Lich, he adopts the personality of an undead lord, cold and detached. It creates a nice contrast between the character’s inner monologue and how he behaves on the outside. Continue reading Genres of Fantasy – Science-Fantasy

Back to Ficton – Winners and New Challengers!

Last week I mentioned some of the short stories I’ve been thinking of writing, leaving you with the premises for each of them and asking you to vote on which one you’d like to see the most. As tends to be the case with polls on The Mental Attic, everyone who voted picked a different story, leaving me with a massive tie.

I’m used to this, so I made the call on which story to write first, picking one I had worked on for some hours already. Lion’s Claw, with its non-magic fantasy setting was my pick and I wrote most of it, leaving it just shy of the last scene, as it’s a big confrontation sequence that I need to think to make sure it’s believable. Continue reading Back to Ficton – Winners and New Challengers!

Back in Fiction!

I’ll be honest, I was planning on having the first of my new short stories for you today, but I did go through a giant rant the other day about taking the time to make the stuff I write be as good as it can be, so I decided against it, so I can finish it properly, edit it as I should and polish it to near perfection for a story I came up with while riding the train back from the Bristol GeekOut Meetup.

But I do want to let you know that I have fun stuff coming, some stories I’ve had bouncing around my head for a while, some of them already started but never finished, in various genres, none of them Romance because if there’s one thing I learned while writing my third novel it’s that romance is not my thing. I’m a sucker or romance, that’s true, I know what makes good narrative romance and what’s bad one, and I can tell a good intense scene if I need to, but an entire novel based on the genre…yeah, not this guy, at least not yet anyway.

Right now I have five stories to work on, two of which are in progress and the others are barely an interesting premise in my mind. Continue reading Back in Fiction!

Preview: Syndrome

During Rezzed 2016—a couple of months ago, though it feels a lot longer—I played a variety of games but only one of them was a 1st person horror set in a derelict spaceship. You know System Shock 2 and Event Horizon have special places in my heart, and I love the idea of a character waking up on a ship once filled with life and laughter and now just knee deep in hell. Death and suffering around them, with people they once knew and served with now turned into hideous abominations hunting the character for their blood, or flesh, or both. Or perhaps they seek to indoctrinate them, to turn them to the cause of their dread masters.

Yeah, this is my kind of Sci-Fi Horror, the one in an oppressive environment, a metal coffin floating aimlessly through space. So with that said, you should understand how quickly a game like Syndrome grabbed me back in April. I’m, admittedly, a scaredy-cat. As much as I love this setting and as much as I enjoy watching and playing horror media, I scare very easily in them and while I don’t dive for a cushion the instant something scary pops up, I do tend to pause or even quit games and films midway through a session to calm down and relax before I tackle them again. Sadly, recording previews doesn’t give me that freedom. Because I’m doing the work for all of you, to show you the games that developers send me to test out and give my feedback on, I can’t just say “Nope!” but instead have to push on and face the fears, which is the only way to make it through alive and not soiling your trousers. Continue reading Preview: Syndrome

Review: P-O-L-L-E-N

In an alternate universe, Kennedy didn’t die and the USSR and the USA joined forces in the space race, colonising and exploring the solar system and beyond, finding amazing things in distant planets. After losing touch with Research Station M, on Titan, you’re the one sent to fix it all and find out what happened to the crew. This is P-O-L-L-E-N.
Continue reading Review: P-O-L-L-E-N

Oldies but Goodies – Red Dwarf

I came to Red Dwarf fairly late in my life. I’d heard about the series but didn’t know much about it. I think b first thing I ever saw of it was Series 10 a couple of years ago but without knowing Red Dwarf’s history or characters, it was all nonsense to me. I didn’t know enough to even get the jokes. Hell, I thought Cat was a vampire.

Then after hearing Gabriel Morton and Yahtzee Croshaw rant about the series in our of their Let’s Drown Out videos, and thanks to the magic of Netflix and some dodgy YouTube channels, I went back to the first series and watched it all. Well, at least the first eight seasons. I still have a few more to see which is amazing. Continue reading Oldies but Goodies – Red Dwarf