I don’t like Frank Herbert’s Dune. If you’ve read anything I’ve written about the movies or my previous post about disliking Dune, you know this already. In fact, if you just want my general thoughts about the book, you should read my post about my dislike for Herbert’s first novel and leave it at that. This post is a much more specific discussion of what I disliked, why I disliked it, and why I think Dune should be left to collect dust in the period of history in which it was first published.
Continue readingScience Fiction
The Dune Movies Would Be Better If They Were Shorter
I do not normally consider time wasted so long as it didn’t have a negative impact on my life. Sure, doing my taxes isn’t fun and is usually very stressful because I get a clear picture of how much debt I still have, but it’s not a waste of my time. Cleaning my apartment isn’t a waste of my time. Commuting isn’t a waste of my time. Writing detailed notes to myself about things I’ll definitely remember isn’t even a waste of my time. The two Dune movies, though, are definitely a waste of my time. I didn’t dislike them so much that I consider all five and a half hours I’ve spent watching them both a full waste of my time, but it’s difficult to feel like they were anything but that when each of them was at least an hour too long. I think they could have trimmed at least that much out and wound up with a pair of movies that would have been better for it. I mean, there were definitely some enjoyable bits in both of those movies (way more than in the books, my review of which is going to take a while longer to write since I don’t feel particularly motivated to write more about it than I already have even if I feel like it would do me some good to get the thoughts out of my head and written down somewhere) but as I only slightly jokingly told a coworker today, Zendaya can’t carry a movie that big all on her own.
Continue readingInfrared Isolation: Chapter 29
New to the series or certain you’ve missed a chapter? You can find the introduction Here and the table of contents Here.
Continue readingInfrared Isolation: Chapter 28
New to the series or certain you’ve missed a chapter? You can find the introduction Here and the table of contents Here.
Continue readingGideon The Ninth Was A Lark
Aside from one friend recommending a wide array of books, I’ve never really encountered anyone who has talked about why someone should read Gideon The Ninth or its sequels. Tons of people talked about those books, but it was mostly hidden behind spoiler tags, involved little more than invoking the jacket blurb describing it as “lesbian necromancers in space,” or was people parroting quotations back and forth that were lines removed from context that mostly weren’t spoilers. No one really talked about the book in a way that made it seem interesting or appealing to someone who hadn’t read it yet, just talking about various critical plot moments or theories about the upcoming third book instead of really trying to expand the web of people who’ve read it. I will be the first to admit that I probably need to find better sources for books and book-related discussions given how unreliable my casual discussion spheres appear to be, but I also felt like this had become an established series for a lot of people which made it fall into the “of course everyone knows about this and has read it” void. Aside from the one recommendation I’d gotten from a friend (which is ultimately what made me buy the book since I deeply trust her taste in books), it seemed like no one ever felt the need to suggest it to anyone.
Continue readingInfrared Isolation: Chapter 27
New to the series or certain you’ve missed a chapter? You can find the introduction Here and the table of contents Here.
Continue readingInfrared Isolation: Chapter 26
New to the series or certain you’ve missed a chapter? You can find the introduction Here and the table of contents Here. If you’re unsure of what just happened after my extended break from the series, you can start from Here (two chapters back) to set the stage again!
Continue readingHuman Interaction With The Environment In Scavengers Reign
Spoiler Warning for Scavenger’s Reign. I’m going to be going into detail about the plot and major events of the show in most paragraphs except the one immediately after this one (to hopefully prevent you from accidentally seeing any spoilers before you can read this and can click away if you don’t want to read about what happens in the show). Also, before you read this post, you should probably check out the spoiler-free review from last week to make sure we’re all on the same page.
Also, Massive Post warning. This baby might take you half an hour to read.
Continue readingFlash Fiction Rerun: The Power of Plastic
Jordan swiped their card and stared at the terminal until they remembered swiping didn’t work anymore. “Sorry.”
“I forget all the time.” The teller shrugged. “Just tap it on the screen.”
Jordan did and the payment terminal beeped, finally taking their payment.
As their receipt printed, Jordan jerked their head toward the rest of the store. “Amazing this place still runs.”
“Sure.” The teller shrugged again. “Stock’s different, but we still sell stuff. Helps people focus, you know?”
Jordan nodded, taking their receipt.
“Still.” The teller sighed, staring at the doors out of the store, “beats slaving away out there.”
“Yeah.”
“You good with all that?”
“I think so.”
“I could call someone…”
“No, I’ve got it.” Jordan gave a half-hearted smile, shifted their bags around, and started walking toward the exit. “Have a nice day.”
“You too.”
Jordan slowed, carefully peering out the door. The blasted ruins of cars, melted asphalt, and red haze in the air were still present. Nothing moved but plants swaying in the breeze.
Confident they were safe, Jordan hitched their mask over their face and exited the airlock. They glanced around as they walked, watching for danger and a ride away from the burned-out husk of the city. When they spotted a buggy pulled by a balding donkey, they waved it down. The elderly driver stowed Jordan’s bags and patiently waited while they fumbled with the payment terminal.
As the machine beeped to denote a payment received, the old driver chuckled. “I always figured capitalism would fail when civilization did. Thought we’d be bartering by now.”
Jordan chuckled as they climbed into their seat, brushing their iron grey hair away from their mask. “Guess it just goes to show. Peace, health, and safety are things money can’t buy. For the everything left, there’s MasterCard.”
Infrared Isolation: Hiatus
I genuinely do not have it in me to do the work this project requires right now. I barely have it in me to keep regularly blog posts up and those actually get views. I’m sorry if this is the sole reason you’re here, but I need to stop trying to work on this project for a bit so I can focus on resting and recovering. I’ll, of course, keep trying to work on it in the meantime, but not having self-assigned deadlines that fly past will lessen the mental load of this process. Once I’ve gotten a few chapters done and no longer feel quite as emotionally exhausted and just ABSOLTELY knackered all the time, I’ll go back to posting them. I’ll even let you know ahead of time, so you can set your alarms.
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