Satire and Si-Fi

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy address's the present's issue of space travel as well as the impending doom of being destroyed by Aliens. Put in a more comical way, Arthur and Ford escape the evaporation by hitchhiking on the offending ship. I really enjoyed listening to the radio show, the characters are great and comical and the robot Marvin is by far my favorite character in the series. In the Earth's present world, pre-evaporation, Aliens were already on the 

planet under the guise of a Human form. Arthur at least seems unaware of that other creatures had infiltrated into the human population.

Ford being a 'being' that has set his goals on updating the Guide saves Arthur from getting evaporated and then has to deal with Arthur's questions throughout. The issue of the Earth getting destroyed is a common one that people worry about, though the likeliness of us experiencing in our current lifetime is minute. Though maybe we have Aliens among us, who knows.

Another thing that has been in constant thought of, if there are other beings out there, what is their thought of us? Most people think that they probably perceive us as undeveloped, unknowing and naive, borderline stupid on some occasions. When Arthur questions about the Earths entry in the guide, Ford has put the entry as 'Harmless.' Arthur of course is offended and then the entry is amended to 'Mostly Harmless.' It's funny to thing about it, but inherently we are probably mostly harmless to other lifeforms as they are probably more advanced than we are. Though that's just speculation.

Literary Speculation

Oryx and Crake is another of those novels alongside Bloodchild and Fragments of A Hologram Rose, in which they are descriptive in such a way that you need to fill in the rest of the blanks. Its an interesting way to write, where you describe something but its so foreign that the reader has no relevant input and must then use their imagination with things they associate it with to get the full picture, at least that's what if feels like to me. Oryx and Crake is already a interesting read even though I am once again a tad lost in the beginning, a foreign society with two adults and tons of children with selective world views. Its so far and enjoyable story and definitely plan on finishing it at some point.


Now, for the Aquatic Uncle, such a weird short story but also intriguing. The story it self was fun to read but again I was lost throughout when faced with foreign descriptions of certain things. Vague descriptions of animals, such as no color and some shapes that may represent vaguely things we understand in our own world, we relate these things with things we know and again input that to get a cohesive idea. The Aquatic Uncle was a ride for sure though, the quick transition of things was fun and the ending was a sure twist, though was hinted at after the fiance meets the uncle. Over all a descriptively deprived yet fun and twisting journey was this read.

Diverse Position Science Fiction

Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler is an experience to read and about half way through, I sat back, my mind loaded with questions. For starters its very interesting and uniquely written, also I can see it being a majoritarian culture being related to the fact there are the T'lic, large insect like creatures with six limbs, that lay their eggs inside mostly willing N'tilc, who are essentially picked partners for the T'lic. Its apparently been this way for years and is just how things are and no one dares change it. 

One thing about this book is the descriptive wording used to identify these insect like creatures. You are given just enough detail to have some sort of image but then its left up to your own mind to fill in the blanks. I like this way of writing though my mind comes up with confusing solutions that are also a little terrifying. For my, the insect creatures with the description provided I envisioned the Insects to be Lengthy snake like creatures with six long skittery limbs, pale skin and a face like a human woman with long hair. I don't know why this what my mind wanted to put in the blanks but with that vision it makes this interesting story a little horrifying. This short story is very intriguing and I again would want a longer version, I want to know the after and would definitely continue reading.

Tom Harrison Illustration

Cyberpunk and Steampunk

The way this is written is intriguing, having this obvious cyber world with newly created concepts that I can't quite grasp because they are unknown to me. The adaption of cyber into the human body, making it feel robotic and very technical is really cool and creative. This short story has a very good depiction on a cyberpunk ish world with its weird attributes and character interaction and great world building in a small paragraph. The whole reading felt like a dream, and may have been one for dear Parker. The reality of having these recorded tapes that playback recorded moments is interesting and leaves me curious on how it functions, there is mention of a machine that plays the tapes but it seems like the tapes play as dreams while you sleep, so you must be hooked up to this machine somehow. Its a very good little story and I wish it was longer.

I read the short story Fragments of a Hologram Rose, this short story is a little peculiar in its writing style. Its interesting and sounds very rational which makes sense as a cyberpunk short, it fits well with the notion of the story. The descriptions of how the character narrates makes it so that I have to continually check back and read it again just to relate it back to the books world.

The Fiction of Ideas

Reading Aye and Gomorrah was an experience. Its really the first time I've encountered writing such as this and this topic is unknown as well. It took me a moment to really catch on to what was going on. The terms used relating to terms we have as a society but in its own way was really interesting. The idea of have sort of these non-gendered people who, from what it seemed, didn't have to much of a choice in the matter. Also, as said, they were required to be stripped of their fruits for the purposes of going to space, as the matter of space affected them in such a way. Which they probably could have found a better solution to that problem instead of just getting frilly with a knife.

The way the spacers are treated is interesting, a little like prostitutes in a way as they are offering something of themselves for something they require and the reluctance from the main interaction is kind of refreshing. I enjoyed this short story and wish it had gone further!

Witches

Akata witch is a very interesting novel, the idea of Nigerian Witch who is Albino is pretty unique. I really feel for Sunny for the way the kids treat her. This novel is unique in it's setting and the writing style is refreshing and the subtle comedic moments are a joy. Ive only read a little but I'm already attached to Sunny and Orlu. The magic world is interesting as well, it does have some similarities to Harry Potter, such as 'muggles' though they of course aren't name that in Akata Witch, they still refer to the non magic humans.

I've found out that the title of Akata Witch was later changed to What Sunny Saw In the Flames, which I though was interesting. The word Akata was described as derogatory towards foreign born members of their society, since Sunny was born in America and then her family moved back to their home country.

Mythic Fiction and Contemporary Urban Fantasy

I read a bit of Anansi Boy's by Neil Gaiman, so far its pretty interesting and I'm definitely going to continue reading it. The premise of the book is really interesting and is relatable with the fact of an unknown brother inheriting his fathers powers, while poor Fat Charlie resents his embarrassing father. The idea of a spider god is a little terrifying but also really cool, I'm terrified of spiders so again, TERRIFYING. The mythical element of god creatures and other beasts and persons, such as the bird woman when Spider gets attacked by Flamingo's.  The idea of other mythology is very interesting as well, this world has a lot of years on it and with it has come so many myths born from legends born from truth. A myth focusing on the Spider God, Anansi, an African god of myth, is really interesting. A lot of people with just general knowledge of myth can only name greek gods and I think using other gods in well written novels can peak others interests in learning outside of the area and delving into exploring other cultures.