So I have seen some things in the world of fantasy storytelling and I thought I’d toss out some thoughts:
– Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a fun read in its own right but I have never been a fan of Victorian-era fiction (yes, I know the novel predates it a little, but its close)–which is also why I have a hard time writing steampunk. Anyway, I read the first pages of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and it looks immensely more entertaining (I do enjoy Civil War fiction). Maybe that’s just me–or my hatred of the bat-people.
– Anyone else watch the show Deadliest Warrior on Spike TV? No? While I can’t say I agree with all the results of every simulation, I do feel a boyish spasm of delight every time they carve or explode a pig carcass. Ah, Spike, thy name is fun.
– New Twilight movie opens in a few days. Blarg. At least they didn’t put Meghan Fox in it. Maybe they should have; the movie would then have had enough mass to collapse under the weight of its own stupidity.
– I have always been a fan of Futurama>. It’s a great combination of subversive humor and physical comedy. So no one was happier than I when Comedy Central announced new episodes. I breathlessly waited last Thursday night for the first hour (two episodes) and was all set (banished the wife and dog, to watch in peace). Well ….
**SPOILER ALERT**
The first episode was great, like they hadn’t missed a beat. Good humor, good times. The second involved Leela being marooned with the utterly unlikeable Zapp Brannigan. Worse, an alien life force thought out of them as the new Adam and Eve, and ordered them to consummate their relationship–or the alien would destroy Earth, as utterly corrupt and decadent. So they did (Leela: “Let’s get this over with, I’ve got laundry to do.”).
I about barfed.
One of (if not the) central themes of the first five seasons (four, plus four movies) was Fry trying to win the affection of Leela, the only woman in the future for whom he truly felt any real love. Yeah, he had some flings, so did she. At the end of Into the Wild Green Yonder, his love is finally–finally!–requited by Leela and all appears to be well. So right from the get-go, the writers not only have her forced into a hackneyed act of “Bang this clod, or we destroy you” but do it right in front of Fry and indeed, broadcast it to the entire planet (to show the purity of “Adam” and “Eve”). WTF, guys? I’m not a romantic sap, but this is horrible abuse of your central characters in what is ostensibly a comedy. Maybe it is because I identify with Fry but I always pull for the guy and this kind of situation is terrible. Nightmare Fuel, indeed. I hope the season gets better from here.
**END SPOILER**
– And finally, a nugget of good news: I discovered a copy of a story I thought lost in my hard drive crash last month (was hidden on my laptop). With only a few tweaks, it is now ready to go up for peer review. The even-better news is even after not reading it for a month, it still seems to hold up pretty well so I feel good about it.
More to come later.
The Flint Hatchet 