A Far Out Fantastic Site

Credit: Pixabay.com I was reading a good article the other day at Slate.com about the punk subgenres of science fiction. Much of what the article said about these subgenres was not good. But I still found it very informing and if you’re new to punk sci fi such as steampunk, diesel punk or atompunk, I suggest you take a look at it because it’s a good introduction to this category of science fiction subgenres. I did agree in part with what the article’s writer, Lee Konstantinou, was saying and so that the punk subgenres have been misused. He basically says that these subgenres work off of the template, or formula, that comes from cyberpunk, the first punk category in sci fi that started in the 1980s. The formula consists of the protagonist rebelling against the ruling system of power and its influence on society. Konstantinou says that such a formula constrains original storytelling. However, like the science fiction genre it branches from, a punk subgenre doesn’t necess...

Credit: Pixabay.com Ever since Ready Player One released in theatres last year, the film adaptation of Ernest Cline’s novel of the same name, there’s no doubt that virtual reality (VR) has become hotter than ever. This is especially so with VR games. And who wouldn’t want to own their own VR system where they can go on fantastic simulated adventures of their choosing, adventures such as battling dragons and hordes of demon warriors, battling an alien squadron in space or fighting off zombies in a graveyard? I know I would like the thrill of those. I would like the thrill of those to the point of never wanting to take off the VR headset. M obile device addiction in our society has been bad enough. Two-dimensional video game addiction has been bad enough. I know I’ve been addicted to it. And I’ve been addicted to VR experiences using the Google Cardboard which is the cheapest and so lowest form of a VR headset on the market! There’s nothing wrong with VR experiences. VR i ...

Credit: Pixabay.com Happy New Year, everybody! Sorry for missing last week but I was burning out from both writing and my day job so much that I needed that break. But here I am again. In the last post I said that I will have more Book-To-Movie reviews and previews in 2019. Well, 2019 offers some interesting, if not all particularly good, TV series and movies based on sci fi and fantasy books. So I made a couple of lists: one for TV adaptations and the other for movie adaptations. 2019 TV Series Adapted from Books I have not read any of the books that the TV series listed below are based on. With the exception of one of these, I don’t plan on reading any soon in time to watch the TV series mainly because many of them are in the horror genre and I’m not a big fan of horror TV series. I’ve noticed that many horror TV series--unlike most movies in the genre--that are based on novels, especially gothic horror, tend to go too much the way of the soap opera al...