Alexis Lantgen's Blog, page 18

Fantasy Integration in Saints and Curses

Welcome to everyone stopping by from OWS CyCon 2019! Be sure to check out my author booth (I have one for fantasy and one for science fiction), and sign up for my newsletter using the form at the bottom of the page. Don’t forget to sign up for the giveaway too! I hope you enjoyed your previous stop on this blog hop, and now for my take on fantasy integration into society.

My newest book, Saints and Curses, is a collection of fantasy short stories. Since each story is different, the way fantasy relates to society is slightly different as well. So I’m going to focus on just two stories, “There Was a Nicholas Once,” which you can listen to for free at the Gallery of Curiosities podcast, and “Braids,” which you can find online at Swords and Sorcery Magazine. *Trigger Warning—Depicts Domestic and Sexual Abuse

“There Was a Nicholas Once” is set in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. War, deprivation, and terrifying government purges have left many people struggling to survive. The main character, a witch-child, has horrifying visions that she can barely understand. In a society that brutally punishes anyone accused of disloyalty or dissent, her visions are a danger and a curse. Yet, the witch-child grows more comfortable with her visions, and with the dark powers she can feel in the cold winter forest.

In this story, fantasy isn’t integrated into society so much a dark undercurrent, a sign of the blood and trauma of the past and the desperation of the present.

“Braids” is set in the Middle Ages. When the Haar-witch Cresputina comes to Mont Noire, many people are at first afraid of her. But Cresputina can weave magic into women’s hair as she braids it, and soon all the women of the village come to her for their troubles. But while Cresputina is welcomed by some, others see it as dangerous and evil.

One of the things I like about this story, is that it shows many different reactions to magic, from joy and excitement, to fear and hate. I think that if we discover real life magic, it would likely face the same kind of mixed reactions. Not everyone will want to embrace it, just like some people reject modern medicine or other scientific discoveries today. Yet, I think most people would love a touch of magic in their lives!

Thank you for stopping by my post for the Urban Fantasy blog hop! The next post is on Mary Woldering’s blog, so be sure to stop by her blog next. And if you’re interested in hearing more from me, I’ll be taking over the Fantasy and Sci-Fi Reader’s Lounge Friday, May 17 from 1-2pm, and again on Sunday, May 19 from 8-9pm. Finally, make sure you sign up for my newsletter using the subscribe box below (and put that down for the giveaway)!

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Preorder Saints and Curses Now!

Another Five SciFi/Fantasy Very Short Stories

Yes, I’ve still been writing even more scifi/fantasy very short stories! I’ve even included a few of my favorites in my latest book, Saints and Curses. If you’re interested in reading more, make sure you check out the hashtags #vss365, #scififri, and #satsplat on Twitter.

Mother’s Love

They tore my babies from my arms before the execution. My uncle glowers as they tie me like an offering to the River God.

What will happen to them?

Your bastards will die in the woods, he smirks.

I pray to the gods of Hell, with the power of my mother's love, to come back.

Waif

They always send a waif, he thought. Skinny, dirty, a supposed virgin with no family or connections. He flicked his tongue at the latest sacrifice. Her eyes burned bright.

"I can unlock the gates," she said. "You could feast on the others, the rich, fat ones."

Ugly Things

"The night the white things landed," gran began to reminisce. "They looked like slugs, ugly. Tricky, too, singing in your mind about galactic harmony and what not. But Pa couldn't hear 'em, so they couldn't trick him. He shot at 'em, and they left for good."

Clouds

She watched the clouds float above her. The wind twisted them into surreal shapes, and she could feel little sparks on her skin.

"Is there a storm coming, Gran?" one of the children asked.

"Yes. Go to the shelter, the hidden one. Wait for me and don't make a sound."

Greening

The creature has long fingers, lithe as willow branches and brown as roots. It runs them over the flowers in the garden. They grow over the tops of the beds and spill out over the step stones. Jen watches silently from the upstairs window.

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Sapience

The Newest Reviews/Book Mentions/Spotlights for Sapience!

I’m very happy at how Sapience has continued to get excellent reviews on Amazon and Goodreads! Recently, Sapience also received a lovely review from Shari Sakurai on her blog. My favorite quote:

I think what I loved most about the stories was that as dark as they were, there was very often hope amongst the darkness and the characters had resolve to prevail no matter what difficulties they faced. Each one was beautifully written and are the kinds of tales that will stay with you.

Several blogs and websites have also spotlighted Sapience recently, including on Jennifer' Perkins’ Author Esquire #IndieApril Booklist, A. Woodley’s Random Stuff and Books, Chris Morton’s New Adventures in Sci-fi, and Book of the Day. Thank you to everyone who’s helped get the word out about Sapience!

Also, as a part of OWS CyCon 2019, Sapience will be a part of a rafflecopter giveaway! It’s free to enter, so check it out and you could have the chance to win an Amazon gift card as well as a selection of books from the science fiction writers of the CyCon! For more chances to win, you can subscribe to my newsletter using the form below! Make sure you put OWS CyCon 2019 in the subject!

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Sapience

Find out About the World of “The Starborn Legacy” by Leslie Conzatti for OWS CyCon 2019

Welcome to another fantastic stop in our World-building Showcase blog hop! On this stop, we’re highlighting a story that isn’t dependent on the Earth for the action, but you can find a full list of authors and topics on the OWS Cycon website. Let’s dive in!

Welcome Leslie Conzatti!
Before we dive in to the nitty gritty, what is “The Starborn Legacy” about?

“The Starborn Legacy” tells the story of a teenage girl struggling to find her place in a faraway space colony. She wants to connect and bond with her mother, but it’s been hard when the girl’s grandmother--a famous interplanetary explorer--spent most of the mom’s formative years absent and traveling among the stars, where eventually she ended up passing away while on a mission. The mom still hasn’t really come to terms with that, and it’s wearing on her own relationship with her daughter.

On the same day the girl’s father returns from an excursion to an unexplored area of the planet, she makes a stunning discovery about the legacy her grandmother left behind--and a mysterious virus threatens the lives of many colonists… including her mother. The girl faces a choice: Will she stay, and potentially save her mother’s life, or will she leave to an unknown destination to claim her destiny among the stars?

1.Did you invent any new slang or terminology during your world-building process?

Yes I did, and I had a lot of fun doing it! Inventing new terms by just adding “Dome” to the various living or activity spaces (“ExploraDome”, “ResiDome”, and so on) and even inventing an AI schoolteacher for the kids of the colony, naming her “Ivy-Rue” (or AI-V RU, an Automated Intelligent Virtual Response Unit). Then, of course, there is the term “Starborn”, a term used to refer to the people from the “Solarian” system (our solar system) who originally set out to colonize other planets, since to every other system, our Sun would be merely another star in the sky.

2. What do people in your world do for fun? Are there sports, games, music, or other activities they do in their free time?

It’s not directly mentioned or expounded much in the short story, but in my mind, there’s a whole lot in this colony, even though it isn’t too advanced. There’s a Commerce Dome, so they have an economic system in place for financial transactions. There is the Central Construct, the huge, main area that all the different Domes connect to: there’s shopping, and like a combination science/history museum and library in the ExploraDome. There are many families in the colony, so of course they wanted to plan for places and activities that families and children could enjoy. The only thing is that radiation from the “sun-star”, Taurus, and some hitherto-unknown chemicals and minerals in the air and the soil make anything outside the climate-controlled Domes uninhabitable… but terraforming is in process still!

3. What kinds of transportation and other interesting technology do your characters have access to? Are they ahead, behind, or a mix of different kinds of tech compared to where we are now?

Ahead, definitely, since this is a far-future setting. For example, the island in the kitchen is a large glass computer touchscreen, used for video calls, receiving and sending messages, and all sorts of things one would use a tablet for. Also the kitchen comes with an “InstaChef”, a smart cooking implement equipped with dozens of recipes, to provide meals within minutes at the touch of a button. They don’t need much long-distance transportation because everything in the colony is still within walking distance at this point.

4. Do you have different races or enhanced humans with their own unique abilities inhabiting your world?

Not unless you count the “Starborn.” They are the ones who still possess the DNA of the original pioneers from Earth. Genetic manipulation and generations of living in colonies on other planets have nearly eradicated this last connection to Earth--humanity has adjusted to living in strange, artificial environments--but there is rumor that there are still Starborn living among the colonists. Perhaps the famous “failed colony” where everyone died of a mysterious malady could have been composed entirely of Starborn.

The Process5. When you build a world, what is your process like? Do you do a lot of research upfront, wing it completely, or something in between?

I definitely winged it this time around. I think I took inspiration from shows like Firefly, especially with the concept of terraforming--in fact, I’m pretty sure that was as much “research” as I did, to decide the specific date of the story based on the fictional “timeline” of the history of terraforming on some fan website. To me, the world-building wasn’t as important as establishing the characters and working on them.

6. How central is the setting of your story to the story itself? Is it more of an interesting backdrop, or is it integral to the events of the story?

A little bit of both, maybe? On the one hand, it’s kind of just a cool backdrop because it’s a colony of people living somewhere that isn’t Earth, but to all of them, it’s the only life they’ve known, living on ships or in domes. To actually live in the atmosphere of a planet, to be able to walk freely on a planet’s surface seems like a distant dream.

On the other hand, it’s kind of integral because of a special connection the characters have with the titular “Starborn Legacy.” Like, if they weren’t on a planet so unlike Earth that it would almost kill some of the humans, then the story would be missing a massive element!

7. When helping the reader get to know the world you built, what techniques do you use? Do you tend to be upfront about things, or keep the reader in the dark and feed them only bits at a time?

Generally, when I’m writing a short story, there isn’t a lot of room for world-building, and very often, not all the details get answered. For “The Starborn Legacy”, there is a lot of information that is hinted at, “behind-the-scenes” things that might not be directly stated in the narrative, but are definitely affecting the characters, extra information that colors the way they interact with each other. A lot of the history between Reese (the girl) and her mom is implied through things they say, or the way they kind of stay very superficial with their conversations.

I like to be up-front as much as possible, to give the reader a clear picture of what’s going on--but there are times when the absence of information carries more significance than an abundance of it, so there is a sequence of moments in “The Starborn Legacy” where certain characters respond to a stimulus that isn’t fully described until it’s almost too late.

8. How did you come up with the storyline for “The Starborn Legacy”? Is it a brand-new story, or a combination of several different ideas?

As a matter of fact, the inspiration for “The Starborn Legacy” came from two different short stories I wrote years before, as a part of a serial novel I threw together just for the fun of it. One was a story about a mother and daughter working through the mother’s bitterness toward her “famous world explorer” mother’s absence in her life, and through it they discover a series of clues that lead to the revelation that the grandmother had actually discovered the Fountain of Youth and wanted to leave that discovery for her daughter (or, as it happened, her granddaughter.) The second was kind of a darker, horror story, about a colonel sent to investigate a space colony where everyone mysteriously dropped dead… and while he’s there he encounters a deranged android and discovers (too late) that his pilot was hiding a deadly secret…

Neither story by itself was quite the tone I wanted for my submission, so I took elements of both stories (the mother and daughter, the legacy, the “Starborn” concept, the mysterious, fatal disease, the failed space colony, among other things!) and worked them together into a separate story that bore many hallmarks of one story and the other, but at the same time, was very much its own tale.

Let that be a lesson to any writers out there: You might feel like an idea you wrote in the past (or the one you’re writing right now) doesn’t sound right, or it feels like you’re just writing meaningless crap--but don’t discount any ideas! You just might find a way to take the good parts of the idea and make them fit better into a brand-new story later on down the road! You never know!

9. Did you experience any difficulties while building your world? Any facts that refused to cooperate or inconsistencies you needed to address while editing?

Oh definitely! I went through like three or four different drafts, getting input from an editor. I had originally started the story from the point of view of the mother, just so the reader could understand why she’s responding a certain way to her daughter--but, as the editor pointed out, it created an inconsistency in point of view, and a short story should stick to one perspective only. There were a few more details that clashed as a result of trying to combine two vastly different stories--there are two letters written in the story, and I had to really comb through every single sentence to make sure I included all the necessary information, and remained suitably vague on those details that the characters (and the reader) shouldn’t yet know about. There was also the timing of everything--two days here, a couple hours there, and how much is happening in the space of a single day?--that was tricky to figure out and keep track of--I was so grateful to have help!

Where can people find you on the web?

Thanks for reading all about “The Starborn Legacy”! If you’re interested in reading the story (and others like it, written by a host of authors who sell wayyy more books than I do!) then you can find it in the charity anthology DROWNED IN MOONLIGHT, a collection of stories, poems and art dedicated to the memory of Carrie Fisher. Just follow the hyperlinked text for the Amazon listing!

BONUS: Would you like to read the two original stories I mentioned, that served as the inspiration for “The Starborn Legacy”? Well, you can! I’ve posted them both on Wattpad! Click the hyperlinked text >HERE< to read the first one, “The Legacy”, and click >HERE< to read “The Vega Effect.” Hope you enjoy!

For more stops on our World-building Showcase, visit the tour page on the OWS CyCon website.

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Sapience

My Top Five Sci-Fi Cosplayers from Fan Expo Dallas 2019

I had a great time at Fan Expo Dallas 2019, where my friend Sarah Mensinga and I had a table together (signing and selling books and having tons of fun!). I thought the con was tons of fun, and I especially loved seeing all the amazing cosplayers! Seriously, the creativity and care that go into some of these costumes really blows me away. I saw probably dozens of incredible looking cosplays, but for now I’m limiting this post to science fiction characters and I picked just five. Without further ado, check out these amazing customes!

1.Hazel and Cha Cha

If you haven’t seen Netflix’s Umbrella Academy, I’d recommend it. Hazel and Cha Cha are fascinating characters, especially Hazel, who has a fascinating and touching emotional arc of his own.

2. Deadpool

This is my favorite Deadpool cosplay I saw at the con, and I love that I got a picture of him with Spider Gwen, too!

3. Fiona and Prince Bubblegum

I love Adventure Time! One of the funnier stories on the show is the long running references to a gender-bent comic version (or perhaps an alternate reality version? Both?) of Finn and Jake, which the Ice King obsesses over. I have some of the Fiona and Cake comics, and they’re so cute!

4. Padme Amidala

Just…wow. The effort that must have gone into this costume—I had to pick this as my favorite Star Wars cosplay, although there were so many people in wonderful costumes, this was a hard decision.

5. Cable, Wolverine, and awww!

Yes, those are cosplaying dogs. Deadpool doggie and Negasausage. Just, so cute. Squee!

If you’re visiting from OSW CyCon 2019, don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter using the Subscribe box below, and check out my author booth!

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Sapience

Review: Perfect World

As part of OWS Con 2019, I decided to read and review Shari Sakurai’s dystopian science fiction novel Perfect World. It’s an interesting book that turned out to be nothing at all like I expected when I first started reading. I can normally spot plot twists, but in this case I’ll admit that the author took me completely by surprise.

The main character, Eric Rawlins, at first seems like any other ace pilot/James Bond type. He’s genetically enhanced to be strong, fast, and handsome. But while Eric at first struck me as a bit of a cliche, as the book progresses he develops into a true hero, showing a surprising amount of moral courage, decency, and compassion. I really enjoyed that the author gave Eric vulnerability and empathy—it made his character deeper and more complex, and honestly, made him a more enjoyable and likable hero to root for. I also liked that Eric moves from seeing moral problems as black and white, but comes to understand that people and situations can be grey and complicated.

I don’t want to give away too much about the other characters, in part because to do so would spoil one of the twists of the book, but I’m impressed by how much complexity Sakurai allows her characters. They often have conflicting motivations and desires, and even characters who feel one note at first develop in surprising but organic ways.

It’s hard to discuss the plot in depth because so much of it is dependent on some surprising and original twists, but needless to say, the book completely subverted some of my expectations. If the first chapter gives the impression that the book is going to be a simplistic good guy vs. bad guy Jame Bond-type plot, be prepared for some serious surprises. In the end, I appreciated how much of the plot felt earned. Eric’s initial casting of himself as a hero going up against a cruel villain feels jarring, especially when we learn about the levels of control the LSA has over him as well as the civilian population. Eric’s realizations over the course of the book feel disorienting in a good way, like someone waking up from a dream.

Overall, while there’s a little clunky writing sometimes, I enjoyed this book and once I started getting into it I could hardly stop reading. If you are looking for dystopian science fiction with some LGBT romance, I’d definitely recommend Perfect World!

Find Perfect World on Amazon and Amazon UK!

For more about author Shari Sakurai:

Websites: http://www.sharisakurai.com / http://www.perfectworldseries.com

Twitter: @sharisakurai

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharisakurai

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/Shari_Sakurai

If you’d like to learn about more great Indie Books, check out the Fantasy and Sci-Fi Reader’s Lounge on Facebook, or visit the OWS CyCon website!

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Odin Oxthorn Shares Their Greatest SciFi Gadget for OWS CyCon 2019

Welcome to another fantastic stop in our Greatest Gadgets blog hop! On this stop, we’re highlighting awesome Scifi tech, and you can find a full list of participating authors and topics for this hop on the OWS Cycon Website. Let’s dive in!

Welcome Odin!

Hi there! Thanks so much for having me!

Before we dive in to the nitty gritty, what is Sleepless Flame about?

Sleepless Flame is a fast-paced mission style cyberpunk thriller featuring a nonbinary protagonist. You follow the exploits of Nara, an alien war criminal that made a new life for herself as a mercenary in the Undercity of Arcadia.

Things get interesting for her when the unconscious body of the heir of the largest Biotech conglomerate lands at her feet. The same company that also has the largest price on her head. Oh what to do?

What can you tell us about the piece of SciFi tech you’re featuring today?

Let me introduce you to the InSpec Araknyd Visualization Assistant. Ranked number 1 in reconnaissance and user experience.

This tiny AI will give you the power of sight from another camera’s eyes! Just switch it on then drop it, and  this ingenious piece of machinery will do the work for you! No more depending on open wireless ports to risky security systems.

The Araknyd will automatically seek out the nearest surveillance device and infiltrate its systems, handing off the device’s visuals directly into your Augmented HUD in YOUR preferred platform. Its eight output connectors are not only its mode of transportation, it is also guaranteed to interface with every type of port on the market! (And some off market too.)

Don’t be cornered on your information gathering excursions without taking one of these with you!

NOTE: InSpec is not held liable for actions that violate trade agreements and local law. The Araknyd is used for in-house corporate surveillance and not to be used to gain access to unauthorized property.

Here is an excerpt from Sleepless Flame describing it in action:

She extracted a tiny mechanical spider from a pocket, turning it on its back to reveal a switch on its abdomen. With a gentle push, the critter twitched to life, flailing its tiny needle-like limbs excitedly as she set it on the ground.

           The critter darted over the floor, racing up to the ceiling with an eager tempest of pointy feet. Consumed by its hunting instinct, the creature accelerated toward its hapless victim, stalking a vigilant surveillance unit monitoring the corridor. The predator encircled the base of the camera, rearing back on its hind legs as it sized up its foe. Having uncovered the device’s weak point, it lunged onto its prey, ramming two of its wiry projections into the base of the camera. After a moment, it let off a victorious chirp, alerting Nara of a successful connection.

           Proud of its achievements, the critter summoned a display into Nara’s screen, showing off the perspective of the conquered camera. As she zoomed in on the screen, she reached her hand out past the elevator door, watching her fingers disappear in a hazy mist of warping light as the bug worked its illusory magic.

Where can people find you on the web?

Thanks for having me! I have a booth over at OWSCyCon where you can check out my work and come chat with me:

https://owscycon.ourwriteside.com/forums/topic/odin-oxthorn-author-booth/

As well as my Books here:

https://www.amazon.com/Odin-Oxthorn/e/B07B546XXR

But you can also follow me around the internet here:

https://www.odinsmusings.com/

https://www.facebook.com/OdinsMusings/

https://twitter.com/OdinsMusings

https://www.youtube.com/user/odinsmusings

https://www.instagram.com/odinsmusings/

Hope to see you there!

For more stops on our World-building Showcase, visit the tour page on the OWS CyCon website. You can also find more great SciFi authors and books on our main Sci Fi event page.

Also, if you’re visiting from OWS CyCon, don’t forget to subscribe to my Lunarian Press newsletter using the Subscribe box below!

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Sapience

Yes, even more Scifi/Fantasy Very Short Stories!

Yes, I wrote even more science fiction and fantasy Very Short Stories! These appeared on Twitter on the hashtags #scififri, #satsplat, and #vss365! I hope you enjoy them!

"WILLOW! Bring me that antidote!" His slave stumbled into the room, tripping over her feet. He poked her with his cane.

"Hurry!" Her hands shook as she poured a drink into his mouth. He cursed.

"Wrong one, stupid girl!" He fell, his mouth foaming.

Willow smiled.

Water poured out of the sea caves and frothed at the bottom of the cavern, tearing at the rock with hungry force.

"They call this place Charybdis," he said. "If someone fell down there, they'd be torn to pieces."

Was that what had happened to her sister? she thought.

She dropped her eyes and blushed, looking pretty and demure. It gave her the opportunity to give surreptitious glance at their guests' weapons. The milk-faced boy carried a fine sword, Damascus steel. His fingers drifted to the hilt like he knew how to use it.

The cauldron boiled and seethed. Frothy black effervescence floated to the top. She sprinkled a couple of milky eyes into the brew. At last, when the smell burnt her nostrils, she poured him a tumbler full.

"There," she said. "The strongest hangover cure I can make."

The delicate butterflies flit over the surface of the lake, their wings silver and blue in the moonlight. They float around the waterfall and vanish in the mist.

"Where do they go?" I whisper.

"No one knows," Gran says. "But mayhap the fairies."

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Five SciFi/Fantasy Very Short Stories

I’ve been writing so many very short stories, I’ve decided to blog them by genre:). Here are some SciFi/Fantasy Very Short Stories that I wrote for either #vss365 or #satsplat on Twitter (I’m @TheWiseSerpent).

Her people had only a vestigial stinger, a tiny hooked nail that curled underneath her big toe. Mostly, it made shoe shopping annoying. But sometimes, she thought, easing one foot out of the rope they'd bound her with, it did come in handy. She wiggled off her socks and waited for her kidnapper to return.

He smiles wide enough that she can see his tongue drifting over teeth too sharp. Her hand trembles around the wooden cross she's holding.

"It's not enough just to hold it," he says. "You have to be vehement."

She plunges the sharpened end of the cross into his chest.

No wonder magic was so difficult, she thought. The spells were all horribly vague, completely unlike the clear scientific language she was used to. Twelve cattails? She squinted. The tails of actual cats, or the water plants? No way to tell. She sighed.

The veil parted to reveal his new-bought bride, still inactivated. He lifted her hand and pressed the button beneath her knuckle to enter the code. Her eyes began to flutter, and he leaned in to give her a kiss.

"Husband?" she asked. "

“Yes, something like that."

He eyed her food, his lip curled. "Are you actually eating that?"

She smiled and licked the juices off her lips.

"I thought you were a vegan."

"Most of the time. But tonight is a full moon."

"Well, I'm leaving."

"If you were smarter," she said, "you'd run."

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My Favorite Robots

In my book, Sapience, I write about many different kinds of robots in stories like “Husk” and “Swan.” Like many science fiction writers, one of the things I like about robots is how easy it is to imagine thousands of variations of them, some good, some frightening, and some funny. What’s more, there are tons of real life robots now, some of which look like they stepped straight out a scifi convention! Here’s a list of some of my favorite robots!

Roomba/Eufy

I hate vacuuming, so when the first roombas came out I was super excited to have a robot that could clean a floor. True, they were too expensive for me to get one at first, but the concept was there, and over the years roomba-type robots have improved in quality and come down in price. We actually have a Eufy now, which is in fact Amazon’s version of the roomba, and I love it! Honestly, the biggest problem is my toddler, who seems determined to single-handed prevent the robot apocalypse by banging the Eufy to an early grave.

Marvin the Paranoid Android

I love Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, and Marvin the Paranoid Android is one of the reasons why. Although, is it fair to call Marvin paranoid, when it seems like people sort of are out to get him? Or that they at least forget about or ignore his feeling pretty much constantly? Nonetheless, he’s very funny, and I think he represents an interesting interpretation of robots. Marvin could likely takeover the Universe or at least rule the people around him, and yet for some reason he doesn’t. Instead, he decides to save them, even when they treat him like a bummer most of the time.

GIR from Invader Zim

Invader Zim is still one of my favorite cartoons/comic books, and GIR is a big reason why. He’s enthusiastic, funny. and joyful, even if he can be a bit stupid (or is he happy because he’s stupid? It’s definitely possible Jhonen Vasquez intended to make that point).

BB8

Definitely the cutest orange soccer ball robot I’ve ever seen. My daughter calls him “Baby 8,” and he’s so charming and enjoyable to watch! Personally, I think they could give BB8 a spin off Star Wars show for kids.

Atlas from Boston Dynamics

Have you seen the videos of what Atlas and Cheetah from Boston Dynamics can do? Wow. The future is now. Robots that were once a part of science fiction are becoming more possible everyday. And that’s why I think science fiction is so important. We need to imagine the future, and think about all the possible impacts that new technology, from robots to AI, could have on human beings. Certainly, there’s a possibility that robots could help us build a better, safer world. But there are great risks, too, and science fiction can help us figure out what those are before we have to welcome our new robot overlords.

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