Adam David Collings's Blog, page 14

Star Trek Discovery – Episode 4 Review (The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not for The Lamb’s Cry)

I feel that Star Trek Discovery has really found its stride in episode 4. This is real classic Star Trek, but updated with modern TV sensibilities. Episode 4 explores the theme of monsters, specifically, the question of understanding that often the monster isn’t a monster at all. This is done with a literal alien creature, but it also a metaphor for the feelings Michael Burnham is having about her own mistakes. Do they make her a monster?

The story takes us back into the action of the Klingon war, yet it isn’t really a war story. At heart, it’s about exploration and discovery. I begin to see how the writers are using the war as a backdrop, but continuing the Trek spirit of exploring strange new worlds and new civilisations.

This is Star Trek with consequences, and those consequences will continue long beyond the end of the episode. This is Star Trek with deaths. We are very slowly being introduced to the crew of the ship, and you’re never quite sure who will live and who will die.

Regarding dialog, the most “trekie talk” is coming from Stamets and Burnham. This makes sense because they’re both scientists. Other characters have much more relatable dialog which grounds the show for those who are not long-time Trek fans. The characters all have an edge though. Stamets is the scientist who is cheesed off that his research has been co-opted for military application, which leads to some near insubordinate confrontations with Captain Lorca.

Cadet Tilly continues to be an endearing character. She’s still a little unsure of herself, but you can see she is aware of her personal flaws and is actively working toward overcoming them.

We get to see a fair bit of Klingon Drama this time around. These scenes serve to remind us that war is two-sided.

I believe Discovery is very much accomplishing what it sets out to do – to create a show that feels every bit Star Trek, but also feels like a modern TV drama. Can’t wait for next week.

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Star Trek Discovery: Episode 3 – Context is For Kings

Episode Three of Star Trek: Discovery is out. As promised, it’s something of a new pilot. Now we start to get a sense of what this show is about. It is very much a character story about Michael Burnham. We see this story, and this world, through her eyes. This is a significant departure for Star Trek. This isn’t a traditional show about the Captain and command staff. We see the Captain and First Officer, and we see the bridge, but the story doesn’t centre around any of this. The opening scene on the prison shuttle shows that this is truly a grittier darker Star Trek. I like that. There is still some lightness, if not humour, mostly from Tilly, but not enough to get in the way.

We meet some new characters in this episode, and we are re-acquainted with Saru, who is now first officer of the Discovery.

First we see Landy, the tough-as-nails security chief on Discovery. She takes her job very seriously and doesn’t seem thrilled to have prisoners on board her ship. Her attitude toward them doesn’t feel very … well … Starfleet. Another sign that this show is spiced with a little of Battlestar Galactica’s spirit. Not heaps, just enough to season it.

Captain Lorca is a man of mysteries. In fact, this whole ship is full of mysteries. These are slowly revealed as Burnham investigates. I like how we’re seeing all this through her eyes. We feel like an outsider on this ship, rather than the fly sitting on the Captain’s shoulder (how’s that for an oddly mixed metaphor?) Burnham learns the mystery of the ship’s research, but Lorca clearly still has a lot hidden away still. Lorca is much more Kirk than Picard. In fact, I think he’s gonna make Kirk look like a by-the-book rule kinda guy. Lorca doesn’t care for protocol,

and he may not even be as dedicated to the values of the Federation as we might expect from a Starfleet captain. He’s a potential rogue element, and I don’t yet trust him.

Stammets is a much more serious character than I expected. He comes across as a little grumpy, and we begin to understand why as the story moves along. He doesn’t want to be here. What we’re seeing here is science co-opted by the military. A consequence of the new war with the Klingons. I’m enjoying the exploration here, of what happens when a people who are dedicated to peaceful exploration and co-existence find themselves at war. This was also explored on Deep Space Nine, but in a very different way.

Cadet Tilly is an interesting character. She’s very unsure of herself in a lot of ways, and yet deep in her core, she has dreams and is determined to see them come to fruition. Some might find her nervous rambling annoying, but there is something I find very endearing about her. She strikes me as the kind of person you’d want to be friends with. I’m really looking forward to the development of her relationship with Burnham.

Essentially, Tilly represents everything that Burnham has lost. She is the wide-eyed cadet who dreams of being a captain some day. She’s the good girl. The star pupil. This makes me feel for Burnham all the more. Yes, I am feeling a lot more sympathy for Burnham than I did in the first two episodes. Through one crazy experience, her life has become completely derailed. She has lost all hope for the future and just wants to serve her time in silence. When I think about the deep regret she’s feeling inside., how much she desperately wishes she could go back and do things differently, it hits me deep.

A couple of little quibbles. This super-advanced drive they’re hoping to perfect. It’s way more advanced than Kirk, or even Picard had. I’ll bet Janeway would have loved one of those to help her get home quicker. Presumably, they’ll never get it working properly. Otherwise, I don’t know how to reconcile it with the rest of Trek. I’m now imagining an off-camera scene on Voyager, where Belanna wants to resurrect Stammet’s research from a century ago, and Janeway refuses, telling her it’s just too dangerous. I just hope this technology doesn’t become the prime timeline’s equivilent of the “Transwarp Beaming” we saw in the Kelvin-verse movies.

That holographic chamber thing that Burnham stood in while Lorca explained everything was a little too close to the holodeck for my comfort. And the mention of Romulans? Starfleet shouldn’t know what Romulus looks like at this point in history. Careful guys. The writers have said in interviews that “Romulan” is a dirty word in the writers’ room. They know we can’t see them until Balance of Terror, so it’s inclusion here seemed very strange.

Episode three was a great continuation of Burnham’s story and introduction to the USS Discovery. It had great moments of mystery, drama and even some monster-horror. Bring on episode 4.

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My Son’s Super Power (VLOG 4)

Here’s a little bit of a dad show-off. My son has a super power.

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Star Trek Discovery Review

STAR TREK IS BACK

After 12 years, since Enterprise went off the air, Star Trek is back on TV again. Well, at least, what passes for TV in the modern age. But does Star Trek Discovery live up to the name and the 51 year-old legacy it inherits? The short answer, in my opinion, is yes.

In a lot of ways, it felt like we had picked up things where we’d left them off. Discovery feels like a sequel to Enterprise. One century on, the Federation that Archer and crew helped to found is well and truly established, but still young. I can also believe that Kirk’s historic 5 year mission on the Enterprise is 10 years in our future. We haven’t seen much of the Klingons in the intervening years, except for the occasional skirmish, such as the one that claimed the lives of Michael Burnham’s parents.

They weren’t kidding when they told us that Star Trek Discovery would be cinematic. All concerns about hairless Klingons and visual differences to The Cage dissipated as I was swept up in the plot, characters, and spectacular visuals. Every frame of Star Trek Discovery was beautiful.

I love Captain Phillipa Georgiou. She clearly loves her job. She loves exploring space. She loves her crew, and she loves spending time with them. The bridge of the Shenzhou felt like a home at the beginning of the episode. This was a group of people who were very comfortable with each other. A family. They established this family dynamic much quicker than any other Star Trek series. This makes sense because the crew is not just coming together. They’ve been together for a long time.

Michael Burnham is an interesting character. She certainly goes on quite a journey.The conflict that develops between her and the captain is logical. You can clearly see both sides, and understand the perspective of each character. I’ll be very interesting to see how her arc develops over the next 13 episodes. This is, after all, her story.

Saru is very cool. I love the dynamic between him, Burnham and Georgiou. Again, within minutes, the writers and actors had established a Kirk / Spock / Bones dynamic. Not a copy-cat, but a three-way relationship that was a lot of fun to see. Without understanding his backstory, Saru may come across as something of a coward. I already knew his background, which was explained as the episode went on, so I understood the alternative perspective he was giving his captain, to balance out Burnham.

This show very much started with Discovery. From the prologue mission on a strange alien world to the investigation of an alien object of unknown origin. Within the first 15 minutes, we’ve already had as much, if not more, of the Star Trek spirit of exploration, than we had in the three Kelvin films combined. (Not that I’m here to bash to Kelvin films. There are things I liked about all three, along with some flaws).

When things shift to conflict with the Klingons, there is still very much a Star Trek spirit to it all. The crew of the Shenzhou struggle with how to prevent a war, while still remaining true to the principles of Starfleet.

The Klingon scenes were great. T’Kuvma was a wonderful villain. As promised, we see just as much of the conflict from his perspective. We come to understand him, and his reasoning. We know why he wants to unite the great houses of the Klingon Empire in a war with the Federation. How do Klingons view the federation? This fierce warrior race. Has the peaceful Federation ever truly felt like a genuine threat to them? T’Kuvma thinks so. He is generally fearful of the Federation. The way it “assimilates” other cultures. Behind all that Klingon bravado, T’Kuvma is driven by fear. I can understand this from his perspective. He does not want the empire to become another ‘conquered world’ of the Federation, losing its identity to become part of the whole. What less honourable way could there be for the empire to lose? Conquered by peace. Not a shot fired. No wonder the bloke feels threatened.

Star Trek Discovery is every bit Star Trek. Yes, this season will be set against the backdrop of war with the Klingons, but it is done in a very thought-provoking way. Star Trek is all about understanding your enemies. This is a theme that has been set up in the pilot episodes and will be continued to be explored as the story progresses. I, for one, can’t wait to find out how Burnham and Captain Lorca (who we haven’t even seen yet) will try to end the war.

I still don’t understand the whole woman-with-a-male-name thing. Apparently, Bryan Singer likes female characters with Male names. It’s odd to me, but whatever. At this point, I’m just going with it.

There was an interesting scene regarding a Vulcan mind meld. I’m interested in digging a little deeper on what makes that particular meld different to others we’ve seen in the past. The show plays a bit loose with canon in regards to Klingon cloaking technology, so I’m curious to see where they’re going with that. The interview on “After Trek” makes it clear the writers are at least aware of what they’re doing.

Star Trek Discovery has affected me in much the same way that the movie Man of Steel did. I’ve found the Star Trek that I didn’t know I wanted. As much as I loved the Marvel movies (and still do), they kinda faded a little into the background once I saw what the DCEU was doing. In the same way, I have greatly enjoyed the Kelvin-verse movies, for all their flaws, but they’ve definitely taken a backseat to Discovery now. This is a show that is action-packed, but still cerebral. If we don’t get a fourth film from Paramount (and I still hope we do), I am happy in the knowledge that we have a great new series on our TV screens, and that, after all, is where Star Trek is at its best.

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Jewel of The Stars - Season 1 Episode 1 - Earth's Remnant




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GoPro, Passport and Rock Drop at Heritage Forest (VLOG 3)

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Clarendon House – Evendale, Tasmania (VLOG 2)

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New VLOG Series

I’ve started new endeavour. I’m making the occasional family VLOG. Through these videos, you’ll get to know me, and my family, a little better, and get to see some of the great sites around Tasmania and beyond. (We’ll be taking you to New Caledonia on a Carnival cruise in November).

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Jewel of The Stars Release

The day I’ve been working for has arrived. Jewel of The Stars book 1 is released to the world. I’m especially excited about this book because it is my first published work that is solely my own creation. You can find it now on Amazon and GoodReads.

A luxury cruise ship on the run from aliens. #JewelOfTheStars by @adamcollings #amreading – Click to Tweet This

It’s currently available at a launch price of just 99 cents. It will go up to a regular price of $2.99 in a week or so.

The Cruise is Over

Haylee was more confident designing starships than raising an autistic child. She just wants a relaxing holiday with her family. But when Earth falls to an alien armada, she knows life will never be the same again.

Les was just a cruise ship captain. Now, he must rise up and become something greater, if he is to keep his crew and passengers alive.

Braxton never wanted to leave the space navy, but now, taking a cruise is the only way to feel the stars around him. This crisis may be his ticket to regaining the life he thought was gone forever.

Can they overcome their differences and save everyone on the ship?

If they reach unexplored space, they might yet survive, but an unstoppable enemy stands in their way…

Earth’s Remnant is the thrilling pilot to an episodic space opera – Jewel of The Stars by Adam David Collings. Join the crew as they fight for survival against the wondrous backdrop of the unknown. What else will they find hiding among the stars?

Join the adventure today.

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Jewel of The Stars Release Date and Cover

I’m very excited to announce that Jewel of The Stars Book 1 will be releasing on 31st of August 2017. That’s one week from today. This story has been a long time coming. It’s thrilling to finally be ready to release this baby into the world, after much hard work.

The amazing cover was designed by Domi from Inspired Cover Designs. Check it out below. Isn’t it awesome!

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Realm Makers Special – Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy Bulletin August 2017

I have a very special episode of the bulletin this month. We go to Reno Navada and catch up with those attending the Realm Makers Conference, including keynote speaker Ted Dekker.

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