Adam David Collings's Blog, page 9

Married to an Author – My Wife Tells All

What’s it like being married to an author? I interviewed my wife to find out.

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Listen to Me Read Jewel of The Stars – The First 3 Chapters

I read the first three chapter of my science fiction book Jewel of The Stars by Adam David Collings. High-quality audio recorded in a Blue Ice microphone.

Get your copy of the book at http://books2read.com/jewel

Get the free prequel at http://www.adamdavidcollings.com/free

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Another Life (Netflix) – Review

Transcript

Netflix have just released a sci-fi show called Another Life. I was looking forward to this one, so here’s my first reaction after the first two episodes.

Another life is a 10-episode science fiction series. It’s set on a near-future earth, that apart from a few futuristic technologies, isn’t much different from our own world. A mysterious alien artefact appears in the sky and lands.

Katee Sackoff, Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica, plays Niko a very skilled spaceship commander who is sent on a mission to find the aliens that sent the object, and uncover what they want.

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed the first two episodes. The tone of the show is largely down to earth and serious, but with, perhaps, some overly heightened conflict, but I’ll talk more about that later. It feels similar to shows like Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Universe. The casting of Katee Sackoff was clearly no accident. They’re appealing to that gritty realistic science fiction. And yet, the show doesn’t quite feel like either of those other shows. It has its own feeling.

The show seems to switch between three different modes: white knuckle suspense, mystery and wonder, and character introspection. Those are all ingredients I enjoy.

The beginning of the first episode felt a little bit rushed. I would have liked if the show hD sat in that moment of mystery and wonder a little longer. I actually got more of a sense of wonder from the trailer, which included voiceovers from news broadcasts, talking about how an alien object had appeared in the sky.

Then we jump ahead 6 months.

Niko has a husband and a daughter. Her husband is a scientist with the job of studying the artefact. Niko has a very hard choice to make. Does she stay home with her family, or go on the 6 month mission, leaving them behind? Well, we know what she chooses, because otherwise, there’d be no story. This show does a good job of portraying the sacrifice that people make when they have to leave their families for long periods of time to perform acts of services, such as serving in the military. But it’s not just their sacrifice. The family they leave behind are also making a huge sacrifice. This is dramitised very effectively.

This is another moment where I felt the beginning was a little rushed. One minute the thing is landing, and then we’re in space on the mission. I wanted more context. I wanted them to study the artefact a bit more first. Apparently we’re heading to the planet where we think the object was created? How did we determine where it came from? What do we know about the object, and the potential threat it represents? I was feeling a little lost without this context.

Now I understand, in the real world, the mere existence of an alien object like this would be considered a threat, simply because it is not understood. But in a story, you really need to cement the stakes. Even just a line about how they’ve determined a massive power source inside the object, or something like that. The characters all act as if the entire human race is at risk, and I’m willing to buy that, I’d just have liked a little more clarification of the situation to help me invest in the importance of this mission.

Let’s talk cast. The show is kinda drip-feeding the characters to us. We get to know them a few at a time. They’ll all get their turn in the spotlight.

Niko is a no nonsense commander. She carries a lot of weight, which she takes seriously, but she doesn’t waste time being all angsty about it. She misses her family like crazy, but it doesn’t interfere with her work.

Her first officer, Yerxa, used to be the captain of this ship, but both Niko and the generals agree that he may not be up to a mission of this magnitude. Niko calls him a hothead. This leads to some awkwardness amongst the crew. Niko calls this out and acknowledges how uncomfortable it feels, but encourages them to accept things and get on with the job.

The conflict between them comes to a head when they find the ship is off course and they have to decide how to deal with it.

This ties into the theme. There’s a big theme in the first 2 episodes of risk. What risks should you take? And what ones should you avoid? Is it better to reach their destination quickly? Or take it slow and steady? There are so many tensions here. They all have loved ones they want to get back to, but at the same time, if they fail in their mission, the whole human race could be at risk. Niko and Yerxa clash over these decisions, and it comes to mutiny. And then after that’s resolved, things get really serious.

This is where realism starts to become a little bit strained. While the drama is exciting, I can’t help but think that people in this situation would be more professional than this. But something happens at the end of the first episode which makes me wonder if perhaps, Yerxa is under some kind of alien influence. It’ll be interesting to see where it goes.

I think some of the conflict also comes from the fact that most of the crew are in their 20s, and Niko is older. One of the characters calls out herself, that 20 somethings are generally more willing to take risks, whereas older people are inclined to play it safer, especially if they have families. PErsonally, I think many of the crewmembers still have a little growing and maturing to do.

One of my favourite characters so far is William, a holographic interface for the ship’s artificial intelligence. He’s very likable, and fiercely loyal to his captain. He adds an ironic humanising touch.

On the subject of holograms, They use holographic communication on this show, and I have to say they’ve done it much better than Star Trek Discovery did. Even with canon issues aside, the holographic communication technology on Discovery just didn’t make logical sense, but on this show, they’ve thought it through a little. They’ve thought, there must be a projector, and a camera somewhere. Parts of the body the camera can’t see are not rendered. So if the person on the other end is sitting down behind a table, you see a torso and head floating in front of you.

The holograms are lifelike, not translucent. A very occasional glitch makes it clear that they are holograms. But I think these glitches are not in the projection technology, no reason for that, but in the communication. They’re having real-time video chat over interstellar distances. IT makes sense the signal will glitch a little.

While all of this is happening out in space, Niko’s husband is trying to find a way to communicate with the artefact, while raising his daughter alone and dealing with all the feelings that come from the long-term distance between him and his wife.

One other issue I noticed with the show is the way the exposition was handled early in episode 1. Exposition is hard to get across in a story. There were a couple of time that a little like “As you know Bob” conversations. This is not uncommon on TV, but I really noticed it here. Not a big thing. It probably just stuck out to me because I’m a writer.

Their spaceship, The Salvare, looks pretty cool. It’s got a bit of a hard-sci-fi look to it. A big ring around the outside and various modules in side. They’ve got artificial gravity and a landing craft.

Another life is hitting the right buttons for me so far. Niko is a protagonist I can relate to, because she’s a parent, she’d married, and she’s close to my age. I love stories about space exploration, heading out into the unknown. I’m very eager to learn more about these aliens. And while the drama seems little heightened for my believability so far, it leads to some great action.

I think this show has the potential to be as good as Stargate Universe. It’s not quite there yet, but I’m very much looking forward to watching more.

Another Life is available on Netflix. It has an Australian rating of MA for strong themes, and strong blood and gore, although I haven’t encountered any gore yet. It also has a fair bit of swearing in it.

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Star Trek Picard SDCC Trailer Analysis

Transcript

G’day humans. We have a new Star Trek Picard trailer to talk about So let’s dive right into it.

First of all, if you haven’t seen the trailer, go check it out first, because I’m gonna go in-depth and you don’t want the surprises to be spoiled.

The first big thing that stands out, after a nice shot of the Picard residence in France, is Picard’s old com badge. This is a nice touch. A callback to the last time we saw Picard, when he was wearing the TNG movie uniform with the grey shoulders. That was my favourite uniform, and this is my favourite com badge. So nice little bit of visual continuity. Those are the kinds of touches we didn’t get in Discovery because of the visual reboot.

In the next scene, Picard talks about Data’s sacrifice in nemesis, again, nice to see them directly acknowledging the past. And the big surprise, we see all the parts in a drawer. Is that Data’s body? Possibly not, since it was presumably vaporised in the explosion. B4’s body? Perhaps. I’m gonna go with B4 because the eyes are a little different. But I imagine they’re gonna do a similar thing to the Star Trek countdown comic, and assume that Data successfully transferred his mind into B4. This also shows that they’re not gonna marry themselves to that comic book, which makes sense because they always said it was non-canon.

I said in a previous video, I wasn’t sure that bringing Data back was the best idea, because you’d have a lot of things you’d need to explain to new audiences, but it looks like they’re gonna tie it all into the story, which is the right way to do it. In any case, it’s exciting to see him.

Picard’s voiceover says that he really tried to fit in here at the vineyard, but it never truly felt like home. That’s the Picard we remember. He loves that vineyard, and he loves his family legacy, but the stars will always beckon him like they did when he was a child.

And then a young woman appears on his doorstep. “Do you know who I am?” she asks. “Everything in me says I am safe with you.” This is one of the new characters in the show. This woman immediately presents a mystery. Who is she? Why has she been drawn to Picard? Now we’re starting to see some hints of the plot of the new show. This is interesting. I like stories that are built upon mysteries like this. I’m dying to know more.

So Picard goes to Starfleet headquarters. We see some nice shots of the buildings with plenty of people in uniform. And it seems that Picard himself is the one reaching out to Starfleet, because of the young woman. This is really interesting.

I was expecting we’d have a bitter Picard who had to be dragged kicking and screaming back from retirement to help with one last adventure. But that’s kind of becoming a bit of a cliche. Looks like they’re flipping it here. And I like that.

This is Jean-Luc Picard. When someone comes to him for help, he answers. He is concerned about her. Picard is a man of compassion. Despite all the hurts and ghosts that haunt him, we still see that.

Then we get to see some new ships. These are more modern looking effects, as would be expected. They not overly Star Trek looking ships. Probably not Starfleet, but who knows? The wide wings give me a bit of a Klingon vibe.

We see what is probably a Borg drone on a bio bed with lots of holographic user interfaces around. This stuff fits so much better here than it did in Discovery. I’m with it.

And then, as a voiceover says “sometimes I have forgotten who you are” we see another special easter egg. The “Captain Picard Day” banner which we saw in the TNG episode The Pegasus. Nice one.

And then we get what looks like an interior shot of a borg cube. There are regeneration alcoves in the background and a sign that says “This facility has gone 5,843 days without an assimilation. Oooh. That’s interesting. Are they trying to free drones?

That character who said he’s forgotten who he is, turns out to be a Romulan woman. “We do not,” she adds. This is the first expected tie into the destruction of Romulus. Nero was angry at Spock for failing to save his world from destruction. No doubt this surviving Romulan is angry at Picard for the same reason. I can’t wait to learn more about Picard’s involvement, and who it has affected him. The tie into 2009’s Star Trek film makes sense. Those events happened in the prime timeline. IT was a major event that would have shaken the alpha quadrant. Plus, that movie brought in a lot of new star trek fans.

And then we see Picard walking around what looks to me like the Vasquez Rocks, which of course, is a famous and often used filming location for Star Trek. It’s also where they shot the death of James Kirk. Another event that impacted Picard. Could he be visiting Kirk’s grave? Reflecting on Kirk’s advice to stay in the captain’s chair? Advice Picard ignored?

Then another of the new characters says “You can’t do it alone. You need help. You need protection. You need a crew.” And we get a quick introduction to the faces of the new cast. Picard’s new crew. What will bring these people together? I have no idea? But again, I can’t wait to find out.

The bloke is right. Picard may have been in full action-hero mode in First Contact, but he’s in his seventies now. We can’t expect him to get in fistfights with bad guys at this point. He’s gonna need some young blood to help with that stuff.

We see some more futuristic technology. Again, not very star trekky, more modern sci-fi with lots of glowing holographics. And again, I’m totally up for that, given the setting.

Another new character calls us back to the mystery girl. “She has no idea who she is.” Apparently, this bloke does!

She’s the end of all, says a Vulcan (or Romulan?) She’s the destroyer. And then we see a damaged Borg cube. So, is mystery girl associated with the Borg? Maybe. Bringing back the Borg makes sense. Picard’s assimilation was probably the most impacting event of his life.

Which brings us to a huge surprise. Seven of Nine! Of course, she’d know him. I bet the first thing Janeway did when they got home was put Seven in touch with Picard. “This guy will understand you. He’s also a former Borg.”

I noticed immediately that Seven seems much more human than the last time we saw her, which makes total sense. Over the course of the 4 years, we saw her on Voyager, we saw her become more human in her speech, in her emotions. But has been around 20 years. I’d expect her to be pretty much fully human at this point. I wonder if she still goes by Seven, or if she’s using the name, Anika Hansen?

We see the bridge of a ship, with many of our new characters on board, which makes me think the crew is already together. Maybe Picard hires them, like mercenaries.

Then we see a Borg drone having implants removed. So I’m thinking Starfleet have captured this damaged cube and are slowly rehabilitating all the drones. I wonder if they’ll respond in the same way that Seven first did?

And that awesome moment when Picard says Engage. Nice one. All I need now is a Make it so, and maybe a Tea Earl Gray. Hot.

And that last little scene shows Picard playing cards (poker?) with Data. Proving that Brent Spiner himself is returning, and we’ll see more than just mechanical body parts in a drawer.

This trailer gives a very nice blend of the old and the new. The old stuff is exciting, and I screamed more than once while watching, but the new stuff is equally compelling. And that’s important. We want to be drawn to this show for more than just the nostalgic callbacks. The plot and the new characters need to be as exciting as the old, and I think that will be the case.

I’m just as excited to learn about this mystery girl as I am to see Data and Seven.

Now I hear that Jonathan Del Arco appeared in the trailer as Hugh, the drone from the episodes I Borg and Descent. I’ve watched the trailer many times and I haven’t spotted him. Was he the drone having his implants removed? Maybe. I honestly don’t know. But it’ll be interesting to see how he factors into the story.

All in all, this trailer makes me very very excited for the show. A mystery that takes Picard into space, giving us that essential Trek sense of wonder, some callbacks from old friends, that seem to be well done and important to the story.

We know that Picard has a dog in the show and that its name is Number one. Perfect.

Sir Patrick Stewart is a big dog lover, and he actually fosters dogs, but this makes a lot of sense to me in-universe. Picard could use a little animal companionship alone on that big vineyard. His family are dead, so who else is he gonna talk to.

We’ve also heard that both Jonathan Frake’s Riker and Marina Sirtis’s Troi are going to appear at some point. That’s a good chunk of the former TNG cast. My only disappointment here is that they’ve told us so much upfront. I would have preferred they’d held back Riker and Troi as a surprise. Maybe there are still more surprises we don’t know about. I don’t know.

Akiva Goldsman has said during a comic-con panel, that ‘they pointedly weren’t making TNG sequel. It’s “slower, more lyrical, more character-focused”’ And that sounds good to me.

We still don’t have a release date, but we’ve been told it won’t air until 2020, which is a shame because we were expecting it in December of this year.

Still, the show looks GOOD and I’m willing to wait for a good show.

If you can’t tell, I’m seriously pumped for Star Trek Picard. This trailer is fantastic and it fills me with hope. Bring it on. Make it so.

I’ll keep making Star Trek videos. There’s been some news about Lower Decks and Discovery season 3. But I also talk about other geeky stuff like sci-fi and fantasy books, and my own journey as a sci-fi author. So if you want to geek out with me, click that subscribe button and the notification bell. And let’s enjoy the ride together. It’s a fantastic time to be a nerd.

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Great Stories about The Moon

I’m celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the moon landing by talking about some favourite books and movies that feature the moon.

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Christian Fantasy & Science Fiction Bulletin – July 2019

In This Bulletin:

Paranormia by Paul Regnier
The Story Raider by Lindsay A Franklin
Jupiter Anthology
Beatitudes & Woes
Havok Rebirth
The Echo Watch by Steve Rzasa
Strife’s Cost by Steve Rzasa
Supersonic Pod Comics
Hand of Steel by Jessi L Roberts
Crimson Flame by Ben Wolf
Adam David Collings.

Who will be in Star Trek: Picard? Which Next Generation Characters appear?

Who will be in Star Trek: Picard?

Transcript

What characters from Star Trek The Next Generation might we be seeing in the upcoming show Star Trek Picard?

It’s the question on a lot of fan’s minds.

It’s quite possible that the answer will be none. And honestly, I think this is the likeliest scenario. But let’s talk about which characters could be most likely to make an appearance, and which characters we’d most like.

In terms of likelihood, I think the most likely character we might see is William Riker. We know that Jonathan Frakes, who played Riker in The Next Generation has directed two episodes of the show, the second and third episodes. So he’s already involved in the production. It wouldn’t be difficult for him to sneak off, get into costume and shoot a cameo without raising any suspicion. Based on the episode All Good Things, it seems likely that Riker is currently serving as a Starfleet Admiral at this time. IT would be a logical addition. Riker could have a conversation with Picard over a viewscreen or perhaps meet him at Starfleet headquarters. I would find this quite a satisfying moment.

But one character I’d really like to see is Beverly Crusher. Again, All Good things tells us that in an alternate future, Picard had married and then divorced Crusher. Their relationship was one that hung over the character for all of the seven seasons of the show and received very little development, but we know fro the seventh season episode Attached, that their affection is mutual. Personally, I’d like to see the writers do something with this. Whether they married or not, whether that marriage survived or not, Crusher is clearly a very important person in Picard’s life. Someone he’d confide in. Someone whose opinion would matter to him.

One fan favourite option is Data. While Data died in the last TNG film, Nemesis, they left a little loophole in the form of B4, the prototype android that they found, into whom, Data transferred his memories and thoughts.

While it would be awesome to see this beloved character one last time, I’m not sure that Data is the best choice. Bringing him back would require an explanation of why he is still alive, which would make little sense to new viewers of Star Trek. It would all get a bit convoluted. IT feels like Data’s story is finished, so personally, I’d let leave him be.

However, the Star Trek Countdown comic book, which was co-written by Alex Kurtzman, did revive data and make him Captain of the Enterprise. So, who knows?

La Forge could be an option. Another alternative future, from Voyager, tells us that La Forge went on to captain the USS Challenger.

And Worf? Well, it’s hard to know what he’s up to. He left Starfleet to be the Federation ambassador to Qonos, but then he was mysteriously back on the bridge of the Enterprise in uniform in Nemesis. Just visiting for Riker and Troi’s wedding? Maybe, but why was he serving?

Michael Dorn has been campaigning for a while to get a Captain Worf show on the air, so I’d say the actor would be keen to return.

But if we do see Worf? I’d like to hope they’ll keep his makeup close to what we saw during the Berman era. If they’re gonna make him look like a discovery Klingon, I’m not sure I need to see that. Probably best to leave that one alone as well. It would just be too jarring. In fact, if I were them, I’d probably steer away from the Klingons all together in this show.

What about Troi? We know she married Riker in Nemesis, and let’s hope they’re still happily married. They served on the Titan together, but I doubt they’re still there after all this time. Marina Sirtis was always happy to reprise her role in Voyager and Enterprise, so I’m sure she’d be willing to jump in if they asked her.

There are some other options. Wesley Crusher, Reg Barclay.

Guinan would be a good one. She has a very close and special relationship with Picard. But she also lives for hundreds of years without ageing. And Whoopi Goldberg understandably doesn’t look the same as she did almost 30 years ago.

Ultimately, it would be nice to see a familiar face or two, but they don’t want to overdo it. I’d say that anything more than a brief cameo would be best left for season 2, to allow the show to establish itself as its own entity, apart from the Next Generation. But I would welcome a camera. Something like Picard’s appearance in the pilot of Deep Space Nine, or Quark’s appearance in the pilot of Voyager.

So what about you? What next generation character would you most like to see make an appearance in Star Trek Picard? And do you think it’ll happen? Let me know in the comments below.

Don’t forget to subscribe and click the bell. I’ll be doing more Star Trek videos in the leadup to Picard, and once it goes live, I’ll be doing episode reviews of the show.

And if you’d like a free space opera story, sign up to my email list at AdamDavidCollings.com/free and you’ll get Fall of the HMAS Adelaide. It’s a story of sacrifice and hope and features some cool space battles. I’m very proud of it.

Anyway, I’ll catch you next time.

Live long and prosper.

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Romanov by Nadine Brandes – Book Review

Transcript

G’day humans. I’m Adam David Collings. And today, I’m talking about Romanov by Nadine Brandes.

Romanov by Nadine Brandes is a YA historical fantasy novel set in an alternate history where magic exists.

It’s set in the early 20th century and follows the life of Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov, or Nastya, as she’ll called by those around her. Nastya is a princess of Russia but her father, the last of the Czars, Nicolas II has been removed from power by the Bolsheviks.

The family live under house arrest, constantly watched by guards. Nastya’s only hope is a magic spell hidden in a matryoshka doll.

This story follows the historical account of the real princess pretty closely, a lot more than the animated movie Anatasia. I haven’t actually seen Anastasia, but the author said this book is a lot more historically accurate, so that’s how I know.

Before starting this book, I actually did a little research on the Romanov family. YouTuber Simon whistler has a good video if you’re interested. I’m glad I did this research because as I went through the story, I found myself recognising characters and situations. It kept me guessing how things would go, and there was a surprise or two waiting for me.

I didn’t know much at all about Russian history before this, so I enjoyed being swept into this world by the book. It’s funny. When I think about Russia, I immediately think about it as a communist country, because that’s what it was when I was growing up, so it’s easy to forget that Russia long pre-dated the Soviet Union. I mean, it was a pretty recent change. Remember, this happened in the 20th century. I’ve lived more of my life in the 20th century than I have in the 21st. That will change in a few years but it’s true when I’m recording this. My point is, these characters were as proud of their country as the communists who took over from them were, they just had different ideologies.

I really enjoyed the portrayal of the Romanov family. Nicholas is presented as a wonderful father, a caring leader, and a very genuine Christian, who exemplifies the best ideals of what that means. I don’t know what the man was like in real life, I can only assume that his people overthrow him for a reason, whether it was a good or bad one, but in a book, you need your heroes to be sympathetic, and the Nicholas in the book is a guy I’ve love to meet and hang out with.

Nastya is presented, as she is in history, as a playful child with an affection for mischief. But the book adds the extra dimension of her heartfelt desire to be spell master. She is also a young woman of great courage and dedication to her family.

Her younger brother Alexi, is also portrayed as courageous. He’s a lot less capable due to his medical issues, but that only serves to make him braver.

As for the magic system, it’s not as complex or as developed as the system in the author’s previous book, Fawkes. It’s more open-ended. It’s more J K Rowling than it is Brandon Sanderson. But you do still get a sense that there’s some logic behind it all.

Like most YA stories, it features a romantic subplot, but like all of Nadine’s books, that romance has a bit of a different twist on it, which makes things much more interesting.

And Just like many other of Nadine Brandes’s works, this book explores themes of forgiveness and grace. It asks us hard questions about how we treat our enemies. I think that’s the hallmark of a Nadine Brandes novel. It makes you think about the important stuff.

This is a book that is filled with heartbreak, determination, and the promise of hope. I wouldn’t say it ends in triumph, but it definitely ends with the promise of hope.

If you enjoy stories that take you into history, spiced up with a bit of magic, then Romanov is for you.

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10 Events that Shaped the Life of Jean-Luc Picard

Transcript

Star Trek: Picard is around 6 months away from releasing. We know from Alex Kurtzman that the destruction of Romulus, as described in 2009’s Star Trek movie, was an event that shaped Picard’s life in a big way. And remember, that event took place in the prime timeline. So I thought it would be fun to look back on some of the other important events that have impacted Picard. So here are my top 10 events that shaped the life of Jean-Luc Picard.

1) Meeting Boothby

While studying at Starfleet Academy, Picard made a mistake. One that nearly ended his career. He almost didn’t graduate. While we don’t know the exact nature of this mistake, we do know that Picard eventually did the right thing. He attributes this change of heart to the groundskeeper at the academy, a man named Boothby. This unassuming gardener served as something of an unofficial counselor to the cadets. In Boothby’s own words, “he just made sure that Picard listened to himself. Over 40 years later, Picard still felt a debt of gratitude for the wisdom that turned his life around. “The important thing is what you did with your life afterward, “ Boothby says. “It seems you did okay. That’s thanks enough for me.”

2) Artificial Heart

In 2327, as a newly graduated Starfleet Officer, Ensign Picard got into a bar fight with a group of Nausicaans. During the fight, one of them stabbed him from behind. The blade went right through his heart. Fortunately, 24th-century medicine came to the rescue and Picard was fitted with an artificial heart.

This event not only had a profound physical effect on Picard, but it also shaped him as a person. Realising how fragile life could be, he became more willing to take risks in order to make a difference.

3) Loss of the USS Stargazer.

Jean-Luc Picard commanded the USS Stargazer for 22 years. In some ways, this ship meant more to him than even the Enterprise, because it was the first ship that was truly his. In 2355, the Stargazer was involved in a battle with an alien ship. We later learned that this was a Ferengi vessel. Picard destroyed the enemy by inventing the Picard Maneuver, but he and his crew were forced to abandon the ship. This lead to a court-martial, but Picard was exonerated by all charges.

4) First meeting with the Borg

During an encounter with the omnipotent alien Q, Picard and the Enterprise were thrust into the Delta Quadrant where they encountered a brand new race, calling themselves the Borg. In Q’s words, “You judge yourselves against the pitiful adversaries you’ve encountered so far: the Romulans, the Klingons… They’re nothing compared to what’s waiting. Picard, you are about to move into areas of the galaxy containing wonders more incredible than you can possibly imagine… and terrors to freeze your soul.” He was right, of course, not only was the Borg in Starfleet’s future but the Bajoran wormhole, which would uncover endless wonders, as well as the great threat – The Dominion.

This first encounter with the Borg was eye-opening for Picard. He came to realise that for all its advancement, the Federation wasn’t the most powerful force in the galaxy. Far from it.

5) Assimilation by The Borg

This is the big one. In 2366, the Borg assimilated Picard into their collective. His individuality was erased. Despite being rescued by the Enterprise crew a short time later, and having his humanity restored, this event caused the kinds of emotional scars that stay with a person for the rest of their lives. In fact, it affects him so profoundly, he considers leaving Starfleet. Through extensive counseling from Deanna Troi, and some tough love from his brother Robert, Picard is able to move on, but he will never be the same again.

6) Arbiter of Succession of the Klingon Empire

In 2367, Picard was named Arbiter of Succession by Chancellor K’mpec. His job was to oversee the rite of succession after the Chancellor’s death. This event thrust Picard into the heart of Klingon politics. It gave him a new appreciation for their culture, but it also placed him in a position of influence with the new chancellor, Gowron. Picard would use this influence from time to time

7) Ressica

In 2368, Picard was struck unconscious by an alien probe. He awoke in a village called Ressik on the planet Kataan. There, he lived the life of a man named Kamin. He had a wife, children, and grandchildren. When he was near death, he learned that it was all an implanted memory, left behind by an extinct civilisation who wanted to be remembered.

I can’t even put into words how much of an impact this must have had on Picard’s life. He lived a whole other life in the span of 25 minutes. Those children and grandchildren were as real to him as his friends aboard the Enterprise. Probably more so. Not to mention the wife he had to bury. I suspect this experience was the primary motivator for Picard’s change in attitude toward children and family. Certainly being around families on the Enterprise softened him somewhat, but after this, he longed for a family, so much that when he later ends up in the Nexus, his greatest fantasy, his most heartfelt desire, is to have a wife and kids.

8) Vision of the future in All Good Things

In 2370, Picard experienced a series of time jumps into the future and the past, due to the influence of Q. During this time, Picard sees a vision of a possible future, where he has married and then divorced Beverly Crusher and has retired alone in his vineyard. The crew of the Enterprise have all drifted apart. Interestingly, this is pretty close to the time when the new series will be set. In this future, Picard has a condition called Irumodic Syndrome, which causes a form of dementia.

Ultimately, this experience causes Picard to draw closer to his crewmates, his friends, and embrace them, finally, as family.

9) Death of Robert & Rene

In 2371, Picard receives the heart-breaking news that his brother Robert and his nephew Rene have burned to death in a fire. His brother, who he was just starting to build a better relationship with, and his nephew, who was probably the closest thing he’d ever have to a child of his own.

If the pain of these individual losses wasn’t enough, this brings the truth of his mortality to Picard. His family history has always been important to him, but that family ends with him. There will be no more Picards.

And this absolutely breaks him.

10) Meeting James T. Kirk

While he’s still reeling from the pain of his loss, Picard finds himself in another dimension known as the Nexus. There, he meets the legendary James T. Kirk, captain of a previous Starship Enterprise. Together, they save a planet from a madman named Soran. Now, Kirk has his own issues that he’s dealing with, and Picard helps him sort those out, but during this meeting, Kirk says to Picard “Don’t let them promote you, don’t let them transfer you. Don’t let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you’re there, you can make a difference.” This revitalises Picard’s sense of purpose. He may be the last Picard, he may have missed out on the opportunity for family, but he’s going to make the rest of his life count for something, just as he’s always done.

It’s interesting to note that Picard ends up ignoring Kirk’s advice.

We know from the trailer for the new series, that Picard did accept a promotion to Admiral at some point, and that after that, he voluntarily left Starfleet.

So it’ll be very interesting to see how this all pans out.

So those are my picks for the top 10 events that really shaped Jean-Luc Picard’s life. There are certainly others that I could have chosen. What events would you include that I didn’t? Let me know in the comments.

Don’t forget to subscribe and click the bell so you’ll see all my videos. I plan to do more Picard stuff as we count down to the new series.

Catch you next time, and Live Long and prosper.

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The Three body Problem by Cixin Liu – Book Review

Transcript

G’day. I’m Adam David Collings and today I’m doing a mini review of The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, translated into English by Ken Liu

The Three Body problem won the Hugo award for best novel in 2015. It explores the idea of a planet in a trinary system, and the erratic orbit the planet has around its three suns. The planet is populated by an intelligent species who constantly have to deal with the unique difficulties of living on a world like this.

The story is seen through the eyes of Wang Miao, a present-day engineer. He experiences the history of the alien world through a virtual reality game. Famous humans from history stand in for the aliens to make their problems relatable. As Wang infiltrates the secret cabal of scientists behind the game, it becomes clear there is a dangerous conspiracy at play which involves the aliens.

The science in this book is really interesting, yet it never overwhelms the story. The planet itself kind of bounces between the various stars. As the stars get closer to each other, they’ll snag the planet. This leads to very unpredictable weather patterns. An intense heat, strong enough to wipe out civilisation, can come upon them with no more than a moment’s notice.

The three-body problem is a real-life mathematical quandary. Throughout the story, the aliens are trying to find a way to predict the orbit of their world, so they can avoid disasters before it’s too late.

One of my favourite parts was when they developed a human-form computer. They got a couple of people together holding flags and made an and gate, and then an or gate. Putting these together they created a CPU, memory, they even wrote software to run on it. As a computer programmer myself, I understood what they were trying to do here, and I thought it was really cool. But I know what you’re thinking. The clock speed of a human-form computer would be so slow that it wouldn’t be worthwhile. Well, they address that in the story as well.

I expected a lot of science in this book, but what I didn’t expect, was that I’d learn so much about Chinese history, in particular, the Chinese cultural revolution. I knew very little about this and found it very informative and fascinating.

If you’re looking for a book that combines human drama, modern-day thriller, and some really interesting science fiction concepts, then you’ll want to check out The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu. It’s quite deserving of its Hugo.

There are two more books in the series, which I haven’t read yet.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it, and what’s one of the coolest science fiction concepts you’ve come across in a book? Let me know in the comments.

Don’t forget to subscribe and click the bell so you don’t miss any of my videos, and you can get my military space opera story, Fall of the HMAS Adelaide free by signing up to my email list at adamdavidcollings.com/free. It’s a prequel to Jewel of the Stars, which itself is just 99 cents.

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