Jacob Foxx's Blog, page 53

First Quarter Update

Well, I wish I had good news or something big to tell everyone but it just didn’t happen in early 2016.

As I explained last time, my plan was to self-publish two new books, The Fifth World: Purification, and Heroes of Coburin. Both are ready for the next steps including editing, book cover designs, and a promotional campaign. Unfortunately, I got some bad news financially and my start-up publishing company is going to have to be set aside indefinitely. It also means I am unable to self-publish the two novels on my own, at least for the foreseeable future. That leaves the traditional publishing route.

I submitted Heroes of Coburin to five literary agents but none were interested in representing me. The next step is to submit to publishers that will take a look at unsolicited manuscripts from unrepresented authors. They are out there but they are midsize to small, and many don’t have a track record of success. The internet is buzzing with stories of “predatory vanity presses” masquerading as digital imprints who try to shift costs on to the author and leave them to do a large amount of the promotional campaign. Course, when you are running out of options, you take what you can get.

My biggest concern, in addition to being screwed financially, is creative control. I’m open to critique and suggestions of course, but there are also stories of publishers doing some dramatic revisions, twisting an author’s vision into something that fits their product model. In a market that is getting more competitive thanks to self-publishing platforms like Kindle Select and Createspace, it isn’t wise to just “get your work out there.” Also, for me writing and publishing is a passion, not my primary vocation. It’d be great, but I do not expect writing to pay the bills anytime soon. Therefore, I will sacrifice short term gain for creative authority.

On the writing front, I’ve written about 12,000 words for the next Warmek episode or what might be the sequel to Heroes of Coburin. I’m off-pace for my 80,000 words/year goal so I need to step it up here.

On the reading side, I am on pace for 52 books in 2016 and have discovered a couple quality indie novels including Fear the Sky by Stephen Moss and Archangel by Marguerite Reed (review coming shortly).

That is all for now. Wish I had better news to report or maybe something relevant to report but the beginning of 2016 has been uneventful.

Maybe the Spring will be more exciting.

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The War Against the Machines: Should We Fear Automation?

This is one of the nightmare scenarios of a future dominated by machines. If they aren’t killing us or converting us into energy, they’re turning us into fat, lazy, ignorant slobs who have no understanding of the world or the technology that makes our opulent lifestyle possible. This is the dystopian world of WALL-E. Others see the machines as scabs, taking their jobs away or forcing their wages to historic lows. They argue automation is contributing to growing income inequality, placing an entire class of citizens in perpetual poverty. This isn’t a new fear. Centuries ago, a group calling themselves the Luddites trashed textile machines that replaced them in the factories. Is automation a threat to modern society? As more jobs are being done by robots or software programs, will we see a growing divide between those whose jobs are not yet eliminated and the others? Will it turn us into lazy slobs, spending our days playing video games, watching cat videos on youtube, or ranting on Facebook?

There are two sides to every issue, so I will try to give an objective look at both.

First, what are the pros to automation?

It has raised the standard of living for all socioeconomic classes. Automation contributed to mass production processes, lowering the cost of new goods to the point where any household may afford them. Some claim that only the 1 percent see the benefits of automation while the bottom get screwed but that isn’t exactly true. If you compare the standard of living for an impoverished family in 1970 to an impoverished family today, there is no comparison. Even those at the bottom are enjoying the benefits of low cost household goods and services such as internet access, air conditioning, refrigeration, cable television, and better medical care. If you go even farther back to the turn of the century, you see an enormous improvement in education, life expectancy, and quality of life.

According to the Luddites, we should’ve seen a wave of mass unemployment among the working class due to automation. It never happened. There has been no tidal wave of mass unemployment. People simply moved to other, better jobs. Automation allowed millions to leave the farms for the factories, and is now allowing them to leave the factories for work in the service sector. Many of the most dangerous, least desirable jobs are now done by machines. For those that grew up and mastered these jobs, it is little solace that they can now get a “better job.” It isn’t easy to start a new career after decades in a single job or profession. At the same time, most working today do not face the same dangers their parents and grandparents did on the job.

Not only were many of the older jobs dangerous, they were also tedious and repetitive. Factory workers standing on the assembly line often did the same set of tasks over and over. Having workers do repetitive, mind-numbing work for so long is inhumane and soul crushing. It was also inefficient from a global economic perspective. Imagine how many world-class musicians, artists, chefs, teachers, engineers, entrepreneurs and inventors were forced to make car parts rather than apply their talents to more beneficial endeavors. For centuries, most human potential was lost in the fields and factories. Automation has allowed talented individuals to unleash their potential, and has played a major factor in the unprecedented technological breakthroughs of the past century.

Now for the cons of automation:

Poverty remains a fact of modern life, even two centuries after the industrial revolution. There always seems to be a class of citizens that are not reaping the full benefits of this golden age. It is true that the standard of living is rising for all, but it is unevenly distributed across the population. Those slowest to benefit are those that have seen their jobs eliminated by automation. Economies have been able to create as many jobs as are lost but are the new jobs really better? Lately that has not been the case. Median income is now in decline, and the poverty rate has begun to rise approaching pre-1960s levels.

One possibility is that automation is expanding too quickly, and economies are unable to generate new jobs fast enough. Or it may be that we’ve reached the inevitable conclusion of automation: that there are no more new jobs to be created. There simply is no more work to be done.

Let’s extend the current trend out a few decades. Let’s suppose millions of jobs become automated in the manufacturing, retail, and a few other service sectors. History suggests those workers won’t simply become perpetually unemployed, but it is very possible their new jobs will be remedial with little or no opportunity for upward mobility. Another possibility is that even those in the bottom bracket will be able to live comfortable lives of leisure. In other words they won’t need jobs anymore.

This is a plausible scenario given current trends. Every year, we seem to resemble the society of WALL-E more and more. We are getting fatter, with the obesity rate in America reaching new heights. Perhaps one day we will all be pushed along in chairs all day. We are also obsessed with electronic interaction rather than direct human interaction. In one scene from WALL-E, two guys are talking via a Skype program while sitting right next to one another. Kids are already doing this with instant messenger, while sitting in the same room. In the movie, when there is a problem with their ship they ask the computer to fix it. None of them have a clue how anything works. If the computers break down they’re doomed.

H.G.  Wells and Aldous Huxley have written about this possible devolution of humanity in their novels The Time Machine and Brave New World respectively. In The Time Machine, humanity devolves into small, feeble-minded, weak, childish Elois. Will our knowledge and skills atrophy in an era of movies, TV, video games, social media, internet porn, and cell phones? Brave New World also depicts the problem with technological bliss. The engineered humans of his novel are so obsessed with pleasure, they cannot see anything else. They don’t care how the world works as long as they’re kept safe and happy. Anything that gets in the way of pleasure is removed, or in some cases the person that gets in the way is murdered.

Dystopian writers see this opulent yet ignorant future as a potential tool for an all powerful government. The State gives the people distraction just to shut them up. All these boons keep the populace in a stupor, unaware to what the State is doing.

The post-apocalyptic genre foresees the Brave New World collapsing, forcing a weak and infantile humanity to face the real world once again. This has been depicted in The Walking Dead, Revolution, Station Eleven, and many other places. Many of its stories depict modern society being pulled back down to the stone age by a cataclysm, where all our impressive modern skills are useless. We’ve forgotten how to grow our own crops, or how to hunt and fish. Nature is a scary place, and there are few that could survive there. The question is one of adaptability. We may be capable of it, but increased automation is increasing the demands on us to adapt should everything go wrong.

So automation is going to make us unequal, fat, stupid, weak, and unprepared for the future. Right?

The inequality fear is real but only some countries are facing serious disparities in quality of life and income. Not all developed countries have enormous disparities in means. This suggests automation is not the primary factor in creating inequality. It is more likely bad public policy. Automation is certainly making some of us fat and stupid but not all of us. Obesity rates are very high in some regions but much lower in others, which suggests there are other factors at play here as well. As for weak and unprepared, that may be true. However, there seems to be a growing counter-cultural reaction with increasing interest in rediscovering basic skills. There remain numerous athletic competitions, interest in outdoors, and the growing appeal of “prepper” activities.

So far, these groups represent a small minority. Perhaps it’s not enough. Perhaps they are a dying breed. However, what about the growing popularity of dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories such as those referenced above? It seems we as a civilization are aware of these dangers, and some of us are making efforts to prevent it. Will we succeed?

It is difficult to imagine a modern society being utterly incapable of adapting to a changing environment given the wealth of knowledge we’ve accumulated. Never before has information been so widely available and in incredible quantities. When the machines start to break down, we’ll be in trouble at first, but as long as the “user manuals” are still lying around, we have a chance.

Overall, I do not think we should fear automation; we should embrace it. Thus far the benefits far outweigh the costs. While there are some troubling signs of devolution and entropy, it is hardly enough to conclude it is inevitable. At the same time our culture and values must keep up and adapt to the changes taking place. The dangers of becoming hopelessly dependent on technology and automation must be guarded against at all times. As long as we are prepared and remain vigilant, I think we will avoid a future like the one portrayed in WALL-E.

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Fear the Sky by Stephen Moss

They don’t write many novels like this anymore. Fear the Sky is a combination of classic hard science fiction, technothriller, and spy thriller. Rich in detail and incredibly realistic, it covers just about every branch of the military as well as several advanced weapon systems in each branch. Author Stephen Moss demonstrates an impressive knowledge of military technology and applies it to a plausible alien invasion plot that follows many familiar tropes while giving its own spin on others.

Told from a near omnipresent third-person perspective, Fear the Sky is about the arrival of an alien infiltration unit sent to Earth in preparation for a full-scale invasion that is to come twelve years later. Their job is to infiltrate Earth’s militaries and disable our nuclear deterrent. Their landing capsules are disguised as meteor fragments but their suspicious impact points leaves scientist Neal Danielson wondering if they are more than just space debris. He manages to persuade the scientific adviser to the President to let him and a research team take a closer look at one of the impact sites. Before he and his research team can learn the truth, the alien entity sinks their research vessel near the site of the impact, making it appear as an accident. Danielson and one of his colleagues, Madeline Cavanagh, survive, realizing that the objects were alien vessels and they mean us harm.

The book details the efforts of Danielson, Cavanagh and a small group of talented men and women working to thwart the alien invasion. Lucky for them, one of the aliens that landed on Earth does not intend to carry out his mission. He intends to help the pitifully weak humans prevent their extinction.

The first thing readers will notice is the rich detail and sheer breadth of knowledge brought to bear in this novel. It extends beyond astrophysics into military technology, espionage, geopolitics, and deep sea exploration. As you delve deeper, you feel as if the scenario may actually be plausible. Everything from the alien plan to the human response were well thought-out. I could only find the tiniest of questionable details within the whole story.

Of course, rich detail and exposition is a double-edged sword. The plentiful details weigh down the middle and parts of the ending of the novel. The heavy information is communicated directly by the narrator or in contrived meetings and briefings among the characters that have all the excitement of a Congressional subcommittee hearing. For those big into hard science fiction or technothrillers, you’ll love it. For most others, it will bore you to the point of skimming over several chapters.

The omnipresent narrator saps some of the suspense and drama from the story by jumping from character to character, giving a pretty dry play-by-play of each meeting or conversation. Most of the narration is dry, analytical, appealing to the rational side of the reader but giving very little in the way of raw emotions. Most of the dialogue exchanges are very civil, reasonable, lacking in tension. In contrast, the alien antagonists are pretty nasty, resembling Dark Age warlords. I would’ve preferred a more sophisticated and less stereotypical villain but most readers probably won’t mind.

Overall Fear the Sky has a classic, golden age feel to it, reading a lot like War of the Worlds or Starship Troopers. Some authors still hold to the omnipresent narrator giving plenty of exposition into science, politics, and warfare. Others feel they need to make the aliens bigger, nastier, and weirder to out do their predecessors. Thankfully this author does not attempt that in this novel. Classic science fiction usually had a bit of social commentary, which Fear the Sky is lacking. Having said that, it did compellingly demonstrate the effectiveness of a small but dedicated group. I enjoyed watching them progress in their efforts to thwart the alien threat while large corporations and government bureaucracies, including the US military, struggled. Politicians and ladder-climbers do not fair well in this novel.

It is the first in a series, which means the threat is not extinguished at the end of the novel. Fortunately, it has the proper balance of plot progression and unresolved issues to have readers excited for the sequel. As a work of hard science fiction with significant military elements, it scores pretty high. It is well-researched and plausible. The way the conflict unfolded also had the feel of a spy novel in some chapters, and a technothriller in others, which gives it some broader appeal beyond the hardcore sci-fi readers. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend it for readers who shy away from these subgenres. Suspense, drama, character development, and pacing are all a little weak by general literary standards. But for the right audience, it is an excellent read.

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Dark City

Yesterday, I finally watched the sci-fi cult classic Dark City. I knew it was going to be strange and twisted but was surprised how thought-provoking it was toward the end. The dark, industrial setting and classic noir murder mystery is fairly well done. It won’t make my top ten of all time but it was worth watching.

The movie begins in an old-fashioned hotel room with a man (Rufus Sewell) waking up naked in the bathtub with no memory of who he is or what he is doing in the room. To his shock there is a dead woman in the bedroom with spirals cut into her chest. Terrified, he flees the scene wondering if he committed the murder. His wife, a lounge singer named Emma played by the beautiful Jennifer Connolly, gets a message from a Dr. Schreber, played by Kiefer Sutherland, claiming he has been treating her husband for severe psychological problems. As he struggles to remember his own name, he begins to see there is something wrong with the city and the people in it.

Meanwhile, the police are hot on the trail of a serial killer. The dead woman in the hotel room is victim number six and Murdoch as the prime suspect.

Pretty dark beginning, right? The movie boasts a talented cast but the director and screenwriter were relatively unknown at the time. The screenwriter, Alex Proyas also wrote The Crow, a similar movie aesthetically with dark themes. He directed I,Robot which is different in almost every way. His next directorial credit is Gods of Egypt, due out sometime this year.

The setting is really the most striking part of this movie. It takes place in what looks like an early 20th century industrialized city, with brick buildings placed close together, busy streets, exposed pipes, fire escapes, water towers atop skyscrapers, and a dark horizon. The entire movie takes place at night, which partially explains the title.

The noir plot and style hides a deeper story, that of a powerful group of specters called The Strangers. They are able to put the residents of the city to sleep instantly, alter memory, and manipulate matter by willpower alone. Every hour they make changes to the city and the people inside. They reminded me of a retro-version of the men in black, with pale skin, shaved heads, and a creepy neutral expression at all times.

Guided by the enigmatic Dr. Schreber, Murdoch learns the truth of the dark city. All of their memories are implanted, none are authentic. His childhood growing up in a beach community called Shell Beach, his marriage to Emma, the affair, and the murders, all of it is false.

Why implant such false memories in people? It turns out the whole city is an experiment of the Strangers seeking some discovery within the human condition that will help save their dying race.

In Murdoch’s particular case, the Strangers wanted to see if they implanted the memories of a homicidal serial killer in Murdoch whether he would take on these proclivities and kill again. Only something went wrong. The memories were never implanted and instead he suffers amnesia. Not only that, he has somehow gained their psychokinetic abilities.

The central theme is an examination of human identity and whether it relies solely on memory. Are we a product of our memories and experiences? If all of that could be implanted, could it change who we are? Isn’t there something innate, beyond experience, perhaps a soul? It is a bizarre take on the nature versus nurture debate, only there is no real discussion of genetics, physiology, or a soul. For me, this was the disappointing part of the movie. It leaves it up to the audience to have the deep, philosophical discussion without much help from the characters. The dialogue is straightforward and isn’t particularly thought-provoking. The climax and conclusion of the movie also do little to put the identity theme in focus. Instead, the ending is about Murdoch fighting to break free of the Strangers’ grip, liberating the dark city from their domination.

Murdoch does throw a twist into the identity theme, when he surrenders to the Strangers to save his fake wife Emma. She is not his wife and they have never lived any part of their lives together, yet he still sacrifices himself for her and claims to love her. At the end, when she is reincarnated with new memories, now named Anna, he runs into her again. She asks him to walk with her to Shell Beach from the pier, implying there is an inherent attraction between them beyond memory. Perhaps they are soulmates.

Of course, when someone as beautiful as Jennifer Connolly asks you to walk with her to the beach, you say yes. Call me a cold-hearted cynic, but it is possible that the mutual physical attraction is what allows the new relationship to bloom. Maybe memories or emotional connection doesn’t matter at all. Maybe we are just simple animals seeking out attractive mates. The emotional part works itself out later.

As mentioned above, there is an alternate explanation: namely that Murdoch is entirely shaped by his limited memories, even though he knows they are false. There are shattered images of his childhood, which compel him to create a real Shell Beach. He seeks out Emma, despite their connection being based on lies.

One interpretation of the movie is that it is a retelling of the allegory Plato’s Cave. The people inside the cave are chained to the walls, knowing only darkness and the shadows forming on the walls. Eventually they develop their own beliefs about themselves and existence based on their very limited experience. One man is released and leaves the cave, blinded by the light and the splendor of the world beyond the cave. When he returns to tell the others, they don’t believe him and do no attempt to break free of their chains. He becomes the raving lunatic.

Dark City has such a raving lunatic in the form of Detective Eddie Walenski, who inadvertently witnesses the Strangers in action, and comes to realize the truth. Only, nobody believes him. He is considered insane, which his behavior tends to bear out. John Murdoch is also a man who leaves the cave, only he does not truly attempt to bring enlightenment to the others.

My issue here is Murdoch is victorious and does bring a boon to the residents of the city but most of it is for himself. There is no more hourly naps, memory manipulation, or murders, plus he brings sunlight to the dark city. However, there is no indication that he reveals the truth to anyone, letting them keep their false memories. He creates Shell Beach, and meets Emma’s new incarnation, Anna, with a hint their relationship is rekindled. Perhaps we are meant to assume he will bring enlightenment to dark city later.

The climactic battle was a little cheesy, with the psychokinetic battle between Murdoch and one of the Strangers known as Mr. Hand. They battle atop the city like Neo and Agent Smith would in The Matrix:Revolutions, a few years later.

Overall, the dark, dystopian, noir aesthetic and thought-provoking premise really make the movie worth watching. Unfortunately, the characters themselves will not provide much of the intellectual stimulation, keeping to relatively simple dialogue. The ending also does not really lead to the conclusion of the Cave allegory. Enlightenment must be gained and spread to others, but that never happens in this movie.

I’d have to give it 4 stars.

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Carrier by Anne Tibbets

A dark, disturbing dystopia that is at times very difficult to read. Carrier depicts a horrible future where sexual slavery is widespread and there is little hope. Given the intense drama, dark themes, and horrible elements necessary to write such a book, Anne Tibbets deserves a lot of credit for taking it on. It could not have been easy to write.

Naya is a sex slave, kept in a corporate-owned brothel called the Line. She was sold to the Line on a ten-year contract to payoff someone else’s debts. One day, she learns she is pregnant and will be allowed to leave the Line provided she finds a replacement to take her place. She is completely overwhelmed and gets another shock when she sees what life is like right outside. Beyond the prison-like Line is a totalitarian city-state run by a corporation called Auberge. Somehow, she must find a replacement or some other way to escape and find some type of home to raise her babies (twins).

The premise is horrific and tragic. It is predominantly about the abduction and subjugation of young girls both within the Line itself, or in the impoverished slums outside. Usually this is something that we hear about in third world countries, or in underground brothels managed by the mob in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia. It is a reality of our modern world that we have yet to snuff out. Even in the US, this type of crime takes place, albeit it is much less common. To have it become the basis of a dystopian future, strikes me as deeply pessimistic.

It is unclear whether the novel is meant to draw attention to sex trafficking, or is an attempt to paint a bleak but plausible future society. It works as the former but there are some world-building issues with the latter.

Such a story must’ve been extremely difficult to write, given the heavy, complex emotions involved, such as the extreme psychological trauma from enduring a life of constant rape. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a laundry list of other psychological conditions would almost certainly be common. While the author made a strong attempt to convey them, the trauma wasn’t overwhelming, and therefore did not come across as fully authentic.

Naya was a slave for nearly ten years, starting at age 12. That means a large part of her formative years were spent in a small cell, required to take “appointments” with men nearly all day every day. There is no attempt to train or refine the girls, to fulfill some of the wider array of services (non-sexual) an escort may fulfill. Typically a wealthier clientele would insist on it rather than just a mattress with a beautiful young girl lying on top of it. The Line is as cheap, dirty, and horrible as a brothel can get. Any girl growing up in this situation would almost certainly need years of psychiatric treatment and would be severely maladjusted.

At times Naya is a severely broken woman, but at other times she seems to behave like a regular girl. She seems to know things she shouldn’t, has a wit about her which I doubt she would’ve learned in the Line, and even shows a clever, manipulative side. These traits undermined the authenticity of the character to some extent. Perhaps if she had time to pick up some social skills and adjust on the outside, this would work better but she is free for a mere week or two.

It was also disappointing to see Naya have such limited impact on the plot. She is freed from servitude in the first two chapters. After that, the horrible nightmare of Auberge takes her twisting and turning through the story, while she rarely acts upon on it. In some ways she is indeed strong, but in others she is a more typical damsel in distress.

As for the dystopian setting, it was underdeveloped. An evil corporation takes over and controls a city-state polity, using its immense capital as leverage over the entire populace. They build walls and let trash pile up. Such a society seems incredibly unstable but most of all implausible. Why do they run a cheap brothel? How do they keep the populace in line? Why release Naya, a girl who has never left the Line, to go get her replacement? The novel provides some answers but they are all very unsatisfactory. It is possible these issues are addressed in the sequel.

I also believe the author made a mistake including a love interest. A former sex slave, swooning over her savior, just feels off, especially since most of the takes place only weeks after her release. A longer adjustment period outside the Line, might’ve been more compelling but otherwise, it just didn’t fit with the rest of the story.

This book isn’t really a dystopian novel, in a strict sense, but rather a story of Naya and her escape from slavery. While Naya was a decent character, even compelling at times, she just never felt like an authentic product of her world.

Also note, this book may have a young protagonist but it is not a young adult novel. The content, themes, and feel of this novel is very much adult in nature. As such, I recommend it for adult readers willing to experience a dark, depressing journey.

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Soul Continuum by Simon West-Bulford

Soul Continuum is the second book in an ambitious and thought-provoking series that challenges readers with some heavy metaphysical questions. Perhaps best classified as hard science fiction, it covers several scientific disciplines and theories including computer science, quantum physics, multiverse theory, teleportation, re-spawning, and neuroscience. At the same time, West-Bulford does not bore you to death with technical details or esoteric theories. There is a compelling story as well that will keep you hooked to the end.

Salem Ben has spent eons searching for the truth about the afterlife. He is the last of a civilization that rose from humanity to become immortal and nearly omnipotent. His home is the soul consortium, a vast planet-sized space station floating beyond the edge of the known universe, safe from the violence of the big crunch (the end of the universe) and the eventual big bang. The lives of every person who has ever lived is recorded and can be experienced directly in a simulator called the WOOM. Salem spends his time reliving one recorded life after another, with only an AI named Qod to accompany him. During this long, dull existence he comes across an anomaly in the consortium archives: a mysterious specter named Keitus Vieta. It is an old man who seems to possess unnatural power, infecting the recorded lives, something that should be impossible.

After facing Keitus Vieta in the first novel, a new threat appears in Soul Continuum. The new threat has damaged the universe including the soul consortium and even threatens the life of Salem Ben himself. The new menace, known as Jagannath, seems to be ripping through the fabric of space and time while also having some mysterious connection to Keitus Vieta. Through reliving the most unusual lives in the consortium archives, Salem Ben must learn the nature of the Jagannath in order to stop it.

As you can tell, Soul Continuum is a heavy read. It is a challenge even for hardcore science nerds like myself. As the mystery of the Jagannath unfolds there are some moments where nothing is clear. It was somewhat frustrating in the middle of the book but things become much clearer towards the end. The structure of the novel helps alleviate some the frustration. The struggle to save the consortium is the broader story arc but within it are the four individual lives Salem Ben experiences to learn the truth. The four lives are from four entirely different time periods and involve four entirely different people. In a way, the novel is like four short stories linked together.

The prose is very strong and flows well, even as Salem inhabits four entirely different people from four entirely different eras. The author demonstrates impressive range and descriptive power moving from settings like ancient Babylon to an intergalactic arkship. While the characters within each simulated life are compelling, the core protagonist Salem is not a particularly dynamic character, more of a stoic rationalist. This makes for some pretty dry dialogue between him and Qod, but the topics of conversation are very fascinating.

Salem Ben is essentially cheating death, utilizing technology to keep his body and mind alive for billions of years. The soul consortium represents humanity’s attempt to escape the basic laws of the universe. Some would consider this the ultimate achievement of any being but as you read the series, you see it is an empty triumph. In the end, all of Salem’s people voluntarily chose to die rather than live a meaningless, omnipotent life. Salem, even as an immortal being, is capable of dying and is terrified of it. Instead, he would rather live countless lives in search of an answer his people never found. Even a God feels fear.

There is also a cost to the cheating. Keitus Vieta is the first anomaly in the system after billions of years but his existence is interconnected with the existence of the soul consortium itself. He doesn’t simply appear out of the ether. It is like the universe is trying to re-balance the equation after watching as a vast structure escaped its grasp. Now the Jagannath appears, causing fractures in space-time, fusing different universes, threatening to reorder all creation. The mystery is why it seems that after billions of years of perfect predictability, that reality is suddenly going haywire.

All of this is possible thanks to the Codex, a sort of computer program of infinite prophecies that predicts with perfect precision, all events that are to come, down to the subatomic level. Many people of faith would strongly object that such a thing is possible. Only God knows and would never allow his creations access to such knowledge. Some gnostics and atheists also doubt something of such scale could ever be constructed. There may be no way around Heisenberg’s Uncertainty principle, the name for the fundamental limit on our ability to accurate observe, detect, and predict events. Perhaps Salem Ben and Qod were never meant to have such power and knowledge.

The ending is pretty satisfying but leaves a few questions unanswered. A third novel in the series is soon to come. For a second novel, Soul Continuum is an excellent piece of the overall series but definitely too complicated to stand on its own. Readers need to start with Soul Consortium and prepare to use their brains while reading. Believe me it is worth it in the end. I am eager for the third novel.

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The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi

Many of us purists prefer post-apocalyptic stories the portray realistic nightmare scenarios, sparing no details when it comes to the harsh conditions we may encounter in our future. Paolo Bacigalupi is one of the best examples of a purist post-apocalyptic author. In The Water Knife, Bacigalulpi delivers another post-apocalyptic thriller where the world collapses due to catastrophic climate change. Falling in line with the graphic style of his earlier novels like The Windup Girl, The Water Knife spares none of the gritty details. Unfortunately, this novel comes up short due to some shotty world-building and a blatant political agenda that includes some unbecoming animosity towards certain Americans.

The novel has three POV characters trying to survive in the dying Southwest. Climate change has robbed the region of what little precipitation it received, forcing people out of the region. Those that remain live in a dusty, third world hell where water is the most precious commodity. Angel is an enforcer for Catherine Case, the unofficial ruler of Las Vegas. Lucy Monroe is a journalist from the east covering the violence in Phoenix. Maria is a teenage refugee from Texas, desperate to survive in the slums of Phoenix. The three of them are pulled into a violent struggle for the legal rights to the waters of the Colorado River.

While some of the writing is strong, Bacigalupi relies on unoriginal post-apocalyptic tropes and cliché dialogue. Combined with some shotty world-building, the first third to one half of the book is a difficult trek. There are also several scenes where it feels like the characters are speaking to the reader, not to each other. Most of these issues clear up by the midway point and the second half of the book is actually pretty good. I finished the last 100 pages in one day.

The overbearing political agenda and partisan animosity is the biggest problem with this novel. Bacigalupi takes a one-sided approach to the issue of climate-change, where those on the right side are vindicated and those on the wrong side suffer horribly. Right or wrong, the author comes off as petty. Whether you call it global warming or climate change, most certainly agree it is an important issue. Fiction focused on the climate change issue, also called climate fiction, is a thriving subgenre and can provide the basis for some good stories. Problems arise when authors commit to the agenda more than the story. Also, global warming calamity is the theme of many of Bacigalupi’s books, further diluting the originality of this novel. For the most part, Water Knife is not all that different from The Windup Girl.

Bacigalupi goes out of his way to depict climate change skeptics as barbaric, greedy, and stupid. In the book, the two states hit hardest by climate change are Arizona and Texas, two of the most notorious red states. Oddly, blue California ends up on top, which is puzzling considering what has been in the news of late. California is already mismanaging its water supply now; how am I supposed to accept that they are the water superpower of the future? The story also portrays conservative Texans as maniacs who quickly abandon civilization for violence and brutality. They are the gangsters, killers, pimps, and whores of the future. The religious right is referred to as Merry Perrys, which may be a not so subtle jab at the former governor of Texas. I tried looking it up to see where it comes from but couldn’t find it.

This type of transparent propaganda is not persuasive, and only seeks to affirm the beliefs of readers that already strongly agree with the author. Appealing to the anger and vindictiveness of believers is not a way to advance discourse on the issue.

The world-building is decent and had some really fascinating parts that I wished were better developed. Bacigalupi seems to take the Joker’s worldview in this novel. As the famous Batman villain explains, people are only as good as the world allows them to be. Introduce chaos and anarchy and they will eat each other alive. Here, the Southwestern US devolves into a third world hell, with people turning on one another, widespread violence, subjugation, even slavery. Compassion, civility, and rule of law all vanish.

It seems the states closed their borders and the federal government allowed them to, turning 50 states into 50 semi-independent countries with their own armies. There is also the assumption that we failed to react to the changes in climate and simply sat back while things fell apart. This works if the cataclysm was abrupt. However, I have read no paper or article suggesting climate change would hit rapidly as portrayed in the movie The Day After Tomorrow. More often than not, the crisis is projected as a gradual one with conditions steadily worsening over time.

Okay, enough about climate change, on to other topics:

Those unaccustomed to graphic violence and sexuality will be shocked by certain scenes in the novel. If this were a movie, it would be rated R without hesitation. The action is exciting, especially towards the end. Bacigalupi isn’t the best at writing action, but I’d say he is above average. The emphasis on sexual violence was a little troubling. In one particular scene, it felt as if he was intentionally pushing boundaries, not for the story but to shock the reader. Many readers also will not appreciate the blatant sexist attitude of many of the characters, viewing women as objects. Even female characters like Maria, seem crass on the matter. Maria describes her friend’s job as a “bangbang girl” in the most graphic terms possible with the phrase “peddling her ass” is repeated constantly. It is hard for me to envision a teenage girl using such words of someone who is supposed to be her friend. This is partially explained later but not very convincingly.

Character development is pretty good but might leave many feeling unsatisfied. In particular, Lucy and Maria are difficult to relate to, especially as their personalities become twisted towards the end. Lucy seems to have a death wish and surprising comfort with the horrible violence around her. Maria, someone who has experienced a rough, traumatic upbringing, somehow has a naivety about the world that leads to her stunning loss of innocence. From the first part of the book, I assumed she lost it prior to the beginning of the story.

Best way to describe The Water Knife, is a graphic post-apocalyptic novel undermined by the author’s political agenda. Even without the ideological baggage, the story could’ve been better. I think it all comes down to the reader’s feelings on climate change. Those who feel strongly about the issue will like this book, but if you are neutral or a skeptic you will probably have trouble with it. Not his best work on the topic either. The Windup Girl is a better read IMO.

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Fourth Quarter Update

Well, I hit all my writing goals for 2015! I didn’t keep an exact count but my total output is somewhere around 80,000 words for the year. On top of that, I revised The Fifth World and a couple of my short stories.

So what next?

The biggest goal is to get one or more of my works on the market. Self-publishing is the way I want to go, for creative as well as financial reasons. I don’t want too many chefs in the kitchen. For better or worse, I want to publish my first couple novels and Mek, with some outside feedback of course, but not from someone that has the power to pull the plug on the project if they don’t get what they want. Getting published through the traditional route (literary gent, submissions), can take a while and is extremely tough. There is also the issue sharing royalties with other parties. I don’t like to share things.

The problem with self-publishing is of course money. For most of 2015, Neither I nor my start-up publishing company has had the resources to move forward. Raising money for a start-up can take a lot of time. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a great year myself, so self-funding it wasn’t possible. Editors, cover artists, and other miscellaneous expenses can add up to as much as $5,000, usually more.

For the sake of the project, and my sanity, I’ve decided to submit my latest project, the Mek series, to literary agents to see if there is an opportunity through the traditional route. The new working title of the first set of episodes is Heroes of Coburin. The overall series is probably going to be called Warmek. My Oraibi trilogy will remain with Prescient Sci-Fi, so that one might not be ready for publication until the Spring or Summer of 2016.

Prescient Sci-Fi continues to go through slow and steady growth. We’ve reached out to an increasing number of authors, editors, and reviewers in order to build an informal network to help develop new projects. The blog is stuck with only two contributors and has been only able to put out a couple reviews per month. The Thoughtcrime Podcast is now up to 13 episodes with a modest audience (for now).

As far as writing, I haven’t really decided what I want to do next. Certainly there are more Warmek episodes to write, but I also want a second story or project. There’s been a sci-fi/legal thriller bouncing around in my head but lately I haven’t had the same enthusiasm as I did earlier in the year. There’s also been a genetic engineering story on my mind for years that has begun to take shape but it is another thing that interests me but doesn’t set my hair on fire.

Another possibility is to continue writing short stories and publish those on my own. It would help push me to do some experimentation, writing several different stories with differing themes instead of focusing on one or two BIG projects. There isn’t much money in short stories and lately I’ve moved away from submitting them to e-zines across the internet. Maybe just publishing them for free on ebook and making them available on the websites is the way to go. No sense trying to squeeze a few bucks out of something that will never pay back.

Then there’s all the reading. I’ve read 47 books so far this year and am on my way to hitting my 52 book goal. Next year, the goal will be 54. About 60 percent of the books were science fiction novels, 15 percent of them were nonfiction books on writing. The rest were a combination of psychology, history, philosophy, and literary fiction.

I think for next year I will mix in some more literary or mainstream fiction, perhaps some classics. The majority will be science fiction of course.

So that is the update on all things Jacob Foxx. I wish I had some big news to share or some groundbreaking epiphany but none have come lately. Just trucking along.

J

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Panem Et Circenses

In an era of sequels, prequels, reboots, remakes, and retreads, it is important to recognize and appreciate a truly 21st century story. Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games Trilogy has broken countless records and is one of the few successful franchises without a predecessor. According to Scholastic, over 50 million copies of the trilogy have been sold. The four movies have earned over $2.5 billion in ticket sales worldwide. Catching Fire is the top grossing film based on a sci-fi novel of all time. During the 2012 Olympics, TV ratings for the archery competition skyrocketed.

When the first novel was published in 2007, many must’ve doubted its potential. How could young Americans living in the most prosperous time in human history relate to a story based on a Greek myth about girl fighting for survival in a gladiatorial arena? Most know next to nothing about ancient history or mythology. Yet Collins saw something in the modern world the reminded her of our distant past. She was right.

Collins has cited the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur as the inspiration for her story. After his victory over the Athenians, King Minos of Crete demanded that the defeated city send 10 boys and 10 girls to Crete as tribute every year. The unfortunate children of Athens were sent into the labyrinth, home of the monstrous Minotaur, where they were brutally killed and eaten. Theseus, son of King Aegis of Athens, vowed to killed the Minotaur and end the annual horror and humiliation. He volunteered as tribute and went to Crete where he killed the Minotaur and, according to some versions of the story, killed King Minos as well.

Tribute is a tool of subjugation but also a humiliation. It used as a constant reminder to the vassal states where they stand. In ancient times, children rarely survived to adulthood. To take boys and girls that had managed to survive to adolescence was taking away the hope for a family and a country’s future.

The Romans decided to turn the barbaric practice into a public spectacle. Tens of thousands of Romans watched with glee as slaves and criminals were forced to fight to the death, fed to animals, or made to face their demise in some other horrible way. Citizens were entertained while the enemies and unfortunates of the empire were eliminated.

The myth of King Minos and the Minotaur combined with the Roman Colosseum became the classical inspiration for the dystopian future of Panem and the hunger games. Collins saw the increasing violence and mayhem on television and our growing desensitization to the images. Whether the scenes were from real battlefields or depicted in fictional TV shows, we have gradually become more familiar, even comfortable with violence. Throw in the growing popularity of reality television, and you can see the potential for a modern or near future recreation of the Roman games.

Collins compellingly depicts the devolution from Enlightenment principles of liberalism back to our barbaric past. The leap is not as great as it seems. For most of human history it was an accepted reality that we are not created equal. There were emperors, kings, lords, nobles, knights, and other blue bloods. Then there the “others”: serfs, peasants, prisoners, slaves, and untouchables. Even the wisest men of the era did not seem to have much trouble seeing others as less than human. Having them fight to the death for your amusement wasn’t seen as an appalling crime.

One could easily take The Hunger Games as social commentary. Quentin Tarantino’s romanticizing of violence and death has long been the target of social conservatives as well as the gradual loosening of FCC rules on television. Compare TV shows today to those of the 90s and 80s and you’ll see it. Violence, blood, swearing, sex, and just about everything else that upsets the old folks is coming to viewers in bigger doses.

There is no denying it, social norms when it comes to entertainment have changed dramatically in the past few decades. Imagine a show like Game of Thrones, with its graphic rape scenes, being pitched to HBO in the early 90s. What about South Park? Comedy Central has abandoned many of its censorship practices since the cartoon phenomena became so popular.

Does that mean we are desensitized to the point of watching gladiator games? Are we losing touch with our humanity and, to some extent, reality? The empirical evidence does not support that assertion. Violent crime in the US has been in decline for the past two decades. Measures of human compassion such as charitable donations, government welfare expenditures, and concern over civilian casualties in war all suggest we are as compassionate as ever and still quite sensitive to the frailty of human life.

Something far more powerful is needed to distort reality and break down our enlightenment sensibilities. Panem’s totalitarian government carefully controls society but also provides plenty of comfort and distraction. The phrase “panem et circenses” or bread and circuses, is the idea that the people can be distracted from crimes, atrocities, or a corrupt government. President Snow’s predecessors successfully pacified the Districts but needed to keep the real citizenry of the country happy. The result is two peoples living inside one country. One living in a fantasy world, unable to see the horrific atrocities done to maintain their livelihood. The other, a race of serfs, whose labor goes to the benefit of others.

The Capitol maintains the social structure by keeping the two classes separate. The games is the only time the two classes meet. Katniss witnesses the frivolous nature of the Capitol, the obsession with fashion, aesthetics, food, and all other forms of pleasure remind us a bit of the opulence of our time. Stories of the ridiculous lifestyles of the rich and famous both impress us at times but in times of recession, we become angry and jealous.

Today, the various classes continually intermingle, which can become a source for tension. The Occupy Wall Street Movement and the animosity aimed at the 1 percent is an example of that tension. However, many of the pampered elites do not seem concerned and even exploit the anger and frustration for their own benefit. At the same time, many of them refer to the rest of America as “fly over country.”

In the trilogy, the socioeconomic contrast is clearly evident in the image of Effie Trinket standing next to Katniss at the reaping. One in a plain dress, no makeup, and untreated hair. The other in an bright elaborate dress, an enormous flower in her powdered hair, a face full of makeup, and a mindless smile.

People like Effie Trinket are so divorced from reality, fully immersed in their own frivolous lives, there is little reason to think about what they are seeing on television. Rational thought is discouraged in a society where everything is provided to you, and more. While in the Districts, the dystopia is akin to Nineteen Eighty-Four, inside the Capitol is more like A Brave New World.

Sadly, some of this apathy is evident today. In the latest Presidential election less than 60 percent of eligible voters bothered to show up to vote. Many Americans cannot name important figures such as their own governor, the Speaker of the House, or the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. They can, however, recall who won Dancing with the Stars last season. Most guys can name off the top quarterbacks in the NFL, or thoughtfully discuss the new rules implemented to reduce concussions. Yet most have no idea where Iraq is on a map or can tell you what went wrong when the housing bubble burst.

Even more tragic, many Americans know very little about their rights and struggle to name more than one Amendment within the Bill of Rights. It is easy to take from those ignorance of their own power.

Course, The Hunger Games did not become a young adult fiction sensation because of its social commentary. It has a lot to do with the heroine and protagonist Katniss Everdeen, played brilliantly in the movies by the talented Jennifer Lawrence.

Katniss is the first great 21st century heroine, breaking stereotypes and providing an idol for girls for years to come. While great progress has been made toward gender equality, there are some elements within the culture that are slow to change their ways. This is not to say that they believe women are inferior, only that they enjoy what is familiar, which often includes portrayals of antiquated stereotypes.

Unlike other female characters in speculative fiction, Katniss has a profound impact on the story rather than being a mere spectator. This is a common issue raised by feminists with other supposedly strong female characters. They argue strong female characters are now common but seldom have an impact on the plot. They tend to become spectators, relying on others to achieve victory (examples include Tauriel in The Hobbit, Trinity in The Matrix, and Black Widow in The Avengers 2).

There is no denying Katniss drives the plot in the first two novels. Haymitch and Peeta are significant factors but more often than not, they are the spectators. The third novel has several examples as well of Katniss defying the script to push events, straight to the assassination of President Coin. Katniss is not the first to defy gender stereotypes but she is by far the most successful.

Another reason behind the success of the trilogy is the writing style of Suzanne Collins. The first-person present tense is blended with several chapter-ending cliffhangers, creating an exciting, well-paced experience. The story structure is also compelling. While The Hunger Games is a hero’s journey, it deviates in several important ways. In what was truly a masterful stroke by Collins, Katniss becomes compelling heroine barely 50 pages into the first book. By volunteering to take her sister’s place in the games, she sacrifices herself demonstrating her special inner quality. In contrast, many journeys begin with a call to adventure then follows with a series of trials, delaying the opportunity for the hero to demonstrate their quality.

It is also noteworthy that Katniss possesses traits not common in the protagonists of young adult fiction. She is often cold, abrasive, with a quick temper. In numerous scenes, she struggles to grasp what is happening around her especially when it comes to politics. She can be tricked and makes several mistakes, which require her to lean on her allies like Haymitch, Peeta, or Gale.

Young adult fiction also loves to include a romantic pursuit that runs parallel to the central conflict of the story. The two external goals are commingled. The hero must save the kingdom to win over the princess. It is also common in mainstream fiction to have a romantic and non-romantic struggle run parallel throughout the story.

The Hunger Games cleverly turns the formula on its head. On-camera, the first games end with the typical storybook ending with Katniss and Peeta winning the games and getting to be together. Off-camera this is not the case at all. Katniss’s primary goal is survival but it is obstructed by her realization she cannot kill Peeta. When the time comes, she refuses to kill him and instead chooses suicide. In the end, Peeta believes the move was a calculated attempt to defy the Capitol rather than a sacrifice motivated by love. It is more of a Shakespearian tragedy than a love story.

Unfortunately, Mockingjay presents a more conventional love triangle as the secondary conflict taking place. However, The Hunger Games version of this eye-rolling dramatic situation is much more bearable. Katniss’s decision is not a prominent factor in the plot, and in the end the choice is not made by her.

The best way to understand the importance of this distinction is to compare it to the love triangle in Twilight.

Bella Swann is just a regular girl trying to cope with living in a new town and going to a new school. She develops a crush on a hot guy who just so happens to have a serious crush on her and her special blood. Then comes another hot guy, this one cast into the friendzone, who also develops a mysterious love and devotion to her. Her choice between the two suitors dominates the story, until she is placed in the old fashioned damsel in distress situation giving them each an opportunity to prove their devotion to her.

In one story, the protagonist must choose between survival and killing her love interest. In the other, the protagonist sits around and waits for two gorgeous guys to save her life, then go through the just awful process of choosing to be with one over the other. Life is tough, isn’t it.

Rather than wait to be saved or mull over her options, Katniss is preoccupied with her own survival and saving Peeta. True to her character, Katniss stays focused on survival and protecting her family, not her love life. By keeping it in a secondary position, the trilogy avoids chasing away millions of readers and movie goers who don’t want to watch another chick flick disguised as science fiction.

The climactic ending to the trilogy is filled with tragedy as well as victory. The mockingjay is torn down as a traitor for killing President Coin, destroying the propaganda symbol the rebels used to inspire the Districts. She is able to go home and build a life with Peeta, only it will be without her beloved sister Primrose. It isn’t your typical Hollywood happy ending, whether as a war movie or a love story.

Indeed, The Hunger Games has made its mark on American culture. For science fiction, it was desperately needed. The male-dominated genre has desperately needed a new story with a truly great heroine. In terms of dystopian fiction, Panem is not particularly innovative and will never be compared to great works like Nineteen Eighty-Four or Brave New World. Still, it does more than hold its own against its contemporaries. More importantly, the trilogy challenged many of the conventions of young adult fiction, presenting numerous adult themes in a way that connect with younger readers.

The Hunger Games has set a new standard, one that all future works will be held to.

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Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

Nominated for four major speculative fiction awards (Hugo, Nebula, Locus, John W. Campbell) and winner of one (Hugo Award for Best Novel of 2015), Three-Body Problem is a truly remarkable work in certain aspects, deserving of the attention it has received. Cixin Liu’s novel is a strong example of hard science fiction with fascinating depictions of particle physics, radio astronomy, nanotechnology, and others.

While the first 330 pages are compelling, the last 50 pages mysteriously descends into straight up infodumping. The total abandonment of the narrative results in an unsatisfying, nearly fatal ending.

The novel spans numerous decades and takes place largely in China from the height of the Cultural Revolution to today. Probably one of the greatest human tragedies no one knows about, the Cultural Revolution destroyed millions of lives in what was a bizarre civil war between Communist factions. It wasn’t a cultural revolution so much as a cultural genocide. The events within the book along with the fundamentally tragic experience of living in a totalitarian state shape the cold, cynical attitudes of the characters.

The two main characters are scientists who notice several strange phenomena somehow connected to an online game called the Three-Body Problem. One of them, Wang Miao, begins to suspect a vast conspiracy to undermine scientific research, driving some scientists to suicide. He learns of a secret society, which seems to hold the key to the bizarre phenomena and a small group of government officials desiring to stop them.

I loved reading of the unique experiences of Chinese scientists in the 20th century and how they contrast with those from the west. Most Western writers and intellectuals of the time knew almost nothing about China or the Soviet Union, and could only depict what they believed were the experiences within these oppressed societies. The cultural differences are also evident in The Three-Body Problem. Due to the familiar feeling of utter powerlessness and hopelessness in a Communist society, many of the scientists do not react with awe at the incredible scientific innovations and miraculous phenomena going on around them. Their lack of faith in human nature led to feelings of dread at the things to come.

In fact, there is little to no emotional reactions to anything and virtually no internal monologue. One character concludes she wants to help destroy the Earth in an instant, without any real reflection or thought. You never get to understand their reasoning or get a glimpse as to their inner thoughts. Everything just happens.

While The Three-Body Problem largely takes place in the late 20th, early 21st century, the series clearly intends to go into the future. The best way to describe it is, a hard science fiction thriller similar to a Michael Crichton novel.

The discussions on radio astronomy, particle physics, and other technical topics are actually interesting and well explained. I am no expert but was able to follow the explanations easy. Cixin also kept the exposition squarely focused on what was relevant to the story, with limited infodumping (except for the last 50 pages). The online game element was also a powerful element as well. The metaphorical depictions of real world scientific challenges within the game were awesome and made the book worth reading by itself.

I was enjoying it all the way up to about page 340. There, Cixin abandons the narrative entirely and enters into a 40 page subplot loaded with infodumping, diving deep into theoretical particle physics. The story went from interesting and plausible to ridiculous, shattering suspension of disbelief as well as boring me to death.

I was left rolling my eyes wondering “if all this is possible, then there are no rules, it might as well be magic.” For those with backgrounds in theoretical physics, the ending might be an interesting thought experiment but for me it read like a term paper.

The beginning and middle of The Three-Body Problem deserved consideration for genre awards, as well as the unique perspective of Cixin Liu. There isn’t much Chinese science fiction on the shelves. At the same time the ending is severely flawed and will disappoint many. Those with a background in physics and radio astronomy may find the ending interesting but for most it will be painfully dull.

It is encouraging to see works from the People’s Republic of China break through but there were other novels more deserving of the Best Novel award. Awards should be given based on merit not on agendas, and certainly should not be used to make political statements as many feared would happen with the Hugos earlier this year.

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