Month: January 2016

by

“Doublesight” review

Here’s my Amazon review of Terry Persun’s fantasy novel, “Doublesight”:

 

Terry Persun’s 2013 fantasy novel, which kicked off a series of books and similar adventures, offers a rich tapestry for a dangerous world. We enter a world, the Great Land , caught between ages. In the past, the shape shifting doublesight and humans (or singlesight) coexisted peacefully (until fear – based wars wrecked almost everything). The shaky future most everyone fears could be filled with rampant bloodshed and abomination. In this time of uncertainty, we meet Zimp, Brok, Lankgor and Raik, appointed heroes from disparate clans who must travel to gain information about the terrible rumors.

Doublesight novel in my leather chair
The journey motif, of course, works well in a land of bandits and mistrust. One of the places Persun’s talent really shines is the sense of isolation and differentness each of the heroes feels. Motivations are clouded by each character’s own desires and faults. They don’t particularly like each other, at the start. Another key component is the moral ambiguity at work through out the story. These heroes literally don’t know, sometimes, who they should be fighting or fighting for. They don’t know if it’s okay to kill humans in self defense, and if that’s extended to other doublesight who would conspire to bring about the end of all. The only rules seem to be self-imposed, handed down from generations past and stemming from a mythology none of the characters was around to witness. They’re proud of their animal sides (which, interestingly, also takes over their minds during the so-called shift) but they also loathe themselves for it, just as they despise witnessing the “intimate” act of another person’s shifting. Persun doesn’t shy away from some of the harshness or the gruesome potential of such a world (‘abomination’ shows up a few times). Though the end of this book really marks only the start of a larger journey and conflict, it has a satisfying climax filled with hope. I’m reaching for the next one already.

You can buy it here.

 

by

A Quick Farewell

Like countless people, I was shocked this morning to learn of the passing of actor Alan Rickman. Cancer claims another one, at the age of just 69.

I suppose there’s a lot of great things I could say about Mr. Rickman, but I’ll be brief. I never got to meet him, of course, but I think he’s like one of those old family friends I would’ve been happy to have over for Christmas dinner and such.

I recall seeing him in his screen debut, 1988’s “Die Hard”, and thinking, Boy, that guy is good! I haven’t seen even half his work (more stage than anything) but he always, consistently delivered a believable character. Even when he played a villain (headlines link him predominantly with Professor Severus Snape of the “Harry Potter” films) you wanted to root for him because his part was so convincing and charming. Everything felt comfortable with Mr. Rickman in it.

So, while my kids would recognize him as Potter’s nemesis Snape or Alexander Dane in “Galaxy Quest” I’ll go check out his other works.

It kind of feels like I’ve lost a friend today.

by

Doublesight Story

Per author Terry Persun’s suggestion, I just published this story, The Song of Jemma, in his Kindle Worlds Doublesight section.

 

For her 50th birthday, the barren spinster Jemma is sent by the Seer to go work in Dyson’s Lair, a frightening carnival. After reluctantly working as a seamstress on the animal train bound for the carnival, she arrives and soon meets the “imprisoned” Weela and the black panther she’s training, Nala. Dyson’s Lair is not for the faint of heart–a place of circus acts and life-or-death contests. And there’s more to Jemma’s new friends than meets the eye. After a warning from an enigmatic traveler, Jemma learns her new friends are doublesight, people who can morph into the animal of their clanspeople. And they’re in trouble.

Can Jemma make the right choice before it’s too late?

 

by

1-6-1-6 Thoughts

Today could’ve been like any other Wednesday. Paying the bills at the desk I still haven’t organized to optimum efficiency, trying to triage my to-dos before it was time to pick up my daughter from school, etc. But a strange thought occurred to me as I signed checks to American Express and Comcast, listening to Alice In Chains. I dated my checks, of course, as 1/6/16. Like any other odd date, 1-6-1-6. But I won’t be around to see another 1-6-1-6. Will I?

I suppose I could date something British-style on June 1st and come up with the same number, but that’s cheating when I have no reason to cheat. Truth be told, I was only 24 when 11/19/99 happened. I’m not a numerologist (though I like numbers) and I’m not overly suspicious. As mortality was even further away then, I took no notice of the date except that it was odd. Literally, the last date with all odd numbers that any of us would see (under the current-era system we have).

Calendar showing 1/6/16 with 'Epiphany' inadvertantly marked on the date

So, circling back to my point about today…will this be the last 1-6-1-6 I see? It’s impossible to know, just as it’s impossible to know if I’ll be alive on 1/7/17. But, like most writers, I’m less concerned with what is impossible.

Looking forward

On 1/6/2116, I’ll be 140. And about seven months. Hmm. Even for one of those nifty tortoises, that is friggin’ ancient. ‘Overus hillus supremus,’ Wily Coyote might say. Impossible? Maybe not. Isn’t the oldest person in the world in their 120s? There are still a number of people who can claim they were born when Roosevelt—Teddy, that is—was in the White House. Surely someone’s going to give Yoda a run for his money.

So what the heck will the world look like in a hundred years? I’ll go out on a limb and toss out some loose predictions. Some runner will have cracked the 3-minute mile (in a contest that captivates the globe). It’s going to happen, drawing innumerable comparisons to Roger Bannister’s 4-minute milestone. We’ll have people on Mars (retirement communities?) but won’t have light-speed engines, yet. My interpretation of Sagan and Roddenberry is that our society won’t be ready for the responsibility, anyway. If you can check the box for ‘Mass murder and war’ you can’t check the box for ‘Plays nice with extraterrestrials.’ Mutually exclusive.

Speaking of extra-terrestrials…nah, I don’t want to go down that road.

Star Trek-style transporters? Don’t think so. I wouldn’t take one, anyway. The idea of having one-third of my particles accidentally microwaved to Io (Jupiter’s volcanic moon) doesn’t appeal to me. It doesn’t call to mind a pretty picture of the other two-thirds of me arriving somewhere else, either.

Besides, if we can deconstruct matter and reconstruct it anywhere else, they’d better be using it to feed hungry people. So, Apple and Google, be warned: The corporate-responsibility eye is fixed on you even now.

The U.S.

Speaking of the United States, will we as a country still be around? I think so. I wouldn’t be shocked (or appalled) if we’d ‘ceded’ the Republic of Texas (and a bizarre quasi-satellite chunk to the north, R of T but not Texas). The possibilities are mostly humorous. Maybe Austin and Houston remain U.S. territories.

Self-driving hover cars? Yup. Damned expensive, too. But it means there will be an entire population “stuck” on the ground, happy to walk, run and bike in peace. Fuel cells will be the norm, which is great for that whole pollution problem. Though I have a feeling some botanists will determine some trees as better atmosphere-cleaners than others, so we’ll have basically four kinds of trees left.

Laser guns? Think we already have them, but DARPA doesn’t want us to know.

Iron Man suits? Think so. (See item above about mass murder and war. Would the real Tony Stark please step up to the podium?)

Circling back

So, back to me. Justin Edison at 140. It’s not going to improve my looks, for sure. Fake body, head in a glass jar? Could this longevity be achieved by less exposure to the sun (supposedly the cause of much aging)? Snickers from around the room since I live in Seattle. Less sun, bwah-ha-ha. (Truth be told, it’s 42 degrees and quite gray out there, so, yeah.) If such solarphobia is put into action, does that mean life aboard an orbital retirement center, a la Sagan? Would I want that–life at 10,560,000 feet? Not sure. I’m fond of the gravity we have now. Meals and bathroom runs are easier.

More importantly, would I want to be alive at 140? Aye, there’s the rub. As my mother-in-law is fond of reminding me, the older you get, the more friends you lose. That’s not just a senior citizen gripe, that’s legitimate. The longer we live, the higher our chances of coming down with (or experiencing) cancer, death by car accident, stroke, and so on. Without trying to sound too cynical, our robust American corporations are far more interested in smartphone advances than they are in squashing leukemia or breast cancer. Appalling but true. Maybe if they could brand it in some way: Ultra-tomoxa-slasher (sponsored by Apple’s iPhone 17L), the leukemia killer. Hmm.

But I digress. What are the chances that my wife and two kids will be alive when I’m 140. Like most any parent, I can’t imagine outliving either of my children (though, sadly, it happens all the time). C will have to be 110 and E 108. So now we’re talking three people (four with Luanne) who have to beat a lot of odds, on (or near) a planet with about 13 billion other souls, with large percentages of them clambering for food, energy, enjoyable space (that super-frozen vacuum area doesn’t count). So, I’m not saying the planet’s going to devolve into Soylent Green conditions, but it won’t all be pretty. Unless Humankind, as we know it, starts to mature faster than we age.

Guess there’s only one way to find out.