I don’t know about you, but I find that there is always a hole in my knowledge no matter how complete I think it might be. There’s always more to learn. Such was the case when I realized that one of the more important modern science fiction authors had somehow slipped through the cracks of my reading education – Octavia Butler. So, I picked up a copy of Seed to Harvest, which is a compilation of four of the books in her Patternist series. So far, I’ve only read the first, Wild Seed, and it’s apparent to me that the series needs to be read in its entirety before I can express an opinion.
I’m working on a short story that I plan to send to Odyssey as part of my pre-workshop homework. The basic premise of the story is a man who has power, but as a consequence, his sensations, physical and emotional, are dulled. He must decide whether the power is worth the cost.
I really enjoyed the first season of “The Walking Dead” on AMC. Yeah, it’s a zombie story, but the zombies are just part of the setting. The real story is about how people and relationships change and fall apart in this new world. It’s about the people. There was some meat to this story.
But, I’ve really been let down by the second season so far. The problem isn’t that they haven’t changed the characters, it’s about the way they’ve changed them. There is not a single character that I find myself rooting for or wondering what they will do next. I dislike them all on various levels. Shane is obviously meant to be disliked, but Rick is almost as unlikeable. As much as I find Shane despicable, I agree with him when it comes to Rick. This guy is not a leader. I wouldn’t want my life depending on him. Daryl? Make up your mind. Do you want to be the pissed-off loner or the dark hero. Why doesn’t he just leave these people behind? He obviously doesn’t need them. Glenn seems to be the one that the writers are most trying to make likeable, but for me a guy who spends all his time lurking in the house with the women and being all emo about someone telling him that she loves him or because he froze when it came to killing someone, is not the kind of guy I find myself rooting for.
You know there’s a problem when you even find yourself rooting that the one child on the show is the next one to get eaten by the zombies.
I’m in! I’m in! I’m in!
*Happy dance*
I just got the word that I’ve been accepted to Odyssey. I’m so psyched!
Is it June yet?
I read George R. R. Martin’s and Patrick Rothfuss’ latest books and loved every minute of them. Sure, in the back of my mind I was aware that they both seemed to have lost their plot focus and were drifting/idling, but who cares? They can both tell a story like nobody’s business. They could write about filling out tax forms and I wouldn’t be able to put it down. I’m all about the storytelling.