Only two more episodes left!
Superluminary, Episode 53, Death of the Undead, is posted on Patreon:
Episode 53 Death of the Undead
In this exciting episode, an imperial throne comes to an end, a space princess is rescued and receives an unexpected proposal, and the fates of world-fleets, undead neutron suns, and hypergiant stars are determined by a miracle of superscience.
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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2 proved that Hollywood can still make good, fun, spectacular, adventure story blockbusters if they put their minds to it.
The sequel does not disappoint nor betray the original, as so many sequels do. Good sequels concentrate on character development, and good space opera will blow up at least one planet in the coarse of the proceedings. This film does both. Baby Groot is worth the ticket price alone.
Fans of the original will recognize a cameo appearance by the first Guardians of the Galaxy, of which Yondu was a member. Fans will also not be surprised when a certain villain in the comics turns out to be a villain here.
We discover the truth behind Starlord’s father and the truth behind why Groot does not like hats.
The dialog is witty, the action is cosmic, the scenes of beauty are breathtaking,the action scenes will leave you breathless, the touching moments will make you catch your breath. The raccoon is as hardcore as a platoon of marines. What more do you need to know?
One of the central ideas, so basic that it forms the foundation of all Western thought not just in political philosophy but in nearly all topics, is the idea of the dignity of man. So much so that even the worldviews acting most dramatically to rob and undermine the notion of the dignity of man do so in the name of some notion like equality, justice, or evenhandedness which are all notions that spring from this idea and make no sense outside of it.
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A reader brings this interesting article to my attention:
This is roughly typical for science reporting in popular organs: the interesting (to me, at least) part of the story is left out, that is, scientific speculation about the possible natural causes of these high energy bursts from space. Instead the writer dwells on the more lurid and science fictional possibility of the energy bursts being caused by discharges of the empire’s Death Star destroying rebel planets.
I confess to being amused by the final sentence in the article: “Scientists estimate that the odds of humanity being the only civilization in the universe are less than one chance in about 10 billion trillion.”
By that logic, if only one in a trillion of those alien civilizations were ruled by a beautiful but evil space princess, then the number of alien civilizations ruled by beautiful but evil alien space princesses in the universe is over ten billion!
Superluminary, Episode 52, The First Lord of Creation, is posted on Patreon:
Episode 52 The First Lord of Creation
In this exciting episode, a dead voice speaks, and many hidden things are brought to light: the dark secrets of the past, and the origins of the enemy. Aeneas hears a dying man’s last confession.
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The signature peculiarity of the modern age that one must explain the obvious to the oblivious.
One must explain the self-evident to audiences to whom evidence has no persuasive power. One must point out the paradox of any belief that blithely contradicts itself to audience to whom self-contradiction forms no obvious impediment to belief.
One must then explain why an untrue statement cannot be just as true as a true one to an audience whose majority claims truth is optional, or insignificant. And, finally, one must explain why one ought not to deceive others by saying false things, or to deceive oneself by believing them, to an audience that is offended by the very notion of honesty.
Surely in every prior generation there were stubborn students, young children, and madmen unable to comprehend the differences between true and false, logical and illogical, virtuous and vicious.
But if there were any in any prior generation preaching and teaching that these distinctions were insignificant or incomprehensible or both, no record has survived.
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Doris Sutherland has a surprisingly balanced and fair description of the events surrounding the Sad Puppies kerfuffle and the Hugo award, followed by several articles where she reviews all the nominees in the categories.
http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2016/02/03/2014-hugos-versus-2015-sad-puppies-novellas/
Since my readers did me the honor of nominating a historically high number of my works into the categories, there are more reviews of my work gathered there than you are likely to find in any other place. And, again, the criticisms are surprisingly balanced and fair.
Not entirely fair, mind you.
But a writer who forgets to be awed and grateful that any reader whatever is reading his works, especially one reading with a close enough attention to make trenchant comments about them, should forget about being a writer. I trust my remarks will be taken in the spirit they are intended, not as a criticism of a critic, which is not my place, but as a gentle reminder of forgotten books or forgotten facts which, if called to mind, would allow the candid critic to avoid unintentional unfairness.
When speaking of One Bright Star to Guide Them, Miss Sutherland has this to say:
I rather suspect that it [One Bright Star] was intended as a response to the criticism made by Philip Pullman and others that the Narnia books, particularly The Last Battle, push an infantilised worldview by equating the afterlife with childhood make-believe.
The critic here is wise enough to label her speculations as such. In fact, the original short story was written circa 1985, long before Philip Pullman gained enough fame for yours truly to be aware of him or any of his criticisms.
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This is the first time in fifty weeks I have missed my deadline. I ask the forgiveness of my patient patrons. The exciting and thrilling adventures of Aeneas Tell, Last Emperor of Man, continue!
Superluminary, Episode 51, The Betrayer Unmasked, is posted on Patreon:
Episode 51 The Betrayer Unmasked
In this exciting episode, the Betrayer hunts for Aeneas in the dark, glorying his murders and enormities, and the young emperor is helpless.
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