Science Fiction and Fantasy

I had an interesting conversation with a patient recently. I guess the topic turned a bit friendly when he was satisfied with my explanations of the disease process and treatment.

Basically he said that he was giving a piece of unsolicited advice, that I should look towards writing a book because he apparently enjoyed the way I conducted my narrative, that I was able to  hold his attention unlike the stereotypical doctor dealing out scientific jargon not normally understandable to the lay person.

I thanked the dude for his compliments, but it really got me thinking... Could I really transition into writing an actual full-fledged narrative?

I mean, it wasn't for lack of trying. I recall sometime in grade school when I first set out to write my own science fiction novel (since I was still on a high from reading all the Robotech novels from my collection), but this project fell short because (in hindsight) I really didn't have a concrete story to build around. I thought that I had shelved that idea for good, until now.

Structure. That is the one thing great stories have which I didn't prepare for. We learn in school about how stories  are made, about the different parts and how the narrative should flow together, but since that just seemed like a random concept, it never occurred to me that I needed to apply it to my own work.

AS you can see, most of the stuff I write here on this blog are pretty much free-flowing. I just pluck the thoughts from my stream of consciousness and hope that the thought will be cohesive enough for my readers (or even myself in the future) to understand.

To be honest, the idea of making a structured story now kinda intrigues and excites me. The fact that I would need to craft a dramatis personae with their own backstories that would provide a logical flow to their actions has piqued my interest..

 I had been reading my way through the Dune novels since I passed the diplomate exams and is my constant activity during clinic downtimes, but to tell you quite frankly, it has lately become a struggle to keep myself engaged, since the latter original Dune novels dwell a lot more on political intrigue and the inner workings of a prescient mind. 

This entry also has "Fantasy" in the title for good reason. I have recently come across a D&D-based story entitled the Tale of an Industrious Rogue, which basically details an entire Dungeouns and Dragons tabletop campaign conducted by a flexible and creative Dungeon Master (DM) and played by an equally creative bunch of players controlling the colorful and devious characters that serve as their in-game alter-egos. This story has renewed my interest in old-school tabletop RPGs (I used to play the Sci-Fi equivalent of D&D called Star Frontiers which was also made by TSR, the company behind Dungeons and Dragons). I realize that this would present a set of challenges, since the people I would normally play with (the BNO guys) ave much difficulty organizing our nights out, much less a long term campaign requiring multiple sessions. The magic of the internet offers some promise however, especially with the advent of videoconferencing. All we would have to do is work out who controls the dice so that there would be no accusations of cheating. Hehe.

Seriously though, I think I am yearning for a return to the good old days, when adventure games were driven more by imagination and creativity than visuals and gimmicks. We'll just see what comes up. ;)

This is what happens when you don't have wifi and have gotten tired ofyour offline games..

I find it really sad that there are only a handful of iPad games that are really worthwhile. I mean, one can only play so much Zombie Tsunami or CSR Racing before his mind yearns for something new a d different. I used to have that with SimCity. It was a well-structured time sink of a game with an acceptable level of complexity and just the right amount of the building time element to keep you coming back for more, especially since its fre and plays offline. But I digress..

The point of this post is one of those "Favorite Lists" which I will make up on the fly as I go along. So here goes..

*WARNING: an accepteble level of geekiness may be required to comprehend what I'm gonna be writing about..

1. Favorite Autobot - Wheeljack

2. Favorite Decepticon - Soundwave (everyone loves Soundwave!)

3. Favorite Gestalt - Bruticus (even though he has a soft spot in the back)

4. Favorite Anime (all-time) - Taiho Shichauzo (its the first one that I religiously watched from start to finish on TV, and was fanboying so much that I was inspired to write my own Episode synopses before there was wikpedia))

5. Favorite Saiyan - Vegeta

6. Favorite Dragonball Villain - Cell

7. Favorite Seirin player - Junpei Hyuga 

8. Favorite member of the Generation of Miracles - Aomine

9. Favorite Serin opponent (team) - Kaijo

10. Favorite Spirit Detective (YYH) - Yusuke

11. Favorite Shohoku player - Kaede Rukawa

12. Favorite SlamDunk opponent (team) - Shoyo

13. Favorite SlamDunk opponent (player) - Akari Sendoh

14. Favorite Giant Robot (animated) - Voltron (Lions)

15. Favorite Voltron Lion - Red

16. Favorite Giant Robot (Live action) - Mask Robot (Maskman)

17. Favorite GI Joe - Sgt. Slaughter :P

18. Favorite COBRA - Cobra B.A.T.

19. Favorite Visionary (Good or Evil) - Witterquick

20. Facvorite Centurion - Max Ray

21. Favorite Thundercat - Panthro (he drives the friggin' Thundertank!)

Trese Quatro

I surprised myself the other day. 

I attended my first-ever book launching event, and for a Pinoy graphic novel at that!

This would strike people who know me as being highly unusual because 1) I don't go to book launchings, and 2) I don't really buy graphic novels.

But Trese was different..

I made a review about a year ago which featured this locally-made comic book which I never heard of before. It was about this female "supernatural detective" who dealt with mythological beings and creatures from Philippine folklore.

Curious as I was then, I sought it out. I found the website, , read the first story (which was available online for free), and I was instantly hooked.

Three graphic novel purchases later, I was just browsing the web casually when I found out that the fourth installment was finally being launched!! And in a nearby mall at that!! I thanked my lucky stars that I was free on that day and summoned my inner geek as I set out to go where I had never gone before!

I had been waiting for book 4 to come out ever since I had wolfed down the first 3 books in a very short sitting. Hungry for more, I waited and waited. Speculations had the release pegged earlier during May this year. When that rolled by, I have to admit that I was a bit let down, and eventually forgot about my fervent waiting, but I digress

KaJO Baldisimo and Budjette Tan, the creative geniuses behind Trese

(pics from the event itself are from the NBS Facebook page)

The event was held at the mezzanine level of the NBS Bestsellers bookstore in Robinsons Galeria, and I must admit that I was a bit surprised at the impressive turnout..

Ok, so maybe that was an understatement.. the place was PACKED!

Comic enthusiasts from all over the Metro seemed to have gathered for the unveiling of this newest installment in the chronicles of Alexandra Trese. From what I could see and hear, there were people from all walks of life, but probably a great majority were the comic book geeks, the artsy types, and members of the Pinoy Komiks community.

I actually felt a little bit out of place since it seemed as though almost everyone there knew everybody else (what with seeing each other during comic conventions and whatnot), but my inner fanboy prevailed and I patiently waited for the signing sessions. After the usual interview, open forum, and publicity shots for the media, it was announced that people can begin lining up for the autograph signing.

Before I forget, with every purchase of book 4, you receive a raffle coupon which gave you a chance to be the lucky winner of a Trese-themed iPad! Whoa!!

*drool*

Man, you really have to have a lot of patience when you line up for things like this. I haven't stood in line for this long since the first time I enrolled for college! :P But everything was cool when my turn came to face the creators of Trese.

..and as an added treat, out of all the people who came to have their books autographed, I (standing in the grey shirt) was the one lucky enough to be photographed by the NBS staff having my books signed!

I wasn't exactly bursting like a little fanboy when I met the guys. I composed myself and told them they made excellent work and that I was looking forward to the fifth installment. :D

My first ever autographed comics.. Man, I'm such a geek.. but at least I'm a happy geek! :P

Well, that was a pleasant experience. You could really feel that the guys were grateful that you bought and support their comic, and I intend to keep on doing just that.

 And then there were Four..

After getting my stuff signed (I just realized that it must be really boring as an author to sit there for hours and sign book after book), I headed straight home since my task was complete. I felt like a total fanboy but I guess it was worth it.

Trese 4 came with a glossy dust jacket with exclusive art.

Whe I got home to study (and later read) my swag, most noticable was the considerable cover art on the book jacket shown above. I guess this is one way of giving back to all Trese's fans that have been following her since she first came out on print.

*you can follow @AlexandraTrese on Twitter, and also @Budjette Tan

Trese

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Comics & Graphic Novels
Author:	Budjette Tan & Kajo Baldisimo

I just HAVE to share this with someone..

While I was browsing the web, I managed to stumble upon this website (http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/) which had a few stories available online for free and began reading what appeared to be an interesting locally-made comic based on Philippine folklore..

I was hooked after just a few panels of the first story..

It chronicles the adventures of one Alexandra Trese, who is a paranormal investigator contacted by the police whenever "crime takes a turn for the weird".

The various cases shown in these books portray the protagonist tackling a wide assortment of characters from Philippine mythology like dwendes, tikbalangs, aswangs, etc. They also showcase a range of possibilities as to how these creatures of the dark could be roaming the streets of modern-day Manila hidden away in plain sight.

Tan's excellent writing paired off with appropriately stylized artwork by Baldisimo makes Trese a very interesting read, and a worthwhile series to collect.

2012

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Action & Adventure

It my seem a little weird, but I'm a fan ofapocalypse-themed movies. It's not because I have this weird sadistic streak which wants to see everyone killed off, but rather I find myself fascinated by the struggle to save humanity, to protect our way of life, and how people would eventually start anew (although this last one isn't usually shown at all before the movie ends).

*SPOILERS AHEAD

Keeping up with all the hype surrounding the apocalyptic prediction of the Mayan calendar which puts 2012 as "the year" in which a great cataclysmic event would destroy the world as we know it, Columbia Pictures gives us the creatively titled "2012", a film built around the premise that a solar event of massive proportions would cause the Earth to erupt in chaos.

For this review, I won't go into charcters and their development since these seem to be of little consequence in a story as grand as this, so forgive me. :P Besides, when I sat down and thought about it, the story would have gone this way anyways.

The concept is intriguing, if not somewhat silly. A huge solar flare is released from the sun's surface. Normally, solar flares would throw a harmless amount of subatomic particles like neutrinos our way. Since the solar flare in question is said to be massive, they are numerous enough to cause a physical reaction. In this case, they are heating up the Earth's core! THis is where it starts to make sense.. With the core heating up, the layers beneath the crust heat up as well, becoming more fluid and thereby destabilizing the crust. This results in massive seismic activity around the globe, giving rise to super-volcanoes, causing numerous powerful earthquakes, and effectively fissuring the Earth like a clay pot on a really-really hot day. :P The fun dosen't stop there, as plate tectonics also involve the oceans, triggering MASSIVE tidal waves that swallows up continents whole. Another interesting take on the whole thing was the shifting of the earth's magnetic fields, causing the south pole to be located in.. Wisconsin? :P

Upon recieving this alarming news of what was to come, the nations of the world begin a top secret project to save humankind (or at least a small portion of it) before its too late. A select number of individuals are taken into these giant "arks", which unfortunately were not spaceships as I previously thought (boo!). These arks would enable the last vestiges of humanity who are safely aboard to ride out the worldwide tidal waves when they hit. Nestled deep in the Himalayas, the arks would be relatively safe from the crust going loco and would only have to contend with the massive amounts of water coming afterwards. Oh, did I mention that they would be taking in animals too? Coz you can't have an Ark without animals, you dig? :P

The selection of people who would come aboard and save their asses was pretty obvious. The would get the best and the brightest that humanity would have to offer, to ensure that the best genes would survive (?). Obviously, the ultra-rich would be welcome aboard as well, after paying a hefty sum (1 million Euros/pax if I remember the movie right). I admire the realism of the movie in this regard. I had a fleeting thought that a lottery would have been a much fairer way to determine who lives and dies, but announcing a lottery would be tantamount to dooming the entire race. Going public abould the impending disaster with the dire news that there are only very limited seats available for survival would cause widespread panic, massive unrest and worldwide anarchy since humans would naturally put their own survival first. Harsh words indeed, but if the riots did happen and conflicts did escalate, nobody might make it to the arks alive.. or maybe a few douchebags who were able to forcibly take control and save their asses. Makes you wonder what kind of good post-apocalyptic society would spring forth from that, huh?

Things go a bit awry when the process of the core heating up goes faster than expected. The call for evacuation is sent out and the "chosen ones" make a mad scamble towards the mountains. The people are loaded into the ships, just as the tidal waves come forth over the FREAKIN' HIMALAYAS! After surviving the initial impact (which the arks were supposedly built to withstand), I would assume that they went about aimlessly while waiting for the waters to go down. Finally, after a couple of months, they are able to unseal the hatches as they set sail to repopulate the Earth with Africa as their starting point as the entire African continent had risen thousands of feet since the disaster and was presumed to be out of the water already.

Like I said, it definitely woul have been interesting how they would reestablish society and make a new beginning, but sadly, it's just a movie, a disaster movie at that. The happy ending provided, and whatever happens next is often left up to your own imagination.

4 1/2 out of 5 since the suspense scenes really kept me on my toes and the disaster they showed was nothing like I've ever seen before. I mean, I've seen "worse" planet-busting situations, but there wasn't really anything exciting going on when Alderaan was destroyed by the Death Star. :P

Sci-Fi bookworming..

I've been bitten by the reading bug these past few days, thanks to a healthy exposure to great finds at Booksale and Goodwill. :P It's just insane.. In a span of 4 days, I was able to burn through 3 different books! And here they are in the order they were read..

I'm such a Star Wars geek. :P Dad snapped this one up for me at the Booksale branch there in Shoppesville. Turns out it was a sourcebook of sorts for the now-defunct Star Wars role-playing game. It contained a lot of in-depth (presumably canon) material on the inner workings of the Rebel Alliance, from the chain of command, down to the equipment dossiers. Being true to the RPG form, it also provided pre-rolled stats for certain characters mentioned within that can be used as NPCs. I totally devoured this book, finishing it in around 5 hours. :D

On the same day that dad bought me the Star Wars book, I browsed through the bargain shelves there at Bridges Bookstore in VMall. I was hoping for another Dune book, having initally found House Atreides there. Alas, my search was fruitless, but I picked up this novel about Picard's first command  and his foray beyond the galactic barrier. This book didn't put up much of a fight either, and I finished it in around 5 hours (9pm-1am)!

When we went to SM City North EDSA this past Sunday, we browsed through the Booksale there as well. Lo and behold, I was able to secure a copy of the second book in the Dune series (I was so entranced by Dune: House Atreides that I went out and bought a copy of the original Dune novel at full price). I started work on it right away, and finished reading it around midday yesterday.. :P

I still have a book up my sleeve, having bought Das Boot (The Boat) at the same time as the Star Trek novel. :D Now if only I could make this enthusiasm carry over to my academic readings.. :P 

Warcraft Archive

What a find!!

I found this baby on the sci-fi shelves of Fully Booked when I went on an exploratory run with my bro to Bonifacio High Street. (Yes, its the first time we drove there :P)

It's such a great deal because it carried 4 different stories (3 full novels and a short 8-chapter story) for the price of 2 novels! (around 350 each)

I'm a great fan of books written as part of the official lore for Sci-Fi and Fantasy worlds, and this compilation doesn't disappoint. :D There's only one problem...

Now I wantz dis wun az well.. :P (Starcraft Archive)

Dune buster

I seldom do movie reviews, but this tasted so bad, I just had to spit it out...

I just watched the original Dune movie (courtesy of my super scifi collector cousin), and it SUCKED.. REALLY BAD!! Good Lord, Inever expected it would be that pathetic. I understand that it will not measure up to today's effects and whatnot 'coz it's pretty old film, but that's not the problem..

The storytelling was outright confusing! Scene transitions were too abrupt, and character development was mediocre at best as it left too many questions hanging about the different personalities you see in the film.. To avoid bias, I watched this movie BEFORE I read the actual novel. Although you could say I was "blinded" by the measure I took, the screenplay still didn't feel right, and you could really sense that there were a lot of things lacking..

I mean, I finished the movie wondering "What the hell just happened?" It has a very weak storyline, quite surprising since it was based upon an epic novel which recieved critical acclaim. When I got around to reading the book, things just got a whole lot worse.. I discovered that many things were removed, and original plotlines convoluted. It doesn't do any bit of justice to the Dune franchise.. (well, the sandworms were pretty cool, I'll give them that..) This has got to be the worst ever movie adaptation of a novel that I have ever seen.. Tsk tsk tsk...What a waste...

Sands of Time

In a previous post (click here), I lamented the rapid decline of the science fiction genre from bookshelves. After having read the most recent (and final) addition to my Star Wars: Republic Commando collection, I thought that my sci-fi reading days were over.

As fate would have it, I chanced upon a copy of Dune: House Atreides on sale in Greenhills. I had been eyeing the Dune series for some time but due to prohibitive prices, I was reluctant to risk what little cash I had on a bunch of books I might not like. I fisrt heard about Dune way back in grade school when Westwood games came out with what is probably considered the great-granddad of real-time startegy games - Dune 2: the Building of a Dynasty. It was a solid game with a then-novel concept of real-time combat. It also had what seemed to me was an engaging storyline, pitting 3 houses wth different charcters (noble, insidious, and evil) against each other. However, I was then ignorant of the fact that it was based on a highly popular epic story, touted by some as the sci-fi equivalent of "The Lord of the Rings". As I got older, I noted the appearance of these Dune novels on bookstore shelves and discovered that it had quite a cult following as well.

Now that the opportunity had presented itself, I snapped up the book and immersed myself in the Dune universe, and it didn't disappoint.. I now have no doubt as to why the original Dune merited such high praise. The universe that Frank Herbert created is just so vast, with an intricate web of storylines and subplots that boggles the mind. The story draws upon events than span across milennia, and stretches the imagination to its limits. After putting down the book, I knew I wanted more.. I just hope that despite the dwindling stocks, I may be able to complete yet another collection of excellent science fiction lore.

Where have all the Sci-Fi gone?..

For the past few months, there has been a noticable dearth of science-fiction novels on bookstore shelves around the metro.. In most places like NBS or Powerbooks, the sci-fi section has shrank to a solitary shelf on a book rack, often sharing space with the apparently neverending Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms fantasy series. In fact, the only place I've seen with a sizable Sci-Fi section is Fully Booked there in Promenade (with Greenhills being a traditional geek haven and all).

Sigh... It used to be such great fun browsing through all those great works of futuristic fiction. I was lucky enough to have amassed my own (almost) complete Robotech collection. I have all 12 books spanning 3 generations, the complete 5-book Sentinels campaign, and the final End Of the Circle book. ( I'm still missing the Zentraedi Rebellion, which went out of stock a few weeks befote I went out to buy it.. dang!  I wonder if I can steal Wesley's copy... hehehe)

Recently, I was lucky enough to have snapped up copies of Jedi Healer and Republic Commando: True Colors, both of which are novels based upon Star Wars lore which I have almost given up hope of finding.

With stocks dwndling and hardly any new titles coming on the shelves soon, I'm forced to make the sad presumption that Sci-Fi is almost dead (at least, in this part of the world)... :(

From my observations, these are the probable causes of the decline in sci-fi titles:

1. Star Wars is officially over
 - Star Wars titles used to dominate Sci-Fi shelves (around early 90s), but with no further movies coming out, and almost all aspects of the universe realized in novels (through obscure stand-alone titles like Tales From Jabba's Palace and the like), Star Wars fans may have already lost the drive to delve into the once infinite unverse of that galaxy far far away..

2. Star Trek has lost its appeal
- another staple of the science fiction community, Star Trek novels have been losing their foothold in store shelves all around, though the upcoming Star Trek movie might be able to do something anout that.. I saw the trailer and it was AWESOME!!!

3. Recent advances in technology
- lets face it, with the current pace of technological advancement seen in society today, science-fiction is slowly turning into sciece-fact. A good example would be real-time teleconferencing, once the stuff of mystic sci-fi technobable 20-30 years ago, is now readily available with the advent of faster internet connections, webcams, and third-genereation mobile handsets. People don't have to imagine stuff about what the future could be like anymore, coz tomorrow they'd wake up and see the technology right at their doorstep.

I'd also like to include under this heading the paradigm shift from paper-based reading resources to online ones. I remember browsing thick volumes of encyclopedias just to do my research, but when my brother's time came to look stuff up for school, he could readily do so via the web! Add that to the current trends in computer and console gaming, and you now have a generation that barely bothers to look around and grab a book, much set time aside to curl up on the sofa and read it..(hmm, I guess this applies to books as a whole)

Sigh.. that's progress I guess.. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to chatting with my friends on YM, while browsing the net for info on hovercars and jetpacks... ;)