Awhile back I was privileged to read Movie Mantra number 64 for the estimable Martyn Darkly, and it’s apparently getting some buzz. Here’s the link.
Martyn takes lines from memorable films (or memorable lines from not-so-memorable films) and presents them for our consideration. Sometimes those screenwriters are pretty sharp.
“The whole machine isn’t possible. Personally, I believe color television to be impossible too. But since it does exist, I will act as if I believed in it. We must do the same for the Energy Damper.”
— Illya Kuryakin, in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Dagger Affair, by David McDaniel
In the world of Metamor City, magic and technology evolve side by side. This juxtaposition makes for a delightful variety of stories, and suggests that The Metamor City Podcast will have something for everyone to enjoy. Still, it raises1 a worrisome question. We know what technology is: it’s applying what we know about how the physical universe functions — e.g., physics (and its parent, mathematics), chemistry, biology — to the performance of “work,” i.e., getting physical tasks done.2 But what exactly is magic?
Thirty-six years after Roe v. Wade we’re still tossing around the same irrelevant labels. Neither the side favoring legalized abortion nor the side opposing it is “anti-life.” Nor is either side “anti-choice.” They do differ on what “life” means, and when legitimate choices can be made. If we’re going to focus on the differences, let’s get to the point.
Anyone have suggestions?
We don’t need to worry about “saving the planet.” (Neither the Death Star nor Narada is hovering nearby.) What we want to save is the existing biosphere.
All four of the works discussed in this series are impressive not only because of their imagination but also because of the amount of thought that clearly has gone into each of them. Chasing the Bard and MOREVI, as “hidden chapters” of the history of England, obviously require considerable research into that history to ensure consistency with its events and cultures. What can one say, however, about stories that depart from our world’s history into new territory — into worlds that are more built than borrowed? How does a writer craft his or her world with enough care that we visitors will trust it, and the story that takes place there, not to crumble beneath our feet?
Clerk’s Log, MJDate 54799.5: “Double Trouble” has come and gone, and both The Case of the Pitcher’s Pendant and Digital Magic made it into Amazon.com’s top 100 titles, as well as the top 5 in Science Fiction & Fantasy. Both titles are still for sale, of course, so even if you weren’t there for the promotion, let me encourage you to purchase the books; they’re great reading.
Today, after a change of hosts and a site rebuild, we continue our coverage of TPRT — demonstrating that, although Mr. Morris has experienced various setbacks in keeping to a regular schedule, he does not by any means hold the record.
Last time, we considered the audio presentation of Chasing the Bard, by Philippa “The Dark Goddess” Ballantine; today we look at a landmark work by her Double Trouble colleague, Tee “The Uber-Nemesis” Morris.1
Continue reading
The world of Internet-based audio has seen many firsts: the first podcast novel (Tee Morris’s MOREVI: the Chronicles of Rafe and Askana), the first podcast-only novel (Scott Sigler, EarthCore), the first audio drama (Children of the Gods was the first I heard of, but doubtless there were others), and the first podcast author to get a book deal with a major publisher (Scott Sigler, Infected). The field continues to evolve — and now we’ve reached a new step.
Sometimes the calendar makes strange demands on us. In this case, it requires that we present the following press release “out of order,” as it were; but then, we’re dealing not only with two good books and two fine authors, but also with two hemispheres and two time zones — so the time is out of joint in any case. Thus we bring you, first, the announcement; second, the free previews!
Clerk’s Log, MJDate 54611.9: The following is my pitch to the Parsec nominating committee on behalf of Chris Lester’s story “Huntress,” part of his Metamor City Podcast. Continue reading
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]The TREASURES OF ALBION series (with Elisabeth Waters):
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