The Man in the High Castle (Pilot Episode)

The Big Debate

Up until the time I left for college, I only had one friend who read science fiction and fantasy.  We drifted apart and do not stay in contact.  But in college I met, and eventually became a roommate with, my second science fiction and fantasy friend-Terry Kissinger.  We still talk and email on a regular basis.  Most years we meet up at conventions.   The first friend and I had similar tastes in authors.  We both liked Isaac Asimov.  To a lesser extent he also liked Roger Zelazny.  When I met Terry, in many ways I had found a kindred spirit.  In addition to those authors, his favorites were Frank Herbert and Philip K. Dick.  We spent many hours debating who was better.  We had similar debates in comic book authors.  I was a Marv Wolfman fan while he preferred Chris Claremont in the heyday of the X-Men and Teen Titans.  Our friendship is such that we both like all of the authors I named but we liked to debate which was the best.  During our debates, Terry introduced me to the work of PKD (Philip K. Dick).  In many respects, PKD is an amazing writer who seems more popular now than ever before.  Although I have read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" three times and enjoyed it every time, I still have many of his novels to read.


A Short History

Despite having published 44 novels and roughly 121 short stories.  Unfortunately, for him, his stories did not start earning big money until after his death.  Since then 11 movies have appeared based on his work (Blade Runner, Total Recall, The Adjustment Bureau, Next, Paycheck, and others).  More are in the works included an Disney animated production of his short story "The King of the Elves", a live action adaptation of UBIK, and the television series I am getting around to discussing.


Through a Glass Darkly

Many moons ago, I remember being mesmerized by Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner".  It was a loose adaptation of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?".  The stories were different but Scott gave us a great movie, in my opinion.  Skip ahead to 2010 when rumors came out that Ridley Scott was working on a BBC production of "The Man in the High Castle".  It ended up with Amazon's new production company as part of the 2015 Pilot Season.  The pilot debuted last week to very good reviews.

I watched it over the weekend and would love to see it become a series.  Scott is working with Frank (X-Files) Spotnitz.  Spotnitz wrote the pilot.  The basic idea of it being an alternate history where the Axis won World War II is still there.  Nazi Germany controls the eastern part of the United States, Japan the west coast, and a neutral zone is the buffer between them.  One of the main characters is given a copy of a news real film (the story takes place in the 60s).  The film shows our history.  Some in the story think it is a fantasy propaganda piece.  Others think differently and are willing to kill to get it.  

New York City in "The Man in the High Castle"

The pilot does a great job of establishing the characters while telling a compelling story that starts to reveal this world to us.  I recommend watching the pilot.  If, like me, you enjoy it you will be voting to continue the series.




Challenges

42 Challenge 2015

The 2015 Sci-Fi Experience

33. Four Science Fiction Masters by D. Richard Martin

Writer:  D. Richard Martin
First Publication:  2011

"This book includes lost interviews with four masters of post-war American science fiction—Frank Herbert, Frederik Pohl, Clifford D. Simak, and Gordon Dickson. This compact volume catches them all in their primes, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their trenchant, prescient observations still resonate three decades later."


I enjoy reading non-fiction books about science fiction.  For 14 years, beginning in 1980, D. Richard Martin was the science fiction and fantasy book reviewer for the Minneapolis Star/Tribune.  Over the course of that time, he was able to interview some of the big authors of that time.  This collection takes out of print interviews he did with four of the authors and puts them into an ebook.  The reader will quickly see that Martin is a very professional interviewer.  His questions are short but spark the authors to give answers that explain the background of their careers.

Here is a sampling of items that caught my interest:

Frank Herbert

The original Dune trilogy (Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune) was conceived as a 1,200 page novel.  Some parts of the second and third books were written while Herbert was writing the first book.

"The theory was that heroes are bad for society, and super-heroes are disastrous."  Herbert's theory is demonstrated in this series.  He shows through Paul's actions what would happen if a super-hero rose to power.

Frederik Pohl

Pohl, known as one of the best magazine editors of his time, turned down the position of fiction editor at Omni magazine.  Omni was a glossy science fiction magazine that was highly considered at the time.

Clifford D. Simak

Simak has a different opinion from many other authors.  He thought that when a society advances enough to build a starship to visit Earth, they would come in peace.  They would not come with a plan to invade the Earth.  

Gordon R. Dickson

Dickson charged a high price for speaking engagements.  His idea was that it took too much time from his writing.  The other factor was some problems he had with asthma.  He had to be careful what the place was like when he would teach at a workshop or attend a convention.

There were just the tip of the iceberg.  Martin has put together an excellent short collection of interviews.  If you want to learn about the authors listed above, it is an inexpensive way of learning about them.

Recommended.

Dune by Frank Herbert

During the last three weeks, I have been participating in a group read of Frank Herbert's classic novel.  Here are links to those posts:


Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

What are my overall thoughts about the book?  Just click on "Read More" to find out...

Dune Group Read, Round 3

 In addition to the answers to questions about the third section of the classic science fiction novel-Dune-I decided to include images of some of the covers you do not normally see for the book.  The Analog cover for "The Prophet of Dune" count.  This was the second half of the magazine serialization of the novel.


On Monday, I will be posting a look back at the group read and my overall review of the book.


To read the answers of other members of the group read click here Stainless Steel Droppings.


Spoiler Alert!

Dune Group Read, Round 2

Part two of our group read of "Dune" reaches the section where things really (pardon the pun) heat up.  The Harkonnens' plan kicks into high gear as Duke Leto is betrayed while Jessica and Paul go out into the desert.  Will Paul fulfill his destiny and become the savior of Arrakis?


Warning, spoilers are heading your way...after the page break...

Dune Group Read, Round 1

Carl (at Stainless Steel Droppings) has put Dune on his reading list each year.  And every year he has not read it.  This year he is involved with a group reading of the book over a three week period.  I was considering re-reading this classic and thought it was a good time to join in.  Each week I, and many others who have joined in, will answer questions about that week's section.  


If you have not read the book be aware that the questions and answers will contain spoilers.