The Geek Caucus
TrekMovie.com reported today that they have confirmed the identity of the villain character in the sequel to J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Trek reboot. Benedict Cumberbatch has been known to be portraying the next villain for some time, but it wasn’t until recently that his character was revealed.
Click here to find out who it is. You may or may not be surprised.
Walter Jon Williams is nothing if not a visionary worldbuilder, and the world of Aristoi is him at his best. I really dig on unique science fiction novels, the kind where the author clearly let his imagination run wild with how the future might turn out, then figured out how to make it logical. It’s something few writers have the courage to do these days.
The title of this novel is an ancient Greek word meaning “the best,” and refers to a title the Greeks used for their noblemen. In the words of Wikipedia, “The term was used to describe the noblemen in ancient Greece, those of a status above the common people. Aristoi were members of the aristocracy and regarded as possessing the trait of Arete; a ‘right nature’.” Wikipedia goes on to describe the Socratic idea of the “philosopher-king”: “the wise person who accepts the power thrust upon him by the people who are wise enough to choose a good master. This is the main thesis of Socrates in the Republic, that the most wisdom the masses can muster is the wise choice of a ruler.”
It is from this concept that Williams takes his premise for Aristoi. In the far future (circa 4200 AD), Earth is no more, having been destroyed in a horrific flood of advanced technology gone awry, and the human race has been forced to drastically rethink the structure of its civilization in order to survive. Deciding that the use of advanced technology (particularly nanotechnology) should be limited to an elite few, the survivors of Earth create a new society that places intelligence and moral character above all else. The citizens of this new society therefore willing grant absolute authority to the Aristoi, the best of them, and allow them to rule over humanity as their ultimate sovereigns. Becoming an Aristos is a simple matter of passing a series of tests — tests that would easily defeat even the most outstanding examples of human intelligence and character alive today. Anyone can apply, but only the ultra-elite extreme few pass.
Williams’ idea is that at this point in its history, humans have discovered how to augment their intelligence with a combination of technology and psychological conditioning. With computer assistance, humans are able to compartmentalize their personalities, effectively breaking their minds into multiple personalities that can handle multiple tasks — and even be in multiple places, thanks to virtual reality — simultaneously. As such the Aristoi are, in a very real way, true posthumans: they no longer have the weaknesses or flaws of ordinary people, and are capable of planning, governing, and protecting entire solar systems. Faster-than-light communications allow for a pan-galactic virtual reality network to exist, which they call the oneirochronon, through which the Aristoi can meet and discuss the governance and future of humanity. The Hyperlogos, a connected galactic network, contains the sum total of human knowledge up that point. Everything done or said by an Aristos is recorded for posterity. What could disrupt such a visionary future? As the book jacket blurb says, a mad Aristoi, of course. What happens when someone with absolute power does something absolutely sane?
That forms the core of Williams’ plot in this novel, which is a rich, detailed, original story filled with technology, art, and adventure. The tone of Aristoi is ultimately hopeful, particularly given that it was written at a time when dystopian SF was the going trend. It tells of a future for humanity that includes advancement and maturation and growing wisdom, though still tinged by the inevitable human flaws of arrogance, greed, and lust for power.
His characters discover, in a way, that being posthuman still means being human. Although human life has been extended, particular for the Aristoi, to a median lifespan of hundreds of years, humans must still face their mortality. Breakdown, or Dorian Gray’s disease, refers to the eventual and inevitable entropic degradation of the artificial systems which extend their lives: eventually, everyone dies. Gabriel finds that his hitherto luxurious lifestyle of sophistry and pleasure merely conceals the often perilous burden of being a leader of a species. He is eventually forced into a situation where his very advanced faculties are compromised, and he is left to discover whether his potential is dependent on his demi-god powers, or whether he can achieve his goals as a mere man. His companion is forced to decide whether she wants to become an Aristos herself, making the ultimate decision between humanity and posthumanity.
The plot is riveting and moves at a quick pace. Those with a taste for imaginative, original SF will love Aristos. I recommend it with no reservations.
In a recent interview with SmarterTravel.com, George Martin described the plot of the beginning of the sixth novel in his A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter:
ST: One of the dominant themes in the first five books, in fact probably the tagline for the whole series so far, has been that winter is coming. By the end of A Dance with Dragons, winter is no longer coming, it’s finally here. What can you tell us about the book you’re writing now, The Winds of Winter?
GRRM: Well, I’ve posted a preview on my website, so you can read one chapter there, and there will be another chapter in the paperback of A Dance with Dragons when that comes out in the summer. So, you’ll get two free chapters. After that, it’s going to be awhile.
Obviously, I’m going to continue the story. There were a lot of cliffhangers at the end of A Dance with Dragons. Those will be resolved very early. I’m going to open with the two big battles that I was building up to, the battle in the ice and the battle at Meereen—the battle of Slaver’s Bay. And then take it from there.
Martin also told the interviewer a little about what he knew of certain main characters’ fates before writing the novels, and some more about what to expect in the next book:
ST: After what happened to Ned in A Game of Thrones and then Robb in A Storm of Swords, I find myself reading your books with this sort of pleasant pit of dread in my stomach.
GRRM: (Laughs)
ST: And yet, if Ned hadn’t died it becomes an entirely different series. The same with Robb. How early on did you know what was going to happen to those two characters in particular? Or were their deaths something that developed as you went along?
GRRM: I knew almost right from the beginning. I know the major beats of the story and who’s going to live and who’s going to die—the ultimate end of all the major characters. There’s a lot of fine detail that I discover along the way in the writing. For some minor characters I may make it up as I’m writing. So, if a major character is going to battle with his six friends, I don’t necessarily know what’s going to happen to all six friends when I sit down to write it. But the major players and the major lives or deaths or life-changing events have all been planned from the beginning.
ST: Along those same lines, a lot of people think you killed Jon at the end of A Dance with Dragons. You do have a history of doing terrible things to the Starks, but my gut says he probably survived. Would you care to comment on that?
GRRM: (Laughs) I will not comment on that.
ST: With Jon effectively out of the picture as Lord Commander, though—even if he lives—I’m not sure I like the Wall’s chances of holding back the Others now that winter has come. Is it safe to assume that we’ll be seeing them move south of the wall in The Winds of Winter?
GRRM: Well, I don’t want to give too much away, but you’re definitely going to see more of the Others in The Winds of Winter.
Ashsilverlock has a great essay up on Fabulous Realms about The Dark Court, AKA the mythology of dark elves. An excerpt:
Dark Elves have actually been around in mythology almost as long as Elves themselves – Celtic folklore in particular is full of tales of the Dark or Unseelie Court, causing mischief and mayhem for both humans and their Light or Seelie Court counterparts. They are also referenced as Dokkalfar or Svart Alfar in the Norse myths. In the Eddas Dark Elves were not truly evil as such, they could mainly be distinguished from Lios Alfar (or ‘Light Elves’) by the fact that they dwelt within the earth and were mostly swarthy, while their cousins lived in Alfheim, located in heaven, and were said to be fairer than the sun to look at. There also seems to have been some overlap between Svart Alfar and Dwarves, although this is done away with by Tolkien in his legendarium, which refers to them as two different races. Tolkien’s Moriquendi seem to be the origin of Dark Elves in fantasy fiction because it is in them that the term ‘Dark’ is first given a specifically negative connotation. In Tolkien’s world, from the beginning there was a division between the Elves who desired the light of the Undying Lands versus Elves who did not wish to leave Middle Earth, implying that these ‘Dark’ Elves willingly tolerated the shadows that the Dark Lord Morgoth had put upon Middle Earth.
I discovered Metropolitan completely unexpectedly while browsing the (somewhat sparse) science fiction and fantasy section at my local public library. I had heard of Walter Jon Williams, but had never read any of his work. After reading the jacket copy and deciding that this book seemed written just for me, I borrowed it. What followed was one of the most entertaining reading experiences I’ve had in years. It’s possible that some of my enthusiasm is due to the surprise factor — I never expected to come across a great book so accidentally. Williams’s creativity and originality make it easy to praise him, however.
The setting of Metropolitan is a world city (a planet entirely covered in cityscape) that may or may not be a future/alternate Earth, that functions almost entirely on the production and retrieval of plasm, a magical “geomantic” energy source drawn from the planet through the geometric placement of manmade structures. In other words, the structure of the world city itself, the way its buildings are designed and laid out, converts latent energy into power. The world economy (both white markets and black) is based on its purchase and sale, and plasm is expensive. Though everyone has access to it, only the very rich can afford the fees. Plasm can be channeled by mages to telepathically project their minds to other places, create, alter, or destroy physical matter, and even to teleport. It is tapped like electricity and governed by the Plasm Authority, essentially a utility company that also enforces penalties for plasm theft. The book is written from one main character’s point of view, that of Aiah, a Barkazil woman who works a dead-end job at the Plasm Authority and often wonders what her life would be like if she had the resources to get a degree in plasm use. Aiah is a clever, adventurous character, one who is pleasantly honest and comfortable with moral ambiguity, particularly if the ends justify the means. The book begins when she finds a hidden plasm source that opens a door into a larger world than she ever dreamed of.
The Walking Dead Season 2 finale, much like the season as a whole, was full of slow character-driven scenes scattered with occasional bouts of action. The good parts are very good, but the characters in this show, as I’ve said before, do a lot more talking than doing.
The final destruction of Hershel’s farm was vivid and entertaining, and the loss of a couple of extraneous characters made it impactful. The real season finale, however, was Episode 12, in which Shane meets his end, not this episode. This episode just sets the series up for its next season, by introducing two major new character subplots and hinting at the group’s destination from here out.
Andrea meets an awesome katana-wielding someone after being separated from the others who will clearly be somehow important in Season 3, and Lorrie’s disgusted response to Rick’s revelation that he killed Shane destroys whatever peace and stability we might have expected after Shane’s disruptive influence was removed. Rick also seems to be growing harder and more authoritarian, which should prove interesting. The last shot of the episode zooms out to show a prison, where the characters will presumably end up next season. I remember hearing that there was a prison involved in the graphic novel, so they’re clearly drawing from the source material, but it makes me nervous. The farm was in the comics too, but the show’s writers and producers took what should have been about six episodes worth of material and stretched it out to cover the entire second season. As good as parts of this season were, the fact that the group remained almost entirely stationary at one location meant that the plot dragged more often than it had to. Leading the characters into another holdfast, especially one as (presumably) defensible as a prison facility, portends more of the same. Will season 3 be 13 episodes of deep conversation while the characters watch zombies hurl themselves at the prison fence? They’d better come up with some compelling damn plot if they plan on leaving everyone in one place again for another season.
In all, while I enjoyed Season 2 quite a bit, I thought the pacing needed a jump start and the plot needed more substance.
According to Patrick from Stomping on Yeti, the newest Gollancz catalog (Gollancz publishes’ Abercrombie’s work in the UK) features the following blurb about Joe Abercrombie’s upcoming stand-alone novel Red Country (set in his First Law universe):
“His name is Logen Ninefingers. And he’s back for one more adventure…
Joe Abercrombie is the most successful genre novelist of his generation, with a remarkable, cynical and powerful voice cutting through the clichés of the fantasy genre to create something compelling and exceptionally commercial. A Red Country is his most powerful novel yet.”
If this is true, it would make a lot of sense: Abercrombie has been very close-mouthed about Logen’s fate in every interview I’ve read. What better reason to play it coy than that the Bloody-Nine has a major role in his forthcoming novel? My interest in reading this book just tripled in a matter of seconds.
Latino Review and io9 think they do, anyway. It seems like there may be hints pointing towards Iron Man 3 involving elements from the Extremis story arc.
http://latinoreview.springboardplatform.com/mediaplayer/springboard/video/ltrv001/955/454845/
