Cyberpunk and Steampunk

So, How would I like to start this blog on the story Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Actually, lets start it off with the drug that is actually called snow crash that is like cocaine on steroids. People in the future are getting doped up on is not surprising to me because in any era of history there will always be drugs. The story has this protagonist named Hiro which is very skill from what the swords and even a really good online hacker but he's bad at social aspect of things which happens a lot with those type of people. Hiro didn't care much about the drug until one of his close friends gets caught up in it which becomes personal. He teams up with this guy name Y.T. to gather and dig up dirt on the people that are responsible for the incident. The fact the drug can be taken in two ways being virtual and in real life but have the same effect is mind blowing .

It turns you into an mindless minion that people can control and do whatever they please with you is really wild. Hiro encounters a assassin that works for the man who is trying to push the drug on more people is interesting. He does get the chance to escape and gets away but it gets much harder for him as he continues his journey. This weeks read was a nicely tied together story with the future and drug related aspects and the unique character attributes.

Space Opera

The story I ended up choosing to read was The Stars By Destination by Alfred Bester for this blog entry. First, lets talk about how they tattooed tiger stripes on the mans face so people know he's a prisoner. I mean that's on another level of branding, like the face is the first thing people see when they see a person and is very hard to get removed but then again this is the future. The fact that he really didn't do anything wrong to become a prisoner is what happens a lot even in today's society which is sad. He hoped the ship that saw him would help him but they acted like Stevie Wonder when they passed him. Gulliver which is the main character was left stranded for dead, but, he found a way to build an escape ship and somehow made it back to his home planet but has a plan to get revenge on that I can sorta understand from his view point.

If someone left me for dead and somehow I got out of the crappy spot I'm coming for you on sight no questions, no apology, and definitely no forgiveness. I read like they wanted him dead so why shouldn't he want them dead. He does fail to get revenge and gets thrown in prison for it but they question him about his cargo on his ship but he doesn't tell them which is great loyalty. He shows element of loyalty, heroism, and noble in my person opinion.

Mythic Fiction and Contemporary Urban Fantasy

The story that I read was the Ananzi Boys by Neil Gaiman was a interesting read in my opinion. The fact that it starts out the Main character is living in England but use to live in Florida is already a great start because I love the Europe. The myth of Greek gods and goddess I always found amazing since I was a young child. I look at them more as heroes than gods but I think they have similarities but have a fine line that separates the two. The reason I bring that up is the fact that the Protagonist's father was the god of Trickery but Charlie (the main character) didn't know that at all about it. Charlie also didn't know he had a brother but the reason that was because his brother inherited all of his father's powers while Charlie didn't inherit nothing from his father. The lady did tell him that if he wanted to talk to his brother, he should tell a spider that he wants his brother to come visit him.

Now to me that sounds like the lady was on some really strong drugs but Charlie listen and did it one night when his girl wanted him to kill a spider and he thought this would me a good time to try that out. The weird thing about it all is the fact it actually worked and his brother actually shows up named spider. It really made me think it was interesting how everything worked in the story and was a good read this week.

The Hero's Journey.

Reading the story The Annotated Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien, I discovered that the way how Bilbo's Baggins starts his hero's journey is by a wizard. So, one day when Baggins is just chilling outside like it's a normal day nothing out of the ordinary, when out of no where a tall old man approach's him. Now Baggins is a hobbit which are shorter, like legit half the size of an average human and they have hairy feet like Chewbacca hair on their feet. So the wizards name is Gandalf, he offers Baggins if he would like to join him on an adventure but Baggins says no but offers him a drink to be nice. Now Baggins deny's the offer which happens a lot in a hero's journey. Gandalf tries in another way to get Baggins to join him on his adventure by sending other dwarfs to Baggins home to get him to agree to come with them. Baggins gets interested in the quest due to the treasure that could be obtain if he joins the group. A hero's journey show's the main character setting off on his quest for adventure to achieve his goal of getting the tressure that is in the mountains from what the map said from Gandalf. Baggins is an odd hobbit but he has adventure in his blood because of his mother but most hobbits like to play it safe honestly. Overall, the story was a decent read that had a magical journey that gave it an interesting tone to it.

Akata Witch

When I first read the story about Akata Witch, it was something that was a bit different than the usual witches appearance. This characters name is Sunny, she has African bone structures but she has cream colored skin and wavy blonde hair. wherever she goes it seems like she can't fit in and continues to be the outcast. Her skin basically lights up anytime she's in the sun light so, she has to have an umbrella whenever she wants to go out into the world. Nowadays you can look like anything and people will look at you so you might as well rock your beauty and don't care what others think about you honesty. All women have super powers and they should use them for the greater good like Sunny. When her teacher gave Sunny the switch to hit the kids that were laughing at her in the back of the classroom, it showed that bullying has consequences and I was all for that one. She then realized that her looks were beautiful and not ugly, and thats the main element to take away from this.  The witch read for this week was a confident read that shows off woman power in a mental way but in the good aspects of it.

Old Weird and New Weird

This weeks reading and film that was recommended to watch was actually common in nowadays of weird film. The fact that it has monsters that are in a circus is actually seen a lot in monster films or anything to do with a fair coming into a small town. The thing that actually made me think this was any bit of weird, was the fact that the guy who was cheating on his girl with one of the circus performer. Unfortunately, he was getting played by her and getting his money taken without getting any sugar. Now with the novel Borne, It already shows a drastic change with the characters having weird creatures, drug dealers, and normal humans. With the drug dealer he didn't sell normal drugs like cocaine, shrooms, acid, and not even weed. Wick sold memory beetles that took away the painful memories people so desperately wanted to forget but couldn't. If we are comparing the two stories just by this little bit of information, in my opinion I'm gonna give it to the Borne novel because it has more stranger, weird, and creepy vibes to it than the old circus film. Now don't get me wrong I do love the classic weird films but this one lacked big time if you compared it to the other films that were being released in the same era. I personally think some of the older creeper weird films beat a lot of the new stuff that is coming out nowadays. It was a decent watch and a nice read for this week's blog.

The Return of Yan Zhenjing

This story really takes some time to understand it and makes you reread it a few time until you get the understanding of it. Basically, This guy is a old fashioned and is a warrior that is asked to go off to battle. He leaves his family behind and faces some weird dragon type of person when he gets to the battle grounds. He see the ashes and burned bones of his fallen comrades and just goes nuts. The way how this war story compares to the western side of war is somewhat similar but has a few differences. For example, The way how westerners tell war stories is mainly about someone from a small town that want to fight the good fight and can come home to a wife and kids and live out his days as a veteran. On the other side of the world they actually tell a more deep and vivid story that actually isn't common. It has a lot more explicit detail in the Japanese stories like how this one has a guy killing a man for the better for the world. Zhenjing was a Supreme Judge for the  Six August Tribunals and had many followers. Then this person named Xilie sounds like a nightmare to be around because it says he's pure evil in this short story. Usually in the western parts you can always tell who's going to be the evil one that you can not trust from the beginning. In this story you really have to look and pay attention to the story or you will not understand how the nice guy turned out to be the main villain. Therefore, The way how he was reading a letter out loud and not a lot of people were being respectful when he was delivering it. I really didn't understand the Master of Heaven thing because I didn't comprehend if he was a physical or spiritual object that gave life or something. The story was actually a interesting read that made me pay attention. The gothic parts were not really there in my opinion.