The Alien Writer

Kea’s Flight

In recent years, it seems that authors seem to be exploring characters on the autism spectrum, both in print and on television. Analog is currently serializing Triggers, a novel by Robert J. Sawyer that includes at least one character with Asperger’s syndrome. The short-lived TV series Flashforward, based on a novel also by Sawyer, featured at least two autistic characters. Characters with autism have also cropped up as guest stars on TV series such as In Plain Site and Law and Order. Whether this is a trending topic caused by increased awareness about the nature of autism or just a statistical anomaly, I don’t know.

Kea’s Flight, however, is the first book I’ve discovered that was written by an author who is on the spectrum herself. Erika Hammerschmidt was diagnosed with Asperger’s at the age of eleven and perhaps this gives her an insight into the spectrum that few other authors can have.

Kea’s Flight is a colony-ship novel, a well-trotted trope in science fiction. Fortunately, Hammerschidt avoids many of the clichés, such as generations passing with the inhabitants forgetting that were on a ship. Kea is part of the first generation of travelers and, like most of the colonists on the ship, she wasn’t a volunteer.

While she was still an embryo, Kea tested positive for genes that made high risk for developing autism. The religious extremists who control the government in the 25^th century have come up with a solution for the “unwanted” children. Kea and the rest of her classmates were launched into space to become the vanguard of a new colony. Gestated in artificial wombs, they were raised in special schools where they were taught a program of steady propaganda. All of Kea’s fellow students have some form of autism. Soon, however, Kea and several of her classmates find ways to rebel and circumvent the restrictions on them.

Soon, they peal back the lies and learn many of the secrets their teachers want to keep hidden. Eventually, the learn even more and find that the entire ship may be in danger.

The book is an engaging read and an engrossing story. It’s a surprisingly fresh take on an old trope. Perhaps the only place where Hammerschmidt comes up a little short is in her portrayal of the villain, who comes across as a little two-dimensional.

Still, if you’re looking for a good yarn about colony ships and interstellar travel, you’d be advised to pick this one up.

Related articles

• Kea’s Flight (scifitalk.com)
• Autism: the Long and Winding Road (ventography.wordpress.com)

Scale of the Universe

Click on this link and you can scale from the smallest things in the universe to the largest. This is why we have the internets.

Okay, the three people who actually read this blog rather than just try to spam it, have probably noticed that I haven’t followed through on the story challenge. I’m not going to make a lot of excuses. I’m just going to say that life got in away.

Soooo. . . .

Here is take two.

This time, I promise to actually write the story.

It’s a new year and I’ve decided I need a new writing project. I haven’t done much short story writing, so I’ve decided to kickstart things by using covers and artwork as a source of inspiration.

In the pulp era, it was common for magazines to start with a piece of cover art and ask a writer to create a story around it. These days, the opposite practice is more common: Writers write a story and then the editor commissions or selects art that reflects the story. I’ve decided to go old school and write a science fiction story based on a piece of cover art or other artwork that I find. So, for each piece of art I find, I’m going to write a story based on it. To keep me honest, I will set myself a deadline of the 14th and 28th of each month. Yep, I’m committing myself to writing two short stories a month.

Once the story is completed, I will post it on this blog. Then I will record it for a podcast. I know this means the stories will for the most part, not be eligible for major market publication, but the idea here is not to make money, but to promote my own growth as a writer and use the stories to get my name out in the world of fiction.

So, here is the first piece of artwork:

Image via Wikipedia

It’s cover from the final issue of Science Fiction Plus magazine back in 1953.

On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pirates are big these days. When I went to see the Muppets, I saw no less than three trailers for movies (two animated) for movies featuring pirates. So, if you enjoyed the latest installment of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, you may be interested in checking out the book that inspired it. Now, I say “inspired” in the way in which Isaac Asimov’s “I, Robot” and Robert Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers” inspired their respective movies: They share a title and there are some vague similarities, but it is a completely different animal.

For one thing, Tim Powers’ “On Stranger Tides” was first published in 1987, when Johnny Depp was just getting his start as the “cute” cop on 21 Jump Street. So, don’t expect to see any references to a Captain Jack Sparrow doing a spazzy drunken walk.

The other major difference is that “On Stranger Tides” actually has a plot.

John Chandagnac, a former puppeteer and accountant sets sail for Haiti on a mission to claim a stolen inheritance from his uncle. En route, he makes the acquaintance of Beth Hurwood and her father, Benjamin Hurwood. The elder Hurwood is a former Oxford professor who lost his arm on a previous trip to the Caribbean.

Their ship is waylaid by pirates and Chandagnac is forced to join the pirate crew. Before he realizes is, Chandagnac, now known as “Jack Shandy” is embroiled in a quest to find the Fountain of Youth. It becomes obvious to Shandy that Hurwood is plotting some scheme involving his late wife and living daughter. The notorious pirate Blackbeard is also seeking the Fountain for his own purposes.

Soon, Shandy has to deal with his own conflicting loyalties as he tries to protect Beth and his crew while contending against vodun spirits and British authorities.

“On Stranger Tides” is a rollicking tale and highly recommended for fans of swashbuckling fantasy adventure

View all my reviews

Don’t get me wrong. I love Zooey Deschanel and her sister Emily. But sometimes, her eyes creep me out.

This is unbelievable, in that, I absolutely don’t believe it.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Katniss, having survived two trips to the Arena, now finds herself being used as a figurehead by the rebellion and the newly resurfaced District 13. Separated from Peeta and her home destroyed, she has little choice but to play along.

At first, the rebels merely want to use her for photo ops and propaganda shoots while keeping her far away from the real fighting. Eventually, though, Kat pushes to be included in real missions, to the point of demanding to be the one who kills the president as payback for all the pain he’s inflicted on her.

Collins continues to mature as a writer as Kat starts to really question the morality of her world. There are also plenty of warning signs that the rebels are not really more democratic or respecting of human rights than the Capitol. She also starts taking on her inner turmoil and manages to, if not resolve things satisfactorily, at least she takes control of her decisions.

In fact, the whole novel can be seen as a buildup to Katniss ultimately asserting her independence and choosing her own path. I do have a few issues, though, with the ending in which seems a little convenient despite the heavy tragedy she experiences. On the whole, however, it was a satisfying ending to the trilogy.

View all my reviews

Related articles

• Book Review: The Hunger Games (4whatitworth.wordpress.com)

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the sequel to The Hunger Games, Katniss finds herself being used as a pawn by multiple forces. Having both survived and won the Games, Katniss and Peeta are required to go on a victory tour and visit each of the districts in turn. However, there is a complication. Her act of rebellion at the end of the previous novel has inspired uprisings throughout the districts. The president warns her that she must play the “star-crossed lovers” routine with Peeta in order to quiet things down or she and he family will be killed. On the other hand, Katniss has also become a symbol to the rebels as well.

Soon things spiral out of control and Katniss and Peeta are both sent back to the Arena, this time to fight against more seasoned fighters, all of whom were champions of previous Games.

In many ways, Mockingjay is a better novel than The Hunger Games. Collins spends more time exploring the decadence of the Capitol and secondary characters like Haymitch are fleshed out more. We also get to see more of the kind of society that would regard watching teenagers slaughter each other in sadistic games yet would also become enraptured by “star-crossed lovers” story. On the other hand, Katniss’s fatalism about her impending death started to annoy me. She also continues to avoid addressing her feelings for either Peeta or Gale or her very obvious symptoms of PTSD. The former comes across as just an effort to stretch the love triangle out to the end of the trilogy.

View all my reviews

Warning: This post contains holiday-inspired sentimentality.

Last night, I gathered everything I needed: flour, sugar, margarine, eggs, yeast, milk, and ginger ale. Okay, the ginger ale is not an ingredient for the project, but it’s part of the ritual.

I have only one holiday activity that I absolutely cannot do without. I’ve been doing this for fifteen years now. It’s baking my grandmother’s sticky buns. Ever since I was a child, she always baked the sticky buns for Christmas. When she died in 1996, I decided that as the youngest of all of her grandchildren, I should take over this job. It’s just not Christmas at the Alien household without the sticky buns.

Not to act like a martyr, but this is not like making Rice Krispies where they practically make themselves and you just pretend you were slaving for hours. Making sticky buns from scratch is a long and time consuming activity. First you mix the milk, eggs, margarine, sugar, and yeast together. Then you mix them with the flour and let rise for an hour and half.

Here I depart a little from Grandma Lena’s method and mix the ingredients in a bread maker.  She use to do all that by hand.

At this point, you’ve got a lump of dough that has the adhesive properties of Superglue. So, you have to roll it out on a flour covered board until it’s good and flat. Then you coat the whole thing with margarine, sugar and cinnamon. After that, you roll it up into a tube then slice it up and bake.

Messy Kitchen

The result is delicious, but my kitchen is always a mess afterward.

I think grandma would approve.

Oh, and the ginger ale? Okay, this is the real sappy sentimental part. When I used to visit her house as a small child, Grandma always had Canada Dry ginger ale in those little glass bottles (Which seem to get tougher to find every year) and she’d always give me one. So, I absolutely cannot make the sticky buns without drinking Canada Dry ginger ale.

Finished Buns