Fred's Blog

Category: Literary

  • Spice & Wolf

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    Fred Rothganger
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    I’ve been home alone for the last couple of days. To fill the time and unwind from the stress of building at Bunker Hill, I started watching a random anime called “Spice & Wolf”. OMG! I’ve become an instant fan. Binge-watched all the episodes, and am now reading a novella that picks up where the…

  • Forget what you know about robots (if you learned it from TV)

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    Fred Rothganger
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    I participate in a group where we critique each other’s novels. A few weeks ago, my book SuSAn (experimental rewrite) went through review. One of the guys wrote in the margin, “For research on robotics, I’d recommend you watch the awesome television series ‘Humans’.” I agree with him that the TV series was awesome, and…

  • The Golem and the Jinni

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    Fred Rothganger
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    I recently finished the book “The Golem and the Jinni” by Helene Wecker. I read and write hard science fiction, but this book is magic realism, so a bit out of my genre. However, I suspected that the Golem’s story would be much like that of a robotess, and it was. If you change the…

  • Tomorrowland

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    Fred Rothganger
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    When the credits started rolling on Tomorrowland, the theater audience erupted in applause. I can’t remember that last time that happened. The critics said it was tripe, but us stupid commoners seemed to buy into it anyway. Must have annoyed all those sourpusses. Sure, it was a bit syrupy, and the plot had a few…

  • Star Wars 7 — Spectacularly Mediocre

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    Fred Rothganger
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    I heard rave reviews from friends and family about the new Star Wars, for example, “The best Star Wars ever.” SW7 had quite a legacy to live up to, so it required the very best writing. (We can safely assume it had the very best special effects budget, so little worry about there.) I came…

  • Science Fiction and Fantasy

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    Fred Rothganger
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    The literary world wants to combine the genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy under a larger umbrella called Speculative Fiction. Seems reasonable, but there is a real difference between the two. One way to explain this is to show you the Scale of Science Fiction Hardness on TV Tropes. You could view this as a…

  • The best writing advice ever

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    Fred Rothganger
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    A writer’s group challenged its members to post about the best advice we’ve received. I sort of flat-lined on this. I haven’t received much advice, because I haven’t sought it enough. Many times I’ve longed to have a really good writer—someone who’s put up a bestseller or ten—come along side and mentor me in this…

  • Paper Towns — Romantic disappointment

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    Fred Rothganger
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    This movie had a reasonably good start, a slow middle, and a disappointing ending. Don’t get me wrong. I thought it was good, almost worth the time and money I spent on it, but it wasn’t the thriller the previews suggested. It was simply the coming of age story of three young men. The real…

  • Ex Machina — Jurassic Park for AI

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    Fred Rothganger
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    OK, I’m not the first person to make this observation, but seems apropos. Extremely rich man full of hubris brings in outside expert to examine creation. He flies to a remote but richly appointed place in a helicopter, where they are sort of trapped for a few days. (Screams plot setup, doesn’t it?) Expert is…

  • Age of Adaline — What’s so bad about immortality?

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    Fred Rothganger
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    The movie “Age of Adaline” has gotten some tepid marks from sites like Rotten Tomatoes. I thought it was a very well-constructed drama, with no wasted footage. For example, it shows Adaline’s dog growing old and dying. Then she goes and puts his picture in her photo album, and we discover he was like the…