At the latest Critical Mass meeting in Adelaide I discussed cli-fi through the lens of two Kim Stanley Robinson offerings written 16 years apart.
The recently released The Ministry for the Future starts in the immediate future, with climate change impacts escalating but STILL so much inaction from the masses.
This epic novel-cum-science masterclass then speculates on humanity’s possible actions and reactions in the crisis of our times – climate change – over the next few decades.… Read the rest
Roman notes that John M Ford’s The Dragon Waiting is once again available. Jack Herman provides some notes about this fantasy…
This is an alternative history fantasy (a “counterfactual”) set in the time of Medici Florence (the time of the condottieri) and the Wars of the Roses. The discontinuity in this universe occurred at the time of Julian the Apostate, one of Constantine’s successors; only here Julian did indeed restore religious diversity to the Roman Empire and, after the victories of Justinian in Italy, the Byzantium flourished, and Islam didn’t.… Read the rest
March’s Critical Mass featured Kate Treloar talking about The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2020 novel; I thought I’d better read it for the discussion.
I spent a week reading the novel, savouring the delight. As Bill McKibben, head of 350.org, noted1, “it’s not a utopia, it’s anti-dystopian, realist to its core.” He compares the book to Bellamy’s Looking Backward 2000-1887.… Read the rest
Yay! The new issue of Wild Goose is out! As some of you might have guessed from this image, the main article is Paul Downton’s slide presentation of a recent visit to Barcelona.
Australian architect, writer, artist and urban evolutionary, Paul has been called a ‘father of the ecocity movement’ and sees ecocities as an evolutionary adventure. His best known built project is Christie Walk, in Adelaide (where Roman lives in a straw-bale house).… Read the rest
Tony Cliff is a decades long veteran of the Canadian animation industry, and three times nominee for an Eisner award. The first of his Delilah Dirk novels, Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant, is a mad adventure story set in Istanbul, 1807.… Read the rest
As a long-time fan of Green Lantern — I loved the old Hal Jordan stories — I could hardly resist a new Green Lantern series, particularly when it’s written by a brilliant writer!
Sojourner “Jo” Mullein is a rookie Green Lantern who’s been sent to a far corner of the galaxy, far removed from other Green Lanterns, to solve a murder.… Read the rest
You might expect a series called Total Control would be about politics. The original working title for the series was Black B*tch
Deborah Mailman plays an indigenous woman in outback Queensland who is coopted by a conservative government headed by PM Rachel Anderson (played by Rachel Griffiths).… Read the rest
I was a big fan of the original Watchmen comic series, which dealt with Thatcher and Nuclear War, and enjoyed the movie which focussed on Reagan and genetech. How, I wondered, would it fare as a TV series?
This HBO TV series is surprising, in that it has a strong focus on race relations in the US — remember that the original was british oriented — and appears to follow on from the original Watchmen story, some decades later.… Read the rest
With exam marking time back for another semester, I was on the lookout for something to watch. It had to require zero thinking to enjoy – I had no wish to be challenged – but be engaging enough so I would still manage to get something out of it. The answer was Amazon Prime and their collection of very, very bad disaster movies.… Read the rest
One of the delights in recent TV watching is the new HBO/BBC production of His Dark Materials, based on the wonderful trilogy from Philip Pullman.
Unlike the 2007 film of The Golden Compass, the TV series doesn’t sanitise the evil of the Magisterium, a religious organisation which rules Lyra’s world. The film suggested that the evil was a military fascism with religious overtones, rather than being a key characteristic of strict authoritarian religions.… Read the rest
If you’re in Barcelona, and have an interest in architecture, then you’ll be hunting down the Gaudi buildings.
Paul Downton, Architect and director of Ecopolis did exactly that. We invited him to share some thoughts (and slides) with us.
Australian architect, writer, artist and urban evolutionary, Paul has been called a ‘father of the ecocity movement’ and sees ecocities as an evolutionary adventure.… Read the rest
Our cover this issue from Paul Downton, the architect who designed Christie Walk. Roman noticed his photos from a visit to Barcelona, and invited him to present a selection as a slideshow for Wild Goose. Paul decided he’d rather do a greenscreen presentation, and we hope you’ll agree it’s been worth the wait.… Read the rest
Adelaide’s been invaded by strange critters called “Leafies”, as detailed by Roman
We hear about Ecocide as a crime against peace from Polly Higgins.
Ian Borchardt gives us the info on Jane Austen, Private Eye.
Marc Ortlieb introduces us to Lewis Carrol’s Phantasmagoria.
Adam reveals his shameful obsession, and also talks about building robots.
We have a look at some recent novellae, and Tony Thomas treats us to
The Denier’s Nightmare
Don’t miss out!
We’re just putting the finishing touches on the new issue, so there’s still time to comment on issue 4
(http://wild-goose.net/issue/issue4/), the Gibbons on the Ramparts issue.
If you enjoyed Ladies in Black, you might want to catch Top End Wedding — a lovely, unpredictable rom-com with spectacular scenery and delightful characters.
Adam talked about the AI problem (and I note Murderbot #2 took out the Hugo for novella), I reminisced about visiting St Petersburg, and Christine Pyman shared her opinion of the new Dr Who.… Read the rest
Adam looks at two similar games to consider why one succeeds, and the other doesn’t.
I have relatively little shame in admitting that I’m a Pokémon Go player. I will admit that I do have some shame, but it is manageable. I started playing back when the game was new, exciting, and popular, and kept playing as everyone else I knew slowly dropped away, leaving just a small group of serious players who refuse to move on.… Read the rest
One of the interesting things Adam does in his “spare” time is to build robots.
After taking a year off, in 2019 I returned to mentoring the local student robotics team, the RoboRoos. I enjoyed my break but I admit to missing the team, and even though difficult years can be more than a tad frustrating, when things are working there is little that I enjoy more.… Read the rest