A speculative mind

  Now that some time has passed since I saw the ending, I can reflect on the HBO series Game of Thrones . And, just so you know, there will be spoilers here (for the show; not the books, since we don’t know for sure how the books will end). There were some great moments in the final season. The battle with the ice king was spectacular. But I do have to say that the final season left me disappointed. It was unsatisfying for the relationship I felt with a number of the characters, including Tyrion and Jon Snow. But what bothered me the most was the Endings for Cersei and Danny. Cersei had been a formidable opponent throughout the series. She was evil and cunning, and as much as we all hated her, you had to admit, she knew how to get things done. I have to say that Cersei in the show is maybe more cunning than she is in the books. But even in the books she always has a plan or scheme, and a drive to get what she wants. It doesn’t always work because she is not as smart as she think...

  The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang is the first book in a fantasy trilogy set in a country that looks a lot like China. In fact, early twentieth century Chinese history is the inspiration for this story. Most sword and sorcerer fantasies that I am familiar with, seem to be set in land that looks an awful lot like historical Europe (Middle-Earth, Westeros, etc.), so why not have one in a land that looks like historical China? The story takes place in a large mainland country, Nikan, which often finds itself at war with the powerful island nation Mugen. We meet our protagonist, Rin, at the age of sixteen as she is taking a test to get into Nikan’s military academy (the only way she can go to college as it is free but very difficult to get into). The first third of this book feels almost like an adult Harry Potter with martial arts in place of magic, as Rin makes her way through the rigors of the academy. But then war comes and the story takes a very dark turn. Kuang shows war in all it...

  I just finished The Last Emperox by John Scalzi. It was a satisfying ending to his Interdependency trilogy. The first book in the series is The Collapsing Empire , followed by The Consuming Fire , and it finishes with The Last Emperox . The premise of the series is that humankind has found the answer to faster-than-light travel among the stars in something called “the flow”. The flow consists of natural trails or streams through spacetime that allow a ship to take a shortcut through the universe. Humanity is spread out in an empire called the Interdependency. It is called that because none of the worlds or habitats have enough resources to sustain their inhabitants. But they all have resources that the other world or habitats need. So, they are dependent upon each other. The problem is that these flow streams are breaking down and scientists have discovered that it is just a matter of time before they all dissolve, leaving people stranded on worlds that cannot support them. The...

  I am not the biggest fan of Dr. Who in the world, but I am still a fan. Dr. Who is a time-travelling alien who seems to have a soft spot for Earth, and often takes human companions with him on his adventures through time and space. My wife and I binge-watched Dr. Who reruns last weekend. BBC America had a Dr. Who marathon going on for about six days in a row. I tried to do other things. But then my wife was watching and I kept finding myself being sucked in like all those Daleks being sucked into the alternate universe. I think when they started the series in the early 1960’s. The BBC executives thought it was just going to be a kid’s show and budgeted accordingly. The lack of funding showed in the effects and design of sets, props, and aliens. This is why the menacing aliens known as the Daleks, basically look like an upside-down garbage can with a plunger sticking out of it. Over the past 40+ years the Daleks haven’t changed much. Their look has been upgraded, but it is...