Not an April Fools Post

[newnumber6]

I normally post some kind of April Fools thing, even just in-jokes among subgroups of friends. But I'm skipping it this year because I haven't though of anything. Really. Disbelieve me at your peril.

After a discussion with locker_monster, I was reminded of the old Fox show Vr5, and so I went to download some of it to see how much of it, if any, holds up. And it's surprising how many people I'm familiar with from elsewhere passed in it. I'd already known that Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from Buffy) plays a major role after the first few episodes, but not only is Robert Picardo (Doc from Voyager, Woolsey from Stargate) in the first episode, but so is Adam Baldwin (Firefly's Jane). Not to mention Louise Fletcher (Kai Winn from DS9) playing the mom, and David McCallum (Man From UNCLE among many other roles) as the father, and a couple other more minor appearances.

For those of you who are unaware of the show (which will no doubt be a lot of you, it only aired like 9 episodes on FOX), it's about a woman who discovers that by hooking an active phone line up to her modem while she's wearing her VR equipment, she can sort of enter a 'virtual reality' state which is hyperrealistic, but very dream-like and based on the subconscious of her and the person she's connected to. They typically don't remember any of the encounter, but she does, and sometimes things she does to them can have effects on their subconscious. There's also a complicated conspiracy-esque backstory involving her family, her father and twin sister who (supposedly) died in a car accident when she was young, and her mother who has been catatonic since (but who she can reach in Vr5). Okay, the tech underpinnings of it are laughable (although part of that's intentional as later in the series it's made clear that there's a lot more going on than you find out at first glance). On rewatching... yeah, it's more than a little cheesy at places, but I still enjoyed the first couple eps (haven't got the rest yet), and the way it's filmed and such. It's no Firefly or anything, but might be worth a look if you haven't seen it and are into weird stuff. It's torrentable.

And some book foo...
Finished: Otherland, Vol 2: River of Blue Fire by Tad Williams

No detailed thoughts on this, since it's part of a series. Still generally enjoying it and will finish up.
Started and Finished: Singularity Sky, by Charles Stross
Some thoughts behind cut, concept spoilers but that's about it.

Overall enjoyed it, some nice concept exploration here, similar to but rather different from Accelerando and Glasshouse. The big idea here is that humanity has been forcible spread throughout the galaxy through a godlike AI called the Eschaton in the wake of a Singularity event. However, many of the parts of it are still in contact with each other, although some have splintered off socially. One, a society based somewhat on a totalitarian Russian empire, has restricted the use of technology by its citizens. When one of their border worlds are visited by a supreme-tech civilization that is offering everything for nothing, they view it as an attack, and respond in kind.

Characters aren't as strong as in some of his other works, and some of the battle
things just kind of bored me, but I liked a number of the scenes set on the world
the Festival visited, and the exploration of certain ramifications of a sudden imposition of a post-scarcity society. I'll read the sequel if I can scare it up.


Started: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling

Also
Finished: Use of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks
Started: Look to Windward, by Iain M. Banks

Liked Use of Weapons, not as much as Excession, but still enjoyable, and the non-linear
storytelling actually worked well - sometimes it annoys me. The major reveal I had sort of guessed early on (but I kept going back and forth on whether I actually believed it was going to happen or was just speculating wildly), but still entertaining. Continuing onto the Culture for one more book, then I'll be taking a break and moving on to something else for a while.

BSG and Doctor Who new this weekend, so there's that to look forward to.

Writingwise, I haven't edited as much as I'd like, but I'm trying to finish up soon. Been a little distracted by a 'silly project' (that is, one which has no hope of ever getting published), which you might oneday see if I finish (it's somewhat WIDWish). Anyway, new writing cycle starts this week.

There, I told you no April Fools pranks. Unless I've cleverly hidden one, I suppose. But I haven't. Promise.