Nerd Culture Podcast

Welcome to the Eighteenth instalment of Who Review, my ongoing quest to watch and review all available episodes of SF’s longest running television series, Doctor Who. This week, we look at one of the most important and pivotal storylines in Doctor Who history, The Tenth Planet.

EPISODES

The Tenth Planet (4 Episodes)

BROADCAST DATES

08 October – 29 October 1966

THE DOCTOR

William Hartnell

THE COMPANIONS

Ben Chapman

Polly

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Welcome to the Seventeenth instalment of Who Review, my ongoing quest to watch and review all available episodes of SF’s longest running television series, Doctor Who. This week, the Doctor and his companions find themselves in modern day London in a fight for their lives against The War Machines.

EPISODES

The War Machines (4 Episodes)

BROADCAST DATES

25 June – 16 July 1966

THE DOCTOR

William Hartnell

THE COMPANIONS

Dodo Chaplet

Ben Chapman

Polly

(more…)

With the upcoming release of the Avengers (only 3 more sleeps!) I thought it appropriate to re-watch the films leading up to this awesome event and judge them as a whole. Enjoy!

Iron Man

Released: 2008

Directed by: Jon Favreau

Starring: Robert Downey Jnr, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow

Plot: Billionaire genius playboy Tony Stark has a life altering experience when he is taken hostage in Afghanistan. He constructs a suit of armour to escape and decides to refine the suit to become a super hero, while fending off an attack on his business by supposed friend Obidiah Stane.

For: Downey was born to play Stark / Armour looks awesome / Great mix of comedy and action

Against: End battle is pretty lame / Howard bad choice for Rhodey

Favourite Scene: Tony is sprayed with the fire retardant foam / Iron Man vs the jets / Tony and Pepper at the party

Link to the Avengers: Nick Fury informs Tony that he isn’t the only super hero in the world, and invites him to join the Avengers Initiative.

Rating: 4 Lukes

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Welcome to the Sixteenth instalment of Who Review, my potentially insane quest to watch and review all available episodes of SF’s longest running television series, Doctor Who. This week, the TARDIS journeys to the Wild West and the Gunfight at the OK Corral in The Gunfighters.

EPISODES

The Gunfighters (4 Episodes)

BROADCAST DATES

30 April – 21 May 1966

THE DOCTOR

William Hartnell

THE COMPANIONS

Steven Taylor

Dodo Chaplet

(more…)

I read a story recently that blew me away, and I don’t use that phrase lightly.  I actually sat back after finishing it and said, “Wow!” out loud. The story, or novella to be accurate, is called Coolhunting and it will come as no surprise that it is by my favourite author, Kristine Kathryn Rusch. It is a part of a collection called ‘Five Short Novels’ that I bought from the iTunes book shop some time ago, but have only just gotten around to reading.

It begins with the story’s protagonist, Steffie, doing what she does best – coolhunting.  The opening scene is skilfully written to, not only to introduce you to Steffie but also explain what coolhunting is all about. It reminded me of William Gibson’s novel Pattern Recognition, and Steffie strongly reminded me of Gibson’s character, ‘Cayce Pollard’. Their style is similar, they do similar work, and both appear to be loners, outside the norm.  However, although I read Pattern Recognition first, it was published in 2003, whereas Coolhunting was first published in ‘Science Fiction Age’, July, 1998.   Whether or not Gibson got some inspiration from Rusch’s story, I can’t tell you, but I enjoyed making the comparison.

Though the characters, Steffie & Cayce, are similar and what they do for a living is similar, the stories are completely different. Much to my enjoyment!

This is the first Kristine Kathryn Rusch story I’ve read that I immediately identified as ‘cyber-punk’ (although there are many cyber-punk elements in her Retrieval Artist series), which immediately made me dive into the story.  The core of this story is buried under layers, and as she reveals each layer you are immersed more and more into the not-to-distant future universe she’s created.  So much so, that it wasn’t until after I read the story and was reflecting on it later, that the true horror of KD’s situation (Steffie’s sister) really set in.

What happens to KD is so horrendous; you wonder how it was allowed to happen.  How could people do something like that?  It speaks toward the society the characters live in and, I realise as I write this, that it has as much to say about listening to, and conforming to the wills and whims of society rather than thinking for yourself. Much like Ray Bradbury’s classic Fahrenheit 451.

I have deliberately not explained what coolhunting entails in this futuristic world (though if you’ve read Pattern Recognition, you may have some idea) or explained what KD’s situation is, as I feel it will detract from the experience of reading this story if you know these things before hand.

This is a rich immersive story that draws you in and takes you on tangents you don’t expect. I have read many of Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s works, (including many written under her pen names), and, out of a mountain of great works, this is my stand out favourite to date. I would dearly, dearly love to see this expanded into a full novel if she hasn’t already done so.

As of this writing, ‘Five Short Novels’ by Kristine Kathryn Rusch is still available from the iTunes book shop so please look it up. And don’t forget, Coolhunting is only one of the five stories on offer, so there’s four other excellent tales in there for you to enjoy.

5 Lukes