StarfleetComms Sci-fi Podcast

Interview with John Harper – Author

In this episode I interview the affable John Harper about his experiences whilst writing the official canon book, And Here The Wheel. We learn some writing hints and tips along the way as well as understand a little more about who John actually is as a person. We also get to hear about his upcoming new book The Berserker and some of the feedback he’s received from beta readers!

Video interview with John Harper – Author

What’s it all about?

Robert Garry, ex-military officer, wants nothing more than to maintain his integrity and his team’s safety despite a career change to pirate leader but a cargo freighter he targets proves to be holding much more than he bargained for. Will he escape with his own life, let alone the lives of his crew?

A constantly erupting roller-coaster of pursuit and high-stakes. The two main characters (Garry and Gunn) are brilliantly imagined and the changes wrought on them are subtly and cleverly penned

Available here:

Show notes:

John mentions several learning resources for aspiring authors during the interview so I though it would be a good idea to lost them. Check them out!

http://storyfix.com/

https://bar.baen.com/

http://davidfarland.com/category/for-writers/

In addition, there were some questions from Redditors. I’ve listed them here together with the answers.

From manzai_monster

Are there any references to “And Here the Wheel” within the game?

There are several tourist beacons in the game, a couple in orbit around Villist. And many of the worlds are in the game, but for some reason some of them aren’t. Not sure what happened at FDs end about that.

From JimmychoosShoes

how much Krait could a wood Krait crate, if a wood Krait could crate wood?

A wood Krait would crate as much wood as a wood Krait could crate, if a wood Krait could crate wood.

From HunterWithGreenScale

“Is ‘And Here the Wheel’ still considered Canon with ED?”

Yes. Its an official novel and until I’m told otherwise it is still canon.

From Puke_Witchwalker

Where is Raxxla?

Wish I knew mate! I know where Soontill is though.

Interview with Marleen S Barr – Author

In such troubled times it’s a fantastic and cathartic relief to be able to look at the world and laugh. That’s what this award winning feminist science fiction critic does in her new book “When Trump Changed: The Feminist Science Fiction Justice League Quashes the Orange Outrage Pussy Grabber“.  The book became available on Amazon, July 17, 2018 and I’m really pleased to say that I was one of the first to interview Marleen about it. She gives us some of the thought processes, not just behind the writing, but the reason for the writing, and treats us to an exclusive read of the short story “Two Trump Heads are Better than One. It’s a hilarious interview and only snowflakes would get angry.

Video interview with Marleen S Barr – Author

What’s it all about?

Award winning feminist science fiction scholar and writer Marleen S. Barr brings you When Trump Changed, The Feminist Science Fiction Justice League Quashes the Orange Outrage Pussy Grabber. 

This book—the world’s first single-authored satirical Trump-focused short story collection—is a guide to the Trump revenge fantasy galaxy. Barr turns to fiction to move beyond wishing for Trump’s impeachment. She subjects our president to close encounters with feminist extraterrestrials, alternative Hillary winning history, Godzilla-esque metamorphosis, and lockup in the Phantom Zone—and that is on a good day.

In the end, Barr transports Trump to a galaxy far far away from us. Those who recoil at pussy grabbing need to grab this laugh-out-loud funny and groundbreaking feminist power fantasy. Liberals will rate it a ten.

Available here:

Interview with Dennis E. Taylor – Author

This is an interview I did with Dennis E Taylor, author of Outland, The Bobiverse Series and Singularity Trap. A first for me in this was to perform it as a live stream and advertised here. This was held on Sunday 6th May at 8:30 BST with about a week’s worth of pre-publicity to get some questions to ask Dennis. Technological compatibility with my brain stem meant there were a couple of niggles but I think we made a decent interview out of it.

Video interview with Dennis E. Taylor – Author

What’s it all about?

I interview Dennis E Taylor who has had great success with the Bobiverse series of books. During the interview, Dennis reveals a decision he needs to make before we get to hear any more news on book four. Suffice to say it might be worthwhile letting him know how much you want it!

Some of the questions I asked came from the glorious folks over at the Bobiverse Reddit and were:

impshial:  Hi, Dennis. Thanks for doing this AMA! As a big fan of your work, and also a big fan of /u/TheRayPorter, I was wondering what you thought of his verbal interpretation of your books?

PinochetIsMyHero: Hi Dennis, so, obviously Star Trek is a big influence on you, but what other SF authors and genres are your favorites? Are you more of a classics guy (Heinlein, Asimov, Stasheff) or a modernist (Gibson, Williams, Stephenson)? Space opera or cyberpunk or juvies?

PinochetIsMyHero: Have you been reading any of your contemporaries’ books — Craig Alanson’s ExForce series, Barry Hutchison’s Space Team, Steven Erikson’s Willful Child, Robert Kroese’s Dream of the Iron Dragon?

PinochetIsMyHero: Assuming it became possible, would you want to be the brain in a Bob probe?

PinochetIsMyHero: And, of course, the question everyone wants the answer to, when’s the next Bob book coming out??!?!

roonling: What’re you working on next, and when/where can I preorder it?

roonling: Will Outland every get reprinted / done in Kindle format? I’ve been recommended it, but can’t find a copy in stock in the UK anywhere.

Me: Also revealed, which enemy actually likes their reputation and why an evil sounding name didn’t have as much effort put into it as I thought!

RoryRhino (on stream): Why does Bob hate acronyms so much?

We also learn what role today’s religious right really played…

What’s next for Dennis E. Taylor?

He’s still hard at work! The re-write of Outland then the decision over what’s next will keep him busy! Let him know how much you appreciate his efforts.

Interview with Paul Plett – Filmmaker

This is an interview I did with Paul Plett, an independent filmmaker from Winnipeg, Canada. He’s currently trying to raise funds for a Kickstarter (here) in order to create a feature-length independent sci-fi film called RAMA. We learn about the many challenges and indeed successes involved in short filmmaking. I hope you enjoy it.

Video interview with Paul Plett – Filmmaker

What’s it all about?

Paul has created many short films during his career and most recently has started to knit together some of his shorts into a longer story arc. The first short in this series is SCAB which is essentially the story of a young girl infected with a deadly virus seeking to escape from a militia in a post-apocalyptic setting. The short film manages to pack quite a lot into the twenty or so minutes it runs and I heartily recommend you watch it for yourself, it’s really good.

The next in the series, PISCES is explained rather well during the interview however it is in post-production so you’ll need to monitor Paul’s social media for that. He’ll likely announce news of PISCES  on his RAMA The Film website too. If SCAB is anything to go by I can’t wait for PISCES.

What’s next for Paul Plett?

If enough funds are raised by the Kickstarter (go visit it and help where and if you can!) then we’ll witness a good quality sci-fi feature film being born. Who can possibly argue against that? As for what RAMA is about, here’s some blurb:

Rama is a feature-length film about a girl named Lex who is infected with a deadly virus, and assembles a ragtag group of strangers to help her cross a post-apocalyptic landscape in order to find the cure. This is a sci-fi movie, like a mix of Firefly, Mad Max & Blade Runner.

It’s a story about this group of strangers who kind of stumble into this perilous situation, and they’ve got to get along with each other if they’re going to survive. So all kinds of issues come bubbling to the surface throughout the course of the movie…and at the centre of it all is this girl who’s changing and mutating as the virus takes over her body.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

This is my review of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. The classic story of the underdog taking on the corporate giant. A David and Goliath for the modern age.

Ready Player One  – if you’re new to Audible this will be free: http://a.co/3XGdFP9

Video review of Ready Player One

Ready Player One? What’s it all about?

Officially, this is the blurb from Goodreads:

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.

Anything going for this?

The background is one of a dystopian America in the 2040’s where the average working human is poor, corporations are strong, governments are weak and the only escape is to play the online super game invented by James Halliday, The Oasis. A bit like the UK in 2017 without The Oasis.

If you think of Tron, you’re a million miles away. Think instead of being inside any games you have played, such as those with magic or those with technology. People have magic swords and other artefacts and fly around in X-Wing fighters… now you are on the right track.

Well, the main plot is that Halliday has died but has left an Easter Egg in The Oasis that will allow total control. Egg hunters, aka Gunters, want this and so does the evil IOI corporation. At risk are privacy, net neutrality, freedom of speech and human rights.

It’s been hidden for years but now, the first key has been found! The race is on!

A couple of points. Firstly, I listened to the Audible version narrated by Will Wheaton and I have to say he performed magnificently. I really enjoyed the book and felt it was in good part due to his skill.

The book itself was a roller coaster ride, as they say, and well put together. Only a couple of points detracted from the overall score for me. Some of the extra characters were a bit one dimensional which meant I cared not for them. There was an interesting job done on the character “Aech” and I felt that the acceptance issues could have been explored more but were sufficiently done I suppose. The other main character “Art3mis” had self-esteem issues and again, without giving too much away, I thought some more could be done there too.

I’ve also seen reviews complaining about seemingly unnecessary references to 80’s pop culture, however, this was the absolute intent of the author… I would agree that some of it was a little bit clunky in delivery but in the narrated version it comes across great.

This was a fantastic ride which was truly engrossing. While the ending was good, I was expecting something a little more, however, the journey to get there was thrilling and excellently done.

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

This is my review of Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel. A post-apocalyptic tale with a human feel.

Video review of Station Eleven

Station Eleven? What’s it all about?

Officially, this is the blurb from Goodreads:

An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be saviour, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity. One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time-from the actor’s early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains – this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor’s first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet. Sometimes terrifying, sometimes tender, Station Eleven tells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it.

Anything going for this?

While I agree with most of it I thought the story was about the human condition. What it means to be human and what it means to care. In many post-apocalyptic novels, we have dire consequence, ruthless adversaries, a horrific challenge to overcome and an overarching sense of despair. Granted, there’s a huge market for those stories but Station Eleven takes a different approach. It asks us about our relationships with each other, what the consequences are and what the end results might be. There is a message in this book and it’s about the importance and the frailty of connections.

Against a backdrop where most of the population has gone, no electricity or refined carbon fuels exist and early 19th Century medicine is once again king, we find ourselves on course with a fate put in motion twenty or so years earlier.The story is told in a beautiful and gentle way. Sometimes whimsical, sometimes dramatic, we are led toward the conclusion among a meandering path of interwoven tales. It’s an excellently written book with a lovely feel to it and well worth a read. You can buy it here: http://amzn.to/2xU2Sse

Star Trek Discovery by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman

This is my review of Star Trek Discovery by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman. Overall, this is a fresh look at the Star Trek franchise set some years after the events of Star Trek: Enterprise and just ten years before Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS).

Video review of Star Trek Discovery

Discovery, what’s all the controversy about?

In this episode, I discuss Star Trek Discovery so far to episode 4. I describe a little around the backdrop and ask if it’s right for the Star Trek universe.

Following this theme, I explore the main characters, such as Michael Burnham, Lt Paul Stamets whom we can see developing into a much deeper character, Sylvia Tilly who appears neurotic and we hope she matures, Saru who is excellently played, and Captain Gabriel Lorca and there are lot’s of positives in terms of interaction, tension, conflict and the emergence of a sense of ethics that will provide plenty of storylines between Michael and Gabriel.

Discussed also is the bizarre spore drive and the infuriatingly awkward spinning saucer section.

I go on to discuss the controversial breaches against canon and ask if they really are as bad as they seem and speculate as to the future of tribbles and the USS Discovery. In question are writers accuracy, for example in this series alone it is established that Starfleet has “excellent tech hygiene”, Michael Burnham Episode 1. Yet in Episode 4 we see the recovery of a dilithium processing unit from the USS Shenzhous warp core, left adrift on the battlefield for six months. That sure doesn’t sound like excellent tech hygiene to me.

Opinions are like warp cores though, every battlefield seems to have a spare one.

Anything going for this?

As at S1E4, it’s exciting, gritty, fun but also a bit jarring when you see something not quite right. There are great nods to canon with regard to sound effects, a clever psychological move if ever there was one. Leaving aside some apparent plot holes and liberties taken with canon, I’d definitely recommend you give it a try and see for yourself. There’s great room for character development and with a season-wide story arc, I get the impression we’re in for some real treats. I’d also ask if you could give it a chance to gain legs, remember ST: TNG season 1? That was dire in comparison to this show. Controversially and perhaps to stir the pot a little, overall I’d describe Star Trek Discovery as Star Trek, grown up.

Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

This is my review of Footfall, a Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle novel from 1985. Overall, the story is of a race of elephant-like aliens from Alpha Centauri invading Earth and Earth’s attempts at repelling the invasion. You can buy it here: http://amzn.to/2fiB0Sz

Video review of Footfall

Footfall, what’s it about?

When Footfall was published in 1985, it was a fairly well received alien invasion novel. Footfall was nominated for the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and was a No. 1 New York Times Bestseller. The Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle pedigree certainly helped this happen. Overall, the story is of a race of elephant-like aliens from Alpha Centauri invading Earth and Earth’s attempts at repelling the invasion.

Human characters, and there are lots, consist of civilians who are preppers, military who give us stereotypical performances and Russians stepped straight out of a 1950’s cold war fiction novel. The female characters who are so badly written they are insulting with many only concerned with how some men will think of them.

Science fiction writers are placed as advisers which is simultaneously a great and awful move, something I’d label as Schrodinger’s characterization. Seriously, sci-fi writers including sci-fi writers? Are sci-fi writers the only people with imagination? As some are based on the authors it appears so.

Back to the story, the initial assault is global however the landing point is Kansas. It’s not really memorable as to why the Fithp chose to settle in Kansas but the reason is neither here nor there as both the Americans and Russians nuke the alien base there anyway. Utterly horrified by the pollution of the garden region of America (as yes that was the reason) the Fithp throw an asteroid at the Indian Ocean and destroy India and much of that region. Running out of continents, the Fithp now choose to invade Africa and actually get help doing this by promising influence to local “warlords”.

Meanwhile, back in the famous Cheyenne Mountain Complex, a plan is hatched to launch an atomic bomb powered ship from the preppers town to take on the alien mothership. The propulsion was based on a real idea, check out Project Orion. Some things happen and there’s some conclusion reached but the end is rather sudden.

Anything going for this?

Yes, it’s a lot of fun to read, there are some fascinating insights into interstellar travel, generation ships and so on. The strengths of the authors clearly lie in the area of science, and tellingly, the scientific theories of the time, take Bussard Ramjets as an example. The attempt to demonstrate how alien the aliens are by using a herd mentality is interesting. The usage of elephants is probably to help us imagine a secondary race becoming the apex predator of Earth if we became extinct. Would it be possible for another species on Earth to evolve and take over for example?

Tons of characters, not sure why as some seem very similar to each other. As there’s a cast of thousands it gives the book a “big” feel to it but the substance is missing. It could be a great TV series though, a single season show if it was updated to have a more modern outlook and some what I consider to be glaring errors were corrected. Project Orion never really took off literally because of the fallout so another drive system could be selected. That’s just an example.

Anyway, an enjoyable read minus how outdated some of the attitudes and science seems.

Star Wars Galaxies: Emulator

This episode is a quick overview of the SWGEmu available over at www.swgemu.com where you can once again play Star Wars Galaxies while helping the project!

Video overview of Star Wars Galaxies Emulator

Hindsight is 20 20 so they say. A brief history of SWG…

One of the biggest mistakes anyone can make is to be arrogant. It’s like the current 33rd-century world government who decry independent thought. Like King Canute, the government or the arrogant, cannot change the passage of history.

With that in mind, we’re looking at Star Wars Galaxies today. So in 2003 Lucas Arts and Sony Online Entertainment launched a Raph Koster game that was and is still unique. Star Wars Galaxies. At the time the game play and graphics were mind-blowing. So much so that people were boasting about how far they could turn the setting up on their machines, planned individual careers and pre-formed guilds ahead of the game’s launch. The hype generated was fanatical.

The game itself had its flaws though. Rubber banding was endemic, there were mistakes made with the TEF system that even Raph Koster couldn’t fully fix and the game itself was launched before it was complete. One notable absence from Star Wars Galaxies were Stars and Galaxies. On record, John Smedley has admitted that as a mistake and even though I personally want to punch the camera right now I don’t believe one man could have been responsible for the horror that was to follow.

It’s all history now, water under the bridge as they say but with jealous looks at other games such as World of Warcraft, a decision was made, based on no doubt on many recommendations, that the game had to change. Indeed, on Raph Kosters site, he reveals that some of the decisions could have been made using faulty data.

So, one week after The Trials of Obi-Wan expansion was released the poor Terran’s endured the utterly horrifying New Game Experience. Major changes included the reduction and simplification of professions, simplification of gameplay mechanics, and Jedi becoming a starting profession. This led to a number of players demanding their money back for the expansion. After a week or two of protests, Sony offered refunds to anyone who asked for it. Many player towns became ghost towns due to the reaction of long-term players who decided to depart en masse.

It would be unfair and disingenuous of me to say that these things were completely wrong to do. Each of those changes contained some pretty good stuff but they also contained some pretty bad stuff too. Before you knew it a whole population was disenfranchised. People didn’t necessarily want to be forced along a path. People were quite happy paying to be Entertainers and Artisans or generally hanging around Cantinas and Star Ports. Instead of a rich and varied skill system, a cookie cutter experience was forced onto an unwilling player base. Argue as much as you want but the end result was the end of the game December 15th, 2011 when the last server shut. Happy Christmas from SOE.

Except some did something about it. Someone used their brains.

In 2004, the SWG Emulator was born. It’s taken years to get to where it is now, but it works, it’s playable and its fun. It’s on Publish 9.To refresh your memories, this in the introduction of the Village Jedi system.

TheAnswer, lead developer on the SWGEmu project with a team of volunteers are faithfully recreating the Star Wars Galaxies experience with the concrete aim of reaching publish 14.1 which is just before the Combat Upgrade.

Review and overview of the Star Trek: New Horizons mod for Stellaris.

Taking more risks, the intrepid CMDR Max Torps broadcasts another forbidden review to the sheeplike populace of the 33rd century. Inviting them to play strategy games might actually spark some independent thought. Unfortunately, Max is detected and comes under attack, but not before he succeeds in completing the transmission!

Video overview of Star Trek: New Horizons

Stellaris

This is not a review of Stellaris, this is more of a review of the mod called Star Trek New Horizons.

If you don’t know about Stellaris, briefly it’s a 4X grand strategy game developed and published by Paradox Interactive. Stellaris’s gameplay revolves around space exploration, managing an empire, and diplomacy and warfare with other spacefaring civilizations. It is absolutely stunning with a dizzying array of options and mechanics. All of which are used in New Horizons.

Stellaris is a superb game in its own right but with the addition of this Mod from the Steam Workshop, it can appeal to a very large niche of Star Trek gaming fans too.

Some of you may recall Birth Of The Federation (BOTF), in my view an excellent RTS PC game brought out in the Earth year 1999. In my opinion, no other Star Trek RTS has come close.

BOTF was meant to be launched around the same time as the movie Star Trek: Insurrection which is one of the rare times any Star Trek studio thought about strategic marketing. Star Trek: Beyond and the 50th Star Trek Anniversary, I’m looking at you.

Developed by Microprose and published by Hasbro Interaction, BOTF gave players the chance to achieve expansion by use of diplomacy, the colonisation of new worlds and of course combat.

Although well received, key criticisms were amongst other things, that the game was limited to Next Generation era ships.

The Star Trek New Horizons mod for Stellaris addresses all of that. It’s a total conversion pack for Stellaris and offers all of the ship types and races you’ve seen in Star Trek. It’s an immense piece of work. The aim is to create the Federation and to fight off the many and varied threats!

At the time of this quantum scan, 41 out of 50 races are playable, it includes your favourite species from the Star Trek Shows and movies including the Klingons, Romulans and the dreaded Borg! With lore specific weapons and ships, ST: New Horizons is the fullest Star Trek experience for Stellaris currently available and among others, it’s developed by Grinsel, Matix, Shaggo, Swizzlewizzle, Walshicus, Harel, Janack, Osito and ZoomImpulse.

If I had any criticisms, I’d mention some placeholder descriptions and some of the audio samples used are a bit repetitive. However, this is clearly a work in progress and you can see on their Stellaris Wiki page the improvement plans they have.

A warm and fuzzy 4/5.

Purchase Stellaris here: http://amzn.to/2w96h3G

http://www.stellariswiki.com/Stellaris_Wiki

http://www.stellariswiki.com/ST_NewHorizons