In Armada by Ernest Cline, Zack Lightman is facing a life crossroads during his last week as a high school senior. He fights a bully, Douglas Knotcher, he struggles with his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Ellen Adams, and he hangs out with his best friends, Cruz and Diehl, aka the Mikes. Zack tries to connect with his dead father by playing computer games, watching VCR tapes, and listening to music that his father liked. Zack’s favorite current game is a spaceship simulator called Armada. What happens if the game becomes real? That is the dilemma that Zack will face in this novel.
Summary
Zack’s mother is a single mom so Zack must work to earn the money to buy his games. He works at Starbase Ace, a used video game shop, for Ray, who is an older father figure to Zack. Ray is just as committed as Zack to sci-fi gaming, movies, and TV shows. Zack buys his gear from Ray. This book is set in 2018. In the book, a video game publisher called Chaos Terrain begins operations in 2010. A few years later they release Terra Firma, a first-person shooter video game. A year later they release Armada, a space combat simulator.
Zack has been playing Armada for the past few years. Zack is so accomplished in the game that he is #6 on the worldwide leaderboard. The plot is similar to the movies Iron Eagle, Ender’s Game, and The Last Starfighter. The movies all had a kid learning to train for real-life combat by using a video game simulation. At the end of Phase One of the novel, something unusual happens to change the novel from a high school drama to a military operation based on the video game Armada. In Phase Two, Zack meets many new people including Lex and goes on a dangerous mission. In Phase Three the book wraps up with a final battle where Zack must make a complicated and important decision.
Recommendation
I enjoyed this novel almost as much as Ready Player One also by Ernest Cline. Both novels had protagonists that looked back in time to the 80s and 90s to find the answers to the questions of their narratives. The references were familiar to me. I particularly liked the Raid the Arcade Mix tape that Zack’s dad had made and Zack found and liked listening to. There are 28 songs on the tape. Thirteen songs were in my collection and obtained 6 more from the library. I thought that Lex did not have enough conflict with Zack as his romantic interest. I also thought that the ending was too easy for Zack to solve and too open-ended. It will make a great movie.
Raid The Arcade Mix Tape
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Armada by Ernest Cline.
This is the link to my review of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Wade Watts is poor. The year is 2044. The only way out is to win a contest for a billionaire’s fortune. The contest started five years ago but no one has won it yet, so Wade is determined to win it to secure his future.
I attended the Marcon Conference 2018 on Saturday, May 12. I drove to Columbus from Cleveland in the morning. The first activities were scheduled at 10:00 AM. I arrived at 10:30 AM, registered for the day, and went to the con suite for an early lunch. Activities were spaced in 90-minute blocks. The activities generally lasted 75 minutes with a 15-minute break until the next activity. The categories of the activities were Anime, Art, Comics, Cosplay, Fan Life, Filk, Gaming, Literary, Media, Science, and Youth. I attended four panels and two game shows at the Marcon Conference 2018.
Summary
Saturday: May 12, 2018
11:30 AM – Destination Mars
The three panelists debated about how and when humans will travel to Mars. All three had different viewpoints. It will happen in the next five years, it will happen a little later when the technology improves, and manned missions are too expensive and dangerous compared to unmanned missions. They asked if the missions will be one way which will make them similar to the colonization of America. Space tourism will probably fund the way to space travel.
1:00 PM – Game of Thrones Jeopardy!
The Psi Phi Columbus Game Show Network presented this activity. The jeopardy categories were projected on a big screen and the questions were written by the organizers. I volunteered to be on the first three-person panel. The game went back and forth until I pulled ahead by 3000 points in double jeopardy. The final jeopardy question was: What way don’t you want to leave the Eyrie? We all had the correct response: What is the Moon Door? I risked 2000 points because if the second place finisher had risked none and I lost 2000 points, I would still win the game. Using that strategy, I won the panel with 13200 points. I watched the second group. I would have had a hard time winning against the second winner. It was fun. The prize that I took for participating was a Targaryen lanyard.
It’s hard to read the numbers on the picture but my name is in blue and I won.
2:30 PM – That Was the Year in Science
There were two panelists that covered the most important scientific events that happened in the past year. The bulk of the conversation was about the collision of two neutron stars that occurred on 08-17-17. Other topics included a picture of a pulse of light, Homo sapiens are believed to have appeared 300000 years ago, the use of 3-D printing of polymerized chainmail for other uses (It was originally made for the Lord of the Rings movies), a lamb born from an artificial womb, and mice and rats may be able to pass memories to their offspring.
4:00 PM – What’s Going on in Commercial Space
This presentation began as a power point presentation about the recent commercial activities in space. The premise of the talk was how the current commercial space race was similar to the plot of The Man Who Sold the Moon by Robert Heinlein published in 1950.
The current commercial space race has four major players.
SpaceX
Elon Musk is the founder and CEO of SpaceX. SpaceX uses the Falcon 9 rocket to launch satellites and to service a contract from NASA to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). The company’s next goal is to use the bigger Falcon Heavy rocket to launch the Dragon spacecraft which will carry humans to the ISS. After that, the goal is to use the even bigger BFR rocket to launch a manned mission to Mars.
Bigelow Aerospace
Robert Bigelow is the founder and president of Bigelow Aerospace. The company manufactures expandable space station modules. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM, 16 cubic meters) was attached to the ISS in 2016 and remains operational today. The B330 (330 cubic meters, 20 times bigger than the BEAM) is projected to be launched in 2020. It could be part of the ISS or become its own space station. The company’s plan is to lease space on the module for experiments and manufacturing.
Blue Origin
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, is also the founder of Blue Origin. Their New Shepard rocket delivered its first payload on April 29, 2018. The bigger New Glenn rocket has enough power to put people into space with a planned launch in 2020.
Virgin Galactic
Richard Branson founded the Virgin Group which includes Virgin Galactic. The company wants to provide suborbital flights to space tourists and suborbital flights for space science missions. Test flights have been performed and paid flights are near.
The Future
Money can be made in space right now by supplying the ISS, putting satellites into orbit, and servicing those satellites. Future money making opportunities include telescopes, colonies, mining, radioactive waste storage, prisons, military bases, and garbage removal. The rest of the presentation was watching internet videos that gave different perspectives on the subject.
The whole presentation was informative and well designed.
5:30 PM – Break
I had dinner and relaxed at the con suite.
7:00 PM – Sci-Fi Wheel of Fortune
This game was presented by the Psi Phi Columbus Game Show Nexus. There were two games run before another group took the projector at 8 PM. In game one some of the puzzles were to name the power puff girls and name the teen titans. In game two there were a couple of Before and After puzzles and also name that person. I did not participate but it was fun to guess the puzzles in the audience.
8:30 PM – Writing Time Travel Sci-Fi and Doing it Right
This was a single person presentation. The presenter discussed the issues that the TV shows Timeless and Fringe had in depicting the ramifications of time travel. An example of a show that did better with the concept was the TV show 12 monkeys.
10:00 PM – Game of Thrones: Winter is Here.
I really wanted to stay and attend this panel but I could not. Sunday was Mother’s Day and I wanted to be home. I would have arrived too late if I had stayed for this panel. I returned to my car and left at 10:45 PM, arriving home at 12:30 AM.
Recommendations
My favorite activity at Marcon Conference 2018 was playing Game of Thrones Jeopardy. My stars of the con were Ken Keisel and Bob Lohman for their commitment to science. I’m glad that I made the trip to Columbus in 2018. There will be a new hotel and a new date for next year and I hope to attend the Marcon Conference in 2019.
Links
This is my recap for the SF conference Cleveland ConCoction 2018. They held it from March 9, 2018, to March 11, 2018. I attended ten activities and volunteered in the ConSuite for eight hours.
The Darknet by M T Bass, Murder by Munchausen Mysteries Book 2
Introduction
The Baron is back and hunting murder victims. Detectives Jack and Maddie are hunting him. Will they find him before he kills again?
Summary
In the previous book in the series, we learned that a serial killer called the Baron has been recreating past serial killer murders by using androids to commit the crimes in a near future Cleveland, Ohio. Jake the previous book’s protagonist, a detective from the Android Crime Unit (ACU), consults with Cleveland homicide detective Madeline “Maddie” on their connected cases. They had a previous romantic relationship which complicates their investigation.
As the investigation continues, more bodies appear and Maddie must discover the identity of the Baron before more victims die. The first murder in this book is witnessed by Amy who is orphaned and homeless. Maddie takes her in to protect her. Amy’s fate becomes important to the investigation. Maddie is helped by Jake, Maddie’s homicide partner Sanchez, and the members of the Android Crime Unit nicknamed the Geek Squad by Jake.
Recommendation
The events of this story follow directly after book #1. It was a jarring experience starting book #2 because Jake is the first-person narrator in book #1 and Maddie is the first-person narrator in book #2. Jake has a distinctive voice. He is snarky and has a quip for every situation. Maddie is more in the background. It took me some time to understand her voice. This book ended up being good but not as good as the first book because of the change in narrator. The descriptions of Cleveland locations continue to be well researched and believable.
This series seems to be sections of about 150 pages of a novel with a thematic climax at the end. Book #1 is 134 pages and Book #2 is 146 pages. Book #3 is called the Invisible Mind due to be released on 08-25-18 and Book #4 is called Motherless Children with a release date to be determined. I will read these sections when they are released.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Murder by Munchausen by M. T. Bass.
This is the link to my review of Murder by Munchausen by M. T. Bass. Cleveland, Ohio detective Jake and his partner E. C. are searching for an Android Subject (AnSub) that has committed a murder. The AnSub leads him to a serial killer.
Head On by John Scalzi, Book #2 of the Lock In Series
Introduction
Chris Shane witnesses the death of Duane Chapman, the first player killed in the new future violent sport of Hilketa. Years ago, in our future, an epidemic called Haden’s Syndrome affected millions of people who are now unable to control their own bodies. They interact with the outside world by using autonomous robots, called threeps, which are remotely connected to their brains. Chris and Duane have Haden’s Syndrome.
Duane plays in a team sport where the threeps battle on a sports field. The object of the game is to rip the head off the designated opponent’s threep and score a goal with it. Duane’s threep was destroyed and his body should not have died but it has. Chris is an FBI agent who must find out how and why Duane died. The case goes down unexpected paths and Chris must put together the clues to find the truth or risk Chris’s own life.
Summary
Chris is non-gender specific in the novel. Chris is at the Hilketa game because Chris’s father is interested in purchasing an expansion team based in Washington, D. C. Chris’s father is a famous championship-winning former basketball player and a real estate billionaire. Chris was the poster child for Haden’s rights but now wants to just solve cases for the FBI in relative anonymity. Chris’s partner in the FBI is Leslie Vann. She is the senior partner and helps Chris investigate the case. People keep dying in the novel as Chris gets closer to the truth. The criminals destroy Chris’s threeps and eventually threaten Chris’s life.
Recommendation
I enjoyed this novel very much. It is not necessary to read the first novel first though it helps with the background material. This novel reads fast, the action does not stop, and the revelations are valid. The police procedural part of the novel holds up well. The part of the novel dealing with Chris’s self-identity and struggle with being famous is the most interesting and the most frustrating. Keeping Chris gender-neutral has eliminated any romantic relationships. Duane is a Haden married to a non-Haden, Marla. Though that relationship does not end well, I wanted to see Chris struggle with a relationship in this novel. I think this might be what the author is building toward if there is a third novel in the series. I look forward to reading more about Chris Shane if there are more novels in the series.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Head On by John Scalzi.
This is a link to my review of Lock In by John Scalzi, Book #1 of the Lock In Series. FBI agent Chris Shane cannot physically examine a murder scene because Chris has Haden’s Syndrome. Chris interacts with the world with an android.
This is my Writing Progress Report April and May 2018.
Happy Birthday!!!
Writing Progress from March and April 2018
I typed the edits for Assassin in New Marl City Chapters 16, 17, 18, and 21 in March and April of 2018.
I typed chapters 13, 14, and 22 of Assassin in New Marl City in March and April of 2018.
The stories 4 Humours, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, Get to the Point, and LARP Film Noir have been submitted to magazines.
Statistics of magazine submissions for 2018 are; 0 different stories submitted a total of 0 times with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 0 rejections.
Events from March and April 2018
I attended ConCoction from March 9 to March 11, 2018, at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio 44202. At the event, I volunteered for 8 hours in the Con Suite at the event. I attended the opening ceremony, 5 panels, 2 readings, 1 performance, and the closing ceremony.
This is a link to the Cleveland ConCoction website.
Type the edits for Assassin in New Marl City Chapters 24, 26, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36 in May 2018.
Type Chapters 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, and 31 of Assassin in New Marl City in May 2018.
Polish and submit the stories Space-Dog Confession, White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short fiction magazines.
Submit 4 Humours, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, and LARP Film Noir to other short fiction magazines.
Hire an editor for Searcher of Riven from Fiveer.
Hire an editor for Ruins of Yarnud from Fiveer.
Planned Events for May 2018
Attend the Pitch Perfect Workshop on May 8 and May 22. The Workshop is sponsored by Literary Cleveland. It covers how to create a pitch letter for freelance writing. I feel the workshop content is applicable to writing query letters for agent representation by fiction writers.
Attend Marcon on May 12 at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, Ohio.
Purchase an e-book cover for Assassin in New Marl City from Fiveer.
Put the first ten chapters of Assassin in New Marl City into the writing program, Scrivener.
Work on completing a Query letter to use to find an agent for Assassin in New Marl.
Links
I wrote three blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my writing progress report for March 2018 linked below. I also wrote one blog post in April.
