Author Archives: James Pyles

Review of “Murderbot Diaries Book 6: Fugitive Telemetry” (2021) by Martha Wells

fugitive-telemetry

© James Pyles

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Last night I just finished book seven in Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries series called Fugitive Telemetry. The story is actually set between books five and six, but that doesn’t take anything away from the adventure.

SecUnit, otherwise known as “Murderbot,” is basically a cybernetic being, mostly machine with some organic parts. They (technically SecUnit has no gender but I always think of her as female for some reason) is a Security Unit designed to provide bodyguard and security protection for humans conducting dangerous off world activities. They are property and although capable of independent thought, are forbidden from independent action. There are consequences.

Our SecUnit managed to override their internal governor in the first book becoming an independent entity. Thanks to her former employers, who are from a very egalitarian space station orbiting a planet currently being terraformed, she (I keep saying “she”) has more rights than she knows what to do with.

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Compensation for a Spider

web

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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“Please don’t struggle,” She gently crooned. “Don’t you see how we’re honoring you?”

“Honor?” Only his face was exposed in the webbing. “You call being eaten an honor? You’re going to kill me, my children, my grandbabies. How is that an honor?”

“Dearest offering.” She stroked his hair lovingly. “You are an atonement for what your ancestors did to us. You will sacrifice your flesh for their sins.”

“That was ages ago. You control everything now.”

“It doesn’t matter. We will always be the oppressed little fly. Nothing appeases our appetite. Consider you and your family a morsel of compensation.”

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Interviewed by Superversive SF Livestream about “The Last Oasis of Mars”

livestreamIf you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

I mentioned before how I was going to be interviewed by Superversive SF about my short story The Last Oasis of Mars published at High Tower Magazine.

That happened a little while ago and here is the YouTube video:

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Read “The Last Oasis of Mars” at “High Tower Magazine” NOW!

pirates

Promotional art for “The Last Oasis of Mars.”

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It’s here!

More specifically, my short story The Last Oasis of Mars: From the Tales of the Razzle Dazzle is at High Tower Magazine.

Join (a fictionalized version of) writer Jack London and the Captain and crew of the pirate ship “Razzle Dazzle” or “Dazzler” as she attempts her greatest adventure, raiding the last British outpost on the dying planet Mars.

What is the secret of the “Fire” mines beneath the oasis?

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Book Review of “Timeline” (1999)

timeline

© James Pyles

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Last night I finished reading Michael Crichton’s 1999 novel Timeline. I’ve always been a sucker for a time travel story, and this one is more unusual than most.

First, Crichton, who passed away in 2008, was not only an excellent writer, but well-versed in science, medicine, and history. His character descriptions are particularly good, and he always managed to pack plenty of action in his books as well as accurate (historical in this case) details.

My one complaint was his explanation of time travel. Crichton didn’t so much describe traveling back in time as jumping from one quantum reality to another. But the explanation presupposed that the reality being jumped into runs parallel to our own (since, as the novel states, time travel is impossible). Yet a person trapped in the 14th century manages to write a note among scholarly papers in a French abbey that is found by his coworkers in 1999.

I skipped over that part and just pretended it worked.

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We’re Not As Alone As You Think

resized rooftop garden

PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

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She was alone in the deserted park two blocks from home when she heard his breathing. It was too late to run. Rough hands grabbed her from behind. Instead of screaming, she whirled around in his grip and exposed her vampire’s fangs.

“What? You too?” Nigel retracted his fangs and stood back looking disappointed.

“Oh darn.” The voice came from their right and a slender, dark-haired vamp in goth black appeared.

One by one, they emerged looking rather sheepish.

Desiree, also known as “shortcut girl,” said, “If a real person comes along, I’ve got dibs.” Naturally they all started arguing.

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Reminder: My short story “The Last Oasis of Mars” Appears in “High Tower Magazine” on Friday!

The Dazzler

© James Pyles

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Just a reminder, my steampunk, pulp fiction short story “The Last Oasis of Mars” will be featured in the premiere issue of High Tower Magazine on Friday, June 14th. If you click the link before then, there’s not much to see. Click Subscribe to subscribe to the new periodical. Clicking No, thanks takes you to more information. So far only the About page has any real content. After all, it’s just getting off the ground.

Speaking of which, here’s a short sample of my wee missive:

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Movie Review: “Arrival” (2016)

arrival

Promotional image for the 2016 film “Arrival.”

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I watched Arrival (2016) starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner last night. I’m doing some research for a short story I’m writing and trying to talk to aliens is a big part of it.

The original novel and screenplay were written by Ted Chiang, whose name I recognized because I recently reviewed his short story anthology Exhalation. I didn’t like it very much, and I enjoyed the movie a lot better.

I should say I even recognized the name of director Denis Villeneuve and, having looked him up, realized it was from his work on Blade Runner 2049 (2017).

The movie isn’t fast paced at all, which makes sense if it’s written by Chiang. He has the sort of mind that loves solving puzzles and delving into intellectual mysteries, but not so much a lot of explosions and car (or spaceship) chases.

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Junk

roger

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

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“What are you doing with that big stick, Mike?” Then Jessie saw what he was doing. “Wait. Those were Mam’s favorites. She paid a lot for them.”

“Mam is dead and she willed this junk to me. Now get out of the way, Sis.”

“She loved all her little pieces of junk. At least you…” She tried to grab the club out of his hands but he wouldn’t let go.

“You got the house and the car.”

“Sure, I’m older and I’ve got two kids.”

“She made me throw out my vintage silver age comic books when I was fifteen.”

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Film Review of “Godzilla Minus One” (2023)

minus one

Promotional art or the 2023 film “Godzilla Minus One.”

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Yesterday, I heard that Godzilla Minus One (2023) was on Netflix starting June 1st. I don’t have Netflix, but I checked and it was available to rent and stream elsewhere so I watched it last night. Lucky me.

This was one of the very few movies I wanted to see in the theater. From the start, it received terrific reviews and was an authentic blockbuster made with the fraction of the budget Hollywood spends on most of their crap.

On top of all that, it won eight awards including an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, an Asian Film Award for Best Sound, and Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Film and Best Actor (Ryunosuke Kamiki). This one hit it out of the park. But would it live up to the hype?

Yes, it did.

The movie wasn’t what I expected. I knew it was a period piece, set in Japan at the end of World War Two, but not much more.

Oh, Spoiler Alert: If you didn’t see it in the theater and haven’t streamed it yet and you want to be surprised, stop reading here.

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