© James Pyles

I just finished Starhyke: A Dark Future Past (2025) by A.S. Charly, published by Starry Eyed Press and I must say it doesn’t disappoint.

The novel is based on the 2009 British television/comedy Starhyke (Starhyke as in “hike”, “Star Trek.” Get it?).

I’d never heard of the television show before I became aware of the book, but it seemed like an interesting concept. The Amazon blurb for the TV show says:

In the year 3034 the human race has found a way to make itself emotionless and has taken over most of the galaxy, subduing or destroying any alien race it discovers. The last race to oppose the humans are the peaceable Reptids, who are determined to stop them at any cost.

Basically, in this galactic space opera, Earth people are the bad guys, having suppressed all of their emotions. the alien Reptids are fighting back, trying to give humans back their emotions with a virus so they’ll stop being so aggressive. Seems intriguing, but apparently, there’s a reason the show was cancelled after one season. Again, according to an Amazon review of the show:

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© James Pyles

Since I retired, I decided to view films I’ve never seen before (and have always meant to) as well as movies I haven’t viewed in ages.

Last night, for the first time, I saw Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927). I haven’t watched a silent film in a very long time, but I’d taken enough film classes in my youth that I’m perfectly fine with the experience.

That said, you don’t watch this movie unless you’re a serious science fiction fan or a film student. Film making has changed a lot in the past century and the acting and makeup in early cinema borrowed heavily from the stage. In other words, the actors looked like they had plaster on their faces and their acting (by modern standards) was melodramatic.

I was saddened to learn that about a quarter of the original film was lost. There’s a long history of the efforts in attempting to restore this masterpiece, but what is gone is gone.

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PHOTO PROMPT © Robbie Cheadle

The zoo was closed which was what Chen was counting on. Right before he was “let go” from the IT department, he installed a backdoor into their security system letting him bypass the gate locks and alarms.

Even knowing he was alone, he looked left and right as the snow fell on him and the pool of baboons. The time traveler from the future whispered into the brain implant he had given Chen and he passed along the news to his friends.

“An alien probe will destroy Earth three-hundred years from now unless we take you back to answer them.”

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