THE WORD FOR THE BLOG IS SCIENTIFICTION

jueves, 5 de enero de 2023

Celestial by M. D. Lachlan


(I know there could be some mistakes in this review. I’m trying to improve my English, thanks)

A peculiar reading, with a taste of New Wave but adapted to current times. I started reading this book because a known author recommended it. So I started without even having read the synopsis and I must confess that my expectation was one and the reading experience has been quite different. When I started reading I thought it was a hard alternative history novel about the Space Race between the United States of America and the Soviet Union, Ian Sales style, and I found a very different story; although some aspect that Mr. Sales develops in The Apollo Quartet stories (highly recommended by the way) is also present here but... my lips are sealed.

I must say that the development has been a bit long for me and maybe some of the situations created by the characters could have been shortened. So most of the book is like a lysergic trip that lasts a little too long… So along the way I have had time to think about… a flawed novel? But not really. An excessive plot pretentiousness? In the end, I verify that neither is the case.

The novel deals about a mysterious discovery on the Moon, but this is actually an excuse for an introspective journey of humanity itself, and particularly of the astronauts and cosmonauts involved in this situation. Recalling a time in my life when I enjoyed meditation - although my knowledge of the subject remains superficial - the novel makes sense and its main premise I think is well-thought-out.

In summary, in my opinion what the author proposes is difficult to achieve, but I believe that he comes out successful with the proposal.



domingo, 1 de enero de 2023

The Twilight Zone: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television by Koren Shadmi

(I know there could be some mistakes in this review. I’m trying to improve my English, thanks)


Lately I've been interested in historical and biographical comics and this is a good example of what I like: a biography of the creator of the cult series Twilight Zone.


Contrary to the first thing that one might think, this is not a story with fantastic overtones, but rather focuses on the purely biographical aspect of Rod Serling, his beginnings long before he was known as the legendary television creator for which he is remembered today: from his hard period as a paratrooper assigned to the Philippines in World War II until his difficult and long escalation on the radio and later in the new medium of television, until he managed to position himself as the media star thanks to this series... even though nothing lasts forever.

I think it is an excellent choice by the author that the drawings are in black and white, as was the television of his time, as well as his austere but also impressive when necessary style. As I have commented before, the script focuses on the purely biographical (in this aspect I understand that it is well documented) and for this reason it does not stop captivating the reader throughout all the reading.