Stories from the Calindratem

As you might have noticed, I haven't been posting a lot recently. This is because in recent weeks I have had to reconsider my priorities regarding my writings. While I love writing this blog and discussing books, movies and tv shows, my priority is still getting my novel query ready, which is why I have had to cut back on the number of posts I am publishing on this blog.  This doesn't mean, that I will stop updating this site, it merely means that I can't post in the weekly frequency for the time being.   I am currently preparing a review of Netflix's new hit show "Squid Game". Although it is not strictly a science fiction show, it has a certain dystopian atmosphere to it and its colourful set design reminds me of the cult show "The Prisoner" Stay tuned! The editing process of my novel is going really well and around 35 % are proofread and edited. Once I have finished the editing process, I will go through the book one final time focusing solely on w...

As a nerd I love a good scifi movie and a good movie is not necessarily a big blockbuster. I stumbled over the Australian movie "Occupation Rainfall" because it has two of my favourite actors in it Daniel Gillies and Jason Isaacs.  Since I knew that this wasn't a Hollywood movie, I expected some nice entertainment but nothing huge in the sense of production value but I couldn't have been more mistaken. The special effects are fantastic and don't have to shy away from the comparison with big movies. The only thing that really bothered me in the technical department was the sound. I might have been due to the fact that I watched the original version on the German DVD of this movie and that they didn't put too much effort into the disc, but it was impossible to watch the movie with a fixed sound setting. I had to constantly readjusted the setting during the movie, which seriously diminished the experience.   The movie is a continuation of "Occupation...

Those of you who are following my blog might know, that when speaking about science fiction I often voice that a certain vision of the future is a possible version of what would happen if we let our obsession with technology go too far. I recently binge watched the series "The One", where a company promises you to meet your one true love through DNA testing. The show wasn't particularly about the science fiction part, but it pointed out the dangers, as many people in happy relationships would take the tests anyhow and got insecure about their partners. The essential question remains:   Do we have to use every sort of technology just because we can? Let's start with the example from the show: Dating and love. In the present, dating is harder than ever if you ask me. We live fast lives and many people don't want to commit, either out of fear or because they don't feel the need to. It only gets harder the older you get. We are then told, that online dating is pro...

Since some people have told me, that I always write these about characters that I like I have decided to change that and pick a character I don't like: Hayley Marshall-Kenner. Before getting into the character in details, let's clear something up: While I dislike the character, I find it is very well crafted and Phoebe Tonkin portrays her excellently. She is a stunningly beautiful woman yet manages to believably pull off the tomboy and though girl. She also does justice to the emotional range of Hayley. But let's take a closer look at the character itself.  When we meet Hayley in "The Vampire Diaries" we learn that she has helped Tyler break the sire bond, meaning that although she grew up outside of the werewolf community she has learnt about the supernatural world. Not much is known about the family that adopted her only that when she turned into a wolf her parents kicked her out.  Hayley is what can be called street smart, which makes sense since she spend time...

"Star Wars" is an epic story and these days with new movies and shows like "The Mandalorian" coming out, a new audience is drawn to the story. But while most people would answer that "Star Wars" is a science fiction story, mainly due to the presence of space ships, I wonder if it isn't more of a fantasy story or maybe a cross of both. The question is what defines science fiction and what defines fantasy?  Science fiction as the term indicates is a type of fiction that focuses on science or more precisely on science that has not yet proven or doesn't exist. A logical conclusion is therefore that most science fiction is set in a future setting, which is the first indicator that Star Wars might not be science fiction as we all know that it famously started with the text reading:  A long time ago in galaxy far, far away...  Another and maybe the most important factor that defines scifi is technology that doesn't exist yet and is subsequently consid...

I have been absent for a few weeks due to some issues with my day job and my everyday life. The truth is that calling massive anxiety problems issues it probably the understatement of the century. I am a person who loves to be active and to take on projects and in addition I love to help others. This leads to me overwhelming myself. Since the beginning of the year I have struggled therefore, a lot.  In addition to this, the isolation due to the pandemic has taken its toll as well. Whenever we watch the news, we hear how tough the pandemic is on the elderly or families with children, but a lot of people forget about us singles. This is not going to be a post about Covid-19 but a post about what has been affecting my life in last few weeks. However I feel the need to point out that if you are single and due to the pandemic work from home, isolation might hit you harder than people are aware off. During the high time of the lockdown, when you were only allowed to leave your house with...

When it comes to science fiction most stories are naturally set in the future. The franchises of "The Hunger Games" and "Star Trek" are polar opposites of the science fiction genre as they both predict a very different future, one is a dystopian future the other one is a utopian future. But what seems more likely from the way humanity is evolving right now? On one hand we get news about incredible newly developed technology every week and things that 10 years seemed impossible are happening now. On the other hand we are experiencing a global pandemic and global warming is a serious threat to our planet.    Per definition a dystopia is an imaginary place or condition in which everything is as bad as possible. It is often portrayed within a totalitarian or post-apocalyptic society. Sadly in many ways a dystopian future feels realistic when we watch the news. Instead of evolving it seems like we the human race are devolving. Hate crimes of all sorts are on the rise, en...

Amber felt uneasy as she drove up the serpentines. The hotel was very isolated and with the grey sky and the heavy wind the castle which housed the hotel was less romantic than it was creepy.  It had sounded like such a good idea, when her agent had suggested it: Spend a week in a remote Irish castle to finish editing her book. She had thought the surroundings were going to be inspiring and the lack of distractions was going to keep her focused. Now after a 3 hour flight and a 2 hour drive, on what was the wrong side of the road for her, she simply felt annoyed. She would have to take the car even if she wanted to get a coffee in the nearby village. Apparently the castle or hotel provided a full board but since it was the off season and she wondered if there were going to be a lot of other guests and full staff.   She stopped the car at the parking and sighed, remaining seated for a moment. She grabbed her purse, her laptop bag and her wobbly old suitcase and made her way...

Those following my blog and my original writing can tell I love a good ghost story. In fact it was when writing a ghost story for school at the age of 12, when I fell in love with writing. I was therefore delighted when "The Haunting of Bly Manor" appeared on my Netflix suggestions.  "The Haunting of Bly Manor" is basically the second season of an anthology (simply "The Haunting"), whose first season is "The Haunting of Hill House" but since both seasons are completely independent when it comes to the story, this review will threat "The Haunting of Bly Manor" as an independent miniseries.  It starts at an engagement party for a young couple and in the evening they start talking about ghost stories. One of the guests tells a story. A young woman named Dani is hired as a nanny for two children by their uncle. The children live in an old manor somewhere in England and the only other staff are a house keeper, a gardener and a cook, none of ...

Having been a nerd for the longest part of my life, I have seen plenty of science fiction, mystery and fantasy movies, but I have to admit I was rarely as blown away as after watching The OA. This show leaves you gasping for air due to its incredible level of creativity.  Usually I start these articles with a brief synopsis of the show or movie and this is were is begins to get tricky with The OA already, as it is almost impossible to describe the fantastic premise of the show. It begins with a young woman being found, after having been missing for seven years. When she went missing she was blind and now her sight has been restored. What follows is an incredible journey of mysteries, abduction and near death experiences. Without giving away anymore of the story it is probably the most creative story telling in television. The revelations over the course of the show have to be compared to the end of "The Sixth Sense" when the audience learns that Bruce Willis' character wa...

The concept of a Star Wars tv show seemed far fetched to many people, Star War being the epitome of a blockbuster. But "The Mandalorian" has proven all critics wrong and had paved the way for several Star Wars series that are in the works, including a new Obi-Wan series starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christiansen.  "The Mandalorian" takes place approximately 5 years after "The Return of the Jedi" and sets itself apart from the movies by focusing on a bounty hunter. Din Djarin, is a Mandalorian and the first main character who is neither siding with the empire nor with the new republic. In a way we see for the first time how the average man in the Star Wars universe lives. Someone who doesn't fight in the war or tries to reshape the universe. The show focuses not only on Din Djarin's quest but also on the Mandalorians' culture and history, which is something that hasn't been explored in the live action movies so far.  The story is simple ...

The woman had settled into an easy routine many years ago. She got up, washed and dressed herself. After a small but tasty breakfast, she left her house and waded through the river. Afterwards she went about her day and in the evening she crossed the river again and went home.  It was a simple but joyful life. She had friends and enjoyed the little she had, without any reason to complain until one day everything changed. When she was washing herself, she noticed something below the left shoulder blade. It wasn’t bigger than a seed. She checked in the mirror and sighed when she saw the black dot. It was a river parasite. She wasn’t too worried, more annoyed at the inconvenience. She knew of many people, who had had a parasite and usually it grew a while, until it would let go, when crossing the river. Others went to different healers, who finally managed to detach it. Finally there were those whose parasite had grown so much, that apparently they couldn’t move or do anything. They...

Every "Firefly" fan is a bit heartbroken, when they hear that fandoms managed to save another show, because is was picked up by Netflix or the likes. The truth is that if "Firefly" had been cancelled in the present day the fans would have managed to save it. But 18 years ago, when the internet wasn't yet the driving force it is today and streaming services were merely an idea the effort of the fandom wasn't enough. At least they managed to get the studio to make a movie, to give the crew of Captain Reynolds a proper send off in "Serenity".  Despite only 14 episode being produced "Firefly" is a modern classic among Science Fiction shows, that has a cult following. But why is that? What makes this show so special?  First of all the characters are well fleshed out. Although the show has so few episodes all the characters are deep and have its moment to shine. This was achieved by having few guest stars compared to other shows and focusing on...

There are many brilliant shows out there, especially in times of Netflix and other streaming services. But for shows like "The Expanse" and "Altered Carbon" to be successful and the engaging shows they are (Regardless of their early cancellation they captured the audience.), there had to be some predecessors. Some shows, who broke ground and changed what we expect from TV forever. The following list is not a ranking, as every single show has brought something new and special to their respective genres or in some case even created new genres. Doctor Who When Doctor Who premiered in 1963 nobody imagined that the story about an alien traveler, who can regenerate would still be going strong in 2020. In 1966 the lead actor William Hartnell decided to leave the show due to health issues, in what could have been the death blow to the show. Instead the Timelord's regeneration was born, which made this show a legend and once more proves that creative writing will be...

Everyone knows Genres such a Fantasy, Science Fiction and Mystery, but among those there are many nuanced subgenres. In this series of articles I will try to shed some light into these subgenres by explaining the elements typical for them, their origin and naming some of the best examples for the respective subgenres.  The subgenre of Tech-noir is also known as Cyber Noir or Science Fiction Noir with the latter term being coined as early as the 60ies. The name Tech-noir derives from a nightclub in the movie "Terminator" (1984) where the first shoot out with the Terminator takes place. The term is a portmanteau of "technology", representing the Science Fiction elements of the genre and "noir", which is French for black and comes from the term "film noir".  "Film noir" is a term, that was coined in the 1940ies for crime movies, that had cynical undertone and often a sexual motivation in its center. It often included a central character th...

Mission 346:                                  Surveillance of planet earth Target:                                            Assessment for potential first contact. Mission commander:                    Elidara l’Oriano   Report: My team and I have been observing earth for 300 earth days, during which the planet went through a global pandemic and several political crises.   The global pandemic is caused by a virus, which while dangerous could have been easily controlled, had the population followed the indications of their scientists and political leaders. These are merely to keep a safe distance, wear a mask and follow basic hygiene rules. However the population is split basical...