Stories from the Calindratem

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...

Villains with certain redeeming qualities always make the most interesting characters. In the Star Trek universe this assertion probably applies to Captain Gabriel Lorca from Star Trek Discovery, who was brought to life brilliantly by Jason Isaacs.  It is already doubtful is Captain Lorca is a pure villain, considering he is from the mirror universe, were very different moral standards apply. By Terran standards he might just be a man with ambitions gunning for a promotion. In season two and three it became obvious that the prime universe had a positive influence on Emperor Georgiou. Is it possible that this had also happened to Captain Lorca? Is he truly the absolute villain or is he in the end just someone who couldn't escape the culture he was brought up in?  Here are seven reasons, that might indicate that Captain Lorca has some redeeming qualities:  1. He wants to save the miners on Corvan 2 Of course you can argue that the only reason he wants to save them is to ens...