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Spider Star
The human colony on the planet Argo has long explored and exploited the technology left behind by an extinct alien race. But then an archaeology team accidentally activates a terrible weapon...
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Praise for Star Dragon
"Seldom does a storytelling talent come along as potent and fully mature as Mike Brotherton. His complex characters take you on a voyage that is both fiercely credible and astonishingly imaginative. This is Science Fiction."
-- David Brin"Star Dragon is terrific fare, offering readers a fusion of hard science and grand adventure."
-- Locus Magazine"Star Dragon is steeped in cosmology, the physics of interstellar travel, exobiology, artificial intelligence, bioscience. Brotherton, author of many scientific articles in refereed journals, has written a dramatic, provocative, utterly convincing hard science sf novel that includes an ironic twist that fans will love."
-- Booklist starred review"Readers hungry for the thought-provoking extrapolation and rigorous technical detail of old-fashioned hard SF are sure to enjoy astronomer Brotherton's first novel."
-- Publishers Weekly"Mike Brotherton, himself a trained astrophysicist, combines the technical acuity and ingenuity of Robert Forward with the ironic, postmodern stance and style of M. John Harrison. In this, his debut novel, those twin talents unite to produce a work that is involving on any number of levels. It's just about all you could ask for in a hardcore SF adventure."
-- Paul di Fillippo, SCI-FI.COM
Some Uncomfortable Questions About SF and Fantasy
July 2nd, 2009
If Yoda is so wise, why is his English so bad?
Why does anyone on Star Trek ever die? The transporters seem to remember their pattern, which should let people make easy copies or, at a minimum, make back ups.
If they can go out in the sunlight, why are they called “vampires” in the Twilight books? If I put on some glitter can I call myself a vampire?
If the Terminator hadn’t gone back in time to kill Sarah Conner, how would John Conner have been conceived? The Terminator wouldn’t have been sent if John Conner hadn’t have been conceived.
Remember those eagles at the end of Lord of the Rings? Why couldn’t they fly everyone to Mordor from Rivendell in the first place? Would have saved us about nine hours.
Why doesn’t Professor Dumbledore use that Time Turner thing to fix problems a lot more regularly, as in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure?
On the Six Million Dollar Man, why didn’t the bionic arm get pulled off Lee Major’s body every time he tried to lift a car? His arm was strong, and his legs too, but not the rest of the body.
On the new Battlestar Galactica, why is it so hard to tell the difference between a human and a cylon? The cylons are killed by some radiation humans find harmless, for instance (I know what weapon I’d invent), and are stronger than humans, too, but apparently advanced technology can’t easily tell the difference.
Where does the extra mass come from when Bruce Banner Hulks out?
Why does The Sword of Shannara remind me of Lord of the Rings minus the poetry?
If there really could only be one, as established in Highlander, what idiot greenlit sequels? And can we take his head already?
In the Core and Sunshine, why are manned vehicles required to deliver their payloads? Other than “because it’s more exciting,” that is.
What do Luke Skywalker and Starbuck and Apollo do about going to the bathroom on long flights?
Why does Kirk enjoy sex with aliens of all types, but won’t consummate his own true love with Spock? Why do so many women say they find Spock sexier than Kirk?
Why can’t people tell the difference between Superman and Clark Kent? Does suspension of disbelief really go that far?
Stupid things I think about sometimes…got more?
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July 3rd, 2009 at 2:04 am
Can’t answer most of the questions, but the one about why women find Spock sexier than Kirk - well, I think it’s the big ears! or am I just being naive?
Only other comment is, don’t worry about it, life’s too short - unless, of course, you’re a member of the crew of the starship enterprise!
Chris Warren
Author and Freelance Writer
Randolph’s Challenge, Book One-The Pendulum Swings
July 3rd, 2009 at 5:51 am
If the Terminator hadn’t gone back in time to kill Sarah Conner, how would John Conner have been conceived? The Terminator wouldn’t have been sent if John Conner hadn’t have been conceived.
Its obvious. The original John Connor (in the first timeline) was a different person by a different father—but when Kyle Reese was sent back (the first “time” he was sent back—its probably happened in new versions many times) he impregnated Connor’s mother and erased the original John.
Why can’t people tell the difference between Superman and Clark Kent? Does suspension of disbelief really go that far?
I tell myself he’s able to shift the shape of his face just enough to not be recognized. Hey, he’s an alien with superpowers. Its not THAT implausible.
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:46 am
[...] Mike Brotherton asks some uncomfortable questions about SF and Fantasy [...]
July 3rd, 2009 at 9:11 am
“What do Luke Skywalker and Starbuck and Apollo do about going to the bathroom on long flights?”
Maybe the same way our astronauts do it when they’re on a 9-hour spacewalk?
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:38 am
Some good replies…
Amy, I’m a hard sf dork. I want those sorts of questions answered for me. I don’t need to see it (dork, not total perv), but a show like BSG that tried for realism about a lot of things (e.g., drug abuse, racism, slow-healing injuries, cancer), could have had the pilots bitch once in a while about malfunctioning catheters.
Or maybe I am a perv…
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:50 am
Ha!
On the Spock/Kirk question, I think it’s the female equivalent of the “sexy librarian” trope.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Oh, your very first question (”If Yoda is so wise, why is his English so bad?”) strikes a real sore spot for me. The “uncomfortable” thing about it for me is that it reflects a real-world attitude all too many native English speakers have.
Wisdom has nothing to do with speaking English well. Despite what “English only” anti-immigrant etc people might think, there are plenty of wise people in the world who don’t speak English well. (And I know plenty of them, as I’m sure you do too.)
Of course I know you meant it as a light joke, but still, enough people (generally native English speakers) really DO seem to believe that not speaking English well implies stupidity that I felt the need to comment and call “bullshit” on that one.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Learning my second language, I’m sympathetic, Russ, and have my own sore spots with Portuguese.
But Yoda was like a 1000 years old and had been teaching children using English for centuries. Is it really that hard to learn the right word order? I mean, the freaking Force was with him!
But really we’re talking about a George Lucas creation and his attempt to make an alien sound different, which is better than his aliens who speak English like bad Japanese, Jewish, or Caribbean stereotypes…can you imagine if he’d made Yoda sound like Mr. Miyagi?
We’re actually in trouble if we think too much about language in Star Wars or Star Trek.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:52 pm
And lets not forget R2D2 and his lack of ability to speak english at all (though he can understand it just fine).
That one I can forgive because for some reason it makes the character more interesting (and I’m reminded of how Transformers was, to my surprise, working for me right up to the moment the robots began talking).
Any thoughts as to why this is the case (or why you disagree that its the case at all)?
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Forget Kirk and Spock. Why didn’t they have more romantic interests for McCoy and Scotty?
July 4th, 2009 at 6:46 am
Mike,
I think you screwed up on the Hulk question. It’s obvious - Bruce Banner is hydrophilic.
Let’s just hope Hulk isn’t in a spacesuit (with catheter and collection bag) when he changes back…
July 4th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Steve,
Apparently Hulk doesn’t need a space suit. In one comic he got so pissed off when he thrown into space his body basically stopped using oxygen to survive. I don’t know how that works other than the fact when he gets more pissed off he becomes stronger and is able to do extraordinary things. He’s sort of the Marvel equivalent to Superman, having almost no weakness creates weak character development.
July 4th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
[...] Mike Brotherton raises Some Uncomfortable Questions About SF and Fantasy. [...]
July 6th, 2009 at 2:19 am
Such great questions!
From the why do I remember this file: An issue of Superman from the 70s explained the “magic glasses make people not recognize Superman” thing. Essentially — magic glasses. According to that iss, the lenses of Kent’s glasses are actually made from the windshield of the spaceship which brought young Kal-El to Earth. They had some mesmeric affect on us poor humans, causing us to think the wearer looked totally different when they are on. This is also why they don’t melt when he uses his heat vision (which for my money is even more unexplainable–how do eyes generate heat beams, especially narrow, focused heat beams?)
July 6th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Yoda doesnt speaks english at all. Its ANOTHER GALAXY, ages ago. The movies just show them speaking english for the sake of understanding, and because not everyone is able to create a whole new language like Tolkien did.
Just look at Star Wars alphabet. Its not english at all.
Besides, maybe Yoda speaks “english” like it was spoken 800 years ago in that galaxy, when he first learned it…
July 6th, 2009 at 10:58 am
not only they dont really speak english, as they also shouldnt really look like humans at all… but thats another story…
July 6th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Michael, I remember that issue of Superman, too!
Rogerio, this is one of the reasons that Star Wars isn’t science fiction. I could fill the entire post with Star Wars questions. Very little in the entire set of movies makes any sense when thought about.
August 29th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
I can answer almost all of these!
1. Yoda uses his odd speaking pattern to mystify and confuse people. He seems more mysterious and therefore more wise.
2. Okay, yeah, you got me there.
3. Artistic interpretation. A sucky one, in my opinion, but still just one author’s idea of vampires.
3. As John Connor said in T2, “It messes with your head…”
4. It didn’t happen that way in the books! DX
5. Messing with time just isn’t a good thing to do. Dear ol’ Dumbles tries to fix things, he could accidentally kill himself three times.
6. Suspension of disbelief. Heh, get it, suspension?
7. Yeah, let’s just go showing off that we trust no one to even our closest comrades…
8. The same place the extra mass for babies, tumors, and Transformers come from. Special science and all that.
9. There is no such thing as originality.
10. Good. Fucking. Question.
11. You answered your own question.
12. Advanced future technology. Probably an alien catheter or something.
13. Elf ears are sexy. Much too sexy for Captain Kirk.
14. A special hypno wave issued subliminally from Clark Kent’s eyes allows him to remain a different person from Superman to anyone who sees him. Yes, they said that in a comic.
June 21st, 2010 at 10:50 am
What about the movie “Beastmaster”? There was a scene near the end that always bothered me. The good guys, and the Beastmaster, dug huge trenches and filled them with tar. When the bad guys came running up they lit them on fire and had all sorts of hideous spikes and things aimed at the HORSES, not the riders. First, didn’t he feel bad about barbeque-ing all those equines? And why didn’t he just use his gift to tell the horses to turn around and go back?
June 21st, 2010 at 11:16 am
Maybe the beastmaster isn’t as nice as he seems, and is jealous of the horses’…horsehood.
I met the actor Marc Singer one time. He was a hell of a nice guy and really appreciated how much the fans loved the movie.