Top Five Fav SciFi Villains.

One of my Favorite posts. Who doesn't like to talk about their favorite villains?



What are your TOP FIVE Science Fiction VILLAINS of all time?

I will get the ball rolling with my FAV FIVE list of bad boys.

5. The Daleks: When I was a pre-teen cable was not yet invented and a rag-tag pair of “rabbit ears”
provided our boat anchor of a Zennith console television with four channels. I remember one boring Sunday morning I found the network programming completely tiring for my twelve year old attention span. The fourth channel we received on our tube was PBS. There I saw this curly haired TIME LORD with an immesively long scarf battling these ALIEN ROBOTS with these terrifying spine chilling metallic voices. “EXTERMINATE!!” I was immediately hooked and have been a
DR. WHO fan ever since.

4. ARIIA: The Department of Defense’s intelligent gathering supercomputer in EAGLE EYE makes my list for a more modern-day option. Think about it, being controlled by a calculating machine contemplating the murder of the President’s entire cabinet without a shred of human feeling? Also, her power to manipulate utilizes every grid within our modern day society from traffic cams and signals, to automated cargo cranes… you are never out of her reach. That is a scary concept and makes her number four on my list of best Science Fiction Villains.

3. Victor Kruger: The movie HIGHLANDER is, in my opinion, one of the best films ever made. Its mysterious plot line was brilliant and the use of flashbacks influenced my own writing style in my latest works within The Morian Trilogy. But, the most amazing part of the movie was its extraordinarily wicked protagonist Victor Kruger. Every statement uttered by this bad guy dripped with conceit and contempt. I will never forget the scene within the church when he walked in with the safety pins adorning his neck scar. He was the devil himself in that sacred place. He made such an impact on WES CRAVEN that he named his villain in NIGHTMARE ON ELMSTREET after the HIGHLANDER villain.

2. HAL 9000: Heuristic Algorithmic in Authur C. Clarke's 2001 Space Oddessey. This computer started out innocent enough, but, by the end of the film he has to be one of the creepiest Science Fiction villains ever. That unemotional mechanized voice shot an icepick into the soul much the same way the DALEKS do. Also, that one red blaring eye was always staring and had the creepy effect of forcing the paranoia upon the screen to jump into the hearts of the audience in the darkened theater.

1. Emperor Palpatine: When you explore the scope of villains the Emperor stands out for me. His visage was ominous within my teenage mind when I first saw him in the shimmery hologram as Darth Vader kneeled before him. I believe that is why Vader fails to make my list, because, as menacing as he was at times, his leash was always held by Palpatine. Also, in the end, Darth Vader turned because he still had good in him. The Emperor was nothing but pure scheming, backstabbing and unadulterated evil.



What are your FAV FIVE villains of all time in Science Fiction?

Fav Five Sci Fi Heroes/Heroines

After my last post I decided I could not resist giving the contrasting heroes and heroines a fair shake. Sounds easy enough right? Then I began compiling my list of protagonists and realized this was going to be a harder task than I had originally envisioned. When thinking of bad guys it was easy to pick out the ones you  love to hate the most. There are SO many good guys/girls out there how do you determine which top the “good list"? Giving a generous scope to the Science Fiction genre, here are some of my favorites.

5. Michonne: I have become a huge WALKING DEAD fan recently. Rick Grimes is a pretty damn good hero, but his morals have wavered often in the later episodes of this epic thrilling piece of doomsday science fiction. This show is rich with great good guys (and bad), but one character who has always remained chivalrous and has stuck to her guns (samari sword) is the enigmatic character named Michonne. She is a bit short on words but what she lacks in dialogue she makes up in action. This woman, despite being shunned, remains steadfast in her judgement of character and chooses to fight for good. She has become quite the bad-ass.


4. MadMax: Sticking with the “end of the world” theme; the Mad Max series of movies gave us a view of a post apocalyptic world that has been engrained occult-like into our culture. Max Rockatansky started out as a policeman in Australia’s Main Patrol Force who exacts violent revenge upon a biker gang in the first Mad Max movie. He came into his heroic role within the second installment Road Warrior, becoming a futuristic cowboy-like figure who preferred muscle cars over horses (I read this on www.denofgeeks.us.com and couldn’t resist using this analogy). "Remember, no matter where you go, there you are."

3. Ripley: This futuristic heroine started out as a lowly warrant officer with a prejudice against senthetic lifeforms aboard the space ship Nostromos in 1979’s Alien. When we happen onto her character in 1986’s Aliens she has been hardened by a society she cannot seem to fit into. When the company comes calling on her expertise she finds renewed purpose in her life. As the mission deteriorates Ripley finds her inner warrior as her maternal instincts take over and she finds great inner strength. She is able to overcome the aliens after her armed battalion of escorting space marines are decimated by the enemy. She is the toughest Science Fiction heroine I can think of.


2. Captain James T Kirk: This guy. What can I add that hasn’t already been said time and time again. The Swaggering Starfleet Captain always had the wellbeing of his crew and the sacredness of human principals as his primary concern as he travels in through alien space (except when it came to the wooing of green alien women). He always had a way of bending the sanctity of the Prime Directive to accomplish these endeavors. Also, he always seems to remain in control, especially when faced with the NO WIN SCENARIO. And lastly, but not least….KKKAAAAAAHHHHNNNNN!!!


1. Han Solo: This champion was the idyllic Swashbuckling heroic NERF FURTER this galaxy (and that one far far away) has ever seen. He completely eclipsed the films main protagonist in every characteristic; looks, bravery and boldness. AND, he had the coolest space ship, the Millenium Falcon, and the best sidekick in Science Fiction history, Chewbacca. I would bet that every kid who grew up in my generation would choose to be Han Solo over Luke Skywalker.


What are your FAV FIVE HEROES/HEROINES of all time in Science Fiction?

Surprise Party

 Today is another teaser for the Morian Trilogy. All three books of the series are available online at iTunes, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Lulu.

"I want to give you the honor of being one of the first persons to see my new invention," the emperor said with giddiness creeping into his voice.

Uslum feared that he was going to do more than see this new invention. From the look of the other devices within the room he was in for an exceedingly unpleasant evening.

"Out of due respect," Uslum weakly replied, "I would just like to return to Siam and tell my king anything you would like."

With catlike reflexes the emperor was suddenly on him, pressing a hand over Uslum's mouth at the same time pinning him up against a stone column. Uslum hit with such force it knocked the air from his lungs. Wu had incredible strength and struggle as he may Uslum had no chance of breaking free.

The emperor moved in close staring right into the unfortunate Siamese man's face. Even as his mind raced trying to plan an escape he could not help but to marvel at how blue the emperor’s
eyes were. Wang Wu moved his mouth to Uslum’s ear and whispered so quietly the words were barely audible.

"I want you to beg for your life."

The emperor backed away so inhumanly fast all Uslum saw was a blur.

He immediately crumpled to the floor gasping for breath. Suddenly Wu’s fist hit him on the back of the head and he was face down upon the cold hard stone floor.

"Now that is how someone should bow down before me." Wang Wu placed a sandaled foot on the back of his head and ground his face into the hard floor."Now beg Son of Siam."

Uslum rolled to one side up onto his knees. He looked up into the eyes of the most powerful man in the known world and spat at his feet.

"Never!" he shouted defiantly.

The emperor laughed and within its echo Uslum found validation for every black story he had ever heard about the deeds this evil man had ever committed.

He attempted to bolt for the spiral staircase corridor but his way was instantly blocked. The Chinese nobleman had supernatural quickness.

"Where are you going son of Siam?" Emperor Wu toyed. "This party is for you."

The emperor roughly turned him round and shoved him forward toward the opposite end of the room. Uslum stumbled and fell at the foot of a heavy wooden door. It slowly swung open and there stood Feing.

"Is everything prepared for our guest of honor?" the emperor asked the Overseer.

"All is ready Highness," Feing hissed. "Our lady friend is just about done."

"Excellent."

The emperor grabbed Uslum by the arm and shoved him across the room where there stood a metal statue about seven and a half feet high. It had the face of a woman and two halves of a door that apparently opened outward from the length of its body. On the right side near the bottom a spout emptied into a large clay bowl filled with what appeared to be blood. He noticed there was still some dripping from the spout's end.

Uslum turned and defiantly stared the Chinese leader in the eyes without saying a word.

"How do you like my new invention?" Wu circled Uslum.

"Favored Son of Siam," the emperor said with a smug look upon his face, "I am sad to say you will not be the first to test the device even though I had intended the honor to be yours."

"But you did do us the honor of choosing the initial subject yourself," Feing hissed at the captive. Immediately his heart sank for he realized who the Overseer was talking about. Feing reached up above the split door and grabbed a small knob pulling back a small sliding door revealing a small window.

Uslum peered inside and his fears were confirmed. All he could see were the green eyes but that is all he needed to know that this was his beloved Meeka.

"You bastards!!!" he shouted and banged on the statue with tightly clinched fists.

Upon rattling the steal statue he saw recognition in Meekas eyes and came to the horrific realization she was still alive. Upon seeing his face a brief look of relief flared within her eyes before they glazed over and the life suddenly left her body.

Rage welled up inside him as he turned to face the two Chinese men, but Feing suddenly had his arms behind his back and bound his hands tightly. He struggled against the bonds to no avail.

"You are nothing but barbarians!!" Uslum shouted his voice filled with inner rage.

 "Correction," the emperor smiled while unlocking statue’s doors, "We were barbarians, now we are Chinese noblemen."

As Wu yanked opened the statue there was an audible ripping sound as spikes that were attached to the inner side of the door freed themselves from Meeka’s lifeless body still dripping with her blood.

Uslum winched with imagined pain. Meeka’s body still stood upright in the back of the morbid statue. Even in death her loveliness was stunning.

"Beautiful is it not?" The emperor reverently admired. "You see the spikes in the back and front are hollow. When the captive is placed inside the spikes in the back hold them in place as the doors are closed thus placing spikes into the front of the body holding them completely still."

 "You cold-blooded bastard!!!" Uslum screamed his voice hoarse and racked with pain. He watched as the emperor roughly grabbed Meeka’s body and unceremoniously yanked her free of the spikes and threw her to the floor. Uslum broke down into a fit of soft sobbing.

Teaser Two

The following is an excerpt from MoriaVaratu, Book One of the Morian Trilogy.

 MC walked towards the time-worn statue in the center of the room. Gene turned and followed her curious to what she had seen. There in the flickering torch light he saw them. Four crystal skulls neatly lined up at the base of the statue.

"Whoa!" He said under his breath. "Unbelievable."

"Gene,” she asked in a reverent tone, “do you know what these are?"

He answered her question with only with a slack jawed look. He just stared at the
artifacts on the floor in wonder.

Dr. Sullivan bent over and picked one up. It was obvious that the skulls were solid throughout from their sheer weight. She handed the first skull over to him. He expected it to be cool to the touch after sitting in the darkness, but to his surprise, it was warm and seemed to vibrate slightly in his hands.

All of the sudden he wanted to know what they were and realized Dr. Sullivan was doing something he had come to hate over all the years they'd worked together. She was pausing for dramatic effect, building suspense. He had learned to counter this move by pretending not to be interested which he could not do in this case. Gene gave in quickly.

 "Mary Catherine?" he shrugged impatiently prompting her with a hand gesture almost dropping the skull he clutched.

 "These are the four skulls of wisdom," she said excitedly.

 "Do you mean the holy relics supposedly used by the Incan Sun God?"

 "No, the Sun God is Inti," she answered shaking her head. "Viracocha, he that came before Inti. These skulls were said to be the source of all his power. A power that was said to bring enlightenment and death, depending on the god’s mood. It was written that Viracocha used these to bring down fire from the sky and vanquish the enemies of his people."

 "It seems there is still power over fire still left in these skulls," he replied. "Check this out."
He moved the skull he held in his hand further from the torches' flame and it sputtered out plunging the room into complete blackness. He then moved it back toward the torch and it leapt to life again.

 "Incredible," she breathed. "Gene this is the holy grail of pre-Incan beliefs."

 "And WE are the ones who’ve uncovered it!" Gene said excitedly with giddiness. "This is absolutely amazing."

"Apparently these pre Incans,” Gene added reverently, “were more advanced than anyone has ever imagined."

"You may be more right than you know Gene." she bent over and picked
up an object that was tucked behind one of the remaining skulls hiding in shadow. She blew a layer of dust an inch thick off the object.

"What the Hell’s that?" he gasped.

In her hand Dr. Sullivan held a very peculiar object having a metal casing with a flat crystal mounted on one side resembling a display screen about two inches square.. It fit in the hand much like a small sleek cell phone having three crystal buttons set just below the screen. She turned it over in her hands and noticed the metal was stained with rusty blood.

 

Want more? Check out the Morian Trilogy available on iTunes, Amazon, BarnesandNoble and Lulu.

Brief Encounter

Today is a teaser for my own trilogy of Sci Fi thrillers, The Morian Trilogy. I hope you folks out there enjoy.

The Professor fought exhaustion as he leaned over the specimen that lay splayed out upon his examining table inside the main lab of the Department of Anthology at the University of Arizona. He had spent the entire evening exhuming the undamaged part of the brain and intently studying it’s tissue, now he was anxious to discover more as he trained his attention upon the stomach.   A pungent smell emanated from the creature’s abdominal cavity as the man carefully cut away thick hide and layers of skin to expose the inner organs. His excitement staved off any nausea as he used a probe to inventory the beast’s insides.

“Fasinating,” he breathed through his surgical mask with eyes wide behind the lenses of his spectacles.

“Dr. Radford,” his young dark-haired intern’s voice echoed around him as she spoke into the intercom on the other side of the tempered laboratory glass. “There are two gentlemen here to see you.”

“Tell them I’m extremely busy and can’t be bothered,” he blurted irately without taking his focus from the cadaver.

The sudden opening of the door made him turn as two impeccably dressed men barged into the room without having scrubbed or donning masks.

“You can’t come in here!” Radford shouted standing abruptly sending his metal chair scraping across the tiled floor. “This is a sterile examining room! Just who in the hell are you?!”

“I am Agent Valdstar from the United States government,” the lead man said flashing a smile and a badge. He ordered over his shoulder, “Mr. Daemlind, will you please take Dr. Radford’s assistant outside.”

The second man nodded and grabbed the young lady forcefully by the elbow wheeling her around exiting the room.

“So, my dear Professor,” the agent said still smiling approaching the table and scanning the beast, “El Vampiro de Moca, captured at last. Tell me, what have you discovered about the Chupacabra so far?”

“I-I j-just finished” the college professor stumbled, “finished studying the b-brain. I b-believe the specimen is part h-human.”

“Really?” the agent wheeled around still smiling setting the professor at unease. “What made you draw that conclusion?”

“I was just about to send a sample to the DNA lab,” Radford stopped in midsentence and turned asking skeptically through squinted eyes. “Just what department of the government are you with?”

Fear gripped Dr. Radford’s heart as the smile before him broadened and two fanged teeth grew on its fringes.

“The Department of Unexplained Phenomenon,” was the response. With lightning speed the agent lunged forward planting two needle sharp teeth deeply into the professor’s neck and hungrily gulping the man’s blood until the spectacled eyes glazed over in death. He then unceremoniously threw the dead body to the ground as he swooned within the moment of euphoria that followed every feeding.

Popping back into the room the other suited man wiped blood from his chin with an expensive silk handkerchief while staring at the body on the table.

“This one was one of your offspring, was it not?”

“One of my first attempts,” agent Valdstar nodded, “at mating with the humans.”

“These animals are becoming too cleaver,” Daemlind responded pensively. “We need to be more careful or they could disrupt our plans.”

“Humanity is too unintelligent to grasp what is on the horizon,” the first agent responded indignantly. “They are but mere sheep put here by the Universe for us to herd.”


All three volumes of the Morian Trilogy are available on Lulu.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com and iTunes. For links visit: www.darksideplanetpress.com

 

 

 

 

 

Clash of Class

The year is 2154 and life for the residents on an impoverished and over-populated planet Earth is tough. Deplorable slum-like conditions have bred disease, pollution and misery diminishing the value of life of the race of humanity on the surface. There are two classes of what is left . The lucky few of the higher class have established an antiseptic utopian society on a massive orbiting space station that can been seen from the urbanized ghettos on the planet far below. Called Elysium it has become a symbol of social unrest for those who have nothing... and nothing left to lose.

While disease and unrest run rampant on Earth the citizens of Elysium live in excessive wealth and health. All disease has been cleansed for every home upon the orbiting station possesses a healing chamber. The impoverished peoples on the planet risk everything to escape the gritty life to immigrate to the station. Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster), a government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. She will also stop at nothing to take over the governorship of the high class society as she plots against the powers that be.

Matt Damon plays a reformed deviant, Max, striving to survive the harsh conditions in the ruined urbanized overpopulated slums of Los Angeles. He finds himself backed into a corner after an industrial accident exposes him to a lethal dose of radiation and he is given only five days to live. His only hope of survival is to get to one of the Med Bays upon Elysium and is unknowingly pulled into Delacourt's take over plot. The Secretary sends her henchman Kruger (Sharlto Copley) to stop Max.

Fast paced action and excellent special effects make this movie a pretty fun ride. Copley plays his role as Kruger ruthlessly and becomes one of the more memorable bad guys in recent Science Fiction film history. I found it a bit unsettling to see Jodie Foster in the role of villain, because I have pulled for her as a character for good on so many occasions, but she pulled it off superbly. Matt Damon has always been a favorite (I picture him as my main character Dr. Brandon Jordan in the Morian Trilogy).

Sadly though, as the movie came to fruition, I found it falling a bit short of being great. While the special effects and fast pace make it worth the view, the plot fails in several areas. There is not enough perspective given on life of the actual residents of Elysium. It is as if director Neill Blomkamp
 in World War Z fashion rushed the ending of the movie (see earlier post World War Z ip). Though the movie is worth seeing once for its special effects and social commentary it falls well short of BlomKamps break-through Sci Fi epic District 9. 

I give this movie 3 1/2 stars

Fast Paced Drama

ALMOST HUMAN is a high-tech, high-stakes action drama set 35 years in the future. The uncontrollable evolution of science and technology has caused crime rates to rise an astounding 400%. To combat this, the overwhelmed police force has implemented a new policy: every human police officer is paired up with a lifelike combat-model android.

Last week I tuned into the pilot episode mainly because I was curious. What drove me was the fact that Karl Urban portrays the main role of the troubled police officer John Kennex. I am a huge trekkie and I loved this actor's portrayal of Dr. Leonard McCoy in the latest generation of the series. He brings every bit of the same witty, sarcastic style to this new character. I was immediately hooked. Now, a week and six episodes later, I am completely caught up.


Kennex has a deep seeded hatred for androids because two years previous in the story's timeline he and his partner were abandoned by one of these mechanized police officers resulting in the death of his comrade and the loss on his own leg.  He awakes several months later abandoned by his girlfriend and sporting a prosthetic leg.

Urban's character is then recalled to the force by Captain Sandra Maldonado (Lili Taylor), and partnered with a standard-issue MX-43 android, which he promptly throws from his squad car while traveling the freeway. He is assigned a replacement android, an older DRN model originally destined for the scrap heap. Created to be as close to human as possible, the DRN androids have trouble dealing with some emotional responses, which was the reason they were replaced . Kennex's unit, known as Dorian (Michael Ealy), immediately proves himself unique, with a clear dislike of being referred to as a "synthetic".

The formula of this series has been tried over and over throughout television history, but what sets this futuristic cop drama apart from its predecessors is the report between Early and Urban's characters. Think Riggs and Murtaugh from the Lethal Weapon franchise. The pairing of these troubled characters is a perfect fit and the relationship forged within the partnership is witty and delightfully entertaining. Throw in a haunting soundtrack reminiscent of the movie Blade Runner and a plot incorporating non-stop action and superb special effects and you have a captivating television series hit. I have truly become a fan of this show. I give it 4 1/2 stars.

ALMOST HUMAN airs on FOX Monday nights at 8:00PM Eastern