sci-fi

December, Technology, and Books

Do you say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

Welcome! This is an update on my author blog. If you find yourself here, unsure who I am, let me introduce myself. My name is Carl and I’m an author from Portland, OR. I write epic fantasy and children’s science fiction.

I’m never really sure which to say around this time of year. Usually I go with Happy Holidays. But of course Christmas has become as much a secular holiday as a Christian one, so I suppose saying Merry Christmas is fine too. I think the main point is that you wish people well, as with all things in life I suppose.

This month I’ve been going some through some technological mishaps which is kind of an interesting coincidence because the book I’ve been working on, School Robots, makes use of heavy amounts of technology.

In total my car door got dented when someone hit me in a parking lot, my phone shut off in the middle of the day and decided it was never going to turn back on, and then I had a near scare when my check engine light went on in my car (and then the next morning it mysteriously went off). Hopefully it stays off.

On the plus side, I got a Google Pixel 3a. It’s been a pretty good phone so far, and I’m getting an Otterbox Defender case for it in the mail soon (the best type of case, imho).

I’ve also somehow managed to find vestiges of time to work on Middle School Robots, and I’m still roughly on track to wrap up editing on it by January (those on my list will get a free ARC!). I’m getting to the phase of editing now where I focus on all the specific minute details to the robots, and since they are essentially smartphones, computers, printers, and other real world devices, kids are going to be able to learn a lot by reading the book!

In addition, I’ve been thinking about dragons, and soaking in Avatar: The Last Airbender stuff. I know those are two very different things, but my mind feeds off different things and looks for unique ways to combine them. That’s kind of what I did with Sand and Smoke–I combined westerns and dragon-rider fantasy.

In a little over a week I’ll be heading to Chicago to spend Christmas and the holidays. Currently my aunt, uncle, grandmother, and cousins live there, and my dad and sisters will also be flying in. My family is spread out all over America, so it’s the normal for us to fly pretty regularly.

So far as I know, we have planned for the trip a gift exchange and a movie-going adventure to see Star Wars Episode IX. So I’m definitely looking forward to the latter half of December. Though what I like most as always is just seeing family and friends and spending more time with them.

Thanks for reading! And if you like receiving updates from me, please don’t forget to subscribe to my mailing list. You’ll also get cool perks like notifications when I host a giveaway or notifications when I discount one of my books.

The Seven Most Interesting Questions about the TV show The 100

Welcome! This post is part of my Most Interesting Questions series, which means I’ll be answering the most interesting questions I can find or think of on the TV show The 100. The 100 is a dystopian sci-fi show and it has seven total seasons, which means there isn’t a season 8, there is a season 7 and a season 6, however. Those two seasons together really bring the series to a conclusion. The 100 is also a series of books by Kass Morgan, the first of which was published in 2013. This post is about the TV series. There are breaks below so that you can avoid spoilers if you haven’t seen certain episodes yet. This post was written after season 6 aired but before season 7 aired.

By the way, if you’re wondering about who I am, I’m an author from Portland, OR. Many of my books would also be great reads for any fan of The 100, feel free to check them out using the menu above!

Here are the most interesting questions about The 100.

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Q #1: What do you think of The 100 and its underlying message?

A: I personally love the show! However, it is definitely not for everyone. At times, the writers make some questionable and sometimes disappointing decisions (I do feel like it could be a bit more friendly to its diverse characters) and also there is quite a bit of violence, so if you’re looking for something clean this isn’t it. However, it does do a really good job of creating tension, high stakes, and the characters never get off easy.

*———-*
* SPOILERS FROM SEASONS 1-5 BELOW *
If you haven’t watched seasons 1-5 yet, you’ll encounter spoilers if you read on. No spoilers from season 6 will be in the next few questions, however.
*———-*

Q #2: In The 100, if grounders are supposedly the survivors of the nuclear war in the second Dawn Bunker who were allowed to leave the bunker due to Becca’s Nightblood serum, how did their descendants without Nightblood survive?

A: In a similar way to how the sky people survived. In the show, they explain that those on the ark have adapted, after absorbing radiation in space, to those radiation levels. Similarly, those on earth have adapted to the new radiation levels on earth. If I remember correctly, they represent this with a dial that goes from green to yellow to red. Those on Mount Weather are protected from all radiation, they haven’t adapted at all. They can only survive in the green. The grounders and the sky people, who have evolved and adapted, can survive in the yellow. But only nightbloods can survive in the red, the most lethal level of radiation. At the time of The 100, radiation levels on earth are in the yellow. Presumably, maybe some of the nightblood genes didn’t get passed on completely, and/or humans started evolving away from being nightbloods, when radiation levels fell back down into the yellow.

Q #3: When will The 100 season 6 be shown in the UK?

A: I had to do a quick search for this one. It looks like it’s going to be shown starting September 4th, 2019, at 9pm on channel E4. Source: https://www.geektown.co.uk/tvairdates/the-100/

*———-*
* SPOILERS FROM SEASON 6 BELOW *
If you haven’t watched season 6 yet, you’ll encounter spoilers if you read on.
*———-*

Q #4: In The 100, does Madi have access to all of Lexa’s memories of Clarke?

A: Yes, while she has the flame in. However, now that the flame is out, she doesn’t have access anymore. One interesting thing to think about, at least for me, is how memory works. If I watch something like a home movie, then I will later have a memory of watching it, and because of that, a memory of the event I watched too. Similarly, if Madi were to have accessed Lexa’s memories, before she lost the flame, could she still recall those memories she accessed later on? It would make sense that this was possible, meaning that Madi, and probably Clarke too, still have access to memories from the flame, even if they don’t have it anymore.

Q #5: What happened to Octavia in The 100?

A: What we saw was that she was taken by the anomaly. And the anomaly spit out Diyoza’s daughter. Beyond that, it’s a question that we’ll have to wait until season 7 to have answered. However, my theory is that Octavia was allowed to leave by the anomaly, and that it was actually supposed to be Diyoza’s daughter who left. Octavia was only allowed to leave because she had unresolved business (either her part to play in taking down the primes, or making amends with Bellamy). Either way, once she had accomplished that, the anomaly took things back to how they were supposed to be. But still, what is the anomaly exactly? And how has Diyoza’s daughter already grown up, while Octavia is still the same age? There must be some sort of time travel involved, I think. Whatever is happening, it must have to do with whoever created the anomaly.

Q #6: Will there be aliens in season 7?

A: Very possibly. Based on the events of what the anomaly is doing and is capable of, it seems like aliens must be behind it. And technically, we have already seen aliens. The bugs on Planet Alpha are aliens. However, they are not intelligent life, at least as far as we know.

Q #7: Why is Murphy not affected by the Red Sun eclipse psychosis on The 100?

A: I think he’s still affected. He just conquers it quickly. We see him at one point sitting with the guns, taking deep breaths, trying to convince himself everything is going to be okay. The Red Sun, gets to him, however…

Murphy also deals with a ton of self-destructive thoughts on a daily basis, when the Red Sun is not around. We’ve seen him evolve from a season 1 psychopath to a guy who actually, usually, tries to do the right thing. So he’s learned over time how to deal with what the Red Sun presents him with. Others in the group haven’t ever had those thoughts, and so it’s harder for them to combat them. He’s not immune, he’s just learned to fight it.

Thanks for reading! Now I invite you to check out more MIQ posts below, or my book Sand and Smoke, which is an epic fantasy novel for young adults. If you liked The 100, and if you enjoy reading fantasy, then I think you would love it! It has lovable characters, a ragtag group of criminals, and lots of dragons in it.

The Six Most Interesting Questions I Missed

For each of my previous posts, I primarily answered questions from Quora.com. I’m getting daily requests for new questions to answer, and I haven’t been able to keep up with them all. So, for this blog post, I’m going to make it my goal to address some of those questions…the most interesting ones, that is.

Welcome! This post is part of my Most Interesting Questions series, which means I’ll be answering the most interesting questions I can find or think of. This time, I’m not covering a specific book, film, or TV show. Rather, I’m covering a bunch of them that I’ve covered before, and I’m answering questions that I missed. Some of the franchises I’ll be covering in this post include Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Divergent, and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

By the way, if you’re wondering about who I am, I’m an author from Portland, OR. I write epic fantasy for young adults and I have dabbled in children’s science fiction.

Q #1: In Harry Potter, what do you think would happen if a young wizard couldn’t afford a wand?

A: They would probably be provided for. Remember how Harry got his wand? Olivander went about, trying each and every wand to see exactly which one was the best fit. There was no discussion of cost. For a wizard, a wand is so important that I don’t think cost would be taken into account, and Hogwarts wouldn’t have anyone attending who didn’t get the best wand for their needs, or at least have the opportunity to get the best wand for their needs.

Q #2: A lot of dystopian books have the world splitting up into factions (Divergent), districts (The Hunger Games), or something similar in the future. How likely is this to actually happen far in the future?

A: I would say there’s two parts to this question. First, we have to consider whether it’s likely that the world will be ruled by one government in the future. If there’s not a single ruling entity, the whole world could not be split up into factions/districts. Second, we have to consider whether it’s likely that this one government would create a system of factions/districts. I think that it’s not particularly likely that the world would be ruled by one government in the future, so I don’t think we can even get to the second part of this question. The reason being is that in all of history the world has never been ruled by one government. Powerful countries have risen, like Rome, but they always fall, and never conquer the whole world. Plus, there is much more communication throughout the world nowadays, and more of an effort to keep super-countries from forming. Imperialism has even largely died out. If anything, there will be more countries in the far future, as people venture into and colonize space. However, it could still be that perhaps these factions/districts will form in a single country, and not the rest of the world. If this happens, that single country would have to either be aware of other countries where the districts/factions did not exist, or else they would have to be living a life with technology way behind their time, since I do not think the other countries could be hidden from that world with the technology we have nowadays, there is simply too much communication. I would say that one country developing the faction/district system is a much more likely scenario than the world adopting it, since there is such a wide array of ways a country could be run, though I think it unlikely the country running themselves this way could keep the rest of the world a secret.

Q #3: What is the Avatar the Last Airbender Live action show going to be about?

A: As far as I’m aware, it’s just going to be a retelling of the animated show.

Q #4: Who would win in a fight Percy Jackson or Optimus Prime?

A: I think it depends on where they’re fighting. On land or in the sky, Optimus Prime wins. In or near the water so that Percy can force the fight to the sea, he’d win.

Q #5: What 3 unrelated books would make a weird but workable trilogy?

A: Fun question! I think my theme for answering this question will be riches-to-rags. So for the first book we have The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, because obviously Arthur Dent has to find a cool planet for the trilogy to take place on. Once he’s there, he’ll inevitably screw things up, and that’s how we get to Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. The second book takes place about 1000 years after the first, and Arthur Dent is probably The Chosen One talked about so much in that book. Finally, after Mistborn, book three would be Holes by Louis Sachar, since by this time I imagine that’s what the day-to-day life on this planet would be like.

Q #6: Why can only portraits in Harry Potter speak? Why not photographs?

A: Because of the way that wizarding magic works. I suspect there’s some sort of magic used to give portraits life, whereas with photographs that type of magic is not generally used. There are probably portraits that can’t speak, especially in muggle homes, it’s just that the ones we do see can speak. Photographs, likewise, I suspect could speak, if the witch or wizard who created them wanted them to, but the creator elects not to give them that power most of the time, so they don’t have the ability to speak. It all comes down to what magic is used.

Thanks for reading! Now I invite you to check out more MIQ posts below, or my book Sand and Smoke, which also is fantasy, like most of the franchises in this post, with lots of action and lovable characters. If you enjoyed reading Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, or watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, you’d probably enjoy it, because it has a similar feel to all of that stuff!