Noise by Tsutomu Nihei

Detective Musubi Susono is investigating a series of disturbing child kidnappings.  While at the crime scene Musubi’s partner is abducted.  Instead of being able to look further into the case she is dismissed from police duty.  The kidnapping has been committed by a terrorist group called “the Order”.  The Order is trying to blend humans with technology to become one with the Netsphere.  As Musubi peruses the Order she falls victim her self.

Noise takes place in the Blame! world but it is a prequel and explains how the future has become a world of miles high machines and buildings.  The artwork is sparse as is the dialogue but the overall impact of the manga is not affected.  Great for crossover graphic novel readers looking for an entry into manga.

Firefly by Joss Whedon

Quite possibly the saddest show on television. Not that the series was a sad, quite the opposite, the series was phenomenal. What is sad is what the FOX network did. First they butchered the show, refusing to air the pilot (which introduced all the characters and explained why they were all together, lack of this explination was an early criticism of the show). Then they aired the shows in the wrong order, assuming they understood the shows vision more than the director. Lastly, they killed the show after airing only 11 shows, Whedon has said that he planned for the series to go on for seven years. Firefly, you are sorely missed! Sorry for the lament, now, on to the review.

Firefly is THE best science fiction series EVER created. I dare you to watch and disagree. It is the story of a crew from a spaceship that is on the fringe; the fringe of the law, the fringe of society, the fringe of space. The captain is former ranking officer in “the war” (war between the alliance and the federation) and he was on the losing side. He names his ship after the last battle he fought in, Serenity, and decides to go into the illegal freighting business. His crew are people who have fought alongside him or have been acquired along the way, having no place else to go. The story follows the rich plots of the characters. Each episode seems to have the crew carrying a different illegal item, some times supplies, one time cows and even a sister; but what the viewer hooks onto is the back story of characters. Whedon has created a world that is easy to fall in love with but impossible to forget. The western quality to the show with the backdrop of space is the perfect juxtaposition for fanatics to find something to obsess over.

Rash by Pete Hautman

Pete Hautman has created a frighteningly real future. Criminal offenses are rampant, especially when you consider vehicular yelling is a crime punishable by years of labor in a McDonald’s prison. Bo is a normal kid that fears, like most, he will grow up to be just like his parents. More specifically his father, who has spent most of Bo’s life in prison, has an anger problem which Bo realizes he also has. At school, Bo is pushed past his breaking point and causes a violation that gets him sent to a work prison. Once there he is given a choice: work the pizza assembly line, play the barbaric sport of football, or get eaten by the polar bears that roam along the fence. Choosing football, Bo is adjusting well to prison life, until a surprisingly familiar lawyer shows up in Bo’s defense. Follow Bo’s story through this quick paced novel set in a world not too different from our own.

A Scanner Darkly by Richard Linklater & A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick

It is the future, seven years from right now. In America 20% of the population is addicted to substance D. The drug affects a persons brain and forms a disconnect between left and right hemispheres. Agent Fred is undercover and trying to break up a drug ring but he has starting using Substance D to gain access to the group, things have gotten weird. In fact Agent Fred is a member of the circle but since his brain is operating in two hemispheres he doesn’t even know which one he is. Then there is Nu-Path rehabilitation center that no government official can even get into, so of course they are hiding something…but what? A Scanner Darkly is an excellent book and movie about a paranoid society in the very near future.

Casshern by Kazuaki Kiriya

After Asia wins the Fifty Year War against the robot armies of Europe, there is relative peace. However, to battle constant radiation and genetic mutation from the war science has found ‘neo-cells’ which exist only in ‘original humans’. These original humans live in Sector 7 and stayed neutral during the 50 year war, but now that they have a scientific use they have been declared enemies of the state and are rounded up for experimentation and ‘neo-cell’ extraction. When the experimentation goes horribly wrong and the ‘Original Human’ are returning from the dead more powerful than before. Now a hero must rise…will Casshern return?

This movie is amazing! Every frame of the movie is touched by flawless CGI which makes it visually stunning. The story is interesting but the effects are what will keep you into the movie. A review from the box claims it is better than the Matrix but truth be told it blows The Matrix out of the water!

Specials by Scott Westerfeld

 

Tally’s teeth are filed, her nails hard as diamonds, and her mind sharp as a razor. She is Special. With the Smoke destroyed the runaways are still leaving the city but where are they going? Shay and her new team of Specials are going to find out. What they discover is much bigger than them; it could mean change for the entire world. This is the shocking finale to Westerfeld’s Uglies trilogy. All questions will be answered and they won’t be what you think!

 

Scott Westerfeld has written several books for young adults. He lives in Australia and New York City in attempts to avoid the winter. He has “ghost written” for authors in the past, he could tell you who “but then he’d have to kill you”.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Tally knows what happens when you become pretty. She knows the city’s dark secret. She knows the truth. Then why is Tally living it up, pretty and oblivious? Tally finds herself in New Pretty Town going to parties and being well received because of her outlaw reputation. She even finds a boyfriend, Zane, and in there efforts to be more “bubbly” they figure out what there pretty minds may hold. Then Tally is visited by faces from her past and the war for the minds of the people is just beginning.

 

Scott Westerfeld has written several books for young adults. He lives in Australia and New York City in attempts to avoid the winter. He has “ghost written” for authors in the past, he could tell you who “but then he’d have to kill you”.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Tally Youngblood is going to turn sixteen and all her ugly little problems will go away. Her ugly face, gone. Her ugly body, gone. Her ugly mind, gone especially. When Tally turns sixteen she will be able to get the operation to correct every physical flaw she has. When her best friend turns sixteen and moves to New Pretty Town she figures her life is over until she becomes pretty. That is when she meets Shay who is drastically different than anyone Tally ever met. For starters she doesn’t want to become pretty which the girls will soon find out isn’t really a choice. Follow Tally on this amazing rollercoaster of a novel. This novel is great for anyone in middle school and up. This is the first in a trilogy.

 

Scott Westerfeld has written several books for young adults. He lives in Australia and New York City in attempts to avoid the winter. He has “ghost written” for authors in the past, he could tell you who “but then he’d have to kill you”.