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.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender Wiggin is a third born child.  This is not unusual now but in the future when population is tightly controlled Ender is special.  Also, Ender at the age of 6 is still being monitored by the government.  Then comes the day that Ender’s parent fear most.  Ender Wiggin has been chosen for Battle School (to his older brother’s horror), he is to become a solider and protect the world from the bugs.  Seventy years ago the bugs attacked the humans killing us without mercy, until after one battle in which the bugs retreated and were never heard from again.

Ender is the youngest and smallest at battle school but it quickly becomes apparent that he is one of the best the school has ever seen.  There is talk by those in power that Ender may be the one to save us from the bugs again, except this time we are bringing the fight to them.

This book has attained classic status in the science fiction and young adult realms due to it’s engaging story and believable characters.  Orson Scott Card has created a world around Ender’s life and the series continues with Ender’s Shadow.  This book is recommended for all readers as it is approachable and fast paced.  Listening to the book on CD has it’s perks also (Harlan Ellison makes a guest appearance).

The Invasion by Oliver Hirschbiegel

They’re heeere! Aliens that is. The Invasion is the newest in a long line of remakes of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers (originally a book of the same title by Jack Finney). The film is well done, well acted, and well…kinda boring.

The premise is that an alien life is invading earth by taking control of the humans. I can’t remember how this is handled in the original film, but in the ‘78 remake when you go to sleep a plant-like life form takes over your body. This version has the alien mind control spread like a flu. In a rather disgusting scene some infected hotel workers are draining the contents of their noses into the coffee pots and serving it to their guests. Like all the other movies, you can tell someone has been infected by their lack of emotions (above pic shows Kidman surrounded by zombie-like people, perhaps they are watching this movie).

One departure from the book and other movies that I particularly liked was the underlying notion that maybe the aliens made us better. While under alien control the world had come to complete peace. Since everyone was connected there were no wars or ill-will. I think the point was that humans are defined by their emotions but…is that a good thing? Ultimately the movie was predictable (comes with the remake territory) and didn’t have anything new to add except for higher paid actors.

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.

Blade Runner by Ridley Scott & Do Androids Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and the movie based on it’s story Blade Runner, were both the last of it’s kind. There aren’t the huge mega-million dollar feature films that dazzle and amaze as well as engage and enlighten anymore. On the science fiction front, since Philip K. Dick’s death in 1982, there has not been an author that gives a human and real perspective, no real humanity. These two pieces are monolith’s among the pebbles of their peers.

The story follows a “blade runner” which is essentially a bounty hunter of androids. Four androids have escaped from a planet where they are basically kept as slaves. They have come to find their creator so he can undo whatever it is that exterminates their lives after 6 years. Both the film and the book stand the test time and are as relevant today as the day they were written.