Tag: Ray Bradbury

One man’s science is another wizard’s magic

Leave a comment

Kurt Vonnegut said, “Science is magic that works.” This is a true statement that has evolved our way of thinking for centuries. I mean, Copernicus and Galileo were condemned as heretics for proving scientific theory over popular belief. This trend has also been found through the writings of Jules Verne, Ray Bradbury and others.

Its one of the reasons I love “steampunk” so much. Yes, I know, it’s technically not considered magic, but combining modern technology with something “old fashion” is along that line. Magic is considered, by many, to be ancient so, in a way, they’re similar. Bringing science and magic together just seems like a logical approach. Think about it this way, in referencing the classic novel Frankenstein.

“Frankenstein’s chemistry is to, quote James Rieger, switche –on magic, souped-up alchemy, the electrification of Agrippa and Paracelcus…..He wants the forbidden…He is a criminal magician who employs up–to-date tools.” –Solanki Sardarsinh

In fantasy writing, we use magic as a science… Alchemy, astrology, etc. The elements of science–fire, water, earth, and air–are all a part of magic. Magic is, in a sense, science we can’t yet explain, and tha’s what makes it fun.

I think that’s why many science fiction writers often find themselves delving into fantasy and the supernatural. Terry Brooks is one of my favorite fantasy authors, and yet the Shannara series could be viewed as post-apocalyptic science fiction as well as fantasy. It has elements from both, like many novels. Think about Star Wars… Han Solo was skeptical of the Force when he said, “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.”

I mean, when you think anout it, what is magic? Well, magic is manipulating the energy of the universe. In science, a nuclear explosion can be accomplished through scientific method and practical use. In magic, it’s a level 50 fireball.

“Magic’s just science that we don’t understand yet. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” ― Arthur C. Clarke

Sure, if I had a few degrees under my belt with years of scientific research, I could explain magic as science, but why bother. Half the fun is reaching into the unknown and pulling back from it, curiouser than before. Let’s look at magic not from the evil, supernatural perspective but rather as a form of science that is just outside the boundaries of our understanding. That’s what makes writing about it so much fun.

###

51nd6H6sATL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_

SKU-000941753

Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase as a book/ebook at Amazon. The Dark Tides is available for purchase as a book/ebook at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iUniverse publishing. The Outlander War, Book Three of the Forever Avalon series is coming soon from Austin Macauley Publishing.

Fahrenheit 451 remake speaks of social influences changing from books to social media

Leave a comment

Related image

I recently watched the remake of the Ray Bradbury classic “Fahrenheit 451” and, unlike some remakes, this one was spot on. It was updated to reflect the influence of social media and the control it has on society today. It still paid homage to the original, including the original movie, while bringing it into the modern world.

The casting of Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon was brilliant. They were a perfect foil for the other, each one with their own demons and secrets. I loved how Shannon (as Beatty) spends his nights at home, writing down his own thoughts on tissue paper with an illegal pen, burning them at dawn. At the same time, Jordan’s Montag kept a collection of relics including a Blockbuster videotape of the movie “Taxi Driver” in his bathroom vent.

All under the watchful eye of Yuixi, a futuristic version of Alexa which scares the Hell out of me. The movie talks about the influence of social media, bringing back memories of Mark Zuckerberg and his testimony about Facebook controlling what people see. Everything they do is broadcast live with emoji’s littering the screen from the millions of viewers. The movie showed us the future we are heading to in our social media driven world.

Then there’s the books. I found it interesting that the only three books available to people is the Holy Bible, Moby Dick, and To The Lighthouse. The rest? As the firemen teach the little kids… Burn them! It’s sad to see all the classics burn like this. It’s a testament to the staying power of literature that’s represented in these books. That’s why I love this book, this movie, this story… Ray Bradbury wrote a classic that stands the test of time.

The ending may have changed in this newest adaptation, but the story stayed true. When you erase literature, you erase history. Beatty talked about this when he showed Montag a copy of Huck Finn, how it offended black people so they burned it, erased it. That’s the bigger meaning of this story. You may not like what was written before, but you can’t erase it completely. To do that would wipe away the history as to why it was written and lessons we can learn from it.

Image result for fahrenheit 451 movieFahrenheit 451 remains to be a classic, in any form. It should be a required read for every child in school today just for the fact that it will show them the right way and the wrong way when it comes to books and history. We have to teach them the right way, otherwise the story Fahrenheit 451 will go from being a fantasy to being a reality. Remember that next time you toss a book aside.

###

51nd6H6sATL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_SKU-000941753Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase as a book/ebook at Amazon. The Dark Tides is available for purchase as a book/ebook at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iUniverse publishing. The Outlander War, Book Three of the Forever Avalon series is coming soon.

Fantasy wins at the Oscars, and its just the beginning

1 Comment

d44c6c0cc27b86409073154c09502413After last night’s win at the 90th annual Academy Awards, Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water is in the spotlight, as is the fantasy genre. It was great to see a writer/director/producer like del Toro win the Best Picture and Best Director Oscar. His vision of other worlds in such wonderfully vivid movies like Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Pacific Rim is legendary.

It was great to see the Academy honor a wonderful fantasy story like The Shape of Water and a director like del Toro. It gives a writer like me the confidence in my own fantasy stories. But, at the same time, it’s also disappointing that other fantasy movies weren’t even given a chance to be recognized.

I wrote previously about how the Academy snubs top-rated movies for “artsy” movies that people have barely seen. It’s a shame that audience approval isn’t part of the consideration. The Oscars are nothing more than a night for Hollywood elites to pat themselves on the back. Even still, they do try to get it right once in a while.

I just don’t understand why there is such a disdain for fantasy movies. If you think about it, only two fantasy movies have won the Best Picture Oscar in the past 50 years–Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and The Shape of Water. At the same time, some of the top selling movies of all time have been fantasy movies released in the 50 years.

It doesn’t make any sense to me. Fantasy is one of the best genres out there. It takes you back in time, to another world, or into a magical fantasy. The mind-blowing improvements in CGI has given filmmakers the opportunity to showcase stories that would never have been done before.

Here’s a great example… In 1966, director François Truffaut brought us the dystopian science fiction film Fahrenheit 451, based on the classic Ray Bradbury novel, starring Oskar Werner, Julie Christie, and Cyril Cusack. Watching this movie, you could see the wires holding the jet packs aloft. Yeah, it was pretty bad.

fahrenheit-451Now, in 2018, HBO is remaking it into a new movie starring Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon. It looks amazing, sure to outshine the original. You also got to love the subject matter (burning books, controlling information) in today’s day and age.

John Lennon said, “I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?” With that, how can you not want to write, read, and watch fantasy?

# # #

51nd6H6sATL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_SKU-000941753Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase as a book/ebook at Amazon. The Dark Tides is available for purchase as a book/ebook at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iUniverse publishing. The Outlander War, Book Three of the Forever Avalon series is coming soon.

Let stupid people say stupid things because it only makes them look stupid

Leave a comment

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” — 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

The first amendment in the United States Constitution addresses something that is quite unheard of in some areas of the world. The founding fathers placed this at the top of our governing document to underscore the importance of these basic freedoms: Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech; Freedom of the Press, etc. These basic rights are undeniable in the United States of America.

ft-first-amendment-alliance-nonprofit-free-speechIn recent weeks, those rights have been tested with the events of Charlottesville and the subsequent rallies and protests since them. The question remains, is hate speech protected? If I disagree with what you’re saying, do I have the right to shut you up?

Even the strictest constitutional scholars will say that all speech is protected, even when you disagree with it. There are those that feel the hate speech shouldn’t be protected, but that’s grown now to include anytime a conservative speaks by groups like Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA. Some people also defend NFL players sitting or kneeling for the national anthem a type of free speech protest, but it has also come under scrutiny.

So, that’s the tough question. Is all speech protected or should certain speech be restricted. As authors, I am 100% for free speech. George Washington said, “If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” To me, that quote epitomizes what freedom of speech is.

I don’t like the racists rants of white supremacists and the KKK, nor do I care to hear them. I also don’t care for the anti-American stance of ANTIFA and BLM. In any case, I will defend your right to say it. Speech is a choice. You can say whatever you want, and I can CHOSE whether or not to listen to you. That’s why there is a mute button on the TV. I can turn you off just as easy as changing the channel.

To me, that’s how freedom of speech works. Voltaire say, “I do not agree with what you said but I will defend to death your right to say it.” That is the ultimate truth. My opinion has always been to let stupid people say stupid things because it only makes them look stupid. You can make your point just as easy by letting people talk.

As an author, I love the fact that my words are protected. I’m going to leave it with a quote by Ray Bradbury from his novel Fahrenheit 451. I think it speaks volumes for what we are witnessing and feeling today.

“The books are to remind us what asses and fool we are. They’re Caeser’s praetorian guard, whispering as the parade roars down the avenue, ‘Remember, Caeser, thou art mortal.’ Most of us can’t rush around, talking to everyone, know all the cities of the world, we haven’t time, money or that many friends. The things you’re looking for, Montag, are in the world, but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety-nine per cent of them is in a book. Don’t ask for guarantees. And don’t look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for shore.”
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

# # #

51nd6H6sATL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_SKU-000941753Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The Dark Tides is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iUniverse publishing. The Outlander War, Chapter 3 of the Forever Avalon series is coming soon.

Prophecy has been an essential part of science fiction writers

6 Comments

bh7kcyidqx7vfe9cxoxc

“I, for one, bet on science as helping us. I have yet to see how it fundamentally endangers us, even with the H-bomb lurking about. Science has given us more lives than it has taken; we must remember that.” ─ Philip K. Dick

One of the thing we love about science fiction is that it allows us to see the future. Do you think someone who read Jules Verne 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea could imagine being aboard a submarine? Or flying into space and landing on the moon after reading 2001: A Space Odyssey? The future can always be found in the pages or science fiction novels.

Books like Brave New World, 1984, Stranger in a Strange Land, and I, Robot are just a few of the 20th Century novels that accurately predicted the future; but it’s not just authors who can be hailed as prophets. Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek accurately portrayed digital music, hand-held computers, ebooks and so much more.

Isaac Asimov said, “Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today – but the core of science fiction, its essence, the concept around which it revolves, has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.”

9c074ebf323afe53d646eb1465cfb837It strange how right, and sometimes how wrong, science fiction has been. I remember watching Lost in Space on TV as a kid. The Jupiter 2 mission was supposed to have taken place in 1984. Granted, that prophetic vision didn’t come true, but it was something that stuck in the memory of an impressionable child.

I think that’s why a genre like steampunk is so popular today. It combines the past, present and future together, as if people are living within the world of science fiction. It also explains the popularity of movies like Star Wars, Blade Runner, Star Trek and Jurassic Park. They show all that is good and all that is wrong with the future.

I know there are a lot of dystopian future novels like The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner and others out there, and they do espouse a new future, but I really don’t consider them prophets. Their future doesn’t look ahead to better things but rather show us a world after war, famine, or pestilence through the eyes of our children. These novels were meant to be a warning, not a prophecy.

Science fiction writers can be prophets but they also act as harbingers, as it were, of those things that could doom the human race. Ray Bradbury’s classic Fahrenheit 451 made us look at how knowledge and education that comes from books can be abused and even lost. He said, “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading.”

That’s the crux of science fiction prophets. They are establishing what direction we take toward the future. We can work hard to created a new world on another planet, like The Martian Chronicles, or start a new life under the ocean like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or maybe a new world within cyberspace like Neuromancer.

“Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead, little by little, to the truth.” ─ Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth

Science fiction writers go beyond stories about aliens, other worlds, and future tech. They are explorers of what could be and what will be. We should embrace the future and, as writers, look ahead to those many possibilities. You don’t have to be a scientist to write science fiction, just someone who can see beyond the horizon and imagine more.

###

51nd6H6sATL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_SKU-000941753Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The Dark Tides is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iUniverse. The Outlander War can be previewed at Inkitt.