Ending Stories

Despite the title of this rant, Comedity will be in no way ending soon. Though the superhero influence will subside for a few weeks while some the "normal" life of our characters will take back the reigns, it too will not end for some time yet. So, no worries there. We're here to stay folks. We're too damn stubborn to pack up our bags. "Well then," I hear you say, "if not Comedity, or the superheros, why the ending of stories rant?" Quite simply, I've come to the end (or mostly the end) of a couple of very good stories, and I always go through a short bout of depression after such a thing.

I've recently finished Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton, as well as beating Jak 3, and so I have come to the end of good stuff. Well, not so much the end with Pandora's Star, as the story continues in Judas Unchained but that doesn't come out until February. I'll talk share my thoughts on the Jak and Daxter saga this THURSDAY with along with a SPECIAL THUSDAY ISSUE [050]! So, don't miss it! However, I will talk about the glorious writing of Peter F. Hamilton. How about that, a book review at a webcomic? How often do you see that?

To set thing up properly, I should start by saying that Hamilton writes Epic stories. Galaxy changing, life altering, thousand page epics, with more main characters that the human mind can comfortably keep track of. And he's a genius at it. I can't think of an author that does sci-fi epic, or even regular epic as well as Hamilton does. And that includes Tolkein, and the Niven/Pournelle duo. Hamilton really knows how to create a galactic civilization. He builds whole planets the way most authors build characters, with history, background, from the minute it was discovered, how it was colonized, it's general philosphy, culture, the works. And then it take a hundred of these well thought out worlds and links them together to form an even larger cohesive socitey. He takes advances in technology and builds a culture that is far from our own but it wholely believable as one humans will acheive with the right advances.

For instance, in Pandora's Star There have been two major technological advances in the next three hundred years or so. One: wormhole travel. Two: rejuvination technology that allows for effectively infinite life-spans. And with those advances comes a whole new culture. It no longer takes you time to get anywhere. In fact, catching the 3:15 train to Alpha Centauri can take less time than it takes you to walk three blocks to your friend's house. That's right trains. How cool is that? Giant rail-yards that send trains through fixed gateways to other worlds. Fabulous. But the rejuve technology is what makes the biggest change in culture. Death isn't an ultimate any more. You don't have to grow old and die. Over the course of a life time, you can put away enough to become 18 again and keep on living, for as many lifetimes as you please. And what if you do die, murder, or accident, or some such? Well, as long as your Memory insert is intact or you've updated your external-secure memory store, your mind and memories will just be downloaded into a clone body. Cool, right, but what does that all mean? In Hamilton's vision, people are far cooler headed about things, having had the opportunity to live for so long, they take life's hardships in better stride. They have the experience to know that things work out, and that "it's not the end of the world." Coincidentally, first-lifers are treated mostly as children by the multi-life crowd. Murder is also treated differently. While still a highly distasteful act, those who commit it are far more casual about it, since people never really die. They can and often are always re-lifed after their death. The dying and re-life process is, of course, tramatic and it usually takes the victim a whole lifetime to get over it and convince themselves that they are still themselves. But on the other hand, murder is now a far rarer crime since it's only temporary. The person you just axed is going to be back in a couple of years, maybe a couple of decades if you covered it up well, but they'll be back. So what's the point of killing them in the first place? It's nuances like those that fill Hamilton's books, and define the cultures of the future in them. He thinks everything through, and in the end what you're left with is a wholely believable world, and characters that are completely believable within the context of that world. Of course, having dozens of main characters also helps bring a depth to the universe, and helps make it seem more vast and real. If you don't mind the really big and complicated stories, then I highly recomend his works. They're just plain good. And they're some of the finest hard-core sci-fi around. The man knows his science, what works, and what's just techno-babble, and he shuns the techno-babble.

So, before I go, I have just a few little house-keeping things to say: yes, there will be a comic up thursday. God help me, I'll get it done. I'm not promising to make a regular thing of it, but this week will be special. Also, we'll be at Connecticon this weekend, and I hope to see a lot of you there. And thirdly, Hellbound has beaten us out in the ranking. And while I'll let Eric savor this little victory, I declair we can not let this stand! So vote! Show them what's what! Show them all! Also, there's a right sexy image behind the vote buttons. I do enjoy drawing sexy ladies with heavy weaponry. And she's blue at the moment, so I know Larom would approve.

Welcome to the Comedity. Don't step on the Penguin.
Garth (Monday - July 11, 2005) -01:01:15