Triumphs of Worldbuilding: Battlestar Galactica

I just finished watching the two-part miniseries that rebooted Battlestar Galactica for modern audiences. It was amazing, fun, hooked me. The characters were fully-formed, the series did a good job setting up the actual series. But what struck me the most about the miniseries was the worldbuilding.

The miniseries doesn't assume you've seen the 1980s series at all, which is good because I haven't seen it. The show begins with a prologue that you have to read, but it's brilliantly etched. To wit, the humans made robots the Cylons. There was a war. Nobody's heard from the Cylons for 40 years. This text is overlaid on a silent scene of a human ambassador sitting at a table and leafing through papers on a space station. The prologue tells us that the station was built as a place where humans and Cylons could negotiate. The humans send someone out there every year; the Cylons have never showed up.

Of course, at this point, the door opens, some classic Cylons come in (based on the designs from the 1980s series, which is about all the pop culture osmosis that has penetrated me), followed by Six, a replicant humanoid Cylon. She seduces the human while the Cylon ship destroys the station. It's perfectly directed, and a gorgeous scene.

The worldbuilding in the miniseries proper is stupendous. Galactica is about to be decommissioned and turned into a museum, so there's a tour group explaining about the war, laying down the foundation for the premise, that there's lo-fi tech on the Galactica because the Cylons can penetrate wireless networks. At no point did I feel like I was being told anything about the series. The tour group was a nice touch. I got to see the worldbuilding, and any exposition was natural.

Like I said, there's alot more to love about this miniseries other than the worldbuilding, but that's the part that really struck me.


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Democracy in America: On Approach

My self-education continues with another book everyone's heard of that I decided should be read. Two summers ago, I read The Annotated Origin of Species. My ever-expanding non-fiction shelf at Goodreads is filling up with pop-science, true crime, writing advice, and histories. But I bought the Everyman's Library edition of Tocqueville's Democracy in America with some birthday money, and I'm going through the editor's introduction today.

One of the important things I find for approaching Democracy is that I don't have a very clear conception of the book. I read Machiavelli's The Prince last year, and entered it with my own preconceptions. They were sundered pretty quickly by an introduction that teased out the theory that Machiavelli (or Prince Mac, as the kids call him, I'm pretty sure) was writing a biting satire to ingratiate himself to a princely hopeful, taking his best chance to unite Italy before advancing his hidden republican agenda. Here I have no notions to sunder. I am a pilgrim in a strange temple.

Alan Ryan's introduction to "the Democracy" (as he calls it) is a much more neutral intro, detailing major criticisms, giving Tocqueville's bio, and laying out key factors to keep in mind (Tocqueville was a Frenchman, he saw a huge difference between France and British-influenced America, and 1831 America isn't the same as 2012 America).

The key factors boil down to: leave your preconceptions at the door. Come to Tocqueville with an open mind. Remember your history. Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Programming note: I have decided to post much less, but also to create more meaty fare. Hope you enjoy.

Game of Thrones: Season 1

Just watched the first episode last night. I haven't read a single book because I have alot of books in my reading list, and there's a television series that people think is good. Some thoughts:

1. You get a dire wolf! You get a dire wolf! EVERYONE GETS A DIRE WOLF.

2. The wife: "Yes but they're cute little dire wolf pups with their fuzzy and they're probably played by dogs anyways and I want one."

3. So... incest is code for "bad person", right? That seems edgy for the sake of edgy, and too... too... easy. The Lannisters and the Baraethons Thargaryens (sp., obv.) would be more interesting, complex antagonists without it. It's just shorthand for villain, basically.

4. Foreshadowing is nice. I liked the omen that none of the Starks noticed was an omen, the dead family animal parent with still living offspring fighting to survive.

5. Hey, show. Hit me with the sledgehammer again about how Jon Snow is a bastard. Because it's only been one episode, and I already figured out his parents are the king and Ned's dead sister.

6. Well, someone in production likes boobs. He likes boobs alot. No complaints here. Just observations.


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Video Games and Writing

I love video games. I think the level of interactivity they provide to a narrative gives them a unique opportunity to involve the player emotionally in that narrative.

It's mostly used as a crutch, though. Video game dialogue was charming, but reading it aloud, or having a voice actor act it out... that shit is embarrassing. Whenever my wife walks in on me playing video games it's always an embarrassingly-written cutscene. And she cannot for the life of her see the appeal.

Part of the problem is, I know, that Japanese games need better translators. But another problem is that the industry needs better writers.

It has writers. But they're also coding, repro-ing bugs, and focusing on the gameplay. Increasingly, though, I see the need for better writing in the medium.

Tista Games CEO Aunim Hossain (via GalleyCat) says as much. He sees a future where game companies pay writers for content.

I'd love to see a world where a writer can collaborate with a game studio, make a game. Hopefully a writer who GETS games, and doesn't overload them with cutscene chapters strung together by battles (cough, cough, Final Fantasy XIII, and Lord of the Rings: The Third Age).

Die Easy

It's Friday. I want an easy post.

So, you guys heard about Die Hard V: A Good Day to Die Hard, right?

Well, I got some more.

Die Hard 6: We Who Are About To Die Hard


Die Hard 7: An Appointment in Samarra


Die Hard 8: Get Busy Living, Or Get Busy Dying... Hard


Die Hard 9: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Die Hard


Die Hard 10: Everyone Dies Hard Alone


Die Hard 11: The Die Hard Has Been Cast


Die Hard 12: Making the Other Poor Bastard Die Hard


Die Hard 13: Die Hardest


OK, I'm done. I'd say expect this to be a recurring thing, but I think I'm going to let it die (hard) here.

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