#and she's still obsessed with the whale and it makes ishmael take a long hard look at herself

[tibtew]

What about Project Moon genderswap Captain Ahab too?

anon I hope you know this concept is making me Scream

[cherita]

10 Climate Fiction Books to Read for Earth Day

Today is Earth Day, that day of the year when we’re reminded to take care of our planet. It’s the only one we’ve got, after all… for now, at least.

But in the world of speculative fiction, reminders aren’t really needed. Sci-fi authors have long thought up future scenarios impacted by every sort of ecological disaster imaginable, whether caused by our own careless pollution or technology gone awry, some strange alien virus, or just a pissed off Mother Nature who’s had enough of our shit. It even has its own cute genre name: cli-fi, for climate fiction (see what they did there?).

Though the name is a recent invention, writers have pondered the perils of climate change as far back as Jules Vernes’ 1889 adventure novel, The Purchase of the North Pole, while J.G. Ballard’s dystopian novels The Drowned World (1962) and The Drought (1964) are considered early cli-fi classics. Today, with terms like “global warming" and "carbon footprint” now part of our everyday lexicon, climate change and environmental disaster are in everyone’s thoughts — and climate fiction has grown right along with our awareness.

Even if climate change has never once crossed your mind (you could be a monk, I guess?), these 10 books are sure to get you thinking about the environment and our impact on it…

Imaginative future sci-fi of a floating refugee city in a post-climate change world:

Blackfish City (2018)

by Sam J. Miller

After the climate wars, a floating city is constructed in the Arctic Circle, a remarkable feat of mechanical and social engineering, complete with geothermal heating and sustainable energy. The city’s denizens have become accustomed to a roughshod new way of living, however, the city is starting to fray along the edges—crime and corruption have set in, the contradictions of incredible wealth alongside direst poverty are spawning unrest, and a new disease called “the breaks” is ravaging the population.

When a strange new visitor arrives—a woman riding an orca, with a polar bear at her side—the city is entranced. The “orcamancer,” as she’s known, very subtly brings together four people—each living on the periphery—to stage unprecedented acts of resistance. By banding together to save their city before it crumbles under the weight of its own decay, they will learn shocking truths about themselves. 

Blackfish City is a remarkably urgent—and ultimately very hopeful—novel about political corruption, organized crime, technology run amok, the consequences of climate change, gender identity, and the unifying power of human connection. 

Moby Dick retelling of inter-planetary exploration to help a resource-depleted earth:

The Beast of Cretacea (2015)

by Todd Strasser 

Master storyteller Todd Strasser reimagines the classic tale of Moby Dick as set in the future—and takes readers on an epic sci-fi adventure.

When seventeen-year-old Ishmael wakes up from stasis aboard the Pequod, he is amazed by how different this planet is from the dirty, dying, Shroud-covered Earth he left behind. But Ishmael isn’t on Cretacea to marvel at the fresh air, sunshine, and endless blue ocean. He’s here to work, risking his life to hunt down great ocean-dwelling beasts to harvest and send back to the resource-depleted Earth. Even though easy prey abounds, time and again the chase boat crews are ordered to ignore it in order to pursue the elusive Great Terrafin. It’s rumored that the ship’s captain, Ahab, lost his leg to the beast years ago, and that he’s now consumed by revenge. But there may be more to Captain Ahab’s obsession. Dark secrets and dangerous exploits swirl around the pursuit of the beast, and Ishmael must do his best to survive—if he can.

Lyrical present-day tale of the apocalyptic effects of climate change:

Clade (2015)

by James Bradley

On a beach in Antarctica, scientist Adam Leith marks the passage of the summer solstice. Back in Sydney his partner Ellie waits for the results of her latest round of IVF treatment.

That result, when it comes, will change both their lives and propel them into a future neither could have predicted. In a collapsing England Adam will battle to survive an apocalyptic storm. Against a backdrop of growing civil unrest at home, Ellie will discover a strange affinity with beekeeping. In the aftermath of a pandemic, a young man finds solace in building virtual recreations of the dead. And new connections will be formed from the most unlikely beginnings.

Clade is the story of one family in a radically changing world, a place of loss and wonder where the extraordinary mingles with the everyday. Haunting, lyrical and unexpectedly hopeful, it is the work of a writer in command of the major themes of our time.

Near-future tale of the apocalyptic effects of climate change:

Drowning Towers (1984)

by George Turner

Francis Conway is Swill - one of the millions in the year 2041 who must subsist on the inadequate charities of the state. Life, already difficult, is rapidly becoming impossible for Francis and others like him, as government corruption, official blindness and nature have conspired to turn Swill homes into watery tombs. And now the young boy must find a way to escape the approaching tide of disaster. The Sea and Summer, published in the US as The Drowning Towers is George Turner’s masterful exploration of the effects of climate change in the not-too-distant future. Comparable to J.G. Ballard’s The Drowned World, it was shortlisted for the Nebula and won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best novel in 1988.

Fantasy tale in an apocalyptic world of catastrophic climate change:

The Fifth Season (2015)

Broken Earth trilogy

by N. K. Jemisin

WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 2016

This is the way the world ends…for the last time.

A season of endings has begun.  It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world’s sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun.  It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter.  It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.  This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy. 

Hard sci-fi in a post-climate change world where skyscrapers are island homes:

New York 2140 (2017)

by Kim Stanley Robinson

NOMINATED FOR THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 2018

New York Times bestselling author Kim Stanley Robinson returns with a bold and brilliant vision of New York City in the next century.

As the sea levels rose, every street became a canal. Every skyscraper an island. For the residents of one apartment building in Madison Square, however, New York in the year 2140 is far from a drowned city.

There is the market trader, who finds opportunities where others find trouble. There is the detective, whose work will never disappear - along with the lawyers, of course.

There is the internet star, beloved by millions for her airship adventures, and the building’s manager, quietly respected for his attention to detail. Then there are two boys who don’t live there, but have no other home - and who are more important to its future than anyone might imagine.

Lastly there are the coders, temporary residents on the roof, whose disappearance triggers a sequence of events that threatens the existence of all - and even the long-hidden foundations on which the city rests.

New York 2140 is an extraordinary and unforgettable novel, from a writer uniquely qualified to tell the story of its future.

Spec-fic tale of genetic engineering gone awry, causing ecological devastation:

Oryx and Crake (2003) 

MaddAddam trilogy

by Margaret Atwood

Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake–through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining.

Poignant, literary tale of inter-planetary exploration to help a devastated earth:

The Stone Gods (2007)

by Jeanette Winterson

On the airwaves, all the talk is of the new blue planet – pristine and habitable, like our own was 65 million years ago, before we took it to the edge of destruction. Off the air, Billie Crusoe and the renegade robo-sapian Spike are falling in love. Along with Captain Handsome and Pink, they’re assigned to colonize the new blue planet. But when a technical maneuver intended to make it inhabitable backfires, Billie and Spike’s flight to the future becomes a surprising return to the distant past –- “Everything is imprinted forever with what it once was.” What will happen when their story combines with the world’s story? Will they –- and we –- ever find a safe landing place? Playful, passionate, polemical, and frequently very funny, The Stone Gods will change forever the stories we tell about the earth, about love, and about stories themselves.

The ocean fights back against mankind’s pollution in this sci-fi thriller:

The Swarm (2004)

by Frank Schatzing

Whales begin sinking ships. Toxic, eyeless crabs poison Long Island’s water supply. The North Sea shelf collapses, killing thousands in Europe. Around the world, countries are beginning to feel the effects of the ocean’s revenge as the seas and their inhabitants begin a violent revolution against mankind. At stake is the survival of the Earth’s fragile ecology—and ultimately, the survival of the human race itself.

The apocalyptic catastrophes of The Day After Tomorrow meet the watery menace of The Abyss in this gripping, scientifically realistic, and utterly imaginative thriller.

Biopunk tale of a genetically engineered future in a post-climate change world:

The Windup Girl (2009)

by Paolo Bacigalupi 

Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen’s Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok’s street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history’s lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko…  Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok. Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in a chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe.  What Happens when calories become currency? What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits, when said bio-terrorism’s genetic drift forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution? Award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers one of the most highly acclaimed science fiction novels of the twenty-first century.

[aion-rsa]

Black Lightning: The Consistent Villainy of Tobias Whale

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Black Lightning article contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 4, Episode 12.

Jefferson Pierce is dead. Or so it seems, as we turn the page on Black Lightning: The Book of Resurrection: Chapter One: Crossroads. Tobias Whale is on the precipice of achieving everything he has worked for. His mayoral win was supposed to secure his seat on the Shadow Board, but that offer was rescinded after his failure to completely immobilize Freeland’s metas. But Tobias is always one step ahead, and he sends an invisible assassin—powered up with meta boosters—to kill the apparent head, then takes his place, dubbing himself King. Tobias has been playing a very long game, and he is reaping the fruits of his labor. And if he’s to be believed, he’s finally killed his nemesis.

Tobias is not just a violent criminal who perpetually exploits and endangers Freeland, he is also a Black man who is anti-Black—dangerous as hell. He has never been likable, and Black Lightning has not spent a single second attempting to justify his malevolence, or soften it. That consistency pays off here, because he is a true villain. He can’t win! Not just because we want the heroes to, but because he is so. goddamn. awful. He is irredeemable. Writers on the whole seem obsessed with redemption, but like in real life, there is no ctrl+z for past behavior. Some people are just… bad. And as much as I hate that man—and I hate him deeply—it’s exciting to watch an antagonist who enjoys being the bad guy, with no hesitation, and no guilt.

But the Pierces never stay down. Even without their powers, Grace and Anissa take down Monovista’s—and Tobias’—meta gene harvesting plant, likely putting a pause on Tobias’ plan to expand his range outside of Freeland. This is very On Brand for Anissa, and I love that she continues to do her, regardless of whether she has powers. Her consistency is also something I greatly appreciate. I only wish she and Grace had been able to be a team for a longer time. Still, I enjoy that we got to watch their relationship grow and flourish. Speaking of growth, JJ finally feels solidified as a hero. She wants to quit after Uriah is killed, but her dad reminds her of why she is needed. He puts faith in her, and she rises to that by capturing Red, and showing Freeland who Chief Lopez really is—an anti-meta bigot.

When JJ exposes the Chief’s metaphobia, Lopez reacts hysterically, hurrying to use a meta-booster on herself. All we know about Lopez is that she is a woman who feels pressured by that fact to do the absolute most in her position as Chief. And she hates metas to an unhealthy extent. Her entire tenure on the show has been disliking metas, trying to annihilate them all, and trying to capture Lightning, by hook or by crook. She hasn’t tried to take down the Kobra Cartel or the 100s, or do literally anything else the leader of a law enforcement agency should do in a city overrun with gang violence— and one that has just narrowly survived a military siege. Lopez has given us nothing this season, and her inclusion feels like a choice that was made before the powers that be knew this was the end. On the other hand, one of Black Lightning’s biggest weaknesses is misutilization of their cast. Lala disappeared multiple times over the seasons, and characters just kind of mosey off-screen.

This is also evident with Ishmael who… aint shit? It’s hard to say whether this being the final season necessitated changes to his story, or if he was always going to come to Freeland and give us the bare minimum. I did enjoy his scraps but, you cannot say this man killed like 97 metas and is trying out for the League of Assassins and have him only manage to slightly kill one meta out of the six he was set upon. LMFAO. I really tried to see it for him, but he couldn’t take out Jefferson when mans was having a blackout. He left his first four jobs unfinished, and still got paid to go after Khalil and Looker. I have never seen a Black man fail up like this, it was honestly a treat. But playing him up as a late-game Boss then having him lose all but the very first fight is… hilarious, actually. I’m just glad at least one of the new additions, Detective Shakur in this case, is getting to do a little bit more than slightly aggravate the Pierce family.

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I am glad that Gambi has brought Lauren into the fold, even if their relationship feels… shallow. I understand the choice to make her someone from his past, it skips the preamble. But, a relationship that is formed off-screen, and that we only see glimpses of throughout the season, is not easy to connect with. Still, I am rooting for them because Gambi deserves… something. It was too late in the show to fully explore new relationships, but I’m all for happy endings wherever we can get them. I am going into the season finale feeling safe, which isn’t the most exciting place to be. I don’t want Jeff to be dead. I don’t think death is the only,  or even the best way to say goodbye to a series. But the finale should  make a strong statement one way or the other. The Pierces have excelled against increasingly worse odds, and their triumph is more or less assured. I want BlackLightning to end on a high note, and I want to come away from it feeling full. Here’s hoping.

The post Black Lightning: The Consistent Villainy of Tobias Whale appeared first on Den of Geek.

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