JP Schiller: Lit of Horror, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi

Semester Total:  118 points  (14 + 82 + 2 = 98) + 20 = 118 Zoom Classes Attended:  14 out of 15 classes  (14 points)  Full Reading List:      ( Links directly to the blog post are embedded as well)      * = JP's Absolute Favorites Official Readings:  (82 points total) * Frankenstein  by Mary Shelly  (6 points) -  Week 1 Interview with a Vampire   (6 points)   -  Week 2 A Wild Sheep Chase   (6 points)   -  Week 3 * Annihilation  by Jeff VanderMeer   (6 points)   -  Week 4 * Akata Witch  by Nnedi Okorafor   (5 points)   -  Week 5 * The Hobbit   (6 points)   -  Week 6 The Night Circus   (6 points)   -  Week 7 Ananzi Boys (6 Points)   -  Week 8 * The Martian   (6 Points)   -  Week 9 Babel-17   (5 Points)   -  Week 10 Bloodchild   (2 Points, Required Reading)  Cyberpunk Short Stories   (5 Points)   -  Week 11 *Trail of Lightning   (5 Points)  -  Week 12 * Zone One   (5 Points)  -  Week 13 Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy on Radio   (6 Points)  - Week 14 Personal Writing for Final Class 

"Sketch Two" Writing Prompt on Week Activity Page (2 Points) When the automatic lights begin to flicker on and my phone emits soft morning tones, I know I'm doomed to be conscious. I try to cling to it, the soft darkness of sleep, but it slowly recedes and the soreness in my joints returns. I crack my eyes open and take the ceiling and wall with blurry vision. The rounded edges of my living quarters and soft metal tones all feel sophisticated, which was why I picked this unit. A sense of class when living in a tin can, but that's to be expected when space had to be rationed. I blink rapidly, trying to clear the gunk around my eyes. I could hear the low buzz of the floor heaters turning on, and my slippers being placed on the floor by my HEST1A droid. A "helpful, economical, self-sufficient caretaker" robot, which was an older model market by its 1A status, but by far still my favorite version of the machine. The humanoid versions they had now these days stil

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Radio Episodes (6 Points) Out of all the things I wish existed from this science fiction work, I think the Babel Fish would be the first. Although I'd be much more worried about cleaning my ears and this is the one device I think humans might be able to make with their own language in the next fifty years, I find the concept of being able to understand anything from anyone at any given space quadrant is an incredibly useful tool. Well, besides a towel. I think a guide to the galaxy would also come in handy if traversing time and space and found the whole premise of Douglas Adams's work to be, well, novel!  This audio drama shared some roots in the animated "Yellow Submarine" film by the Beatles if Doctor Who was taken along for the ride. A lot of the nonsensical and frivolous details of a story being delivered in a nonchalant deadpan always gets a laugh out of me. The sci-fi elements are serious in their construction and feel very

  Trail of Lightning (5 Points) What incredible work! The writing, setting, world-building, and characters are all deeply intriguing and I caught myself chasing the story once I had read the first page. I'll try to collect the thoughts a little more throughout, but I'd love to start with the world.  As I've said before, I've always loved the concept of what the world could be after society-shattering events and this book creates a very compelling idea that the majority dies out, and a once minority carries on. I found it very realistic as well that while this book focuses on Native American culture and enhanced spiritual powers that come from the end of the world, it still maintains much of what people are familiar with in terms of where they live and how they operate on a structural level. The language and culture are neatly interwoven into the background of a world that survived massive flooding, and then reintroduced powers and abilities for those who have originated

  Zone One by Colson Whitehead   (5 Points) I know it's really hard for people to consider extremely grim and grotesque futures like zombies and even plagues, (which really hits too close to home these days) but I also think they bring up the fascinating scenario of pushing humanity to its breaking point. I personally adore the concept of the apocalypse not for the suffering or for the trauma, but the exercise of worst-case scenarios and how our society would cope. I'd never want the world to experience such tragedy, but I believe the disassembly of the modern world is a great exercise for writers to figure out how to put it back together again. I think Whitehead does a really graphic and human reinterpretation of how individuals fall apart and have to continue one without trying to make it feel like a Hollywood film with heroics and saving the world. Our main character, dubbed Mark Spitz for reasons later discovered in the novel, very well knows the world is fucked, and has a

All Readings (5 points) Fragments of a Hologram Rose by William Gibson  (1 point) I found this work to be a little jarring and confusing just in terms of the general jargon related to the use of immersive sensory technology, but once I had re-read it a few times it was easier to understand the context of the world and the character within it. I do hope that someday technology could progress to this level of recording the human experience and then allowing others to participate in that sensation through a recording of it. In some ways, it reminds me of the mechanics of The Giver by Lois Lowry where you can take and receive memories or experiences from others and experience them yourself. I like that it also utilizes the concept that not all recording memories will be pleasant and could also record very dark or tragic moments in people's lives. Rock On by Pat Cadigan (1 point) Okay, a lot more clarity on this one, even if it took me a second to jump from religion to music. I really e

  (Blood Child by Octavia Butler - Reading Assessment ) 1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?     Shock is a pretty good descriptor in terms of my first reaction, as the story was so different from anything that I've ever read. I'd consider myself an avid reader and have encounters some strange elements in stories, but this takes the lead in the most bizarre. While the story brought some interesting elements into the narrative, it also felt incredibly disturbing and grotesque when the implications of the alien and human relationship had come into focus. I will say I was intrigued by the topics that Butler explored, but the overall concepts of male pregnancy and oviposition are pretty overwhelming topics to a common reader. 2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss what elements of the story with which you were able to connect?     The main connection that I made to the story was when the protagonist, Gan, was talking about how it feels to be treated