"By Grabthar's hammer..."

"Unless you wish to poison Potter — and I assure you, I would have the greatest sympathy if you did — I cannot help you."

Severus Snape, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

"There were five curtain calls. I was an actor once, damn it. Now look at me. Look at me! I won't go out there and say that stupid line one more time."

Sir Alexander Dane, Galaxy Quest

As part of this year's birthday trip, this time to Toronto, my lovely wife Karli and I were invited to brunch with the family at my brother John's house.

John is the family genealogist, and I had some questions regarding our maternal grandmother that I had been unable to answer when they had come up in conversation with my wife.  As part of the discussion, he explained that although our maternal grandfather Harold Coulson had been born a Rickman, he was raised by his grandparents and as a result had taken their name.  

He then casually mentioned that while researching our grandfather, he had discovered that we were actually related to the late British actor Alan Rickman, arguably best known for his portrayal of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies, as well as his epic performance as frustrated ex-Shakespearean actor Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest.

Now, this is certainly cool, but honestly, even if I had known this twenty years ago earlier, I don't think it would have changed my life - even then it would have ridiculously presumptuous to reach out to him.  However, it's fun to imagine an alternate reality in which I could have sent Alan Rickman a text that said, "Hey, cousin Alan, how's it going?  Sorry to bother you, but any chance of a couple of tickets to the premiere of The Prisoner of Azkaban? If not, no big deal - good luck with the movie!" 

- Sid

"O my precious!"

First editions, original dust jackets, mint condition...and $63,000 USD, before Buyer's Premium. Sigh...  Although, just in case Bill Gates is still reading the blog - hello, Bill, I do have a birthday coming up this month... 

- Sid

Update: final sale price $95,000 USD. It's okay, Bill, that does feel like a lot of money to spend on someone you've never met, even for their birthday.

Comfort Food.

I've been working on a large and somewhat stressful deadline-intensive project for the last month or so, and as such I've found myself gravitating toward lighter reading selections - the literary equivalent of comfort food, if you will.   

Right now I'm just finishing up S. M. Stirling's General series from the early 1990s, which perfectly suits my definition of science fiction comfort reading.  This five-book military SF series is a collaboration between Stirling and fellow SF author David Drake, who created detailed story outlines for the books which Stirling then completed.

The series takes place a thousand years after the collapse of intergalactic civilization, commonly referred to as the Fall.  In the wake of this apocalyptic event, civilization on the planet Bellevue has fallen to a steam-driven level of technology, as per Europe circa the mid to late 1800s, and any remnants of the old world are worshipped as religious objects.

Raj Whitehall, an officer in the Civil Government army, is chosen by Center, a sophisticated pre-Fall quantum AI, to act as its agent in unifying the planet and beginning humanity's climb back to the stars.

Center forges a telepathic link with Whitehall and, with its guidance, he ascends through the military until he is the grand general of the Civil Government forces, which he commands as they conquer Bellevue's various splinter colonies, descended from a variety of Terran cultural backgrounds.

Outside of their well-written military trappings*, the books are just fun little reads. Set on an alien planet where the imported Terran ecology and the more primitive Cretaceous-era native biosphere have intermingled, and cavalry rides gigantic dogs rather than horses**, the dialogue is full of topical references, like talking about the sheep at the carnosauroid's congress, or referring to cavalry as dogboys, rather than cowboys. 

The various polities come from a wide range of Terran antecedents:  the Civil Government culture and language is Hispanic, its Military Government opponents, the Brigade and the Squadron, are North American (Namerique), the first-landing Colony is Islamic, and the barbarian Bekwa Skinners obviously owe a debt to Stirling's French-Canadian Québécois background, up to and including a character named Pai-har Tradaw, fils d'Duhplesi.

The overall storyline is simple but dramatic, and painted with an epic brush - heroes and villains, battles and escapades, feats of daring, court intrigues, honourable enemies, evil allies, and a cast of thousands, as they used to say in Hollywood. And there are dinosaurs - how can you not love a science fiction series with dinosaurs?

- Sid

* David Drake's knowledge of military history and service background combined to provide a solid foundation for the battles that form the backbone of the books, as well as the weapons used in those battles.  As an example, the Civil Government arms its soldiers with something very close to the Martini Henry breechloader rifle used by the British army in the colonial wars of the late 19th century. whereas the opposing army of the Colony uses repeating lever action rifles similar to any number of examples from the late 1800s. 

** Oddly, dogs are the only Terran animals that seem to have grown in stature, which strikes me as a missed opportunity.  Imagine if, say, the chickens had evolved to a similar scale...