Month: November 2013

SFN | A Book Showcase [focused on] Time Travel!

Posted Tuesday, 5 November, 2013 by jorielov A Wrinkle in Time, Brian Greene, Carl Sagan, Clifford A. Pickover, Edwin Abbott Abbott, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, Frank Close, Guardian series, Janifer C. De Vos, Kate Klimo, Lucifer's Legacy: The Meaning of Asymmetry, Madeleine L’ Engle, Maiya Williams, Marianne Malone, Michio Kaku, Professor Stephen Hawking, The Dark Watch, The Dragon in the Driveway, The Elegant Universe, The Golden Hour, The Purple Door, The Silver Glass, The Sixty-Eight Rooms, The Time Quartet 12 Comments

Time travel is such a curious prospect to wrap one’s mind around because it bends and yields to our understandings of everything that we hold rather dear! To be able to tip the veils back and peer into our past, whether lived or unlived (as time is temporal) is such a proposition to make anyone curious, I would think the possibilities and the repercussions of time travel being used for the good or succombing to evil, make time travel a bit of a dicey proposition! I, myself, have always been keenly in tune with time travel plots in other media outlets such as tv serials as outlayed in my post just the other night! However, as far as reading about time travel in the purest sense of the word, that is something I have only begun to do in recent years! Mind you, I would have started far sooner if I could have sorted out how to get copies of the next books in a certain young adult series I will be highlighting ever so shortly! The main appeal for me, is seeing a glimpse into different cultures, traditions, and lifestyles of not only the historical (and known) past but of people we may not have ever expected to cross paths with who live in other galaxies and worlds completely! There are unlimited number of transportal routes one could take as a time traveler, and part of the adventure for me is making the journey into the complete unknown!

My earliest memory of reading a book that involved the displacement or disbursement of time would be “The Purple Door” by Janifer C. De Vos. This served as a gateway into an exciting series entitled: Guardians. I was in elementary school at the time when I read it, and this book served as an electrifying catapult into a whole new dimension of experiencing a story! You see, the main character travels into a different time and space whilst only expecting to be having a summer job at an antiques store! My memory of the particulars surrounding this series has vacated my memory banks, but I do look forward to re-reading it at some point (once I locate which box I have put it in!), as I was able to find the next two books in the series (via Powells which has a lovely out-of-print service!): The Silver Glass and The Dark Watch.

What disappointed me at the time I read The Purple Door, is that I could not carry-on with the series closer to when I had discovered the first book! (this would become a trait for certain series unfortunately!) I would always aspire to find other series which would push the envelope and limits on time and our sensory perceptions of time. It would take quite a long while for me to unearth A Wrinkle in Time, as a segue into reading my introduction to Quantum Physics library which I had purchased out of a mail-order book club (I believe it was called: The Library of Science originally) towards the start of the 2000’s. I was attempting to get into The Elegant Universe: Super-Strings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene as well as Lucifer’s Legacy: The Meaning of Asymmetry by Frank Close. What I appreciated about the first book in “The Time Quartet” series is that it illuminates the aspects of the quantum realms within the scope of what can be imagined. The hardest part I think of quantum physics isn’t the mathematical language needed to take the theories to a higher level of understanding, but rather, the ability to directly imagine and purport into imagery what the theories are attempting to show us! In this way, I have always highly recommended that anyone keen on this side of science to start with A Wrinkle in Time! From there, I moved forward into Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott, which helped fuse the two together for me! I shifted easily back into where I had left off in my readings for the books of Greene & Close, as well as attempting to seek out other scientists who were producing books on these subjects that fascinated me so very much! The short list of people who intrigued me were: Clifford A. Pickover, Michio Kaku, Professor Stephen Hawking, and Carl Sagan.

I took a bit of a hiatus from my pursuit of reading non-fiction pieces on time and the quantum realms, opting instead when a new branch of my local library opened to seek out fictional stories that were cast into the same vein as The Purple Door of my youth! I wanted to seek out other writers’ to pick up where I had left off before exchanging the fictional side of this subject for the non-fiction! This is how I came to become immersed into the awe-inspiring worlds of The Golden Hour by Maiya Williams, The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone, and The Dragon in the Driveway by Kate Klimo! What I hadn’t realised at the time is that each of these was the gateway book into a brand-new series! I am still working my way towards reading the next installments as my local library only has the original beginnings rather than the sequels!

In keeping with this earnest approach of mine, I decided that it would be best to dip into both of my conjoined interests, and find a steady balance between fiction and non-fiction even during Sci-Fi November! My viewings of “Doctor Who” have brought back to life my excitement and pure giddiness in celebrating a time traveler on the small screen! However, I do not want to only rely on my ability to seek out media forms of story-telling, and would rather garnish a bit of a nice foothold in literature as this is one particular subject that has been written on for quite a long time! As with Steampunk, I am finding that there are many facets that determine the outcome of a time travel adventure! Sometimes the time travel elements are subtle, barely noticeable, and other times, they have such resounding effects that it puts everyone in the story in direct peril! I have found time travel to be used in cross-genres, such as: juvenile and young adult fiction, romance, historical fiction, science fiction, and even high fantasy! I am sure there are a heap of others, but what I wanted to say, is that due to the diverse selection, I could very well be reading stories of time travel for many an eon yet to come! And, what a thrilling revelation that is for someone as giddy as I am about the written word!?

I can honestly say, that when it comes to my journey into books whose central theme is ‘Time Travel’, I am as much as a beginner with this genre as I was with Steampunk! I only have a few books under me to where I have been able to seek out authors & stories that catch my fancy to read! Which is why I would love to open up a discussion thread right now, and encourage anyone who has had history with Time Travel in Literature to post a link back to a post on your own blog that delves into how you came to start reading Time Travel &/or of whom your favourite authors, stand-alone novels, and Time Travel serial books would be!? Be sure to come back to this post to attach the link of your post in the comments! ONLY link directly to the post you created on this topic, DO NOT link to the main page of your blog! I will be checking! Thank you! I cannot wait to see what everyone’s post!! :)

In the intrim, these are the books I pulled from my local library to explore this month:

The Skin Map (Book One: Bright Empires series) by Steve Lawhead
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
WorldSoul (Book One: WorldSoul series) by Liz Williams
(non-fiction) Breaking the Time Barrier: The Race to Build the First Time Machine by Jenny Randles
(non-fiction) Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel Through Time by Richard J. Gott
(non-fiction) Time: A Traveler’s Guide by Clifford A. Pickover
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer
The Little Book by Selden Edwards
The Little Prince by Selden Edwards
The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma
The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Fleming
Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski
City at the End of Time by Greg Bear

I wanted to select a broad selection of novels that would not only change my preconceptions of what you can experience in time travel literature but I wanted to be a bit bold and daring in my choices! I decided to shift away from the quite obvious choice of reading “The Time Machine” as much as the fact, I already knew I would not want to read “The Time Traveler’s Wife” having had seen the film of the same name! (truly one of the most gutting motion pictures to experience!) I decided to dip into non-fiction as well for a bit, as I do have a keen interest in the science behind science fiction, and I knew that this would be a great branch to cross-relate into science! I am not sure if I will finish the non-fiction titles during the month, but whatever I am able to read in those selections I shall relay to you! Normally a non-fiction book takes me a bit longer to read in full due to the length and depth!

I am curious once more if anyone participating in SFN or a reader who is visiting our blogs during the event has a familiarity with the choices I have made!? And, if you perhaps have others to suggest to me in return!?

This feature is brought to you by:

{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! Post lovely provided by Shabby Blogs with edits by Jorie in Fotoflexer.}

Posted Tuesday, 5 November, 2013 by jorielov in Astronomy, Bookish Discussions, Brothers and Sisters, Cosmology, Library Find, Library Love, Quantum Physics, Revolutionary France, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, SFN Bingo, Time Travel, Time Travel Adventure

SFN | Favourite Top 20 Sci-Fi Serials of All-Time!

Posted Monday, 4 November, 2013 by jorielov 2 Comments

I must confess it took me awhile to settle on how many tv serials I was going to focus on because try as I might, limiting myself to 10 tv serials of all-time was simply not going to happen anytime soon! I’m the worst at creating lists of this nature for this very reason! I tend to *love!* more than I can eclipse into a short list or even a long list! I am forever betwixt what to include and what to wait until another time to highlight! I mean, how do you ultimately select what to feature and then, there is the whole matter of which order to place the ones you choose on the list itself! I must say, as you read this list, they are NOT listed in order of preference or any sort of favouritism on my behalf! They are simply a list that is generated to give out the most thought upon science fiction tv serials that I have enjoyed watching throughout my life! :)

Star Trek: the Original Series – Quintessentially, my favourite moments of being with my Dad after school were spent surrounding myself with the original crew of the Enterprise! :) The fun we had settling in to watch mini-marathons whilst Dad introduced me to all the main characters, as much as imparting to me about their ‘quirks’ and classically known best ‘scenes’ and ‘dialogue exchanges!’. The two of us would spent quite literally HOURS vegged out in front of the tv, caught up in all of their crazy adventures, one after the other! I loved the heart of the series the most, and the way in which the characters and story-lines made you feel inside whilst the credits rolled. Trek left the impression in me (even as a young girl) that despite how frustrating and difficult life can become, there is always the hope of a better future and a better way in which society will one day live in harmony. I loved the merit of the show’s mission statement as much as I simply loved tagging along for the adventure! Mum would join us as well, as they truly loved Trek long before I was ever a whisper in the cosmos! I would grow to see my *first!* Trek motion picture out-of-state whilst on holiday, and yes, I can even tell you which one it was because it remained my ‘favourite’ Trek film until I saw ‘Insurrection’. (which coincidentally is the last Trek film I’ll ever see) I had the sheer pleasure of seeing “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country“!! The pure magnitude of being able to go into a theater and see all the lovely characters which were at that point beloved by me (and my parents!) simply rocked my world! I remember it was one of the ‘premieres’ which affected me the most! Mostly as I think back on it because the dynamics of the cast, and the content of the story-line were with such a precision that it felt like one of my first ‘growing-up’ films! Where I could see the echoes of my childhood might be falling away towards my young adult years. I was completely captivated by the chaos the events in this film evoked as much as the fact I simply enjoyed every inch of the story! I must’ve seen this film several times before we gathered the boxed set of all the original Trek films! You know, the set that shows the Enterprise?
Star Trek: The Next Generation – I actually didn’t warm up to this series initially because I was torn between watching this series and another that was competing my attention in the same ‘timeslot!’ This is of course a bit before I learnt how to use the VCR! Laughs. I finally succumbed to Mum & Da telling me I’d regret it if I didn’t start to watch the series as it unfolded, so for the most part, I came in right as Dr. Crusher made her exit and Dr. Pulaski was entering. From that moment forward I was glued to the tv and the other series, I randomly caught until I asked Da to finally show me how to set the VCR! Laughs. Having entered Trek through the original series, I was completely mesmerized by this version! A lot had changed since the days of Kirk, Bones, Scotty, and Spock! I liked the new senior crew quite a heap, and I liked that their dynamics of relating to each other was just as fraught with quirky instances as the previous crew! I like it when there is internal drama inside of a cast, because it’s through their dysfunction that they endear you to them, but I must confess, of all the ensembles I’ve favoured in tv serials, this is the one that I think they allowed to function as a family unit moreso than with other serials! I loved the interplay with other races as well as how Captain Picard had as much restraint as Captain Kirk with Starfleet Command! I think I singularly felt like the torch was passed seeing that he gave them as much of a run for their money as his predecessor! Considering that I named 3 of my dear cats after the crew of this Enterprise, I think you can see where my heart lies and returns back to the most! :) I can still remember when it was time for the Next Generation films to get underway and launch onto the silver screen!! Ooh, my dear stars! I was bouncy with excitement!! I still remember attending them, too! Full of smiles and eager to see what was going to unfold next! It’s hard for me to pick a favourite amongst: Generations, First Contact, and Insurrection, but I tend to lean towards Insurrection for a variety of reasons, most of all, First Contact is very draining emotionally, as I always found the Borg & the Romulan story-lines to be a bit difficult to always watch!
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – I remember being ever so eager for this series to début! So much so, I couldn’t think of much else during the time I had to wait for the season première!! I instantly loved everything about it – from where it was set inside the world of Trek, to the characters (such a hodgepodge of a crew!) and their personal backgrounds (talk about fascinating me for hours!), to the very set they used to depict the series focal point and the sound they used in the opening credits! I loved every inch of it, and I was thankful that this time around I hadn’t hesitated to see it from the beginning! The only part that was disappointing for me was twofold: when I started to take on more classes in my sophomore year, I felt like I had lost my footing for the series! :( When I was able to return back to it, everything was changing rather rapidly, as the war was pretty much over-with, and there was rumours about Jadzia Dax not returning as well. Although I liked her replacement as I had seen her in other sci-fi shows! She would go on to be a main character in “The Dead Zone” as well! :) At some point, I would like to see everything from the beginning and re-discover what I loved about this series originally and carry my focus through into the ending seasons! They had so much to give and focus on, that I always felt sad that they didn’t take this to film!
Star Trek: Voyager – I picked up with this series right in time, which was fantastic because it was the first time we had a woman in the seat of the Captain’s chair, and I was struck by this being monumental! I liked the diversity of the crew this time as well, because each Trek series would always improve on having each character enter into the story with an equally varied and diverse background as to what led them to serve with Starfleet and be aboard ship as crew! In this case, what was intriguing is that half the crew were actually renegades who ended up being stranded with the crew of Voyager! How they incorporated both crew together into a seamless (or thereabouts!) senior crew I thought was a slice of brilliance! As much as giving them very distinct characteristics and personality traits like Tom’s preference for learning everything about the 20th century! Between Voyager & DS9, I felt like Trek was heading in all the right directions! I loved how you could catch an episode of any Trek you wanted to see at various times of the day or night as well!
Quantum Leap – I spent most of my 8th grade year wrapped up in the adventures of Dr. Samuel Beckett, his sidekick Al, and the quirky voice on the other end of the dimensional space “Ziggy”, of which was a computer! I loved the science of the series as much as I simply loved the history of what was presented each week that I tuned in as they would pull stories out of our own actual historical archives in order to draw out the best characters to pursue and for Sam to ‘leap into’ to right a wrong! It was very unique in its approach to science fiction story-telling because you truly had to ‘look close’ to see the sci-fi elements inside it! I loved that about this series, as much as I liked seeing a lot of heart stitched into the stories themselves! Although I was a dedicated watcher for years, I never did see the pivotal “leap home”, unlike my Mum! One day!
Battlestar Gallactica (Original) – I don’t have as much to say about this series as I have only seen a handful of episodes, as they stopped airing them right at the moment I found them on one of the cable channels who was still featuring them in the afternoons! :( Sighs. What I liked about it though was classic space opera story-lines intermixed with humour and heart. I always like finding the heart of a story and the heart of a character’s past, present, or future. I sort of seek out stories either in print or in this format that go to the core of the human condition. You could say its a preference of mine, actually! I do know that I appreciated the format of this original take on Gallactica rather the newer incarnation. But, then, if you have noticed I prefer originals nearly 9 out of 10 times!
seaQuest DSV (Season One) – Who wouldn’t enjoy a tv serial that takes place under the ocean!? I mean, seriously!? I loved how it had a feel for reality as it was being produced as much as it was a glimpse into the near future of what could be. I liked the transitions between fact and fiction as well. I am only a fan of the first season, however, as there were too many changes for my taste as it entered into the latter seasons. I even missed the inclusion of Dr. Robert Ballard at the ending sequences of the episodes as well as say, half the cast!? Sighs. The best part of what made seaQuest a special show is the fact that the first year proved that it had all the elements in place to make watching the series a memorable occasion! The fact that they touched on environmental, oceanographical, and geological sciences was all the more fun for me!
The Sentinel – From the moment I first watched the interaction between Jim and Blair, I knew I had to keep tuning in! The plot behind how Ellison received his ‘heightened’ senses was a new twist I thought on the genre, and it kept me on my toes to see how they would showcase his abilities next! I loved the fact he was a cop, because I have a soft spot for mysteries and police series! I think their quirky sense of humour never failed to itch my funny-bone and the way in which Blair would always overstep his bounds as a ‘ride along’ never failed to entertain me! Truly, as you went along with it you were curious as to who was teaching whom!
The Dead Zone – At first, I must confess, I wasn’t sure if I could handle this series as it truly pushed the envelope of what I considered ‘horror’ and what I considered ‘science fiction’ however, somehow I was won over by both the cast and the scripts — which led me to leading my Mum and Da to get wrapped up in the story as well! So much so, we decided not to watch it as it aired but rather opted instead to purchase the seasonal dvds, which would allow us more time to view the series! :) I believe we made it through the third season before realising that the story-lines were getting a bit too difficult to watch! We sort of suspended watching this indefinitely but want to resume the series at some point as we want to go through the rest of the third and carry into the fourth! I am not sure how I feel about the fifth season, as I was still keeping up with the series as it aired at the time. I will have to wait and see, I suppose! Unless someone posts a comment and says that watching the fourth without the fifth wouldn’t be so bad!? :) One can hope! Again, what drew me into this series was the heart of the characters, I mean, who couldn’t relate to the absolute shock of waking up from a coma and finding that your entire life was flipped on its heel because your son is being raised by another man?
The Six-Billion Dollar Man (Original) – This along with my 11th choice go hand in hand as far as I’m concerned, because I would always watch one episode after the other, as they would air these back to back! I sometimes had trouble remembering they were different series entirely! I have since gone on to watch Lee Majors and Lindsey Wagner in other roles, the latter of which I can happily say has been featured in more than two Hallmark Channel films which delights me to no end! I think what I was struck with originally about these two series is the ingenious way their characters were first altered but then, how they each had to learn how to live and perform with those ‘bionic’ upgrades! To me, these are priceless science fiction tv series!
The Bionic Woman (Original) – (see above) And, no, I didn’t have any interest in seeing the remake!
Babylon 5 – At the time, I couldn’t fathom why no one was talking about B5 with the same tenacity that I was! I mean, no one seemed to care that much about this series, which I had found sad, but I continued to watch it due to the level of the story-lines and the consistency of the production quality! Imagine my surprise how years (and I mean years!) after I watched these air originally that the sci-fi community started to embrace the series more readily and its now spoken about rather fondly! I look forward to gathering these on seasonal dvd sometime so that I not only can re-live my memories of when I first watched it, but I can see the last two seasons as I didn’t get to watch those as regularly! I just loved the concept of the universe and how everyone on Babylon 5 interacted with each other and with the constant stream of visitors! It was very much on a similar vein as DS9 but with its own original feet to stand on!
Airwolf – I barely remember this series other than the fact that I enjoyed watching it!
Alf – Who wouldn’t get caught up in Alf and the family he would drive literally bananas because he didn’t always understand how to function in our world!? It took me awhile to realise ‘who’ Alf was as far as ‘who’ portrayed him, but what I liked about the series was the honesty of it! The believability factor and the way in which the series developed. It was definitely a warm and cuddly tv series and I sort of miss some of that innocence on tv nowadays!
Eerie, Indiana – One of the first series where I was more spooked than entertained but I liked the format of the series!
Highlander – Not only is the series I was first introduced to the lovely music of “Queen”, but it was the series that made me realise that for a girl who was not attracted to horror films or tv series, she sure knew how to pick quirky-odd series to become endeared to watching! (The whole beheading thing!?) I guess you could say between the Scottish history, the accents, and the whole immortal storyline — I was just hooked! I didn’t apologise for it either! I proudly watched Highlander every chance I could!!
Time Trax – I truly loved this series, but what frustrated me was the intermittent viewing schedule! I know it aired regularly elsewhere but for the life of me, I couldn’t catch it weekly but rather every odd moon when the feed would come through!? Very strange. Brilliant show!
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. / Legend / Beauty & the Beast – This became a hard spot to fill because I didn’t want to not mention these three serials, which is why I ‘tied’ them to this spot! The first one is pure genius for hilarity and quirkiness! The second runs on the same vein, but I liked the Steampunk attitude that was cast in for good measure! And, the third — come on! Who wouldn’t love a sci-fi romance series!?
Ghost Whisperer – Due to the ability to ILL tv series through my local library, my Mum, Da, & I are slowly starting to make our way through the complete series of “Ghost Whisperer” which was inspired due to the fact Mum & I caught back to back marathons of the series on two networks in the Summer months of 2012! So much so, we nearly saw half or more of each of the first 3 seasons! We decided this year as 2013 began that we’d find the time to start to ILL the series! We successfully cried our way through season one, but we only made it to the opening bits of season two before Summer began! We’ll have to pick it up again next year, of course, as the holidays are upon us shortly! What I love about it is Hewitt’s ability to transform her character Melinda into a person you can instantly relate too and rally behind. Her ability to see ghosts and to help them move forward is done in such a natural way in their story-telling that you do not realise your always watching a series rooted in science fiction!
Lois & Clark: the New Adventures of Superman – Seriously, what bonefide Superman appreciator wouldn’t love this series!?

Curious About: Alien Nation, The Avengers (Original), The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Stargate: SG-I, ST: Enterprise, and The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne.

Previously Curious About: Doctor Who!

I look forward to seeing comments populate to see if I have selected any that are warmly regarded by you, dear hearts! At least we have been given a wide choice of what we can watch, eh!? IF you would like to create your own blog post that speaks about your own Top 10 or Top 20 List of Favourite Science Fiction Tv Serials of All-Time, I encourage you to drop back and share the link of your post here on Jorie Loves A Story! As always, I encourage you to remember to link directly to your post and not your homepages! :)

This post is brought to you by:

{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge and Event Badge were provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! Post lovely provided by Shabby Blogs with edits by Jorie in Fotoflexer.}

Posted Monday, 4 November, 2013 by jorielov in Airwolf, Alf, Alien Nation, Babylon 5, Battlestar Gallactica, Beauty & the Beast, Eerie Indiana, Ghost Whisperer, Highlander, Legend, Lois & Clark (The New Adventures of Superman), Quantum Leap, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, seaQuest DSV, Star Trek (Enterprise), Star Trek (Original Series), Star Trek (The Next Generation), Star Trek (Voyager), Stargate (SG-I), The Adventures of Brisco County Jr, The Avengers, The Bionic Woman, The Dead Zone, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, The Sentinel, The Six-Billion Dollar Man, Time Trax, TV Serials & Motion Pictures

SFN | A Book Showcase [focused on] Steampunk!

Posted Sunday, 3 November, 2013 by jorielov Airborn, Brian Selznick, Edward Dolnick, Jay Lake, Kage Baker, Kate MacAlister, Kenneth Opel, Mainspring, Not Less Than Gods, Sharon Cameron, Steamed: A Steampunk Romance, The Clockwork Man, The Clockwork Universe, The Dark Unwinding, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, The Search for WondLa, Tony DiTerlizzi, William Jablonsky 6 Comments

IF I were to be completely honest, I have been intrigued with the world of Steampunk for many, many moons as I simply adore the style of dress, the artwork of illustrators & indie visual artists, the motion pictures that bring a bit of Steampunkiness to the story-lines (especially the last Three Musketeers & The Invention of Hugo Cabret!), and of course, the idea of having the technology of Steampunk fused and fixed in the Victorian age whilst the regular time continuum shifts forward through the centuries! Now, that is something that I think most can appreciate because Steam Energy and Technology is a cleaner resource than those that were utilized in the Industrial Revolution. I have never known honestly how to jump-dash into the Steam-side of Literature, as I even was so bold and daring as to contact the largest SteamCon over on the West Coast about how one would go about digging into Steam novels — only to be returned a short notice that due to the vastness of the genre, it’s up to each reader to decide! Aye! How then, did I sort it out!? Let me tell you!

Prior to a fortuitous evening at my local library, I took part in The Clockwork Carnival which served as my Introduction to the literary side of Steampunk! Whereupon I read my first-ever novel set in a Steampunk world that revolved around automation! Prior to this contribution piece where I read the novel “The Clockwork Man”, I hadn’t realised that the genre of Steam was as far-fetching as the SteamCon had led me to believe! For instance, when you first start to research books & authors to read, you’re going to run into a few hurdles, especially if you’re at your local library as the card catalogue can only give you certain cross-reference word searches! Of which, limitations pursue, because you’re not always given the direct line of results you’re looking for as I would search for: cogs, clocks, clockwork, steam, steampunk, Victorian London, etc. Some of the best Steam books do not even come up cross-referenced as you think they would be listed but rather are listed as something else entirely! Such as the main subjects that are contained in the book rather than the genre by which the book is attached! A bit frustrating but I must be making progress because for this SFN Reading Challenge I harnessed for myself, I found quite a few new selections that I hadn’t discovered back during “The Clockwork Carnival!”

I do hope you will take the time to click-through to read my piece on The Clockwork Man, because its such a humbling story that emotes such a level of humanity through its wholly unusual lead character! I was taken by his willingness to learn how to adapt to our society, but also, how to love, how to feel, and how to properly live! I wonder if anyone else has read this novel by the indie author William Jablonsky!?

After I read it, I had it in mind to pick up the other alternates I had selected to read during that time, but alas! Time and life tend to run into our blogging affairs every so often, and I was detained! I decided to hold off until another moment arrived where Steampunk could be the main focus again! (hmm, did I have to wait long? winks!) Whilst I tabled reading those selections, I had the pleasure of being given the opportunity to read another indie author’s novel set in a post-apocalypse Steampunk world, where I would imagine it would be considered part Dsytopian as well!? I am referring to “The Boxcar Baby” by J.L. Mulihill, in which the main character is taking a quest to find her long-lost Papa!? As you will read in that review, I was left with mixed feelings when I came to the conclusion of the story. However, what it did for me was open up my eyes further to the wide expanse this genre affords us to read! Each time I find a new book that is of Steampunk nature, I get a bit giddy inside for where I will be led next! Reading is a learning curve, as each book and author you stumble across as your seeking what you’re looking for will be a step closer to where you hope to arrive!

I was originally intending to start off my Steampunk Book Showcase with the selection of “The Iron Wyrm Affair” as its been one of those books that starts to vex you because you keep having to return it and re-check it out again!? I was thinking this would have been perfect timing for me to consume it, only I was not alone in this thinking, as it is quite high in the hold que! Either that, or perhaps a sequel is due out and everyone is trying to re-read the beginning! I do notice that that can happen as well! Instead I am thinking that my first selection could be “The Dark Unwinding” by Sharon Cameron, as I speculate this based on what I read of the author’s website just the other day! I haven’t yet opened the book because I must confess, I am running a bit behind on my SFN writings & readings due to the fact I get a bit addicted to visiting all your lovely SFN blogs!! I get caught up in the social aspects of the event, to where I burnt so much midnight oil on the first three days of SFN, I had to crash a bit earlier today in order to make up the deficient in sleep! Don’t misunderstand me – I am not complaining, but my posts are being drawn out a bit longer to post due to this! Plus, too, let’s face it during lunch I decided to see a new Hallmark Thanksgiving movie entitled: “The Thanksgiving House” which was a lovely addition to the holiday film season!

I am only in the beginnings of my journey into this wicked genre, which is why I do not have too much to disclose in this opening post, as I find that each book brings me a bit closer to understanding it overall! I would love to open up a discussion thread though right now, and encourage anyone who has had history with Steampunk in Literature to post a link back to a post on your own blog that delves into how you came to start reading Steampunk &/or of whom your favourite authors, stand-alone novels, and Steam serial books would be!? Be sure to come back to this post to attach the link of your post in the comments! ONLY link directly to the post you created on this topic, DO NOT link to the main page of your blog! I will be checking! Thank you! I cannot wait to see what everyone’s post!! :)

In the interim, these are the books I pulled from my local library to explore this month:

The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron – A most excellent choice! Started to read on 17 November!
The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
Steamed: A Steampunk Romance by Kate MacAlister
Not Less For Gods by Kage Baker
Steampunk: An Anthology by Ann Vandermeer
The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick
Mainspring by Jay Lake
Airborn by Kenneth Opel

I selected each of them for different reasons, as I wanted to see how far I could push myself into the realms of the genre itself. I am not even sure if the settings, plot, and characters will be ones that I can warm myself up too properly, as that is all part of the discovery process, but those that I do warm too are going to be reviewed during SFN! Again, I am running a bit behind in this, as my first Steampunk review might post on the 10th rather than the 3rd as I am just this shy of falling asleep on my keyboard!

I would be curious to hear from you, dear hearts, if you have perhaps read one of these books yourself, what your lasting impression was of them, and if you have a few book selections to provide me for future Steampunky readings!?

This feature is brought to you by:

{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! SFN badge used with permission. SFN Feature badge created by Jorie in Canva.}

Posted Sunday, 3 November, 2013 by jorielov in Alternative History, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Bookish Discussions, Dystopian, Horror, Indie Author, Library Find, Library Love, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, SFN Bingo, Speculative Fiction, Steampunk, Tomorrow Comes Media, Young Adult Fiction

SFN | Bingo Reading Challenge with a Sci-Fi Bent!

Posted Sunday, 3 November, 2013 by jorielov Across the Universe, Airborn, All Our Yesterdays, Andrew Sean Greer, Ann Vandermeer, Becoming Beauty, Beth Revis, Breaking the Time Barrier: The Race to Build the First Time Machine, Caragh M. O'Brien, City at the End of Time, Clifford A. Pickover, Cloud Atlas, Cristin Terrill, David Brin, David Mitchell, Divergent, Duane Swierczynski, Edward Dolnick, Erin Morgenstern, Expiration Date, Fahrenheit 451, Felix J. Palma, Greg Bear, Jay Lake, Jenny Randles, Kage Baker, Kate MacAlister, Kenneth Opel, Liz Williams, Mainspring, Matthew Fleming, Not Less Than Gods, Prized, Ray Bradbury, Richard J. Gott, Sarah E. Boucher, Seampunk: An Anthology, Selden Edwards, Sharon Cameron, Steamed: A Steampunk Romance, Stephen R. Lawhead, The Archived, The Clockwork Universe, The Dark Unwinding, The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells, The Kingdom of Ohio, The Little Book, The Lost Prince, The Map of Time, The Night Circus, The Postman, The Search for WondLa, The Skin Map, Time Travel in Einstein's Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel Through Time, Time: A Traveler's Guide, Tony DiTerlizzi, Under the Never Sky, Veronica Rossi, Veronica Roth, Victoria Schwab, WorldSoul 7 Comments

By now, anyone who spends a bit of time rooting around my blog (JLAS) will discover that I have a quirky ability to find new reading challenges at the drop of a hat! And, I always attempt to make good on my promise to complete them during their event’s time-frame but alas! My reading life has endeared a few unexpected obstacles these past months, and so, most of the challenges I have undertaken are “in-progress”. Therefore, what bliss to find one that is free-form and can be completed without a specific end-date! I am in the process of completing all my reading challenges that I thus far entered, but what made me become engaged with this one in particular is because I have a *stacked full* reading list to devour in November for SFN!! All the scheduled and proposed books will be listed! Let’s see where they take me on the Bingo card!?

This lovely card was created by Leanne @ Oh! the Books!

Let the Reading Challenge Commence!

B1: ~~A book with alternate realities~~ {The Skin Map by Stephen R. Lawhead}
B2: A sci-fi book mixed with horror
B3: A debut sci-fi novel
B4: A book with awesome technology
B5: A book set on another planet

I1: A book that’s a space western
I2: ~~A book with robots/AI~~ {The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron}*automation
I3: A book with mind-based super powers
I4: A book with clones
I5: A book with aliens

N1: A book involving a war
N2: A book involving dreams {Becoming Beauty by Sarah E. Boucher}
N3: FREE!
N4: A book with mutations
N5: A book with time travel

G1: A book set underneath the earth
G2: A book set in the future
G3: A book with a dystopian setting
G4: A book with cyborgs
G5: A book set in an alternate past

O1: A book with a non-human MC
O2: A book with spaceships
O3: A book with laser weapons
O4: A book set in post-apocalypse
O5: A book with genetic engineering

SFN Reading List: [combination of scheduled & alternates]

The Skin Map by Stephen R. Lawhead {5/6 Nov ’13}
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Breaking the Time Barrier Jenny Randles
WorldSoul by Liz Williams
Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe by Richard J. Gott
Time: A Traveler’s Guide by Clifford A. Pickover
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer
The Little Book by Selden Edwards
The Lost Prince by Selden Edwards
The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma
The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Fleming
Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski
City at the End of Time by Greg Bear
All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Postman by David Brin
Prized by Caragh M. O’Brien
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
Steamed: A Steampunk Romance by Kate MacAlister
Not Less Than Gods by Kage Baker
Steampunk: An Anthology by Ann Vandermeer
The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron {started ’13 | finished ’14}
The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick
Mainspring by Jay Lake
Airborn by Kenneth Opel
Becoming Beauty by Sarah E. Boucher {9 Nov ’14}

It will be a wondrous mystery to me to see which elements of these books will enter into the formation of the Bingo card’s taken spaces! I am certain that if I can read the # of books I scheduled to read this month, it will be quite the feat in of itself! Therefore, if reading the alternates takes time into December and the Bingo card is not yet completed for a win – I shall continue!

Stay tuned!

I am tweaking my Book Showcase on Steampunk Literature

& will reveal my first Steampunk choice!

Rock on, dear hearts!

This post is brought to you by:

And, continuing during:

{SOURCES: Leanne at ~~Literary Excursion~~ Oh! the Books made the SFN Bingo Card for SFN participants to take part in the joy of an undisciplined reading challenge! The Bingo card is used with permission. Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing.}

Tweets via SFN Bingo Card 2013:

Progress on #RRSciFiMonth Bingo Card SFN: 2013 #BecomingBeauty claims: N2 A #Book Involving Dreams #YAFantasy during SFN 2014! :) 12% done!

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) November 9, 2014

Posted Sunday, 3 November, 2013 by jorielov in Dystopian, Reading Challenge Addict, Reading Challenges, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, SFN Bingo, Steampunk, Time Travel

SFN | Feature: Diary of a Nu-Whovian! Week One!

Posted Saturday, 2 November, 2013 by jorielov 10 Comments

The music explodes you into this wonderful place where your itching with excitement, ready to brace yourself for anything that might alight in front of your eyes, except for exactly what emerges on screen! The Doctor and the content of the series is well-written, bang-on Brit(!), quirky, humour with a dose of heart, with a good dash of otherworldly charm to endear you to watch it! You adjust your sensory perceptions to allow for the pace of the series to settle into you, rather than fight the progress of how the story is being told, and somewhere between the opening sequences before the TARDIS jumps through the wormhole to the concluding scenes,… you realise, I AM A WHOVIAN! Who knew!? Seriously, WHO knew!? :)

Randomly Becoming Acquainted with a bloke called: The Doctor

I knew I wouldn’t have enough hours in the day to fashion myself a true Whovian, as I didn’t want to rush through the series, but rather take my time to soak into them! Absorb the characters, the setting, and the quirky TARDIS at a rate that befits the series and pays homage to the creatives behind the project! This is a series that has had such a well-established fan base that it revivals all the ones I have been a part of myself! :) Therefore, with Rinn’s quick-thinking to contact a few Whovians who could pick out at least 5 episodes that they deemed fit to help a person become acquainted with the series, I took up the challenge to accomplish the impossible: ILL (inter-library) loan the series in 5 dvd set increments!

These are the Who episodes as I watched them for the first time and the impressions they left me with afterwards! Consider this the Wide-Eyed Girl’s Diary of Doctor Who! And, for those who are curious how I came to settle on ‘how’ to watch the recommended episodes!? I compiled the list by ‘series’ and then made a bit of a haphazard erring on not always getting the ‘episodes’ in order of proper sequence! I felt The Doctor might smirk knowing that, considering he cannot sort out the difference between 5 minutes (of being gone!) to 12 years!! Time is temporal and is in a state of flux!

NOTE: There are SPOILERS in this post because its a reflection of my thoughts as I watched the series!

| Doctor Who – Series 5 |

1. Vincent and the Doctor

Overview Images on the DVD Menu: A sci-fi series that reminds me of Quantum Leap (for time travel), Star Trek (for alien creatures & citizens), most BBC mystery series; Alien Nation. Gadgets: James Bond, Babylon 5, etc. I could dig this! I really, seriously could see myself digging this! I don’t know why that lizard is extending its tongue but then again, maybe its weapon or warning device!? Everything I’ve seen in Star Wars & Trek make me aware of numerous possibilities! This is going to ROCK! :)

Impression of the Music: upbeat, adventurous, exciting, exploding with curious perplexities, possibilities that lie in the impossible, a gearing up for the unknown. I wonder if the music and score is put to soundtrack!? Ooh, boy! Wait. IF I seek out if this is true I just might have on my hands a whole new realm of soundtrack music to collect! Afterall, most of the music I listened to growing up (aside from the 50s-70s, classical, and contemporary singer-songwriters) came from sound for motion picture!

Opened with Vincent van Gogh in a cornfield painting which flicks back to Museé d’ Orsay in Paris. (clever imagery!) The Doctor finds an anomaly in the church painting with a monstrous face in the window. (reminds me of watching series on SciFi Channel – Dark Shadows? Night Gallery? One of them!) The curator tells the Doctor that Vincent painted the painting of the church approx. 1-3 June, 1890. Vincent actor looks a lot like the artist and takes his role seriously. Cottage full of his paintings. Vincent shares his philosophy of the wonders of the universe, including his view of how colours dictate the paintings. Creature with a tail comes out of nowhere to attack Amy, the Doctor, and Vincent in the courtyard garden. (okay this is SERIOUSLY reminding me of “The Land of the Lost” now!) First look at the TARDIS. I *love!* the typewriter! (scanner, printer, uploader of information – Sam’s Ziggy would be impressed!) The creature sequences reminded me of “The Land of the Lost”. Finally learnt the girl’s name is Amy as I didn’t catch it at first.

The creature was a “Graface” or such (did not understand the term) of a brutal race that solitary was left behind when the rest of its kind left the planet. Reminded me of being trapped in Jurassic Park when they were in the confessional vs the freezer/fridge. In the death of the creature Vincent felt remorse as he was not seeking to kill it. The creature died afraid, alone, and blind. He could relate to the desolation the creature felt due to how he was treated in towne. Whilst they were entwined with hands in circle on the ground whilst watching the heavens parade before them Vincent started to narrate what would shape his painting “Starry, Starry Night” for all to see. The TARDIS takes all 3 back to Paris and the Museum so that Vincent can see that he has worth and that people adore his art. Its nearly too much for him to take in, and I guess this universe with the TARDIS doesn’t mind going against the rules of not revealing too much too soon!? Amy was eager to get back to Paris to see if there were more paintings painted before he died, as she was certain he would not exit the world at age 37 now that she had interacted with him. The Doctor had to reassure her that every life is a mixture of good and bad and each part doesn’t erase the whole. A lot of heart in this episode, can see why it was recommended! Sunflowers was enscribed “For Amy” which made her feel better inside, but she felt so deeply for Vincent I know a part of her grieved.

Parting Thoughts:

Clearly this was not what I was thinking it was going to be like and these were the quick notes I took *whilst watching the episode!*, as I wasn’t keen on hitting the pause button the whole time! It was a mad dash to get the notes jotted down and not have my eyes off the screen for more than seconds at a time! By George, I did well, eh!? Seriously though, when I saw that mutant (& larger version!) of the rooster-bird, I knew right then and there I was going to be ‘in for it!’ Meaning that I have a sensitive heart, scare easily when it comes to freaky creatures who come at you from the shadows (i.e. Harry Potter (the motion pictures) pushed my limits tenfold!), to where I get freaked out of my skull very easily! Hence the reason I do not watch horror movies!! Ooh, my dear ghouls — no! Exception only applies to a limited filmography of Hitchcock (big Hitch fan!), and of course, classic film noir and psychological suspense from the 1920s-1960s which is truly called: classic horror, who knew!? (no pun intended that time! laughs)

Joking aside, this was an emotional episode because I felt for Vincent as much as I felt for Amy,… tears were surely welling because you could get inside the mind & heart of the artist of Vincent rather than perceiving him as his peers left him to be known. History I think has always been decidedly harsh on Vincent, enso, it was nice to see he was treated better in this retrospective piece! Definitely recommend you have a tissue box handy to watch this episode’s concluding scenes! The Museum scene when they take him to see the Gallery featuring his paintings!? Ooh, my dear ghouls — gutting!

Makes you wonder if everyone who struggled as much as he did in life could have had someone intercede on his behalf and turned around the ending of which we all know happened!? The episode pointed out a few things to this regard, and its always true that a person who has a friend is a person who is in better spirit and health! There was so much heart in this episode! My heart was warm and overflowing with emotion! Its a brilliant one to start with I can tell you that!

Mum saw most of this episode with me but she didn’t get to see the others except for a brief viewing of the next one.

2. The Eleventh Hour

Dangling outside the TARDIS over London (I think!?) and TARDIS is on fire, appears to be self-destructing. (now there is an opening sequence for you!) Decidedly British. Slingshots through space. Crashed at a house of a young girl who bore the striking resemblance to Amy! The Doctor was soaked straight through because he was in the pool which was placed in the library of which he had to climb out of to get to the surface on the rope! She needed help with a crack in the fissure of time that was in her bedroom wall! The TARDIS meanwhile spilt into two. Bubble of light came out of the Doctor and his fingertips glowed bright gold. (is this an indication of his regeneration/reincarnation?) Started to crave apples. Then, yoghurt, bacon, beans, bread & butter, and finally settled on fish fingers & custard which reminded me of a woman who was withchild and experiencing cravings of her own! Laughs. The same repetitive message said “Prisoner Zero Has Escaped”. Giant eye in crack flicked a card out into the world where the Doctor caught it and read the same message. Highly eccentric Doctor and disheveled. (love it!) TARDIS starts to work again. Amelia packed her suitcase and waited outside in the garden for the Doctor to return. Which he did, but he thought it was only 5 minutes when it had been 12 years! She hand-chuffed him to the radiator which made me smirk to no end! I had a feeling she wasn’t a bobby too! :) Prior to this, I knew there was something to ‘do’ with the extra door opening and closing but I was not quite prepared for what emerged! :( (remember: sensitive heart!? creatures from the depths of the ocean do not bode well either!)

The quick switch to the coma patients threw me off a bit, but I resettled into the pacing of Who, as it takes a bit of adjusting to learn the series quirks, trades of mannerisms, fade ins/outs, and the pacing of the stories as their told. Once you get the hang of it, it glides rather easily and you can just soak up the stories! Amelia Pond became Amy Pond. I liked how she said she went through several shrinks. Of which is how I presume she put her ‘fantasy’ of the Doctor to bed once she created the cartoon and stories of him!? Loved how they had 20 minutes to the end of the world due to a misunderstanding of the statement by the aliens wanting to collect the errant prisoner. He keeps collapsing and grabbing his chest, but I cannot fathom as to why!? Is that the key that speaks to him in such a physical manner or can his own race communicate with him internally through pain!? Lost on that note! Revealed he’s not just a time traveler but a time lord!

A hint of the back-story! I picked up on the psychic link for a dormant mind bit. The freaky scary images I had to get used too but I think I’m in for a long ride of them! Laughs. The eye ship for sure was less intense than the prisoner which was too much like a creature that lives in the bottom depths of the sea with those bone sharp scary teeth that gives me chills! :( Loved the firetruck that went through the hospital! Two years later from the date he left Amy he finally returns! I oft wonder how he loses track of time so easily!? Offers Amy to go with him which she does! Loved seeing the inside of the TARDIS again even though I have yet to know why its called a “TARDIS” which I know is an acronym!?

Parting Thoughts:

What I appreciated about this episode is that it shows the way in which the Doctor met Amy and how she came to travel with him in the TARDIS! I loved the interplay between the two of them, and can we just say that the Doctor has some of the best facial expressions for an actor that I have ever seen!? I didn’t catch his name, but he is fast becoming my ‘favourite’ Doctor,… is he the 5th Doctor because this was the 5th series!? Or, am I making the wrong presumption!? I just loved how he put his whole being into playing the part, giving me the impression that he loved it dearly! I liked how Amy was meant to travel with him, and I had a feeling that the crack in time meant more than they were saying, because I distinctly remembered a ST: TNG episode where a similar crack in time caused a LOT of havoc! I cannot think of what else to say, because I was so enthused about watching it!!

Except to say, I thought it was hysterical how he kept saying he had a new face and with it comes a whole new palette for food! I was wondering, truly, if I was starting to see glimpses of who the Doctor is on a personal level and how he is able to be seen as he is. I suspected he was not of Earth but rather a traveler from another place in the universe but I wasn’t confirmed on this note until I saw the Weeping Angels episodes that made me have shivers and chills up my spine! Oyy.

3. The Time of Angels

Gun is a laser to open a safe to get a message to the Doctor by having an object called a home box placed in a Museum. The box was stolen 12,000 years prior to when the Doctor would find it! Love the wide shifts in time continuum! (even if I could not sort out where ‘time’ began for Amy and where it had taken them both next?) I liked the opposite of the black box is the home box. Clever. Timens!? Professor Riversalt, no Riversoul? no Riversong! She looked so familiar to me! I kept thinking is that Beatrice!? (only to google her name and realise that it is actually Dr. Corday from ER! apparently my memory took a hiatus!) (Alex Kingston) (Corday by the by was always a favourite of mine, hence the familiar recognition even if this is one time I couldn’t place where I knew the actress!) Wicked exit and entrance to the TARDiS in space. Diary of her past and his future. (now that is a juicy tidbit to hear!) The troops arrive which I thought was interesting as they were led by Father Octavian and Clerics serving under him instead of a traditional army — did I catch the Doctor say 51st Century!? The Weeping Angels were what led them to where they were on a planet I barely caught the name of! Amy & the Angel on the tv was a close call but even I knew that was a foreshadow for a greater problem down the road! When I saw Amy had the itch in her eye I knew I was right! There was a rumouring of what the Doctor doesn’t know but should know but can’t know at the same time. The Angel in question was hidden in a catacomb of statues. Although those statues turned to be an army of Weeping Angels and the crash of the ship was not an accident but a rescue attempt as they needed an energy source! (reminded me of several Trek episodes!) When Amy’s hand turned to stone I feared which direction this would take me next!?

Parting Thoughts:

Honestly, I now understand why everyone thought I’d dig this series due to my passion for Trek! Its so blatantly obvious to me now that its laughable to consider that I held off so long in watching it! Oyy vie. I think the reason I couldn’t pull forward where I knew Alex Kingston from is because I have sort of shelved my memories of ER over the years to where all the lovely memories of those episodes are slowly erasing a bit in my memory. I had to let them go because it was too difficult for me to keep them after what happened after Season 5.

The Weeping Angels were some of the most intense villains I have ever come across!!! Although I haven’t seen a lot of Who I would have to imagine that for Whovians, they might agree with me that the Angels are the most intense!? I tried not to think about some of the more shuddering bits of this episode but reflect more on Riversong’s presence and her affect on the Doctor!? He revealed more bits about himself in this episode and for every random fact given, I had a swirling of questions floating inside me! This is a series that makes you want to ask ‘questions’ but without SFN I wouldn’t have the option to ask!

4. Flesh & Stone

They find the oxygen factory-forest in the ship. Crack in the wall of Amy’s room apparently meant more than they let on previously as it re-appeared on the ship. An angel grabbed the Doctor but failed to capture him. As Amy started to die in the forest, they had her close her eyes so that the angel inside her couldn’t see and therefore would delay the reaction of being consumed by death. She was supposed to remember what the Doctor told her at the age of 7, but even I struggled to remember which specific thing he said that had the impact he was looking for in that moment!? Mind you, being so new to Who I was trying to absorb everything in one night as the set was due back the next day! :( Stonecage is a prison where Riversong was kept after killing a good man, which made me think she killed the Doctor in a future timestream. Not sure why I felt that but I did. The time crack was still happening despite the Angels being cast into it to seal. Amy had to walk with closed eyes through the forest before being transported the rest of the way. The Doctor thought at first he had to go into the time crack but released the gravity instead to send the angels. Amy learns that she’s a time traveler now officially and that it alters her perception and memory of everything she experiences. The Doctor felt good about realising that time can be re-written which lends to reason he wants to know that for a future time. Amy kisses the Doctor who is completely gobsmacked by her attentions after learning she was meant to wed another in the morning! (I thought for sure she intended to wed him!) He told her he was 907 years old and that he wouldn’t age anymore but she would. She kept trying to engage him romantically but he finally realised that he had to address the other matter of the time crack, the fact that it was referencing Amy Time as the base code of the universe. And off they went in the TARDIS and I wished I had had more time to watch more episodes!

Parting Thoughts:

This one brought up a lot of questions in regards to the Doctor himself and his position in the life of Riversong! There is something ‘there’ but I am not sure what ‘it’ is! The crack in time also reminded me of ST: Generations (film) by the by! Mostly due to the emotional keel of this episode I was a bit disappointed I had not an extra one to see that might have been a bit lighter in tone as getting through two episodes with those Angels was trying! :( On the level of production, I loved how they created the ‘effect’ of the Angels, especially in how they were portrayed and how they kept increasing towards the actors!

| Doctor Who – Series 5 | Concluding Remarks

Ooh, my dear ghouls why did I not watch this series SOONER!? No, seriously, I am wayy over the moon in happiness for being in a position to watch Doctor Who!! The humour is bang-on Brit and the methodology of the production is very British too which is an asset because the Brits know how to make motion pictures & tv serials like this one shine and rock! I like the fact that everything in our known reality and universe is simply suspended! Including, some of the ethical choices from other series (i.e. Star Trek, Quantum Leap, etc) where there was always a borderline knowing of when to cross the line and when not to cross the line. I was highly surprised to see Vincent walk into the Museum in other words! Happy, overjoyed, but surprised!

I spied titles of other episodes as part of the Series 5 set, but I promised myself I’d limit myself this month during SFN to ‘stick to the plan’ by watching *ONLY!* those episodes that were sent to me in a list by Rinn! I can always resume where I left off by re-attempting to get all of them back afterwards!! :) I am sure my local library will think I jumped straight to the moon at that point, but perhaps, one day they will get the Whovian Universe in the catalogue!? One can hope!!

I’m itching to see more Who, and I have to be patient because between my posting schedule + my ensuing book tours, I have to balance the time I have to give to SFN + to my blog! Therefore, through patience and persistence I shall be watching the rest of the Who sets that arrive!! I have a heart full of gratitude to Maria & Rinn, as well as the 2 others who tweated about my foray into the world of Doctor Who based on my previous post! Warmed my heart, you all! I’m not in the social media realms (aside from the bookish blogosphere of course!) due to time constraints, but my appreciation for those who are active and think of others whilst they are tweating or Facebooking is limitless! Bless you for spreading the word! :)

Will I make it!? There is only one way to find out! Come back each Saturday! to see my progress!

I yield to the Whovians who are participating in SFN to help me understand better the bits of Who that befuddle me and of the pieces of which I might understand if I had had the time to watch each serial straight-through rather than in the bobblements that I am choosing to do! I look forward to seeing your comments! I like how this is taking shape as its seriously a “as I watch Who, I am writing about Who” diary! My eyes are WIDE OPEN! Cheers!

This feature is brought to you by:

In conjuction with: A Wide-Eyed Girl Slips into the Whovian Universe!

{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! SFN Feature badge created by Jorie in Canva. ~~Post lovely provided by Shabby Blogs with edits by Jorie in Fotoflexer.~~}

Posted Saturday, 2 November, 2013 by jorielov in #SciFiMonth, Alternative History, Britian, Doctor Who, Library Love, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, TARDIS, Time Travel, TV Serials & Motion Pictures, Typewriter Culture

Month: November 2013

Let the Reading Challenge Commence!

SFN Reading List: [combination of scheduled & alternates]

And, continuing during:

| Doctor Who – Series 5 |

| Doctor Who – Series 5 | Concluding Remarks

Will I make it!? There is only one way to find out! Come back each *Saturday!* to see my progress!

Will I make it!? There is only one way to find out! Come back each Saturday! to see my progress!