I thought this was a really good episode, though I’m not convinced that it’s better (or even possible) to lead through ideas rather than charisma. You need both, and I would argue that principles are more fundamental to human society than ideas. But still. The part about the Harkonnens ruling through decadence and indulgence was… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E8: Dune – Maud’dib
Tag: Extra Sci Fi
Extra Sci-Fi S3E7: Dune – Wandering in the Desert
So the problem I have with most “ecological science fiction” is that it draws almost exclusively on the ideas of Malthusian economics—essentially, the argument that Thanos was right. The problem with this is that Malthusian theory has been disproven by every generation of humans to live on this planet for the last 150 years. It’s… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E7: Dune – Wandering in the Desert
Extra Sci-Fi S3E6: Dune – Plots and Plans
In Future Mrs. Vasicek’s writing group, we were talking about plotting and I remarked that plotting didn’t seem to be one of Frank Herbert’s strengths in Dune. Looking back on it, though, I think that the plot was pretty solid, but he chose to focus on other things instead—such as all of the machinations and… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E6: Dune – Plots and Plans
Extra Sci-Fi S3E5: Dune – Origins
It’s always fascinating to learn how the big name authors got their start. As a fan, it pulls back the mystique a bit and makes those authors more relatable, and as a writer, it’s enormously encouraging to learn that even the big names had to pay their dues too. I wonder what Dune would have… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E5: Dune – Origins
Extra Sci-Fi S3E4: The Return of the King
Okay, I think the folks at Extra Credits got it wrong with this one in a really big way. Gollum didn’t redeem himself. That’s the entire point. Redemption is an important and very Christian theme of Lord of the Rings, but so is the problem of evil. Several comments on the video point this out:… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E4: The Return of the King
Extra Sci-Fi S3E3: The Two Towers
This episode of Extra Sci-Fi got me to thinking about a speech that Orson Scott Card gave when he visited BYU back in 2007. He said a bunch of interesting things that have stuck with me over the years, including (to paraphrase) “conservatism is the new counterculture.” He was probably ten to fifteen years before… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E3: The Two Towers
Extra Sci-Fi S3E2: The Fellowship of the Ring
Another fascinating episode from Extra Credits, this one focusing on the themes of generational passing and the diminishing of ages that is present in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. I have a lot of thoughts on this episode, but they all basically boil down to one thing: Every generation reinvents the world. It’s a theme… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E2: The Fellowship of the Ring
Extra Sci-Fi S3E1: Tolkien and Herbert, the World Builders
So I really enjoyed the first two seasons of Extra Sci-Fi, and since they’ve just started up with season three, I’d like to do a blog series where I react to the episodes. From the first episode, it looks like the main focus of this season is on Lord of the Rings and Dune, two… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E1: Tolkien and Herbert, the World Builders
Weekly Roundup for 2018-2-17
I thought it would be interesting to do a weekly blog post of all the remarkable things I saw or read on the internet in the past seven days, with my thoughts and/or reactions. If nothing else, it should be entertaining. Let’s try it out for a few weeks. 1) Proof that the internet has… Continue reading Weekly Roundup for 2018-2-17