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Geek Dad
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Dad
‘Bee Speaker by Adrian Tchaikovsky:' A Book Review
Another month, another book by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This time, returning to his irregular but excellent Dogs of War series. Each book nominally stands on its own. Indeed, I read book 2, Bear Head , before reading book 1, Dogs of War, with little detriment. Having said that, to fully understand the world Tchaikovsky has created, I would recommend reading at least Dogs of War before commencing Bee Speaker. If you haven't read the Dogs of War trilogy, I wholeheartedly recommend that you do. They remain my favorite of Tchaikovsky's books, and some of the best science fiction I have read. The main premise of the Dogs of War universe is that humans have invented bioengineering and used it to create 'Bioforms.' Engineered dogs, bears, and even snakes and reptiles, to be used in the theatre of battle. Both Bear Head and Dogs of War explore the ethics of using non-human sentient creatures to do one's dirty work. Both books are utterly compelling and hooked me from the very first page. Another key component of the books is distributed intelligence systems. Essentially, in the series, hive minds were distributed across Earth and later, Mars. Bees are one such system, and they play a pivotal role in Dogs of War. Unsurprisingly, they take center stage in Bee Speaker. Bee Speaker takes place some time after the previous two books. Civilization has collapsed on Earth, leaving them with some pre-collapse technology, but few ways of recreating it. Mars, meanwhile, is beginning to thrive. The citizens of Mars receive a distress signal from Earth – from bees – and decide they need to investigate. The novel opens with that investigation underway. The Martian explorers have arrived on Earth, and things are about to go very, very wrong. Tchaikovsky delivers again. If a little more slowly. Unlike the other two novels, it took me a while to work my way into Bee Speaker, and I can't quite put my finger on why. It might be because there are several different competing factions (Earth's citizens, as depicted here, have a feel of the Fallout factions to them). The story contains humans and bioforms from both Earth and Mars, and I initially struggled to identify fully with any of them. I think there was some deliberate vagueness for plot reasons, too and I could only appreciate this once I was deeply immersed in the book. And deeply immersed I became! Bee Speaker is a sparkling construct that examines the power and limitations of distributed intelligence (and therefore, by extension, in a more real-world context, AI). Once again, (as he did with Alien Clay as well as the other Dogs of War novels), Tchaikovsky makes us rethink how we see ourselves. Makes us consider the nature of life and the definition of sentience. There is also, as there often is in his novels, a subtle examination of power structures and, in this case, the absurdity of doomsday-prepared billionaires. After reading Bee Speaker , I am happy to maintain that the Dogs of War series are my favorite of Tchaikovsky's books (though his output is so large, I have barely scratched the surface). If you haven't read them, I thoroughly recommend you do. I've yet to encounter anybody who doesn't like them. Will there be more? Who knows? Each story mostly drives down its own cul-de-sac, yet Adrain Tchaikovsky keeps revealing pathways to new roads. May the exploration long continue. If you would like to pick up a copy of Bee Speaker, you can do so here in the US and here, in the UK. (Affiliate Links) If you enjoyed this review, check out my other book reviews, here. I received a copy of this book in order to write this review. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
Geek Dad
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Dad
Stack Overflow: Portals to the Past
I joked on Bluesky recently that I have so many time travel books in my reading pile that it would take a time machine for me to finish them all—but, hey, I'm working on it! I made a little more progress in the past couple of weeks, so today I've got three more books about time travel to share. The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi Beth Darlow (along with her recently deceased husband) have created a time machine, though it has some limitations. It only transports a person's consciousness to another point in their lifetime, and while they re-experience the moment as if they were there, they aren't able to change anything—they can only observe. The other problem? They haven't figured out how the machine determines when to send the traveler. Beth has been sent to the most traumatic moments of her life, which has been wreaking havoc on her mental well-being, but she's under a lot of pressure from the billionaire who provides all of her financial backing. On top of that, Beth is constantly torn between putting in hours at the lab and spending time with her daughter, particularly now that she's a single mother. It doesn't help that the CEO has decided now's a good time to invite a reporter to do a big piece about her time machine, probably in the hopes of attracting some more funding. But then weird things happen. She thinks she sees Colson, her dead husband, while she's at the park with her daughter. There are some strange discrepancies in the data that make her wonder if her travels do actually affect the present. Why does the machine keep sending her to terrible memories? What did Colson know about the machine before he died? There were parts of the time travel that I thought were pretty fascinating and I really wanted to see where the story was going, but I also didn't really care for the writing itself. Some of it was just a little awkward, and sometimes it felt a bit creepy—like a description of the five-year-old daughter that was weirdly lyrical about her hair. There were a few surprises once things got going, but I don't know that it's one that I would recommend strongly over some of the other time travel books I've read recently. Love and Other Paradoxes by Catriona Silvey The year is 2005. Joe Greene is a student at Cambridge University—supposedly philosophy, but he's close to failing out because he'd rather dream about being a poet like Lord Byron. The problem is, he's mostly just dreaming and not actually writing. Then he runs into Esi, a barista at a coffee shop, who reacts very weirdly to his presence. As it turns out, it's because she's a time traveler from the future, where he has become a famous poet—and there's a time travel tour guide who brings people back to get a sneak peek at him when he was young. This knowledge both exhilarates and paralyzes Joe—he feels reassured knowing that he'll pass his classes, marry fellow student Diana, and write love poems that are so amazing that they were published in a book. So the first thing he does is go out and make a fool of himself to Diana. One of the big questions in the book is whether the future is set or not. Can Joe's actions set him on a different path, or is the book that Esi brought back proof that whatever he does will lead to this bright, shining future? Esi is actually hoping the future is mutable, because she desperately needs to fix something in her own life—but it seems that one of her tasks may be repairing Joe's relationship with Diana. It came as no surprise to me, though, that Joe and Esi start to develop feelings for each other. After all, that's Esi on the cover of the book with Joe, not Diana, and I've seen and read enough stories to know how these things turn out. Still, it's a complicated situation, because they both believe that Joe's future success as a poet is inextricably tied to his romance with Diana—and what happens if that gets broken? I really enjoyed this one: there's less of a focus on how the time travel works (it's a weird portal, controlled by a time travel tourist agency in the future) and it's more about the choices the characters make—and particularly the way that they handle information about the future. It reminded me a little bit of a book I read over a decade ago, The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. In that book, two kids in 1996 fire up AOL for the first time and discover a weird site called Facebook, featuring profiles of themselves as adults, and they have very different reactions: one is terrified that she will turn out like the status updates she sees and works to behave differently now; the other thinks his future life sounds perfect and does everything in his power to drive his life in that direction. It's appropriate that Joe is a philosophy student, because he has some conversations with his advisor, though dancing around the subject of time travel. He wants to know when we become the person we're meant to be—and as it turns out, that's probably a question more suited to a philosopher than a physicist. Joe is kind of a dolt sometimes and you mostly feel like he doesn't really deserve to win over Diana or Esi, but he gets his own version of a hero's journey and eventually makes some progress to 'kind of a decent human,' which I know is a pretty low bar, but it's enough for a time travel rom-com. (For additional reading, Catriona Silvey published a piece back in March about five other time-travel romance stories—check it out! I've previously written about two of the titles in the list myself.) Sixteen Minutes by K. J. Reilly The last book on my list today is a young adult novel. Nell, Cole, and Stevie B are a trio of best friends—Nell and Cole are an item, though everyone knows that Stevie B is also in love with Nell. Life isn't great in Clawson, a small town in New York, and though Nell dreams of someday getting away and traveling the world, she doesn't think that's ever actually going to happen. People in Clawson don't do that. When Charlotte shows up at high school and Cole starts behaving strangely, Nell and Stevie B aren't sure what to make of it. Cole says he knows her somehow, but he won't say how or why. Eventually they get the story out of him: she's a time traveler from the future, here to offer him a chance to save his little sister from a rare respiratory disease that will otherwise kill her by the end of the week. But to do that, he's going to have to make a pretty big leap of faith that just might kill him in the process. The emotions run hot in this book—all of the kids are full of passion and hormones. To be fair, they're also going through some pretty serious stuff. Cole's sister is dying, Nell and Stevie B aren't sure if Charlotte is running some sort of scam—and if so, what's the payout? Nell's home life is also in a downward spiral: her dad passed away from cancer a few years ago, and her mom got addicted to her pain meds, so she's basically on her own most of the time. Throw the possibility of time travel into the mix, and the stakes have been raised even higher. It's not really a spoiler to tell you that, yes, Charlotte is actually from the future, and time travel is real. Even expecting that, there's still a good bit of tension and drama in the third act of the book because Charlotte leaves out certain pieces of information until later. But the way that the time travel is implemented left me dissatisfied. This is one of those stories where time passing in the future is also passing in the present. The deadline to save Cole's sister carries over into the future—they had 3 days left when they jumped into the future, so they have 3 days in the future to get the medicine and get back to deliver it. I mean, you have time travel—just come back earlier, right? Charlotte does provide an explanation for some of the limitations of the travel that are supposed to explain why this is the case, and also why the travel itself is so risky. But there seems to be a much simpler solution to the whole thing, simple enough that when I laid out the concept to my kids they both immediately asked why the kids didn't just do that instead. For all of the physics concepts that Reilly incorporated into her story—and in the afterword she does list a lot of the things that were based on current theories—it felt like there was a plot hole that didn't quite get filled in. Still, I really enjoyed this one for the most part. Reilly does a great job of telling the story through Nell's voice, and she just has a really fun way of putting things into words. You really feel that connection she has with her friends, and the fear that Cole is somehow betraying her. Nell's relationship with Cole's sister is also beautiful and touching. It's definitely a book written to pull at your heartstrings, and it does it well, even if some of the time travel parts don't quite hold water. My Current Stack I've just started another time travel book: Costumes for Time Travelers by A. R. Capetta. It's due out this week, and it takes place in Pocket, a place where time travelers first show up when they leave their own 'hometime,' and our main character Calisto works in a shop that makes bespoke, era-appropriate costumes for travelers headed to different times. And this one is also a romance. That's about all I know so far, but I like the premise. Disclosure: I received review copies of the books covered in this column. Affiliate links to help support my writing and independent booksellers! Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
Geek Vibes Nation
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Vibes Nation
'Lilo & Stitch' (2025) Review — An Underwhelming Live Action Remake
Every time I watch a remake that involves science fiction technology—in this case, characters in the live-action Lilo & Stitch (2025) using a gun that portals people through walls—I wonder why they can't just teleport back to a place and time to rediscover the magic of the original. Clearly, this version lacks that kind of imagination. The only thing these laser shooters can do is open up walls to walk through instead of, you know, opening a door or a window. Now, don't get me wrong—the new Lilo & Stitch is cute enough. The young actress who plays Lilo is downright adorable and has the added charm of never acting beyond her age. The frenzied animation of Stitch, voiced once again by Chris Sanders, has moments of genuine levity. However, something feels off throughout the entire film. In the third act, I waited for a moment to tie the story together—a moment that never comes. It leaves you wondering why they couldn't use a damn portal to tug at our hearts and make it better. Chris Sanders and Maia Kealoha in Lilo & Stitch (2025) | Image via Walt Disney Pictures The story follows two sisters. Nani (Sydney Elizebeth) is an ambitious, athletic, straight-A student who has put her life on hold to become the legal guardian of her younger sister, Lilo (Maia Kealoha). Their parents died just months earlier, and the Pelekai siblings are struggling. Lilo is acting out at school—during a native Hawaiian dance recital, she pushes a classmate, likely projecting her feelings about Nani not showing up to watch her perform. Nani is doing her best to raise Lilo while juggling household responsibilities and trying to hold a job. Assigned to their case is Mrs. Kekoa, a patient and empathetic social worker ( Wayne's World's Tia Carrere, who originally voiced Nani in the 2002 animated film—a nice touch). Mrs. Kekoa gives Nani a one-week deadline to keep her job, pay off the growing stack of bills, and secure health insurance for both of them, or else she'll be forced to place Lilo in foster care. However, things are about to be turned even more upside down when the sisters are visited by an alien (voiced by The Wild Robot's Chris Sanders) who looks and acts like a rabid blue koala. In reality, he is known as 'Experiment 626,' though Lilo affectionately names him 'Stitch' after he cuts up the seats in Nani's truck. Stitch came to Earth after being banished by the Grand Councilwoman ( Ted Lasso's Hannah Waddingham) of the United Galactic Federation. Chris Sanders and Maia Kealoha in Lilo & Stitch (2025) | Image via Walt Disney Pictures Believing he would perish in water, Stitch instead crash-lands on solid ground. The Grand Councilwoman then sends Dr. Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis) and Agent Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) to retrieve him. The pairing of these two characters—and their performers—highlights how uneven the film can be. Magnussen excels at physical comedy, delivering most laughs outside the animated titular character. Meanwhile, veteran comedian Galifianakis' take on the 'hairy potatoes' scientist feels wooden and stiffer than a well-crafted papa he'e nalu. Sanders stepped aside, wrote, and co-directed the original with Dean DeBlois to let Dean Fleischer Camp take the lead. The lack of emotional connection is utterly shocking. Especially knowing that Camp is the genius behind one of the most remarkable feats of animation cinema of the 21st century , Marcel the Shell with Shoes On . A film that knows poignant themes of loneliness, connections, grief, and letting go. It feels as if Camp watered down a script from Chris Kekaniokalani Bright, who wrote Moana, of the Hawaiian community, the only one that deals with a single line of never leaving someone behind. It's as if they were watching Black Hawk Down? Chris Sanders voices Stitch in Lilo & Stitch (2025) | Image via Walt Disney Pictures Lilo & Stitch is a G-rated live-action remake that never recaptures the original's wonderment and unique point of view. Even the main characters feel thinly drawn and lack real dimensionality—take Courtney B. Vance's undercover government agent, for example, whose belief that protecting the country outweighs saving a little girl comes off as underdeveloped and one-note. The film's themes feel hollow, as if it's trying to teach children moral lessons without actually earning them. And when it finally reaches its big emotional moment near the end, it misses the opportunity to use those portal guns to deliver meaningful closure. Instead, it settles for a boring, safe ending that falls flat. When it comes to missing the big moment, Lilo & Stitch forget the unspoken interconnection life brings that makes moments like these matter the most. You can watch the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch only in theaters May 23rd!
RNZ News
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Bestselling author on his international mission
Photo: Supplied "Writers are a lot like vampires," writes author Neal Shusterman on his website. "A vampire will never come into your house, unless invited-and once you invite one in, he'll grab you by the throat, and won't let you go. A writer's much the same." The award-winning author is a heavyweight in the young adults world, writing over 50 books largely within the genres of dystopia, science fiction, and thriller. Titles like Challenger Deep , Courage to Dream and Scythe have won him dozens of international awards. He's made it his mission to get young people reading, and aside from his extensive repertoire, he regularly travels internationally to speak to groups of teenagers and ignite this passion. Based in Florida, he's in New Zealand for Verb and the Auckland Writers Festival, with talks specifically for teenagers squeezed into his schedule.
Geek Vibes Nation
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Vibes Nation
'The Andromeda Strain' (1971) Arrow Video 4K UHD Blu-Ray Review - A Science-Forward Thriller From Michael Crichton
Before he created Westworld and Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton first blurred the line between science fiction and science fact with his breakout success The Andromeda Strain. Two years after the novel's publication, Robert Wise (The Haunting) directed the film adaptation, a nail-biting blend of clinically-realised docudrama and astonishing sci-fi visuals that ushered in a new subgenre: the 'killer virus' biological thriller. A government satellite crashes outside a small town in New Mexico – and within minutes, every inhabitant of the town is dead, except for a crying baby and an elderly derelict. The satellite and the two survivors are sent to Wildfire, a top-secret underground laboratory equipped with a nuclear self-destruct mechanism to prevent the spread of infection in case of an outbreak. Realizing that the satellite brought back a lethal organism from another world, a team of government scientists race against the clock to understand the extraterrestrial virus – codenamed 'Andromeda' – before it can wipe out all life on the planet. Aided by innovative visual effects by Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey, Silent Running) and an unforgettable avant-garde electronic music score by Gil Melle (The Sentinel), Wise's suspense classic still haunts to this day, and is presented here in a stunning, exclusive new restoration from the original negative. For thoughts on The Andromeda Strain, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required: Video Quality Arrow Video presents The Andromeda Strain with an exquisite 2160p transfer in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. This restoration was handled by Arrow Films with a 4K scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative restored and graded in 4K HDR10/Dolby Vision. The previous Blu-Ray release from Arrow Video in 2019 was derived from the same base master, but we do not have that release to compare directly. By all accounts, that was also stunning release, but this transfer displays it to its full potential and expands the color space. The benefits of Dolby Vision for increased color output are obvious despite this not being an overly vivid film. You find great nuance in the black levels with nothing in the way of crush present, and highlights are firm with no signs of blooming. The complex lighting schemes and the uniforms make the most of the technology with more depth than ever. The striking compositions within the frame are a delight to observe with this disc. The sterile shades of the lab and the earthy qualities of the vacant town are presented with the appropriate delineation. This restoration preserves the stunning natural film grain as it resolves perfectly without a trace of clumping or swarming. Everything is completely authentic with no lingering print damage or stray specks. The movie looks exceptional with more subtle details on display than you can believe. The texture present in the uniforms and within the production design is astounding. When it comes to encoding, there are zero digital anomalies such as compression artifacts, banding, or other such nuisances. Even bright, open skies avoid any spiking or other stray encoding issues. This presentation from Arrow Video is everything you could want. Audio Quality The 4K UHD Blu-Ray of the film comes with an LPCM 1.0 mono track that is everything it should be and more. The label has not stumbled a bit by ensuring the original theatrical audio is presented without any obvious flaws. Dialogue comes through clearly without being overwhelmed by the sound effects. The film bypasses a traditional score in favor of some repeating noises orchestrated to escalate the tension of the situation. The largely mechanical soundscape creeps through to provide some unsettling ambient details. Moments of breathless tension are thrilling without becoming a sonic mess, as everything is distinguished with precision. All of the various sounds in the mix seem accurately rendered so that nothing ever feels inauthentic. Everything is presented with an ideal fidelity that never stumbles. This presentation is free of any hiss, distortion, or other age-related wear and tear. Arrow Video should be proud of what they pulled off. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided. Special Features Audio Commentary: Film critic Bryan Reesman provides a great commentary track in which he discusses the career of Michael Crichton, the influences of his medical background on his work, the cinematic history of contagion films, the production of this film, the recurring themes in his work, the background of the performers, the science within the film, and much more that is well worth a listen. A New Strain Of Science Fiction: A 28-minute interview with critic Kim Newman on the origins of plague dramas, how The Andromeda Strain changed up the genre, metaphors within the genre, how the film fares in terms of scientific accuracy, and more. Making The Film: A 30-minute featurette from 2001 that features interviews with director Robert Wise, screenwriter Nelson Gidding, author Michael Crichton, and more. This piece delves into the creation of the screenplay, the casting of lesser-known performers, the addition of women into the story, working from storyboards, and more. A Portrait of Michael Crichton: A nearly 13-minute piece from 2001 that focuses on the early life and career of the author, his inspiration for writing The Andromeda Strain, his work in medical school, the reception of his debut, and more. Cinescript Gallery: A gallery is provided that allows you to view the script for the film. Theatrical Trailer (3:18) TV Spots (1:50) Radio Spots (1:49) Image Gallery: Galleries are provided for Production Still and Poster & Video Art Booklet: The Limited Edition release of the film comes with a multi-page booklet featuring writing by Peter Tonguette and an archival discussion guide for teachers and students created for the film's release. Final Thoughts The Andromeda Strain is a somewhat unusual but eerily effective science fiction movie that shows how gifted Michael Crichton was as an author from his earliest days. Director Robert Wise and company play things deathly serious, forcing the audience not to succumb to the ironic detachment brought about by so many modern productions. As evidenced by the last half decade, the scenario is not so far-fetched, and the focus on scientific research as genuine action works like a charm. There are those who might become too restless with only high-pressure exchanges and laboratory testing to perk things up, but those with a little patience will be completely riveted. Arrow Video has released a 4K UHD Blu-Ray featuring a stellar A/V presentation and a fine assortment of special features. If you are a fan of the film, this release is not to be missed. Recommended The Andromeda Strain will be available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on May 13, 2025. Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray. Disclaimer: Arrow Video has supplied a copy of this set free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
