Ethics, Technology and Speculation

In recent years I’ve been looking into a great deal of science fiction novels, particularly speculative pieces. A great deal of this can be attributed to my grade twelve English teacher, Mr. Jamieson, who reminded me of the magnificence of Ender’s Game as well as introducing me to the work of Heinlein.

Last week I indulged my hunger for sci-fi by picking up Robert Sawyer’s Mindscan and Tesseracts 10 (I bought an anthology? Who does that?). I am enjoying both books completely and am quite glad that I haven’t made a waste of my money. They certainly make me feel good about the state of Canadian sci-fi (Sawyer and the authors featured in Tesseracts are all Canadian). Sawyer in particular has me impressed. I’ve read a few novels by him in the past and the sheer depth of his storytelling is astounding. He rigorously explores morality and technology as well as their points of intersection while crafting a vibrant narrative populated with an array of very convincing characters. All of his work is meticulously researched with many of his books bearing several pages offering mention of the people and organizations from which he got his information. I don’t even mind that Mindscan is written in first person, something I find tedious in most other novels.

I have come to realize that I have been saying that my friends have been sucking without specifying which ones. To clarify, it was a select group from my area who had thoroughly aggravated me with their inability to mobilize and venture to the theatre to see Wolverine. Those involved have since stopped sucking and seen the movie with me. I apologise to any I have caused undue anxiety through my careless diction. 

Also, Wolverine was cool. That is all.