Rmaxwel1_LMST_345_Blog

The fantastical sci-fi future we are expecting is coming faster than we expect. Our technology is beginning to stagnate and large innovation is fewer and farther between, yet our world is becoming more futuristic day by day. Soon roads will be filled with self-driving cars, and our reality will become more and more virtual. There will be a strong divide between those that embrace the technology and those who reject it or refuse to rely upon it. In the next decade or so a real seismic shift will occur and tech will develop more rapidly or we will be struck down by the might of our creations.

The novel I chose for speculative Fiction was Strugatsky’s Roadside Picnic. The high-level ideas explored within creates a fantastical landscape thrust into our reality by visitors. This event, “The Visitation”, results in military restricted zones containing fantastical trinkets and extraordinarily dangerous technology. Many comparisons can be made surrounding “The Visitation” the most intentional being garbage and forgotten items left behind after a roadside picnic. How would the creatures of the forest surrrounding would be affected by these treasures and threats laid in the shrubs and grass? Speculative fiction is essential when exploring the build-up to a fantastical reality. The treasures and dangers within the zones play a similar role to how a landfill, or toxic waste affects and warps the surrounding population. Members of society that surround the zones are obsessed with the contents of the zone and the focus shifts almost wholeheartedly to its study or its relation. The even

Revisiting the hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy was a pleasant surprise. Considering aspects of the satire in an analytical fashion is somewhat more rewarding than while observed casually. The true intentions of the author are visible through more dissection of the work, allowing for a much more fulfilling concept and tale. The comedic aspects are a massive boon to the work and allow the text to appeal to a much broader audience, similar to how Dr. Strangelove and other great works tackle harder subjects through comedy. While the tone of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is much lighter, the dark controversial subjects satire handles can still be seen. Both works share a similar plotline. The earth is going to become uninhabitable or in HHGG destroyed the protagonist is forced out of their comfort zone and must explore a weird and strange new world order. By immediately subverting the reality our protagonist is living within we are able to more readily relate to the strange and unex

The Martian was a particularly dense and rough read compared to most other required reading in the course. The film was more or less a watered down melange of 19th-century sci-fi tropes. The movie was rather simplistic in terms of the plot. While it is characteristic of 19th century Sci-Fi to be simplistic in nature when it comes to story, the Martian did not engage with the high-end technology and fantastical aspects that helped the genre take off. Essentially the story is too close to current technology and lacks the futuristic elements that drive intrigue into the current story. Star-Wars contained The Force as well as futuristic androids, spaceships, and intergalactic diplomacy. The Martian contains a space-farmer and surface-level plot. Survival on a deserted planet and wait to be rescued roots the main plot in a singular location limiting the character’s interactions with others and changing the story more towards an internal struggle for the main character. In the Space Opera, m