Hello Hong Kong

    We salute you as science fiction fans and welcome you to the Forlani Universe.  A short story, an essay, and three poems from our works have recently been published in the 9th anthology of Riverside Writers, Reflections by the Riverside.  We happily invite you to check out this title on Amazon.  

     Hong Kong is a wonderful center for culture of Asia and the whole Earth.  We look forward to learning more of the writing tradition that has made it so important to all of us who are interested in speculative fiction.  Continue the good work.

 HAVE YOU TRIED LIFE SENTENCE YET?

If not, what are you waiting for?  It's only a top-rated space thriller filled with alien encounters of all kinds, dilemmas for humans to face, and the struggle for survival on weird and fantastic worlds.  Get it right now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Sentence-Forlani-Saga-1/dp/0998172111

PROJECT BLUE BOOK, THE SERIES

     Having just finished streaming the series, Project Blue Book, originally produced for the History Channel and now available on the Roku Channel streaming, I wanted to jump back into sci fi activity by sharing a few thoughts.  Although the series credits the activity of Prof. J. Allen Hynek as its inspiration, it explicitly states that the influence is strictly fictional, rather than purporting to recreate real events.  Various episodes cherry pick UFO events from the early 1950's, they are not presented in the real life chronological order in which they occurred, nor is Hynek's previous experience with earlier projects, such as Grudge, included in the fictional time line.  Likewise, the identity of Hynek's coworker from the Air Force is not the same.  Russian spies and open and covert ufologists are also included in the cast for dramatic reasons.  Hynek's connections to  Hollywood films of the succeeding decades are also shown in a very different light from reality.  

     The series does indeed present a speculative approach to many recorded controversies of the last years of the Truman administration and the earliest ones of the Eisenhower years.  Some of the UFO reports are dismissed as elaborate hoaxes, though even these are often mitigated by some measure of doubt or unexplained factors.  In particular, an episode set in the Kentucky hills is attributed to trickery on many fronts, including that of Air Force staff itself attempting to capitalize on false reports of aliens for strictly political reasons.  Other episodes, such as those set in Roswell, Area 51, and Wright-Patterson Air Froce Base, are deliberately left to a much more open interpretation because of the huge gaps in reasonable assessment left by intervention from the Air Force or more secretive organizations.  

     Furthermore, the possibility of the existence of UFOs and aliens is lent a great measure of credence by the involvement of the fictional Air Force officer, Captain Quinn.  He is shown experiencing personal close encounters of the third kind in a fighter jet over Washington DC, as well as in a submarine under the North Atlantic.  This is rendered more powerful to the viewer by the fact that Quinn is presented throughout the series as being much more skeptical than Hynek.  He is also shown as having a huge reserve of repressed emotions, to the point that he has an affair with a beautiful Soviet agent.  If Hynek is the brains of the investigation, Quinn is the guts.  For him to personal acknowledge proof of the "impossible" greatly increases the involvement of the viewer in the UFO continuum.

     In a different way, the same may be said of the character of Hynek's wife, Mimi.  First seen as a classic 50s housewife in the Harriet Nelson mold and usually relegated in opening episodes to an indirect experience of the UFO proofs and near proofs, she becomes more and more closely involved in the plots.  As with Quinn, she also functions as an emotional conduit to the viewer.  Her powerful concerns for her husband and son are set in contrast as she develops a deeper relationship with the spy Susie that culminates in a lesbian encounter.  She functions much like the generally practical Han Solo in Star Wars when he mutters, "I have a bad feeling about this."

     I would urge all sci fi fans to take the opportunity to stream Project Blue Book while this chance exists and to form and share their own reactions to this program, which unfortunately was cancelled before a season three could be produced.  The acting and technical aspects of the show are first rate and will not disappoint.  We plan to return to some particular aspects of the events portrayed in coming posts.

WE'RE GOING TO RAVENCON!

April 26-28 at Virginia Crossings in Glen Allen, Virginia 

Jim and John will be reading from their works and talking on panels

Friday 4/26 6-7 PM Readings from the Forlani Saga

9-10 PM Jim and John: Panel on HOW DO YOU SANELY GOVERN A MULTI-PLANET SYSTEM?

Saturday 4/27

10AM-11AM  John: USING HORROR MOVIES TO EXPLORE STRUCTURE

11AM-NOON Jim and John: IT TAKES A VILLAGE: THE LOGISTICS OF HUMAN COLONIES IN SPACE

1PM-2PM John: DCEU VS DCU

8PM-9PM  Jim: THE SCIENCE OF PEOPLE

Sunday 4/28

NOON-1PM Jim and John: SCIENCE BLOOPERS AND IN STORIES AND MOVIES

 

Viva Mexico en el Espacio!

It's a bit of good news that a wonderful neighboring country has joined the space exploration family.  Mexico will include a group of mini moon probes in an upcoming mission to explore our great satellite for future scientific work.  Even as the country faces major problems on Earth, it is encouraging that it can sustain the effort to support science and technology in such a way.  Truly, nothing can hold back the spirit of the Mexican people.

 

 

 HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL IN THE GAINESSCIFI BLOG FAMILY

      

Hello to Ireland and the Netherlands

It's particularly wonderful to welcome visitors from two delightful countries that I have had the good fortune to visit in person.   Of course, both the Irish and the Dutch speak English at least as well as many of my local neighbors, so you can enjoy our novels Life Sentence and Spy Station, as well as my collection Beyond the Covenant and Other Stories.  We hope you will give them a try if you enjoy exciting sci fi that is rich in alien action.  And if you do, please don't forget to give us a rating in Kindle, Amazon, or Goodreads.