Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived on ABC in 2013, bringing the Marvel Cinematic Universe to television for the first time since the debut of the Iron Man movie five years earlier. Many viewers—even the diehard fans—agree the first half of Season One was rough, to the point a lot of people stopped watching. Those who stuck with the show have been greatly rewarded. A little background. S.H.I.E.L.D. is an acronym for Strategic Homeland Intervention and Enforcement Logistics Division. It’s been a staple of Marvel Comics for decades, a shadowy spy organization tasked with keeping tabs on superheroes and threats to …
In Defense of Fun
By Sharon Hinck Fun frightens me a bit. As a product of a strong work ethic from both sides of my family, I grew up believing that all work must be completed before indulging in play. Since the work never seemed to end, a time for play rarely felt appropriate. Even when I worked hard enough to earn a little relaxation, I tried to justify this free time to be sure it wasn’t “wasted,” by focusing on activities that were educational or strengthened me for more work. Because of this predisposition, when I’ve spoken about the value of fantasy and …
What Video Games Taught Me About Speculative Fiction Writing
I’ve being playing video games since I was a kid. As a child of the 1980s, my earliest gaming happened on a TRS-80 with a tape drive, followed a few years later by a DOS-based PC. My first console was an NES, which I received—along with a stern lecture from my father about not playing it too much—not long after the system released in North America. From the beginning, it was clear that games with more involved storylines appealed to me, such as Zork or Final Fantasy. I didn’t mind playing games like Zaxxon or Super Mario Bros., but …
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Keep the Candy, Crush the Saga
By Joshua A. Johnston, originally posted 7/29/2013 at Nintendojo If you are a regular to Facebook, you may have noted a recent uptick in the word “saga” in your news feed. (By leading off with this I am probably dooming this article to being outdated if it is read even six months from now.) Candy Crush Saga and its various kindred apps (Farm Heroes Saga, Papa Pear Saga, Pet Rescue Saga… you get the idea) have become mainstays for gamers using Facebook or packing a smartphone. Nary a day goes by where I don’t have several people reminding me that they’ve completed Level 164 …
The “Saviors” of Speculative Fiction
By Joshua A. Johnston FAIR WARNING: there are spoilers here of various science fiction and fantasy movies and novels. In general, I’ve tried to avoid spoilers from less than 5 years from the time of this post (2012 and later) but if you’ve never watched Star Trek or read Lord of the Rings, expect spoilers. “Well, look on the bright side. We’ll all have high schools named after us.” – a crew member of the spaceship Messiah in the 1998 film Deep Impact, after the crew realizes they all have to die to save Earth. Whether you’re a Christian or …
The Dark Side of Fiction
I write fiction, and I love it. Fantasy, sci-fi, and my latest book is a dark fantasy paranormal, so it kisses the border of horror. If I’m being honest, it’s not a book I thought I’d write. It includes things like ghosts and divination and temptation. Did you catch that “D” word? Divination is one of those really bad, frowned-upon sins. I wondered how Christian readers would react to something like this in a novel written by another Christian. I mean, my father-in-law is a pastor for crying out loud. It begs the question: should Christians be putting evil things …
Between the Lines: Leviathans of Jupiter by Ben Bova
There’s a reason Ben Bova has won six Hugo Awards. The man is a phenomenal writer of science-fiction. Not only does he take hard sci-fi concepts and make them accessible, but he populates his stories with memorable characters. Admittedly, I’m late to the party when it comes to appreciating his work. I’ve only read a handful of his books, and even those, only in the past few years. That said, the greatest measure I have for a novel is whether I will find it a home on my bookshelf and read it again, at least once. Leviathans of Jupiter fits …
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Science Fiction: Hard Versus Soft
By Joshua A. Johnston Anyone who has studied “speculative fiction” – that stuff that goes beyond the normal world we live in – knows that it has categories galore. Fantasy. Science fiction. Steampunk. Horror. Time-travel romance. Science fantasy. Within genres, of course, are subgenres. Here I want to look at two broad categories of subgenre that exist within the genre we all know as science fiction. Now, even trying to define science fiction can get pretty complicated, but let’s start with the basics. In general, science fiction’s imaginative worlds are characterized by technology, planets, or alien races that are beyond …
I Choose to Write Dangerously
A couple weeks ago I received a review that made me scratch my head and ask if this person had really read the same book I wrote? The review seemed far out there. But as I had time to process what this person said, along with what other people had to say, it made me realize something: I choose to write dangerously. I will never glorify evil, but I will write about it because there is real evil in this world. In a tactful way, I will write about abuse because there is abuse in this world. I will write about the dark …