One thing I admire about Shock is it's shock/issue grid. Not being familiar at all with literary theory or criticism, I thought this simple device elegantly captured what I enjoy about science fiction the most.
The world that Shock opened for me has led me into the local used bookstore in search of literary theory books. I'm way into Blade Runner so I wanted something which would illuminate that sort of work. However, I could find no works on science fiction.
On the other hand, I found a couple of books on crime fiction. Since I love the police procedural a la Zodiac and Memories Of Murder movies, I made the purchase. I also figure it covers an aspect of what makes Blade Runner attractive to me.
As an aside, I also found a book on David Cronenberg. I love Videodrome and Scanners, so I immediately put my greedy paws on that book ("The Artist as Monster").
This new interest has also introduced me to the concept of the monomyth. Intrigued, I had to learn more, and ended up finding the following thread on Gamasutra, which is titled: "Challenge: The Automyth, Or Automated Monomyth"
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/24593/Challenge_The_Automyth_Or_Automated_Monomyth.php
This happens to intersect with computing and AI, which is one of my interests despite my weak math (I do my best).The post is inspiring, and I can see it revolutionizing solo roleplaying if it ever became a reality. Pipe dream? Who knows, but just considering the question could prove to be productive.
Sweet link. As a former game-industry guy and AI developer, this is of huge interest to me. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, Tim. Glad to hear that!
ReplyDelete