Off to See the Man on the “Moon”

Thanks to Mongrel Media, a group of ten 13^th Colonists are off to see an advance screening of Duncan Jones’ indie film Moon tonight at the Fifth Avenue Cinemas in Vancouver.  In order to select our attendees, we held a contest.  People were asked to submit a story of 100 to 300 words on the topic of “All robots are evil.  Agree or disagree?”

Once again, a huge thank you to all who entered.  It’s a joy to read the results of your creative efforts.  And let’s just say, I think the BSG fans must be missing our evil robots.  The winning entries are behind the cut.

The Robot on the “Moon” Might be a Cylon

Ok, perhaps that is stretching the point.

Moon is a sci-fi thriller about a man who has been alone on the Moon for almost 3 years, mining for Helium 3. As the end of his contract nears, there is an accident and he finds….himself. Sound like a familiar scenario? Familiar enough that Mongrel Media contacted us with the offer of free tickets! (Guess there are benefits to getting some national TV exposure!) And guess what, in addition to Sam Rockwell as the lead, Kevin Spacey provides the voice of GERTY, the robot on the lunar base. An artificial life form with Spacey’s voice cannot be good….presto…another BSG angle! This is the first film from director Duncan Jones, and it’s got incredibly good buzz in a lot of places.

There will be an advance screening of Moon at the Fifth Avenue Cinemas in Vancouver on Wednesday, June 24th at 7pm.  If you want to get your hands on a double-pass (Admits Two), you have until Wednesday June 17th at 10pm to write 100 to 300 words on the following subject:

”All robots are evil. Agree or Disagree?”

Amuse me, annoy me or entertain me.   Submit your entry by emailing me (Val, aka spacepug) through the Meetup page, or through our Facebook group.

Good Luck. I can’t wait to hear what you hear what you come up with!

Unity, a BSG novel

Unity is not a very good title for Steven Harper’s Battlestar Galactica novel.  Sure, it is the name of a radical religious group that plays a role in the story, but that one word doesn’t really capture the essence.  The image on the cover does a better selling job, for what is  a pretty exciting tale of the race to cure a highly infectious disease.

After an overly quick end to a Cylon attack and the recovery of another Colonial survivor, many of our favourite characters start falling victim to the “plague of tongues,” which makes them shake and speak nonsense before they collapse and die.  The plague spreads rapidly and the carrier finds himself caught up in a mix of pop hysteria and religious fervor.  As always, the Cylons are hot on their heels, waiting to attack at any moment and the resulting tension ratchets up with each chapter.  There’s plenty of action, and an exciting race against time to find the cure.

Despite the medical focus, this is definitely a Starbuck story, though Baltar gets some nice development as well.  I thought the author pushed the “giggly teen crush” angle for Starbuck a bit far, but he provided compelling reasons for his choices in some interesting, if incorrect, background.  Once again, I found myself wishing I had read this 2007 book before I saw the last season of the show.

A fun read.  4 out of 5

Next up: “The Cylons’ Secret” by Craig Shaw Gardner