The Captain and His Squire

My short story, “The Captain and His Squire,” is currently available at MindFlights.

Lost

I remember when Lost first came on television six years ago. I didn’t watch it. I didn’t feel compelled to watch a drama about people who survived a plane crash on a deserted island. I knew it was a popular show, but popularity does not indicate that I will personally like something. I thought the show was nothing more than an evening soap opera with a setting other than a hospital or police station (which are more common settings for such shows).

After the final season ended, my wife said that several of our friends with tastes similar to our own thought it was one of the best shows ever. We knew we could watch the episodes through our Netflix instant play account (we have a Roku box), so we decided to watch the first episode. Suddenly, I realized I was completely wrong about the show. It was a drama but with strong science fiction and fantasy elements. And the storytelling was amazing.

We raced through the next few episodes, completely hooked to the show. Over the next few weeks, we watched the entire six seasons. Let the kids run around over the weekend, we’ve got Lost to watch. Do dishes and laundry later, there’s more Lost to see. It was an obsession for us. Towards the end, I was looking forward not only to the finale but to getting our life back.

If you haven’t seen Lost, you really should. I will not spoil the show with any details; it’s probably a lot better to watch it without knowing much more than the basic premise. What I will say is that the writers are absolutely brilliant. They envisioned the full series and then wrote each episode to fit within that vision. The method for character development is ingenious, and the pace is great. Honestly, I don’t know how people watched the show for six years and kept their sanity waiting for the next episode to come out.

If you haven’t seen Lost and decide to undertake doing so, I have a few recommendations. First, find someone else who hasn’t seen it and watch it with them. You will want to discuss things, and Google will not be your friend because you might find things you don’t want to find yet. In fact, don’t even type the word “Lost” into Google until you watch the entire series. Second, don’t tell anyone (other than your friend) what you’re doing so that you don’t accidentally hear any plot points. Finally, make sure you have lots of free time because once you get hooked, you’ll want to keep watching.

Lost was one of the best television series I have ever seen, and I don’t think it could ever be duplicated. In fact, I wouldn’t enjoy seeing anyone even attempt something like this again. Is it perfect? No. I understand some of the negative criticism, and I have a few gripes myself, but they don’t take away from an otherwise great show.

Black Gate Issue 14

I always enjoy receiving the latest issue of Black Gate, and I wish they came more often. Still, a gigantic version was a nice surprise for Issue 14, and it’s taken me quite a while to read through it. My only quibbles were the use of the scantily clad female imagery at the end of the stories; they just seemed to give the issue a cheapened feel. Also, I would have preferred something less revealing for the illustration to “Devil on the Wind”. I’m coming from a viewpoint of wanting to see Black Gate continue to gear itself towards a wide audience, age-wise, which I think has been done well to this point (such as providing warnings for stronger content).

Issue 14 had a mix of old and new authors, and I’m sure many Black Gate readers will be enthusiastic about the return of Morlock via “Destroyer,” a great novella by James Enge. My favorite story within the issue is “The Word of Azrael” by Matthew David Surridge. This was like a novel or series of novels condensed down into a single story in an impressive way; the world building was fantastic. I also want to mention another great read within the issue – “Folie and Null” by Douglas Empringham. This was a story that read really well; the narrative and flow were exceptional.

If you haven’t read this issue yet, you’re missing out. This is a good one.