Bloodchild

My reaction to this is more or less complete confusion. I had alot of trouble understanding the setting the the names at first. They were throwing me off. I began mixing reality of normal people and insects or perhaps cockroaches. I did read this fairly fast and I was distracted. It was very interesting the read the behavior of..I dont even know what they are..creatures, insects, part human? I understand the creature from the government who is an official. But its just extremely odd. I have trouble with the setting. But i was able to see that the humans are somewhat farmed? or preserved to be sold off of some sorts?

I was able to connect on the weird fact that the characters can consume these eggs to prolong life and that ...these eggs come from the Tilc government and the official in the household is the one providing these connections? Perhaps like a caretaker of the family? The family keeps referring to the muli limbed creature as something they are grateful to have in the household. But then again, it explains that they are being sold or parceled out?  Its as if this is a take on slavery or perhaps a form of genocide?

I can see many adaptations to this story. One that I would relate this too is the genocide and slavery of the Native American population in the North American continent. The medium would be a graphic novel.  T'Gatoi would be a missionary of sort that was accepted by the tribes and also an educator or medium to communicate with the government that was being constructed at the time. The age altering aspects of the story that come from eating these eggs could be adapted into the mind altering herbal medicines that some of the tribes used for ceremonial purposes in finding themselves spiritually, and this could be used as something revealing visions of the future or peoples past etc.

The stupid psychopath - Cabal

This was the second time I have read the book Cabal by Clive Barker. The first time I experienced this journey, I was in my teens and strongly immersed in this world. Now, I have a different perspective on life and how I perceive the things I read.

The main characters Decker and Boone battle each other throughout this story, both psychologically and physically. I was taken back after my second run of this book by the character Decker. He is a psychologist that manipulates Boone into thinking that he is murdering people while he sleeps, when in fact it is Decker the whole time. Decker is extremely sadistic and leads his role towards Boone extremely well. Boone is 100% innocent until he finds the Necropolis which is a safe haven for criminals etc. Boone is not welcomed because they can tell he is innocent. But after he is accepted, he gets a taste of the murder etc and becomes engulfed with it. His transformation works out for the better because he is able to take revenge on Decker who is also in the midst of trying to murder Boones woman. Boones tranformation is not only psychological but also physical. He takes on traits that are un-human and extremely evil.

I feel like these transformations are a reflectance of Boones inner demon. They are what Boone was manipulated to believe he was during his innocence, and now they have been manifested into reality. He is able to use this manifestation to get revenge on Decker who has ruined his life and also use these transformation to find his true self. Before these transformtions, Boone was a rather un-intelligent being wandering the lands without reason and with much confusion. It is as if Decker helped Boone in the end to find his true self amongst all the chaos that developed out of Decker's selfish motivations.

Some Politics? Left hand of Darkness

So basically Genry is a stranger, he doesnt know the cultural requirements/expectations in Karhide or Orgoreyn. However, as a diplomate, it requires him to live with  the highest levels of government and experience these potent forms of each culture's thought patterns. Karhide for example, which is an established monarchy, the population are direct about what they are thinking. It is the government which is allowing Ai to live freely as an alien from another planet, and also broadcast news regarding his arrival transmitted on the radio. While Genry feels that Estraven, who is the Prime Minister of Karhidian, was for the most part, open with him, its later discovered that Etraven was only being polite, not for his own gain. Its odd because the country is so dominated by one man's will, there isnt really much to benefit from slimy political moves. Comparatively, in Orgoreyn, much is to be gained through deception, the balance of power can drastically change in the blink of an eye. Being surrounded by enemies is motivation for the friendliness that Ai received from Orgota, which is think is necessary, and the Commensals are forever in a state of war with each other. The entire part of Ai being dragged away naked int he night and everyone else is told he is dead heavily falls under political espionage. He isnt even publicly exiled. All due because the faction that opposes Ai comes to power.

Extremities - Snow Crash

I enjoyed how every demographic portrayed in the novel is played up to the extreme. Like the burbclaves and bimbo boxes in suburbia, the orderly and tech-savvy Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong, the rednecks from New South Africa, and the south Asian boat people on the Raft. The larger than life personas like the Texas billionaire Bob Rife and even Hiro himself being a hack with a virtual persona that is larger than it is in reality. The ethnic groups tend to stick together, such as the Tajeek taxi drivers, due to ethnic mistrust. This, I feel, makes the characters of Hiro and Y.T. stand out from the masses; Hiro because he is bi-racial, and Y.T. because she is willing to associate with people like Hiro or Raven who are outside her ethnic origin, but rather by quality of technology.

The kids who buy cheap generic avatars at Walmart are looked down upon by people who can afford custom-built and intricately-detailed avatars. This reminds me alot of PC gaming, not so much anymore, but in the mid to late 90's and early 2000's. It was not as drastic as this sounds, but it was due to competitive play where performance gave you an extreme advantage especially when coupled with DSL or Cable vs dial-up (56k) or even 14.4.