Reid Review: "The Armageddon Machine" by Simon Kewin

I recently navigated through my selection of unread books on my e-reader and picked out a random story to read. That book -- actually a novelette -- was The Armageddon Machine by Simon Kewin. The story is self-published, so I paid close attention to the first page to see if either 1) the author had no talent, which is why he self-published, or 2) he was someone with great talent using self-publishing as a tool to build readership and notoriety. I'm glad that he fell into the latter category.

Click image for e-book info.

In fact, I venture to say that this is the best ebook I've read in quite a while. The story grabbed my attention from the very first sentence, "Mackenzie watched the universe end." As I read on, I was whisked into a science fiction world that reminded me of Star God by Allen Wold: Sure, The Armageddon Machine may have needed more editing and may have had some unanswered questions, but it was good, nonetheless.

After reading the roughly 13,000-word story in one setting, I wondered why the story wasn't published by a traditional publisher. I gather that it is difficult to publish work at that length because it is too long for most magazines and too short to be a novel. Perhaps Kewin could expand the story into a novel. I think it would work well that way, would answer many questions and would give him more time to develop the characters.

Here's my honest review of the story (it has some spoilers, however):

Reasons Capcom should resume Mega Man Legends 3 project

I didn't find out about the Mega Mega Legends 3 video game being in development for the Nintendo 3DS until writing my June 6, 2011, blog post about my top three favorite games. I also didn't find out about the game's development website (www.capcom-unity.com/devroom) until after the game was canceled. So if lack of participation in the development website was a factor in canceling the game, it seems to me that the video game company Capcom didn't do a sufficient job letting the public know about it in the first place.

Image from Amazon.com

Hopefully, either Capcom resumes the project or CyberConnect2 (which created the .hack series) takes over (its CEO expressed interest in doing that). If so, they should rerelease Mega Man Legends 1 and 2 (and, if they want, The Misadventures of Tron Bonne) on the 3DS to get new fans of the series. There are plenty of younger people who have never played the first two games, and, hypothetically, they wouldn't play the third one if it came out because they may want to start with the beginning and can't do so without a PlayStation or Nintendo 64 video game system.

Even if work on the third game is not resumed, a package of the first two games would garner more fans and may spur more interest in a third title. It also would interest new fans in other Mega Man games (as was the case with me when I was younger).

Mega Man Legends was the first Mega Man game I bought. I picked up a free pamphlet of the game coming out (or already out -- I can't remember) at my local EB Games store. I liked what I saw and bought the game. It became my favorite game almost instantly. Then I told my friends at school about it, and they also bought copies. I even found the Rockman Dash Original Soundtrack CD and bought that as well, playing it constantly. We had a joke back then that I was using the "Apple Market" song, which I called "the town music," as a mind-control technique.

It goes without saying that I bought the other games, including Mega Man 64 (which is a rerelease of the first Mega Man Legends game). I then bought other Mega Man games, in which before Mega Man Legends, I had no interest in them. My point is that if Mega Man Legends 3 is finished and sold, it may start a chain reaction, and it likely will produce lots of sales for Capcom -- not just from the Mega Man Legends series.

I hope that the Mega Man Legends 3 project will be resumed. Do you know of any other games in development that you were interested in but were canceled?

Prophecy to science fiction to reality? The history of electronic chip implants

I found quite interesting an article on io9 on Aug. 11 titled "Breakthrough: Electronic circuits that are integrated with your skin" (http://io9.com/5830071/breakthrough-electronic-circuits-that-are-integrated-into-your-skin).

Picture is from io9 and other sites; origin of photo is unknown.

But the idea isn't new. Technology for flexible chips has been around since at least 2006, chips have been implanted in the skin since at least 1998, science fiction have used the idea of implanted technology since at least 1972, and there's prophecy—about a time when mankind cannot buy or sell without a mark on the right hand or forehead—that dates back to the first century.

Here are some information and quotes from various sources related to the idea of ID implants or marks (starting from present technology and going backward in history):

What You Should Know About the nVoidz Omniverse

"Stream of Consciousness" is a micro fiction story I wrote scheduled to be in the online publication "Flashshot" today. The micro story takes place in my nVoidz universe -- er, I guess it should be "omniverse" since it deals with multiple universes and dimensions.

The micro story is in the perspective of a super-computer called the Counsciousness. I created a tab on this website giving details of the nVoidz omniverse, and here's a quick explanation I used:

"Humans have been extinct for millions of years. However, before their demise, they created a living machine called the Consciousness. This being of thought in turn created ghostlike beings called Overseers whose purpose is to unlock and harness the powers of the omniverse (multiple universes). By fusing the dimensional powers of a universe into adaptable alien chromosomes, they created nVoidz, self-efficient beings with universal powers such as light, gravity, friction, and other fundamental abilities."

Read the micro fiction story here and check out the "nVoidz Omniverse" tab on this website for more information.

Have you heard of 'Exosquad'?

With more Marvel and D.C. comics movies coming, I'm strangely reminded of Saturday morning cartoons. That's likely because I was introduced to the superheroes that way. But there are other cartoons that deserve attention.

Have you heard of "Exosquad"? I came across the science fiction cartoon series on the video-streaming website Hulu.com. Then I remembered that I likely own a DVD of the show that I may have bought for a dollar (which I haven't watched) and that I had owned an action figure of an E-frame (mech) when I was a kid. There also is a Sega Genesis game based on the cartoon that I remember seeing in the past.

Farewell, space shuttle program

I bid farewell to the space shuttle program. This doesn't mean there won't be any space travel, however. The International Space Station is still in orbit and in operation.

It seems that NASA's next big mission is to send mankind to Mars by the 2030s, since a bill was approved in September to go in that direction. See the article on Space.com here.

At once considered a thing of science fiction, a trip to Mars is possible and welcomed. Let's hope the idea of Martians stays with science fiction.

For a video of space shuttle Atlantis' astronauts getting a wake-up call from band R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, click here (the video is on the NASAtelevision channel on YouTube, but apparently, the audio doesn't work if shared to another website). The astronauts are taking a break today, but should return July 21 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, according to "Shuttle Astronauts Take Much-Needed Break from Busy Mission" by Denise Chow, Space.com staff writer.

Here's a video of the last NASA space shuttle launch:

Happy Independence Day! And you can tweet that!

From Wikipedia.

To my fellow Americans, happy Independence Day! I doubt there will be an alien invasion like what happened in the 1996 "Independence Day" movie, but, hey, I can't think of a better Fourth of July science fiction reference. Comment below if you can!

To those of you from other countries, I hope you have a great day as well!

And to everyone who tweets (or just follows them), check out my newly created Twitter page. You are welcome to tweet my blog entries.

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