Politics and Economics in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Worlds
Background: Les Miserables takes place around the June Rebellion and while much of the novel/musical focuses on the individual struggles of Valjean vs Javert and the love story of Cosette and Marius, the main historical plot line of revolution still plays a role. The song, Do You Hear the People Sing?, is arguably the political... Continue Reading →
Actual Cold War Impact- 8 (out of 10): The U-2 incident was a major event in the Cold War as it definitively exacerbated tensions between the US and Soviet Union. The backstory to the crash is as follows. The US was concerned with the USSR's improvements in military technology and so in order to learn... Continue Reading →
While watching the first two episodes of The Mandalorian (great show so far), I was reminded of one of my favorite Star Wars materials--beskar. Like many other famous sci-fi/fantasy metals (Valyrian steel from GoT or Adamantium from the Marvel Universe), beskar is extremely rare and incredibly durable and strong. So important and valued is the... Continue Reading →
In my previous post, I took a quick, tongue-in-cheek look at what app would best serve the interests of the four major Middle-Earth races. And today, I am extending the discussion to some of the other races that play a significant role in the LOTR universe. So without further ado... Orcs--Food.Com Orcs lead a pretty... Continue Reading →
J.R.R. Tolkien popularized the genre of fantasy with The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit, and in general, this genre usually takes place in a medieval setting (think swords, shields, and catapults) that has an additional magical facet. But what if there was a touch of modernity in Tolkien's world? Obviously, the existence of phones in... Continue Reading →
Brandon Sanderson is a writer I learned about recently in the past year, however since that initial point of discovery, I have flown through his writing. His Stormlight Archive and Mistborn series are tremendous, and I expect his other books, such as Elantris and Warbreaker, to be equally as compelling once I get around to... Continue Reading →
An in-depth look at how our new Minister of Magic may prove to be the worst possible leader for our society By Rita Skeeter Are we, my fellow witches and wizards, sure this is the right choice? I am sure you all know to what I am referring. Hermione Granger-Weasley has been elected as Minister... Continue Reading →
You're a wizard! Now what? Well, since seemingly 99% of professional employment in the wizarding world is with the Ministry of Magic, you had better hope you have an in there. But let's say you don't. How are you going to get enough Galleons to be able to buy those tasty treacle tarts? Well, I... Continue Reading →
Warning: this post contains myriad assumptions based on impossible-to-know numbers According to rough calculations taken from Star Wars: The Essential Atlas, there are about one million member worlds in the Galactic Republic, each with an average of two billion inhabitants, meaning that the total number of citizens in the Galactic Republic is about two quadrillion... Continue Reading →
John Scalzi's Collapsing Empire is a fun, quick read that fits comfortably alongside some of his other sci-fi novels like Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades. The novel, like most other Scalzi novels, balances multiple witty and humorous characters with serious galaxy-spanning plots. I have read basically all of Scalzi's work and would recommend... Continue Reading →
Galactic Legislation and Dragon Depreciation 