Dune

The novel Dune by Frank Herbert is a futuristic story set on a desolate desert planet that serves as a resource colony amongst an empire that spans across a universe. It mixes the future setting with mystical and fantasy-like elements such as psychic mind powers and divining the future. The book explores the concept of gender and sexism and the balance of female and male elements, specifically in the powers of the main character, Paul.

            Paul, while having an extremely ordinary and dull name, demonstrates extraordinary abilities that combine powers previously divided between males and females. He shares the psychic and mental abilities of the Bene Gesserit with his mother Jessica, such as the powers of persuasion (“The Voice” – not the show) and knowledge from genetic/instinctual origin. He also shows abilities from training as a Mentat – a person who thinks in logical, rational terms, seen in men. By combining these two methods of thinking – male and female, Paul is able to show extraordinary new mental abilities, seeing into the future and grasping knowledge he would have no way of knowing.

            While Paul is proclaimed to be an extraordinary being who combines the mental teachings of both males and females, his personality and thoughts don’t really reflect this. He just seems to become more distant and emotionally detached. He seems ordinary still, despite his powers and knowledge. With this combination of male and female elements, you might think he would exhibit more gender-neutral aspects, maybe being attracted to both genders or none. Instead, he still thinks like any other normal male. Other than being more mature than the average 15-year-old boy, Paul’s personality doesn’t really live up to the reverence of his abilities.

            While the book is progressive in its concepts of combining elements of both genders for being written in 1965, Paul’s character seems to fall a bit flat. This may be a tool for the author to demonstrate how someone who explores both genders can still be normal. With modern perceptions of gender, however, I feel like it just misses a few marks. Of course, this is just how it resonates in modern times with values and perceptions that have shifted drastically from 1965. For its time, the novel is remarkably progressive and forward thinking.

Ship's Boy

Phil Geusz’s book Ship’s Boy is about a young bunny person in space, who makes a human friend amidst many people dying horribly. In Space. Also, he is a slave and people have a fondness for touching his ears.

This book has only a few faults. First, the sequels are hard to find for free online, which is a major problem because one book about slave bunnies in space is not enough. Second, the author does not expand too much on the appearance of said bunny slave. Is he just a giant bunny, or is he a horribly disgusting mutant creature that just looks more like a bunny than anything else? Does he have any cute patterns on his fur? I certainly will never know, for I cannot find the sequel. This may just be intentional, so that the audience just pictures a generic cute rabbit, but I personally want to know specifically how cute this rabbit is.  

The story itself is interesting, as it explores the topic of prejudice in a unique setting. I really sympathized with the protagonist David, as I could just imagine this sad little bunny going through all this danger and suffering. The author literally took one of the most defenseless and cute creatures and put it in space, one of the most dangerous places imaginable (just behind Walmart on Black Friday). Not only is this poor bunny in space, with people dying all around him, but on top of that people are mean to him BECAUSE he is a little bunny. This of course immediately evokes utter hatred and contempt for any of the characters that dare show prejudice against this little rabbit, because only monsters could be mean to this defenseless creature. This is interesting in itself, because we are led to take the side of the non-human creature against that of humans, which most of us are.

Phil Geusz creates an interesting story filled with contrary elements that work together in a way that makes the audience see things in a new, interesting way. By putting a cute, weak creature in one of the most dangerous environments possible, and then manipulating the audience to take the creature’s side over that of humans, Geusz overturns all of the audience’s preconceived notions of space stories in a fascinating way that leaves them wanting more.

Coraline

Neil Gaiman’s Coraline is a novel that places an exciting, mysterious, and dangerous world behind a tiny door covered by wallpaper just waiting to be discovered by a little girl. Of course, this kind of entertainment is way to good to be true for the bored protagonist Coraline, and she ends up facing against a creature called the Beldam.

The Beldam and her minions are extremely disturbing and creepy, and reading about these creatures and their actions makes you doubt that this is a book for children. While it’s possible to get over the Beldam’s original creepiness if you look at her as a lonely, weird woman who gives out great food, toys, and entertainment, the moment she mentions Coraline sewing buttons over her eyes everything becomes terrifying.

Even just the button sewing part is freaky enough; the author definitely tapped into one of my basic fears, if nothing else. By taking away a person’s sight, not only do you take away one of the most important ways of gathering information and interacting with the world, but you also take away a great deal of independence. As Coraline is just starting to enjoy some of the independence that comes with growing up, this creature arrives and tries to take away that independence, turning Coraline into her little doll and stealing any chance of growing up by taking her soul.

The Beldam’s minions only make the situation more terrifying, and give everything a grotesque aspect (because you just can’t have fear, no, you have to be grossed out too). The worst of them, of course, being the Other Father. You almost feel bad for how pathetic he is, as he tries to even help Coraline and then just turns into a disgusting grub in the basement. He is forced to help the Other Mother and attack Coraline, and is punished for any insubordination. His disgusting appearance at the end is disturbing to say the least, and make the Beldam seem even more sinister for how she can change him into that.

Overall, Coraline is a story that takes the fantasy of finding a new world and turns it into something terrifying and nightmarish. The author plays on our basic fears and brings them to new heights, making it a great horror novel for kids or adults.

Bloodchild Assessment

1.     What is your reaction to the text you just read?

Revulsion. It’s like the author has taken all of the fear of birth and made it ten times worse, making it more foreign and terrifying. Human birth is terrifying and painful enough, but having an alien use you to carry their eggs as a host, and then cutting you up to get them out is something straight out of nightmares. It’s interesting how the author made this unnatural birth centered on males instead of females. It draws parallels with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in this way, having a male take charge of the creation of life and making it something horrifying.

2.     What connections did you make with the story that you read? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

I found elements similar to Frankenstein, like I said before, in that it deals with the fears of birth and parenting. It plays on our fear of painful births, as well as giving life to something unnatural. It also reminds me of the controversy over abortion, and how some people believe a woman does not have the right to determine what happens to her own body. The protagonist has similar issues, as he has very little choice in the matter of this alien inserting her eggs into him. His only way out is either suicide or forcing his sister to take the burden instead.

3.     What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

If I were to adapt this story into another medium, I would make it into either a one-shot comic, or a short film, like an episode of black mirror. For the short film, I would make the story take place over a full day, rather than just one night. Have the characters indulging in the egg earlier in the day, and then having the birth take place early in the evening going into the night. Then have the alien lay eggs right before dawn, with the protagonist passing out just as the new day begins. I might also have a few of the flashbacks and information from the protagonist’s past occur right after he eats the egg, as part of dream-like sequence. For a comic I would keep the story mostly the same, again with the flashbacks moved to right after the egg. I would try to make the scene where he eats the egg more blurry and dreamlike, like how drug sequences are portrayed in other movies. I might exaggerate and extend the scene where he has to kill the animal a bit as well.

The Magicians

Lev Grossman’s book, The Magicians, is an interesting take on magical education, tailoring it towards an older generation, primarily college students. The story had an interesting enough premise that it went on to become a popular television show on SyFy. Both the books and the show tackle some difficult issues and subjects, such as depression.

            The protagonist in both the series and the books, Quentin Coldwater, is more of an unconventional hero for the series, as he is … depressed and depressing for the audience, to say the least (to say the most he’s a whiny little b). Even though Quentin is top of his class and even gets to go to an exclusive magical school, he still isn’t happy. The author’s take on magic accentuates this fact, saying, “magic is a craft”, which must be practiced over and over to get it right. Grossman turns casting magic into more of a tedious, repetitive task, eliminating the mysterious joy other stories grant magic. Thus, even when Quentin excels at magic and begins to grasp its workings, he becomes unsatisfied and less interested. He finds little joy in his life and paints the world from a bleak, colorless viewpoint.

            Thus, reading the book from Quentin’s standpoint quickly becomes monotonous and dreary, with only an occasional spark that quickly blends in to the grey background. The TV series portrays the plot in a more whimsical way, giving Brakebills more color and wonder than what we can see from Quentin’s viewpoint. The series also brakes up the monotonous outlook by following other characters and giving us peeks into their lives. The series maintains the fact that Quentin is the protagonist by making him into “the chosen one’; he is portrayed as the center of all these events, though in the end he kind of fails at being chosen.

            The series also gives more focus and direction to the issue of depression. Quentin actually comes to terms with how depressed he is, and actively tries to get help, going to see a specialist in the beginning. His depression is acknowledged upfront and we see various methods of dealing with it throughout the series, addressing an issue that can resonate with the audience.

            By portraying Quentin Coldwater as a depressed individual with real issues, The Magicians creates a unique and faceted charter, though he might not be the most light-hearted.