Solomon Kane/Darksiders/Legion - What kind of God?

There have been a number of supernatural media circulating of late, both in movies and video games, demonic forces, powerful angels and anti-heroes seeking redemption have been the order of the day over the past two months or so so I thought I'd pass comment on some of what's being said or implied in these stories.

More importantly to see what they say or imply about God. The Lord Almighty seems to be a background character in these things, which I think uncovers our natural tendency to view God as a distant overseer rather than the true creator and active sustainer of all things.

I should state before I continue that this is not a criticism of the media I will discuss. I'm not implying that they are being immoral or heretical in exploring the themes that they do, rather I am using them as a basis to think about the real God and what he is like. I am neither cultural analyst nor theologian and so I must make it clear that these are my thoughts and as such are susceptible to error and this whole thing could most certainly do with more preparation and thinking, but here goes.

1. Solomon Kane - Redemption from Evil

Solomon Kane is kind of a messed up guy. He has been an evil dude, doing lots of murdering and pillaging until he realizes his soul is at stake and swears to live a life of peace so that his soul may be spared from hell. His dilemma was portrayed excellently in the film as he accepts beatings and tries to resolve things peacefully until ultimately pushed into fighting.



In the film: Solomon has crossed a line and is now doomed to Hell because he has commited too many evil deeds. However his companion tells him (conveniently) that he can be redeemed if he defeats the forces of evil and saves his daughter from them.

Therefore: There is a 'line in the sand' that if you cross, condemns you to Hell no matter what. To be saved from Hell you must either avoid crossing this line or prove yourself useful to God in some manner and earn your freedom.

But: The Bible teaches that 'there is no one righteous' (Romans 3v10), if there is a line in the sand then we're all on the wrong side of it. That means that being redeemed is essential for everyone, not just 'bad people'. You don't need to fight a demon army to prove yourself because 'a righteousness from God has been revealed...through faith in Jesus Christ' (Romans 3v21-22).[my italics]. Redemption is essential, but redemption comed from God himself - read the rest of Romans 1-3 for more, as well as the Gospels.


2. Darksiders - War on Earth and Heaven

Darksiders is the tale of War, one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse who is implicated in a conspiracy that has doomed the human race and unleashed the forces of Hell. Now he must battle against the forces of evil that rampage across a post-apocalyptic Earth and clear his name as well as defeat the enemy. Let's forget that the horsemen are metaphorical (Revelation 6) and have a look anyway shall we?

In the game: Darksiders is clearly fanciful and makes no apologies for it, so maybe they aren't sending a message with this piece, but it is interesting nonetheless. War has been deceived and the demon realm has won and destroyed Earth and War must prove himself innocent to God.

Therefore God: Is unaware of all that goes on in His realm and the enemy are capable of deceiving Him and His forces to their own ends. For such a significant catastrophe to take place God is either incompetent or incredibly far removed from what goes in in His creation.

But: Satan himself cannot escape God's eye, in Job 1 Satan has to present himself before God
and asks permission to strike Job, and even then only gets a limited power to do so. God is the one who says to the snow 'fall on the Earth' (Job 37), he is still actively involved in our world and neither men nor demons can deceive Him or thwart his plans.

3. Legion - God Giving Up


In Legion, Angels are sent to Earth with one purpose: the destruction of humanity. However there is a child that could change humanity's fate, a child as yet unborn. Michael rebels and aids a group of humans to defend this child and save humanity from destruction.



In the film: God has tired of humanity and prepares to send the forces of heaven to extinguish the human race. Michael rebels against this command and arrives ahead of the forces to fight his brothers, who use a particularly demonic set of abilities, including possession, to attack the small group.

Therefore God: Has 'lost faith' in humanity, has had enough of us and decided to jack it in and destroy the whole lot of us because of how violent and unpleasant we are. Comparisons are made to the flood, only this time God isn't using water but angels.

But: After the flood God promised never to flood the world again (Genesis 9) and yes that only covers water-based destruction specifically but he still made a promise to the human race, and God keeps his promises. It didn't take long after Noah for humanity to resume it's unpleasantness and God did plan to do something about it - and he did, He 'gave His one and only Son'(John 3v16). The God who went to such lengths to save undeserving sinners won't forget us or get bored of us.

I know this has been simplistic in approach, but without time to research this properly I felt it best to keep things as basic as I could manage, I hope it's of some interest.

Star Wars Legacy: Divided Loyalties

Ok, you're going to be saturated with Legacy now with another post coming up soon, but then we'll be up to date and I'll only post when arcs are complete, with maybe the odd character post dotted in between.

Let's do this, you'll be thankful there's no additional character post, that's 'cause there's a stack of updates right here!

Jedi Updates

This issue introduced us to four new Jedi. I think from now on I'll only include 'Homeworld' if it's known.

Te Corso
Species: Elomin
Sex: Female
Position: Jedi Master
First Appearance: Legacy#42 (Divided Loyalties)





Te Corso is a Jedi Master now residing in the Hidden Temple on Taivas, before the war she led diplomatic envoys to Coruscant and was well known to the Triumvirate ruling the Galactic Alliance. After the rumours of Darth Krayt's death she lead a team of Jedi to discuss an alliance with Gar Stazi's fleet and then led their fighter pilots into battle.

Asaak Dan
Species: Togruta
Sex: Male
Position: Jedi Master
First Appearance: Legacy#42 (Divided Loyalties)



Assak Dan was an accomplished fighter who escaped the Jedi massacre and found his way to the hidden temple. He joined the task force sent to the Galactic Alliance fleet, and was intrigued by Imperial Knight Sigel Dare, probing her with his humour. He joined the Mon Calamari Rangers on Dac after visiting the planet.

Drok
Species: Nikto
Sex: Male
Position: Jedi Master
First Appearance: Legacy#42 (Divided Loyalties)




Drok was on the task force to the GA fleet. While there he rooted out and attacked a traitor to the fleet, then joined Te Corse and the Alliance starfighters in space combat.

Sayar Dun'La
Species: Bothan
Sex: Male
Position: Jedi Master
First Appearance: Legacy#42 (Divided Loyalties)





Dun'La joined the Jedi Task force to the GA Fleet. While there his skills as a Jedi Healer were put to quick use in the ensuing battle and his powers proved invaluable to the fleet.

Imperial Navy Updates

You thought it was over didn't you?!

Krion Grail
Species: Human
Sex: Male
Position: Admiral (First Coruscant Task Force)
First Appearance: Legacy#42 (Dividied Loyalties)





Grail was an ambitious commander in charge. Leading the small but powerful task force fleet he had already become and Admiral and had his sights set on the Grand Admiral position. He believed in advanced planning to anticipate the moves of the enemy so that they do what you want them to and boasted of this to Shantileen, his second in command.

Issue Review

This was a tense and powerful issue that covered a lot of ground. We see the first proactive steps of the Jedi as they meet with the Galactic Alliance. At the same time Sigel Dare takes a shuttle from the ship to Dac to retrieve master Sinde, Asaak Dan accompanies her. She fights her master when he refuses to leave and master Dan joins the fight, separating then and offering to take the Imperial Knight's place and freeing him up to return to the Emperor.

Meanwhile the fleet is under attack, a helmsman, coerced by the Empire, shoots Admiral Stazi and leads the Imperial Task force to the fleet's location. With Stazi injured, his second in command must take the helm. Relentlessly pursued by the Imperials, they eventually work out how they are being tracked and turn the trap on their enemies. The traitor is executed, but forgiven, by Admiral Stazi.

My Two Credits

This issue had a very 'Battlestar Galactica' feel to it, with the fleet being desperately tracked across space. The action was fast-paced and covered a lot of ground, but somehow didn't lose me along the way and there were some great fanboy moments with the return of the Jedi and their 'twintail' fighters.

The resolution was moving and realistic, with Stazi understanding how the Imperials had threatened his officer's family. His line of 'forgiven, but not excused' was a moving end to the piece.

Map

I'd already done a map, shortly after the issue came out - you can see it here if you want.

And that's it! Hope you liked it 'cause there's more o' that headed your way.

SF Masterworks #26 - UBIK

Another exploration into the great Science Fiction books that I have actually read. Not to say that there aren't more, I've read some pretty fantastic Sci-Fi that as of yet hasn't appeared on this list, though I have to admit I spend too much time on tie-in fiction and graphic novels relative to the classics - anyway, UBIK is another PKD book I've laid eyes on, thanks to a five book bundle I once bought.

UBIK is perhaps my favourite of them all, though I understand it the least - I came out at the end in complete confusion about what I had read (the intention of the author I believe) and also completely satisfied at the story I had just read. Now I'm admittedly not as well read as I should be, but I don't think there are many authors who can leave you questioning everything that happened in the book yet not in the slightest bit disappointed - Christopher Priest is an accomplished head-messer, with The Affirmation and his more famous The Prestige providing similar mental journeys.

Anyhow - I'll leave the review to the professionals at SFSite.com

A review by A.L. Sirois

Glen Runciter's business is beleaguered. The telepaths his telepaths are monitoring -- to prevent them from influencing consumer trends among the population -- are vanishing, and his precogs can't find them. Not even his dead wife can help him, from her stasis tank in Switzerland. Apparently, someone doesn't like Runciter's continuing efforts to get to the bottom of his problems, because he and several of his employees are caught in an explosion that kills him.

Or does it? Before long, Runciter employees, including his right-hand man, Joe Chip, are receiving voice and data messages from the supposedly deceased boss. And their world is warping and changing around them. Is their own time running out? And who is behind it? Joe tails the disturbances past death itself, into the shadowy world where suspended people like Runciter's wife exist. Is Joe able to communicate with her -- and Runciter, or the person posing as Runciter -- because he has been killed, too? Is he himself held in the half-life of suspended animation, where only UBIK, the universal product, can save him? Meanwhile, Joe's co-workers are turning up dead, one by one.

As ever with one of Philip K. Dick's books, the plot -- crenellated though it is -- is less interesting here than the characters, the theme, and the virtuosity of the writing. Dick's explications of his fractal reality look easy to accomplish, but they really aren't. He seems to have taken A.E. van Vogt's self-referential writing a step or two further into territory that even van Vogt, with his own odd grasp on reality, wasn't equipped to explore. Only someone with a very firm grasp on and understanding of their own shifting grip on sanity could map out the less solid nearby terra incognita as successfully as Phil Dick did.

Dick was the first SF writer to really get into playing with the heads of his readers, and getting them to think about the nature of reality and their perceptions. For this reason, his books never really grow stale -- you can come back to them years after the first reading and find new signposts directing you into previously obscure pathways of your own personality. A.E. van Vogt tried to do the same, but from the inside rather than the outside -- he was perhaps too much the product of the pulp era to really be able to focus the glass of his thematic concerns on himself. Whereas that's all Dick could do, after a point.

Dick's better books are less novels than they are explorations of the relationship between reader, writer and story. His explorations became even more pointed after he suffered a mental breakdown in 1981. Whether his breakdown had anything to do with his experiments with drugs remains unclear, but subsequently it became harder to separate Dick from his work. It seems pretty clear that's what he had in mind, or, at least, it's a side effect that he would have found perfectly appropriate.

As a result, reading his stuff is at once a venture into the mind of a highly creative man, and a fictional roller coaster ride -- because Dick's work took on a slightly hysterical apocalyptic tinge as it grew darker. It may be that reading Phil Dick is as close as one can get to the world of the paranoid schizophrenic, without going too far.

It's tempting to point at Dick's work and say, "This is the key to the 21st century," but we ought to resist the temptation, at least for another ten or fifteen years. It may well be that key, but perhaps it doesn't behoove us to examine it too closely for fear of what we might find.

Which is probably what Philip K. Dick wanted.

(By the way, let me add a brief note about the cover art. I can't tell if it's a reprint from an older SF magazine -- it rather looks that way -- but the feral-faced and somewhat sallow woman pressed against what seems to be a grimy spaceport wall in the rain really suits UBIK nicely, although the artwork has nothing at all to do with the books contents.)

Copyright © 2000 by A.L. Sirois

I'd really recommend this one - if you can handle it!!

SF at the Movies - March '10

OK so there's basically nothing, really I mean no real 'pure' Sci-Fi movies this month...at all. We've got a stack of supernaturally scary stuff like Shutter Island and Legion. But no robots or aliens to be seen. Our one saving grace is coming in at the last possible second and looks like an excellent exploration of the superhero genre by one if it's most popular scribes.

Kick-Ass
Released 31/03/10












This film centres around a teenager who dons a superhero costume asking the question 'why has no one done this before?' Lacking any powers or gadgets he simply is willing to take the fight to the bad guys and soon finds other young vigilantes willing to follow the call. Making up for all the times when people wish they could stop something bad but couldn't they determine to do something and... well I guess we'll just have to watch the film to see what happens, I'm definitely there.

Star Wars Legacy: Rogue's End + Stormtroopers

Still a bit of catching up to do on Legacy. With the current four part arc on it's penultimate issue I want to get these done so I can post these at least vaguely current in the future. I have this and another stand-alone to cover, and I'm also going to carry on looking at different parts of the Sith Empire while I do so.

Story Review

The story begins during the Sith-Imperial War that shook the galaxy and brought Darth Krayt to power. On the planet Botajef the Mandalorians, hired by the Galactic Alliance, fight a brutal war against the Empire, which they are slowly losing due to the lack of GA reinforcements. Hondo Karr, confidant to Mandalore himself investigates the problem to find that Yaga Auchs, a leading Mandalorian, has betrayed them, sabotaging the communication centre on the order of his 'master'.
Karr is knocked out and wakes up to find the battle lost, Mandalore dead and Auchs leading their forces in retreat. Karr gets into stormtrooper armour to survive and Vevec, his friend, sacrifices his life to give him a convincing alibi. Karr is recruited into Joker Squad.

As we know from previous stories Karr left Joker Squad and joined Rogue Squadron. The squad prepare for their latest mission, rescuing Mon Calamari refugees in hiding on the Hutt world of Napdu. Karr and new squad leader Anj Dahl land on the planet disguised as traders. They meet up with Azzim the Hutt who is actually an ally of theirs and hatch a plan to evacuate the refugees.
Since bounty hunters know about the refugees and plan to use them to find the GA fleet Rogue Squadron go to defend the decoy freighters, drawing the attention of the hunters. All goes to plan until Tes Vevec, daughter of Karr's friend (and also his wife!) crashes the party seeking to avenge the apparent murder of her father. Eventually Karr convinces her that Auchs is a traitor and the mission is a success, but Karr leaves to restore justice to the Mandalorians.

My Two Credits

This was always a bit of a fan-pleaser as is anything involving the Mandalorians. But it was good to get a bit of insight into the Sith-Imperial war, which we haven't seen too much of. The issue was very fast-paced, almost too much so with so much to cram in, but this is fairly inevitable with one-parters. Still it accomplished what it set out to do, a daring mission for the GA, good backstory and development of one of the more interesting side characters.

There was also a triumph in Azzim, the Legacy team have created likeable and 'good' Hutt characters and not just a bunch of Jabba clones.

Map

Again my new venture thanks to the essential atlas - showing where things go on in the galaxy.





















Stormtroopers

It would be logical, I suppose, to cover the Mandalorians in conjuncture with this post, but I'm a methodical man and so I'm going to continue highlighting personalities of the Sith Empire. This post it's stormtroopers, who have been the backbone of the Empire since it's founding. While the Sith takeover has caused tensions and divisions that vast majority of the men in white are loyal to the throne, these are some of the ones who have featured so far.

Kiefer

Species: Human
Position: Lieutenant (Stormtrooper Corps)
First Appearance: Legacy #3 (Broken, part 3)






This lieutenant served Lord Krayt's forces on Bastion. Unbeknown to him, a large number of forces still loyal to Roan Fel had been secretly rotated to Bastion. When Fel arrived with his Imperial Knights to claim the world Kiefer resisted, trying to incite the stormtroopers to be loyal to the throne, but was instead shot and killed when attempting to arrest the former emperor.

Ran Harkas
Species: Human
Position: Sergeant (407th Division)
First Appearance: Legacy #4 (Noob)






Nicknamed 'Hardcase' by his men, Ran Harkas was a long-serving stormtrooper known for his demanding nature, but more for his determination to get his men trough battle alive. He was in command of 'Joker Squad' and had good relations with the lieutenant in charge of their unit. He served in the battle of Botajef, surviving against the Mandalorians and recruiting ex-Mandalorian Hondo Karr into his squad. He faced his toughest trial when ordered to Borosk to fight the 908th division who were loyal to Fel, the difficult battle made harder by their leader Darth Maleval. Despite questioning their orders he has stayed loyal to the Empire and was assigned to investigate Ossus by Darth Stryfe.

Gil Cassel
Species: Human
Position: Lieutenant (407th Division)
First Appearance: Legacy#4 (Noob)





Cassel was a leading officer in the battle of Borosk, which pitted stormtrooper against stormtrooper in a bid to stop force loyal to Fel. The lieutenant was brave and led from the front, though his option of accepting surrender drew negative attention from Darth Maleval and caused them to question their orders. Maleval ordered him to execute his own brother, an officer in the renegade forces. He refused and was executed by the Sith.

Anson Trask
Species: Human
Position: Stormtrooper (407th Division)
First Appearance: Legacy#4 (Noob)






Trask joined through 'continuity of service' which allowed him to join his father's unit. His first combat was the tragic battle of Borosk which forced him to fight other stormtroopers. He struggled with this until he found purpose in defending his squad. This continued when he shot and killed Darth Maleval who killed Cassel and was attacking Hondo Karr. Despite his actions he has remained in the Empire and was in the scouting mission on Ossus.

Jes Gistang
Species: Human
Position: Stormtrooper (407th Division)
First Appearance: Legacy#4 (Noob)






Gistang was recruited through the Imperial Mission on Corellia, who offered her better choices than she had on her own. She was the squad's heavy weapon specialist and closest friend of Anson Trask during the battle, helping him get settled. She was killed when a stray blaster bolt hit the power paks for her heavy weapon.

Vax Potorr
Species: Human
Position: Stormtrooper (40th Division)
First Appearance: Legacy#4 (Noob)






Potorr joined the Empire early on in the war because of his hate of the Yuuzhan Vong. Formerly an underdweller on Coruscant where the effects of the invaders are felt most strongly he found his skills worked well in the forces, he was able to trade supplies within the division to get the best gear and was nimble and good at evading danger. He served in the Battle of Botajef where he killed Vevec and later fought in the Borosk encounter. He was killed when he stepped on a mine while taking out a turret.

Well that's pretty much it - Armang and Kniffler were part of Joker Squad during the battle of Botajef and either transferred or died after the war. Orland was a new recruit to the squad, present during the search on Ossus.

As you've seen most of the corps are still human, but aliens can serve in the Stormtroopers and a few have been spotted here and there, including this guy...














Well that's it for now - expect more Legacy this month.

Stuff Transformers 2 part 2

Ok, it's been a while since part 1 now so let's roll with this huh? Here are the new Autobots introduced in the film.

Jetfire











I did like this quirky character and hid decision to switch sides to the Autobots - which seems logical. He points out that always talking about destruction and death gets dull after a while, plus I'm starting to wonder why anyone would consider being a Decepticon when the Autobots always win with significantly smaller numbers - oh well, this guy was good and morphing with Optimus was great.

Sideswipe










A fairly minor character, but nonetheless a pretty cool one with his dual swords and quote of 'Damn, I'm good!' after finishing off a Decepticon. Seems like he was brought in to replace the equally flashy Jazz who died in the first movie. He didn't have an awful lot to do, but he certainly added more than just another generic robot to the team.

Skids and Mudflap











I liked these on first viewing, but they get tiring after a while. Their takedown of Devastator was quite amusing and to see them transform from the ice-cream truck into the new vehicles was great. I don't see what else you can do with them, but they were fun characters.

Arcee










I did like the motorbike triplets as they added a good amount of variety to the Autobot team. With a lot of the robots looking the same with slightly different colour schemes. it was good to have a vivid set of robots that were a different type and also a different gender to the rest of the crew - these really hooked me into the idea of the new Autobots and NEST.

Well I think that's it, apart from the little one that fancied Megan Fox, but I think he's just as well left alone.

Back soon folks!

The New Star Wars?

I hate to say it, but there is a competitor to Star Wars for my nerdy heart's affections. While there's no question of my undying devotion to my first love, it must be said that I am drawn to a newer, shinier Sci-Fi giant these days.

It is, of course, Halo. And while Mass Effect 2 is currently vice-gripping my attention on my first play through, my time on message boards and 'pedias is roughly equally split between the other two franchises and I think that the ringworld games have the potential to be an equally powerful medium.

Note that I said potential, because the Star Wars franchise has a massive leg up on Halo. A massive expanded universe has been established since the movies first aired. It also looks set to continue and expand further with innovative titles such as Legacy leading the way. But I have to admit the current all-hardback novel series has curbed my ability to shell out on additional fiction and perhaps dulled my ardour.

Halo is going from strength to strength, with novels and short stories, successful comic lines and the recent anime series Legends all successes. If this continues it has the potential to build an equally powerful universe in addition to the games that are the main focus of the franchise.

Both franchises have achieved something very hard to do, they have both built a world larger than themselves. The original Halo game showed one battle as part of a massive war. If that wasn't enough they added a planet sized artifact which also contained a devastating alien race with the potential to destroy all life in the galaxy. All this made Halo 1 very exciting, but left you wanting more. You got it in 2 and 3 as we 'finished the fight' but we still hadn't had the full picture. Novels fleshed out the details, but also every game since has been a prequel, from Halo Wars in the early days of the Covenant war to forthcoming Reach, which is an immediate precursor to the trilogy - very satisfying prequels they are too!

You have to be ambitious to pull this off and maintain it. With spin-off novels and also comics now commonplace on bookshelves it's hard for a franchise's 'expanded universe' to stick out. I have to admit I was initially sceptical of the novels because of this, but the wide-ranging Halo universe made getting my hands on one inevitable so I could explore more of the war with the Covenant and the tragic upbringing of the Spartans. This was also triggered by the purchase of The Halo Encyclopedia - and I think that is a benchmark, does your universe have enough in it to fill an encyclopedia?

Are there other competitors - yes, of course, but none have quite hit the same bar...yet! Gears of War has a rich and gritty setting with a host of gruesome enemies and a desperate war being fought, but it doesn't have the added element of the wider backstory that Halo does with the Forerunners and the Flood. Mass Effect does possess an equally powerful story and universe with their very similar Protheans and the Reaper threat and a truly diverse range of planets and species.

The only problem this franchise has at the moment is it's too well done. The story has been perfectly designed to be told in the RPG medium and while there have been some decent novels I can't really imagine a movie or anything other than the excellent game series - but I'm willing to be proven wrong!

So what does the future hold for Halo? It has the potential to go from strength to strength, the final game by original developer Bungie, Reach, is out soon - we will have to see how the franchise fares without them but I'm confident in the new 343 industries team to take it to new heights.