Highway to the Predator Zone
Of feudal samurai scifi, delicious speeds of sound, and oblivion...
Honored samurai, ruthless ronin, wayward vagabonds, shadowy ninja and helpless villagers... welcome.
Opening Volley
I delayed last weekend’s newsletter as I was busy finishing “Oblivion Castle” and actually was expecting to send out a mid-week edition when the story was approved. That didn’t happen as the story wasn’t approved until the early hours of this morning. So... here we are.
Main Event
With the new Predator franchise movie, Prey, out on Disney+/Hulu, I thought I’d share this gem from 2017. Frankly, it not only tickles my love for the original Predator, but for samurai films, AND fits the samuraipunk aesthetic perfectly. A lot of you have probably seen it already, but it’s a great time to revisit.
Produced by the BLAST, Inc., “a comprehensive creative studio anchored in film production,” it is 8 minutes of pure love for all that is crazy-slick cool in this world.
Switching gears... I apologize if the title mislead you into thinking you should expect Com Truise. Maybe next week. Instead, enjoy some crunchy veggie vehicles from Twitter Japan!
F-16 Tomcumber
Without further ado, I present a short story cum love letter to far-future samuraipunk and mutant monsters. While only a slim 3300+ words, it is meant to be a contest “teaser” wherein participants were encouraged to write a 600 to 5000 word story that might work as the opening chapter to a novel. In truth, there’s really not much you can do with that. Most opening chapters of novels work on character introduction and don’t include a lot of action (that’s what short stories are supposed to do - dive right into the action). So, like most of the entries, I worked to “cram” as much introduction and action into two scenes introducing two very different characters on a collision course.
“Castle Oblivion”
Void-fortress of the Empress Ryutsue by Midjourney
This is a contest, so your reads are greatly appreciated (at NO COST to you). Comments can be left on the newsletter webpage or any social media outlet you know me on. Vocal members can comment and leave likes (much appreciated) right on the story page itself. Old friends or new, everyone is welcome.
We never meet without parting
Next issue...
Until then!
Made in DNA
For MOAR free fiction and a little bit of craziness: http://vocal.media/authors/made-in