TERMINATOR RESTART IS A NO-GO

EPISODE 512, in which I don my Film Curmudgeon Hat yet again for a spoiler-y review of TERMINATOR: DARK FATE. Feel free to a) pop some popcorn or b) run for the hills. I’ll wait.

[Brief interlude for Jeopardy theme music.]

 

The best part of TERMINATOR: DARK FATE: the heroines.

I’ve been a fan of the TERMINATOR movies since Linda Hamilton battled the seemingly invincible AI robot played by Arnold Schwarzenegger back in 1984. The first two films, written and directed by James Cameron (AVATAR, ALIENS, TITANIC, etc.) are SF classics, and set a high bar for the film and TV sequels that followed (a bar that wasn’t always cleared).

Altogether, though, the TERMINATOR franchise created a screen canon that made SF sense, one that entered the common consciousness of people who hadn’t even seen the films. Almost every SF fan can tell you the premise of that canon: a man from the future is sent back in time to find and save Sarah Conner from an AI robot assassin (the Terminator). It is vital Sarah survive because she is destined to bear and raise the future leader of the human resistance to the sentient machines that will soon take over the Earth and attempt to eliminate humanity. That future leader’s name is John Conner, and he is the one who sends the man back to save his mother. The man, of course, turns out to be his father, who eventually dies fighting the Terminator. (It’s time-travel. Don’t think too much.)

The sequels involve storylines with John and Sarah at various times after he is born, both before the AI apocalypse and after. And, up until this latest entry in the TERMINATOR franchise, they have all fit into the canon, that is, they all made sense according to the premise I just outlined. Not so TERMINATOR: DARK FATE.

[SPOILER ALERT. Remember, I warned you earlier.]

In the first few minutes of this new film, also written by James Cameron, and directed by Tim Miller (DEADPOOL), we see in flashback that the Terminator somehow found John and Sarah in their sanctuary in Mexico and killed John at the age of about 12. Presumably this means a new resistance leader is needed for the future, so a young Mexican woman (Dani, Natalia Reyes) is tapped for protection by a cybernetically-enhanced human soldier (a female, this time, Grace, Mackenzie Davis) against a yet-more-intimidating AI robot (Gabriel Luna, meh). Sarah Conner (Hamilton), who has been finding and killing Terminators on the regular, led by mysterious texts signed “for John,” shows up to help the new savior and her cyborg protector. They are eventually led to the texter, who turns out to be our old Terminator nemesis (Schwarzenegger), who has developed an almost-human conscience over the years.

Action/mayhem/smashing of vehicles ensue until the good guys win, but not without some sacrifice, yada, yada, yada.

All this is entertaining enough, until you stop and think: if John Conner had been killed as a child, there would have been no one to send that man back from the future to warn or save Sarah Conner in the first film. She would have gone blithely on about her business until the original AI villain (Skynet) caused the first apocalypse. That’s the thing about time-travel and the consequences of messing with the timeline. No John Conner, no resistance. No resistance, no one to go back in time to find Sarah Conner, or create John Conner or, eventually, to destroy Skynet. That was the premise of the first film, indeed of the whole franchise. Take John Conner out of the equation, you have to restart everything

 Much has been made of the fact that James Cameron wanted to restart the storyline with this film, taking up from where he ended it with TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991). I have no problem with that scenario, but even Cameron must know that you can’t kill John without resetting the entire timeline back to zero. That means Sarah Conner has no significance in the new timeline. That also means Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger have no roles in the new film. If he was going to start over, he should have had the courage to go all the way. 

I also have no problem with rethinking the idea of “woman as mother and protector of future male leader of the resistance,” transforming it into “woman herself as leader of the resistance.” However, Sarah Conner has long been held up as a role model for kick-ass SF heroines, her family role notwithstanding. I think it’s dangerous to assume the job of bearer and nurturer of future leaders is “lesser” somehow, especially when the person doing it is one tough, um, mother. 
 

Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton) SF's toughest mom.

I can understand the powers that be are less concerned with the screen canon of the franchise and more with the box office. After all, they’re looking to fill seats with a good action film. TERMINATOR: DARK FATE mostly succeeds on that level, though we’ve seen many of its tricks before. But a young viewer new to the franchise is really going to wonder why those old people (Hamilton and Schwarzenegger) are even part of the story. And going back to watch the earlier films is not going to help them figure it out. 

Sorry, but this one is a NO-GO. 

Cheers, Donna

First of the Morgan's Misfits series

Morgan's Misfits features three young Manesai women who dare to challenge the strict mores of their society.

In Kuralon Rescue we meet the Misfits, one by one.


Siena and Jirra have managed to evade the bounty hunter chasing Jirra and made it into space in a battered little freighter called Kali's Gift. Siena has finally admitted her grand plan is to rescue her fiance, Anton, from a prison planet and she wants Jirra's help.

But Jirra systematically picks holes in the girl's bare-bones plan. It isn't going to work.

Then this happens.
*******************
Siena gulped down a large mouthful of wine before she spoke again. "Jirra, come with me, please."

She was begging, her eyes pleading. "I'm no soldier. You've just shown me I don't know it all. I'll admit I was hoping you'd come. You'd understand, surely. I love Anton. I want to marry him and have children. He's going to die in that awful place. Please?"

Tears glistened in Siena's eyes. Jirra felt her pain, so much the same as her own, a black hole of hopelessness. What would she, Jirra, do in the same situation, if it was Prasad in some hell hole? "Doesn't he have family?" she asked at last.

"There's nothing they can do. They'd be under surveillance. That's if they're still alive." Bitterness colored Siena's words.

"Siena, that bounty hunter –"

"Will follow you wherever you go. But now the trail's muddied, yes? He won't even know you're going to Crossmar, let alone Kuralon. And if I have to find another ship or another pilot, they wouldn't know me, they probably wouldn't help me."

With her elbow on the table, Jirra rested her chin on her fist. Her heart said do it, but her brain pleaded for sanity. She'd be walking into an unknown situation without a real plan. Suicidal came to mind. Then again, what did she really have to live for? She couldn't have Prasad and she didn't want anybody else. She didn't believe in gods and religion, but she did believe that sometimes serendipity shows up and shoves you in an unexpected direction. It had happened to her when she'd accepted the chance to learn from an alien. Her few friends had distanced themselves, but she'd ended up on the trip of a lifetime, a historic trip across the galaxy to search for the Manesai's ancestral home. The little voice in her mind sang its siren song. Follow your heart. You never know where that might lead you. Her decision must have been transmitted in her facial expression because Siena smiled before Jirra said a word.

Laughing, Siena leaped up from the table, ran around to where Jirra sat, pulled her out of her seat and hugged her so tightly she gasped. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
******************

Buy the book at  iBooks Amazon Kobo  B&N GooglePlay

Or buy from Payhip and get 20% off. Use coupon code G4U677DOVK

SpyDog Excerpt from Pets in Space® 4 (plus Reminders)

Today, I have an excerpt from SpyDog, my Inherited Stars Series story in the USA TODAY Bestselling Pets in Space® 4 collection.

Scene Set-Up:
Rigel, a Network deep cover agent--along his bio-engineered partner, a SpyDog named Maura--has crossed paths with someone he believed to be a legend, a warrior-class female Rathskian. Her knowledge of the Network runs deep, much too deep for a member of the enemy alliance. She claims to be a friendly, but Rigel decides his best course of action is to reach his transport and turn her over to Network superiors. But first he has to get her there.

She may turn out to be more of a challenge than he's anticipating.

Excerpt:
They still had a long trek ahead of them, and this woman had already learned crucial information about him and Maura. If she got away from him now, it could be very bad. True, she’d been nothing but cooperative, but he still had to be wary of the potential for ambush. His SpyDog exposing a covert capability to this Rathskian had certainly upped the stakes. Reaching the safety of a Network ship and securing her onboard was crucial. He just hoped the ship had a prisoner retention cell to reduce the risk of her sabotaging his mission.

“Walk ahead of me,” Rigel directed. “A Rathskian and a Carduwan might make suspicious bedfellows.”

Sona gave him a quick glance, one eyebrow arched in surprise—or was it scorn?

“As it should be,” she retorted, and strode ahead.

“Stay with her,” Rigel told his invisible partner then realized she was no longer at his side. Dust puffs rose where the StarDog scampered along in step with their captive. It wasn’t the first time she’d anticipated a command, but now it ramped up his annoyance a full notch or two.

“Make a right here,” Rigel instructed.

Having her walk ahead made watching her easier but calling out each turn or new direction in their path was attracting attention. They’d already snagged a few puzzled looks from passersby and he didn’t need the added scrutiny. Thankfully, there weren’t that many people moving about in the midday heat. Rigel lengthened his strides to close ground between himself and the Rathski.

“Take the left fork.”

“Get any closer and you can just whisper in my ear,” she said, without looking back.

Nonplussed, Rigel eased off a stride. Was she trying to provoke him? Rigel shook it off. He had to stay sharp and avoid letting his mind wander down paths that might lead to distraction.

__________________________

Hope you enjoyed this snippet from my story.

Reminder: Time Is Running Out!

Okay, this is where I beg a little. Oh readers, hear my humble plea.

Pets in Space® 4 has had a phenomenal run so far, but our window to donate to Hero Dogs is closing fast and we (the team behind the anthology) really want our donation this year to be the best ever in the four years we've contributed to this organization.

The donation period closes at midnight on November 11th, Veterans Day, so there's still a few days to help this wonderful charity!

Please, please help us help Hero Dogs!

For $5.99 -- about the price of a cup of coffee -- you can help a veteran or first responder have a lasting impact on their life through a trained service dog donated free of charge by this wonderful organization. We'll be donating 10% of our royalties through November 11th to assist Hero Dogs...

But the donation window ends at midnight on November 11th--Veterans' Day.

If you haven't already purchased a copy of Pets in Space® 4, would you please consider it now?

Click here to see all available vendors and scroll down to read the story blurbs

What's in it for you?

How about some great science fiction romance reading adventures--a collection that's going to last far longer and bring more enjoyment than that single cup of coffee! This volume features 13 stories by best selling and award-winning authors. It made the USA TODAY Bestsellers list the week of release and has received over 60 rave reviews on Amazon--about 94% of them five or four stars as of this writing!

And this volume is substantial--the size of nearly FIVE full-length novels--with complete, standalone stories connected to popular ongoing series.

SpyDog (excerpt above) is my contribution to the collection and it's a story in my Inherited Stars Series. I invite you to check out this pivotal (but standalone) episode in Pets in Space® 4. SpyDog is the story of Rigel Blackline, a Network agent, and Sona, a female warrior-class Rathskian as they both seek to complete crucial missions that will be monumental to the future of the known galaxy--but whose separate goals just might put them at odds. And of course being part of Pets in Space®, it involves an unique creature--a highly-trained, keenly-intelligent, and sometimes defiant StarDog upgrade known as a SpyDog. Her name is Maura and she's Rigel's partner.

Check out these Pets in Space® 4 endorsements from reviewers:

"I love these Sci-fi pet stories!" - 5 stars

"Awesome anthology" - 5 stars

"Well-written, interesting and varied" - 5 stars

"Loved all the stories, each one is so very different but wonderful in their own way." - 5 stars

"This will not disappoint." - 5 stars

~~ and even one with a special mention of SpyDog ~~

"Full of fun stories with interesting pets...SpyDog. So far this is my favorite." - 5 stars

Also, the latest book in my series, StarDog, just released on October 21st and is currently at a special introductory price of only .99 cents, but this special introductory price will end November 11th.


StarDog Goes Off Sale Next Monday

If you'd like a peek into my SFR universe, grab your copy before next Tuesday to get it at .99 cents.

Here's more about it:

Available on Amazon

Navigator Taro Shall's captain assigns him an unexpected mission–find a way to eradicate deadly vipers that have infested starship Calypso. He never expects to find the solution to his problem in the hands of Adini, a charming street vendor. But the bio-engineered StarDog he acquires turns out to be a galactic hot potato, and both Taro and Adini are soon fugitives on the run.

Adini Kemm can't deny her fascination for the honor-bound navigator, though his past and her present seem to null any chance at a shared future. Until her father's capture as a spy catapults both her and Taro into a desperate bid to save him...and straight into the clutches of a brewing insurrection.

As Taro's bond with Adini grows, so does their jeopardy. Determined not to draw Calypso or his captain into the fray, Taro must rely on his wits to keep both Adini and his secrets safe from the renegade leader who takes them prisoner.

___________________

Based on a short story in the very popular Pets in Space® 1 anthology, winner of two 2016 SFR Galaxy Awards and named by LibraryJournal.com as one of the “Best Books of 2016.”

StarDog has returned as a standalone story in The Inherited Stars Series at double the length–with expanded scenes, new chapters and a new epilogue. It's also a companion story to SpyDog (except above). Click below to buy the ebook for .99 cents:

Amazon

Thanks for stopping by Spacefreighters Lounge today. Have a great week!

HAPPY (DAY AFTER) HALLOWEEN!

As I write this it's Halloween day, so I'll take the opportunity to wish you a fruitful Samhain. If you live in Mexico (or maybe New Mexico, lol), I can wish you a Feliz Dia de los Muertos, which is celebrated today, In any case, blog topics are scarce this week, so the pics will have to do.

Happy day after Halloween.

 

 

Or, if you prefer, Feliz Dia de los Muertos.

Back in the day, Halloween used to be one of my favorite holidays. I used to love dressing up and taking on an alter-ego for the night. These days, I'm happy to grab a seat in the outdoor area of the local brewpub  and watch the families parade by in costume on Main Street for the Marshall Safe Halloween festivities. Much tamer, but visually quite entertaining. Folks in my little mountain town can be pretty creative!

However you choose to celebrate, I hope you have/had a good time communing with the spirits!

Cheers, Donna