The Science Fiction Novel - Guillermo del Toro

Everything will be ok.. :0)

We are definitely living in unique, scary times. This was brought to my attention again by a phone call with my daughter a few minutes ago. Firstly, I have to say that she is fine, for which I am eternally thankful. Secondly, nothing bad happened to her. She lives on her own across Canada from Jo and I and is comfortable living on her own.

She just had one of those moments. She had gone out to get some groceries and the store had enhanced its cleanliness and health security measures; screens at the cash register, distance lines at the cash to ensure customers maintain the proper distance... that sort of thing. It kind of hit her emotionally when she got home. This situation is really serious and what would she do if something happened to her. It is a scary feeling and I'm glad she called me and had the opportunity to tell me her fears, to get it out of her system rather than just stewing on it. I think the whole maintaining contact with your loved ones this next while.

Yesterday I went out to give blood. Even there the process has changed. Little to no contact with the nurses manning the location. In fact, they had to find a new location as the city wouldn't let them set up in the original spot. Luckily the local CF base wasn't using their gym so the Blood donation team was able to set up there. A good thing in my mind as it was a big space and let them spread out. Everything was pretty well electronic, the check in, the announcing of next in line, that sort of thing. you still had an interview with a nurse but that's still necessary. The seats you sit in to give blood were wiped down with disinfection wipes after each use, even the blue box you stored your jacket in. All the chairs were set 6 feet apart. I left there feeling cleaner than I did when I arrived. They are adjusting their processes daily so not sure when and where the next one will be.

So there you go, my update for Thursday. Oh, I didn't go out today. I do get ants in my pants but I am learning to limit my trips out to when we actually need something.

So with that all out of my system, my latest look at the Science Fiction novel. This thread is starting to wind down, I noticed, as I'm getting near the end of my Goodreads book shelf. What will I talk about next? The mind explodes with ideas... well, not so much.

The Science Fiction Novel -Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro Gomez is a Mexican filmmaker, author and actor born in Guadalajara in 1964. I would say he is a no-talent hack (I'd be joking of course), but then I see that he's done great films like Pan's Labyrinth and won best director and film Oscars for The Shape of Water. Take a look at some of the other movies he's directed; Hellboy and Hellboy 2, Crimson Peak, Mimic and Pacific Rim. Just a few of his entertaining films. He's also an author and his Strain series is the subject of my thread today.

I've just realized that a few of my more recent threads on the Sci-Fi novel have had horror aspects. I've looked at them as dystopic views of the future. The Strain series falls into that category. It was also turned into a TV series, which I've only seen a few episodes of. I will try to watch it again. I've read the first two books so far and have the third and final book on my shelf and will finish it this year as I've added to one of my challenges.

a. The Strain (2009).











"A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Ephraim "Eph" Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.

In a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, a former professor and survivor of the Holocaust named Abraham Setrakian knows something is happening. And he knows the time has come, that a war is brewing.

So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city - a city that includes his wife and son - before it is too late." (3 stars)

b. The Fall (2010)

Synopsis - "Last week they invaded Manhattan. This week they will destroy the world.

The vampiric virus is spreading and soon will envelop the globe. Amid the chaos, Eph Goodweather—head of the Centers for Disease Control's team—leads a band out to stop these bloodthirsty monsters. But it may be too late.

Ignited by the Master's horrific plan, a war has erupted between Old and New World vampires. Caught between these warring forces, powerless and vulnerable, humans find themselves no longer the consumers but the consumed. At the center of the conflict lies an ancient text that contains the vampires' entire history . . . and their darkest secrets. Whoever finds the book can control the outcome of the war and, ultimately, the fate of us all."

Review - "This is the 2nd book in The Strain trilogy and just like the first book, it was action-filled, tension-filled and an entertaining read. The story follows the old man, Abraham Setrakian and his group, Eph (head of the CDC), Nora, Fet (the vermin exterminator cum vampire killer) and Zack as the continue their fight against the Master as he plots to make the world a vampire haven. The book is centered on New York City, although from intimations made, you know the rest of the world is also being attacked. We also get a visit into Setrakian's past, during his time as a prisoner in Treblinka during WWII and his introduction to the vampire menace. We learn that the other Old Ones (the grouping of Vampire masters) are fighting the Master as well and we get introduced to their fighters, Gus and his gang. The story is a definite page turner and an interesting twist on the vampire mythology. Well worth trying. I won't wait as long this time to pick up the finale, The Night Eternal. (3 stars)"

c. The Night Eternal (2011)













"The stunning New York Times bestselling vampire saga that author Dan Simmons (Drood, The Terror) calls, “an unholy spawn of I Am Legend out of ‘Salem’s Lot,” concludes with The Night Eternal. The magnificent, if monstrously warped brainchild of cinematic horror master Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) and Chuck Hogan—whose novel Prince of Thieves, was praised as, “one of the 10 best books of the year” by Stephen King—The Night Eternal begins where The Strain and The Fall left off: with the last remnants of humankind enslaved by the vampire masters in a world forever shrouded by nuclear winter.  Still, a small band of the living fights on in the shadows, in the final book of the ingenious dark fantasy trilogy that Newsweek says is, “good enough to make us break that vow to swear off vampire stories.”"

There you go. Take care, keep safe... maybe read a good book.