The Dueling Machine - Ben Bova

The Dueling Machine is a scifi story set in political tensions between three areas of settled planets. The Terran Alliance runs the space police force Star Watch. The Acquitaine Cluster and the Kerak worlds struggle for superiority. The Kerak dictator discovers a way to use the dueling machine to create political instability in the Acquitaine Cluster and make it easier to rearm the borders for war.

The machine itself is a type of virtual reality dreamscape in which two opponents duel to the death in a program created by the participants. These duels are used to end verbal disagreements before turning to physical confrontation in the real world.

Upside
Character descriptions
I found the distinction between ground cars and flying cars very interesting

Downside
The narrative changes perspectives, often without a chapter break to differentiate
The story seemed to be concluded but to clear up the political tensions another element was created to be resolved after the initial problem was resolved

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Valerian and Laureline are government agents on assignment to recover stolen property. They return the property to the City of a Thousand Planets to be used in another assignment. They are given security of the Commander and work to protect him from an unknown force causing problems in the City.

Upside
The design - different planets and alien species all different and visually interesting
The opening sequence - introduces the systems of the City while amusing the audience with alien first encounter handshakes
The largest group of nonhuman beings have a very well developed society that is explained in a way that allows the audience to accept the information slowly and not miss anything important

Downside
The love story between Valerian and Laureline never seemed real. It was always a kind of joke they mentioned so when the stakes were raised and their love decided the outcome it didn't feel genuine that they would get emotional and serious. This also made the end unsatisfying.

Not sure this is a downside but I was drawn to the smaller characters more than the protagonists. They made more of an impact by the way they were introduced and were interesting whenever they were in the scene.

Cars 3 (2017)

Cars 3 follows McQueen after a crash that threatens his racing career. He works with a trainer and travels the country trying different ways of training to get up to speed for the first race of the season. He agrees to retire if he doesn't win the race.

Upside
The short before the movie LOU
Better than Cars 2- supporting characters are back to support, Sally is back
The new characters are well developed
Back to the mentor/friend relationship that worked so well in Cars

Downside
Chick Hicks is back but not voiced by Michael Keaton, unfortunately I found this distracting
Radiator Springs didn't have much to do with the story

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

First published in 1932 "Brave New World" depicts the realities of a future utopian society. The story is set in London and follows upper-caste members of society as they deal with societal expectations. They are conditioned to be comfortably numb to life's troubles and when they feel too much they can take a pill for that. It is a dark look at what a society loses when individuality is removed "Everyone belongs to everyone else".

Upside
The debate between a Leader and an Uncivilized person about art and God near the end of the book
Most of the reactions to the unknown are grounded in reality

Downside
It starts very technical which can be hard to follow
I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't this

Wonder Woman (2017)

Wonder Woman shows the origin story of Diana Prince who was introduced in Batman V Superman. With only a slight tie in to the present, the film takes place during WW1. This is the perfect origin film, it has story and character development but is pushed along by a strong plot.

The young actress playing Diana as a child captures your attention whenever on screen. Chris Pine is great at bringing humanity to a superhero film. Most characters are introduced through comedy, which makes even the minor characters memorable.

Upside
Beautifully shot - fight scenes are dynamic throughout
The acting
Space for plot within character exploration

Downside
I figured out a major twist before it was revealed
Watching the credits anticipating an end credit scene that never came (Marvel has trained us too well)
It is very long 2+ hours - they do use the time well though

The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien

"The Silmarillion" is the mythology behind "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". It follows the time of the elves and the time before. The creation of Middle-earth and how it came to be the way it is in the time of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. It follows various important characters and their families as they live in Middle-earth.

Upside
Details on stories only referred to in Tolkien's other works
A better understanding of Elves and their cultures
Getting to know the land of Middle-earth and why places are named the way they are
Explanation of alliances based on families

Downside
Personally when characters have multiple names because of language translations I can get confused
Hobbits are barely mentioned
The creation of tree Ents is mentioned but I wanted to know more

The Circle (2017) !Spoilers!

For less major spoilers skip to last paragraph.


The Circle follows Mae as she starts work at the new tech company The Circle. She learns that "Sharing is Caring" means everything. The weekend optional activities on The Circle campus become necessary and she soon stops going home at all. As she becomes more integrated into the company community she loses touch with her friends, including the one who got her the interview. When things at home take a turn Mae turns to solitude of a night kayak trip. She is capsized and rescued by connection through The Circle. As a result of this rescue she is convinced that when people are watching she is her best person. Mae then decides to go transparent and live stream herself 24/7. This further sharing of information pushes even her family away. As a test of a new program The Circle attempts to find an old friend that Mae had pushed away. This results in an accident that causes his death. Mae returns home and unconnected, as she reconnects with those she pushed away she decides that The Circle needs to change and that she can do it. She returns to the campus and her transparency. She finds a way to change the way the company is run and because she is transparent with millions of watchers her ideas are heard and implemented quickly.

The Circle is a scarily relevant film about privacy, secrets and safety. The Circle started with having one account using your real name, so there aren't different passwords and security for everything you do online. In the film they liken it to needing a different vehicle for every errand you do online and now just needing one. All interaction is filtered through smiles and frowns and participation meters. It becomes cult-like in the fanaticism of those inside, to the point of suggesting mandatory signup so voting can be done through The Circle platform.

Upside
Very relevant and thought provoking - this could be reality just months into the future
To me it felt similar to "1984" though the plot is quite different

Downside
The ending felt wrong - I think the end would come across better in a book than it did in the film