Free Kindle Sci-Fi Short Story

The Last Doctor

A Sci-Fi Urban Mystery:

The Government Rain Mysteries.

By L A Frederick.

Can he escape?

Over the past six months, the Doctor has become riddled with doubt. Is the work he is doing at the mysterious Newton Street facility immoral? Has he gone too far? Is it time to get out of the urban jungle that is New Hampton? Can he even get out with Doctor Zhirkov and Darkmore in charge?

Q - So, what makes the Government Rain Mysteries special?

L A F - I've always enjoyed reading dark, mysterious books that leave me desperate for answers, and the Government Rain Mysteries are my interpretation of the macabre, urban, mystery genres. 

I've forever been engrossed with science fiction that touches on the unexplainable, that baffles, intrigues and gets you turning to the next page hoping to find the answers. With The Government Rain Mysteries, I hope to leave the reader puzzled, gripped and, potentially, a little uneasy and questioning. How is that possible? Why are they doing that? 

The Government Rain Mysteries are a brutal look at an urban setting with gruesome science fiction thrown in to leave the reader confused, gripped and potentially a little scared... 

The Last Doctor: An Urban Mystery- The Government Rain Mysteries Categories:

- Sci-fi Urban Mystery

- Dark Urban Mystery

- Mystery Mutants

- Urban Dark

- Dark Mystery

- Urban Fantasy

- Dark Sci-fi

Click Here To Collect

Movie Review - Predestination

Predestination

2014

Screen Australia / Screen Queensland / Blacklab Entertainment / Wolfhound Pictures

Stage 6 Films / Signature Entertainment / Arclight Films

7.5 / 10

This is a very well sculptured and acted time travelling tale about an agent who is on his final mission to stop the fizzle bomber.  Throughout all his travels back in time, the bomber has always appeared to be one step ahead of him.

The Spierig Brothers, Michael and Peter, wrote a nicely crafted and layered story based on the Robert A Heinlein's story "All you zombies".  As directors, they do a fantastic job of bringing the story to the screen and getting the best out of their actors.  I've always rated Ethan Hawke and here he excels as The Barkeep; the agent on his last assignment.  Along with Sarah Snook, who is brilliant as The Unmarried Mother, they add a touch of class to the movie.

This is not an action-packed movie as it relies on the story rather than glossy special effects and fight scenes.  At times, it's slow and thought-provoking as the audience is slowly immersed in an emerging mystery.  The climax makes Oldboy's seem tame in comparison.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this film...

Except for one thing...

From H G Wells' The Time Machine to Doctor Who to Back To The Future to Dr Who there's been one absolute that a time traveller must not do... but they always do...  The paradox.  Unfortunately, if you like science fiction and time travel then you will probably figure out the ending of the film before it comes.  I had an inkling in the first scene.  Then, by the twentieth minute, I'd got most of it figured out.  Ten minutes after that I understood.  Which left two-thirds of the film left to go.

However, this wasn't much of an issue as the film pretty much carries itself strongly throughout and I enjoyed every minute of it, right up to the chilling finale.

This is not a film for everybody, though if you don't mind the slower dramatic style of moviemaking then you should enjoy this film.

Movie Review - Ghost In The Shell: Innocence

Ghost In The Shell: Innocence

(2004)

Bandai Visual Company / Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Dentsu Music And Entertainment / ITNDDTD / Kodansha / Production I G / Studio Ghibli : Bandai Entertainment / DreamWorks Home Entertainment

7 / 10

This sequel doesn't come anywhere near the original in either story, atmosphere, artwork, or provocativeness.  From the onset, the viewer is slammed with a philosophical quandary, this is given by the cyber-coroner and feels so out of context that it appears forced.  Whereas, in the original, it was subtly woven throughout the film and its context. You just don't get that here.

I don't know if this is Disney's influence at work...  The first film was a little convoluted, though, with a little brain power you could figure it out.  For "Innocence" they give it to the audience in black and white.

Then you have the appearance of digital artwork, fused and mixed with the more original.  For most of the time, this works, though it does have less effect on building atmosphere as does the setting and direction of the scene.  The worst scenes containing digital art are the cars driving down the street.  The street backgrounds are dark with a mat lustre, howbeit, the cars are ultra shiny bright metallic.  The reflections flowing over the surface of the car doesn't tally with their surroundings.  This draws the viewer out of the story to register the imperfection of the scene, this hurts the movie as you want your viewer to feel as though they are apart of the story and not a third party just watching.

The story was a nice follow-up, even though I don't think is was told all that well.  Something is happening to the sex-bots!  For some reason, they are malfunctioning and killing their owners and whoever's in the vicinity before committing suicide.  Section Nine is called in as this could be an act of terrorism since robots cannot kill humans or themselves.

Under better hands, this could have been as great as the original film had they decided to entwine the philosophy, the mystery and thriller elements, and mood and ambience into the story and artwork instead of segregating them and lessening the power of the piece.

Worth watching if you've seen the original but be warned it's not as good.