All I Want for Christmas

 

Photo Credit: Matt Handle

Reflecting on the fact that the only contribution I made to this blog over the past year was an award eligibility post last week made me feel like a bit of a cad so here you go, one more post for 2024. Despite the fact that this year included more than the usual amount of terrible shit around the world, it did present some quality stuff worth recognizing and wishing for more in 2025. This post is about those good things – the stories, films, and shows I enjoyed and/or added to my wish list this holiday season.  

 

I read a baker’s dozen of books this year. Many of you probably read more than that, but with a rewarding, full-time career in software, a wife, three kids, a cat, and all the scribblings I jot down with whatever writing instrument is close at hand, 13 is all I managed. Of those, three stand out as exceptional though all were published before the year began. Caliban’s War is Book 2 in James S.A. Corey’s Expanse series. It’s just as good as the first and even better than the television series it spawned. Book 3 is at the top of my list this year and I highly recommend this series to any science fiction fans that haven’t discovered it yet. The Nighthouse Keeper is Book 2 in author Lora Senf’s Blight Harbor trilogy. While it might be geared toward middle-grade readers, this decidedly older-than-early-teen reader enjoyed it just as much as her debut The Clackity and you can bet her follow-up The Loneliest Place is on my list for 2025. Finally, after almost 20 years I got around to reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by the late Stieg Larsson. No wonder it became such as worldwide sensation. Great book.

I tend to be a pretty harsh critic of films and television shows. I’ve rated almost 2000 of them on IMDb and have given just six a perfect 10 of 10 and 23 a score of 9 of 10. Nothing released this year reached those lofty scores in my book, but I did rate three things an 8. Dune: Part Two is the type of movie that demands a cinema experience. I saw it in IMAX and it blew me away. I can nitpick about the script in places, but the cinematography is amazing. My Christmas List definitely includes director Denis Villeneuve’s planned follow-up Dune: Messiah. I also loved The Wild Robot. The book it’s based on is geared toward young readers, but the movie will pull at the heartstrings of every parent who sees it. I hope more animation studios strive to produce this level of storytelling in 2025. The Apple TV+ series Slow Horses released Season 4 this year and it was every bit as good as Seasons 1-3. For my money, it’s the best thing on the small screen right now. Two more seasons are planned and I can’t wait.

Other stuff slated for the end of this year and 2025 that you’ll find on my list include director Robert Eggers’ remake of Nosferatu, the upcoming final installment of the Tom Cruise film series Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, author Lora Senf’s upcoming young adult novel The Losting Fountain, and Thomas Ha’s first collection of short stories, Uncertain Sons and Other Stories.

All told, I’ve got plenty to be thankful for and more than enough to be excited about. I hope the gifts found under and the loved ones found sitting ‘round your tree this season bring you peace and happiness. I look forward to sharing more words and work with you in 2025!

2024 Awards Eligibility

 

Image Credit: Pixabay

I confess to ghosting this blog for over a year now, but I was busy banging away at a middle grade novel that’s about 80% complete as well as knocking out some shorter work. I had two awards-eligible short stories published in 2024 that are linked below. I hope you’ll find time over the holiday season to check them out. My steampunk/dinopunk story “Clockwork Dinosaurs” was published by Hyphen Punk and it’s now free to read. “Strange Rituals” was published in the latest Vanishing Point anthology and it can be purchased both on their website and on Amazon.

If you enjoy either story, I’d love to hear from you here or on my preferred social network, Bluesky @matthandle.bsky.social

 

Clockwork Dinosaurs Hyphen Punk, October 2024. 4920 words.

A steampunk airship pilot and her crew race against time and rivals to rescue a matriarch’s scepter from dinosaur-infested waters.

 

Strange Rituals Vanishing Point, October 2024. 3685 words.

An occult detective takes on the case of an ex-con who had his eyeballs stolen and finds the details of the theft are even stranger than the result.

 

5 Actors Who Could Be the Next Baylan Skoll

 

Baylan Skoll of Ahsoka

Season 1 of the latest Star Wars series Ahsoka is over and for my money, the best character of the show was antagonist Baylan Skoll. Sadly, the actor who portrayed Baylan, Ray Stevenson, died shortly before the series debuted. Far from being written off, his character is front and center in the biggest cliffhanger of the last episode, leaving a dilemma for Season 2. You can’t leave Skoll out of the upcoming storyline. So how do you recast such a well-acted and central character as Baylan Skoll? I don’t think anyone can replace the excellent work of Ray Stevenson, but there are some actors who might be able to step into his Jedi boots and do him justice. Here are my Top 5 picks for Disney and showrunner Dave Filoni to consider. 

Clive Owen

My favorite pick is English actor Clive Owen. He’s almost the same age, has a similar deep voice, similar stature, resembles Stevenson a bit, and most importantly, has proven himself to be a good actor in such films as Children of Men, Inside Man, The Bourne Identity, and Sin City. Rumor is he was once a front runner for James Bond before Daniel Craig won the part in 2005. He’s done some series work in the past few years. Perhaps a role in the Star Wars universe is in his future.

Eric Bana

Australian actor Eric Bana is almost the same age as Stevenson, nearly identical in height, and he has the deep, raspy voice the character of Baylan Skoll calls for. Bana could add Star Wars to an acting resume that already includes Black Hawk Down, Hulk, Munich, Star Trek, and my favorite of his performances, the doomed warrior Hector in Troy.

Pierce Brosnan

If Filoni wants to stick with a fellow Irishman to follow in Stevenson’s footsteps, 90s’James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan might be a good choice. He’s a couple inches shorter than Stevenson and over a decade older, but he’s still in remarkable shape. He’s starred in plenty of great projects. Besides four Bond films, he was also in Mrs. Doubtfire, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Tailor of Panama, and even played a bad guy in the recent Dwayne Johnson superhero film Black Adam.

Dolph Lundgren

This might be a bit of a stretch, but if Filoni wants a match for Stevenson’s stature and deep-set, menacing eyes, he could go with Dolph Lundgren. At 6’5” Lundgren is even taller than Stevenson and the Swede knows his way around playing violent men. He’s played one in plenty of films including The Expendables series, Johnny Mnemonic, Universal Soldier, and most famously, Rocky IV as the towering Russian boxer Ivan Drago.   

Götz Otto

If you want a choice completely out of left field, how about German actor Götz Otto? He’s been in a ton of movies and series, but given that most of them were overseas, the name might not ring a bell. What you probably WILL remember him for is his role as the towering henchman Stamper in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. At 6’6”, he’s the tallest actor on this list and if Stamper was any indication, he knows how to quietly intimidate on screen.

 

Who is your pick to take over the role of Baylan Skoll? Have an actor in mind that isn’t on this list? Share it in the commentsavbe.

The Importance of a Good Villain

 

Image Credit: Disney+

There isn’t a whole lot on TV that I’m enjoying at the moment, but at least one exception is the latest Star Wars offering on Disney+, Ahsoka. This week’s fourth episode was the best so far and a large part of that success is the increased focus on the villains. Now I’m not suggesting that the collective girl power of the title character, her sidekick Sabine Wren, and her ally Hera Syndulla doesn’t have its own appeal, but the best thing about the show is the pair of villains, Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati. Recently deceased actor Ray Stevenson brings a menacing dignity to Skoll and actress Ivanna Sakhno delivers a ferocity to Skoll’s apprentice Hati that demands attention. It got me thinking about the importance of a good villain in just about any speculative story.

Stories, whether they’re short, novels, or screenplays tend to focus on a main character who serves as the hero. He or she may not start off as heroic, but over the course of their journey, they grow to become that way. They rise to the challenge. What often sets apart a good story and a great one is the quality of that challenge, the hero’s opponent. Who is Luke Skywalker without Darth Vader? Clarice Starling without Hannibal Lecter? John McClane without Hans Gruber?

I’ll go so far as to suggest we as an audience often root for the villain. Not because we really believe they’re going to win, or even should, but because they’re so fun to watch. I’ll freely admit that I much prefer Wile E. Coyote to the Road Runner or Tom to Jerry. I’m happy for the Fellowship of the Ring, but it bums me out that both Sauron and Gollum had to die in order for them to succeed.

An intriguing villain often makes or breaks a story. It doesn’t matter how much we love the hero, if that hero isn’t faced with an equally great bad guy, the tale just falls a bit flat. As a writer, I try to keep this in mind as I plan a story. Who is my hero up against? What is that villain’s motivation? What sets apart that villain from your standard thug with a gun or big muscles and a bad attitude? If I don’t spend as much time fleshing out that villain as I do my protagonist, the result often suffers.

Sadly, the fact that Ray Stevenson died shortly before Ahsoka premiered means we won’t see more of Baylan Skoll after Episode 8 next month no matter what series creator Dave Filoni planned. I’ll miss the character, but the fallen Jedi’s quality and his lasting impression is a fitting conclusion to the resume of an actor who stole more than a few shows with his ability and charm.  

The Best Free Short Speculative Fiction of 2022

 

Image Credit: mskathrynne at Pixabay

Welcome to my fourth annual Best Free Short Speculative Fiction list! I saw some success in my own short story writing accomplishments this year. Dark Recesses Press published both “The Grotesque Truth” on the web in February and my flash fiction “With Teeth” in the October print edition. Paradox Ghost Press published my sci-fi horror short “One Hundred Million Mouths” in its October issue of Bleed Error and my story “His Hands May Be Dirty, But His Brain Is Freshly Washed” was published in the December issue of Cosmic Horror Monthly. As all writers should, I spent just as much time reading the past twelve months as I did crafting my own work. My tastes still dwell in the darker corners of genre fiction so with that in mind, I highly recommend the following ten best free speculative short stories of 2022. They’re all available to read at the links below.

 

Beyond the Shore

In a future where viruses have nearly wiped out all humanity, one doctor must face the possibility that extinction is not just inevitable, but enviable. Writer Tania Fordwalker’s melancholy tale can be found in the November issue of Lightspeed.

 

Charlie Eats the Paper Gods

This fun little tale tells of a kindergartener’s belief in and ultimate proof of a mischievous deity who wreaks havoc on the exclusive private school he attends. Author H.L. Fullerton’s vivid picture of religious inclusivity meeting all-powerful reality is found in the Fall issue of Underland Arcana.

 

Sharp Things, Killing Things

This story about small town bullies being haunted by their past cuts deep. Work by author A.C. Wise can be found in most of the top genre lit mags on the market, but this one in the October issue of Nightmare might be my favorite. 

 

Sweetbaby

Author Thomas Ha made my list last year and he’s done it again with this sci-fi tale found in the October issue of Clarkesworld. It’s got interplanetary travel, rebellious robots, monstrous siblings - rebirth has never felt so dismal.

 

Bramblewilde

This short story by author Jordan Taylor could be taken as a prequel to the traditional three witches in a cottage trope. I think any fan of fairy tale witches will enjoy it and it’s found in the July/August issue of Uncanny.

 

To Build Eternity, With Bones

This tale by Gunnar De Winter grabs you with its opening sentence and refuses to let go. A necromancer spurs her crew across the icy sea toward a dark purpose only she can understand and only she is likely to survive in the May issue of The Deadlands.

 

Beginnings

Kristina Ten is another author who showed up on my 2021 list and is back with a story in the April issue of Fantasy. This sad all-too-real tale of toxic masculinity and a lack of acceptance of otherness is sweetened with just the right amount of poetic magic to make it go down like honey followed by a sting.

 

The Bear Across the Way

Fellow Atlanta-based writer Emily Rigole’s first published story landed in one of the best online markets out there and for good reason. Published in PseudoPod 801, this tale of an unusual neighbor brought down by mistrust and deceit hits hard given some of the top news stories of the day.

 

Seven Vampires: A Judge Dee Mystery

Lavie Tidhar’s latest tale of his vampire detective Judge Dee was published in February at Tor.com. Two of his earlier stories made my list last year. This time the Judge and his steadfast human companion Jonathan are escaping Paris with a pack of vampires who wind up murdered one by one. It’s up to the Judge to determine who is behind the deeds and why.

 

To People Who’d Never Known Good

I try to spread the praise across a wide selection of authors in my year-end reviews, but sometimes a writer is so good he/she/they need to be mentioned twice. Thomas Ha delivers again with a tale in the February issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies. This story of a mother and son who protect planets from plant-like monsters that poison everything their tentacles touch feels like Jeff VanderMeer taking a shot at writing an extended Star Wars universe episode. I loved it.

 

If any of these stories entertain you, you can find more like them at these 20 websites.

https://www.3lobedmag.com/

https://apex-magazine.com/

https://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/

http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/

http://thedarkmagazine.com/

https://darkmattermagazine.com/

https://thedeadlands.com/

https://www.diabolicalplots.com/

https://escapepod.org/

https://ethereamagazine.com

https://www.fantasy-magazine.com/

http://www.kaleidotrope.net/

http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/

https://magazine.metaphorosis.com/

http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/

http://pseudopod.org/

http://www.strangehorizons.com/

https://www.tor.com/

https://uncannymagazine.com/

https://www.underlandarcana.com/

Five Times the Screen Version of a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Character Was Clearly Superior (and five times it wasn’t)

 

Photo Credit: Matt Handle

I finished the first book in author Andrzej Sapowski’s Witcher Saga, The Last Wish over the weekend. As I read it one thing that jumped out at me is that while the Netflix series tends to stick pretty close to the storylines and characters in the book, I like Henry Cavill’s stoic version of the sword-wielding hero better than the original. The version in the book is more talkative, even friendly at times and some of the literary version’s dialogue is so old fashioned it’s downright corny. Try this line on for size: “Thank you for the spread. A hundred thanks, dear host. And now, if you permit, we’ll get down to business.” Ugh. The quieter, meaner screen version is more my speed. It got me thinking. Which other screen versions of sci-fi/fantasy characters are superior to their originals and more common, which screen versions are disappointments?

 

Five Times the Screen Version of a Character Was Clearly Superior

Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher) – Why speak when a simple grunt will do? The Netflix version of the white-haired Witcher lets his sword do most of the talking and I think the character is better for it. It’s not that I don’t appreciate dialogue. It’s just that Cavill’s gritty portrayal of the main character is less traditional and therefore more compelling than the version that shows up in the first book of the series.

Rick Deckard (Blade Runner) – Harrison Ford’s portrayal of nihilistic bounty hunter Rick Deckard remains one of my favorite film characters ever, but if you read the source material, Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? You’ll find a much weaker man who’s more focused on obtaining the perfect pet rather than falling in love with his beautiful replicant target.

Missandei (Game of Thrones) – Say what you will about the storylines of the later seasons of this huge hit show, but one thing they definitely got right was the expanded role of Daenerys’s counselor, Missandei. The book series depicts this slave-turned-interpreter as younger and of minor importance, but the HBO show really fleshed out the character and made her a fan favorite.

William Cage (Edge of Tomorrow) – Translating Japanese manga to an American film doesn’t work all that often. As evidence, see Ghost in the Shell below. However Tom Cruise’s version of the hero known as Keiji Kiriya in the source material All You Need is Kill outshines the original as more heroic and with a more satisfying character arc.

Camina Drummer (The Expanse) – My favorite character from the recent sci-fi series The Expanse was “Belter”, rebel, and eventual ship captain, Camina Drummer. Played by actress Cara Gee, the show expanded (pun intended!) the role to combine several different characters from the novels in order to streamline the story. This allowed Gee more screen-time and made the series that much more fun.

 

Five Times It Wasn’t

Major (Ghost in the Shell) – Casting Caucasian American actress Scarlett Johansson as the Japanese cyborg protagonist set off plenty of alarm bells before the 2017 film version of the manga series arrived and rightfully so. Johansson has a solid action hero track record, but she was badly miscast here and the movie suffered as a result.

Abraham Van Helsing (Van Helsing) – You can’t blame Hugh Jackman for the lousy script, but you can blame him for accepting a lousy role when he clearly wasn’t hurting for money. You know those X-Men paychecks were nice. Jackman plays an action hero version of Bram Stoker’s famous vampire hunter in this poorly conceived and largely forgettable 2004 film.

Walter (The Dark Tower) – Plenty went wrong with the 2017 adaptation of the first book in Stephen King’s classic dark fantasy series, but one of the film’s worst sins was casting Matthew McConaughey as the villain. McConaughey has done plenty of great work over the course of his career, but if you enjoyed the novels, I bet he isn’t the evil wizard you imagined.

Duncan Idaho (Dune) – No, I’m not knocking Jason Mamoa’s portrayal of the loyal Atreides warrior in the 2021 version of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi tale. I’m still laughing about the 1984 version where Richard Jordan played the part. Jordan may have been handsome and slick, but a fearless badass? I don’t think so.

Moreau and Montgomery (The Island of Dr. Moreau) – And finally I couldn’t choose which portrayal was worse, so I’m awarding a tie to Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer for their awful performances in the 1996 version of the H.G. Wells classic tale of medical malpractice, genetic mayhem, and murder. Both are remarkable actors, but if you believe the stories of the troubled production of this film neither actor wanted to be there and it shows.

Bonaventure Cemetery

 

All Photo Credits: Matt Handle

Like any good detective tale, the novel I’m currently querying features a number of side quests the protagonist must complete while in pursuit of his quarry. One of those missions takes him to the Bonaventure Cemetery just outside Savannah, Georgia. I had the opportunity to visit this famous boneyard last month and I thought I’d share some of the photos I took. Located aside the Wilmington River and featuring burial plots from as old as 1802, this quiet Spanish moss-draped place seems perfect for the sort of spooky encounter my occult detective faces there.