Welcome, one and all, to Dark Side of the Pen! Before you can really learn about this blog, I think you need to learn just a bit about me. Don't worry, it won't take long.
I guess I should start with the reason I got into sci-fi. It was a little book called Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke. It's masterful writing, deep observations of the human psyche and it's powerful- if not overbearing theme of "clash of the cultures"- sparked my insatiable interest in all that is sci-fi. Since then, I've read all of the Arthur C. Clarke books in my public library, as well as Issac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy and many others.
Phase Two. Enter: Frank Herbert.
Ahhhhh... Frank Herbert. The original author of perhaps the most immersive, stimulating, awe-inspiring, super-amazing worlds every published in the history of sci-fi. No, the world! At least in my humble opinion. The Dune Universe as it is called is a conglomerate of the first six Dune books written by Herbert himself, as well as the many prequels, sequels and what ever the ones that come in the middle of other books are called, which were written by his son Brian Herbert, as well as another great sci-fi writer, Kevin J. Anderson. These books not only had a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat (or whatever you like to read on), action-packed storyline, amazing and unique technologies that changed the very concept of what it means to be human, but also a deep understanding of the human mind. The long debates over the moral and evolutionary value of humanity, along with the deep psychological symbols (not to mention the massive economic web that ties these all together) written throughout the novels inspired me to try writing in the first place. While none of these books may by themselves be my favourite, as a series, it wins. Bar none. End of story.
Soooo, that's me. In a nutshell. At least as far as literature is concerned. See, I told you it would be quick. And nearly painless to boot! So, in lieu of another wild tangent, welcome to Dark Side of the Pen!
