Celebrating 10th anniversary of SciFiEmpire.net

It is time to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of SciFiEmpire.net, so I thought it is time for a recap and discuss where this blog is headed. Before I started this blog, I had already made a number of attempts. Using large books on Dreamweaver and my burgeoning IT-skills I decided to really ‘create’ my own website. Instead, I quickly stopped those attempts after I had finished. None looked as cool as websites such as Slash Film or IGN. In the summer of 2011, I was looking for a pet project besides writing my sci-fi novels. Following an online guide, I decided to instead use WordPress with its collection of themes and plugins. That way I could start writing as quickly as I could. So, on July 3rd 2011 I wrote a small introductory notice followed immediately with a very short review of Deus Ex Human Revolution.

More articles followed: Continuum, Eureka, Fringe and Person of Interest were my favorites. After 10 years that has amounted to over 1100 posts. I have written about practically everything sci-fi related: series, movies, games, novels, comics, conventions etc. I even added some tech posts in between. However, the world is changing, blogging is so 2011. In fact, I made the mistake of not moving to YouTube circa 2015 when readership was at its highest. Fear of public speaking is probably the number 1 reason. Despite speaking English well, I retain a very strong non-native accent. But YouTube and its ilk are now a necessity. During the last lockdown the idea of making videos caught hold over me. For me it was either stop with SciFiEmpire.net or face my fears. So now on the 10^th anniversary I can present to you my first YouTube video – Mysteries of Dune.

Naturally I was going to write about Dune. It is by far my favorite Sci-Fi novel series and despite the genre surprisingly accessible. I have wanted to write about Dune for a long time, I even started a dedicated page, but writing is not as effective as show-and-tell. My first YouTube video is not without flaws. I wanted to keep this anniversary as a deadline and I was already procrastinating on its release. Hence the video is filled the sound of mouse-clicks, audio glitches and me stuttering. Over the coming weeks I will edit it more as I become familiar with the software (PowerDirector). I plan this to be the first of many Dune videos, but I also want to explore other properties such as Blade Runner, Tenet, The Witcher and more. Please subscribe to the YouTube channel is you any of this interesting.

10^th anniversary and beyond

As for the coming year, I have many exciting things planned. For July I want to finish my second video entitled ‘Is Deckard a replicant?’. I am still busy with the script but I think it will prove to be a worthy sequel for YouTube. I will also provide continuing coverage of the upcoming Dune movie by Denis Villeneuve as the fourth Matrix movie. The latter is being so secret I am beginning to doubt the December release is feasible. Meanwhile there plenty of new franchises to look forward. The Foundation series adaptation is set for September 24th with The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time the fall. Movies such as BIOS and Reminiscence are also high anticipated as are novels such as Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds, Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson and Invisible Sun by Charles Stross.

To sum it all up, a happy 10^th anniversary to SciFiEmpire.net