Nicholas King
Bio
I'm a graduate of the University of South Florida's Creative Writing program. Currently, I reside in Florida, where I've spent the majority of life. In my spare time, I write fiction and poetry.
Stories (43/0)
The Stand (2020) Episode 3 Review
I know these reviews may seem like a broken record at this point but it has to be said again: I really don’t like the direction the creators decided to go with for Stephen King’s The Stand (2020). Episode Three, titled “Blank Page”, continues the non-linear storytelling that was used in the previous two episodes. The first focus for this episode is the character of Nadine Cross, the erstwhile bride-to-be of Randall Flagg. We also get further flashbacks of the journeys for Harold Lauder and Fran Goldsmith, specifically the time period where they met Stu Redman. We’re also given our first dip into the backstory of Nick Andros, one of the key figures in the Boulder Free Zone.
By Nicholas King10 months ago in Geeks
Review of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 1
A new season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is upon us and I couldn’t be more excited. I greatly enjoyed the first season of the show. Strange New Worlds harkens back to old-school Star Trek with its combination of self-contained episodic stories and season-long individual character arcs. My question going into this new season was if the infamous sophomore slump would cause a dip in quality for Strange New Worlds. I’m glad to say that is not the case here.
By Nicholas King10 months ago in Geeks
Retrospective Review - "The Terminator"
One of the benefits of my upbringing is that I had a mother who is a nerd. My Mom is a dyed-in-the-wool geek who loves fantasy, comic books, and science fiction. Because of that, I was introduced to these genres at a formative age. One of the first film experiences I can remember was seeing the TV version of James Cameron’s The Terminator. The image of an unstoppable killing machine hunting down a young woman stuck with me over the years. Having recently rewatched the original film, here are my thoughts.
By Nicholas King11 months ago in Geeks
Review of Dune (2021)
When I first heard of the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune, I was hesitant to get excited. Despite the pedigree of Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) at the helm and filled to the brim with a diverse cast of capable actors, Dune has long been considered a book that would be nearly impossible to adapt to the screen. The reason most commonly cited is the Herbert’s heavy reliance on internal dialogue and symbolic imagery, which are not easy to replicate on screen but fit well within the narrative structure of a novel. I’m happy to say my fears were misplaced and Dune: Part One captures much of the essence of Frank Herbert’s magnum opus while only trimming some of the fat (so to speak) from the novel.
By Nicholas King11 months ago in Geeks
The Stand (2020) Episode 2 Review
When I approached the new version of The Stand, I was hopeful. My hopes were quickly dashed in the first episode, which I’ve reviewed here. The second episode, titled “Pocket Savior”, did very little to restore my hope for the series. By choosing to continue the flashback narrative structure, the series keeps killing its forward momentum in the same way that Captain Trips kills the majority of the human population.
By Nicholas King11 months ago in Horror
Cyberpunk - The Dark Future Part 3
In my previous two essays on The Dark Future of R. Talsorian Games’ Cyberpunk tabletop roleplaying game, I covered the fall of the United States government under the rule of the Gang of Four and the Collapse, the epic Depression event that caused America and later the world to fall into chaos. Behind the scenes of these events, though, is the part of the story that is a ubiquitous trope in the Cyberpunk genre: the Mega-Corporations. No Cyberpunk story would be complete without monolithic, gargantuan corporate entities that are basically nation/states unto themselves and Cyberpunk has some of the best depictions of these entities in the genre.
By Nicholas King11 months ago in Geeks
"The Stand" Episode One "The End" Review
The Stand is one of Stephen King’s crowning achievements as an author. Combining the King’s love of the supernatural with the terrifying mundanity of a global pandemic, The Stand still has the power to terrify readers, particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic showed how precarious society really is to face something like the super-flu “Captain Tripps” found in the novel. Unfortunately, the most recent adaptation of the novel, the limited series The Stand (2020) (produced by CBS and available on Paramount Plus) is not what I would call a worthy version of the source material.
By Nicholas King11 months ago in Horror
The Dark Future of Cyberpunk Part 2
When everything collapses, what is left? How do you survive? What kind of person do you become? These fundamental questions are at the heart of every apocalyptic and dystopian fictional setting. Philosophers have pondered these questions endlessly over the centuries. Most people, I think, would agree that humanity in general is pretty bad at working together when the chips are down. Games like R. Talsorian Games’ Cyberpunk series take it a step further and proclaim that while there are no true good guys and plenty of bad guys, there’s a lot of ground in between those two extremes where people actually live.
By Nicholas Kingabout a year ago in Gamers
Out of the Badlands
When people think of dystopian futures, one of the most prevalent ideas comes from the Mad Max films. Devastated towns, open roads, armored vehicles, leather outfits that wouldn’t be amiss at a BDSM convention, and guns. Lots of guns. In the Dark Future of Cyberpunk Red, the Nomad Role fits that bill and then some, providing both players and gamemasters the opportunity to explore what happens when you leave the relative “safety” of the city and venture out on to the open road.
By Nicholas Kingabout a year ago in Gamers
Daggers in the Darkness
Within the World of Darkness that the Vampires of Vampire: The Masquerade inhabit, there are many creatures that can be considered the “boogeyman”. Among these creatures are the clan known as the Banu Haqim (translated as “Sons of Haqim”), otherwise known as the Assamite Clan. One of the original thirteen vampire clans to emerge from the diaspora of the Second City, the Banu Haqim are seen by the other clans as assassins and diablerists. In point of fact, they are scholars, warriors, and the original practitioners of blood magic in the World of Darkness.
By Nicholas Kingabout a year ago in Gamers
Here Come the Fuzz
When the streets of the Dark Future are overrun with shell casings and bodies, the police are just as often there to protect the community as they are to exploit the community. The Lawman Role in Cyberpunk Red presents an interesting conundrum similar to the Exec Role: the moral landscape of the Role provides for rich storytelling opportunities but can go into some truly dark places. When you have the law behind you, it’s far too easy to slip into your worst instincts.
By Nicholas Kingabout a year ago in Gamers