Xanax (The Galactic Overlord), Zoloft (The Dark Sorcerer) and NexSpike (The Inquisitor)
Blazing Reader,
In Monday's post, I shared how many people have observed that the "nex" in Moderna's latest COVID shot, mNexSpike, is Latin for "death."
If that's the case, Moderna's latest gift to the world would translate as DeathSpike. Doesn't DeathSpike sound like a villain from a sci-fi/fantasy story? Indeed, so many drugs have pretty sinister sounding names, for example:
- Xanax (The Galactic Overlord)
- Zoloft (The Dark Sorcerer)
- Lexapro (Lex Luther, if he also came from Krypton)
- Abilify (The Reality-Warping X-Man)
- Risperdal (Interdimensional Reptilian)
- Latuda (of Borg)
When I told my son Jonah about mNexSpike, he said it sounded like a good name for the villains in Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn fantasy trilogy. The novels feature "Inquisitors" who have had metal spikes driven through their eyes, yet they are still able to see. They are super creepy. But their name is sort of hum-drum. Inquisitors? NexSpike would have been far more chilling.
John C.A. Manley
P.S. The Mistborn series has sold over 10 million copies. I'm pretty picky about fantasy novels (too many of them feel like a quest-for-coupons story). But Sanderson's large volumes proved to be easy page-turners with unique and likeable characters (except the NexSpike Inquisitors), plenty of plot twists and a fascinating magic system. If you haven't read the Mistborn trilogy, you can check out the reviews, read the synopsis or buy a copy here.
John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.
