This is a short story written by a guy named Michael Coney. It's call the True Worth Of Ruth Villiers and it fits into the whole dystopian theme:
http://www.cordula.ws/stories/trueworth.html
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Apocalypse and Post-Apocalypse
"The Star" by H.G. Wells and "Speech Sounds" by Octavia Butler both tell the story of death and destruction. In "Speech Sounds" the catalyst was a disease where in "The Star" the focus is on a celestial object hurtling towards the Earth. Both stories involve elements that are beyond our control and both stories end with a glimmer of hope.
"The Star" is about the helplessness the human race would experience if a comet came close enough to do damage to the Earth. The story is one that is told over and over in science fiction. Arthur C. Clarke's novels "The Hammer of God" and "Rendezvous with Rama" both deal with asteroid impacts. Clarke was so concerned with the threat of asteroid impacts that he proposed a system of interlinked satellites called spaceguard to warn of near-earth objects before they could damage human civilization. I think that the appeal of stories about death from space are due to a few things. I think one reason for its appeal is due to our fear of helplessness in the face of utter destruction. In Well's time there was absolutely no defense against objects from space. In the present, chances for defense are a little greater. Regardless, if a massive object were to come close to the Earth we would very likely be as helpless as the people of 1897. I think that the other reason for why these stories are so appealing are due to the egocentric nature of human beings. No one likes the idea of the world still being here after they die. We would rather like to think that the day after we die a giant asteroid comes around and ends the world with us. However the truth is the day after we die some guy's alarm clock is going off and he's going to work. The world just keeps turning.
"Speech Sounds" is less about the destruction of mankind due to a celestial force and more about the barbarism of mankind finally leading it into a degenerative state, In the story a disease has robbed everyone of the power of speech causing them to become degenerate and aggressive, However, by the end of the story there is hope for humanity in the form of two children who have the power of speech and are not as aggressive as the rest of the human population. The story is about the nature of mankind at present and whether or not we will ever move beyond our natural aggressive tendencies.
"The Star" is about the helplessness the human race would experience if a comet came close enough to do damage to the Earth. The story is one that is told over and over in science fiction. Arthur C. Clarke's novels "The Hammer of God" and "Rendezvous with Rama" both deal with asteroid impacts. Clarke was so concerned with the threat of asteroid impacts that he proposed a system of interlinked satellites called spaceguard to warn of near-earth objects before they could damage human civilization. I think that the appeal of stories about death from space are due to a few things. I think one reason for its appeal is due to our fear of helplessness in the face of utter destruction. In Well's time there was absolutely no defense against objects from space. In the present, chances for defense are a little greater. Regardless, if a massive object were to come close to the Earth we would very likely be as helpless as the people of 1897. I think that the other reason for why these stories are so appealing are due to the egocentric nature of human beings. No one likes the idea of the world still being here after they die. We would rather like to think that the day after we die a giant asteroid comes around and ends the world with us. However the truth is the day after we die some guy's alarm clock is going off and he's going to work. The world just keeps turning.
"Speech Sounds" is less about the destruction of mankind due to a celestial force and more about the barbarism of mankind finally leading it into a degenerative state, In the story a disease has robbed everyone of the power of speech causing them to become degenerate and aggressive, However, by the end of the story there is hope for humanity in the form of two children who have the power of speech and are not as aggressive as the rest of the human population. The story is about the nature of mankind at present and whether or not we will ever move beyond our natural aggressive tendencies.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
suggested reading
This is one of the greatest science fiction stories ever written. You should all read this:
http://hermiene.net/short-stories/i_have_no_mouth.html
http://hermiene.net/short-stories/i_have_no_mouth.html
Monday, January 19, 2015
War and Conflict
"That Only a Mother" by Judith Merril and "We See Things Differently" by Bruce Sterling both paint a picture of an unpleasant future. Merril's Future was inspired by the absolutely chilling consequences that were birthed out of the development and detonation of the first nuclear bomb. Sterling's future seems to have been inspired by the conflict currently taking place in the middle east at the time as well as the coming collapse of the soviet union. This trend continues in science fiction as writers continue to predict the future by paying attention to current events.
I'll start my analysis with the story "That Only a Mother" by Judith Merril. Merril writes about a world where nuclear radiation has infected the population's gametes leading to mutations in the population's offspring. This type of story is common throughout the late forties. the bomb changed science fiction in ways that made it less hopeful and more cynical. "That Only A Mother" can be compared to possibly the most well known story concerning the atomic bomb, "Children Of The Atom" by Wilmar H. Shiras. In the story a group of mutant children with high level intelligence must hide in order to escape persecution by the rest of the population. However, Merril's story differs from other atomic stories due to her domestic setting. The story deals with how a mother would handle a mutated child. It also explores the threat of nuclear radiation from the perspective of a housewife. This isn't a perspective that is explored much if at all in science fiction of this period. Merril's character Margaret acts uniquely given the situation of her child. She doesn't seem to care or even notice how mutated her child is until her husband comes home and points it out to her. This unique take on the mother's reaction to the effects of the atomic bomb is why this story is a cut above the rest.
The second story "We See Things Differently" is a later story that takes place in the 21st century. This story instead of being inspired by the atomic bomb was inspired by the conflict in the middle east and the collapse of the soviet union. Sterling interprets these two events as leading to the downfall of the United States and the rise of the middle east into one massive caliphate reminiscent of the Muslim trade empire that existed during the medieval period. Sterling describes the America in his story as a cyberpunk slum where the dollar has plummeted and most of the population is unemployed. He also explores the willingness of humanity to subscribe to the beliefs of charismatic speakers with his rockstar character Tom Boston. The element of this story that I found most interesting however was the conflict between the capricious nature of America's consumerist culture and the obstinate traditionalism of the middle east. throughout the story is the constant reminder that consumerism, greed, and perversion led to the downfall of the United States. I don't necessarily agree with the view that traditionalism is better for a country and consumerism is worse. There are pros and cons for both ways of thinking. Traditionalism is opposed to change and naturally this impedes progress. Consumerism is entirely about change which leads us to forget our values. These perspectives expressed in this story are what make this a very interesting read.
Update: My views on the two stories haven't really changed since I read them. I got new insight into the authors however. Judith Merril sounded familiar to me because I had read her years best science fiction short story collections. I also got more information on Bruce sterling and his ideas about life and technology.
I'll start my analysis with the story "That Only a Mother" by Judith Merril. Merril writes about a world where nuclear radiation has infected the population's gametes leading to mutations in the population's offspring. This type of story is common throughout the late forties. the bomb changed science fiction in ways that made it less hopeful and more cynical. "That Only A Mother" can be compared to possibly the most well known story concerning the atomic bomb, "Children Of The Atom" by Wilmar H. Shiras. In the story a group of mutant children with high level intelligence must hide in order to escape persecution by the rest of the population. However, Merril's story differs from other atomic stories due to her domestic setting. The story deals with how a mother would handle a mutated child. It also explores the threat of nuclear radiation from the perspective of a housewife. This isn't a perspective that is explored much if at all in science fiction of this period. Merril's character Margaret acts uniquely given the situation of her child. She doesn't seem to care or even notice how mutated her child is until her husband comes home and points it out to her. This unique take on the mother's reaction to the effects of the atomic bomb is why this story is a cut above the rest.
The second story "We See Things Differently" is a later story that takes place in the 21st century. This story instead of being inspired by the atomic bomb was inspired by the conflict in the middle east and the collapse of the soviet union. Sterling interprets these two events as leading to the downfall of the United States and the rise of the middle east into one massive caliphate reminiscent of the Muslim trade empire that existed during the medieval period. Sterling describes the America in his story as a cyberpunk slum where the dollar has plummeted and most of the population is unemployed. He also explores the willingness of humanity to subscribe to the beliefs of charismatic speakers with his rockstar character Tom Boston. The element of this story that I found most interesting however was the conflict between the capricious nature of America's consumerist culture and the obstinate traditionalism of the middle east. throughout the story is the constant reminder that consumerism, greed, and perversion led to the downfall of the United States. I don't necessarily agree with the view that traditionalism is better for a country and consumerism is worse. There are pros and cons for both ways of thinking. Traditionalism is opposed to change and naturally this impedes progress. Consumerism is entirely about change which leads us to forget our values. These perspectives expressed in this story are what make this a very interesting read.
Update: My views on the two stories haven't really changed since I read them. I got new insight into the authors however. Judith Merril sounded familiar to me because I had read her years best science fiction short story collections. I also got more information on Bruce sterling and his ideas about life and technology.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Alien Encounters
The stories "out of all them bright stars" by Nancy Kress and "Passengers" by Robert Silverberg showcase two different perspectives concerning the hypothetical alien. In "Passengers," the alien is depicted as an unseen invader that latches onto a person's brain and causes the person to act against common social norms. In this story the alien is just a physical manifestation of the rejection of social norms. This idea of casting aside social norms was quite prevalent in the late sixties when this short story was written. The same ideas about refusing to conform to societies standards can be found in the novel "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein. In "Stranger in a Strange Land" Heinlein explores the concept of free love and nonviolence using a child who was born on mars and raised by martians. The novel became very successful and helped start the hippie counterculture of the late sixties; Much to the Chagrin of Heinlein.
"out of all them bright stars " by Nancy Kress is an entirely different perspective on the alien. The story is an allegory for racism which can be seen in many short stories and novels in scifi. The idea that the alien will experience discrimination and hatred by us has almost become cliche in science fiction. However, Nancy Kress took it a step further and discussed those who aren't hateful and angry but refuse to do anything about the people who are. That aspect of the story kept it from being mundane and made it memorable.
It is impossible to write an accurate story about an alien of course because we haven't made contact with an alien race as of yet. Nor do we have any real evidence that there is life out there in the first place. No matter how painful it may be we must accept the possibility that space is dead and that this planet is the only one in the universe that supports life. This may not be true and there may be other worlds out there capable of maintaining life but that life is bound to be very different than the life on this planet. We look out into the stars searching for ourselves and I don't believe we're going to find ourselves out there. In the words of J.B.S. Haldane "The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, it is queerer than we can suppose." However science fiction is two words and not one. That last part is fiction and that allows us to speculate on ourselves and create alien worlds that are but mirrors into the recesses of the human soul.
Update:
There are a few things that changed my perspectives about the stories above. One thing that altered my perspective about "Out Of All of Them Bright Stars" was the realization that the main character was a woman. Somehow I had read the entire story without picking up on the main character's gender. I read all of her dialogue assuming that the main character was meant to be androgynous. Knowing now that the character is female makes it clearer as to her feelings about the situation i the diner. My perspective hasn't really changed about "Passengers" Though. I still feel that the passengers represent innate sexual desires within the human psyche. I subscribe to the ideas put forth by Freud and believe that these ideas were represented by Silverberg.
"out of all them bright stars " by Nancy Kress is an entirely different perspective on the alien. The story is an allegory for racism which can be seen in many short stories and novels in scifi. The idea that the alien will experience discrimination and hatred by us has almost become cliche in science fiction. However, Nancy Kress took it a step further and discussed those who aren't hateful and angry but refuse to do anything about the people who are. That aspect of the story kept it from being mundane and made it memorable.
It is impossible to write an accurate story about an alien of course because we haven't made contact with an alien race as of yet. Nor do we have any real evidence that there is life out there in the first place. No matter how painful it may be we must accept the possibility that space is dead and that this planet is the only one in the universe that supports life. This may not be true and there may be other worlds out there capable of maintaining life but that life is bound to be very different than the life on this planet. We look out into the stars searching for ourselves and I don't believe we're going to find ourselves out there. In the words of J.B.S. Haldane "The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, it is queerer than we can suppose." However science fiction is two words and not one. That last part is fiction and that allows us to speculate on ourselves and create alien worlds that are but mirrors into the recesses of the human soul.
Update:
There are a few things that changed my perspectives about the stories above. One thing that altered my perspective about "Out Of All of Them Bright Stars" was the realization that the main character was a woman. Somehow I had read the entire story without picking up on the main character's gender. I read all of her dialogue assuming that the main character was meant to be androgynous. Knowing now that the character is female makes it clearer as to her feelings about the situation i the diner. My perspective hasn't really changed about "Passengers" Though. I still feel that the passengers represent innate sexual desires within the human psyche. I subscribe to the ideas put forth by Freud and believe that these ideas were represented by Silverberg.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Introduction
My Name is Joey and I have always been attracted to scifi and fantasy. I think the thing that draws people to scifi and fantasy is a need to dream of a better world and to address the problems of our present world. The title of this blog is derived from a line in Carl Sagan's Novel "Contact." Ellie meets a representative from the civilization that sent the signal and the alien says,“You're an interesting species. An interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you're not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.” I think that the This quote epitomizes scifi and fantasy. We are all capable of both beautiful dreams and horrible nightmares. Scifi is our escape from the nightmares of this world as well as a stage where the nightmares can be confronted and overcome. I'm going to make this blog about the deeper meanings that are expressed in scifi and fantasy. At the root of science fiction there is science and within science their are two different camps; the unifiers and the diversifiers. Some scientists subscribe to the notion that the universe is infinite. These are the diversifiers. Questions are asked with the expectation that one will acquire more questions. Other scientists subscribe to the notion that the universe is finite. These are the unifiers. Questions are asked with the expectation that answers will be found. By extension science fiction writers fall under these categories. Some science fiction writers believe that human innovation knows no bounds and that one day we will become the gods that we once believed in. Other writers believe that humanity has limitations and that our own vices will lead to our inevitable downfall. These different perspectives make science fiction a wonderful landscape for the expression of ideas and I am going to use this blog to explore those ideas.
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