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I've not read In The Abyss (well, now I have). It shows because when I read the title I somehow associated it with more of a scenario you'd find in a Lovecraft story. Idk why but I was somewhat expecting some sort of gigantic monstrosity hidden in the dark depths. xD
Spoiler:
Granted, Lovecraft too made use of some sort of fish people. So having a society of reptile-humanoid creatures at the bottom of the ocean isn't too far from that. I kind of wish there had been a little bit more, maybe some more exploration of the very religious lifestyle they lived. I know that there was a comparison with how people at the time would have reacted if a random object where to fall from the sky. So a lot of it comes down to filling the blanks by yourself. But I'm still sad we didn't get much out of the second journey down to the bottom floor. For all we know he might have never reached his goal. I'm not criticizing the open ending, btw. I think I would have liked to get a little bit more before the ending; instead of a quick summary of "he went down again and we've never heard of him again". But maybe that's a good thing because it means I felt invested? xD
A while ago I bought a collection of Jules Verne stories that I've been reading through quite a bit. I thought that maybe Frritt-Flacc was part of it, but it wasn't. I looked up a translation and put it onto my ebook reader. I appreciate the app, but I really don't like reading stuff on my phone all that much. ^^"
Spoiler:
The story of a greedy doctor who only does his services for the sake of making money. I have to admit, I didn't like this one as much as I hoped I would. Maybe I've read too many better J.V. stories at this point? Maybe it's that image of this Christmas movie whose name slipped my mind (the one with the old man and the three ghosts) that just stuck in my mind throughout the entire time?
It definitely feels like one of his not so great works, tbh.
I'm actually reading George Tekai's autobiography, "To the Stars ", about his experience as a Japanese-American in an internment camp after being abducted with his family during WWII.
I am excited to welcome another adventurer aboard to travel through time and space with us! Just added our new shipmate Fairy's name to my captain's log!
Also congrats to Megan on receiving the first Victorious Voyager badge!
I am adding more short stories to celebrate Halloween.
Here are my takes on the last shorts.
In the Abyss
Spoiler:
Interesting that Megan mentioned Lovecraft because I did read an essay comparing our mysterious residents at the bottom of the sea to Deep Ones from the Cthulhu Mythos series, and that was actually how this HG Wells story came to my attention.
The mystical way the underwater civilization was portrayed does intrigue me, so I can understand the hypnotic pull to know them more. At the same time I felt so relieved and glad when that cable snapped on the first encounter because I felt the ceremony was going to go badly for Elstead, culminating in his death. When I saw the altar, as well as the remnants from other human vessels, my thoughts went immediately to human sacrifice. I think these lifeforms ritually kill lost travelers who stumble into their domain, and when Elstead journeyed back to reunite with them he was signing his own death warrant. My suspicion is that he did ultimately make it back to them, and they finished what they started last time.
But it is open-ended, maybe he got there and was celebrated as a king or living god, and is happily living out his days? I kinda don't think so though, because I think his passion for science would have led him to continue sharing his findings with the rest of the world, if he could. He could also have just got lost, or experienced his apparatus malfunction again and died from lack of oxygen, that was what almost happened to him the first time, so it's still possible that the strangers could have been completely benevolent. Or maybe the aquatic humanoids engaged in a kind of magical transfer in their rite and made him like they were? What if these merfolk-like beings were all once human? Lots of possibilities. I'm okay not knowing exactly. Despite breathing a sigh of relief at the first mission being aborted because I think something more sinister was afoot than the protagonist did, at the same time glad I was that the story wasn't truly really over there. I think it wouldn't have been as effective had his journey ended with just his recovery and recollection of events, that would have been kinda anticlimactic. I think it's more interesting that he returned back to the sea, and it was a one way trip this time, even if we may never know for certain what it was that kept him from coming home. It's on brand for Wells not to reveal the ultimate fate of his characters sometimes.
My thoughts on Fritt Flacc.
Spoiler:
I think it's an interesting concept, but when I first read it I felt the story was not fully developed. It was an unexpected choice for the New Perspective Collection, a series produced by Novozymes, adapting different literary classics to interactive digital formats, since this isn't one of Verne's best known works.
That being said, though Fritt Flacc may be rough, this app I think did a great job shining a light on what this tale has going for it, and that's the quirky village of Luktrop itself. I think this is a story that lends itself very well to a visual format, and seeing the fictional stormy seaside town recreated with it's volcanos and Moorish architectural influence, did capture my imagination, and by reading this story a second time, but in a different way, I am re-evaluating my opinion, and think it's actually a kinda cool and original setting that the plot takes place in. Though Jules Verne's Fritt Flacc is almost more of a short-short than a short story, there is still some fair world-building for such a brief tale, down to even a fictional currency.
I like the idea at least of the plot twist, I think it felt a little rushed when I read this short story once before, but as I mentioned I think it's a very good story adapt to other mediums, and if this were a screenplay for a short independent film or episode of a television series and had a great actor to portray the horror and anguish Doctor Trifulgas feels at his revelation about his patient's identity then that would speak volumes, without a word of additional dialogue. I believe you could take Fritt Flacc and make a great episode of say Tales from the Dark Side following these exact same events and situation, maybe it even was at some point. I think it could also translate good to different time periods and be relevant today in 2021 as a commentary on our healthcare system.
While I agree with Megan that it might be a lesser work by Jules Verne, Fritt Flacc is starting to grow on me a little. And yes, I did totally think of Dickens A Christmas Carol too when I read this!! It's like an alternate reality where Scrooge never repents.
Reading is always optional on this starship, but if you join in you too can get a bronze voyager badge.
Silver badges will be pending upon completion of novels. There will be other events to get badges too, like maybe some movie watchalongs. I am going to creative.
Today I have The Beautiful People by Charles Beaumont. It was first published in 1952, and is about a Dystopian society where at age 19 young men and women undergo a surgical "transformation" to become the perfect human specimen. I think this story's influence can be felt in other content, Gattaca is one such movie for instance that reminds me a little of this work of science-fiction. If you enjoy the original Twilight Zone series, (which featured teleplays from many celebrated writers like Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury,) you may remember an episode called #12 Looks Like Me. It was adapted from The Beautiful People. Beaumont wrote a lot of powerful episodes of The Twilight Zone like The Howling Man, Shadow Play, Long-Distance Call, Perchance to Dream, and Miniature. He may have passed away at a young age, but he lives on in his writings still.
Project Guttenberg presents the printed short story to read here with vintage cover illustrations. I also linked to their audio reading.
I have another story from one of my favorite sci-fiction writers Phillip K Dick. I really enjoyed this 1953 horror short story called The Hanging Stranger, about a man who finds the body of an unknown person hanged in the street, and his descent into terror.
The short story can be read here at American Literature.com. I am also giving a link to an audio reading.
I only post stories for the forum that haven't had their copyright status renewed, but on my own wondrous journey to the land of imagination I am currently reading (and absolutely loving) I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, and plan to enjoy 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami next. So I should be earning myself a badge in good time. Anything sci-fi you read on your own at any time also counts towards a badge, no restrictions, all that counts is the love of learning and exploring.
I'm actually reading George Tekai's autobiography, "To the Stars ", about his experience as a Japanese-American in an internment camp after being abducted with his family during WWII.
Here's a pretty left field sci-fi recommendation for all you lovely peeps, and there's a good chance you haven't watched it... it's actually a Disney movie!
Atlantis: The Lost Empire is probably the best sci-fi Disney has ever done. It's very much a nod to Jules Verne, and is well done imo. It has an excellent cast too including - looking at you here Caite - Leonard Nimoy.
Here's a pretty left field sci-fi recommendation for all you lovely peeps, and there's a good chance you haven't watched it... it's actually a Disney movie!
Atlantis: The Lost Empire is probably the best sci-fi Disney has ever done. It's very much a nod to Jules Verne, and is well done imo. It has an excellent cast too including - looking at you here Caite - Leonard Nimoy.
These short stories so far have always been somewhat of a mixed bag.
The Beautiful People:
Spoiler:
I've only recently watches some analyses about the beauty industry and how the few pretty much ingrain into our minds what we consider beautiful by constantly flooding us with their interpretations of it. In that regard I found The Beautiful People pretty interesting. We don't really get to see how the society developed into that notion of having to become "perfect" from a certain age on, though. Did beauty ops become affordable first to a point where it became a normal thing for anyone to be considered? Did at some point a sort of collectivist mindset take hold of society and instead of being a choice it became a requirement? Apparently it must have been not considering that both father and grandfather of Mary clearly regretting undergoing surgery. But then when Mary decided she wanted to stay the way she was everyone else used everything in their power to force her to undergo surgery. It makes me wonder if its a stab at society's notion to treat women as something lesser human beings who need to adhere to beauty standards whereas men get somewhat of a free pass. (Though the cynicist in me doubts that).
As for the ending: I think she'll keep her individuality in part similarly to how both her father and grandfather did. For all we know this could also be the seed to a future change where more and more people start questioning those procedures. Well, we'll never see, I suppose.
The Hanging Man:
Spoiler:
I'm going to be honest: I did not at all like this one. The writing stile felt very basic at times. At lot of cliches were used. In particular I did not like Ed going home to his family and then playing the crazy man script by the book.
I'm also not into the whole replacement part. This may in part also be due to how the far right loves to talk about certain groups trying to replace other groups (not going to go too deep into that, because its stupid). Doesn't help that this story in particular raises a couple red flags that I'm not particularly a fan of. Example: the invading species being depicted as giant flies, something that's supposed to create disgust into the reader. Also the police guy in the end randomly dropping some bible stuff (albeit as a sort of deception to gain Eds trust) I thought to be weird...
I don't know. I need to see if other short stories interest me or if I just keep skipping out...until then I'll continue reading 1984. I've gotten about 2/3 through the book and it's gotten now really interesting as a lot of lore is being dropped all at once, explaining quite a bit. So far, it definitely doesn't disappoint.
These short stories so far have always been somewhat of a mixed bag.
The Beautiful People:
Spoiler:
I've only recently watches some analyses about the beauty industry and how the few pretty much ingrain into our minds what we consider beautiful by constantly flooding us with their interpretations of it. In that regard I found The Beautiful People pretty interesting. We don't really get to see how the society developed into that notion of having to become "perfect" from a certain age on, though. Did beauty ops become affordable first to a point where it became a normal thing for anyone to be considered? Did at some point a sort of collectivist mindset take hold of society and instead of being a choice it became a requirement? Apparently it must have been not considering that both father and grandfather of Mary clearly regretting undergoing surgery. But then when Mary decided she wanted to stay the way she was everyone else used everything in their power to force her to undergo surgery. It makes me wonder if its a stab at society's notion to treat women as something lesser human beings who need to adhere to beauty standards whereas men get somewhat of a free pass. (Though the cynicist in me doubts that).
As for the ending: I think she'll keep her individuality in part similarly to how both her father and grandfather did. For all we know this could also be the seed to a future change where more and more people start questioning those procedures. Well, we'll never see, I suppose.
The Hanging Man:
Spoiler:
I'm going to be honest: I did not at all like this one. The writing stile felt very basic at times. At lot of cliches were used. In particular I did not like Ed going home to his family and then playing the crazy man script by the book.
I'm also not into the whole replacement part. This may in part also be due to how the far right loves to talk about certain groups trying to replace other groups (not going to go too deep into that, because its stupid). Doesn't help that this story in particular raises a couple red flags that I'm not particularly a fan of. Example: the invading species being depicted as giant flies, something that's supposed to create disgust into the reader. Also the police guy in the end randomly dropping some bible stuff (albeit as a sort of deception to gain Eds trust) I thought to be weird...
I don't know. I need to see if other short stories interest me or if I just keep skipping out...until then I'll continue reading 1984. I've gotten about 2/3 through the book and it's gotten now really interesting as a lot of lore is being dropped all at once, explaining quite a bit. So far, it definitely doesn't disappoint.
Wow, you pose some interesting questions Megan, and have brought up points that I hadn't thought of!
Beautiful People
Spoiler:
Did beauty ops become affordable first to a point where it became a normal thing for everything? Hmmm... I don't think there's necessarily less cost involved with cosmetic surgery. I mean it might have gotten cheaper, but there could also plausibly be even greater expense than ever with new research, more advanced equipment, increased robot assistance, better drugs. I suspect everyone undergoes the transformation because the technology used in the surgical procedures now is paid for by the state, absorbed into other public services, with the salaries of the surgeons controlled by the government, along with the prices of any drugs used on the patients, and there probably just isn't a commercial beauty industry opperating with private companies in the marketplace performing surgery any longer.
There's some allusion to space colonization and recent wars in this short story, so what if the prevalence of cosmetic surgery had coincided with this? Say large percentages of the human population had been disfigured during global and even interstellar conflicts, so the demand for corrective surgery greatly increased, with the government frequently sanctioning reconstructive surgeries and funding their research as crises continued, whatever substance they use to keep people from aging was discovered in the process, and having enhanced bodies gradually became just a part of life for future generations and viewed as an essential public health service.
There would be a poignant parallel to our past here since many of the modern plastic surgery techniques were developed after WWI to reconstruct the faces of injured soldiers.
I'd like to think that Mary does keep her individuality as well, though the universal response of disbelief to her request to be left alone does make me wonder if something more than just physical appearances change after the transformation, and people become easier to manipulate. For all we know brain damage could be done during the process, not something as extreme as a labotomy, but more akin to the confusion and memory loss someone could suffer from electroshock therapy--Mary's mother mentions receiving "electronic treatments" when the transformation is ione, so I suspect it isn't purely a cosmetic surgery. She also mentioned that they give you pills. Now she might mean just like antibiotics like you get today after surgery, but they could alternatively be mood-elevating drugs that even do neurological damage over long term. It does seem to be a society that relies heavily on medication.
Her father did appear to retain a strong sense of who he was, so perhaps not, but I'm any case I think the trauma of having this radical change forced on her and being denied her bodily autonomy will still take it's toll on Mary. I worry that she will have always be sad and die before her time under mysterious circumstances
I like especially what you have to add about the narrative potentially being a stab at society's notion to treat women as something lesser human beings who need to adhere to beauty standards whereas men get somewhat of a free pass. All worthwhile discussion! I'm glad to have you here to stir the conversation.
The Hanging Stranger
Spoiler:
That's okay if you don't like it, not everything is for everyone, we all have personal preferences, and it's cool if this is not a motif you enjoy. And yes, PKD's voice I would say is a more straightforward style, so I can understand the critique of the writing feeling basic. It is indeed a simple story, yet also I thought it was effective at being unnerving and suspenseful.
I didn't see it as cliche, but it is definitely representative of content that was popular in the 1950s, the time the author was writing, where you get staples of the sci-fi genre like The Thing From Another World and Invasion of the Body Snatchers--that in particular reminds me of The Hanging Stranger, but Stranger came out a few years earlier I think. Many of these stories are about alien invaders and being taken over, but I think it's something deeper going on than a reflection of xenophobic attitudes towards particular groups of people like immigrants, that would be disappointing to me as well if that was the intent of the author, but that wasn't the interpretation I took away from the story, though I think you raise some important concerns.
Keep in mind that this and a lot of similar titles in the U.S were written right after WWII and during the Cold War, so there's a more generalized fear in the climate of being spied on, conspiracies, and infiltratation or overthrow of the government, and I think that may influence the theme, fear of losing an actual war, rather than a cultural identity politics-based one.
I don't want to get too much into politics either, but I probably should mention some of the alternative interpretations that might the broaden the reading experience a little more, and make it a bit more interesting to think, even if it's still not ultimately a story you like.
Some critics have examined the theme of alien takeover as a metaphor for Stalinism and a criticism of the communitst political party of the Russian Federation. While others have read it in entirely the opposite away, and not about political oppression in the Soviet Union, but instead a critique of the U.S government's own repressiveness, namely McCarthyism and loss of civil liberties under the House of Un-American Activities Committee, which writers and artists were often targets of for making content deemed subversive. I find it interesting that in The Hanging Stranger it's the police officers who are portrayed as sinister, which I think is more suggestive of a distrust of the government institutions, and their authority, a lot of Phil's writings often show the darker side of the goverment in dystopian societies and alternative timelines.
Now the religious imagery near the end I admit was an unexpected and odd inclusion. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. My initial thought was that Loyce was getting more paranoid and hysteriacal like he probably did with the guy on the bus, when he killed someone who could have been a friend to him, ultimately isolating himself further. I wasn't sure how reliable he was as narrator he was at this point, and if there was meant to be any validity to his claims of discovering hidden meanings in the bible. I thought the commissioner to keep him calm may have just been nodding along. If what he believed was right though, and the extraterrestrials were demons depicted in religious texts that humanity had secretly fought crusades against, then I think that actually could have made for some interesting sequels personally.
I appreciate you taking the time to read some new stories with us. One of the things that I wanted to do was post literature that members had never read before to make for a fresh experience, so at least that's been accomplished. I thought of sharing Frankenstein or the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for horror month, but because I knew you had already read them I had to change tactics so nobody felt they had to read the same story twice. Now that November is here I was planning on posting 1984, but it sounds like you have already beat me to the punch and have almost finished reading it, so it might not be necessary, unless others mention that they want to read it in the clubhouse, then I don't mind reading it again. 1984 is a great book, so I am really happy you are enjoying it. Let me know when you finish and share your final thoughts, and I will be sure upgrade your badge tier to silver!
Since most of us are right now reading a lot of different titles of the sci-fi genre in our own time I might not post any new reading for awhile, and just give everybody some time with their own picks. Fairy is absorbing To the Stars, George Takei's biography. You've got 1984 in your library. Caite has the Time Machine. Meanwhile I am re-reading Dune. I read it freshman year I think, but wanted to go back to this novel and see if everything is the way I remembered it after seeing the new movie adaptation. So far I am enjoying every page of my hypnotic journey back to Arrakis.
I finished 1984 a little while ago. It was very interesting but also very dark. And even though I like myself a dark story, I think I'll take a little bit of a break for now. xD
Spoiler:
Whenever I think of dystopian stories there always comes to mind this type of setting: you have an oppressive, usually corporate, government that, after a nuclear war, has taken the reigns and rules with an iron fist. There's a stark contrast in how people live. Different, well distinct classes exist with a huge majority being those in the lower ranks living in a very dirty unhygienic slum-like environment. The protagonist of that story is usually someone who manages to scrape by fairly well but at some point they realize that they need to make a change. At that point they usually team up with the secret resistance and from that point on things happen and the government falls and everyone is freed. That's a very basic plot I've run into countless times in games, books and whatever else.
Needless to say, I was expecting that to be the baseline of 1984, as well. And to a point it definitely turned out to be such. But little did I know how much this story would subvert that expectation.
To summarize the story a little bit: nuclear weaponry were dropped and the old society got destroyed. The countries as we know them ceased to exist and in their stead three different, equally matched, superpowers emerged. They're called Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. For years now they've been in constant war, only making little progress in their endeavors.
The book takes place in London, which is now part of Oceania. Capitalism is considered dead and in its stead a new ideology has taken place that is known as Ingsoc. It's actually never made clear in the story itself but that is very much the abbreviation for "English Socialism".
The society is made up of two factions. The first one is The Party which itself is divided into for sections. On top of it is Big Brother. He's an entity that nobody really knows anything about. The only thing people know about him is his posters being everywhere. On those posters being what's supposedly his face accompanied with the slogan "Big Brother is watching you".
The other sections are The Inner Party and the Outer Party. The former differing from the latter due to having slightly more privileges. Their main work place is in the different ministries that exist in order to maintain the order of the country. They're also being constantly watched by means of a certain device called Telescreen.
Finally, right at the bottom of the hierarchie are the Proles. Being at the bottom they're considered to not be particularly intelligent and as a result they're not even being considered worth watching. There are also slaved but little is actually told about them.
A middle aged man named Winston is the protagonist of the story. He works at the Ministry of Truth where he spends most of his day "correcting mistakes" made in older literature. Basically any prediction he party made that did not come true is retroactively corrected.
Right at the beginning of the story we get to know Winston when he already struggles with his believes into the party. We also get to know about a resistance lead by a man called Goldstein who's being openly hated by the populace which we see during one of the daily events called "The 2 Minute Hate" which is a sort of TV program that's being played regularly.
In the beginning in particular a lot of Winstons thoughts is conveyed via his diary entries. Writing a diary also is illegal but also it is not. It's one of the many contradictions that are normalized in that society and often times associated with the very ideologically charged words Doublethink and Thoughtcrime. There's been a lot of work to move on from the old languages (refered to as Oldspeak) to the new language Newspeak. It's a very simplified language with a lot of words and meanings purged out of it. The book also had an appendix that explained in more detail what the language entails and its three different vocabularies.
Winston is basically at this point trying to hide his doubts from the Toughtpolice, an institution made to catch Thoughtcriminals in order to reeducate them. Over time he allows himself to fall out of his believes more and more and ultimately he teams up with the resistance in order to take down the party no matter what. However, things turned out different that he expected...
Needless to say, there's no happy end. In fact as we know more about how the society works the more we also learn that we can't even tell what is right or wrong. Winston didn't actually learn anything new. All information, including that one he gets from the supposed resistance is information that is already publicly available. And any information publicly available is very much controlled by The Party. Ironically, what this means is that even the reader only get to know what The Party wants us to know. xD
The society is pretty interesting in that its main goal is to preserve hierarchie. Because older societies always failed due to individuals greedily longing for power, this society tries to remove all surplus of money and other valuables by pouring them into worthless and outdated war machines. War in that sense is meant to not lead anywhere other than keeping supply low while also making society more compliant due to national identity politics, hunting down and reeducating traitors to the nation (only shooting them after they've already been atoned for their crimes) as well as removing any sort of words and meanings of words from the language (The word Free for example being purged of its meaning of "individual freedom" and "political freedom".). They call it "War is Peace".
In fact, even at the end of the story we actually never learn if there even is a resistance or if it is just another one of those lies made up by The Party. We also never get to meet Big Brother.
There's probably more that I could say and I've most likely forgotten a large amount...well, like I said: I really liked the story and its darker turns and the social stuff and all. But for now I'll probably need to take a break for now from these types of stories. xD
The captain is back from a voyage of her own, just a survey mission, gathering data for Intel. They need to know more about the habituality of star systems outside of our own. It feels good to be back. It's like being home, seeing wonderful nendoroids, Legos and all that good stuff.
Incidentally, I have brought back some light reading from the library of my commander. This is the month of Halloween, and just because we're not on Earth right now doesn't mean we can't celebrate old traditions from my home planet, right? This is a time for things that go bump in the night!
Knowing that I am not the only one in the club who reads H. G. Wells, or at least expressed interest in reading some of his work, I say why not post a tale from the father of science-fiction himself?
Have you ever read In the Abyss? It's a short story from 1896 about a scientific expedition to the bottom of the sea, and what oddities might lurk in these dark waters.
I have included both the full text of In the Abyss in e-copy, as well an audiobook version for your convenience, because some of us may be more visual, while others might be more auditory. Two different roads to get to the same destination, depending on your preferred mode of travel.
If you prefer a paper or hardback copy of In the Abyss this short story can be found in a volume of collected works by H G Wells known as The Plattner Story and Others.
I wanted to present short stories from time to time for spotlighted sci-fi reading because we all have different schedules and may read at different pace, and be in the mood for something that you can read at a fast pace. Full-length novels will also be coming should you chose to read along. I just decided to make the first challenge quickies.
In the Abyss was a new one for me, and I am glad I read it. It's not my all-time favorite science-fiction story, but I still enjoyed it, and found the descriptive writing quite beautiful, and like how it weaves this dreamy, otherworldly atmosphere while underwater. It also has nice suspense. While there is some creepiness, whether or not you consider it part of the genre horror I think will depend on your interpretation of the ending, because this is a story that's part mystery as well as sci-fi, and I think some of the events of the story are open to discussion. I have my own thoughts, but will save it for later to avoid spoilers, and I will hide any take I make with spoiler tags.
I think this one is also a safe story to start a read-along because even at it's darkest, it's still not a story that is pure nightmare fuel, and good for introductory reading that blurs the line between horror and scifi because I don't know what horror threshold everybody has since it's primarily a sci-fi club, and don't want to scare anybody too badly, if you want something with more graphic horor from H.G Wells then try The Sea Raiders instead.
I have something else on this cold day in October to share with lovers of sci-fi, fantasy and horror, a short story by Jules Verne, who is also the father of science fiction. A family can have two fathers after all! This gothic tale published in 1884 is titled Frritt-Flacc, and is definitely more paranormal than scifi, feels like an Edgar Allen Poe story. It's about a greedy doctor in a strange town called Luktrop, who gets an emergency call one night.
Frritt-Flacc will be presented in a very special way. It has it's own app, which you can download for free, and read a complete translation of in either English, Spanish or Portuguese with animated illustrations and sound affects. I thought it was a really fun idea and had to share it with you guys, it's almost like a minigame. There's also some bonus content with a short biography of Verne, discussion of the text and suggestions for science experiments.
Strangely there wasn't an option to read the text in the original French as far as I saw, but I have remedied that and included audiobook of Frritt-Flacc in it's native French out of respect for the author.
I hope you enjoy. The read-along is totally optional, if you decide to join in and comment then, awesome you win a bronze Voyager badge. You can read at any time, no deadline. If you are interested in reading, but would rather not read these particular titles then don't worry, there will be more posts with more stories and plenty of opportunities to travel. As you read, you badge will change from bronze, to silver to gold. Also as reminder you can undertake reading any science fiction title you want, and that too would count towards a badge, I am limited to posting publicly titles that would be in the public domain, but you're free to go on any adventure on your own through space and time, and am excited to hear about Yevgeny Zamyatin and EM Forester being read right now :)
Thank you for posting audiobooks for those that need them btw <3
I finally finished In The Abyss!
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to take part, but there will never be a chance of me keeping pace to be totally honest :)
I hadn't encountered this story before, yet still it seemed incredibly familiar. I'm sure a lot of you will understand just what I mean by that.
Major spoilers follow:
Spoiler:
I very much enjoyed it! I actually loved the open ending, it felt perfect for this particular story. I don't think anyone should assume that not returning means he perished. Perhaps he was accept into their civilisation and decided to stay? That's the beauty of the ending imo. Often an open ending is quite lazy, but here I feel it makes the story :)
It looks like Megan's badge just upgraded in tier, and Starlight is getting their first Victorious badge! I am happy as captain to confer these rare gems on you.
I have a quick question, would you guys be interested in simple do-at-home science experiments as an activity for the club sometimes? Things like how to make invisible ink or observing the moon.
Or maybe something more artistic even like a contest to draw your own space ship or fictional planet? If you don't have a Victorious Voyager badge then it would earn you a bronze badge, if you have a bronze one already then you upgrade to silver and if you have the silver then it turns your badge gold.
Had an unexpected day-off today so used some of the time to read the short stories and the mobile-story-game thing at last.
In the Abyss:
Spoiler:
Kinda boring until Elstead was overdue resurfacing with his diving bubble tbh. The description of his journey down and what he sees was probably the most exciting part for me. In particular the descriptions of the human-like creatures and the 'city' he was taken to.
Elstead supposedly being worshiped just made me chuckle, as well the following bit of scientific men coming up with valid explanations of why it would be possible.
The ending might be open, but I'm relatively sure Elstead is dead, simply because he has limited oxygen and nothing is indicated at any point that can serve to replenish it down below. Whether or not his story was real or just a hallucination from descending and ascending too fast I'll leave out of this.
It was a nice account of an underwater city at any rate =3
Still a decent story despite the boring beginning.
The Beautiful People:
Spoiler:
"Mary was a misfit.
She didn't want to be beautiful. And she wasted time doing mad things—like eating and sleeping."
A story of a society were everyone has to be perfect and everything is based on looks.... sounds like a nightmare to me. It's the little imperfections that make you you... @_@
Anyway, Mary not wanting the transformation is apparently quite the big deal as everyone is supposed to like yearn for it or something @_@ They actually do some rubbish tests to see if she's sane which had me go 'what the heck' xD
People no longer sleep. People don't have books anymore. I don't know what they do for lunch (it wasn't clearly mentioned, but implied it's not like how people eat lunch now), but I'm imagining like some sort of paste or tube food D=
I can't help but feel bad for Mary T^T
Her own mother even says "But you're so ugly, dear!" at some point D=
No happy ending either. The big machine making everyone into perfect machines who unthinkingly follow their doctrine... yare yare....
Though perhaps.... Mary can start an underground resistance... viva la resistance! =3
This one was easier to read. No parts where I was bored ^.^
The Hanging Stranger:
Spoiler:
Oh wow... this one ping-ponged me back n forth a bit xD
First I thought this was a society where everything is like done orderly, and anything that deviates can't be real so obviously it's intended to be that way.
Then I thought Ed was a drunk or something and people were humoring him by saying they saw the body.
Then as the story progressed I was like, he must be nuts or something xD I mean... He flees from the cops saying he knows every cop in town so that they coudln't be cops.... xD
That patch of Darkness over City hall with things descending from them. "Giant insects of some kind."
Him killing his own son who suddenly resembled an insect too. Thought he was batty for sure at this point.
Then at the end they hang him and someone else seemingly starts down the same road... making me question if there really is an invasion by insect people. I mean, if an invading force can control people's mind then anyone unaffected is gonna be made out to be the crazy person.
It could also just be his own crazy interpretation of what went down though, as he was hanged for killing people, if not for the final bit where someone else appears to be going down the same path.
The thing is that in that last part it's not actually revealed what is hanging from the telephone pole, just implied...
This one was a nice read too though =D
Fritt-Flacc:
Spoiler:
Least favorite of these four....
Apparently the title is the sound of the beating wind and the torrential downpour... lol
A town with an erupting volcano during a hurricane. A girl knocking on a doctor's door about her dying father. A greedy doctor (Trifulgas) who only treats the rich who pay in advance.
He refuses to treat the girl's father/wife's husband/the mother's son aka the biscuit maker, but eventually goes anyway when the pay is high enough. When he arrives he finds his own house and himself in his deathbed instead.
Can't help but wonder if his venturing out wasn't a fever dream instead and he was on his deathbed already since the start? Or perhaps he perished along the way...
It looks like Megan's badge just upgraded in tier, and Starlight is getting their first Victorious badge! I am happy as captain to confer these rare gems on you.
I have a quick question, would you guys be interested in simple do-at-home science experiments as an activity for the club sometimes? Things like how to make invisible ink or observing the moon.
Or maybe something more artistic even like a contest to draw your own space ship or fictional planet? If you don't have a Victorious Voyager badge then it would earn you a bronze badge, if you have a bronze one already then you upgrade to silver and if you have the silver then it turns your badge gold.
Hello everyone! Sorry for my long absence, as my fellow astronauts know, space time is not always the same for everyone and every thing. On my last solo mission your humble captain was moving through an area where the gravitational pull of the celestial bodies really warped time, and slowed me down. I am back aboard now though. Sending a Victorious Voyager badge to Rekoil, who I just realized also completed the horror/scifi reading challenge for autumn! I will be coming up with other kinds of events that the badge will be redeemable for this year.
I will be more involved in this club in the upcoming season, and have thought up some topic questions for my crew.
Topic: Aliens]
Share your thoughts on extraterrestrial life!
1. Do you believe in the existence of life outside of planet earth?
Yes, but with some caveats. I think we are probably alone, as far as this solar system goes. The other 7 planets don't seem to meet the conditions necessary to support life, even in the broadest sense or the word. A few of the moons of the outer planets sound like marginally better candidates for harboring life in some form i.e microorganisms beneath the ice sheets of Europa, if we're lucky. I don't think there is anything resembling intelligent life though in our planetary system outside of here on Earth. I suspect that there is advanced alien life out there, but probably much farther out in our vast universe. There are thought to be thousands of exoplanets in thousands of systems light years away, perhaps as many as a hundred billion celestial objects in the milky way, some resembling earth. I think the odds are that one of them ought to harbor a civilization.
I'd like to think Ross 128B in the constellation of Virgo could be an alien world. It's one of the closer exoplanets, about 11 light years away. the climate of Ross is thought to be even more temperate and ideal than earth for life. It closely orbits it's star, so radiation could be a problem, but because it's orbiting a red dwarf the heat and energy would also be less than what we receive from our sun, so depending on it's atmosphere it could be habitable.
2. What science fiction alien species would you like to visit earth, or visit the home planet of?
I would definitely want to meet the Heptapods from the Arrival. They resemble marine life, and were portrayed as such wise and gentle creatures in the aforementioned film. I think there is much we could learn from them, and hope if they paid us a visit that they would be able to guide humankind to be better than we are.
3. Are there any animals or plants on Earth that you think could pass for alien life forms?
The cat breed the sphynx always looked like an alien to me with that wrinkly skin and the piercing eyes. The Dumbo octopus could also pass as a benevolent life form from another world, an aquatic scifi creature. The delightful saiga antelope is somewhere between Pokemon and star wars to me. Going to add the hag fish as well, marinelife from our world that could have easily occupied the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine.
Venus fly traps always have unnerved me, the edges of the leaves remind me of fangs, and since they are carnivorous plants, they do have teeth sorta, in their way. Carnivorous plants in general give off vibes of monsters from distant planets, the Nepenthes Rajah is another that sends chills down my spine, kinda reminds me of the sarlacc outside of Jaba's Palace from Star Wars. One of the few meat-eating plants that I don't think seem scary are the tropical sundew, still looks like alien life, but it they are more disarming, like it's tentacles are fashioned from blown glass in an artist workshop. It's almost pretty.
Other plants that I think could be used in scifi movies include the Rainbow Eucalpytus tree. It's hard to believe that it's bark hasn't been painted. Jade vine also seems whimsical with it's neon colors, they are fit to Grace the flora of Pandora from Avatar. The Jabuticaba tree appears otherworldly-- the way the fruit grows all over the trunk, instead of hanging from the branches. Dragon Fruit cactuses have been on my mind lately too, I tried the fruit for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The cactus looks exotic and unusual as it is, and the fruit is especially out of this world. Who would expect the inside on this red and green lizard scale-textured fruit would have a white inside with black like a dalmatian dog's spotted coat? Speaking of spotted, ceropegia haygarthii are delightfully quirky-looking ones. Last but not least, snap dragon seed pods are pure nightmare fuel. You don't want to look, it's like seeing a bunch of severed heads growing on spikes.
1. Do you believe in the existence of life outside of planet earth?
Oh there's definitely other life out there. There's no way our little speck of a planet is the only one with life in the vast universe.
2. What science fiction alien species would you like to visit earth, or visit the home planet of?
Let's see....
-The Asgard from Stargate. They are peaceful (though they will defend themselves) and very technologically advanced. Kinda having a hard time thinking of any other alien species from Stargate that weren't either hostile or basically just humans lol Doesn't help that it's been like at least a decade since I last saw Stargate either xD
-Various races from Mass Effect: Quarians, Geth, Salarians, Turians, Asari. These are basically the 'friendly' races from Mass Effect that I find interesting. Plus the Geth, which might be an odd pick, but in one of the Mass Effect trilogy games you meet a non-hostile Geth who says the hostile ones are under the influence of the Reapers and there are plenty non-hostile ones outside of their reach (iirc, not entirely sure I'm remembering the last part correct lol). They are a machine species and if the only reason they are hostile really is the Reaper's influence, then I'd gladly meet the non-hostile ones ^.^
-From Doctor Who: Silurians, if those count, as according to Doctor Who lore they are technically from earth and already had advanced technology when we were still cave people. Would definitely like to meet some non hostile ones (some of them are hostile in the series). Alternatively the Ice Warriors, though it has the same predicament of only wanting to meet/have the non-hostile ones visit =p
3. Are there any animals or plants on Earth that you think could pass for alien life forms?
Found this with a quick google search:
Spoiler:
It's a tardigrade, which is a microscopic animal.
Personally I was thinking more along the likes of some of the fish that dwell within the deep of our oceans:
Robots can appear in many forms in science fiction, automatons, androids, mecha, nanobots, cyborgs and more. Have you ever enjoyed games, books, TV or movies that featured robots in the plot or as characters, or is robot sci-fi something you don't like to read/watch/play?
While it's not my favorite genre of sci-fi, I have been pulled into a few good stories. I like Phillip K Dick's novella "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and the loose 80s movie adaptation of it Blade Runner, never saw the remake of it though. There are some lovely and moving old Twilight Zones that tackle this theme like the episode The Lonely, and one that Raybradbury wrote called I Sing the Body Electric. I like some of the Terminator movies. There were a lot of memorable Outer Limits for me too like The Hunt, Small Friends, Resurrection, I Robot.
Of course, robots don't just appear in fiction. We use them every day right now, there are robotic building kits, robo dogs, educational robots, surveillance systems, robot cooking grills, self-driving cars etc there was even a hotel staffed by robots. Have you ever used any robot devices before? If not, would you be interested in doing so in the event that you could, or do you dislike the idea?
Yes, I actually have a robot vacuum cleaner. I had gotten a cheap corded stick one that broke the first time I cleaned the house with it, so I decided not to go with another 50 dollar vacuum, and at least put a few hundred dollars into it this time, but as I looked for better vacuums I saw that there were robot vacuums that didn't cost that much more than I had planned to spend, so I decided to give one a try because it seemed like a cool idea, and might save me some time and work. So I got this Lydsto robot vacuum/mop-in-one that I fell in love with. It's pretty quiet, which is nice because I am used to a vacuum being really loud. It's really hard-working and hardy, it will go all around the house, and can handle lots of types of flooring like hardwood or tile, and an go up short stairs. It takes more time to clean carpets if they are high with dense weaves, but with some patience and maybe a stop to clean the bristles on the brush, it can do the job. It's smart, I enjoy wartching it learn, and remembering areas that it bumped into before-- veering before that happens next time. With the app you can draw floor plays for it to follow, and program it to clean by itself at certain times when you aren't home. It's attractive and compact, and was a good intro for me into the world of robots.
Would you say that in our world the development of robot technology is something ultimately with good or bad implications? They can improve or even save lives, they could also replace people, or be used for darker purposes.
This is a tricky one for me. I would say that the role robots play is positive, especially when I think of their potential for use in medicine. My aunt had a surgery that was performed by a robot for instance, so I definitely am grateful to that. There are services that are invaluable like rescue robots used in disaster areas. I also think the way robots are used by zoologists to discreetly study behavior of animals in the wild is interesting and can teach us more about wildlife, I love BBC earth and it's spy gorilla for instance. Other things though like military drones are not something I believe we should use. I think the idea of home robots are pretty benign like a robot lawn mower, but there should be some restrictions on using robots on an industrial level. It would be better for the economy to have people in manufacturing jobs than robots doing it all obviously. Also if technology advances the point of sentient, conscious robots then I think it creates a moral dilemma and philosophical question of how we define life, and if we should re-evaluate it and give robots rights. I think it would be cruel to normalize their use as slaves if we had reason to believe that they could think and/or feel. I suspect that is exactly what would continue to do though, considering the way we treat other life forms, and eachother, human nature probably won't change. Slaves have a way of rebelling though...
Have you ever enjoyed games, books, TV or movies that featured robots in the plot or as characters, or is robot sci-fi something you don't like to read/watch/play?
I liked R2D2 in the original Star Wars trilogy, if that counts.
Other than that I like how the Xenoblade series has realized robots.
The first game very much starts out with two giant titans fighting each other, one of them being mechanical while the other is of organic material. After they stopped, life started to grow on both of them; the life on the "Mechonis" being very much mechanical beings capable of thought.
Have you ever used any robot devices before? If not, would you be interested in doing so in the event that you could, or do you dislike the idea?
I don't recall doing so. Even though, I spend a good amount of time in the information industry (programming), I don't really have any interest in having a machine like that around, useful it may be. However, I don't have any particular reason for that. I do recognize that they can be very useful, though.
Would you say that in our world the development of robot technology is something ultimately with good or bad implications? They can improve or even save lives, they could also replace people, or be used for darker purposes.
I consider progress (and that includes robot technology) to be neutral in nature. In practice it depends on how useful it is and on who finds it more useful. For the time being it looks more like people with a lot of ressources and money will get more out of them than everybody else.
Also, fun fact: the original meaning of the word robot is literally "slave".
What's this crew? I'm getting a news transmission from planet Earth! *turns on the hologram projector*
NASA's James Webb space telescope has captured some breathtaking new images of Jupiter, using the infrared camera to show detail like the world has never before.
Evidently getting the pictures of Jupiter was some challenge because of how fast the planet rotates, but that was accounted for by compositing the image from three camera filters – red, yellow-green and cyan. The colors are so rich and stunning, the clouds dreamlike.
You can see Jupiter's north and south pole, and the highlight of auroras.
Jupiter's great red spot looks like smoke white from reflecting the sunlight.
You even faintly see the rings around Jupiter in the wider photo, and the glimmer of the moons Amalthea and Adrastea. Amalthea looks especially good, like a little seed pearl in the distance.
There are some fuzzy spots off in the background that scientists suspect may be galaxies.
If you don't feel like clicking the link, here they are.
Spoiler:
Also would you guys in future enjoy posts that now and then contain news stories like this related to astronomy, or other breakthroughs in science and technology?
What's this crew? I'm getting a news transmission from planet Earth! *turns on the hologram projector*
NASA's James Webb space telescope has captured some breathtaking new images of Jupiter, using the infrared camera to show detail like the world has never before.
Evidently getting the pictures of Jupiter was some challenge because of how fast the planet rotates, but that was accounted for by compositing the image from three camera filters – red, yellow-green and cyan. The colors are so rich and stunning, the clouds dreamlike.
You can see Jupiter's north and south pole, and the highlight of auroras.
Jupiter's great red spot looks like smoke white from reflecting the sunlight.
You even faintly see the rings around Jupiter in the wider photo, and the glimmer of the moons Amalthea and Adrastea. Amalthea looks especially good, like a little seed pearl in the distance.
There are some fuzzy spots off in the background that scientists suspect may be galaxies.
If you don't feel like clicking the link, here they are.
Spoiler:
Also would you guys in future enjoy posts that now and then contain news stories like this related to astronomy, or other breakthroughs in science and technology?
