Author Archives: Serena Jonas '22

Living Spaceship

Leave a reply

Interior passageway of the living spaceship Moya.

Howdy! I thought I’d share this cool picture of the interior of the living spaceship Moya from the SF TV series Farscape. In the show, Moya is a sentient bio-mechanical creature that the main characters, a rebellious collection of fugitive aliens and one human, live in. According to the show’s twitter account, “The shapes of Moya’s hallways and passageways were based on a Spanish architect and designer, Antoni Gaudi.” Moya is one of my favorite characters/ aspects of the show as she has a compassionate and quirky personality. The show itself is unique and has a lot of personality, I would definitely recommend!

 

Cosmic Engineers

1 Reply

Cover of Cosmic Engineers by Simak

I chose this book because it was my favorite cover art of any of the books I had seen in The Green Hand, and I wanted to read more of Simak’s work. I absolutely love the bright colors, the mountain range in the background and the cute little planet right of the robot’s head. I would absolutely draw something like this background, so naturally I had to read the book. I just the wish the story had as much personality as the cover. The story follows a group of humans, most notably two space journalist Herb and Gary and a woman, Caroline, who they woke from suspended animation. Caroline was aware throughout her 1,000 years in suspended animation and spent the time training her brain and developing new concepts about spatial relativity and the physical nature of space. The humans are called to by a group of robots, the Cosmic Engineers, who are trying to protect the universe and need the help of beings with creativity (something they don’t possess). Together the humans and Cosmic Engineers, well it was mostly Caroline, they prevent two universes from colliding, stop the bad guy aliens and go home happy.

This story is an optimistic space opera written in the Golden Age of SF and contains a multitude of interesting SF elements. Some interesting elements include the idea of robots outliving their creators but remaining devoted to them, the concept of humans abandoning Earth, anti-government and pro-individualism. The evil aliens in the story are a thinly veiled allegory for wither German National or Soviet Socialism. From the anti-collectivist sentiments and glorification of humanities’ creativity and brave heroism, is evident that the author was writing this story as an American 1964.

I’ll start with my favorite aspects. The main scientist is a woman who not only saves our universe but saves another universe and actually creates universes. She is far from the damsel in distress that most stories in the Golden Age of SF portray. I also loved the optimistic and positive portrayal of humanity. So much SF reveals the ugly flaws of humanity or imagines alien races that are far superior. Yet in this story, humanity is refreshingly celebrated as uniquely creative and adventurous. However, it could be a little hard to get through. The characters are flat, and the plot just chugs forward without any tension to keep the reader engaged. I got lost in the inconsistent details of the plot and accidentally ended up skimming some parts. There just wasn’t any depth or sentiment in the writing.

I looked at the publication page and it turns out this was originally a short story that Simak wrote in 1939 but he adapted it into a novel. I think it should have stayed a short story and I would be interested in reading it. However, I am not sure I would recommend the novel and would perhaps direct people to some of Simak’s better, richer writing. I am frustrated because the concept of a genius woman saving the universe and celebrating humanity is something I love. But I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover; for such lively and colorful cover art, the story was grey.

 

 

Original Publicaiton as a Novel:
 Simak, Clifford Donald. Cosmic Engineers. Gnome Press, 1950.
Version I read:

Simak, Clifford Donald. Cosmic Engineers. Paperback Library, 1970

Star Trek and non-biological beings and souls oh my!

1 Reply

Hi guys, resident Trekkie here! I kept thinking about Star Trek in class yesterday (like I usually do) because the intersection of robots/androids/non-biological beings, religion and who has a soul is often explored so I thought I’d share some examples I thought of!

In TOS episode “The Ultimate Computer” the M5 super computer believes in God and ultimately cuts its own power after determining for itself it has committed grave sins and does not deserve to live.

Throughout TNG series they repeatedly explore and question the nature of the android Data’s existence. The episode “The Measure of a Man” is focused on whether or not Data is a sentient being, does he have autonomy with rights and does he have a soul? The crew of the enterprise and the audience would definitely say yes due to our emotional connection to him.

In Voyager, the ship doctor is a hologram and as the series progresses he seems to become a sentient being. Similar with Data in TNG, the nature of The Doctor’s sentience is continually called into question and explored. Is he owned by Starfleet or is he an autonomous lifeform? By the end of the series it appears very clear, at least to the crew of Voyager (and me), that The Doctor is a sentient being. The series eventually creates the category of “photonic lifeforms” which includes sentient holograms such as The Doctor. The distinction between sentient holograms and non-sentient holograms is also explored. In connection with today’s class, the relationship between religion and holograms is specifically explored in the episode “Flesh and Blood” where other sentient holograms are religious radicals in a way and rise up against their biological creators. Their leader considers himself a prophet and even creates a new religion for his fellow “Children of Light”. Their religious zealousness and crusade for freedom is so human that it serves to reinforce the sentience of these photonic lifeforms.

The question of what is a soul and who has one is often explored in Science Fiction. These explorations of the nature of sentient existence shake us out of binary thinking and leave us to ponder what other forms life can take on. Who are we to dictate who has a soul?

Star Trek characters The Doctor (blue: a sentient hologram) and Data (yellow: a sentient android).

Star Trek

2 Replies
Photoshopped/ digital art of different Star Trek characters.

Created using Photoshop and Procreate. Original character images found on getty images.

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before!”

After about the fifth time my parents laughed at a reference in a movie and brushed it off as “oh it’s a reference to Star Trek,” I demanded they introduce me to the iconic show. My mom picked out her favorite episode in the Original Series, “The Trouble with Tribbles” and I was hooked. Nine years later and I’m taking a Science Fiction class as a senior in college all because of those pesky tribbles. I may not know how to speak Klingon or have a cosplay costume ready to go in my closet, but I have come to the conclusion, alongside many others, that Star Trek is the greatest science fiction franchise of all time. It continues to stand the test of time with the current Star Trek canon including eleven TV series (with more on the way) and thirteen feature films. But why is it so great?

Star Trek, to its core, embodies hope. It’s had a purposeful mission from the beginning, not only to boldly go where no one has gone before, but to show viewers that the future can be good. It portrays an optimistic vision of humanities future where the defining characteristic of humans are our curiosity. In this vision, humans are dedicated to science and exploration, of both space and themselves. Star Trek imagines an Earth without war, poverty, or pollution where technology works FOR us rather than against us. The current geopolitical tensions that rule our world’s governments are described as petty squabbles that have been solved and left behind in humanities’ dark past. Star Trek shows how peace and discussion are far more interesting than war and violence. Differences are respected and actively depicted as good. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek was invested in showing how humanities strength lies in our differences.

Star Trek has embraced diversity from the beginning, not only in the stories but in casting. In the Original Series, Nichelle Nichol’s Uhura and George Takei’s Sulu were main officers on the bridge. As the first black woman in a position of respect and power on an American television series, Uhura was unprecedented in 1966. Famous endorsements of Uhura came from Martin Luther King Jr. encouraging Nichols to continue playing the role after the first season and Whoopi Goldberg who was inspired as a nine-year-old watching the show for the first time. Ahead of its time, the 1968 kiss between the Uhura and Kirk is, among much debate, often cited as the first interracial kiss on television. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine put a black man in charge through Avery Brooke’s Sisko and the next series Star Trek: Voyager has Kate Mulgrew’s Janeway as a female captain of the crew.

The franchise came into itself on television in a time where special effects were limited and so although most of Star Trek is in space, it devotes itself to talk over action. While the more recent series and films can take advantage of incredible special effects to give viewers the space battles and martial arts scenes we want, at its core the focus is still on asking big questions. Each episode and movie explore different philosophical issues. What does it mean to be human, Klingon, Vulcan, non-corporeal, immortal or an android? With many hours to explore ideas and questions, Star Trek tackles a wide variety of themes and tells many different types of stories such as mysteries, romances, horror stories, spy stories, workplace drama, family stories, and so many more. Many episodes explore emotions. What are they, when or how do we give into them, repress them, or make use of them? Vulcans repress them through their pursuit of pure logical thinking, while Data, a perfectly logical android seeks to be more human and emotional like his friends. Star Trek: The Next Generation has two regular characters who function as therapists for the crew, Deanna Troi as ship counselor and Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan as the wise and ageless bartender.

Something that always stood out to me was how the characters of the show are “cool” because they are intelligent and good at what they do, not because of wealth or looks. They are curious and ask questions, determined and passionate about what they do. In their pursuit of interplanetary goodwill and space exploration, they unapologetically ask “why?” and “what if?” As the resident Trekkie of the class, I wanted to share why I love it and continue to go back to it. Star Trek embraces the awe and wonder of the universe that is at the core of what science fiction means to me.

** If you want to get into the franchise but don’t want to watch eleven series and thirteen films, I recommend watching the recent trilogy that features a younger version of the original crew in a different timeline! The cinematography, special effects and music is stunning! (Star Trek, Star Trek: Into Darkness, and Star Trek: Beyond)

Sources/ inspiration for this post:

Roddenberry, Gene. Star Trek. 1966-present.

Lloyd, Robert. “’Star Trek’ Is the Greatest Sci-Fi Franchise of All. Why It’s Stood the Test of Time.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2021.