Category Archives: Subgenre

Cosmic Engineers

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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

Green Hand Book Review: Venus Plus X

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Sturgeon, Theodore. Venus plus X. New York: Dell, 1979.

 

I chose Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon because the cover first caught my attention. The book covers that I looked at before finding the book dealt with space but I thought this one looked cooler. The pages were also colored, which most of the other books did not have. After reading the little blurb on the cover, I quickly found out that it dealt with the theme of gender and its erasure of it. Within this course, I found that the topic of power relations, including race, gender, and sexuality intrigued me the most–and this book seemed to fit my interests. In class, we also mentioned Sturgeon a few times but did not read any works from him so I thought this book would be perfect!

 

Venus Plus X follows the trope of a confused time traveler everyman coming into consciousness in a futuristic isolated community. In this community called Ledom, all of the members are gender-neutral and hidden from the rest of society; there is some ambiguity as to whether or not this society is utopic or just a means for human preservation. The protagonist Charlie Johns explores culture and technology, with interesting discourse about patriarchy, religion, reproductive practices and rights, and outlook on life. This story runs concurrently with an (underdeveloped) story of a “progressive” contemporary American family of the 60s who came off as only a foil. When it is revealed that the members of society are intersex and the process of how the members become intersex, the protagonist is disgusted and homophobic. While attempting to travel back to his time, it is brought to light that Charlie did not arrive through time travel. He’s a “control” person maintained by the Ledom for research purposes. He lives on the outside of civilization since he can’t be assimilated into Ledom society. The story ends with a nuclear bomb being set off but Ledom survives because of their technology.

 

This book was published amid Golden-Age SF with themes of sex, gender, sexuality, religion, technology, and human preservation. I think this book is interesting when looking at the context of the time period: It precedes both the Sexual Revolution and Second-Wave Feminism in the latter part of the 1960s. In this way, Venus Plus X is in some way a proto-feminist reading of society, where the core of the novel is an argument that the presumption that women and men are very different is wrong and socially destructive. Some ideas and dialogue are definitely antiquated but the messages are still applicable to our society today. It is also a story about human survival because the story also coincides with the middle of the Cold War, with the idea of forward-thinking technology and preservation.

 

I would recommend this book to people who like slow exposition stories. The book was quite slow at times and I found myself skimming through some parts. The latter half of the story is definitely where it picks up!

 

Extra notes: Venus Plus X was a finalist for the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Dolphin Sex: Book Review of Startide Rising

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When book hunting at Green Hand, I wanted to find a book that was good in the sense that it had been awarded something or came highly recommended. After some digging, I came across US author David Brin’s Startide Rising which won the Hugo and Nebula Awards (according to its cover). It is a sci-fi epic about a human expedition, led by dolphins that have been uplifted to human intelligence (there is also an uplifted chimpanzee scientist), that has uncovered secrets to the origins of life in the universe, a secret many alien empires are persuing and are fighting over in the space above the downed ship. On a water planet (conveniently for a crew of dolphins), the humans and company must survive and escape to Earth without getting captured with plenty of politics and competing philosophies at play. It is the typical “trapped with time running out” story that includes clear-cut heroes loved by all trying to do the best in the world they can. There are also comments on the process of uplifting and echoes of the consequences of playing God with nature that veer quite close to social commentary. That is what makes the book great with enough backstory to make Tolkien jealous and personal politics and strategizing to give Game of Thrones a run for its money with an interesting story. The downside, as the title suggests, is the weird moments of over-sexualization. I could’ve enjoyed the book just as much without the dolphin-human romance and the perspective of horny dolphin thoughts.

Overall, I’d recommend the book if you’re willing to take it with a grain of salt; it can be cringe-inducing at moments, but it does do a good job of making an entertaining sci-fi epic with some deeper thought if you want to go that far.

Citation: Brin, David. Startide Rising. New York: Bantam Books Inc., 1983.

Cover:

Startide Rising (The Uplift Saga, Book 2) | Science Book a Day

 

La Machine – France

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On New Years Day I was visiting Toulouse, France with my dad and we went to a museum hosting the work of the group La Machine, a “street theater” group that creates large-scale machinery for performance. The group’s creations remind me a lot of the steampunk genre of sci-fi we talked about briefly in class, which features retro steam-powered machines over more modern, electronic ones.

Their website has tons of information about and images of their works: a giant spider which was part of a performance through the streets of Toulouse, their newest design “Heron Tree” and many more. I’m fascinated by how the group incorporates the steampunk aesthetic into so many different aspects of performance (giant animals, natural objects and musical instruments to name a few). The site describes the animals as performers which “feed an unusual vision of theatre, reading movement as a language, and in turn a source of emotion. The operators, engines, animals and musicians intermingle, confront and tune in with each other, thus creating images that change our relationship with the city, suddenly transformed.”

They have so many projects it’s impossible to capture them all in one post. On my visit to the museum, I was lucky enough to ride on this giant centaur they had created out of wood and machinery. It was extremely detailed (you can see the steam coming from its nostrils, the chest moved up and down as it “breathed” etc.) and it moved around the property, operated by two individuals who used VR and motion sensors so the machine would mimic their movement.

There’s so many other intriguing parts of the museum and I highly suggest checking out the site for a bit (especially their musical performances). I thought this group and their work really connects to this class and expands the steampunk genre into the theater/performance realm. We haven’t seen many live performance pieces (other than Defekt, of course) so I thought I would share their super unique work!

Parthenogenesis: Is It Possible?

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Joanna Russ’s short story “When it Changed” got me thinking: with the right science, would human parthenogenesis be possible? The answer is, maybe. This concept was explored in a paper by biologists Gabriel Jose de Carlia and Tiago Campos Pereira entitled “On human parthenogenesis,” which first appeared in the journal Medical Hypotheses (a publication which, to me, appears to propose ways to make biological science fiction phenomena into hard science–kinda cool). Carlia and Pereira address three barriers that must be overcome in order for human parthenogenesis to be realized: genomic imprinting, diploidy and heterozygosity, and zygotic behavior.

Source: “On human parthenogenesis”

Genomic imprinting refers to the “tagging” of paternal or maternal DNA that prevents a certain allele (i.e. a trait) from being expressed, meaning the allele from only one parent is expressed in the embryo. This process is crucial to human development. Carlos and Pereira suggest that deletion of several genes functionally comparable to those that allowed the creation of viable bi-maternal offspring in a mouse model could allow a human egg  to compensate for the absence of a paternally imprinted set of chromosomes, meaning it would be able to express proper alleles only using maternal DNA. Achieving diploidy and heterozygosity may be possible with the use of a bacterium, Carlia and Pereira hypothesize. The bacterium Wolbachia sp. can live symbiotically within a cell and is capable of inducing parthenogenesis in mites–parthenogenesis is advantageous to the bacterium, as it allows it to be transmitted to the host’s offspring (sounds wild, I know). Finally, the properly diploid, heterozygous gamete must be able to function as a zygote. In mice, the precise mutation of a proto-oncogene (a gene allowing for regular cell growth that, upon mutation, may induce cancer) can cause parthenogenetic activation, so it is proposed that the mutation of a similar gene in humans may do the same. In combination, these techniques would theoretically allow for viable human parthenogenetic offspring.

Putting these techniques into practice today would, of course, be considered unethical. However, the advent of “designer babies” and other uses of genetic engineering to ensure health and longevity suggest that genetic alteration for the purposes of parthenogenesis may not be an impossibility in the next hundred years, especially due to the so-called “male fertility crisis.” Who knows, maybe Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls)” was prophetic 🙂

The Influence of Science-Fiction on Radiohead’s Ok Computer

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To preface this blog, Radiohead has been a huge influence on one genre of music I listened to growing up. They led me to discover Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Queen, and David Bowie among other great musicians. Their 1997 album Ok Computer is widely considered one of the best albums of all time, 5x platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US. Foremost, the title “Ok computer” was inspired by the BBC TV version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in which the character of Zaphod Beeblebrox says the line “Ok Computer”. There are no explicit mentions of computers on the album. In a similar way that “science” is emphasized in “science-fiction”, “OK Computer” is ultimately less about technology than submission- The pursuit of happiness has become less of a goal and more of a process.  

Thematically, the album depicts a world in which consumerism, social alienation, emotional isolation, and political malaise are all on the rise. On a larger scale, the band was world-building the idea that technology and society were moving too fast for their own good. Radiohead used unconventional production techniques at the time including “natural reverberation through recording on a staircase and no audio separation.” Much like some of the literary works in science fiction, the album’s vision of the future didn’t feel like some far-off imagined apocalyptic dystopia, but ‌rather a natural extension of the present from which it arises.  Here are the first three songs that have science-fiction elements!

 

  1. Airbag

“In an interstellar burst, I am back to save the universe”

This song deals with topics of world war, fear-mongering, reincarnation, and space explosions. However, in a more literal sense, the song is about awareness of the precociousness of life following a moment of avoiding an accident. An airbag is a technology that saves lives, and the song is about a feeling of rebirth and being happy to just be alive. The first song in the album sets a precedence for the science-fiction delivery of serious topics in the rest of the album!

 

2. Paranoid Android

“From all the unborn chicken, Voices in my head, What’s that?, (I may be paranoid, but not an android)”

Much like the title of the album, this song is a direct reference to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The song references Marvin the Paranoid Android, a robot who is always depressed because the infinite possibilities within his mind are wasted on repetitive, trivial activities. The line, in particular, illustrates that one true escape is in one’s own mind, while at the same time the song deals with the distancing of humans from technology.

3. Subterranean Homesick Alien

“Up above aliens hover, Making home movies for the folks back home”

In this song, the singer has seen the future, and that future was aliens creating drone porn for their civilization back home. Personally, I’ve always thought this song was more or less a metaphor for feeling a bit alienated with one’s own life, own society, and place in the world. This person wishes they could view the world from a different, fresh perspective (alien). This song made me think of the alien scene in H.G Well’s “The Star”

Solar punk: a radically optimistic view of the future

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The relationship between humans and the land has changed so much, from the relationship we have cultivated over tens of thousands of years, to after settlers started colonizing the land, to now with industry and a system of capital leading to a disregard of the planet. 

Many young people have lost hope for the future of humans and of the planet. Science fiction is a window into our interpretations imaginations of the future, but much of science fiction is pessimistic and doesn’t often imagine a sound and ideal future. 

Radical hope is needed to create the change we need for the future. Solar punk brings back indigenous ways of living in balance with the land, while also acknowledging that technology is here to stay and can be used for good. 

Linked are some depictions of a solar punk imagined world. 

Discovering the Rainbow: Solarpunk embodies an optimism towards the future that our society needs | The Milwaukee Independent

Why “Solarpunk” Gives Me Hope for a More Sustainable Future - YES! Magazine

While researching more about solar punk, I came across a Chobani yogurt ad that beautifully depicted an optimistic solar punk future, a future where people living in harmony with the land while also striking a balance between us and nature. 

This was particularly interesting because I have dislike for any corporation that could be greenwashing and trying to appeal to an audience that cares about the Earth just to make more money. Despite my qualms, this ad, without the company references, was beautiful done and represents solar punk pretty accurately. 

The future that I want the children of the future to have, is one like solar punk, where balance is stuck. I will try to fight back against the pressing feelings of helplessness, and turn that frustration into doing what I can, as soon as I can, for the future. To be a good ancestor… 

 

Oneohtrix Point Never – Rifts

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0. Who is Daniel Lopatin? The composer of the soundtrack of what became everyone’s favorite Adam Sandler movie: Uncut Gems; a born-and-raised Masshole, like me(!); the director of The Weeknd’s 2021 Super Bowl halftime show; a wizard with a Roland Juno-60 synthesizer; an all-around great guy. 

1. Betrayed In The Octagon. Rifts evokes a narrative more than it could ever hope to present one. This is characteristic of any piece of music that’s almost entirely wordless. Musically speaking, however, it’s clearly indebted to the ambiance of soundtracks to SF films like Bladerunner, the synth work of new-age music of the 60s and 70s, and the experimental noise scene of New York City. That these influences range from music that was almost purely commercial to sounds that most people (myself included) have a hard time calling “music” is characteristic of the project as a whole, regardless of whether the influences in question are musical or literary.

2. Zones Without People. The titles of the songs on Rifts are full of references to technology (“Laser to Laser,” “Disconnecting Entirely,” “Computer Vision,”), the uncertain nature of time (“Months,” “Time Decanted,” “ Immanence”), and bastardized locations (“Terminator Lake,” “Behind The Bank,” “Melancholy Descriptions Of Simple 3D Environments”). Electronic music is already associated with notions of the future, technology, and the unreal. Add the fact that the album is already influenced by works of past science fiction, and there you have it: my yet-unshared theory that this album is about a(n) astronaut(s) traveling through/lost in space/time is clearly a great one. I win.

3. Russian Mind. I would also argue that this album is influenced by works of new wave SF and hard SF in the same way it’s influenced by new-age and noise. Starting with the former, we can see that Lopatin is interested in the mind and the surreal. Songs like “Grief and Repetition” and “Blue Drive” are as wandering and hypnotic as their titles suggest. It might not come as a surprise, then, that the only two countries referenced on the tracklist are the United States (“When I Get Back From New York”) and Russia (“KGB Nights”). Lopatin is the child of Russian-Jewish immigrants, and this is music inspired by the sounds and mindset of the 80s: it is, at times, very anxious and very lonely. 

4. Drawn And Quartered. Elements of hard sf are present as well. A title like “Lovergirls Precinct” feels like it could be ripped out of a pulp magazine, while one takes it a step further and references a real person: philosopher Emil Ciroan. Then there are songs like “Transmat Memories, “ “Sand Partina,” and “Hyperdawn,” which feel concerned with exploring the very specific discoveries of unnamed scientists and the brand new experiences of long-lost astronauts.

5. The Fall Into Time. Are our characters alone? “Learning to Control Myself” implies yes, while “A Pact Between Strangers” suggests otherwise. Are they lost in a Zone Without People or have they been Betrayed In The Octagon? My favorite song on this album answers none of these questions and poses at least three of its own: “I Know It’s Taking Pictures From Another Plane (Inside Your Sun).” If you’re not into electronic music, give this a shot. When I listen to it, I imagine the universe’s loneliest man sitting alone with his guitar at an abandoned bar on the moon of some unexplored planet. The contrast between the horror of the Lovecraftian title and the humanity of Lopatin’s voice is both grounding and disorienting, but altogether beautiful in its own way.

00. What is Rifts? One of the only albums I can comfortably call musical science fiction, and one of my favorite electronic albums of all time; the soundtrack to the greatest space epic never made; best heard when you’re on the edge of sleep in a dark room. Preferably alone.