Happy Halloween!

In the spirit of Halloween, I thought I'd share one of my favorite stories: "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allen Poe.

THE "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal -- the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.

But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince's own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the "Red Death."

Read more.

What are some of your favorite Halloween/horror stories?

Source: The Literature Network

Love in Science Fiction

Do you think there is a place for love in science fiction?

For example, Astrophilia is completely based around various forms of love, family love vs love of space; developing love in a new environment. Old Paint is inanimate love replacing a lost loved one. Under the Eaves presents the actual definition of love and the applicability of love to inanimate creatures.


Is the discussion of love a relevant topic within science fiction writing?

Tessimond's Tale

"What Did Tessimond Tell You?" reminded me an awful lot of "Division By Zero." A promising young scientist/mathematician uncovers a stunning revelation that changes everything she believed to be true. This feels like it might be the start of a sci-fi trope...

All the same, I find it just as unbelievable in this story as I did in "Division." Maybe it's just because I'm not scientifically-minded, but I have a hard time believing that there is one singular fact to render all of science or math or whatever the rational theory of the day is obsolete. Admittedly, I could only skim Tessimond and Ana's discussion of the black hole theory, mostly because I can't understand half of it. Even so, I'm not convinced that this idea (though it "fit" with all of her calculations ~perfectly~) is enough to make four potential Nobel Prize winners abandon their life's work because of it. 

I understand the narrative poetry of it; the idea of "more important things to life, yadda yadda." But stories like these just frustrate me more than they entertain me. I root for the scientist to win the Nobel Prize! Tessimond, despite Ana's change of heart by story's end, still seems like the villain here and not the savior. Hmph. 

Water Thief

Water Thief was one of the weirdest stories for me this week, and I was wondering if anyone else felt similarly:

The story starts off particularly slowly, and is tough to get into for the first couple pages. Then all of a sudden Soya is "transported" to the moon, where - as a robot - he is tasked with saving the life of a criminal. The parallels between this man on the moon and a woman who tried to steal water from Soya's refugee camp are clear. That's not the problem. The problem for me was that the section on the moon picked up as Soya was faced with a decision to make; then, after he makes the decision we don't see much of the repercussions. They're named, sure, but we don't see Soya really feel them. For me, this ends the story on a rather anti-climactic note and left a sour taste in my mouth. I wanted to learn more, become more invested.

Anybody see something there I missed?

Katabasis

If you could live forever, what would you live for? I thought this story was an interesting take on immortality in that it was portrayed more negatively than what I've encountered before in works of fantasy, where it always seems to be what people are seeking. Perhaps that's a difference between the genres, or it may just be this story. I suppose there's the whole idea of the human race uploading consciousness to the internet (was this Doctorow's other book?) and (spoilers for Doctor Who) Rassilon's scheme for the time lords to transcend to beings of consciousness and become gods, in a sense. How important reputation becomes in a society such as this on the Great Ship greatly diminishes the appeal of immortality, not that I find it particularly appealing to begin with.

I loved the interweaving of Katabasis's past with the main story line and the growing friendship between Varid and Katabasis as they learned about each other's past. They make an interesting pair, both not quite human.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story, particularly the imagery and depiction of this rugged, harsh, but beautiful planet-sized spaceship.

What did you guys think of it?

Nightside on Callisto

Can I just say how much I love the idea of the three old women in suits fighting off rogue mechs on Callisto? It's quite refreshing. There were several times during the action scenes that I would forget how old they were, since they were fighting and maneuvering like younger women in their prime, and then it'd hit me. I also liked the implied relationship between Jayne and Carly and how it was completely normal. Nagata didn't draw attention to the same-sex relationship like it was something out of the ordinary, unlike in some of the other works we've read (Astrophilia with Stella and Andi & Maddy's sexual orientation in Chitai Heiki Koronbin). It wasn't one of my favorite works from this anthology, but I really enjoyed it.

Old Paint vs Smart House

I agree with the other posts so far regarding Old Paint, and I think it is my favorite story we read this week. I really like how it was so simplistic to read, and it was the first story where I actually felt a realistic emotional connection to the characters. I'm not sure if anyone remembers (or has seen) the Disney movie Smart House, but I probably watched this movie ten times when I was younger and could not help but see the similarities in the two story lines. For those of you not familiar with the movie, it starts with a family of three (Dad, brother, and sister- the mom has passed) winning a futuristic house with a Cyber housemaid named PAT (Personal Applied Technology). By the end of the movie, PAT has completely lost her mind, and starts becoming a hassle. She no longer listens to the family, as she was initially supposed to, and has a mind of her own. She refuses orders and eventually ends up locking the family inside the house. A major difference between the two is that the audience of the movie ends up despising PAT, but in Old Paint, we end up rooting for the car. Old Paint does not seem like PAT directly, but the setting and time frame of the two seem to coincide. The cars driving themselves and going crazy remind me of the complete breakdown the house goes through. Is this futuristic society far off from where we are now? To me, I don't think it's too far of a stretch. iPhones are nearly as advanced as robots as far as learning capabilities go, with Siri, Google Maps, etc. In fact, the other day my phone froze, and when I turned it back on it had called 5 random people. With technology moving as rapidly as it currently is, will our electronics ultimately be able to turn against us? I'm excited to hear everyone's reactions to this story, since I think everyone can relate to it in some way.

Chitai Heiki Koronbin/ Mecha-Anime & Child Soldiers

I truly loved this story. While it did not strike an emotional note with me as other stories did, it felt refreshingly familiar: owing to my appreciation of Mecha-Anime (Gundam, Evangelion, etc). A recurring theme in these works as well as the story itself is that the best pilots (or in some cases all the pilots) are children/teenagers. This is can specifically be seen in Gundam Wing where the 5 primary protagonists are 14-15 years old. Although I did not hold it against this story, I've grown a bit tired of the troupe. I have a hard time believing that the demographics for giant robot pilots would be nearly exclusively teenagers. I would make more sense to me that the prime ages would mirror those of professional athletes. What does everyone else think about this theme? Did it seem strange to people not familiar with the genre?

Side note: Loved the Blue Submarine 6 shout out.

Old Paint

        I found Old Paint to be a great story in regards to representing the past and present, and perhaps a warning to the future. I could not help but get a sense that this story served not only as a science fiction story, but as a warning against becoming too technologically advanced, as do many stories. The way that the car travelled to all of the mom's places that she travelled as a teenager brought back the "good times" for her, suggesting that perhaps those times were better for all. Furthermore, the way in which all of the cars went wild fits well with the theme of things going wrong in a technologically advanced world. This leads me to believe that maybe the moral is to not fix something that is not broken, and perhaps not everything must be renovated or updated to fit the present standards.

Sentimentalism in Old Paint

I really loved this story. I initially thought that it was going to be like Stephen King's Christine and that the car was going to get angry at Ben for hating it so much and just kill him, then causing the mother to have an Old Yeller moment where she kills the car. As generally cathartic as that would have been, I really loved how it turned out.

I feel like in our society, which have this dichotomy with technology on one side and personality on the other. Look at the use of machines in the workforce. By replacing workers with machines, we have this understanding of the cold and impersonal replacing the lively and human. While the millennials have grown up around technology and are supposed to be more comfortable with it, that's still a real issue that some people feel.

I like this story so much because it takes that apprehension and places it in the future. Those sentiments are still very much there with the characters' judgements of the new vehicles, but because Old Paint is older, retro-hideous and half-obsolete, it's somehow superior for all of that. Did anyone else feel this way? Does anyone else half-long for the days when people used typewriters and record players and rotary dial phones, if only because they seemed to have more personality than their modern-day equivalents?

Doctor Who newbie

Last week was my first encounter with Doctor Who. I am not going to lie, until these two episodes were assigned for class I had never even heard of Doctor Who. I found the concept pretty interesting but do not feel the desire to watch the episodes of other seasons. One of the most interesting, and maybe defining, characteristic of Doctor Who was the presence of time travel. From the discussion in class I understand that time travel may be present in all episodes, but I am not sure. Is time travel present in all episodes of Doctor Who and what are other elements found in most if not all episodes of Doctor Who?

Alternate Sciences

This week, "What Did Tessimond Tell You?" reminded me a lot of "Division By Zero." They both deal with researchers who discover some world-changing fact and their various ways of coping. Obviously the consequences of their discoveries are very different. In "Division By Zero," nothing about the world is fundamentally altered, just people's perceptions of the world, while in "What Did Tessimond Tell You?" everyone will soon die as the universe falls into a temporal black hole. But I found it very interesting that the reactions of the protagonists were so different. In "Division By Zero," Renee freaks out and falls into a depression. Ana, Tessimond, and Ana's team seem to cope fairly well with their new knowledge and just set out to fulfill their lives' ambitions. Are these two stories really that comparable since the characters' discoveries have such different implications? What would you do if you were in Tessimond or Ana's place?

chitai heiki koronbin

This story reminds me of the movie Pacific Rim. The robots controlled by humans fighting some alien race has an uncanny resemblance. There are key differences though; one person operates the robots and that person isn't directly linked to the robot.

Towards the end, the story reminded me of another story we read in this collection- "Weep for Day." The end of both stories deal with the realization that the supposed bad guy may not be much of a bad guy at all.

Did anyone else see these similarities?

Old Paint

"Old Paint" is definitely one of the most touching stories we've read this semester. I liked the way it portrays the bond between family members, warts and all, although sometimes it almost seemed like a Hallmark movie waiting to happen (although those are good too, just somewhat cheesy). One of the most interesting aspects of the story is that while the theme is fairly universal, it would not have worked in any other genre besides science fiction. The sentient car in "Old Paint," which causes all the other revelations about relationships, forms a major part of the plot and removing it would result in a completely different story. What did you guys think of "Old Paint"? Can you think of any other story from the anthology that must be science-fiction in order to work?

Doctor Who

Last year my friend, who is a big Doctor Who fan told me to watch the series. So, I watched all of the episodes when Christopher Eccleston was the doctor. I had stopped watching it when they changed doctors cause I was disappointed that Eccleston was replaced. I had watched the first three episodes when Tennant was the Doctor out of curiosity  earlier this year and I haven't watched it since. The two episodes we watched for class were perfect for someone jumping back into the series, cause I didn't feel like I was missing anything from other episodes. 

However when we were talking in class about Doctor Who I felt lost cause people were mentioning other episodes and villains and I couldn't really contribute to the conversation

But when we talked multiple actors playing the same character I thought of the Batman movies. Though when the actor changes, the movies disregards previous story lines, except for Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.  

Oh, That Doctor

"Doctor Who?" was always more of a "Doctor Why?" for me - I thought the premise was fairly hokey, and didn't ever give much thought to actually watching the series. Add to that my annoying friends always talking about it and telling me that it would change my life, and you could say that I was turned off by the show.

I'm very glad that this class forced me to get at least a small education on the show for a couple reasons: First, I'm glad to have seen it, and to have seen good episodes, so that I can appreciate the obsession that fans feel for the series. Second (and more importantly), I can now give an accurate representation of how I actually feel about the show when discussions start.

I'm not, by any means, obsessed. The premise still seems a little hokey and, as stated in earlier posts, it seems more fantasy than science fiction. But it's a good show, with some great writing - and most importantly, it's different. Which makes it refreshing.

I'm glad most of all that in the future, when people talk about the TARDIS and mention some doctor, I won't have to say "Doctor Who?"

The only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely.

Both "Blink" and "The Girl in the Fireplace" are fantastic standalone episodes and I love that they focus on the lives of people who are just sort of sucked into the Doctor's world of monsters and time travel. The weeping angels are terrifying in the way they're portrayed in "Blink," and what an ingenious idea for a monster! Quantum-locked creatures who literally turn to stone. Having watched the other weeping angel episodes from later seasons, though, the angels are probably the kindest monsters in the sense that they just zap you back in time and let you live to death. For example, as heartbreaking as "The Angels Take Manhattan" was, that was the kindest way, I think, for Moffat to end Amy and Rory's storyline, especially compared to the way that some of the other companions' time with the Doctor ended, like in "Doomsday" with Rose or "Journey's End" with Donna.

Truthfully, I think I'd be more terrified if faced with a dalek or a cyberman or a clockwork repair drone with a broken ship.

Side note: for those of you who have seen The End of Time (spoilers for those who haven't) there's a scene where the two time lords (time ladies?) who opposed Rassilon's plan to take over Earth to escape the time war become the first weeping angels. I was just wondering what you thought about how the angels could have originated there as all the time lords were thrown back into the time lock at the end of the episode.

Doctor Who

      Not knowing what to expect from these episodes, I ended up really enjoying them and what they made me think about. The different realms that they really made me think about were interesting in the fact that I had never considered such a concept before. In the Girl in the Fireplace, I really enjoyed thinking about different times of this woman's life and how The Doctor was able to travel through time to see her. What I found really interesting was when The Doctor left her time and then came back it had only been maybe a few hours for him, but for her it had been years. I really like the concept of time traveling and events taking place out of order. That is why I also really enjoyed Blink, because it made me think and figure out what was going on, just as the characters were, instead of just watching. Therefore, I thoroughly enjoyed these episodes.

Recommended episodes

For anyone curious about seeing more Doctor Who, but you don't want to watch all 7 seasons (or even Classic Doctor Who), I just wanted to make a couple recommendations of some of my favorite episodes.

• The Empty Child (series 1)
• Doomsday (series 2) (note: only watch this episode if you want your heart to break in two)
• The Shakespeare Code (series 3)
• The Family of Blood (series 3)
• Silence in the Library (series 4)
• Midnight (series 4)
• Vincent and the Doctor (series 5) ****

***If nothing else, watch this one. Vincent Van Gogh! 

Seasons 6 and 7 get really.... complicated, so if you really want to watch Matt Smith's Doctor, you'll probably have to watch those two from the beginning. They're a bit messy storyline-wise. 

Madame de Pompadour

Since everyone else seems to be enthralled with "Blink," I guess I can talk a little bit about "The Girl in the Fireplace." I'm so glad these two episodes were chosen, because they are two of my favorite stand-alone episodes as well.

Part of the reason I've always loved Doctor Who is because of the show's ability to go back in time and "meet" figures from history. If the TARDIS were real, I'd go back in time for exactly two things: to solve the mystery of the lost colony of Roanoke and to meet Julia d'Aubigny (if you don't know who she is, look her up. She's awesome!). So for this reason alone "Fireplace" is one of my favorite episodes. You get to meet Madame de Pompadour, a little-talked about, but very important figure from French history. 

A little background for those of you who aren't familiar with her story: Madame de Pompadour, or Reinette ("little queen"), was born in 1721. Married to the nephew of her guardian at the age of nineteen, she was introduced in court to King Louis XV and became his fourth royal mistress. Contrary to what you may think, the position of royal mistress granted Reinette considerable power. She was given proper titles and land, and was essentially another advisor to the king. Before her death in 1764, she planned several buildings and was a great patron of the arts and academics. The "Pompadour" hairstyle is also named after her. 

My one critique of her storyline in Doctor Who is that she's not seen to be given enough autonomy (a common complaint for all Steven Moffatt-written storyarcs). I'm not a big fan of the pretty overt damsel in distress trope played out in the episode, with the Doctor literally swooping in on a shining white horse to save her. 

What do you guys think of the episode? Bonus question: If the TARDIS were real, where would you go and why?

Weeping Angels

First I'd like to say that I'm now terrified of statues. Secondly, and the focus of my post, I was deeply impressed by the concept of the Weeping Angels. The idea of a creature that is only dangerous when you're not looking at it seemed vaguely Lovecraft-ian (I hope that's a word). Lovecraft often employed creatures or entities that were 'unknowable' and instead focused on the sensation instilled by these creatures. The Angels are a brilliant use of counter intuitive strategy: normally when you're frightened or disturbed by something you look away. If you look away from the Angels you die.

I suppose my only question for this week is whether or not anyone else is also scared statues now?

Oh Weeping Angels, How I Have Missed Thee

No seriously, "Blink" remains not only my favorite Doctor Who episode, but one of my all-time favorite tv episodes as well (surpassed only by the likes of Sherlock and a few other notables). Long, long ago, (in 2007), I missed this episode's airing on Scifi (yes, this was before the silly name change) but luckily recorded it on a blank VHS which is probably still floating somewhere around my house....Anyway, this is one of the few genuinely creepy things I have ever watched and actually enjoyed, because while it's very suspenseful, and somewhat disturbing (you probably won't look at a statute the same way for a while), it's not really violent. There aren't any long fight scenes or gory deaths to wade through, and I'm perfectly fine with that. Also, the very concept of the Weeping Angels is just so out there, you've got to admire Moffat and any other contributer to this episode. Seriously, (SPOILER) an alien race that steals life force by sending people back through time before they were even born; how would you even come up with that? Overall, just awesome. Oh yeah, "The Girl in the Fireplace" was good too, but "Blink" was better. Does anyone else have a favorite episode (of any series) they can watch year after year?

My first two Doctor Who episodes...

Yeah, sorry :P

This is the first time I've actually sat down and watched more than 5 minutes of an episode, due to the fact I didn't want to get addicted to another show, like I have with so many shows I'm currently mid-completion on.

HOWEVER, It is interesting to me that the two episodes today are commonly presented as some of the scariest Doctor Who episodes, ever. "Blink" is always first. I'm not going to lie, I had to look away at certain points and I did partially scream at one point during the episode. That being said, I absolutely loved it.

What makes creatures within science fiction such as the weeping angels and the..... creepy looking puppet clock things (for lack of a better word) so scary? Is it the unknown nature of them? Is it the startling difference between humans and these things, even in the existence (and acceptance) of a time traveling David Tenant, that roots fear within the episodes?

I personally enjoyed "Blink" much more than "The Girl in the Fireplace". Although the time travel aspect is seen as a cause to the later event instead of directly interfering in the main character's life, It seems much more involved. There is more emotion and depth within "Blink". That may be because I'm attributing that to the fact it was more emotionally startling to deal with an everyday existence instead of a clockwork robot harvesting human body parts.

Anywho, thoughts? Comments? Any other episodes I desperately need to see?

Judgement Calls

Also, this is really random, but since I've already done my serious post for the week, I have a fun game I learned that I like sharing.

Do you know that part of you that just kind of enjoys getting angry at people? I think we all do. I personally have a few Facebook friends that only enjoy the privilege because they're just that infuriating.

Well, if you want to free the beast, go on Amazon, look up Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, and look at the 1 and 2 star reviews.

A lot of people call it boring, and a lot of those people have typos in their reviews.

Sorry for turning the blog into my sci-fi Facebook. I'll try to restrain myself in the future.

The Girl in the Fireplace

I really enjoyed watching this episode. In case anyone hasn't watched it yet, the plot revolves around the Doctor materializing on a 51st century space craft with several "time windows" on board. Each window contains a different time frame of Madame de Pompadour's (aka Reinnette) life. Without revealing any details, it ends up being an emotional roller coaster for the Doctor, with Reinnette dying in the end. The episode closes with the ship drifting through space, and it is revealed that it's name is SS Madame de Pompadour. I know that everything we have discussed in class has been strictly science fiction, but did anyone feel like this could also be fantasy? Besides the obvious time travel elements and mechanical robots, it reminded me a lot of a fairytale-like love story, which might be the reason I connected with it. The fantasy aspect might have been more due to the ornate costumes and love aspect of it, but the whole "prince comes in and saves the day" also mirrored something very Disney-esque. Overall, I thought it was a really cool mixture of science fiction and fantasy and am interested to see what everyone else thought.

Science Fiction Television as a Medium

Literature, television, and film have a really unique relationship to me in that they're all means of telling of a story, and therefore similar on some level, but each has its own inherent limitations and strengths that make comparison somewhat difficult.

In this class, we have read a couple dozen shorts stories and a few novels that can all be classified as science fiction. (Actually, I also had to listen to The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate as an audio file, because I'm bad at internet searches, but that is neither here nor there.) However, had we read a short story about the Doctor, it wouldn't have felt the same as the show.  That isn't to say that literature is great and television sucks or vice versa, but part of the story is in how it is told, in my opinion.

For example, I've always been one of those people that lightly skims any battle or action sequences in text form. I feel like no matter how well you describe your landscape, unless I'm given a rough sketch, we probably aren't picturing the same thing and I'll get confused, so as long as I understand who ends up killing/maiming/shit-wrecking who, then I'm content to miss out on those parts in exchange for the meaningful self-reflection and monologues. Similarly, since monologues and self-reflection often come across as awkward and unrealistic in visual media, we watch for the graphics and for the more physical, visual, and spatial aspects of story-telling.

How did everyone feel about the shift from the texts to the television this week? I think that both of these episodes were similar in that the focus was in some degree separated from the Doctor. I feel like for both of them, my knowledge about who the Doctor really is and what he was really doing was instrumental in how I perceived what was happening on-screen, so I'm interested to see how a non-Whovian felt about it.

Background on Doctor Who

Before today, I had never watched a Doctor Who episode and was pretty confused before I looked up basic information about the series. I don't know if anyone else was also unfamiliar with it, but I decided to post what I found in case it helps anyone! Doctor Who is a British science-fiction TV produced by the BBC. It is listen in Guinness World Records as the longest running science fiction television show in the world, and as been titled the most successful science fiction series of all time, based on broadcast ratings and DVD/book sales. The show revolves around the adventures of the Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien. He explores the universe in his TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space). Each episode is based on him and his companions working to help people and save civilizations. 11 different actors have played the Doctor. The original series ran from November 1963 to December 1989, but has various spin offs and revived series that began in 2005. The show is now viewed as one of the most influential factors on British popular culture, and is still selling a remarkable amount of DVDs and books worldwide. Hope this helps!

Let's talk about "Blink"

I just finished rewatching this episode, as I don't think I'd seen it since it initially aired when I was in middle school. As far as the newer Doctor Who episodes go, it's a pretty iconic one. You have one of the most popular quotes from the entire series ("wibbly wobbly timey wimey... stuff"), what are in my opinion the most terrifying and creepy of any of the Doctor Who villains, and even an "oh shit that's Carey Mulligan" moment there at the beginning.

Some Doctor Who episodes don't focus very much on the time travel aspect of the show. It's used at the beginning to get to a place and time and then the episode plays out linearly. "Blink" is so interesting and captivating because of the time travel. We're strung along the whole episode and given little clues as to what's going on only for everything to wrap up nicely at the end. I also think this episode is interesting because it doesn't feature the Doctor very prominently. I'm not sure about everyone else, but I can't relate to the Doctor very much as a character. And I don't really think we're supposed too anyway. That's why he has a companion. But I did find myself rooting for Sally and wondering what I would do if I was in her place. She didn't really make any stupid decisions, other than maybe deciding to visit the house a second time. And the weeping angels are by far the scariest of the Doctor Who villains for me, although I'd say the Silence is a close second. I can deal with Daleks, Cybermen, reptilian humanoids, vampires, and whatever else Moffat can throw at me but the logistics of the weeping angels are just terrifying. The pressure of having to stay focused on a weeping angel and paranoia because of not being able to look everywhere at once would get to me pretty quickly, especially if I was alone or in a small group.

So what does everyone else think of "Blink?" Looking back on it, it's probably one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes. Where do you think the weeping angels rank in terms of how scary the villains in the show are? Do you think Sally acted logically or would you have done something different? So many times when I'm watching this show I think, "Well, at this point I think I would just give up," but Sally obviously doesn't. If this was your introduction to Doctor Who, did you like it and were you able to follow without some of the back story given in earlier episodes?

Determinism within Ted Chiang

It's a pretty obvious topic, but nevertheless I figured out how to include/dissect the differences (or lack of differences) between predestination and determinism. I'm using "Story of Your Life", "Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate", and "What's Expected of Us". I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate other stories such as "Hell is the Absence of God", but I'm also trying to avoid a total theology view. Thoughts?

A Few Paper Topic Ideas

I'm having trouble choosing just one thing to talk about with my paper but here are a few of the ideas that I've come up with so far:

• Determinism in Chiang's works: It seems like he really likes playing around with the idea that there is only one set timeline for events and the unforeseen consequences of people's actions. I could definitely cite "Story of Your Life" and "The Merchant and the Alchemists Gate" as examples and I'd like to sort of dissect his other stories to see if I can find traces of that mindset even when he isn't directly talking about determinism.
• Morality in "Hell Is the Absence of God": What happens when God isn't just? I don't know. I find it interesting but I don't know if I could explore it in depth enough for a full paper.
• Ownership of Information: I'd say this definitely falls into the realm of Doctorow and it's definitely relevant to our society at the moment. Can anyone own information? Should anyone own information? How private should information be? Is Marcus Yallow even the right person to answer these questions?
• Migration away from Earth in the Dozois anthology: I know we haven't finished it yet, but in most of the stories in the anthology, humanity is separated into people living on Earth and people living elsewhere. I'd like to analyze the reasons each writer gives for an exodus from Earth and compare them. There are definitely similarities (nuclear war for example), so what do they mean?

So I'm still not sure what to write my paper on but that's the start I have so far.

Paper Topic: A Sociopolitical Examination of Settings

Since we're talking about our paper topics this week I might as well post about it too.

My topic idea is an exploration of the various 'future Earths' and the common themes between them. This topic offers many more stories to examine: "The Man", "The Girl Thing that Went Out for Sushi", "The Finite Canvas", "In the House of Aryaman", and "Macy Minnot's Last Christmas on Dione". Obviously using all these stories could become too broad, thus hurting the depth of the paper. I'd prefer to focus on the Sociopolitical implications of the Earths  described in "The Man", "The Finite Canvas", and "In the House of Aryaman"; examining the events necessary for these settings to come into being, what we can tell about human political organization from the details provided in the stories, and the social trends we can detect in the stories.

If I can identify some common themes between stories (ie decline of the west and rise of India), I would like to see if they represent a larger trend in Sci Fi or are just an isolated commonality between these specific stories. I would also be quite tempted to draw parallels between the world depicted in "The Finite Canvas" and the movie "Elysium".

Information on Tibetan Buddhism (for the curious)

Since we had a short story in which the Dalai Lama and Buddhism featured prominently, and we discussed our general lack of knowledge about this extremely important facet, here are some  facts about Buddhism.

• Buddhism began with the teachings of  Siddhartha Gautama in the 6th century BC 
• There are many subdivisions with Buddhism that influence various individual beliefs and rituals among the sects
• Tibetan Buddhism is part of the Mahayana school, which emphasizes the individual path to enlightenment, but combines it with a variety of other teachings as well (which is what makes it so distinctive)
• Buddhism came from India to Tibet around 700 AD 
• While Buddhism theoretically does not have gods, Tibetan Buddhism incorporates a number of spirits, traditional gods, and bodhisattvas (people on the path to enlightenment)
• Lamas (which translates to something like wisdom) come from all ages, genders, and walks of life, although it's unsurprising to find that most are monks or nuns; they are skilled in rituals and well learned
• Dalai Lama (dalai= ocean, showing enormity of his wisdom)- current Dalai Lama is the 14th
• There is also something called the Karmapa Lama who is the head of a subdivision within Tibetan Buddhism
• Bardo is the period after death and before rebirth and lasts 49 days
• More on the Dalai Lama- head of Tibetan Buddhism's largest sect; considered a "tulku" (someone who chooses to be reborn rather than end the cycle of rebirth)
• The next Dalai Lama: the government and the major lamas within the Gelugpa tradition look for someone (generally a boy) born shortly after the Dalai Lama's death
• The search for the Dalai Lama is aided by observing the direction of the smoke from the last Dalai Lama's cremation fire, visions or dreams, and observing a particular holy lake 
• The search can take years, so the child is not necessarily a baby (the current dalai lama was 4 when he was located)
• Like in the story, the Dalai Lama's incarnation is verified by having the candidate choose which items belonged to the previous Dalai Lama

So, other than the fact that Greta Bryn was not born around the time of her predecessor's death, the depiction of the search for the next Dalai Lama seems fairly accurate.


(Note: information came from the BBC's Religions section; www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism [just follow the various links within the article])

Greta Bryn

       I actually really enjoyed Twenty Lights to The Land of Snow and the characterization of Greta Bryn. It seemed to be a common and expected science fiction story, so it fit into the mold I had been expecting. I further enjoyed watching Greta Bryn start as a child and grow into the role that had been assigned for her, all while aboard a ship. The whole idea of the ship was interesting to me, especially since they were on it for 106 years. I find it interesting to think about the people who initially boarded the ship, knowing that they would not ever leave it in their lifetime. It is an interesting aspect to think about because it is interesting to think about what was going through all of those people's mind. Perhaps they thought it was their duty to begin the travel or perhaps they didn't really know what they were signing up for. Either way, it was an intriguing story that made me think.

Molly, Jada and Brit

The Finite Canvas was my favorite story this week. The writing style was unique and different - I loved that each of them got a chance to speak in the first person and I felt like each had a completely different voice. The choices each of them had to make throughout the story were complex and foggy; it never felt like there was a clear "right" and "wrong" answer. In other words, much like real life. 

Brit Mandelo is completely fantastic - I'm definitely going to find more of his work to read.

Molly's choice

In The Finite Canvas, Molly decides to turn Jada into the authorities, ultimately killing her. She's been alone for quite a while when she meets Jada and even comes to "love" her. Molly indirectly kills Jada because she says she "thinks she wanted me to kill her". At the same time, she is persistent in asking about the fifteen thousand dollar reward. Do you think Jada wanted to be killed? Would Molly carve a design into herself if she killed just for the money? Did she just want the money to cure her breast cancer? Did this story remind you at all of The Man (the killing of a friend for their 'benefit')?

Steam-what?

In Steamgothic, many elements of modern day society are found throughout the story. Leon states it is the 21st century and many modern elements are mentioned (Google, BMWs, iPhone, e-mail, etc.). To me, the only science fiction elements in the this story came at the end, but I am not sure what they are. How can this story be considered science fiction? What elements in the book constitute the stereotypical science fiction elements (usable technology, etc.)? What does Leon mean by only him and Louise remember 150 years that never was? Did they travel back in time?

What does family mean in the future?

When I read stories, especially short stories, I tend to latch on to the characters and their relationships moreso than the technology or the novelty of the world. It was no different for me in reading "In the House of Aryaman..."

The most striking relationship I found in the story was that between Ferron and her mother. I understand in this given world, that parent-child bonds are seen as something more biological than emotional. But it seems sad to me that almost every other character, even secondary ones, had a similar outlook on the ones who birthed them. For example, Ferron says of her mother in their final confrontation, "...reproduction is an ultimately sociopathic act, no matter what I owe you.” This sentiment is echoed earlier in the text by Jessica Fang's daughter, who, having just found out her mother was murdered (or so she thought) said, “That doesn’t make her my mother. Is there anything else you’re legally bound to inform me of?”

Thankfully, I come from a wonderful family and I certainly cherish both of my parents as best as I can. And I understand that not all parents are worth maintaining connection with (like in this story, Ferron's mother is an addict and Jessica Fang/Dr. Coffin is (spoilers) a murderer). I still can't help feeling sad for the characters who seem to have such terrible relationships with their families, and note that much of it has to do with a retreat into, and a reliance on, technology.





 

Jada or Molly?

This entire story really tugged on a multitude of my emotions. I was really sucked into the storyline and felt intertwined with the two characters all the way to the bittersweet end. (Molly trading Jada’s life for money)

Jada and Molly:

Jada proves to have more humanity and depth to her than her sociopathic tendencies, and has this fierce ability to love.

Molly who has been alone since her exhile shows this constant longing for closeness and intimacy of another human.

Whenever I read a story I always try to relate myself to one of the main characters and put myself in their shoes. Who did you relate with most? Would you have made the same decision?

Steamgothic

The story I was suppose to focus on this week was Steamgothic, by Sean McMullen. It's basically a story about a man who's day job is to customize ultralight aircraft motors. He is approached by a couple who have a 1852 Aeronaute, a steam powered aircraft, hidden inside their barn. They want the narrators help restoring it. The important thing is that if this aircraft had successfully flown around the time it was created it would predate the Wright Brothers by almost a half century. The most interesting part of the story to me was how similar it felt to the modern day world today. Besides the steam punk elements, which I have never been exposed to, the idea that this initiative of restoring the machine became a reality TV show is something I think we can all agree on happens regularly today. Especially how the author discussed the over exaggeration of the plot line, and the added drama elements that were made to create better TV. I have to admit that the armature burlesque club kind of confused me, but it reminded me of the paparazzi following celebrities around today. Another part of the story that I could relate to was on the second page, when Leon discussed how no one ever wrote letters anymore. "Anything that can be turned into text or pixels comes over the Internet". I relate to this immensely, as now the only time in my life I ever really receive hand written letters is around birthdays or Christmas. Overall, I enjoyed the story and how it was resolved in the end. My only question is, what do you think is the moral of this story, or is there one? I could not identify a clear message McMullen was trying to portray, but I'm interested in what the rest of the class thinks.

Human Culture in Space

So one of the things I've noticed throughout this anthology is that in the stories where people leave Earth to form new colonies or civilizations they end up making their own bizarre cultures separate from those on Earth. In Macy Minnot's Last Christmas on Dione, for example, the people who live on Dione live in what seems like a tree house village and every knick knack in their houses seems to in some way be related to space imagery (plates with craters, vases shaped like moons). It seems like the people raised in space are always curious about Earth people, and that in some cases feel a little superior. I've also noticed that these stories tend to follow someone from Earth who is experiencing space from an outsiders point of view.

Why is that? Is it to give us a lead to follow and someone to relate to? Are the authors acknowledging how weird these worlds are that they've created and assuming that a reader could only begin to understand them from an outside perspective?

Shifting Perspectives in “The Finite Canvas”

            I want to take a moment to examine the impact the structure of “The Finite Canvas” has on the story itself. Segments of the story are told from Molly’s perspective in a third person voice while still giving us her thoughts on what is happening in the narrative. Much of Jada’s story, however, is told through a framed narrative of sorts with Jada narrating in a deeply personal, confessional tone. Combined, these two parts let us see the whole of Jada’s story: how and why she came to Molly’s clinic and ultimately her death.

            The two different styles offer different opportunities to connect or understand the principle characters. Who did you sympathize with or understand more, Molly or Jada? Furthermore, could this story have been told as effectively with a different narrative structure?

            Personally I sympathized more with Jada even though I understood Molly’s decision. I believe this stemmed more from the depth and personal nature of the information we get about Jada.  Molly needed the money for gene therapy to cure her breast cancer and after reading the story multiple times I started to pick up on the fatalistic hints Jada seemed to be dropping. Despite all this I still liked Jada’s character significantly more than Molly’s; although the ending is beautifully poetic. The protagonist dies yet it could be called a happy ending.

            Could the story have been pulled off with a different structure? It would be interesting to experiment with but I ultimately have to scold myself for asking hypothetical questions about a story I would not be inclined to change.

I like detective stories. And detectives.

In the House of Aryaman was a brilliant detective story. It met all the expectations I had had for Holmes Sherlock, incorporating futuristic technology, genetic engineering, and the like into a complex and incredibly interesting murder mystery (SPOILERS) in which the murder victim was not actually the victim at all, but in fact, the murderer. In building a world where a man (or woman) can change his identity completely--even taking over someone else's identity, and where humans and technology are so tightly integrated, Bear definitely capitalized on the potential of a murder mystery set in a science fiction setting. Did anyone else feel that this story satisfied what was lacking in Holmes Sherlock?

Beautifully interwoven into the investigation was the religious overtones of the impending supernova and the final message sent across time and space. I particularly liked that resolution of the homicide case was overshadowed by something bigger, in every sense of the word--a change in perspective, I suppose. It reminded me of "Exhalation" when the narrator hopes that someone will discover what they left behind long after they've perished. In this case, the signal from across the stars conveyed a message from a civilization that had been obliterated two and a half million years ago.

Side note: apparently 'farang' is the general Thai word for someone of European ancestry, which is sometimes used in a derogatory fashion. It's used a lot in The Windup Girl, and I thought it was just a made up word.

All in all, this was definitely one of my favorite stories.

Transhumanism in the House of Aryaman

I really enjoyed this story, just because of the depictions of the future and how blurry that line between reality and virtual reality can get in a setting that futuristic. I think that it tied in really well with everything else we've read. Ferron's mother's addiction to the virtual world reminded me of "The Lifecycle of Software Objects." The whole concept of the skins and the individualized advertisement really came across like "Liking What You See."

One interest that I've had in science fiction is the concept of transhumanism. This is an actual debate going on in the world today as we become more and more able to make modifications to our own bodies. The most common example of escaping the "wetware" (the term for our biological bodies in this context) that we see today is the implantation of magnets in your fingers to allow people to feel electrical currents. I felt like a lot of that was coming across in the skins, and what seemed like to me the ability to tweak different aspects of your personality as the opportunity arose.

Similarly, Ferron's genetic modification to be completely and unyieldingly loyal and obedient to her mother encapsulates a lot of this.

How does everyone else feel about the depictions of human modification in "House of Aryaman"? Are they realistic? Is this something that you could see happening at some point in the future?

Twilight People

No, I'm not referencing Stephanie Meyer's sparkly vampires. This week we have a third short story in the same anthology set on a non-rotating planet, where people must live in a sort of twilight zone between the day-side and night-side. While in "Twenty Lights to 'The Land of Snow'" it's about a journey to this planet, and not occuring within a colony there, it's still part of the tale. To me, this begs the question of why at least three different authors chose to write about a tidally-locked planet. Did they just decide finding another Earth-like planet is improbable, so life is more likely to develop in habitable zones? Do they just think it's a neat concept? "Weep for Day" used the planet to illustrate the whole idea of a holy war being waged on Night, so I can understand why he chose to create a theoretical planet like that. However, neither "The Man" or "Twenty Lights..." really uses the setting as a major plot device or even as a crucial element to explain the world-building, rather, it's a minor point. If it isn't key to the story to create a tidally-locked planet, why would the authors do so? Any thoughts?

In the House...

While I was reading "In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely signal Burns," I found so many different quotes that just stuck with me. Thisquote is probably my favorite...on page 227...

"I like living in the future." Ferron picked at the edge of an areactin glove. "So many interesting ways to die."

I find this to be so true and it reminds me of all the science fiction shows and movies I have seen; I had to stop reading for a few minutes because my mind started to wander off. 

Did anyone else have a particular quote from this, or any, story that stood out for them?