Science/Speculative Fiction Review #10

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I spend a great deal of my time every day reading speculative science fiction.  The rest of my time is spent asking the questions and questioning the answers that the science fiction I read creates. All of the stories I post contain elements of profound contemplation, varying philosophy, metaphysics, and theoretical pondering. The authors that create these stories are among my heroes in this reality, and I very much want to share them with you.   Although I read a great deal more than the stories I will post in these short reviews, I only want to share those pieces of text/audio that really stick with me and force my mind to ponder life, the universe, and everything. While I am delighted with nearly all that I read in this genre, I will make an attempt to only present the best of the best.

Writing - The quality of the writing.  I specifically rate the writing on how well it is able to convey to me the action, thoughts, emotions, etc. of the story. 

Creativity- Simply put, this rating is a measure of the degree of imagination that exists in the writing.  How unique and new was the story? Is it something I have seen done over and over again? I also factor into this rating category interesting literary techniques such as stylish ways to present chapters or different parts of the story.   

Intrigue- This rating represents the stories ability to keep me interested.  Did I get bored and have to fight my way through to the end?  Or did I lose myself and end up somewhere else entirely?

Overall- My general impression of the story. How much I enjoyed it from beginning to end, and/or how much it affected me.

For a Breath I Tarry by Roger Zelazny -shot story-

   Writing 5                       Creativity 5                       Intrigue 5+  

Overall 5+

Wow!  Do yourself a favor and read this. An intriguing and emotional ride. After human beings become extinct due to their own doings, a hyper intelligent robot makes a wager with another robot that he can become a real human being.

Read it here.

""Something is still lacking," said Frost, settling to the ground. 

"I am now capable of gathering data in a manner analogous to Man's afferent impulses. The variety of input is therefore equivalent, but the results are not the same." 

"The senses do not make a Man," said Mordel. "There have been many creatures possessing His sensory equivalents, but they were noit Men." 

"I know that," said Frost. "On the day of our bargain you said that you could conduct me among the wonders of Man which still remain, hidden. Man was not stimulated only by Nature, but by His own artistic elaborations as well - perhaps even more so. Therefore, I call upon you now to conduct me among the wonders of Man which still remain, hidden." 

"Very well," said Mordel. "Far from here, high in the Andes mountains, lies the last retreat of Man, almost perfectly preserved.""

Last Contact by Stephen Baxter -short story-

Writing 5+                       Creativity 4.5                       Intrigue 5  

Overall 5+

Stephen Baxter has slowly but surely crept into my being and has found a permanent niche. So far, this is the only story in my list of reviews that brought me to tears. A story about the systematic nullification of everything, and what it would be like to live through it.  This story is packed with such intense yet subtle emotion and is executed so cleverly and well timed. This one is truly a masterpiece.

Read it here.

""Maureen said, “The sun went, right on cue.”

“Oh, it’s all working out, bang on time.”

Somewhere there was shouting, whooping, a tinkle of broken glass.

“Someone’s having fun,” Maureen said.

“It’s a bit like an eclipse,” Caitlin said. “Like in Cornwall, do you remember? The sky was cloudy, and we couldn’t see a bit of the eclipse. But at that moment when the sky went dark, everybody got excited. Something primeval, I suppose.”"

Life-Line by Robert Heinlien -short story- 

   Writing 5                       Creativity 4                       Intrigue 4.5 

Overall 4.5

Short story about a scientist who creates a device that can tell you exactly how long you will live. What can go wrong?

Read it here.

""Once before I offered such proof to this same body of self-styled experts, and they rejected it. I renew my offer; let me measure the life length of the members of the Academy of Science. Let them appoint a committee to judge the results. I will seal my findings in two sets of envelopes; on the outside of each envelope in one set will appear the name of a member; on the inside, the date of his death. In the other envelopes I will place names; on the outside I will place dates. Let the committee place the envelopes in a vault, then meet from time to time to open the appropriate envelopes. In such a large body of men some deaths may be expected, if Amalgamated actuaries can be trusted, every week or two. In such a fashion they will accumulate data very rapidly to prove that Pinero is a liar, or no.""

Test Rocket by Jack Douglas -short story-

   Writing 4                       Creativity 4                       Intrigue 4.5 

Overall 4.5

Humans launch a rocket into space with mice on board as an experiment on the effects of life. One day the rocket is launched back, but the animal that waits inside is not what anyone expects. An overall great piece.

Read it here.

"“They are our markings?” Captain Baird asked. It was not the question. Captain Baird knew the markings of the Rocket Testing Station as well as the doctor did.

“Yes,” the doctor said, “they are our markings. Identical. But not our paint.”

Captain Baird turned back to the window. Six months ago it had happened. Ten minutes after launching, the giant test rocket had been only a speck on the observation screen. Captain Baird had turned away in disgust.

“A mouse!” the captain had said, “unfortunate a mouse can’t observe, build, report. My men are getting restless, Johannsen.”"

The Dead Past by Isaac Asimov -short story-

    Writing 5                       Creativity 4                       Intrigue 4.5 

Overall 4

A historian wants to get his hands on a fabled device hidden by the government called a chronoscope. This device allows the user to observe the past. Could it be that there's a reason the public is lied to about its existence?

Read it here.

"“I don’t know why. I want you to find out. I’d do it myself if I knew enough. I came to you
because you’re a young fellow with a brand-new education. Have your intellectual arteries hardened
already? Is there no curiosity in you? Don’t you want to know? Don’t you want answers?”"

Teaching English in Korea Vlog 9

Check out my the 9th vlog about teaching English in Ulsan, South Korea!  In this vlog I talk about the different private classes that I'm currently teaching.  Check it!

Watch the video here! 

New Blogs

I made a new blog!  http://wondergressive.wordpress.com/  It's devoted specifically to information ranging from philosophy, to politics, to science.

I'll still be updating Seekers Enclave, the blog you're looking at, but the posts will be more personal ie. poetry, pictures, adventure, and opinions.

I will also be creating a blog devoted to the science fiction reviews I do with more in depth information regarding the stories I review such as awards they have received, date of publication, interesting trivia, etc.

Claire and I will also be putting together a travel blog that documents the specifics of the traveling we do such as packing lists, do's and don'ts, maps, prices, recommendation, history, and pictures.  It will basically be a guide to make it easier for people to do their own traveling.  It will also help future travelers avoid the pitfalls we encounter.

Lastly, my buddy George is creating a website devoted to health, fitness, natural remedies, and healthy lifestyle choices.  I will also be contributing information and articles to that blog in my spare time.

I'll let you know how to see all of these blogs once they are created and finalized.  I'm very excited about all of this and wanted to share with you.

Thanks for taking a look.

Ilsan Beach and King's Rock

The following documents our relaxing hike around King's rock at Ilsan Beach in Ulsan, South Korea. The kids received 3 WHOLE days of summer vacation from our academies, and we decided to take full advantage by finally making it out to the beach that is only a half hour from our apartment.  I'm going to take a step back with the rhetoric and let your eyes feast on some uninterrupted visual pleasure. (Click the pictures to enlarge)

Enjoy!

Science/Speculative Fiction Review #9

To view Science/Speculative Fiction Review #1 click here
To view Science/Speculative Fiction Review #2 click here
To view Science/Speculative Fiction Review #3 click here
To view Science/Speculative Fiction Review #4 click here
To view Science/Speculative Fiction Review #5 click here
To view Science/Speculative Fiction Review #6 click here
To view Science/Speculative Fiction Review #7 click here
To view Science/Speculative Fiction Review #8 click here

I spend a great deal of my time every day reading speculative science fiction.  The rest of my time is spent asking the questions and questioning the answers that the science fiction I read creates. All of the stories I post contain elements of profound contemplation, varying philosophy, metaphysics, and theoretical pondering. The authors that create these stories are among my heroes in this reality, and I very much want to share them with you.   Although I read a great deal more than the stories I will post in these short reviews, I only want to share those pieces of text/audio that really stick with me and force my mind to ponder life, the universe, and everything. While I am delighted with nearly all that I read in this genre, I will make an attempt to only present the best of the best.

Writing - The quality of the writing.  I specifically rate the writing on how well it is able to convey to me the action, thoughts, emotions, etc. of the story. 

Creativity- Simply put, this rating is a measure of the degree of imagination that exists in the writing.  How unique and new was the story? Is it something I have seen done over and over again? I also factor into this rating category interesting literary techniques such as stylish ways to present chapters or different parts of the story.   

Intrigue- This rating represents the stories ability to keep me interested.  Did I get bored and have to fight my way through to the end?  Or did I lose myself and end up somewhere else entirely?

Overall- My general impression of the story. How much I enjoyed it from beginning to end, and/or how much it affected me.





Genome by Giri -flash story- 

      Writing 4                       Creativity 3                       Intrigue 3.5  

Overall 3.5

A 3 minute read that comments on the wanton destructiveness and irrationality of pure capitalism. There is also an attempt in the story to kill all mosquitoes, which is always a good idea.


Read it here.

"The lab had created a lizard using a synthetic genome derived from the common house lizard that made it efficiently hunt mosquitoes. The lizards would feed on nothing but a diet of mosquitoes. It was also tailored with a shutdown gene that killed the lizard after about a month to minimize the risk of the synthetic life form getting into the wild."

The Number of the Beast by Robert Heinlein -novel-

   Writing 5+                       Creativity 5                       Intrigue 4.5  

Overall 5

A novel fueled almost entirely by its complex, charming, and realistic characters. Each chapter takes on the perspective of one of the four main characters and is presented very similarly to a diary entry. After being chased out of their own universe, the main characters scour several universe through the use of a one of a kind device to find a safe place to live. In the story, it is discovered that the biblical number of the beast is not 666, but is in fact (6 to the 6th power) to the 6th power, or 10,314,424,798,490,535,546,171,949,056, the number of parallel universe accessible through the continua device created by one of the main characters. I recommend reading other books by Robert Heinlein before reading this one as it contains many jokes and references that the reader may not understand without experience with other Heinlein novels.






Orange by Susan Forest -short story-

Writing 4.5                       Creativity 4.5                      Intrigue 5  

  Overall 5+

Easily one of my favorite stories of all time. There are two grim stories taking place simultaneously. The first is the story of an orange. The second is the story of the Earth focusing on groups of couples in various global major cities. This one is truly a piece of art. Very creatively executed.

Read it here.

"A sub-auditory thud shuddered through the building and the floor tilted at a perilous angle, sending them skidding into the windowed wall.

“Is it an earthquake?” Through the glass Milena could see an open pit twenty stories below her, asphalt crumbling around its edges. From this height she could see sunrise breaking, blood-red between the bones of skyscrapers, through layers of poisoned air.

“They’ve cannibalized buildings for steel, for the pods and the launch pads.” Jurek scanned the signs in the corridor for directions.

“How can they do that? Use everything for a program like this, when people are starving in the streets?”

“Don’t look, Milena.”

Milena hurried behind him. “It’s insane. It’s not just.”

“People are starving anyway. Turn left.”"

The God’s Themselves by Isaac Asimov -novel-

   Writing 5+                       Creativity 5+                      Intrigue 5+  

  Overall 5+

While The Last Question is my favorite short story by Asimov, The God's Themselves is my favorite novel written by Isaac Asimov. This book is split into three very different parts. My mouth was left agape throughout all of part two due to Asimov's ability to so realistically create and portray a totally an utterly alien species that exist in a parallel universe. The level of detail, despite the extraordinary contrast to humans concerning this species, is breathtaking (for example, they exist in a mostly gaseous state, and have 3 'genders.' Asimov even shows us how these being masturbate!). This novel is a literary feat, and in his autobiography, Asimov stated that the novel, "especially the second section, was [my] biggest and most effective over-my-head writing ever produced."  Asimov is amazed at his own story! Check this one out!

"Against stupidity, the god's themselves contend in vain..."

Attention People of Earth by Paul Simms -flash story-

    Writing 4                       Creativity 3.5                      Intrigue 4  

  Overall 4

A humorous piece of sci fi featuring a message aliens send to humans before they arrive to Earth. I do love the taste of high quality gravel.

Read it here.

""We are coming to Earth, first of all, just to see if we can actually do it. Second, we hope to learn about you and your culture(s). Third—if we end up having some free time—we wouldn’t mind taking a firsthand look at your almost ridiculously bountiful stores of gravel. But all we want to do is look."

California Beach Water park

Claire and I are on summer vacation!  Guess how long that is  ....... 3 days.

Oh well, I'll take what I can get!

On our first day of summer vacation we went to a water park with some of my students.  It was a ton of fun but there were definitely some stark differences between Korea and the states.  Allow me to elaborate. (don't forget to check out the videos at the bottom)

But before we begin, I wanted to mention something.  I pointed out a "Made in China" tag on one of the light poles inside the park to Claire.  She said "Wow, the light pole is made in China, in a water park in Korea named after a state in America."  It was a really profound realization for me seeing the world as a global community right before my eyes.  I imagined how separate the world was even a few generations ago, and how truly close and tightly knit the globe is now.  Good or bad, the future is intensely exciting to consider.

Enough pondering and on with the story. The 6 of us drove to the park, groggy and slap happy about the coming day.  We left early, around 7:00, so that we could enjoy the park before it became packed like American chicken farms.

We all pitched in to rent out a bungalow.  While Sarena and Louise went in to pick out a bungalow, Ray, Jay, Claire and I waited in the parking lot.  We needed a bungalow against the wall of the parking lot so that we could sneak food in.  Food, like any amusement park, is insanely expensive at California Beach.

Our box of food.

After going inside Claire and I distracted the lifeguard closest to us with fast and high vocabulary questions about the park in English.  He was very confused but after taking a picture with us we became quick friends.  This allowed Ray to throw the food over the wall to Jay without being seen.  Very sneaky indeed.  Koreans are natural born shufflers and ninjas!  The successful distraction made me think about a life of foreign con-artistry, but in case this post serves as self incrimination later in life, I will digress.

Distracting the lifeguard.

At a Korean water park you must wear a life jacket at all times with the exception of the single person super fast water slides.  It was really annoying at first but we got used to it quickly.  On some of the rides you are also required to wear some sort of hat to stop hair from getting into the water.  Because my hair is so short I was good to go without a hat.  That left five people with only 2 hats.  I suggested that we just wrap some shirts around peoples' heads like turbans.  It totally worked!  Another strange thing is that most Koreans wear shirts even while swimming, many times even long sleeve shirts.  It is in an attempt to avoid being sun burnt/tan (being very pale and white is more beautiful in Korea). 

Everyone is wearing hoodies!

There are two rides I have never seen before at an American water park that I want to discuss.  The first is the not so lazy river.  We called it the tsunami.  You grab an inner tube and wade into a river with 12 foot walls on either side.  About every minute a voice announces to the riders "five, four, three two, one, LET'S GO!"  A 4-7 foot wave (depending where you are on the river) is released from the entrance of the ride like a charging war horse.  It slams into you and throws you with flailing arms further down the river to wait for another wave to come again.  It was exhilarating and one of the best water rides I have ever been on.

The river.

The best ride in the park is a water slide.  After climbing a steep set of stairs your reach the top of the highest slide in the park.  Above the entrance to the tunneled slide is a trap door that you stand on.  Above and around this trap door is what looks like a space ship escape pod with a glass window on the front so everyone can see you.  After stepping into the pod, you are told how to stand so that you do not get hurt.  Cross your legs and put your hands behind your head.  Tilt your chin down and don't move!  A man gives you a countdown and screws with you so that you have no idea when the trap door will open.  "3, 2, 1..... 1.....1..... go...... go......hmmmmmm, go..-POP!"  The trap door flies open and you are in free fall for a second or two.  Your body finally meets with the nearly vertical slide and rushes you down a tunnel in steep curves and high power turns.  When you finally reach bottom, your adrenaline is still pumping and your breathe is still held.  What a trip!!

Claire and Sarena. 

Jay, Ray, and Louise.

Water Explosion! 

For lunch and a few snack breaks we would return to the bungalow.  Sarena made kimbop for everyone and even prepared some for Claire and I without meat.  It was unfathomably good!  By far the best kimbop we have had in Korea so far!

Kimbop.

Chilling in the Bungalow

By around 5:00 we were all exhausted and ready for some uninterrupted hibernation.

Relaxing in the hot tub.

The locker rooms were EXTREMELY nice.  First of all, as opposed to the states, no one cared about being naked.  No one was shy or embarrassed (if they were they didn't show it) about their bodies.  I am a solid believer that everyone's body is strange, and unique.  It is always so weird to me to see people so embarrassed about the temporary form they inhabit.

The locker rooms also had plenty of 10 second dryers for your swim suit and other wet belongings along with complimentary plastic bags to store your damp things in.  Thank you Korea.


I think that covers about everything. All in all, Claire and I were surrounded by some really amazing company and hilarious conversation all day.  Ray, Jay, Sarena, and Louise, you guys are awesome!  Thanks for an amazing trip!

A dragonfly landed on Claire's finger.  Good Luck!!






Check out some of the videos I took with my waterproof camera!  1 2 3 4 5