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"...the people dealing with these new technologies will still be derived from the human stock we're familiar with today."
- Charles Stross
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| Float-home | ||
| Living entity genetically designed for use as a houseboat. |
In the novel, the plot turns on whether or not the largest entities in the known universe will form attachments or feel love for human beings. These entities are familiar to all of us.
Rather than getting comfort from convenience devices based on machinery, the author uses animals to convey simple feelings at the most basic animal level. In this excerpt, Jorj X. McKie arrived at a sort of living houseboat to meet his lover.
| She had already vacated the float-home, and McKie could sense the living entity's resentment. He had shattered the idyll which the float-home had been conditioned to create. The float-home would return to its former affability once he was gone. They were gentle creatures, susceptible to sentient irritation. |
| From Whipping Star,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Galaxy Publishing in 1969 Additional resources -
|
What kind of creature would you start with - to end up with a float-home? Maybe a manatee? While you are thinking about it, take a look at an Australian houseboat tour.
Be sure to take a look at a Herbert classic - the chairdog.
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Float-home-related
news articles:
- Burj Dubai Tower Update
| Real-Life Macau or Ghost In The Shell |
| Galini 3D Printed Sleeping Pod Tiny Houses |
| Seasteading Floating Cities |
| Aequoreas Floating Village 3D Printed From Ocean Junk |
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