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Science Fiction
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"[Science fiction] is the one literary medium left in which we have a free hand. We can do any damn thing we please."
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In this book of novellas, Roger Zelazny shows us some of the life experience of a man who doesn't exist. That is, according to the computer systems of this near future world, he did not exist. One of the original programmers, he was able to assign himself an identity whenever he wished. Each of the stories is a case he accepted as a contractor from a private investigative agency.
In this story, he is asked to protect a project group that seeks to create additional usable land by creating islands in the ocean. The idea is to use nuclear explosives in areas where hot lava is close to the surface.
One can reasonably speculate that this story was inspired by the creation of the island Surtsey off the coast of Iceland. In November of 1963 seamen fishing saw signs of an underwater eruption that occurred at a 130 meter depth. The resulting island eveosually totaled about 3 kilometers of new land area, with the highest point about 170 meters above sea level. It was named Surtsey for Surtur, the fire giant of Norse mythology who would set fire to the earth at the Last Judgment. This event made a great impression on me (a child at the time) and was covered at length in National Geographic.
This is a great collection of stories; the others in the book include Home is the Hangman and 'Kjwalll'kje'k'koothailll'kje'k. Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
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Science Fiction
Timeline
Envisioning Starship Earth Travel - In 1930 By Max Valier
'Why must we travel ever faster in a seemingly insatiable desire to conquer space and time?'
Carbon Robotics: War Of The Worlds As A Metaphor For Weed Control
'It was as if some invisible jet impinged upon them and flashed into white flame.'
Pathways Language Model (PaLM) Is No Joke
'Electronic differentiation of the grotesque, as it says in the specifications - in man, a sense of humor.'
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'And as the ball bulleted downward on a screaming slant, it shrank!'
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'The wings were at full spread-rest, their delicate metal interleavings extended.'
100X Improvement In DNA Information Storage
'A record that wouldn't get lost and couldn't be destroyed.'
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