Science Fiction - Tumblr Posts
We are not monsters
We are not drones
We are human
We are so much more !
- warren moten
art by warren moten
H.G. Wells - War of the Worlds (USSR, 1983)
Reseña: Cuentos Completos I (Beyond Lies the Wub), Philip K. Dick
Mi reseña original en Twitter:
Lo fui leyendo entre otras lecturas, y planeo leer el resto de los volúmenes. De acá saqué el criterio de buena ciencia ficción y también me dejó un análisis interesante acerca de las diferencias entre relatos cortos/largos y novelas El Hombre Variable y El Factor Letal mis favs
Comentarios adicionales:
Es muy difícil reseñar una antología porque todo lo que reúna varios intentos diferentes de escribir dentro de un género con distintas intenciones claramente va a llevar a contrastes y comparaciones que terminan generando una montaña rusa de altos y bajos dentro de la colección que reúne el libro.
Algunos de sus cuentos nos hablan de civilizaciones del futuro o extraterrestres: Aquí Yace el Wub (!), La Colonia (!), El Cañón, El Factor Letal, El Hombre Variable (!), Estabilidad, La Calavera, El Gran C, Flautistas en el Bosque, La nave de Ganímedes, La Nave Humana, Los Defensores, Los Infinitos, La Cripta de Cristal.
Otros, de un tiempo muy parecido al presente, pero con algunos avances tecnológicos que son el centro de la trama: La Maquina Preservadora, La Niñera, La Paga (!), La Rana Infatigable, La Vida Efímera y Feliz del Zapato Marrón.
Luego, están los que rozan la fantasía más que la ciencia ficción: El Rey de los Elfos, En el Jardín, La Pequeña Rebelión, Sacrificio.
Por último, está Roog, difícil de clasificar, porque es desde la perspectiva de un perro: ¿nuestra tecnología de la vida cotidiana le parece del futuro a los animales? ¿O es más similar a la magia?
Respecto a esto último, la antología incluye una disertación de Philip K. Dick sobre las diferencias entre fantasía y ciencia ficción, y propone que en última instancia es el lector el que decide qué es lo que está dispuesto a aceptar como dentro de lo posible en el universo que el autor le propone, aunque existe cierto consenso acerca de algunos elementos que pertenecen a uno u otro género.
La idea, y valga la redundancia, de que la idea es la pieza central en la ciencia ficción y no los personajes, junto con la forma en que el autor distingue entre los personajes de un cuento o relato corto, a quienes conocemos a través de las cosas que hacen, y los de una novela larga, a quienes conocemos por quienes son y por cómo responden a los eventos de la trama, completan la mirada de Philip K. Dick sobre su propia obra y cómo se plantaba frente a la hoja en blanco a la hora de escribir.
8/10.
Mis otras lecturas del 2023.
Reseña: Cuentos Completos II, Philip K. Dick
Mi Reseña en un Tweet:
La calidad de los cuentos no supera ni empeora la de los del tomo anterior, pero sí son más coherentes y consistentes en los temas que abordan.
Oscila más del extremo de la Fantasía al de la CF.
La Segunda Variedad, Planeta de Paso y Equipo de Exploración los que más me gustaron
Mi Reseña Completa:
Ya por el segundo de los cinco tomos de la antología definitiva de Philip K. Dick, ahora nos encontramos con una colección de cuentos que oscilan mucho más desde la fantasía hacia la ciencia ficción.
Esta vez los cuentos abordan estos temas principales:
la humanidad: ¿qué es ser humano? ¿Qué es no serlo? ¿Qué nos constituye como personas y cómo eso define nuestras relaciones entre nosotros? "La Segunda Variedad" es por lejos el mejor, pero otros que me gustaron que tratan de responder estas preguntas son "Progenie", "Una Incursión en la Superficie", "Proyecto: Tierra", "Humano Es" y "Un Recuerdo".
El futuro de la humanidad: ¿qué nos depara la evolución? ¿Qué será del hombre en un par de siglos? ¿En qué nos convertiremos? Sobre este tema, "Progenie", "Una Incursión en la Superficie", "El Fabricante de Capuchas", "Equipo de Exploración" y "Planeta de Paso" son los más directos sobre el tema, donde el autor conjetura no solo sobre nuestro futuro biológico sino también cultural y planetario.
Hombre contra la Máquina: una preocupación inmanente de la ciencia ficción, nuestra lucha por mantener el dominio sobre las herramientas que creamos, y qué pasa cuando lo perdemos. "James P. Crow" es el cuento que lleva la premisa hasta sus conclusiones lógicas más extremas; "Progenie" lo toca más de pasada; "La Segunda Variedad" y "El Mundo de Jon", existiendo en el mismo continuo, hablan sobre la lucha más directa contra las máquinas; "Impostor" plantea alguna que otra pregunta interesante sobre nuestra consciencia, cómo nos probamos que no somos una inteligencia artificial.
la exploración espacial y el medio ambiente: otro de los grandes tópicos del autor, doblemente preocupado por la devastación bélica y ambiental de su época, se refleja en cuentos como "Los Cazadores Cósmicos", "Algunas clases de vida", "Los marcianos llegan en oleadas", "El Planeta Imposible", "Planeta de Paso" y "Equipo de Exploración". En casi todos ellos, se nota cierto pesimismo del autor, una expectativa sumamente negativa sobre nuestra capacidad de cuidar y subsistir con los recursos de nuestro propio planeta. Imagina un futuro en el que nos veremos obligados por necesidad a aventurarnos en el espacio.
la Religión: "Equipo de Ajuste" y "Autor, Autor", además de "Un Souvenir" y "Un Regalo para Pat", abordan directa o indirectamente la influencia que la religión tiene sobre nuestras vidas, incluso a los no creyentes y no practicantes. Señala además cómo esas religiones a veces se construyen a partir de eventos racionalmente explicables.
amenazas "invisibles" en lo cotidiano: en esto englobo más que nada aquellos cuentos que viran más hacia el género de fantasía, como "La Viejecita de las Galletas", "Detrás de la Puerta", "El Abonado", "Sobre Manzanas Marchitas", "La Maqueta". En cierto modo, me recordaron a los cuentos cortos de Stephen King, supongo que dice algo sobre los caminos que suelen recorrer los autores en sus primeros años dentro de la profesión, los temas e historias que conjuran durante sus primeras publicaciones.
En general, una antología más consistente que la del primer volumen, con menos puntos bajos pero sin puntos altos que destaquen demasiado.
7/10.
Mis otras lecturas del 2023.
Book Review: The Invisible Man, H. G. Wells
My review in a Tweet:
"Would men turn evil if they were free from society?" is a frequent question in fiction and phylosophy in general, and while it's present in this book, it has been exaggerated on literary analysis that followed it. Overall, an interesting read with a very dull middle part.
Complete Review:
I decided to pause my other readings to dive into special thematic books for Halloween, while also complementing the nights I watch movie classics. So, for the first special review, I chose "The Invisible Man", by Herbert George Wells.
Years ago, I read "The Time Machine" by the same author, and it left a good impression of his writing skills. This time, while it wasn't bad, I'd say it left me a little unimpressed. The prose and descriptions, like the dialogues, were precise and well written but a bit dense. Wells would go over too many details, and although it's probably a common product of its time, it lacks a more deep or meaningful story.
The book it's divided in chapters, but I think the plot it's separated in four parts:
The arrival of the Invisible Man to a small town, his secret protected by the costume he wears.
The reveal of the secret and the following chaos.
The origin of the Invisible Man, told by himself to an old friend he runs into.
The manhunt of the Invisible Man.
The first part it's quite interesting as a reader, because we know what his secret is, so it's fun to read the guesses of the townspeople and the "mysterious events" that surround the stranger.
The second part is also fun, because of the paranoia and desbelief that the reveal of the Invisible Man provokes.
This third part, his backstory, the one I was most eager to read about (driven by the curiosity of getting to know how would the author explain or justify Griffins' invisibility) turned out to be so dull and slow. The proccess is a bit uninteresting (applying the refracting properties of an object to another thanks to a machine barely described), but the tedious first days of Griffin as an invisible man and his laments for all the unfortunate stuff that happens to him because no one can notice him is so... unsufferable. Specially because H.G. Wells decides to describe a lot the most boring stuff. We barely get to see a truly evil Invisible Man.
He does tell to his old friend that he needs an accomplice to declare his Reign of Terror, but by the time we reach this point, we have 10% or 15% of the book left, so the last part is mostly his friends saying No to him and helping the local police capture him (because the narration of his first days invisible gave him the information he needed). Griffin kills a man and injuries badly a few more men, but besides that and stealing money and food, he's no more evil than any person left behind by society.
So maybe, another possible interpretation to this story is not "Do men turn evil when free from society's watchful eye?" but rather "Men will do what they must to survive in a society that won't notice (help) them". Then, maybe, after a life like that, they will grow resentful and bitter like Griffin.
Score: 6.5/10.
My other 2023 readings.
Book Review: The Father Thing, Philip K. Dick
My Review in a Tweet:
In retrospective, I felt like I read it more like a chore, trying to read all five volumes this year. It has some good stories that left me thinking about the implicancies, but it was mostly filled with basic or uninteresting science fiction stories.
Complete Commentary:
I'm back! I just finished the third volume of Philip K. Dick's short stories, "The Father-Thing". I have to say, from the get-go, that it was probably the weakest one so far, with lower lows and not so great highs.
The more frequent topics and themes on this anthology are:
Ideologies and their radical extremes: from absolute polarization of society to political opinions taken to their most extreme realization, the author critizices and explores different ideas of his time, some of them being direct comments on recent publications.
Humanity and evolution: what will it be of humans in the future? The fate Philip K Dick envisions for us is rather dark or depressive in most of his stories.
Technology and humanity as a trait: Our relationship with technology is an evergreen topic in science-fiction, but in this anthology, it has a withered quality.
Clash of civilizations and classes
I'll make a short commentary for every short story, already ranking them from the one I liked the most to the one I liked the least:
Upon the Dull Earth: I realized while ordering up the stories that this was the one I liked the most and not the next one on the list. It feels more like a fantasy short story, but the ending is closer to a (cosmic?) horror tale.
The Golden Man: fantastic pace, fantastic ending.
Shell Game: the absolute paranoia of this colony and the TWIST. Loved it.
Sales Pitch: PKD said many people didn't like this story's ending and that he agreed with them. I disagree with both, the ending is great, but maybe because we like more cynical stories nowadays.
The Hanging Stranger: I love the ending, more themes of paranoia.
The Last of the Masters: it's unusual to read about anarchy, but it was very interesting, specially on the efforts to preserve some kind of hierarchy and burocracy.
Foster, You're Dead!: amazing satire, still relevant today.
War Veteran: I would really like to see this story adapted in a movie or series, it has great potential as a political intrigue/thriller.
A World of Talent: I rank it this high because of how convoluted and complicated the mutants' powers were. The plot itself dragged a bit too much.
Strange Eden: I like the ethereal feel of the story and the kind of "cautious tale" of the ending.
To Serve the Master
Fair Game
Pay for the Printer: I feel like we are headed this way with automated production and the lack of appreciation for manual crafts.
The Turning Wheel
Tony and the Beetles: relevant in today's political landscape.
Exhibit Piece: I despise the nostalgic feeling present in science fiction stories that imagine such a disastrous future that anything is preferred than that present, even flawed pasts. Even then, it's well narrated.
Null-O.
The Chromium Fence: I liked this satire as a valid commentary on today's need to always "pick a side", how pointing out valid critics to either viewpoint is considered as expressing symphaty for the other one. I disliked the ending, it felt like an easy way out.
The Eyes Have It: I liked it because it was fun, but I put it lower on the list because it feels very out of place in this anthology.
The Father-Thing: I liked better the author's explanation of this story, not the story itself.
Psi-man Heal My Child!: after reading A World of Talent, it felt very repetitive and unnecessarily complicated.
The Crawlers: pretty uninteresting.
Overall, I would give this book a:
6/10.
My other 2023 readings.
Some art I've made! One of my characters Void!! :-) I wonder what he's talking about..
Find this and other art posts on my Instagram: hypn0tw1st
WOAH! a persona design!
Newest drawing I made using alcohol markers and I finished this at 3:00 in the morning since I couldn’t sleep.
Humans Are Crazy
Aliens have such different gender and biology from humans that none of them menstruate. So imagine this.
Alien: Human Steve, why did I find blood on the lavatory floor?
Steve: Oh, that's just Karen.
Alien: What??
Steve: Human females bleed from their reproductive organs once every month for five to seven days.
Alien: wHAT?!
Steve, calmly: Yeah, they can lose enough blood in a lifetime to kill ten grown men.
Alien: WHaT ?!?!
Karen, walking in: Steve, I need A FUCKING break. And chocolate. And a heating pad. I'll be in my sleeping quarters. Also, I threw up.
Steve: Okay, take the day off, I'll bring you your stuff in a bit.
Alien: *jots down in notebook* Human females are indestructible and fearsome. Regard them with respect.
EDIT: I swear, if this is the thing that makes me Tumblr famous, I’m gonna blow a braincell. And I don’t have many of those left, so…
Edit 2: Guys. Guys. What?! My grumpy menstrual rant is in no way worthy of being tumblr famous. *is mildly to severely confused/thankful/bumfuddled*
Edit 3: Why is this still getting notes wtf
HELLO WHAT THIS IS SO INCREDIBLY DETAILED OMG IM SCREAMING
I HOPE YOU GET MORE VOTES FR
a royal guard.
don't get any closer.
[July 14, 2024]
The Abyssals Sneak Peak - Katya - 2203
~ Ekaterina ‘Katya’ Petrovna Zhigunova, originally from Earth; Deep Space Biological Systems Engineer, class one licensed; aboard the CosmoExplorer V Mission, en route to the first non-native solar system reached by humanity: tasked with helping to create a sustainable, orbital colony. ~
DISCLAIMER: ALL IMAGES, DRAWINGS, & PHOTOGRAPHY HERE ARE NOT MY OWN. ALL IMAGES WERE FOUND ON PINTEREST AND BELONG TO THEIR RIGHTFUL CREATORS. No profit is being made from the images above, they are simply used to convey the personality/appearance/storyline of my original character.
Average nerd activity
Lately I’ve been considering continuing a story I came up with last year for school; “EXTINCTION 6.” That’s not what I called it at the time, but it’s what I’m calling it now lol Anyways, this one of a weaponized T.Rex is a watercolour based off of skeletal reconstructions of Sue. The antagonist in the plot is a giant rival organization who currently possesses the most of the [insert cool name for a futuristic tech material here] and can use it to arm and control dangerous dinosaurs like this Rex. The story is taking place after humans essentially destroy the planet, hence the name Extinction 6. Where are the dinosaurs from? Um… I definitely didn’t use the whole genetic engineering scheme of Jurassic Park….
is this the wrong platform to write long paragraphs? Someone help me please
support on instagram (only if you want to of course, no holding at gunpoint on my page):
Dinosaur Story
hey so I was wondering if anyone would want to read a story i’d write for this site
The story is going to revolve around 5 ex-soldiers who are hired by scientists to help protect them on an expedition, little do these soldiers know, they are on the infamous Lost World National Park, an abandoned national park filled with prehistoric beasts from a bygone age. This story is in the style of 90s classics like Dino Crisis, Jurassic Park, and The Predator (I know I know, it came out in 87, but I’m close)
If this seems like a cool idea, please let me know! I’m still on the fence about it, but if people want to read it, I’d love to write it for them!
The Law of the Jungle
TW: Dinosaurs, you know the drill
Chapter 1: The Headhunters
"Where the hell are we?" "The Kings Lair"
The waves of the pacific rocked the sides of the large metal ship, causing it to bob and sway gently. The feeling would be soothing, if the boat wasn't filled with some of the greatest mercenary teams in the world. The Jackals, Death Fighters, and White Claw were all present on the ship. This did not phase the young Jacob Marvin "Leatherback", captain of the mercenary crew "Headhunters." He instead sat on the hard metal seat, playing out the beat to his music on his leg. Jacob was a tall well muscled man, with long spikey dark brown hair, that stuck stubbornly out of the back of his head. He wore a leather eyepatch over his left eye, which when combined with his beard scruff, gave him a rough, rugged appearance. He wore a green camo tank top, and dark green pants, which helped deal with the humid heat of the tropical atmosphere.
He lifted his wide brown hat and turned to face the man sitting next to him, the crew's sniper, Troy Hall, "Copperhead". Troy was slightly leaner than Jacob, with his long light colored hair spilling out from underneath the back of his patrol cap and headset. His most defining feature was the black mask that covered his mouth and nose that he always wore. He had sharp eyes with longer eyelashes that were the color of ice, the kind that pierced deep into anyone's heart. Troy turned to his captain and nodded, standing up and grabbing his gear. It was time to get the crew together, they were inbound.
Jacob led them up the stairs, as two more followed behind. These were Jack Wilds "Lagoon," the scout, and William Hager "Gator." Jack was a taller, lean man with dirty blonde hair, tucked neatly away in a grey patrol cap. Will was a short but stocky maori man, with long curly black hair that reached the base of his shoulderblades. As they all reached the deck of the metal ship, the light shone down on them brightly, causing those who weren't wearing sunglasses or a hat to squint and see what was ahead. It was a large tropical island, with an extrodinary view. "Damn fine place they're taking us" said Jacob, putting a hand on his hat. "Indeed captain" says Troy, putting his hands on the rail of the ship, trying not to get motion sick. This made Will laugh, and he slapped Troy's back "Don't get sick on us now" he said in his thick aussie accent "We still got a job to do" "Shut up" Troy snaps back with a glare, causing Will to laugh harder, "So where are we Cap'n?" Jacob paused, he had no idea where they were, the scientists who hired them said it was confidential, but the pay for this guard and escort duty was high, too high. It only meant one thing, this job was going to be one hell of a time "We're inbound to some rando island, but if the report is anything, it's supposed to be teeming with 'Dangerous Wildlife' so stay sharp" They all readied for the landing, each loaded up with their individual packs. These packs were specialized for them, containing equipment for long distance jungle treks. As they set foot on the island, regrouping with the rest of the mercenaries, they got to see the scientists they were escorting for the first time. There were 8 scientists in total, leading the pack was a female scientist with short red hair. "All right, we'll be heading to the eastern corner of the island, and in 2 weeks we'll be out of this green hell" she shouts to the mercenaries, who respond with the usual grumbles, as they begin hacking a path through the jungle.
Only 2 hours into the trek, and the whole of the Headhunters were sweaty, tired messes. Sweat stuck Jacob's shirt right onto his chest, his breathing heavy as he held his gun up, searching the jungle for any of the "Dangerous Wildlife" the doctor had talked about earlier. The things he and the crew had heard in the forest were unnatural, the chirps of some unknown creature. Troy had trouble identifying the birdlike prints on the ground. As he continued down the path, he froze, a familiar feeling washing over his body. He was being watched no, hunted. He searched the jungle, but could see nothing. Until he looked up, looked way up. Towering above him was a large leathery beast, with rough red skin, covered in scars. From what he could see, it's lip peeled up from a scar, showing a missing bottom tooth, it's nose topped with a single bone horn. As it gazed at him with an empty eye socket, he realized what he was looking at.
He was looking at a dinosaur
If you made it this far, it means you read it! Thank you beautiful reader, for reading my thingie. It means a lot, and I hope to see you again in chapter two!
The Future
Hey Law of the Jungle fans, my jungleheads, it's been a while since the last chapter, and I kinda dropped the series for a while. Thankfully, I've been reinvigorated back into the writing sphere with some news for you all. 1 Law of the Jungle will be resuming, and I'm going back to editing some of the past couple chapters that I'm not quite satisfied with. When they are edited I will send out an announcement that the edits are complete. ALSO I think I'm gonna start posting the chapters onto AO3 after recently learning about the site. 2 This is the cool one. Under a new pen name "Skin" I'm working on a weird west comic book called "Wizardworld" which is being posted to Tapas, check it out if you have the time or want to. If you just happened to see this without a clue as to what this is or who I am, take this as a sign to start or finish that book you've been wanting to write.
YIC (Yours in Creating) Gone Imagining