Wednesday 28 June 2017

Karel Capek

We have mentioned Karel Capek who bears comparison with Poul Anderson. Capek invented the science fictional concept of robots and incorporated God into sf. In Capek's The Absolute At Large, since God is omnipresent in matter, when matter is 100% converted into energy, pure divinity is released so that people standing nearby prophesy, work miracles, speak in tongues, have visions and mystical experiences etc. Anderson wrote a couple of robot stories and also addressed theological themes.

What I call the four Wellsian themes (see here) include alien invasion. Is there a sub-sub-genre in which the "aliens" are Terrestrial in origin? - e.g.:

The Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham;
War With The Newts by Capek.

I also thought of Wyndham's The Kraken Wakes because its aliens come from the sea but googling reveals that they had first come from space. See here.

I have just bought War With The Newts, previously unread, and it might generate further comparisons with Anderson who, of course, addressed alien invasion at least twice.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And Anderson wrote a story about how a scientist discovered there was an alien co-habiting Earth alongside mankind in "Night Piece."

And I keep forgetting the triffids of Wyndham's THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS were not from OFF Earth. But I thought Anderson's "Superior" in "Night Piece" more interesting.

Sean