In a lot of sf, the characters arrive in a new world - on a new planet or in a different time period - and must deduce what is going on there/then. A puzzle is presented. The protagonists must penetrate appearances and uncover reality. An obvious example is Poul Anderson's "Wings of Victory." On a newly discovered planet, large winged beings circle overhead but where are the intelligent beings who have constructed the buildings and other artefacts?
I am thinking of two other works in parallel:
in Wells' The Time Machine, how have human beings become Eloi - and Morlocks - by 802,701 A.D.?;
in Anderson's "A Tragedy of Errors," how has such a small planet generated and retained a breathable atmosphere? Is the planet young or old? Why is its sun so unpredictably variable?
In this kind of story, all the answers will be found. Just read on.
6 comments:
A TRAGEDY OF ERRORS demonstrates how physical conditions set the limits within which human choice operates.
Kaor, Paul!
Meaning many of the better SF stories are like mysteries.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Indeed, which is why it wasn't too much of a stretch when some authors combined sf with detective fiction.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, Anderson even included a murder mystery in one of his HARVEST OF STARS books, with
Dagny Beynac as the detective.
Ad astra! Sean
And he wrote a series of murder mysteries set in the San Francisco area -- MURDER IN BLACK LETTER and the others.
They're quite good.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I've read those as well, and I think MURDER IN BLACK LETTER was the best of them. Anderson even had one of the characters using sensory deprivation to interrogate a criminal.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment