#736 In Spite of Darkness- Alixa Garcia

#736 In Spite of Darkness- Alixa Garcia

The Suns have been quieted and the land has fallen into darkness. The humans have lived without solar warmth for eight years. Luminescent beings called Sol gatherers hide from them afraid they will be stolen and disappear forever.

 “The Sol Gatherers were effected by mood—fear and love being the strongest emotions that could make their firelike skin radiate.”

Mikra, born on the first day of the war and at the beginning of the current darkness is a mixture of Sol Gatherer and Pattern Keeper. For generations the Sol Gatherers had flown together to different dimensions in search of suns and returned to share their magnificence. This time, however they have not returned and the child gatherers are without teachers and the lineage is in danger of being broken.

This could be a morality play about human disrespect and destruction of the planet, or it could be a parable about forgotten culture. Either way it’s a powerful story about hope and perseverance in the face of utter darkness.

Notable Passage: “…and like any movement toward an unfolding future, so thundered down the unknown hand of destiny.”

Rating: 8-8-9-8 Total= 33

#469 The Gone Dogs- Frank Herbert

#469 The Gone Dogs- Frank Herbert

This story is about man’s unstoppable need to control the natural world, the hubris to think we can do it without consequence, and the destructive power of material desires.

An amateur biologist makes a horrible decision. He used radioactive carbon egg to mutate hog cholera and then implanted it into a coyote, releasing the infected animal back into the wild. Not understand some basic tenets of natural science, he thought that he could eliminate the dangers coyotes pose to ranchers without doing any damage to other animals. Instead, the entire canine population on earth is about to be wiped out, coyote’s, fox, and the most important to humans, dogs.

“Each man kills the thing he loves.”

Humans reach out to their alien connection on Vega who specialize in bio-genetics, but a series of political snafus and human selfishness makes saving dogs near impossible. With the death on one species, another may be born.

Rating: 7-7-7-6 Total= 27

#192- The Smallest Woman in the World- Clarice Lispector

#192- The Smallest Woman in the World- Clarice Lispector

It is part of human nature to be self centered--not selfish necessarily, in a malicious way, buts self centered in an instinct to survive type of way. When something abnormal or new appears, we always, instinctually put in in perspective of how it effects us, or how it would be in our own world. Thus when French explorer Marcel Pretre discovered the world smallest human in the deep jungles of Africa, the picture printed in the paper set off many reactions.

Some thought is creepy, some thought of the delicate nature of life: “She considered the cruel necessity of loving. And she considered the malignity of our desire for happiness. She considered how ferociously we play. How many timed we kill for love."

Some barely lifted their heads from the paper and thought: “I bet if she lived here it would end in a fight…in this house everything ends in a fight.”

Back in the jungle the smallest human had her own self-centered thoughts, albeit understandably so: “She was laughing, warm, warm—Little Flower was enjoying life. The rare thing herself was experiencing the ineffable sensation of not having been eaten yet.”

Humanity however is all consuming and eventually we gorge on that which is unique and different.

Rating: 7-6-6-6 Total= 25