May 15, 2021
the Gentle Giants of Ganymede - breath-art
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the Gentle Giants of Ganymede - breath-art
Clara Bow, Moving Picture Stories - April 28, 1925 #AprilFoolsDay
John Harris cover art for Inherit The Stars by James P. Hogan, 1989 edition.
Review: Inherit the stars
Author: James P. Hogan Genre: hard sci-fi Year: 1977 Notes: I have read the italian translation by Beata della Frattina published by Urania in 1978. It is the first of a five books series.
Now that humanity has reached world peace, it can focus on important things like space exploration! There are several spaceships in our solar system, and there are several bases on our Moon. While doing research, a corpse is found on the moon, a corpse wearing a bright red space suit. No one is missing, and the corpse is quite old. Upon analysis, it is revealed to be around 50’000 years old. The collective scientific community goes “what the fuck?” and a team is assembled to discover the truth about Charlie, the nickname given to the mummified corpse. Enter Vic Hunt, scientist which is soon assigned to coordinate all the various teams working on Charlie’s mystery: linguists try to understand the language they find in Charlie’s diaries, other teams analize his technological devices, and there’s the Debate with capital D: did he come from the Earth? How is that possible? Besides some minor differences, Charlie was undoubtedly human, as Danchekker, another scientist, likes to point out as often as he can.
If at this point you are asking yourself “wait, what about the real plot?” congratulations, but you are in for a sad surprise. It doesn’t feel like a novel but like a “essay/research fiction”, if that’s a thing. Vic Hunt is supposed to be a main character, and yet you could replace him with a cardboard cutout and no one would notice it: he has no personality whatsoever, no flaws to overcome, absolutely no character arc ever. If you are expecting a story where Vic Hunt has to overcome his personal flaws before he can discover the secrets of Charlie’s story, prepare to be disappointed. It’s a shame because when it gets more novel-like (when he actually does things, like when visit the Moon) it’s not that bad but no, we had to be stuck with exposition through newspaper articles and a lot of tell instead of show. What a pity.
It’s a pity, yes, because Charlie’s mystery is really fascinating, the concept is captivating and the debates, when they happen, they’re interesting to follow, and more discoveries are made on other celestial bodies which force everyone to consider seemingly absurd hypothesis. Also, my hat off to Danchekker, who manages the be the only “non-cardboard” character of the novel. Other cardboard pieces include the “rich director” and the “sexy secretary” because of course. Sigh. Besides one female soviet scientist which is mentioned in a small scene, expect no female scientists whatsoever. In fact, expect no female character whatsoever behind those two (soviet scientist and sexy secretary). I love (sarcasm) those old timey authors who can imagine world peace but not equality between the sexes. Also, everyone smokes and drinks all the time, which feels ridiculous now. The author may know a lot about the universe, but linguistics is truly alien to him: trust me, deciphering a dead alien alphabet & language without some item to serve as a Rosetta Stone would be impossible. Hell, we have Earth languages we have yet to translate because we lack the means to do so... To be fair it feels really old, older than its age, as a story.
So, is it worth reading? It depends. I don’t regret reading it, it’s rather short (as a long novel it would be unbearable due to its quasi-essay nature) and it has some really interesting moments. The whole mystery behind Charlie is captivating, and it’s fun to read a theory, think “oh, right!” and see it disproved in the next page - bonus points for the ending, which does this, and the epilogue, which made me shed a little tear.
Fun fact: the italian title is “Lo scheletro impossibile”, literally “the impossible skeleton”. A much better title than “inherit the stars” if you ask me.
A NEW SENSATION IN HORROR!
Recently wrapped-up this new drawing of David Bruce as Ted Allison inspired by The Mad Ghoul!
The Mad Ghoul (1943)
🎬 James Hogan
The establishment of a central bank is 90% of communizing a nation.
FYI. Just read this quote in novel Mirror Maze by James Hogan. This book is a simple mans Atlas Shrugged or Fountainhead with excellent analogies.
Character Profile: James Hogan
Birth Name: James Eric Hogan
Type: Vlogger
Birthday: October 17
Race: Asian/Caucasian
Height: 6’0
Hair Color: Dark auburn brown, wavy
Eye Color: Blue green
Personality: Laid-back, athletic, absent-minded, protective, insecure, cocky, impulsive, caring, overdramatic, creative
Likes: Football, filming, acting, video games, literature, photography, playing pranks, baseball, having fun, traveling
Dislikes: Letting others down, challenges, breakups, lectures, arguments, failing, studying, being compared to others, golfing, video editing
Family: Marisol Angela Verona (Mother) - deceased Steven Thomas Hogan (Father) Jason Maxwell (Older brother) Russell Jermaine (Twin brother)
Taylor Karen (Aunt) Stella Giselle (Younger cousin) Alissa Madeline (Younger cousin)