Short Fiction: “Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman by Harlan Ellison
Next time you find yourself running late, consider yourself lucky to be living anywhere but in the society Harlan Ellison imagines here. The society is so obsessed with keeping it all running that, to prevent anyone from slowing things down, the government keeps track of all the time a person is late in life, and they’ll subtract that time from the end of your life. If that sounds at all familiar to you… well, that’s the point.
Into this society Ellison throws the Harlequin, who rebels against the machine by doing things like raining jelly beans on a public walkway, throwing the system off by seven minutes. Seven minutes!
This is one of my favorite stories of all time. It has inspired me a time or several to stop and wonder what exactly I’m doing. Through I can’t call myself a wrench-thrower, I’m at least inspired to suppress my Ticktockman tendencies.
The first time I read this story was in print, but since then I’ve heard Harlan Ellison read it himself in the audiobook called Voice from the Edge: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. He is one of the best narrators going, and not only with his own stories. Since I first heard this audiobook, I hear his voice in every one of his stories, and prefer to listen. He’s that good.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention that this story was dramatized as part of the 2000X: Tales of the New Millennia radio series, which is worth tracking down. It stars Robin Williams as the Harlequin and Stefan Rudnicki as the Ticktockman, with an introduction by Ellison himself, who was the host of the entire series. Audible.com carries it, but it’s not in stereo there, and stereo enhances the experience a great deal. The drama is included in the hardcopy 2000X: Tales of the Millennia collection, currently out of print.
Novelette: “The Last Castle” by Jack Vance
Toward the end of a stormy summer afternoon, with the sun finally breaking out under ragged black rain-clouds, Castle Janeil was overwhelmed and its population destroyed.
That’s the opening sentence of “The Last Castle”. My opinion of Jack Vance grows with every story. Like “The Dragon Masters”, Vance packs a novel’s worth of story in 100 pages. The “last castle” of the title is one of many castles that were founded by human settlers on an alien world. This isn’t the story of the founding of those castles; many years have passed since then. Humans have enslaved the indigenous intelligent life (called “Meks”) to work for them in the castles. Humans live comfortably, fighting amongst themselves, until the Meks rebel.
One by one the castles fall, and because of cool relations between the castles, the “last castle” doesn’t have all the facts. It’s unthinkable to the humans that the good-natured Meks would rebel, and even more unthinkable that they would have the slightest chance of success.
This is science fiction that feels like fantasy. Events move at a quick pace, and the regal inhabitants of the castle keep to their restrictive customs to the point of foolishness. In addition, the story has an appealing depth that demands a second read.
The story is terrific. I’m eager to read more Jack Vance!
Short Story: “Neutron Star” by Larry Niven
Beowulf Schaeffer has a problem. He owes people money – half a million stars, actually. So, when the alien Puppeteer approaches him with what looks like a suicide mission, he has to accept, risks or no risks.
Schaeffer is a pilot that appears in many of the stories in the run-up to Niven’s famous novel Ringworld, which was published in 1970. Collectively, all the Schaeffer stories and Ringworld novels are part of Niven’s Known Space universe. The whole series is marked by good humor and hard science fiction, usually in the form of a mystery the characters need to solve.
The mystery here is shown to Schaeffer by the Puppeteer. A recovered ship, the inhabitants dead, the inside of the ship destroyed. The problem is that the ship is protected by a General Dynamics hull, which is supposed to withstand all sorts of mayhem. Schaeffer gets to figure it out by following that ship’s flight path.
Niven continues to write stories set in Known Space. The latest is a novel called Fleet of Worlds (2008), which Niven wrote with Edward M. Lerner. “Neutron Star” is a perfect place to start.
Closer Look
Discussion
Comments are disallowed for this post.
Comments are closed.