TO READ/WATCH FOR NEXT WEEK:

The Star by Arthur C. Clarke

&

World of Tomorrow [Netflix] by Don Hertzfeldt

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I was going to put "Golem XIV" up for this week, but I haven't be able to procure a digital copy. Rather than leave the second space blank I threw "World of Tomorrow" on, which is a 17 minute short on Netflix and I adore it.

DISCUSSION OF LAST WEEK'S READING:

Allamagoosa by Eric Frank Russell

&

The Giving Plague by David Brin

Prompts for discussion

For some context, let's mention a little bit about the Hugos. At this point in 1955 it wasn't quite established that the Hugos would be a recurring award, much less one that would command quite a bit of prestige. The first Hugo appeared in the 1953 World Science Fiction Convention with the hope of becoming a recurring event. The 1954 convention declined to hold them, but they came back in 1955 with extra categories including the short stories award that we'll be marching through. If you glance at the other awardees for the other categories they touch on weighty topics that relate to the human condition, as is typical for most good science fiction. By comparison "Allamagoosa" is much more lighthearted, so I'll leave you to ponder what made this story tickle the fancy of the 1955 Hugo committee.

"The Giving Plague" is comparatively a much more weighty short, and I thought it might be fun to address in what way this story characterizes altruism, academia, and the collective advancement of our species and the motivators for it.

Ongoing list of material to vote on (I'm trying to find a pdf of "Golem XIV" for next week)

Frankenstein

Golem xiv by Stanislaw Lem

Forbidden Planet

2001

The Day the Earth Stood Still

I, Robot (book)

Watchbird by Robert Sheckley

Equoid by Charles Stross

Shoutouts:

kleinbl00 JakobVirgil mhr OftenBen plewemt elizabeth blackbootz flagamuffin Meriadoc minimum_wage Tiger_the_Lion _thoracic johnnyFive tehstone rthomas6 War Dala OftenBen bhrgunatha kantos francopoli anatomygeek Purple_Ruby