Novelette
Number of words : 12000
Percent of Complex Words : 3.9
Average syllables per word : 1.3
Average words per sentence : 9.6
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 5.4
Flesch : 85.8
Flesch-Kincaid : 3.7
CHARACTERS
Wes Kirk
Angry young man.
Captain's daughter
Young woman and daughter of the Ship master.
Ma Kirk
The mother.
Lil Kirk
His sister.
Pa Kirk
His father.
Captain
Master of The Ship.
First Officer
His second in command.
Second Officer
Next in the chain of command.
Third Officer
Officer Of the Day when Pa Kirk is killed.
Jakk Randl
Rebel, friend of Wes.
Wite
Second son of the First Officer.
Frank
Han man, hunter.
Russ
Han man, hunter.
Samel
Pirut leader.
Sada
Pirut woman.
TECHNOLOGY
Heat stone
Mineral used for warmth.
Attoblast
Powerful explosives.
ORGANISATIONS
Hans
People living outside the ship.
Piruts
Other group of people living outside the ship.
ANIMALS
Shags
"Five squat thick shapes with six legs; four powerful legs with claws and two
slender ones held in against the chest, armed with sucker discs for climbing. Five pairs of black eyes watching, hungry and infinitely patient. Five tucked bellies hurning under pale, shaggy hair."
MEDIA
Treaty of Alliance
"between the Sovereign Earth and the Union of Jovian Moons, providing for Earthly colonization and development of the said Moons, and mutual aid against Aggressor Worlds."
PLANTS
Sucking-plant
Used as a painful disciplinary device.
PLOT
An asteroid with a crashed Ship, and people huddled outside it as well, trying to keep warm with the few heat-stones that are left. As do the Piruts, some distance off. Both groups think the Ship dwellers are hoarding heat and technology. The latter are aggressive enough to organise a ruse and attack, using Wes' father and hunters as diversionary beat.
Wes, fired up by his dead rebel friend gets violent, and is given to the sucking plant. The captain's daughter frees him, and they end up being pursued by shags and captured by Pirut's. Wes organised with them to raid the Ship.
They discover their suspicions are false, but the Ship does contain powerful explosives. The people here are the remnants of a past conflict between a government and pirates in an interplanetary war. Unwittingly deployed, the explosives do heat up the place.
3.5 out of 5
Showing posts with label solar system. Show all posts
Showing posts with label solar system. Show all posts
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Halfling - Leigh Brackett
Novelette
Number of words : 10000
Percent of complex words : 4.3
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 10.6
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 5.9
Flesch : 81.1
Flesch-Kincaid : 4.6
SETTING
California
"It was something pretty special in the line of California sunsets, and it made me feel swell, being the first one I'd seen in about nine years. The pitch was in the flatlands between Culver City and Venice, and I could smell the sea."
CHARACTERS
Jade Greene-John Damien Greene
Carnival proprietor.
Laura Darrow
New dancer tryout and assassin, Callistan cat-person.
Sindi
Martian carnival dancer from the Low Canals.
Laska
Cat-man from Callisto.
Tiny
Venusian deep-jungle man.
Punk
Kid hired by Jade. Actually an Immigration cop.
ORGANISATIONS
Jade Greene's Interplanetary Carnival
"The Wonders of the Seven Worlds Alive Before Your Eyes."
CONCEPTS
Martian getak
Carny game.
Venusian shalil
Carny game.
MEDIA
Enhali's Primitive Venus
Laura's tryout music.
RACES
Venusian lizard-men
Reptilian people with sharp teeth and claws.
Phobos moth-people
Small flyers.
Spider-people
Sticky lasso spinners.
Europans
A couple of Europans with wiry little bodies and a twenty-foot wing-spread were doing Immelmans over the geek top
FOOD
Venusian coffee
Very strong stuff, caffeine-wise.
Jitsi-beans
Mercurian vegetable.
Venusian fruit juice
Squeeze 'em.
ANIMALS
Mercurian cave tiger
A screaming feline, 20 feet long with eight legs and a barbed tail.
Ionian quags
Deep, rusty voiced cats.
Martian sand-cat
Desert feline.
Venusian cat
White tiger-like creature.
PLOT
A woman turns up at the carnival wanting to try out as a dancer. She is amazing, so is hired. Things go to hell as his cat-man goes crazy and dies, and his other dancer is killed. When the punk kid he hired is also killed, he discovers Laura has slipped up and determines she is a killer - tracking down renegade Callistans. She can influence feline animals, and sets a lot of beasts free, forcing Jade to start shooting anything catlike, including Laura.
4 out of 5
Number of words : 10000
Percent of complex words : 4.3
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 10.6
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 5.9
Flesch : 81.1
Flesch-Kincaid : 4.6
SETTING
California
"It was something pretty special in the line of California sunsets, and it made me feel swell, being the first one I'd seen in about nine years. The pitch was in the flatlands between Culver City and Venice, and I could smell the sea."
CHARACTERS
Jade Greene-John Damien Greene
Carnival proprietor.
Laura Darrow
New dancer tryout and assassin, Callistan cat-person.
Sindi
Martian carnival dancer from the Low Canals.
Laska
Cat-man from Callisto.
Tiny
Venusian deep-jungle man.
Punk
Kid hired by Jade. Actually an Immigration cop.
ORGANISATIONS
Jade Greene's Interplanetary Carnival
"The Wonders of the Seven Worlds Alive Before Your Eyes."
CONCEPTS
Martian getak
Carny game.
Venusian shalil
Carny game.
MEDIA
Enhali's Primitive Venus
Laura's tryout music.
RACES
Venusian lizard-men
Reptilian people with sharp teeth and claws.
Phobos moth-people
Small flyers.
Spider-people
Sticky lasso spinners.
Europans
A couple of Europans with wiry little bodies and a twenty-foot wing-spread were doing Immelmans over the geek top
FOOD
Venusian coffee
Very strong stuff, caffeine-wise.
Jitsi-beans
Mercurian vegetable.
Venusian fruit juice
Squeeze 'em.
ANIMALS
Mercurian cave tiger
A screaming feline, 20 feet long with eight legs and a barbed tail.
Ionian quags
Deep, rusty voiced cats.
Martian sand-cat
Desert feline.
Venusian cat
White tiger-like creature.
PLOT
A woman turns up at the carnival wanting to try out as a dancer. She is amazing, so is hired. Things go to hell as his cat-man goes crazy and dies, and his other dancer is killed. When the punk kid he hired is also killed, he discovers Laura has slipped up and determines she is a killer - tracking down renegade Callistans. She can influence feline animals, and sets a lot of beasts free, forcing Jade to start shooting anything catlike, including Laura.
4 out of 5
The Dancing Girl Of Ganymede - Leigh Brackett
Novelette
Number of words : 11000
Percent of complex words : 5.7
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 11.2
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 6.7
Flesch : 78.6
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.1
SETTING
Komar
"He shouldered his way toward the square where the Street of the Gamblers joins the Street of Maidens and the Street of Thieves."
Quarter of the Sellers of Dreams
"Poetic name for a maze of filthy rat-runs stinking with the breath of nameless substances."
CHARACTERS
Tony Harrah
A man on Ganymede looking to bet.
Marith
A Wanderer and dancer.
Tok the aboriginal
Harrah's servant.
Kehlin
Marith's brother.
CONCEPTS
Inner Worlds
Solar System bodies closest to Earth.
RACES
Wanderers
"a sort of interplanetary gypsy, one of the vast worldless tribe of space who travel from planet to planet but are citizens of none. Their blood is a mixture of every race in the System capable of cross-breeding and they are outcaste below the lowest." They are also limited telepaths and androids.
PLOT
Harrah finds Marith dancing, and when she gets into trouble moves to help. Men are after her, and the others like her, the androids. They are trained to hunt them down and take out Harrah. Her brothers find her, and Harrah discovers the truth about who they are. Escaped laborers who want to be free. The local Ganymede aboriginals also fear them, leading to a fiery confrontation.
""Do you love me, Marith? Do you love me still after what I've done?"
She answered, "You have set me free."
"
3.5 out of 5
Number of words : 11000
Percent of complex words : 5.7
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 11.2
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 6.7
Flesch : 78.6
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.1
SETTING
Komar
"He shouldered his way toward the square where the Street of the Gamblers joins the Street of Maidens and the Street of Thieves."
Quarter of the Sellers of Dreams
"Poetic name for a maze of filthy rat-runs stinking with the breath of nameless substances."
CHARACTERS
Tony Harrah
A man on Ganymede looking to bet.
Marith
A Wanderer and dancer.
Tok the aboriginal
Harrah's servant.
Kehlin
Marith's brother.
CONCEPTS
Inner Worlds
Solar System bodies closest to Earth.
RACES
Wanderers
"a sort of interplanetary gypsy, one of the vast worldless tribe of space who travel from planet to planet but are citizens of none. Their blood is a mixture of every race in the System capable of cross-breeding and they are outcaste below the lowest." They are also limited telepaths and androids.
PLOT
Harrah finds Marith dancing, and when she gets into trouble moves to help. Men are after her, and the others like her, the androids. They are trained to hunt them down and take out Harrah. Her brothers find her, and Harrah discovers the truth about who they are. Escaped laborers who want to be free. The local Ganymede aboriginals also fear them, leading to a fiery confrontation.
""Do you love me, Marith? Do you love me still after what I've done?"
She answered, "You have set me free."
"
3.5 out of 5
Outpost On Io - Leigh Brackett
Short Story
Number of words : 6000
Percent of complex words : 7.8
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 9.1
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 6.8
Flesch : 76.9
Flesch-Kincaid : 4.8
CHARACTERS
Chris MacVickers
Terran Deep-space trader.
Loris
Venusian Guardsman.
Pendleton
Earthman, The Starfish.
Janu
Pendleton's Martian foreman.
Birek
Prisoner boss, starting to go jewel-like.
RACES
Europans
"His smooth black body had a dull sheen of red under the Jupiter-light. There was no back nor front to him, no face. Only the four long rubbery legs, the roundish body, and the tentacles in a waving crown above."
ORGANISATIONS
Venusian Guard
Military operation.
TECHNOLOGY
Jovium
Metal destroying mineral, probably a radioactive isotope.
PLACES
J-XI
Only other source of Jovium.
PLOT
MacVickers has been captured by the Jovians, and is put to work in a prison mine along with several other prisoners. They are either worked to death or die due to transformation caused by the mineral Jovium they are mining. Jovium allows the Jovians to destroy metal atomically from a distance, giving them a hard to combat superiority.
MacVickers isn't content with this lot, though, and would rather die fighting trying to escape, but has to overcome prison leader Birke first before he can lead a suicidal breakout attempt.
3.5 out of 5
Number of words : 6000
Percent of complex words : 7.8
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 9.1
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 6.8
Flesch : 76.9
Flesch-Kincaid : 4.8
CHARACTERS
Chris MacVickers
Terran Deep-space trader.
Loris
Venusian Guardsman.
Pendleton
Earthman, The Starfish.
Janu
Pendleton's Martian foreman.
Birek
Prisoner boss, starting to go jewel-like.
RACES
Europans
"His smooth black body had a dull sheen of red under the Jupiter-light. There was no back nor front to him, no face. Only the four long rubbery legs, the roundish body, and the tentacles in a waving crown above."
ORGANISATIONS
Venusian Guard
Military operation.
TECHNOLOGY
Jovium
Metal destroying mineral, probably a radioactive isotope.
PLACES
J-XI
Only other source of Jovium.
PLOT
MacVickers has been captured by the Jovians, and is put to work in a prison mine along with several other prisoners. They are either worked to death or die due to transformation caused by the mineral Jovium they are mining. Jovium allows the Jovians to destroy metal atomically from a distance, giving them a hard to combat superiority.
MacVickers isn't content with this lot, though, and would rather die fighting trying to escape, but has to overcome prison leader Birke first before he can lead a suicidal breakout attempt.
3.5 out of 5
No Man's Land In Space - Leigh Brackett
Novelette
Number of words : 9000
Percent of complex words : 7.5
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 10.4
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 7.2
Flesch : 73.3
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.6
SETTING
Sark
Outlaw asteroid used as a base by space pirates. Name means bitter in Martian.
No Man's Land
Barren Sark waste.
Ashi Geyser
Eruption in No Man's Land.
CHARACTERS
Geoffrey Dana
Outlaw leader and builder of Sark community.
Loren
A young Venusian pirate.
Daddy Gibbs
Aging pirate.
Faruk
Renegade Venusian scientist, creator of monsters.
Varno
Terro-Venusian halfbreed.
Thompson
Earthman found bloodless.
Neta
Disappeared Venusian.
Jordan Andrews
Chemical industrialist.
CONCEPTS
Earth-Venus War
Interplanetary military conflict.
ORGANISATIONS
Andrews Chemical Works
Sark industrial plant.
Interplanetary Control
Not fans of pirates.
Venusian High Command
Leaders of the war effort.
ANIMALS
Lunar ape
Result of Faruk's Moreauvian experiments.
WEAPONS
Needle gun
Weapon that can fire anaesthetic or poison darts.
PLOT
Earth and Venus are at war, and Mars is considering which way to jump. On Sark, an asteroid outlaw base this is causing tensions between pirates from the various planets. A problem for Dana, their leader. More so when a young aide Loren bolts after several of Dana's men have been killed by being drained of blood, or just disappearing.
Loren has discovered ahead of Dana that mad scientist Faruk of Venus has come to Sark, seeking to create a super weapon to win the war. This super weapon comes in the form of a hybrid monster, and Faruk wants to create more.
Dana, Loren and others on confrontation realise this is really a bad thing. The fight though causes the asteroid to start breaking up. The scientist is worth a lot of money, though, so Dana has to decide if he will actually make his first non self-centred act and kill him rather than save him. He can't live on any planet because of his crimes.
3.5 out of 5
Number of words : 9000
Percent of complex words : 7.5
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 10.4
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 7.2
Flesch : 73.3
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.6
SETTING
Sark
Outlaw asteroid used as a base by space pirates. Name means bitter in Martian.
No Man's Land
Barren Sark waste.
Ashi Geyser
Eruption in No Man's Land.
CHARACTERS
Geoffrey Dana
Outlaw leader and builder of Sark community.
Loren
A young Venusian pirate.
Daddy Gibbs
Aging pirate.
Faruk
Renegade Venusian scientist, creator of monsters.
Varno
Terro-Venusian halfbreed.
Thompson
Earthman found bloodless.
Neta
Disappeared Venusian.
Jordan Andrews
Chemical industrialist.
CONCEPTS
Earth-Venus War
Interplanetary military conflict.
ORGANISATIONS
Andrews Chemical Works
Sark industrial plant.
Interplanetary Control
Not fans of pirates.
Venusian High Command
Leaders of the war effort.
ANIMALS
Lunar ape
Result of Faruk's Moreauvian experiments.
WEAPONS
Needle gun
Weapon that can fire anaesthetic or poison darts.
PLOT
Earth and Venus are at war, and Mars is considering which way to jump. On Sark, an asteroid outlaw base this is causing tensions between pirates from the various planets. A problem for Dana, their leader. More so when a young aide Loren bolts after several of Dana's men have been killed by being drained of blood, or just disappearing.
Loren has discovered ahead of Dana that mad scientist Faruk of Venus has come to Sark, seeking to create a super weapon to win the war. This super weapon comes in the form of a hybrid monster, and Faruk wants to create more.
Dana, Loren and others on confrontation realise this is really a bad thing. The fight though causes the asteroid to start breaking up. The scientist is worth a lot of money, though, so Dana has to decide if he will actually make his first non self-centred act and kill him rather than save him. He can't live on any planet because of his crimes.
3.5 out of 5
Child Of the Green Light - Leigh Brackett
Short Story
Number of words : 7000
Percent of complex words : 6.1
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 9.5
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 6.2569
Flesch : 81.9419
Flesch-Kincaid : 4.1898
CHARACTERS
Son
A man able to live unsupported in space, changed by intersection of universes.
Aona
Woman from another universe.
Ransome
Leader of humans trying to save them.
Dickson
Physicist, killed in space.
Arun
Man from Tethys.
Greenough
Childlike gunnery officer.
Teck
A Martian.
CONCEPTS
The Light
""So it's part of another universe. Diluted by distance, its radiation speeds human metabolism, causing swift age. Concentrated, it changes the human organism into an alien metabolism, alien flesh.
"Slim almost made it through, but his peculiar chemical balance destroyed him. You must be in the same transition stage, but much slower, being passed by the changing of your basic vibratory rate into another space-time continuum."
"
The Veil
Darkness continuum, hiding the Beyond.
The Cloud
Effect that is stopping the human race.
PLACES
Martian Drylands
"men sometimes get what we call esht—desert-fear"
TECHNOLOGY
Elker drive
Starship propulsion.
PLOT
A group of desperate men want to stop the phenomenon destroying the human race. They encounter son, a man changed by contact between universes and see him as a possible miracle last hope. The contact between them is deadly, however.
4 out of 5
Number of words : 7000
Percent of complex words : 6.1
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 9.5
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 6.2569
Flesch : 81.9419
Flesch-Kincaid : 4.1898
CHARACTERS
Son
A man able to live unsupported in space, changed by intersection of universes.
Aona
Woman from another universe.
Ransome
Leader of humans trying to save them.
Dickson
Physicist, killed in space.
Arun
Man from Tethys.
Greenough
Childlike gunnery officer.
Teck
A Martian.
CONCEPTS
The Light
""So it's part of another universe. Diluted by distance, its radiation speeds human metabolism, causing swift age. Concentrated, it changes the human organism into an alien metabolism, alien flesh.
"Slim almost made it through, but his peculiar chemical balance destroyed him. You must be in the same transition stage, but much slower, being passed by the changing of your basic vibratory rate into another space-time continuum."
"
The Veil
Darkness continuum, hiding the Beyond.
The Cloud
Effect that is stopping the human race.
PLACES
Martian Drylands
"men sometimes get what we call esht—desert-fear"
TECHNOLOGY
Elker drive
Starship propulsion.
PLOT
A group of desperate men want to stop the phenomenon destroying the human race. They encounter son, a man changed by contact between universes and see him as a possible miracle last hope. The contact between them is deadly, however.
4 out of 5
Sunday, December 20, 2009
The Jewel Of Bas - Leigh Brackett
Novella
Number of words : 18000
Percent of complex words : 6.7
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 10.6
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 6.9
Flesch : 78.2
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.0
SETTING
Phrygian Hills
The beginning of Mouse and Ciaran's journey on the tenth planet.
Forbidden Plains
To be crossed to get to Ben Beatha.
Ben Beatha
The Mountain of Life, home of Bas the Immortal
CHARACTERS
Mouse
A young woman, partnered with Ciaran.
Ciaran
A bard, partnered with Mouse.
Bas the Immortal
An ancient traveller from Earth who looks like a boy. In conflict with the androids.
Ram
A trapper.
Khafre
An android.
Steud
An android.
Marsali
Bas' love.
RACES
Kalds
Furry Beasts that serve the androids through mind control. Wand carrying enforcers.
TECHNOLOGY
The Stone of Destiny
Source of Bas' power.
MEDIA
The Distance Cycle
A group of planetary legends.
CONCEPTS
Dagon
An Elder God of Atlantis.
PLACES
Hyperborea
Ancient Earth civilisation.
Atlantis
Ancient Earth civilisation.
PLOT
Mouse and Ciaran, a hungry disreputable pair are travelling out of the city and contemplating heading for the territory of Bas the Immortal, with slaves, androids and beast-men to deal with. They learn what Bas is - an ancient traveller from Earth-was around for Atlantis and Hyperborea-to this tenth planet, and why the androids are opposed to him.
3.5 out of 5
Number of words : 18000
Percent of complex words : 6.7
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 10.6
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 6.9
Flesch : 78.2
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.0
SETTING
Phrygian Hills
The beginning of Mouse and Ciaran's journey on the tenth planet.
Forbidden Plains
To be crossed to get to Ben Beatha.
Ben Beatha
The Mountain of Life, home of Bas the Immortal
CHARACTERS
Mouse
A young woman, partnered with Ciaran.
Ciaran
A bard, partnered with Mouse.
Bas the Immortal
An ancient traveller from Earth who looks like a boy. In conflict with the androids.
Ram
A trapper.
Khafre
An android.
Steud
An android.
Marsali
Bas' love.
RACES
Kalds
Furry Beasts that serve the androids through mind control. Wand carrying enforcers.
TECHNOLOGY
The Stone of Destiny
Source of Bas' power.
MEDIA
The Distance Cycle
A group of planetary legends.
CONCEPTS
Dagon
An Elder God of Atlantis.
PLACES
Hyperborea
Ancient Earth civilisation.
Atlantis
Ancient Earth civilisation.
PLOT
Mouse and Ciaran, a hungry disreputable pair are travelling out of the city and contemplating heading for the territory of Bas the Immortal, with slaves, androids and beast-men to deal with. They learn what Bas is - an ancient traveller from Earth-was around for Atlantis and Hyperborea-to this tenth planet, and why the androids are opposed to him.
3.5 out of 5
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Retreat To the Stars - Leigh Brackett
Short Story
Number of words : 7000
Percent of complex words : 7.6
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 10.3
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 7.1
Flesch : 77.4
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.0
SETTING
Trojan asteroid base
In the 40th century. Home to 10,000 Rebels.
"Two thousand years ago. Why couldn't I have been born two thousand years ago?"
* * *
The strangeness of it came over Arno—how Marika could look back to the Twentieth Century as day before darkness, and he as darkness before dawn. In the Twenty-first Century the last Terran rebels had fled to Venus, and from there to Mars, and from there to the state where they were now. The all-encompassing strength of the State had followed them, driving out their heresies, their anarchies, their haphazard individualism.
Now there was peace and system everywhere, except for the hidden plague-spots on the planets and this barren asteroid, which, through him, the Tri-State would soon destroy."
Titan
Moon of Saturn. Site of a mining operation.
CHARACTERS
Arno
Spy for the Tri-State. Father of three. Falls in love with Marika and is torn.
Ralph
Squadron leader of the rebels.
Marika
Rebel mechanic.
Laura
Rebel woman with a child.
Frane
Part of the rebel council.
Father Berrens
Rebel civilian leader.
People's Protector
Arno's superior and handler.
Vern
Pilot of Ralph's squadron, killed.
Parlo
Pilot of Ralph's squadron, killed.
Karl
Pilot of Ralph's squadron, killed.
ORGANISATIONS
Tri-State
Controlling political body in the Solar System, for quite some time, over 2000 years.
Rebels
Opposition to the Tri-State.
VEHICLES
Sparling
An old one-man spaceship that Ralph flies on a desperate raid to Titan.
TECHNOLOGY
Tractor beams
Prize haulers.
CONCEPTS
The Creed
Tri-State doctrine.
PLOT
A small group of Rebels remains after a two thousand year struggle against the Tri-State, but they are almost out of supplies, and almost have a ship ready to carry them out.
The Tri-State have infiltrated a spy, Arno, and are waiting for enough intel to begin blowing the base to hell. Arno, however, falls for the tough mechanic Marika after she has a moment of weakness with him, and he eventually reveals his purpose.
With Ralph dead, she guns him down too, and the Rebel ship is ready to head for the stars.
3.5 out of 5
Number of words : 7000
Percent of complex words : 7.6
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 10.3
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 7.1
Flesch : 77.4
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.0
SETTING
Trojan asteroid base
In the 40th century. Home to 10,000 Rebels.
"Two thousand years ago. Why couldn't I have been born two thousand years ago?"
* * *
The strangeness of it came over Arno—how Marika could look back to the Twentieth Century as day before darkness, and he as darkness before dawn. In the Twenty-first Century the last Terran rebels had fled to Venus, and from there to Mars, and from there to the state where they were now. The all-encompassing strength of the State had followed them, driving out their heresies, their anarchies, their haphazard individualism.
Now there was peace and system everywhere, except for the hidden plague-spots on the planets and this barren asteroid, which, through him, the Tri-State would soon destroy."
Titan
Moon of Saturn. Site of a mining operation.
CHARACTERS
Arno
Spy for the Tri-State. Father of three. Falls in love with Marika and is torn.
Ralph
Squadron leader of the rebels.
Marika
Rebel mechanic.
Laura
Rebel woman with a child.
Frane
Part of the rebel council.
Father Berrens
Rebel civilian leader.
People's Protector
Arno's superior and handler.
Vern
Pilot of Ralph's squadron, killed.
Parlo
Pilot of Ralph's squadron, killed.
Karl
Pilot of Ralph's squadron, killed.
ORGANISATIONS
Tri-State
Controlling political body in the Solar System, for quite some time, over 2000 years.
Rebels
Opposition to the Tri-State.
VEHICLES
Sparling
An old one-man spaceship that Ralph flies on a desperate raid to Titan.
TECHNOLOGY
Tractor beams
Prize haulers.
CONCEPTS
The Creed
Tri-State doctrine.
PLOT
A small group of Rebels remains after a two thousand year struggle against the Tri-State, but they are almost out of supplies, and almost have a ship ready to carry them out.
The Tri-State have infiltrated a spy, Arno, and are waiting for enough intel to begin blowing the base to hell. Arno, however, falls for the tough mechanic Marika after she has a moment of weakness with him, and he eventually reveals his purpose.
With Ralph dead, she guns him down too, and the Rebel ship is ready to head for the stars.
3.5 out of 5
Child Of the Sun - Leigh Brackett
Novelette
Number of words : 9000
Percent of complex words : 6.6
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 9.2
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 6.3
Flesch : 77.2
Flesch-Kincaid : 4.8
SETTING
Losangles
Earth city. Note the name has evolved this far into the future.
Vulcan
Hidden planet between the Sun and Mercury.
CHARACTERS
Eric Falken
Unregenerate hero and spaceship pilot.
Sheila Moore
Unregenerate woman who asks Falken for help. Also had a lover taken by the Hiltonists.
Paul Avery-Miner Hilton
Man who flees with Falken and Moore. Not who he says he is, but a spy.
Sun-child
Last of his race.
Gantry Hilton
President of the Federation of Worlds.
Kitty
Falken's girlfriend, taken by Hiltonists in the past.
VEHICLES
Falcon
Falken's spaceship.
ORGANISATIONS
Hiltonists
Followers of Gantry Hilton
Hiltonist Black Guards
Military organisation for Gantry Hilton.
Unregenerates
Opponents of Hiltonism.
Spaceguard
Military defense unit of the Hiltonists.
RACES
Sun-children
Energy beings that live in space for eons, now almost extinct.
WEAPONS
Tractor-beams
Capture devices.
Psycho Adjuster
"They'll blank your brain with electric impulses and then transmit a whole new memory-pattern, even shifting the thought-circuits so that you won't think the same way. They'll change your metabolism, your glandular balance, your pigmentation, your face, and your fingerprints."
Spaceshells
Projectiles for spaceship weapons.
CONCEPTS
Psycho-Change
Being Psycho-Adjusted.
Interplanetary War
A Solar System conflict.
Peace and Happiness
Hiltonist doctrine.
PLOT
Sheila Moore goes to Eric Falken for help. Falken is a shining light to the failing Unregenerate resistance. Unknown to either of them, Moore's companion Avery is a double agent and the actual son of the Hiltonist leader, using mental technology to avoid detection.
This is apparently post-Interplanetary War and the intimation is that Mercury is pretty much completely unimhabitable know, as compared to some other Brackett stories.
A surprise awaits them all as they find a hidden world, the plaything of the last Sun-child. It is a powerful energy being who lives to great age, but who had been hiding amusing itself to distract from the knowledge of its own mortality, and end of its race.
Falken sees a possibility to do a deal to get their own world from the Sun-child, and then doublecross, but it has too many abilities. All that is left is to reason with the entity that skulking around on a tiny planet its way beneath its talents and intellect.
3.5 out of 5
Number of words : 9000
Percent of complex words : 6.6
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 9.2
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 6.3
Flesch : 77.2
Flesch-Kincaid : 4.8
SETTING
Losangles
Earth city. Note the name has evolved this far into the future.
Vulcan
Hidden planet between the Sun and Mercury.
CHARACTERS
Eric Falken
Unregenerate hero and spaceship pilot.
Sheila Moore
Unregenerate woman who asks Falken for help. Also had a lover taken by the Hiltonists.
Paul Avery-Miner Hilton
Man who flees with Falken and Moore. Not who he says he is, but a spy.
Sun-child
Last of his race.
Gantry Hilton
President of the Federation of Worlds.
Kitty
Falken's girlfriend, taken by Hiltonists in the past.
VEHICLES
Falcon
Falken's spaceship.
ORGANISATIONS
Hiltonists
Followers of Gantry Hilton
Hiltonist Black Guards
Military organisation for Gantry Hilton.
Unregenerates
Opponents of Hiltonism.
Spaceguard
Military defense unit of the Hiltonists.
RACES
Sun-children
Energy beings that live in space for eons, now almost extinct.
WEAPONS
Tractor-beams
Capture devices.
Psycho Adjuster
"They'll blank your brain with electric impulses and then transmit a whole new memory-pattern, even shifting the thought-circuits so that you won't think the same way. They'll change your metabolism, your glandular balance, your pigmentation, your face, and your fingerprints."
Spaceshells
Projectiles for spaceship weapons.
CONCEPTS
Psycho-Change
Being Psycho-Adjusted.
Interplanetary War
A Solar System conflict.
Peace and Happiness
Hiltonist doctrine.
PLOT
Sheila Moore goes to Eric Falken for help. Falken is a shining light to the failing Unregenerate resistance. Unknown to either of them, Moore's companion Avery is a double agent and the actual son of the Hiltonist leader, using mental technology to avoid detection.
This is apparently post-Interplanetary War and the intimation is that Mercury is pretty much completely unimhabitable know, as compared to some other Brackett stories.
A surprise awaits them all as they find a hidden world, the plaything of the last Sun-child. It is a powerful energy being who lives to great age, but who had been hiding amusing itself to distract from the knowledge of its own mortality, and end of its race.
Falken sees a possibility to do a deal to get their own world from the Sun-child, and then doublecross, but it has too many abilities. All that is left is to reason with the entity that skulking around on a tiny planet its way beneath its talents and intellect.
3.5 out of 5
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
