Posts

Showing posts from May, 2018

Short story: Endling by Alice Elizabeth

“Do you know what an endling is, Captain?” the creature asked. “No. I haven’t heard that term before. What is an Endling?” the Captain entertained the question. “An endling is the last individual of an entire species.” He let that sink in. “That’s me. I am an endling.” “All species come to an end eventually. Either through an extinction event or evolution, when they become a new, different species. Nothing is stagnant. The universe is ever changing”, the Captain reasoned. “Yes, but how do you think I feel towards you, knowing that you were the ‘extinction event’, as you call it, for my particular species? I can tell you it’s not kindly. I’d rather you just leave me alone to die, Captain. I’m not going to participate in any more of your pointless tests. I think you’ve gathered enough data on my species. There’s little point gathering any more, seeing as how we’re all dead.” The creature crossed its cell, lay down on its narrow bed and turned its back to the transparent wall, w

Book review: Neuromancer by William Gibson

Image
Although I had never really delved into the genre, I’d always felt that when I eventually did get around to it, me and cyberpunk would come together like peanut butter and jelly. The entire genre seemed made for me, and it’s only because I insist on reading everything that crosses my path that I’d never really got around to reading any of the cyberpunk classics. I put Neuromancer on this year’s reading list to make myself finally take the time to read something that I thought could really resonate with me. I may have set myself up for a fall, placing Neuromancer on such a high pedestal. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, I did. I just should have read it a decade ago. When you open the book you’re immediately thrown into the world. There’s no information dump, it’s sink or swim. It took me a while to get my bearings and I think I lost a bit along the way. I’ll have to reread it again in a year or so. That way I’ll be coming in already warmed up and I’ll be able to take in a l