Desertion by Clifford D. Simak (Mind Webs SF Audio Drama)
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- Опубликовано: 11 фев 2017
- On Jupiter, an experimental program is in place to transpose men into the bodies of Jovian native fauna, to allow exploration of the planet's hostile environment. The procedure seems to work perfectly - but so far, the first four test subjects who ventured into the wilds of Jupiter have not returned.
Published November 1944 ~ Astounding Science Fiction
Keywords: terraforming, space colonization, colonisation, alien life, radio drama 
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A wonderful story about the nature of what makes a man, the nature of humanity. Clifford D. Simak is my favorite writer of speculative fiction, in particular about the importance of ideas. I know this for a fact because he wrote it to me in a letter back in February 1986.
This beautiful story actually reminds me of another story, The Dragonfly:
"Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle in a community of water beetles. They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond. Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened; their friend was dead, gone forever. Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However, he was determined that he would not leave forever. He would come back and tell his friends what he had found at the top. When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that he decided he must take a nap. As he slept, his body changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying. So, fly he did! And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never known existed. Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking by now he was dead. He wanted to go back to tell them, and explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been before.
His life had been fulfilled rather than ended. But, his new body would not go down into the water. He could not get back to tell his friends the good news. Then he understood that their time would come, when they, too, would know what he now knew. So, he raised his wings and flew off into his joyous new life".
Love these old-timey sci-fi stories. 🌲🌝☘️
Thank you. Just terrific.
I discovered this one a couple years ago in the book City. Out of the many stories by Simak that I've read, this might be one of my favorites. It's probably coincidental, but one can't help noticing shades of "Desertion" in Cameron's Avatar.
I was thinking how much the plot was like "Call me Joe" by Poul Anderson which was written in the 50's and is believed to be an inspiration for Avatar.
The concepts of Sci Fi are somewhat limited since technology advances but humans remain the same.
Book city? I'd like directions.
Were the fucked up sound effects in that book.
enjoying this one. good writing.
Imaginative. Good story.
good job
Well written and voiced! I just realized that I read this story! Loved it! 😁
Wrecked by sound effects.
This story is about my life as an immigrant from Russia. I am that loper. Actually both my wife and I who were converted into lopers in JFK, where we landed many years ago..
And I say that with a great deal of affection.
For us America is the Jupiter and we don’t want to return back to the old bodies, old dirty, drab and obtuse planet Russia.
God Bless America!
Al Johnson We welcome you with love!
Communist Russia or modern Russia? As I see it, as an American, the United States is becoming like the USSR, as Russia becomes more like the classic United States. Today I find that Pravda has no truth, and Izvestia has no news - it's just that Pravda and Izvestia is the modern US news media system today. It wasn't that way 40 year years ago.
I contemplate moving to Russia from the US every day but my Russian wife will never go back.
"Maybe we're the morons of the universe."
This is why "escapist" fiction was so much more important than literature: It prepared you for the future. If you never thought seriously about that single idea, you were never going to understand why things always go wrong. SF was full of ideas like that.
Oh, to be a loper!
I’ve heard that background before. Where’s it from? X Minus One? The Black Museum?
Sounds like Peter Graves. From the tv. Series mission impossible.
Did Clifford include those sound effects or did someone think they had the privilege or knew better than the writer to improve his book. Fucking unbelievable.
It's an audio drama, not an audiobook. It's a pretty common form of adaptation.
So now. We know where. William Shatner took the. Inspiration for the voice of JamesTKirkcaptain. OftheEnterprise.
Great story, but I could have done without the pseudomusic; they liked that sort of thing in the fifties