My Dear Sleepy Headed Wife

This is a photograph of my wife, Jewel Rosa. I arrived home from work one day to find her in this position, by the window. When I asked her what she was doing, she chose to remain silent and unmoving.

Naturally, I assumed that I had done something to offend her. I spent several minutes wracking my brain for the possible faux pas I may have committed. I searched the townhouse for a letter or note--anything that might tell me what I had done. There were no messages from my wife on my phone or email--nothing! Finally by observing Jewel Rosa closely, I determined that she was not breathing. Shining my pocket flashlight into her eyes revealed a lack of pupillary reflex. I became concerned.

Placing my finger against her neck, I felt in vain for a carotid pulse. Knowing from experience that a person with very low blood pressure may have only a faint pulse, I persisted in my palpations. Then I realized with a sinking feeling, that Jewel Rosa's skin was somewhat close to room temperature. I clung for reassurance to the slight warmth that I detected, until I realized that the sun shining through the window was warming my wife's body.

I looked more closely for signs of capillary refill. There was none. But there was no sign of livor mortis. Her joints could be moved, passively, so there was no rigor mortis. There were certainly no signs of decomposition. I was confused by conflicting thoughts and emotions.

So I decided to observe Jewel Rosa for a longer period of time. For several weeks, I would watch her by the window, mornings and evenings. I had to travel out of town a few times, for a few days at a time--on business. Each time I returned, Jewel Rosa was in the same position, with no change in her physical signs.

Eventually I realized that my wife was obviously in some type of hibernation--suspended animation. I searched the townhouse again for an indication of my wife's pre-hibernation intentions. Still nothing. I had to leave town for two weeks on business.

When I got back, after determining that Jewel Rosa's stasis was unchanged, I made the decision to publish a paper describing a new form of human hibernation. For several months, my wife had remained by the window in one position, with no sign of physical deterioration. Although I had tried many times to feed her and give her fluids to drink, she refused each attempt. In spite of that, she appeared not to have suffered adverse affects from the lack of nourishment.

Finally, after a year had passed, I had compiled my data, and performed my statistical analysis. There was no doubt in my mind that I would receive a Nobel Prize in Medicine for this discovery, even though I had not yet discovered how to revive my dear sleepy wife from her suspension of activity.

Before mailing my manuscript to the editor of the New England Journal, I decided to clean up some of the accumulating garbage around the place. Several "past due" notices caught my eye. I always pay my bills. What could these bills be about? I began with the one with the most recent postmark. Horrors! A bill for US $5,575 plus late fees amounting to almost $5,000 more! From a company called Orient Doll!.

I proceeded to look at the past-due notices in reverse chronological order. As the language in the notices grew less threatening, I felt my nerves calming. Eventually, now almost my normal resilient self, I read a polite request for the return of a demo doll, referred to as "Jewel Rosa Robotic Prototype #6." "What does this mean?", I thought.

Later, after dinner, I tore myself away from my nightly observations of my wife, and went to bed. I had to leave early in the morning to get to my flight on time. Strange dreams filled my sleeping mind. Dreams of a visit to a robot factory, where all the robots were naked women. Dreams of being chased by hundreds of naked robo-girls, running for my life. Dreams of being late for an article deadline. Something about robo sex dolls. Something, something . . . I woke, my mind cloudy and confused.

I had time only to shower, shave, and drink a cup of coffee. Sparing a moment for one glimpse of my dear sleepy-headed wife by the window, I dashed for the door.

My Dear Sleepy Headed Wife

Crystal Rain

Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell, is an excellent first novel. The human settlers on the distant planet in Crystal Rain arrived at their destination via wormhole transport. But something disastrous happened to the transportation link to other human planets, and the humans on the planet were instantly isolated from the rest of human space. Without interstellar trade and spare parts, the humans lost their high technology over several generations, and depended on steamboats and hydrogen blimps for transport.

When the book opens, the only peaceful group of humans on the planet are just about to be overrun by primitive Azteca invaders, who practise human sacrifice frequently. The more civilised society attempts to defend itself, but town after town falls to the invaders resulting in massive slaughter and human sacrifice. If human civilisation is to survive on the planet, something dramatic will have to happen. And it does.

If you want to know more, the first 1/3 of the book is online free for downloading chapter by chapter. The chapters are short, and the pace is fairly crisp. Go to the link above for much more information, including background notes by the author for some chapters.

Crystal Rain

Author: Lee Hogan (Emily Hogan)
Books:
Belarus (2002) 416 pp
Enemies (2003) 416 pp

Belarus and Enemies take place in the same SF universe, with the action in Enemies occurring a thousand years following the action in Belarus.

Belarus is an exhilarating leap into a far future universe where humans have explored almost one fourth of the Milky Way Galaxy. There are a number of physical and mental augments available to humans, depending on status and wealth. Most wealth is controlled by families, who battle among themselves for resources and influence.

From SFReviews.net review of Belarus:

The novel relates the trials and tribulations of a team of Russian colonists in their attempts to settle an alien world they've named Belarus. The leader of the colony expedition is Andrei Mironenko, scion of a long line of Russian nobility whose dream has been to revive Russia's imperial past. Indeed, Andrei is the "tsar" of the colony, though he has introduced a Bill of Rights presumably similar to that in operation in the U.S. Among Andrei's trusted staff are Natalia Korsakova, his cyber-enhanced "world designer," and Grigory, an Enhanced Special Agent (ESA) whose mind is linked to the vast network of Sprites — little AI's — that pass information throughout the Republic which governs all human colony worlds in space.

No sooner have they arrived in the Belarus system than their Sprites discover some strange alien artifacts orbiting a gas giant. Frightful booby traps within the artifacts nearly kill a team of ESA's sent to investigate....

The colony on Belarus grows and begins to thrive, until families living in outlying rural regions begin disappearing strangely. Horrifically mutilated corpses are found, leading a local law enforcement agent to think there may be a special breed of "superkiller" at work. Hogan/Devenport works for the Arizona Dept. of Corrections, and in this part of the novel she brings her law enforcement expertise to bear.....

It turns out the killers are a group of aliens who have fled to the Belarus system years ago, and their favorite activities seem to be killing, killing and killing, after which they empathically feed on the pain of their victims by devouring their livers.

I enjoyed Belarus very much, mostly due to the intriguing interaction of so many plot elements.

Enemies, the sequel, is less polished. Flashbacks to Belarus are handled a bit clumsily, and the thousand year time lapse between novels is poorly fleshed out. But once the story gets going, there are some appealing sections of story-telling.

Unfortunately in the last section of the book, Hogan allows her story to come a bit unravelled. Characters make unexplained, uncharacteristic changes in behaviour inconsistent with the rest of the book, resulting in closing passages of the book which seem a bit unlikely as well as rushed. Belarus is clearly the better developed novell.

There is so much potential plot development in this new universe, that the potential is certainly there for follow-up books that are at least as good as Belarus . Hogan needs to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the two books before she extends the series.

I would rank Belarus with Metaplanetary by Tony Daniel, and Gridlinked by Neil Asher, as fairly recent works of far future SF that introduce incredibly imaginative and seminal new SF universes to the reader.

The problem with far-future fiction is that we know humans, human relationships, and human culture will change significantly over time. But in order to maintain reader interest it is necessary to make the ambitions, goals, and relationships of characters resonate with the reader. This conflict between realistic imagination of the future, and the need to make the actors and their problems seem familiar to the reader, is what makes far future science fiction so challenging.