Los cangrejos caminan sobre la isla

CPSF #99

by Anatoly Dneprov

Genres: Science Fiction

22 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Anatoly Dneprov (also spelled Anatoly Dnieprov, Ukrainian: Анатолій Дніпров, pseudonym; real name Anatoliy Petrovych Mitskevitch[1]) was a Soviet physicist of Ukrainian ancestry, and an author whose science fiction stories were published in the USSR (and also the United States from 1961 to 1970).[2] He is known best for his stories The Maxwell Equations (1963) and Iva.

Reviews

[Jose Moa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the only tale of science fiction on the darvinian evolution and selection of a lot of a spider-like ,insect like agressive machines abandoned for a experiment in a island,a unique extraordinary tale

[Sergio Cresta · Rating 5 out of 5]

El cuento trata sobre un experimento ficticio realizado en una isla desierta del Pacífico, donde es liberado un robot con forma de cangrejo que tiene la capacidad de localizar metal y otros materiales necesarios para la construcción de un facsímil suyo con pequeñas variaciones, que al cabo de varias "generaciones" de cangrejos, van "evolucionando" al haber menos recursos naturales (metal) y más competencia. Aunque el objetivo del experimento era tener robots muy pequeños y eficientes para acabar con las reservas de metal en un país enemigo para las guerras, la vida da un giro inesperado teniendo un desenlace cruel.
Desopilante y aleccionador.

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Holy crabulous, crabvolution, Batman!"
"Yes, indeed Robin. It seems that the crabs may even be superior to humans in their mindless aggression and obscene fecundity."
"Is the world doomed Batman?"
"We'll see Robin. Only if the crabs can wipe out humankind will the world be saved."

[Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un relato brillante, tenso y profundamente pesimista, que plantea preguntas que siguen siendo relevantes hoy en día sobre la ética en la ingeniería y los peligros de la tecnología descontrolada.

[Svea Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely thought-provoking piece of speculative fiction (despite its length). Important themes of greed to the point of violence and mankind’s belief that we are above the laws of nature. For me, the best part of this story is Dneprov’s introduction to the idea of robotic life not needing to follow the laws of evolution that we expect are constant across the universe, which is horrifically scary and something I wish was explored more in sci-fi.

[Alex Memus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Удачная стилизация под раннего Шекли, в которой автор запускает на глазах читателя простенькую, но любопытную модельку эволюции. Рассказ был бы еще лучше (и страшнее), если бы в конце роботы эволюционировали настолько, что стали выделять железо из крови людей.