Sean's Friend Comments

Apparently Amazon has made a series out of The Man in the High Castle. Sure, I'll watch.

James wrote: "Here is my review of Sean's book, "The Speaker for the Trees":

Sean Delauder's short novel, The Speaker for the Trees, is a story for those bored with spaceships
or predator and prey Hunger Game..."

Great review, James. I almost missed it here in the Sean's comment section. If you put in under the Book Review section, I would love to 'like' it.

Here is my review of Sean's book, "The Speaker for the Trees":

Sean Delauder's short novel, The Speaker for the Trees, is a story for those bored with spaceships
or predator and prey Hunger Game fantasies. Instead, with this novel, the spaceship is a toaster, the alien is a plant, and human beings are considered dangerous to the sentient plant-life that rules the galaxy.

The novel's good idea is that, since plants have been around longer than animals, they have evolved to have intelligence, society, and to rule galaxies. Of course, plants would not be so stupid as to ignore animals with nuclear technology on the brink of space travel, so in Delauder's world the plants send in spies to watch the humans and report back to the Plant of Ultimate Knowing and the Council of Plants.

The spy's name is Hedge. Inside he's a plant, outside he appears human and even has a wife -- who can cook pork chops and is attracted to one of his peculiar tentacles.

A lot of the novel has to do with Hedge's thoughts about humanity, for he is a spy sent to analyze the humans. Humanity is perplexing to Hedge, but he is fond of the few people he actually has encounter: Anna, his earth wife, who he finds "highly symmetrical", Scud Peabody, the town fool (who Hedge believes is a genius), John Elm, and a few others. And, of course, a competing spacefaring civilization the plants themselves fear, called "the Visitors".

Hedge is recalled from his spy mission when he sees a crop circle message from his home planet. He prepares to make his report on humanity to the Council of Plants so they can decide whether to destroy humanity. This is a fun story. Of course, there are problems. It is difficult to keep such a complex analogy perfect -- so DeLauder doesn't try. Plant physiognomy is a problem. Plants in this story, like plants in the real world, don't have brains. yet in the story they think. When plants speak, not having mouths, their "leaves flutter where the words passed." Delauder doesn't explain how that works, but we don't care, because the story is fun. Hedge's biggest fear is being "mulched". We get that.

The story is also part of that genre of fantasy and science fiction that has a kind of literary tentacle. In addition to the author's Swiftian tendency to have his hero think about humanity's peculiarities, like " Humanity ... is sometimes difficult to understand... because often ... they mean just the opposite of what they say"; he also spends time thinking about humanities fixation with God and religion. Caution! If you are sensitive about your religion prepare yourself for DeLauder's criticisms. While I've described DeLauder as Swiftian because he knows how to stick in
the knife of sarcasm, he seems to be to nice a guy to also give it a twist. There's a good deal of criticism, but there's also a few twists that may take the heart out of readers who need to hear the religious demeaned.

So what do we get in this 'literary' story? We get what I described in my article Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Religion (http://jematt.hubpages.com/hub/Scienc...). We get a discussion of the 'big' questions placed in the text of an entertaining fantasy. DeLauder is not C.S. Lewis, trying to create a story where theological themes outline the plot; nor is DeLauder a Philip Pullman, writing His Dark Materials to counter Lewis's God and mock the Church. My sense is DeLauder has something to say, but is too optimistic to be as heavy-handed as Pullman or as theological as Lewis. So I recommend you read this story, enjoy it, and whether you are religious or not, maybe pause for a moment to consider whether or not you are also 'right'.

In 15 minutes, Neil deGrasse Tyson assumes the mantle of Carl Sagan and Alan Silvestri does his utmost to match Vangelis.

... and MY AXE!

Looking at the Suggestions page was a mistake that has resulted in a medical condition known as To-Read Bloat.

I am proud to be a member of this exclusive group of 47%. If you're reading this, you are, in all likelihood, part of it, too. Congratulations.

I have already added this to my review of Cosmos, but this seemed worthy of its own post:

It has come to my attention that an updated version of [Cosmos] will be hosted in 2014 by none other than Neil deGrasse Tyson, entitled COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey. The trailer shows the new version is very true to the original, with Sagan's infamous Cosmic Calendar, the spaceship of the mind, Johannes Kepler, and several other memorable moments from the 1980s series.

Traveller wrote: "We are officially fellow nodders."

I feel I can nod to this assessment without being redundant. I hope you can distinguish the distinctness of this nod from other, avian geopolitical history related nods.

Dear Sean, how could one not be happy befriending someone who motivates such a friendship as follows: "Obviously, to revel in the colonization efforts of South American penguins and to nod in unison when it becomes apparent that Emperor Penguins received their nomenclature as a result of their military and administrative acheivements in the southern hemisphere." ?

*Nods and plods.* I appreciate the request.(Which i had instigated with heavy hinting :P)

We are now officially fellow nodders. :D

PS. A penguin will never appear the same again. I will henceforth always regard them as the alternative conquistadors of Meso-America and the Latin-Americas. Mind you, i think they might have made some inroads closer to the North Pole as well...

Kris wrote: "Sean, thanks for accepting my friend request. It was good to talk to you this evening. I'm looking forward to more discussions, as well as to seeing what you are reading and writing!"

I feel silly for saying "you're welcome" (I'm flattered any time someone does me the kindness of making a request--moreso for history professors), but that's the position you put me in. Frankly, you beat me to it. There is a wealth of knowledge concentrated here on GR, and I enjoy sopping it up, even if it does evaporate again a few hours later. Thanks for contributing to what will soon be an amorphous cloud of vapor crowning my head.

Sean, thanks for accepting my friend request. It was good to talk to you this evening. I'm looking forward to more discussions, as well as to seeing what you are reading and writing!