Elentarri’s Reviews > The Collected Stories > Status Update

Castaway ★★★★☆ This original and atmospheric little story follows a sentient cloud of charged ions - born in the sun's photosphere, ripped away by a solar disturbance, and drifting through the cold void of space, eventually descending into one of Earth's oceans. A nice change of perspective.

Technical Error ★★★★☆The unintended consequences of industrial accidents. A technician is "laterally inverted" following an industrial accident. Some guesswork and a miserly fiscal policy result in a repeat experiment to reverse the effects of the accident, with more unintended results. Some of the story is a bit technical if you are not familiar with basic molecular biology or theoretical physics

Rescue Party ★★★★☆ A bit long, but with an interesting end. An advanced alien "federation" discovers that Earth's sun will explode and sends a ship to rescue humanity. Expecting a primitive species, the aliens arrive to find a deserted planet. The story highlights the rapid, unpredictable potential of humanity. This story also has an interesting collection of aliens.

Whacky ⯪☆☆☆☆This experimental "story" did not appeal to me at all. A handfull of short, absurd, nonsensical surreal conversations. Bleh.

The Awakening ❤️ ★★★★⯪ A terminally ill protagonist, known as "the Master," places himself in suspended animation to be revived in a future when medical technology is advanced enough to cure him. Mountains fall and mountains rise. Eons pass before the Master is accidentally awakened to a shocking discovery. Evocative language and a nice, surprise ending.

The Awakening ❤️ ★★★★⯪ A terminally ill protagonist, known as "the Master," places himself in suspended animation to be revived in a future when medical technology is advanced enough to cure him. Mountains fall and mountains rise. Eons pass before the Master is accidentally awakened to a shocking discovery. Evocative language and a nice, surprise ending.

Reverie - A motivational essay that explores themes of science fiction and imagination, encouraging writers to think beyond the conventional and find wonder in the familiar. Philosophical in tone.

Retreat From Earth ★★★⯪☆ Martians planning to invade the Earth receive a horrible surprise when they discover that Earth's most intelligent species are not the human's they have infiltrated but an ancient and highly advanced, subterranean species controlling termites. The offended disbelief of the Martian explorer on finding that termites have munched through his electronics is priceless.

How We Went to Mars ❤️ ★★★★★ A dryly humorous satirical story following the bumbling members of the not-particularly competent, amateur rocket scientists club "Snoring-in-the-Hay Rocket Society", in which they launch a homemade, "bakelite" spaceship on April 1st, that exceeds expectations, accidentally landing on Mars... and where they are met with advanced, bearded, white-robed, multilingual Martians. Funny.

🟢Travel by Wire! ❤️ ★★★★★ - Published in 1937, this is Clarke's first ever published short story. It's actually quite amusing. The story is a transcript focusing on the often chaotic and dangerous developmental, technical and commercial obstacles of a new form of instantaneous transport (i.e. teleportation), the "radio-transporter" machine. There are some odd side effects and shenanigans by scientists.