Literature of Horror, Fantasy & Sci-Fi

"The Aquatic Uncle"  This story was about the events of evolution when animals would venture from the sea to the land and adapt to live there, while some remained in the water and evolved differently . It also adds a familial element to the creatures and applies real-life scenarios, such as a grumpy prejudiced uncle who remains in the "good old days" while other relatives move on . The main character whose name I won't even attempt to pronounce seems to resemble a frog of some kind, or an amphibious creature since he's often referred to as "tadpole" which is associated with the frog life cycle . He tries to get his uncle to join the rest of the family on land but the stubborn fish refuses to conform and stays in the water, eventually becoming more and more fish-like . The uncle's viewpoints are understandable and true based on actual science--creatures in the ocean seemed to evolve slower and much different compared to land creatures

"Bloodchild" 1 . My initial reaction to this story was "WTF am I reading?" There were so many names I had no idea how to pronounce, I had a hard time figuring out which characters were human and which were not, and the terms weren't immediately defined, leaving me confused at some parts of the story . 2 . The connections I made with this story was that a species of worm alien was using people as hosts for their offspring; Gan, the protagonist, ends up being one of these people . Some births don't go well, as seen with the Lomas character . Only certain people are chosen as these hosts; it seems to be a parasitic, symbiotic relationship . Some deem it an honor, others do not . 3 . If I had to adapt this into a different medium, it would probably be a short film so those who had a hard time reading (like myself) could understand it better through visuals . The only thing I'd change would be some of the terms and names: T'Gatoi, Tlic, N'T

"Fragments of a Hologram Rose" I have to say, this story isn't what I imagined it'd be; I'm not even sure what I thought it would be, only wondering what the title of William Gibson's story meant . This is the first of Gibson's stories I've ever read, so I'm not familiar with his work, but I personally had a hard time reading and understanding what was happening . I had to re-read the story a few times just to get a better picture, because this is clearly a different society compared to our own; nearly everything in this world has to do with holographics and things called "delta-inducers" which I assume delta means "sleep" . I also think these inducers create dreams, but these dreams are not the viewer's, but recorded from someone else's consciousness (how that is possible I don't know) . Parker, the protagonist, shreds a hologram rose and it's broken into fragments . From this I have come to one conclusio

"The Drowned Giant"  This story, written by J . G .  Ballard, really left me thinking about what was happening and why . At first glance, and after reading the first few sentences, I assumed the giant was meant to be a whale or marine animal that washed up; but later on it was revealed to be a human-like colossus that had suddenly appeared dead on the shores of this Lilliputian town-- Lilliputian  being in reference to "Gulliver's Travels" .  As I kept reading, I started thinking that it was a Greek god who had fallen from the heavens; I assumed so by how the narrator described the giant's appearance resembling Grecian style, or the possibility of being a character from The Odyssey . From then on, I started paying close attention to any description of the giant to see if I could identify it .  I saw the behavior of the townspeople was similar to how scavengers acted when finding food; as crowds gathered and eventually started removing the giant p

"The Star" For this week, I read the short story, "The Star" by Arthur C Clarke in 1956. With how short it was, there was a lot in it that piqued my interest.  The story crosses science fiction with religion, two topics that always seem to clash. The study of science had a way of calling the works of God into question, either causing people to doubt or outright prove this couldn't have happened. There are those, of course, who believe regardless, but none of those people are featured in this story. I had no idea how much it involved Earth's Christianity until the very end, that the dead star the explorers go to investigate--the white dwarf whose death wiped out a civilization on nearby planets--is actually THE Star, the Star that shone over Bethlehem to guide shepherds and the Three Wise Men to where Jesus was born.  Upon discovering this and finishing the story, I did sit for a moment to reflect; the story is basically saying that the death o

"The Ocean at the End of the Lane" This was quite an intriguing story; just when I thought I'd figured out the story, another curve-ball is thrown at me and I end up with more questions as to what the heck is going on in this story.  It starts out normal, the unnamed protagonist attending a funeral then strolls down memory lane--almost literally--and we, the reader, are catapulted into the past and go on the most bizarre adventure imaginable. In order to understand what is happening, you have to throw rationality out the window; rational thought does not exist in this world. I'm not even sure what kind of world this is, or what the inhabitants are. Clearly something walks among the humans, hidden in plain sight like the Hempstock family. One would think, from an outsider's perspective, the events of the story are nothing more but the fabrications of a seven-year-old boy who spends more time in the world of books than in the real world; it would be the o