The Raygin War (Book) - 11/28/2018 8:03:03 AM
I love science fiction. But, thanks to Star Wars and other books and movies depicting extraterrestrials as evil, combative creatures, it seems like replaying medieval war with them is big book sales and box office. Hand-to-hand combat would be the least of our worries. Humans, the way we are now or even the way we imagine we would be, as some kind of superheroes depicted by the comic books, wouldn't stand a chance against anyone who can cross the vast distance between us and the stars.
I was criticized for not giving enough detail of the extraterrestrials in my first novel. That was on purpose because describing them in great detail would be totally wrong. We have no idea what they would be like. By making them out as superior beetles, but inferior to humans, we defy the long tradition of science-fiction actually predicting the future… Pulp science fiction. Flash Gordon ad nausea.
Ron
The Hieroglyphs (Short Story) - 11/1/2016 7:16:17 AM
I like archaeological stories. And, after spending two days in the museum in Cairo, I was amazed at the precision and lifespan of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, nearly unchanged over 3000 years. Nothing compares.
Three miles down isn't clear. This could be a cave or a mine. But funding an archaeological excavation this deep seems unlikely. Carbon dating of stone appears to be impossible, unless there are bits of carbon left on the stone from some sort of burning that was used to carve it. I think drilling into an artifact would be taboo without careful scientific determination. Except if you're Indiana Jones.
The Rosetta Stone had its story in three languages: hieroglyphs, Greek, and another. Making the translation possible. Perhaps there were other ways to discern the meaning of the obelisk hieroglyphs. A high speed computer is certainly an aid to doing translation like this.
Recent astronomical evidence verifies that the elements we have on earth are common everywhere in space. While the periodic chart can be extended to create new elements, none have the characteristics described.
As I reached the end of the story I realized that the creature released, now talking to the errant Doctor Stevens in perfect English, is simply a fantasy story with little or nothing to do with archaeology or science fiction.
Near the beginning of the story, I noticed several apostrophes missing from possessive words (universities', mom's… etc.)
Ron
