|
Instrumentality Of Mankind
In the science fiction of Cordwainer Smith, the Instrumentality of Mankind refers both to Smith's personal future history and fictional universe, universe and to the central government of humanity within that fictional universe. ''The Instrumentality of Mankind'' is also the title of a paperback collection of short stories by Cordwainer Smith published in 1979 (now superseded by the later ''The Rediscovery of Man'', which collects all of Smith's short stories). Origin and history In the history of Cordwainer Smith's "Instrumentality" universe, the Instrumentality originated as the police force of the Jwindz or "perfect ones" on a Nuclear holocaust, post-nuclear holocaust Earth. After attaining power and the expansion of humans in space, they eventually entered a somewhat stagnant phase in which a fixed lifespan of four hundred years was imposed on the human inhabitants of the planets where the Instrumentality directly ruled, all the hard physical labor was done by rightless animal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space exploration, time travel, Parallel universes in fiction, parallel universes, and extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial life. The genre often explores human responses to the consequences of projected or imagined scientific advances. Science fiction is related to fantasy (together abbreviated wikt:SF&F, SF&F), Horror fiction, horror, and superhero fiction, and it contains many #Subgenres, subgenres. The genre's precise Definitions of science fiction, definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Major subgenres include hard science fiction, ''hard'' science fiction, which emphasizes scientific accuracy, and soft science fiction, ''soft'' science fiction, which focuses on social sciences. Other no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV)
, also known as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese Mecha anime and manga, mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production, and directed by Hideaki Anno. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from October 1995 to March 1996. The story is set fifteen years after a worldwide cataclysm in the futuristic fortified city of Tokyo-3. The protagonist is Shinji Ikari, a teenage boy recruited by his father Gendo Ikari, Gendo to the mysterious organization Nerv. Shinji must pilot an Evangelion (mecha), Evangelion, a giant biomechanical mecha, to fight beings known as Angels (Neon Genesis Evangelion), Angels. The series explores the experiences and emotions of the Evangelion pilots and Nerv members as they battle Angels. They are called upon to understand the ultimate cause of events and the motives behind human action. The series has been described as a deconstruction of the mecha genre, and features archetype, archetypal Themes of Neon Genesi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Future History
A future history, imaginary history or anticipatory history is a fictional conjecture of the future used by authors of science fiction and other speculative fiction to construct a common background for stories. Sometimes the author publishes a timeline of events in the history, while other times the reader can reconstruct the order of the stories from information provided. The term can also be used to describe the subgenre of science fiction that uses this framework. A set of stories which share a backdrop but are not really concerned with the sequence of history in their universe are rarely considered future histories. For example, Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga is not generally considered a future history. Standalone stories which trace an arc of history are rarely considered future histories. Future histories differ from alternate history, in which different outcomes are ascribed to past events, because they consist of imagined events in the writer's future. History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction Book Series
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which study the physical world, and the social sciences, which study individuals and societies. While referred to as the formal sciences, the study of logic, mathematics, and theoretical computer science are typically regarded as separate because they rely on deductive reasoning instead of the scientific method as their main methodology. Meanwhile, applied sciences are disciplines that use scientific knowledge for practical purposes, such as engineering and medicine. The history of science spans the majority of the historical record, with the earliest identifiable predecessors to modern science dating to the Bronze Age in Egypt and Mesopotamia (). Their contributions to mathematics, astronomy, and medicine entered and shaped the Greek natural philo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fictional Governments
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with fact, history, or plausibility. In a traditional narrow sense, fiction refers to written narratives in prose often specifically novels, novellas, and short stories. More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games. Definition and theory Typically, the fictionality of a work is publicly expressed, so the audience expects a work of fiction to deviate to a greater or lesser degree from the real world, rather than presenting for instance only factually accurate portrayals or characters who are actual people. Because fiction is generally understood as not adhering to the real world, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short Story Collection
A short story collection is a book of short stories and/or novellas by a single author. A short story collection is distinguished from an anthology of fiction, which would contain work by several authors (e.g., '' Les Soirées de Médan''). The stories in a collection may or may not share a tone, theme, setting, or characters with one another. Composition of a collection Short story collections are made up of smaller texts—the individual short stories—in order to form a superior whole.Santi, Mara (2014). "Performative Perspectives on Short Story Collections". ''Interférences littéraires/Literaire interferenties'' (12): 143–154. ISSN 2031-2970. In spite of this, each short story does not lose any of its meaning or narrative independence by being included in a collection. This does not mean that short stories do not gain any new meaning from being included in a collection, though. Because each story's context has changed, surrounded by other stories with their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Game Of Rat And Dragon
"The Game of Rat and Dragon" is a science fiction short story by American author Cordwainer Smith (1913–1966). It was written in 1954J.J. Pierce (ed.), '' The Best of Cordwainer Smith'' (1975), p. 67. and published in ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' in 1955. It is set in the far future, though no date is given. It occurs in the same universe as most of Smith's works, with a passing reference to the super-powerful regulatory ' Instrumentality'. The "dragons" are mysterious aliens which attack human starships and drive the inhabitants insane. Cats guided by telepaths are used to fight the "dragons", because of their very quick reactions. They see the aliens as giant rats, hence the story title. The human telepaths form very strong bonds with these cats, seeing them as almost human. Non-telepaths sometimes mock them for this. Plot summary Human travel in outer space is threatened by strange creatures known as the Dragons. Imperceptible to ordinary people, Dragons are experienced as n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fafner In The Azure
is a Japanese mecha anime franchise created by Xebec in collaboration with Starchild Records. The story focuses on a group of children who pilot the titular Fafners in an escalating war against giant aliens called Festum. The first series, subtitled ''Dead Aggressor'', is directed by Nobuyoshi Habara and written by Yasuo Yamabe and Tow Ubukata with character designs from Hisashi Hirai and mecha designs by Naohiro Washio. It aired on TV Tokyo from July to December 2004 for 26 episodes. A television special subtitled ''Right of Left'' aired in December 2005, a feature film subtitled ''Heaven and Earth'' had a theatrical release in Japan in December 2010, and a sequel subtitled ''Exodus'' aired on MBS and several other stations for 26 episodes from January to December 2015. Another sequel subtitled ''The Beyond'' was released as four films from May 2019 to November 2021. A special episode subtitled ''Behind the Line'' premiered in theaters in January 2023. The series ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Log Horizon
is a Japanese light novel series written by Mamare Touno and illustrated by Kazuhiro Hara. It began serialization online in 2010 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō, being later on acquired by Enterbrain and published as a light novel in Japan since 2011. Yen Press began publishing an English translation in 2015. The series follows the strategist, Shiroe, and the other players of the long-lived MMORPG ''Elder Tale'' after they find themselves whisked away into the game world following a game update. The novel has received four manga adaptations, with one based on the main story and the other three revolving around characters in the series. An anime television series adaptation animated by Satelight aired its first season on NHK Educational TV between October 2013 and March 2014. A second season by Studio Deen aired between October 2014 and March 2015. A third season by Studio Deen aired between January and March 2021. Synopsis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light Novel
A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbreviation of "''raito noberu''" is or, in English, LN. The average length of a light novel is about 50,000 words, and is published in the ''bunkobon'' format (ISO 216, A6, ). Light novels are subject to dense publishing schedules, with new installments being published in three-to-nine-month intervals. Light novels are very commonly illustrated in a manga artstyle, and are often adapted into manga and anime. Whilst most light novels are published only as books, some have their chapters first Serial (literature), serialized monthly in anthology magazines or via the internet as Web fiction#Web novel, web novels before being collected and compiled into book format, similar to how manga is published. Details Plots frequently involve roman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comic Book
A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, usually dialogue contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form. ''Comic Cuts'' was a British comic published from 1890 to 1953. It was preceded by ''Ally Sloper's Half Holiday'' (1884), which is notable for its use of sequential Cartoon, cartoons to unfold narrative. These British comics existed alongside the popular lurid "penny dreadfuls" (such as ''Spring-heeled Jack''), boys' "story papers" and the humorous ''Punch (magazine), Punch'' magazine, which was the first to use the term "cartoon" in its modern sense of a humorous drawing. The first modern American comic book, American-style comic book, ''Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics'', was released in the US in 1933 and was a reprinting of earlier newsp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dreadstar
''Dreadstar'' was the first comic-book series published by American publisher Epic Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics, in 1982. It was centered on Vanth Dreadstar, sole survivor of the entire Milky Way galaxy, and an ensemble cast of crewmates, including cyborg sorcerer Syzygy Darklock, and their struggle to end an ancient war between two powerful, evil empires: The Church of The Instrumentality, run by the Lord Papal; and the Monarchy, administered by a puppet king. The comic book, created by Jim Starlin, was bimonthly during most of its run. Epic published 26 issues, after which it was published by First Comics who carried it for 38 more issues, for a total of 64 issues. The first 41 issues were published bi-monthly, after which the book was published monthly for a time, though it resumed bi-monthly publication with issue #51. In the early 1990s, a six issue limited series was published by Malibu Comics' Bravura line of creator-owned titles. Jim Starlin had stated in interv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
