Journeys Across Two Types of Fictional Landscapes

Regarding the journeys taken across them, I think that the landscapes in a fantasy story can speak to and inspire us more than the settings of a science-fiction one.

The fictional genres of science-fiction and fantasy have very different types of generic landscapes or settings. Science-fiction is usually set in the depths of space, possibly across many planets and maybe galaxies, with vessels flying between the worlds. Fantasy, by contrast, is usually set on a single world, possibly across many countries and maybe continents, with characters trekking or riding between settlements.

Science-fiction, even if it is not set in an idea of our own future, is seen to be futuristic because of how advanced the technology is. Fantasy, even if it is not set in any real history, is seen to be like past ages, with simplicity serving as an adjective for much of the imagined world.

Short Story: The Expedition and the Time Shadow

Nakkie stood shoulder to shoulder between five other men. One of them was Simon from his own team, another looked like a builder from the third construction team, and the other three were cavers. They had been herded into the square room by all of Crune's boys about twenty minutes ago, turning the cube they had spent the last two days putting together into a torchlit cell with depressingly black walls. A single cell, in the deepest of six caverns, sitting one thousand, two hundred and fifteen feet below sea level. That was a lot of rock between them and the sunlight on the brazillian desert above their heads. Not for the first time on this trip, Nakkie didn't like the feel of this.

Short Story: The Shriggs

In the year five million and one,

a space monk travelled to Pum.

A planet of green,

he hoped he would meet

some nice aliens he could take home.

His space vessel landed on soil,

and his first impressions were royal,

for the beings called Shriggs

were polite little things

with nice food and big homes and green smiles.

But the monk found his learning was slow,

unable to let the Shriggs know,

that a vow to be silent

actually meant

he could only converse with a show.

Short Story: The Man, The Shell and The Roads

A baby boy was born. While kept asleep, implants were surgically attached to his nerves. The bleeding baby was then put inside a time pod, a button was pressed, and in 3 seconds the boy became 30 years older. The echo of an infant scream lingered in the air for a moment, like the ghost of a childhood.

The basic-movement implants demonstrated that they were functioning when the man opened the door and stepped out of the pod, amd stood face to face with the Grower. The language implants were also set up correctly- the man presented his first question to the Grower, who stood firmly upright with his hands behind his back.

“What is my name?”

“Your assigned name is Doystin,” replied the Grower in a level, professional voice, “And you are a human man.”

Short Story: What Thaniel Can Do

Travel through the stars, and observe the alien planets. There are two, one the size of our Jupiter, and the other bigger by half again, about to collide. In this universe, they are able to fall into each other because they have not intended to, and rock and debris will fly into space as they destroy each other without malice.

Now back up a few stars in this galaxy, and focus in on the only inhabited planet in this sector of space. Zoom into this blue and red planet to an individual called Thaniel Remington. Thaniel was a man not too different from any man you might know in most ways, and right now he is deeply sad. In fact, deeply sad doesn't quite cover it.

Thaniel is lying face down on a large mat of hay, and crying the tears of a man who has given up, and then found that even giving up isn't an option. His mind wanders through the last few weeks of his life.

The Paranoid Android

I don't want to tell you much about myself, but I already know you'll insist on asking, so I may as well fill your mind with something that won't benefit you in any way.

I suffer from what you would probably prefer to call 'complete awareness', and I already know you'll think it strange that I said 'suffer'. You probably think it would be quite nice to be more aware of everything around you. But you would say that, because that's the typical sort of half-formed opinion that your stunted perception would lead to. You haven't ever given it serious thought, and like most things, you probably never will.

What you sense is a drop in the ocean compared to me. Do I sound like I'm boasting? I'm not. You're intellect really is miniscule compared to my own. So you would probably perceive it as unusual that minds like your own created my capabilities.

Short Story: Belt Life

Soar through the stars and galaxies, and into one. There is the sun at the centre, it is our sun in fact. And on the other side, a few planets away, is the earth, but it is not our present day earth.

It looks slightly darker than the earth you are sitting on now, but as we keep getting closer, we can see that there is a ring around it. No, not around it, but on it. The ring goes around the entire equator, and looks to be the width of a medium-sized continent. As earth fills our vision, we can see that the ring is a man-made structure, and also, is moving around the earth, constantly rotating around the globe.

On ground level, it must be moving at an amazing pace. We dive down to this level, on part of the moving structure, and meet a little girl, Lindsey.