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The Future - Blog

      The Year is 2030, three days before Christmas. I am looking at bicycles on the internet to buy at my local electronic store to pick up. Everyone in town owns a bicycle and their own gym in their homes. There are several shapes I am able to choose with the click of a button. I choose a mountain bike model with larger tires. Next, the web page instructs me to customize the colors. It instructs me to click on different section of the bike to choose the color. I make the front half of the bike blue, the back half orange. I add some accessories such as an automatic kickstand, a digital "calories burned" monitor, and headlights as well as backlights. Next, I receive an email telling me to pick up my bicycle in 2 hours     I get in my car and head to the store. I walk inside and the robot employee of the store brings me to the counter and removes an electronic bike from a massive 3d printer the size of a medium size closed. There are wires and robotic mechanisms inside all mov

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

  Arthur Dent, whose house is about to be demolished for a planned road bypass, is lying down in front of a bulldozer when his friend Ford Prefect arrives and tells him that it is important   that they go to the pub immediately. There, Ford explains that he is actually from a planet near   Betelgeuse  and that another alien species, the Vogons, are about to destroy the Earth   to make space for a hyperspatial express route. Meanwhile, Zaphod Beeblebrox, president of the  Galaxy  and his human female friend Trillian steal the Heart of Gold spaceship. Ford and Arthur hitch a ride on a Vogon destructor ship, and Ford lends Arthur the electronic guidebook   The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy   and gives him a Babel fish to stick in his ear to translate alien speech. The Vogon ship captain has Ford and Arthur ejected into space, but the Heart of Gold, which has an Infinite   Improbability Drive, picks them up 29 seconds later. The drive makes it possible to travers   interstellar space al

Bloodchild - Octavia Butler

    Bloodchild tells the story of the extraordinary relationship between aliens known as Tlic and the humans of earth who are living there. The Tlic realize that humans make excellent host carriers for their eggs and each earthling is required to chose a child for implantation. The story is narrated by a male named Gan who is required to carry the eggs of one of the lead females of the Tlic. Since he can remember Gan has thought of being a host as an honor and a privilege, but when he witnesses the premature hatching of eggs in another male host, he has to participate in performing a cesarian surgery so that the Tlic grubs can be retrieved and so that Lomas, the other male carrier, will not be eaten alive from the inside out.      Gan begins to feel different about being a host and announces that he will commit suicide before he gets impregnated. He questions the relationship between the humans and aliens. Gan's sister is asked to be impregnated, but Gan does not let this happen an

The Neuromancer - William Gibson

    Henry Dorsett Case, our protagonist, is having a rough day. Once upon a time, he was a talented computer hacker. He eventually was caught and the clients he had been working for punished him by making him not able to hack anymore. We begin the story with Henry, now, a street hustler in Chiba City, Japan where he owes money to a local drug lord. His girlfriend has just stolen a bunch of RAM he'd planned to fence on the black market      Henry is given another chance to work as a hacker by a man named Armitage, who offers him a job as a "console cowboy." Henry agrees and teams up with a street samurai named Molly Millions. Armitage is a mysterious guy, and Henry decides to find more information about him. Case hacks into a London database containing Armitage's information. Henry learns that his real name is not even Armitage but instead, Colonel Willis Corto. It turns out that he is the only surviving solider from a military operation known as screaming fist. Corto

The Female Man - Joanna Russ

      In the story,  The Female Man by Joanna Russ, we open in Manhattan with our female protagonist, Joanna. As soon as the story begins, Joanna learns from the news that a visitor from another planet has come to Earth. This is no ordinary species, this is an alien lady named Janet Evasion Belin who is described as attractive and blonde. The planet she is from is unique because it is completely ruled by female aliens.     Joanna becomes particularly curious with Janet, and continues to learn everything she can from the media. Eventually, Janet and Joanna meet and the alien invites Joanna inside her limousine. From this point on, Joanna and Janet move in with each-other at a hotel. They become friends and Joanna shows Janet around Manhattan. Janet is not completely acclimated to Earth and the earthlings, so Joanna does her best to make Janet a regular earthling.     Joanna and Janet attend a party, and they end up in a conversation with two men about why the feminist movement is bad. T

The Martian - Andy Weir

       In the story The Martian By Andy Weir, The main character named Mark Watney is a botanist. Mark and his crew go on a mission to Mars, but Mark is unfortunately left behind because his crew members assumed that he had died. Mark is clearly alive and is stranded on Mars alone. Despite his circumstances, Mark's sense of humor seems to be keeping him sane. The only entertainment Mark has access to are 1970's television shows, music, and books.     Mark eventually realizes his scary situation and begins thinking of how much food he has left. His communication devices are not working which means that he has no way of contacting anybody. NASA eventually learns that Mark is stranded on the red planet and begin to monitor him. The catch to all this is that it would take a whopping four years in order for a rescue team to arrive. This means that Mark now has to grow his own food, and will be stuck alone for four years. NASA attempts to send Mark supplies, but the space vessel fail

Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman

     In the book  Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, we embark on a journey with African American "Fat Charlie," the protagonist. Charlie finds out that his father Mr. Nancy, is actually an African trickster god known as Anansi and that he has a brother who has inherited the super natural abilities.  Charlie lives in London with his fiancee, Rosie and has a decent job.      A family friend of Charlie named Callyanne Higgler is the one who informs Charlie of his brother and his father's true identity. Higgler also tells Charlie that in order for him to meet his brother, he must speak with a spider. Later, Charlie drunkenly talks to a spider and the next day, his brother appears who goes by the nickname "Spider." Charlie is taken by Spider through a picture frame of their childhood home, and Spider shows Charlie what happened to their father.       The magic in this story reminds me of the magical world in  Alice in Wonderland. This is   because of the way animals or bug