Sci-fi September: Science Fiction Influences (Part VII)
This was the first Vonnegut story I read. Not the last.
In the year 2081 everyone is equal. The Handicapper General sees to that. If you are stronger, you are weighted down with chains and slabs of iron. 20/20 eyesight? Glasses to blur your vision, etc. It’s Vonnegut’s satire at its finest.
I was a teen when I read it and then I looked for other books by this American author. Most people know Slaughterhouse Five, but Breakfast of Champions is my favorite, followed by Sirens of Titan, and Cat’s Cradle.
Some argue that he isn’t science fiction, but I consider many of his stories to be. Cat’s Cradle is about a of a substance called ice-nine which is solid at room temperature and will cause water to freeze instantly. SlaughterHouse Five has the main character jumping back and forth in time.
Sounds like sci-fi to me.
Vonnegut’s writing is witty, strange, satirical, and no one writes like him, but I like to think I am able to emulate him just a bit.
“Science is magic that works”
-Kurt Vonnegut
“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’”
-From Vonnegut’s 1965 novel ‘God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater’.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
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