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The Loom of Thessaly
Who guides our fate? And can we ever hope to wrest control for ourselves? In this novella, "The Loom of Thessaly" , classical mythology merges with impudent modern spirit into a science fiction legend that speculates upon the nature of reality.
48 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 18, 2011
11 people are currently reading
162 people want to read
About the author
David Brin
326 books3,307 followersDavid Brin is a scientist, speaker, and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages.
Existence, his latest novel, offers an unusual scenario for first contact. His ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. Startide Rising won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. The Uplift War also won the Hugo Award.
His non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association.
Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI, nanotechnology, and philanthropy.
David appears frequently on TV, including "The Universe" and on the History Channel's "Life After People."
Full and updated at:
http://www.davidbrin.com/biography.htm
Existence, his latest novel, offers an unusual scenario for first contact. His ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. Startide Rising won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. The Uplift War also won the Hugo Award.
His non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association.
Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI, nanotechnology, and philanthropy.
David appears frequently on TV, including "The Universe" and on the History Channel's "Life After People."
Full and updated at:
http://www.davidbrin.com/biography.htm
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 31, 2014
Nice little short story, great fun and easily found on Amazon. Not saying much about it because it would be easy to spoil but basically science meets Ancient Greek myth.
February 18, 2021
I'd need a new shelf to properly categorize this. Circe had me mesmerized - it was like living a familiar myth from another POV. Not historical fiction, not time travel, just stepping out of time to examine why an myth still has power today and sort of ironically the "hero's" role in the story. Not like Glory Road which is weird, but I love in a way for how the hero's journey can be anything but heroic depending on if a culture even needs heroes in the first place? No More Heroes: Grassroots Challenges to the Savior Mentality asks a similar thing but from a different perspective still. But, what I love in this novella/long-short story is the way David Brin isn't afraid to take up big picture stuff seriously and still have fun with it. I love the way his characters are human, the way his optimism and attention to our "better nature " always are balancing points against which the plot swings and the characters communicate and make decisions in his imagined worlds and scenarios.
June 19, 2025
Lovely. A fun play of archetype and classics.
Okay, listen. I’d read David Brin’s grocery lists if he published them. The man’s brain is a multi-dimensional maze of science, story, and sheer delight. The Loom of Thessaly is no exception. It’s short but there’s nothing small about it.
This is Brin doing what Brin does best: folding mythology, physics, and metafiction into a sly, intelligent tale that literally plays with the very fabric of reality. It’s funny. It’s weird. It’s smarter than it has any right to be in under 100 pages.
And if you love myth—real myth, not the cleaned-up versions—they’re all here, coiled and reshaped and made new again. He doesn’t treat archetypes like relics; he treats them like tools. Sacred, yes. But also deeply practical.
The story itself is fast and playful. It’s the kind of thing you want to read out loud at midnight to people who understand that story is sorcery. That weaving a tale isn’t just entertainment—it’s power. And that’s what Brin gets.
This isn’t his most epic work. But it might be one of his most distilled. Like he boiled down a whole cosmology into a shot of ouzo and dared you to drink.
Delicious.
Okay, listen. I’d read David Brin’s grocery lists if he published them. The man’s brain is a multi-dimensional maze of science, story, and sheer delight. The Loom of Thessaly is no exception. It’s short but there’s nothing small about it.
This is Brin doing what Brin does best: folding mythology, physics, and metafiction into a sly, intelligent tale that literally plays with the very fabric of reality. It’s funny. It’s weird. It’s smarter than it has any right to be in under 100 pages.
And if you love myth—real myth, not the cleaned-up versions—they’re all here, coiled and reshaped and made new again. He doesn’t treat archetypes like relics; he treats them like tools. Sacred, yes. But also deeply practical.
The story itself is fast and playful. It’s the kind of thing you want to read out loud at midnight to people who understand that story is sorcery. That weaving a tale isn’t just entertainment—it’s power. And that’s what Brin gets.
This isn’t his most epic work. But it might be one of his most distilled. Like he boiled down a whole cosmology into a shot of ouzo and dared you to drink.
Delicious.
September 4, 2020
What I love about novellas is that it gives the author the chance to take an idea that wouldn't be enough for a full novel and explore it in more depth than a short story allows. And this is what Brin is doing here. We have all heard of the Three Fates who control men's lives, and in this novella Brin explores the idea that they may be real beings and humans their playthings.
This is exactly the sort of thing that works well as novella. The idea would need a lot of fleshing out to turn it into a full novel, but as a novella Brin can take the idea and turn it into a story that combines the punch of a short story and the depth of a novel.
The core idea is a really interesting one and an interesting take on the Prometheus myth, so full marks for the idea. However one of the plot devices is a little implausible. Saying which would be a spoiler but you'll know it when you read it. Despite this I found the novella a great read and I highly recommend it.
This is exactly the sort of thing that works well as novella. The idea would need a lot of fleshing out to turn it into a full novel, but as a novella Brin can take the idea and turn it into a story that combines the punch of a short story and the depth of a novel.
The core idea is a really interesting one and an interesting take on the Prometheus myth, so full marks for the idea. However one of the plot devices is a little implausible. Saying which would be a spoiler but you'll know it when you read it. Despite this I found the novella a great read and I highly recommend it.
January 11, 2023
This was a very interesting premise (you'll understand when you finish where Brin is going with this) but for me, most of the first half was kind of dull. Would have liked to see what happened after the ending instead of less tedium at the beginning. Glad I stuck with it, but overall I was deflated.
July 10, 2017
Concise fantasy (or possibly, an abstruse science fiction) novella with an interesting idea on the driving force of human culture and evolution.
I enjoyed the language used to describe the hero's journey and the loom itself.
I enjoyed the language used to describe the hero's journey and the loom itself.
December 30, 2018
An ok quick read
Nothing startling or more thought provoking than similar tales. I am an uplift fan and this is a fantastical approach to that universe. This does give you some "what if uplift were a fantasy" moments that I felt were interesting.
Nothing startling or more thought provoking than similar tales. I am an uplift fan and this is a fantastical approach to that universe. This does give you some "what if uplift were a fantasy" moments that I felt were interesting.
December 10, 2023
masterfully written
Expensive things comes in small packages, outstanding stuff is packed in even more small packages! This novella is a great example of the virtuosity of small
Expensive things comes in small packages, outstanding stuff is packed in even more small packages! This novella is a great example of the virtuosity of small
March 17, 2012
Aliens, real live Fates (Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos) messing around with humanity...weird but fun little story from Brin.
October 1, 2014
A twist on Greek mythology
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews