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The Man Who Lost Red
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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About the author
Terry Dowling
105 books58 followersTerence William (Terry) Dowling -
“Who’s the writer who can produce horror as powerful and witty as the best of Peter Straub, SF as wondrously byzantine and baroque as anything by Gene Wolfe, near-mainstream subtly tinged with the fantastic like some tales by Powers or Lansdale? Why Terry Dowling, of course.” Locus (Nov 1999)
Born in Sydney in 1947, Terry Dowling is one of Australia’s most awarded, versatile and internationally acclaimed writers of science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy and horror. He is author of Rynosseros (1990), Blue Tyson (1992), Twilight Beach (1993) and Rynemonn (2007) (the Ditmar award-winning Tom Rynosseros saga, which, in his 2002 Fantastic Fictions Symposium keynote speech, US Professor Brian Attebery called “not only intricate and engaging, but important as well”), Wormwood (1991), The Man Who Lost Red (1994), An Intimate Knowledge of the Night (1995), Antique Futures: The Best of Terry Dowling (1999), Blackwater Days (2000) and Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear (2006) (which earned a starred review in Publishers’ Weekly in May 2006 and won the 2007 International Horror Guild Award for Best Collection). He is editor of the World Fantasy Award-winning The Essential Ellison (1987/ revised 2001), Mortal Fire: Best Australian SF (1993) and The Jack Vance Treasury (2007).
Dowling has outstanding publishing credentials. As well as appearances in The Year’s Best Science Fiction, The Year’s Best SF, The Mammoth Book of Best New SF, The Year’s Best Fantasy, The Best New Horror and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (a record eight times; he is the only author to have had two stories in the 2001 volume, one chosen by each editor), his work has appeared in such major anthologies as Centaurus: The Best of Australian Science Fiction, The Dark, Dreaming Down Under, Gathering the Bones and The Oxford Book of Australian Ghost Stories and in such diverse publications as the prestigious SciFiction, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Interzone, Oceans of the Mind, Ténèbres, Ikarie, Japan’s SF and Russia’s Game.Exe. His fiction has been translated into many languages and has been used in a course in forensic psychology in the US.
“Here is Jack Vance, Cordwainer Smith and Tiptree/Sheldon come again, reborn in one wonderful talent…you’ll purr and growl with delight.” – Harlan Ellison
Terry has also written and co-designed three best-selling computer adventures: Schizm: Mysterious Journey (2001) (aka US Mysterious Journey: Schizm) (www.schizm.com/schizm1/), Schizm II: Chameleon (2003) (aka US Mysterious Journey II: Chameleon) (www.schizm2.info) and Sentinel: Descendants in Time (2004) (aka Realms of Illusion) (www.dormeuse.info) (based on his 1996 short story, “The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse”), which have been published in many foreign language editions. He has reviewed for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Bulletin, and was the science fiction, fantasy and horror reviewer for The Weekend Australian for nineteen years under four different literary editors: Barry Oakley, James Hall, Murray Waldren and Deborah Hope.
Terry holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Western Australia (the first such degree to be granted and completed at that university), an MA (Hons) in English Literature and a BA (Hons) in English Literature, Archaeology and Ancient History, both from the University of Sydney. He has won many Ditmar and Aurealis Awards for his fiction, as well as the William Atheling Jr Award for his critical work. His first computer adventure won the Grand Prix at Utopiales in France in 2001 and he has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award twice.
“Who’s the writer who can produce horror as powerful and witty as the best of Peter Straub, SF as wondrously byzantine and baroque as anything by Gene Wolfe, near-mainstream subtly tinged with the fantastic like some tales by Powers or Lansdale? Why Terry Dowling, of course.” Locus (Nov 1999)
Born in Sydney in 1947, Terry Dowling is one of Australia’s most awarded, versatile and internationally acclaimed writers of science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy and horror. He is author of Rynosseros (1990), Blue Tyson (1992), Twilight Beach (1993) and Rynemonn (2007) (the Ditmar award-winning Tom Rynosseros saga, which, in his 2002 Fantastic Fictions Symposium keynote speech, US Professor Brian Attebery called “not only intricate and engaging, but important as well”), Wormwood (1991), The Man Who Lost Red (1994), An Intimate Knowledge of the Night (1995), Antique Futures: The Best of Terry Dowling (1999), Blackwater Days (2000) and Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear (2006) (which earned a starred review in Publishers’ Weekly in May 2006 and won the 2007 International Horror Guild Award for Best Collection). He is editor of the World Fantasy Award-winning The Essential Ellison (1987/ revised 2001), Mortal Fire: Best Australian SF (1993) and The Jack Vance Treasury (2007).
Dowling has outstanding publishing credentials. As well as appearances in The Year’s Best Science Fiction, The Year’s Best SF, The Mammoth Book of Best New SF, The Year’s Best Fantasy, The Best New Horror and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (a record eight times; he is the only author to have had two stories in the 2001 volume, one chosen by each editor), his work has appeared in such major anthologies as Centaurus: The Best of Australian Science Fiction, The Dark, Dreaming Down Under, Gathering the Bones and The Oxford Book of Australian Ghost Stories and in such diverse publications as the prestigious SciFiction, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Interzone, Oceans of the Mind, Ténèbres, Ikarie, Japan’s SF and Russia’s Game.Exe. His fiction has been translated into many languages and has been used in a course in forensic psychology in the US.
“Here is Jack Vance, Cordwainer Smith and Tiptree/Sheldon come again, reborn in one wonderful talent…you’ll purr and growl with delight.” – Harlan Ellison
Terry has also written and co-designed three best-selling computer adventures: Schizm: Mysterious Journey (2001) (aka US Mysterious Journey: Schizm) (www.schizm.com/schizm1/), Schizm II: Chameleon (2003) (aka US Mysterious Journey II: Chameleon) (www.schizm2.info) and Sentinel: Descendants in Time (2004) (aka Realms of Illusion) (www.dormeuse.info) (based on his 1996 short story, “The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse”), which have been published in many foreign language editions. He has reviewed for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Bulletin, and was the science fiction, fantasy and horror reviewer for The Weekend Australian for nineteen years under four different literary editors: Barry Oakley, James Hall, Murray Waldren and Deborah Hope.
Terry holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Western Australia (the first such degree to be granted and completed at that university), an MA (Hons) in English Literature and a BA (Hons) in English Literature, Archaeology and Ancient History, both from the University of Sydney. He has won many Ditmar and Aurealis Awards for his fiction, as well as the William Atheling Jr Award for his critical work. His first computer adventure won the Grand Prix at Utopiales in France in 2001 and he has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award twice.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 16, 2021
April Review #2: The Man Who Lost Red by Terry Dowling
1. The Man Who Lost Red
How would it feel to lose sight of the color red? Aerospace engineer Eric Andlan knows. Andlan's predicament is one way the Iquiri, Earth's alien overlords, deals with offenses. But this punishment only serves to motivate Andlan's quest for answers: what had he done (the Iquiri erases memories of the crime), and what is the purpose for such unusual punishments? (dubbed an "occultation") Andlan may get lucky since the Seven Iquiri overlords are beginning to have dialogues with people like Andlan, who have suffered occultations. But to get real answers for himself --and the rest of the world-- Andlan must hurdle past the Iquiri's "Riddle System," a method of question-and-answer designed to avoid the truth and puzzle the questioned. Will Andlan be successful, or will he live his life not knowing why?
I'm not the biggest fan of the sci-fi genre. I, however, love stories that don't focus so much on the technical gobbledygook but one that tries instead to explore the philosophical consequences of a particular speculative world. Dowling's story does the latter, and he manages to explore many worthwhile ideas. What is of value to a human being? Would taking something of relatively insignificant value from your life make it less desirable? Do we need to be reminded of our mistakes, or should they all be buried in the past? If these questions make the novella sound like a philosophical treatise, it's because it reads like one. (at least the last part of the story). Dowling eschews the usual thrills expected from a sci-fi story and engages us instead by making us witness how Andlan maneuvers his way through the "Riddle System" of the Iquiri. Think of it as a more subdued "Black Mirror" episode, and you'll hit the right ballpark.
This novella might not be entertaining for fans of action or horror sci-fi, but it is an incredibly introspective piece. And remember, this novella precedes similar works such as Alex Proyas' Dark City.
Appears in: Antique Futures: The Best of Terry Dowling
2. Scaring the Train
Paul and Maximillian (Max) love "Scaring the Train," a prank wherein they scare train drivers with fake dangers and obstacles. They are somehow able to evade the local authorities and enjoy their work from a distance. But after pulling off a prank, they witness a strange man near the scene, and to their surprise, the man spots them and waves, as if knowing precisely where they are. Undeterred, they go on to orchestrate their most elaborate -and dangerous- prank: one of them will be hauled near the upcoming train and then instantly pulled back. But an accident happens, one that will haunt them until they grow old. (IF they grow old)
The switch. The moment in the horror story where it makes the jump into the supernatural. Where is the "switch" in Dowling's tale? I find it hard to pinpoint, and that is what makes this tale work: it engages your mind as it scares you.
What prevents this tale from achieving perfection, though, is the characters; it appears that none of them seem to be bothered by the consequences of their actions. This character trait makes the reader lose empathy with their plight and makes the characters' experience less gripping; you want them to get their comeuppance instead of prevailing over the haunting.
But it's a minor quibble in this work filled with scenes of excellent eerie horror. In a stand-out moment in the latter half of the story, the characters do an unusual "ritual" to rid them of the haunting, and you KNOW something terrible is going to happen afterward if they THINK it worked. As always, this is what happens when you don't know what you're going after.
Also, I should mention Dowling's reference to one of the greatest (train-themed!) ghost stories, The Signalman by Charles Dickens. Is this Dowling's re-interpretation of that story?
Word I didn't know existed until I read the story: Bathos. It is an effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous.
Appears in:
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Ninth Annual Collection, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
And
Best New Horror 7, edited by Stephen Jones
1. The Man Who Lost Red
How would it feel to lose sight of the color red? Aerospace engineer Eric Andlan knows. Andlan's predicament is one way the Iquiri, Earth's alien overlords, deals with offenses. But this punishment only serves to motivate Andlan's quest for answers: what had he done (the Iquiri erases memories of the crime), and what is the purpose for such unusual punishments? (dubbed an "occultation") Andlan may get lucky since the Seven Iquiri overlords are beginning to have dialogues with people like Andlan, who have suffered occultations. But to get real answers for himself --and the rest of the world-- Andlan must hurdle past the Iquiri's "Riddle System," a method of question-and-answer designed to avoid the truth and puzzle the questioned. Will Andlan be successful, or will he live his life not knowing why?
I'm not the biggest fan of the sci-fi genre. I, however, love stories that don't focus so much on the technical gobbledygook but one that tries instead to explore the philosophical consequences of a particular speculative world. Dowling's story does the latter, and he manages to explore many worthwhile ideas. What is of value to a human being? Would taking something of relatively insignificant value from your life make it less desirable? Do we need to be reminded of our mistakes, or should they all be buried in the past? If these questions make the novella sound like a philosophical treatise, it's because it reads like one. (at least the last part of the story). Dowling eschews the usual thrills expected from a sci-fi story and engages us instead by making us witness how Andlan maneuvers his way through the "Riddle System" of the Iquiri. Think of it as a more subdued "Black Mirror" episode, and you'll hit the right ballpark.
This novella might not be entertaining for fans of action or horror sci-fi, but it is an incredibly introspective piece. And remember, this novella precedes similar works such as Alex Proyas' Dark City.
Appears in: Antique Futures: The Best of Terry Dowling
2. Scaring the Train
Paul and Maximillian (Max) love "Scaring the Train," a prank wherein they scare train drivers with fake dangers and obstacles. They are somehow able to evade the local authorities and enjoy their work from a distance. But after pulling off a prank, they witness a strange man near the scene, and to their surprise, the man spots them and waves, as if knowing precisely where they are. Undeterred, they go on to orchestrate their most elaborate -and dangerous- prank: one of them will be hauled near the upcoming train and then instantly pulled back. But an accident happens, one that will haunt them until they grow old. (IF they grow old)
The switch. The moment in the horror story where it makes the jump into the supernatural. Where is the "switch" in Dowling's tale? I find it hard to pinpoint, and that is what makes this tale work: it engages your mind as it scares you.
What prevents this tale from achieving perfection, though, is the characters; it appears that none of them seem to be bothered by the consequences of their actions. This character trait makes the reader lose empathy with their plight and makes the characters' experience less gripping; you want them to get their comeuppance instead of prevailing over the haunting.
But it's a minor quibble in this work filled with scenes of excellent eerie horror. In a stand-out moment in the latter half of the story, the characters do an unusual "ritual" to rid them of the haunting, and you KNOW something terrible is going to happen afterward if they THINK it worked. As always, this is what happens when you don't know what you're going after.
Also, I should mention Dowling's reference to one of the greatest (train-themed!) ghost stories, The Signalman by Charles Dickens. Is this Dowling's re-interpretation of that story?
Word I didn't know existed until I read the story: Bathos. It is an effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous.
Appears in:
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Ninth Annual Collection, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
And
Best New Horror 7, edited by Stephen Jones
February 8, 2017
The Man Who Lost Red was really great, interesting and thought-provoking twist. Want more Shaun Tan illustrations, especially for such a visual-based story! Second story didn't make a ton of sense to me. Setup good, lost coherence after the first section. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention.
Read
January 3, 2011I love how Terry Dowling captures the alien. I enjoy the lush textures of all of his books.
December 16, 2011
Loved it. Makes you realise that sometimes, the things we take for granted are the most important.
March 31, 2015
Lovely pair of stories with a bit of a philosophical bent in the first and a slightly odd misuse of a scientific fact in the second.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews