Ahira's Hangar

I am in the middle of reading a novella by Orson Scott Card called Atlantis.

While I think I have an understanding of what is going on, I also get the feeling that this story is part of some sort of larger series of books or stories involving something called Pastwatch?

What I think this means is that somehow humans on our earth or one very similar have somehow stumbled across or invented technology that somehow allows them to watch the past of their earth? Do I have the right gist of this?

Are they primarily watchers or can they also move through time and/or meddle with events?

So far in this story they are just watching...

Does Patchwatch watch and keep track of things in the past with a primary aim of answering questions, or is there also some sort of economic gain to be had? <i></i>

I haven't read Atlantis, but I have read Pastwatch. It is a wonderful book, full of fascinating ideas.

Quote:What I think this means is that somehow humans on our earth or one very similar have somehow stumbled across or invented technology that somehow allows them to watch the past of their earth? Do I have the right gist of this?

In Pastwatch, that is exactly what happens, and it is on our earth. Since the story of Atlantis figures in Pastwatch, I am guessing that the Atlantis story is a related story.

I just checked Hatrack, and it does seem to be related. The whole story is online.

www.hatrack.com/osc/stori...ntis.shtml

Guess I'll read it when I have a chance. "Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?"<i></i>

I thought it was an interesting story, and the concept of Pastwatch is also interesting.

Lots of time travel stories have people meddling (for good, ill, or no affect) in the past...but this is pretty cool because (at least in this story) they only watch the past to see what they can learn from it. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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I looked at my copy of Pastwatch after making this post. The back of the title page states that the novel, published in 1996, contains a summary of the novella "Atlantis", which was published in 1992 in Grails: Quests, Visitations and Occurences.

I definitely recommend that you read Pastwatch, Duchess. It's a fascinating tale. "Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?"<i></i>

Next time I hit the library I think I will definately look for it, based on how much Atlantis captured my interest. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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Duchess, did you ever get to read Pastwatch? I re-read it earlier this year. Still a good story.

What about Illiad, Duchess?
Does your library use interlibrary loan?

I honestly do not know, as I have never tried to get anything that way. The town where I live straddles two counties - the main street in downtown is called County, as it is the county line. I live in the same county as Ann Arbor (Washtenaw), which has an unbelievable library, and other Washtenaw county libraries can get stuff from them on loan. Unfortunately, my town's library is down in Monroe County, and is part of the Monroe County Library system. I know people who pay big bucks every year to be able to check out books in Ann Arbor and/or Toledo down in Ohio so as to avoid the Monroe County Library system. Ann Arbor and Toledo both have public libraries where nonresidents can pay a bunch of money and check out books.

I would just as soon pay the same amount of money and buy lots of used books.

Monroe County Public Library in Michigan, right?
Here's their Interlibrary Loan request page.

http://monroe.lib.mi.us/my_library_card ... t_form.htm

It is also coming up on your system, although the status from the one library it lists says "not requestable." But there is a link that says on the page, so you could try and see what happens.

If it doesn't work, try the request page for an interlibrary loan.

HTH, Duchess...

It looks like it is available from three Monroe County Libraries (though none of them are mine.) Bedford and Maybee are down near Ohio, and I do not even know where Ellis is. Next time I am down in town, I think I will go ahead and try to request it and see what happens.

(I should head down there soon anyway, as my library is really good about getting in the latest Pern books as they come out. Yes, I know, I know. I am a masochist. )

(Oh, and the ebook thing does not work for me. If I try to read something too long on a computer, it gives me eye strain and headaches. So if I get it, it pretty much has to be a real printed book. )

I had found a used copy online for a penny plus postage.

I have a cold today that was bad enough to miss work, and was glad to have this to read.

It is one of the best things I have read from Card.

In fact, I had forgotten what a really good writer he is (I was not able to finish the last book I tried to read that was written by him. )

I'm especially glad that I read this back to back with Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy. Both have characters with what we would consider godlike powers (in Sanderson fantasy/magical and in Card technology/science) who have to try to save a dying world. Both groups of characters face many deep ethical questions about what to do with those powers, and what interventions can be allowed with them. And both explore the role of religion in society - and a lot of exploration about personal sacrifice for others (in both works, the worlds cannot be saved unless people are willing to give up their lives in the service of the Earth and humanity).

The Sanderson is a lot darker, the Card perhaps a bit more hopeful (at least on the surface) - but both are well worth reading.

Glad you enjoyed the book, Duchess. I think it's one of Card's better works. I don't enjoy his more recent writing as much. He seems to have sold out to popular taste, and he also uses some of his writing as a cover for his political and world views, which I find distasteful.

I also think he is much better (in general) at short stories than at novels.