Saturday, March 13, 2021

Listen! The Stars!



Listen! The Stars! is a 1963 science fiction novella by John Brunner. This was a quick easy read and brought back nostalgic feelings.

DANCE TO THE TUNES FROM ETERNITY 

What was this thing called a stradropper whose use was the rage all around the world?

Ostensibly a simple device made from an amplifier, a magnet, a vacuum, a power source and an earpiece. Add it up and you got nonsense -in the form of strange sounds, unintelligible to the human race.

But was it "nonsense" that drove people mad, creating an addition similar to dope? Was it "nonsense" that caused people to disappear off the face of the earth without a trace?

Stardropper -a menace to an insane world, or a warning from the stars?


21 comments:

  1. I love going to Half Priced Books (a used book chain) they have a rotating rack like drug stores used to have loaded with older fiction sci-fi, westerns, who done its all for a buck or two. Seems like new stuff is always a part of a trilogy or series nobody can just tell a story and move on.

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    1. There's not a Half Priced Books anywhere near us :( We do have a couple of used book shops, though, and I miss spending time wandering in them. A series is a fine thing, but I agree that there are entirely too many of them. And books are so expensive :( I'm looking forward to rediscovering our public library.

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    2. Our library system re-opened about 8 months ago. I like the half price stores because they buy back those I will never read again keeps us from getting overwhelmed with books.

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    3. I think our libraries are open, but I'm not ready. I've gotten to where I only keep books I know I'll read again, and it's really been surprising to realize how few of them that is. Especially as I get older, even if I really like a book, I know I'll probably never re-read most of them. I'm keeping my mystery series books right now, since they are pretty mindless entertainments with characters I enjoy. And I'm keeping some old favorites. I still have way too many books, but all my walls aren't lined with shelves like they used to be lol

      Used book stores are about my favorite places in the world!

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  2. ...a menace to an insane world, there's a lot of that going around.

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  3. I like the Sound of this one! Have a great Weekend, Valerie

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  4. Okay, that hooked me in

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    1. Sometimes those blurbs on the backs of books make you wonder if they even read the book lol, but this one was good.

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  5. In general I don’t read science fiction books, but my late husband did. I gave many away already. Last time I was in GA I found an old paperback of his, a book titled “The Man who Fell to Earth” a SF by Walter Tevis. I did not give it away yet. Have you read it?

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    1. Yes! I read this one after I saw the Bowie film adaptation. I hear there's going to be a new TV series "re-imagining" the book, and I'm curious about that.

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    2. "Listen! the Stars!" was given to me by a friend who wasn't a SF reader but whose husband was. After he died she remembered me with some of his books, and it has meant a lot to me reading them :)

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  6. Definitely looks like a quick read with quite the premise--LOL! :)

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    1. Yes, it was a different idea, and I always appreciate that :)

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  7. Mr. M. has this book. I will have to look at it.

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    1. It brought back memories of the kinds of stories I read when I was young. And it's a quick read.

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  8. It sounds like a good story.

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  9. I can't believe how far behind I have gotten. Playing catch-up is hard. This sounds pretty good because I am a big sci-fi fan. I am hoping to visit my library in the near future. I miss it, but I'm not sure how they are able to disinfect everything.

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    1. Yes, I'm not going anywhere like that 'til we're much further along than we are now.

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